July 10, 2025 • 47 mins
Is the world really falling apart—or are we just addicted to bad news?
In this episode, Dave and Jeff unpack why we may actually be living in the best time in history—and how a shift in perspective could spark a summer of gratitude in your life. From global poverty declining to medical breakthroughs and technology improving daily life, this conversation is full of surprising stats and spiritual insights.
We also tackle the growing mental health crisis and explore why gratitude isn't just a nice idea—it’s a lifeline. In a culture that constantly feeds fear, we’re choosing thankfulness instead.
- Why the world may be getting better
- How to fight negativity fatigue
- Practical ways to live with gratitude this summer
- Faith-based hope in the middle of chaos
If you're tired of doomscrolling and ready for a mindset reset, this one's for you.
Watch now—and discover why there's still so much to be thankful for.
LinkTree:
https://linktr.ee/AllisonParkLeadershipNetwork
Email:
Jeffl@allisonparkchurch.com
Davel@allisonparkchurch.com
Instagram:
@Jeffleake11
@Dave.Leake
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dave Leake (00:00):
How bad are things really right now? Are they
(00:02):
getting worse? Do we live in oneof the most progressively
negative situations world's everseen, or are things getting
better? It feels like what wehear all the time from news and
culture is just that things arebad, but is it possible that
maybe while some things are bad,that things are getting better
in general, and ultimately, howshould this affect the way that
we live our lives today? We'regoing to talk about things like,
(00:26):
what is negative, what'spositive, what the context has
been in the scope of history.
But also, how do I live a lifefull of gratitude, peace and
contentment in a world swirlingwith negativity? If you want to
hear more, tune in. Heyeverybody. Welcome to the
Allison Park leadership podcast,where we have culture creating
conversations. I'm Dave
Jeff Leake (00:47):
and I'm Jeff, and we're so glad you're with us
today. Again, we're father andson. We're both pastors on staff
at Allison Park Church, andDave's getting ready to make a
big transition here, so headedto Jacksonville, Florida to
plant the church in 2026 give usa quick status update. How's it
going? Dave,
Dave Leake (01:06):
the last three weeks have been 7am until midnight.
Work days,
Jeff Leake (01:12):
we hear the fatigue in your I'm so tired. But
Dave Leake (01:15):
today is the last day we kind of have the well
sort of, but it's the last dayfor the home listing. We're
getting pictures today and be onthe market, hopefully
Jeff Leake (01:24):
this home listing not homeless, right? It sound
like you said the homelessthing. So, oh, you've been
working on your house, gettingready to list it so that you can
sell it. And then once it'ssold, you move to Jacksonville,
and not a whole lot else helphappens until that.
Dave Leake (01:39):
Yeah. I mean, I mean, you know, after, hopefully
after this week, we'll be movinginto, you know, we're doing web,
website development, and, excuseme, brand branding, and all that
kind of stuff. Yeah, so, butagain, if anybody's interested
in being a part of the team inany kind of way, if you want to
be part of our prayer team, wewould love that. If you want to
support financially, we'd lovethat if you want
Jeff Leake (02:00):
to move down Absolutely. Yeah. People have
come and asked, well, whathappens when Dave moves? Are you
guys gonna keep the podcast? Andwe are? We're gonna keep the
podcast. We're looking atdifferent formats, ways to do
it. Maybe sometimes Dave willfly up here and we'll do in
studio. Maybe sometimes we'll dosome kind of tool that allows
for us to be doing it at adistance. We also may change the
(02:22):
name of the podcast and staywon't be Allison Park anymore,
although you're still alwayselse true, Dave, yeah, so, but
yeah, so that's developments yetto come. We don't have any shout
outs specifically for reviewstoday do. But
Dave Leake (02:35):
gratitude to everybody who's been a part of
this. So thank you for alwaysbeing a part of our podcast.
Family. Yeah, excited for this,this next season of the podcast
as well, it's gonna be great,yeah. So you found a video that
is good perspective for theseason that we're
Jeff Leake (02:51):
in, yeah? So I, you know, we have commented on this
book a number of times, calledfactfulness. It was written by a
Swede, someone from Sweden, andhe talks about how things in the
world may be bad, but a lot ofthings are getting better. And
he offers a lot of data aboutthat. And in line with that,
(03:12):
because we had talked aboutmaybe doing an episode on this
particular idea, I saw thislittle clip starts out with
comedian Jimmy Carr making somevery serious statements about
how we should view the worldright now, and then it shifts
into another teaching video froman organization called Prager u
(03:35):
which gives good statistics thatmight be very surprising. And so
we're going to make our waythrough this video. It's a
longer video, but we may well itmay show some of it, and pause
and do some commentary, andwe'll use this as sort of our
guide for the discussion today.
Yeah. So, so I guess thequestion of an episode, is the
world getting worse and worse,or is it getting better and
better, or is it a mixture ofboth? Is kind of, I guess, the
(03:57):
question we want to address. Solet's go ahead and start with
that little clip
Unknown (04:02):
you get used to how great your life is. No one had a
hot shower until 50 years ago.
So I try and do this thing whenyou stand in a hot shower.
George Mack, my friend, pointedthis out to me when, well, look
when you stand in a hot shower,just for a moment, just go,
Well, no one that you admirefrom 100 years ago had this
simple pleasure in life, andwhen you look at the world that
we live in, we're like you'redoing there's been 100 billion
(04:24):
people ever, right? We are inthe top, top percentile in terms
of the luck that we have had,that the lives, like the the
calorific intake, that we justtake for granted, the fact that
our children don't die. Youknow, in the first year the
modern medicine and our livesand the entertainment that we
get, we're living like kings. Weare, in fact, the most fortunate
(04:46):
human beings ever.
Jeff Leake (04:49):
Okay, why don't we pause there, and we will come
back to this additional butlet's just start there. Dave,
what was your reaction like youjust a few minutes ago? Saw this
clip. For the first time, whatwas your reaction to what this
comedian was saying in terms of,you know, his reflections on on
life?
Dave Leake (05:06):
Yeah, I just think it's, I just think it's
different than what you thinkabout, what you expect. You
know, man, I feel like I wish Ihad been more verbal to say than
this. My brains a little foggy.
I think so this is probably oneof the things we'll maybe theme
this out to be. But it makes methink, like, I don't think I'm
grateful enough for what I dohave, you know, I mean, like,
(05:28):
let alone America, in comparisonto places in the world that it's
a little rougher to live in, butjust even now versus 100 years
ago or 50 years ago.
Jeff Leake (05:38):
Yeah. So I think I have, I have a number of
reactions to it. First, I thinkthat because we are living in a
world of constant outrage,right? So news media and social
media is feeding the outrage, weare constantly fed the bad news.
We aren't really told a lot ofgood news. We're just told the
bad news, because fear andanticipation of the bad thing
(05:59):
that's going to happen is whatkeeps people tuned in, and what
keeps them scrolling right? Andso there is, there is a culture
war, and there's a lot of badnews being shared all the time.
I think, secondly, I think a lotof people in our era don't have
a good understanding ofhistorical perspective, sure,
like a lot of people, just thinkthe life has always been this
(06:20):
way, like they don't understandhow much technological and
economic advancement hashappened across the globe in the
LA in our lifetime. Like, so,you know, I'm a boomer, and
Boomers have lived through a lotof transitions. So when I was
born in 1964 life was at acertain level, and now things
(06:41):
have changed so much, and a lotof what we see as negative, like
so much technology change and somuch change in our culture, and
so many things that havehappened globally, and so many
wars and conflicts that havehappened, and the pandemic and
911 and like all of this stuffhas happened, and it's almost
like people can watch the newsOn any given day, and start to
(07:01):
think, Man, this must be the endtimes, because things are
getting worse and worse andworse. And yet, in many ways,
life has never been betterbecause of the level of
technological advancements,creature comforts, available
food, medicine, hospitals, youknow, just conveniences, like
you said, just the idea that youhave a hot shower. I mean,
(07:24):
that's a massive thing to standbecause there are many, many
times I go on a trip overseas toa place where maybe I don't have
a hot shower, and most places inthe world do now, and you're
like, boy do I miss having a hotshower. Boy, I miss a good hot
cup of coffee. Things that mostof the world never really knew a
long time ago, and now we sortof take for granted, but doesn't
(07:44):
take away the fact that thingsare still bad, right? There's
still a lot of things. We lookand we say, Man, that that's a
problem. Like, who is ever goingto solve that particular issue
there? And there's a lot of lotof that stuff too. Yeah. So, so,
you know, the lack of historicalperspective is interesting to me
as an old guy. Why do you thinkthat is from your generation's
(08:05):
perspective? I mean, yeah, dopeople just not care?
Dave Leake (08:08):
Like, I don't. Yeah, I don't. I think when you were
pointing out, like, the just thecultures view on life in
general, like, I've mentionedthis book, you know, a number of
times. It's been a little while,but there's a book that's all
about this. It's called Hate.
Hate. Inc, yeah, and it's aboutthe way that, you know,
regardless, as the partisanship,the way that news stations make
(08:31):
money is by polarizing,typically through fear or anger,
those kind of negative emotions,is what makes money, and it
generates a lot more revenue,they should, like, I can't even
name them, but there was like,statistics about the way news
stations used to present things,and it would be like, here's
here's what happened, and thenthere'd be like, an opinion
(08:52):
piece. But like, as soon asmedia started to polarize it,
ratings went way up. People wereglued to the screens. And so I
do think just the way theculture, culture talks about the
world, like, even when you saythat, like, So Hans Rosling
book, factfulness is about howthings can be bad but still
improving, yeah, but even sayingthings are bad, like, I guess
(09:15):
thing like, Will things ever notbe bad to some degree before
heaven. Because, I mean, thingsare also good. You know what? I
mean? Like, they're, they'rethey're not just bad and
improving, they're bad and goodand improving. Yeah, there's
just things that are like
Jeff Leake (09:32):
and getting worse.
They're bad and getting worseand good and improving, like,
all at the same time. But mostthings
Dave Leake (09:38):
that are bad are actually not getting worse. Most
things that are bad right now,like, if you we'll look at some
of those facts in just a minute.
I'm not saying that there aren'tproblems that are getting worse.
Like, obviously, tension in theMiddle East is getting worse
right now. It's, it's not theworst it's ever been.
Jeff Leake (09:54):
No, no, no.
Actually, there have beenmultiple wars that we, we talked
about in an episode about whatto do. Israel probably over a
year ago now. So there have beenconflicts. 1967 1973 and on it
goes right mid 2000s it's alwaysbeen bad in the Middle East over
the last 100 years or so. It'sbad today, but doesn't
(10:14):
necessarily mean it's gettingworse. Some people would make a
case that it might be getting
Dave Leake (10:19):
better, and maybe it is, but I'm saying, even if it
is getting worse, most thingsare getting better. Yeah, you
know.
Jeff Leake (10:26):
So, so now let's talk about, well, why is this
important? Okay, for there's acouple things. First, I think,
in our culture, we have a mentalhealth crisis, which is really
astonishing, because we live inthe most affluent time in human
history, in the most affluentnation on earth, right? But,
people's mental health is notgood. That's I'm not casting
blame if, by the way, you'regoing through a mental health
(10:46):
crisis due to some kind oftrauma you've walked through.
I'm just saying, generallyspeaking, we have a mental
health health crisis. So that'sone problem. Then I think,
secondly, you mentioned it,Dave, you say, I wonder if I'm
ungrateful, like, I think that'sa spiritual problem that can be
very personal, like maybe I getup and I see the bottom half of
things rather than the top half,and I concentrate on the the
(11:09):
difficulties of life rather thanthe goodness of God. Way too
much. Okay, so that's anotherissues in gratitude and what it
does to your soul. But then Ithink there's a third problem,
and that's just plain ignorance.
Yeah, okay. Again, that soundsreally harsh. Let me just back,
back it up for a moment, meaningthat we do not know certain
things that are true about 2025that were not true about 1975 or
(11:33):
1925 right? And if we have thecontext of things, the more
information you get, the moregrateful you are for the era
that you live in, becausethere's just so much that has
improved. And so I don't know ifmaybe that's the point which we
hear. The rest of this video togive us some of that, but
Dave Leake (11:55):
yeah, let's get there in a second. I'm there's a
there's a phenomenon. I'll lookit up in a second. I think it
might be called the expect.
Expectation gap. Okay, you heardabout
Jeff Leake (12:04):
this? Yeah, when? So it's, I don't know if it's a
phenomenon. I preached it as aSeries A while ago,
Dave Leake (12:11):
but isn't there?
Isn't there? I think there's apsychological it's where, it's
where your
Jeff Leake (12:14):
experiences don't meet your expectations, right?
And that gap where yourexperiences and your
expectations are at odds witheach other, or there's a
distance between them that youfeel disillusioned, yeah, and
Dave Leake (12:27):
disappointed. I think that when, when you
expect, like, oh, like, I see myfriends and they're living at
this level, like, I could befinancially better. I could have
more vacations. Or, you know,it's this has been rough, or my
health should be better, orwhatever it is, my family is
more dysfunctional than I thinkit should be, then you can live
because the ideal of what youwhat you think it should be, is
(12:48):
not there. You can live feelinglike my life is awful.
Jeff Leake (12:51):
I do think we do have this. And again, I'm using
these really harsh words, butprobably most of us have a bit
of an entitlement perspective onlife, yeah, like, I deserve to
be rich and happy and have agreat job and a great marriage,
and everything in my life shouldbe perfect, especially and easy,
especially because I belong toJesus, and, you know, he's in
(13:12):
charge of my life. And if he'sdoing, if I'm doing what I'm
supposed to do before him, andhe's doing right by me, that
everything in my life will hitthis ultimate standard, almost
heaven, like in a way, whereeverything in my life is
perfect, and often we're thrownin our walk with God when we
deal with unpleasantness orunexpected problems, because
that expectation gap exists. AndI think maybe our generations
(13:38):
have this problem, maybe morethan any other generation ever
has, simply because, how couldwe not appreciate the things
that we have? How could we notwake up every day and say, Wow,
is this cool to live at thistime in history with all of
these amenities and conveniencesand blessings and benefits that
that exist, right? I mean,there's so many things that just
(13:59):
that just are a part of our lifenow,
Dave Leake (14:00):
yeah, this, let's, let's just, we keep saying like,
Oh, things are, things aregetting better. Let's just watch
a little bit more of this, andwe can
Jeff Leake (14:07):
talk more context.
Yeah.
Unknown (14:10):
How lucky are we? The late, great satirist PJ O'Rourke
summed it up in one word,dentistry. One could easily add
electricity, air conditioning,and lest we forget, indoor
plumbing. Lu the 14thmagnificent palace of
Versailles, had no proper wastefacilities. People relieved
themselves where they stood inhallways behind curtains and in
(14:34):
the gardens. One contemporaryobserver noted that Versailles
was the receptacle of all ofhumanity's horrors, the
passageways, corridors andcourtyards are filled with urine
and fecal matter. This is Lu the14th we are talking about, maybe
the richest man on earth at thetime. Ask yourself this
question, would you prefer tolive in a studio apartment with
(14:57):
electricity, a window airconditioner or. And indoor
plumbing, or a Versailles Palacewith none of these things in
19th century, stop
Jeff Leake (15:06):
there for a minute.
Okay, so I actually had thisreaction when I was in London a
couple years ago. We wentthrough one of the palaces
there, and I started askingquestions about conveniences.
And I thought to myself, if youwere to give me a choice between
living where I live now with arefrigerator and a microwave and
indoor plumbing like, like, likeI have, and air conditioning and
(15:27):
a vehicle to drive around in,like, the televisions that I
watch like I would I would muchrather live today in my home
than in a 15th century castle. Imean, there's just, there's no
comparison. Now, the artwork isamazing. The ceiling heights are
(15:47):
incredible. Probably some of theprivilege that they enjoyed was
was great, but if you start toget down to the nitty gritty, it
would be like going on amissions trip, in a way, into a
very remote place where they hadnothing to rely upon. I mean, if
you went back in time, you wouldnotice the odor and the
inconveniences of everything. Imean, you're there was no
(16:09):
driving down the road to order apizza or bringing in Uber Eats
to have your groceriesdelivered. I mean, everything
had to be slaughtered rightbefore it was it was consumed.
So, I mean, it's, that's pretty,pretty intense, right there,
just thinking about that changein the era that we live in now,
Dave Leake (16:27):
it's not just conveniences. Let's, let's keep
going, because I think those aregreat people are like, why I'd
rather have less processed food?
Yes, but there's a lot. There'smore. Let's keep going.
Unknown (16:37):
American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson observed
that no one wore white shirts.
The pollution indoors turnedeverything black. Here's another
blessing, antibiotics. In 1924Calvin Coolidge, Jr, the son of
the President of the UnitedStates, died from a blister from
playing tennis on the WhiteHouse court, many of the best
doctors of the day wereconsulted, multiple diagnostic
(17:00):
tests were run, and he wasadmitted to one of the top
hospitals in the country.
Chelsea Follett, my colleague atthe Cato Institute, has written,
yet he died within a week ofinfection. Deaths from infection
of a minor cut or blister wereextremely common at the time,
and no amount of wealth or powercould save a patient in almost
(17:23):
every way, life is materiallybetter than what it was in the
past, and not just the distantpast, either. In 1997 a 42 inch
TV screen cost $15,000 today youcan buy one for under $200 so
why aren't we more excited aboutthe future and the new wonders
(17:44):
that await us there? Becausehuman beings are born
complainers, the negativeemotions are much more powerful
and longer lasting than positiveones. That's just the way we are
wired. But the truth is that ifyou are living today, you are
the beneficiary of countlesslife enhancements, and not just
in developed countries almosteverywhere, consider the
(18:04):
following global statistics.
Between 1950 and 2020 theaverage inflation adjusted
income per person rose over 300%between 1960 and 2023 the
average life expectancy Rose 46%from 50 years to 73 years
between 1961 and 2017 the dailysupply of calories Rose 38% from
2100 to 2900 today, even inAfrica, obesity is a growing
(18:30):
concern, worried about theenvironment. There's plenty of
good news there too, the chanceof a person dying in a natural
catastrophe, earthquake, flood,drought, Storm, wildfire, all
landslide fell by almost 99%over the last century. Between
1982 and 2016 the global treecanopy cover increased by an
(18:50):
area larger than Alaska andMontana combined in 2017 the
world database on protectedareas reported that 15% of the
planet's land surface wascovered by protected areas.
That's an area almost double thesize of the United States. With
so much good news around us, whyare we so gloomy? We can pause
(19:11):
that now,
Jeff Leake (19:15):
yeah, that's a good question, yeah, yeah, that's a
good place to ask like, why arewe so gloomy?
Dave Leake (19:21):
Human beings are born complainers as a hilarious
life. And it makes me like,yeah, like, I feel a little
guilty hearing that
Jeff Leake (19:27):
and negative emotions are more attractive
than positive ones, just likenegative news is more makes more
money than than positive. Andyou even say just negative,
polarizing, right? So here'ssome others. This comes from the
book factfulness. This is, thisis such amazing stuff, if you
care about the world. So extremepoverty is dropping in 1800 85%
(19:50):
of the world lived in extremepoverty today. Less than 9% do.
I don't think anybody knowsthose kinds of things. Say that
one more time, 85% lived inextreme poverty. Poverty in the
world in nine in 1800 now, notless than 9% crazy, yeah. Global
life expectancy in 1950 theglobal life expectancy was 5050,
(20:10):
years. Today it's over 72 okay,I
Dave Leake (20:15):
think, I think what go back for a second to the to
the extreme poverty? Yep. So,like, here's the here's the
context for that. We hear allthe time about the, the, what's
it called the economic gaps?
That was the income gaps thatare increasing constantly, how
the rich are getting richerconstantly, which is true, but
actually the whole world'sgetting richer too.
Jeff Leake (20:36):
Yeah. So this is he, in fact, when I see lists 10
instincts that skew ourthinking, and one is the gap
instinct thinking and binaryeverything's rich and poor. And
so what we're saying is the richare getting richer but the poor
are getting richer. Yeah, right.
So it's not that the rich aren'tgetting richer and the gap
between rich and poor are isn'tincreasing. It's just that
everyone's going up. Now there'sstill, you could say, well,
(21:00):
there's still an injusticebetween rich and poor. It's
true, but poor people aregetting richer, which is a good
thing, like, we can't ignorethat aspect of things. Well,
Dave Leake (21:11):
the Yeah, I mean, Hans Rosling talks, you know, in
that book factfulness, about howsomething can be getting much
better and still not be fixed.
Yeah. So, like, is, is, youknow, the income inequality,
like, oh, we could be helpingmore people. I mean, we should
be helping more people, but thepeople that are at a
disadvantage are much it's amuch smaller percentage than it
(21:31):
used to be. That's a good thing.
Yeah, I think this stuff that weshould we should be able to
celebrate that idea where theywere talking about, about
negative emotions. You heardabout that, that idea of loss
aversion. Loss aversion is theidea that So studies have
studies, studies have shown thatlosses feel about twice as
painful as an equivalent gain ispleasurable. So if you were to
(21:54):
lose $10 or get $10 it feelstwice as bad to lose $10 as it
does to have somebody give you10 it's like, oh, that was nice.
But because you're like, No,because you're like, that was
$10 I mean, it's like, not a bigdeal, but it feels way worse. So
you know, if it's the sameamount of like, a lot of studies
have shown, like, even if youknow, you're 90% likely to make
(22:15):
money, but there's 10% of losinga decent amount of money, people
are much more prone to, like,protect what they have. So I
think the idea of the media, andnot just the media, but our
culture amplifying the loss,sparks these emotions that maybe
skew our perspective.
Jeff Leake (22:33):
Yeah. So what should we do with this? Like, we could
go on and on with more of these,these stats, like, so there's so
for instance, here's anotherone. Global industry literacy
has risen from 50% in 1960 to86% today. That's a huge thing,
right? So child mortality rates,1800 40% of children died before
(22:55):
age five today, just 4% in lowincome countries today, 60% of
girls finish primary school,which is a huge increase from
what it was in the past. Soglobally, things are improving,
personally when it comes toconveniences and medical
advancements and things like thelittle story about about the
(23:19):
blister that killed thepresident, son,
Unknown (23:21):
insane, yeah, dead by now, just just the
Jeff Leake (23:25):
fact that we live in an era that understands
antibiotics, right, let alonelike I just got off the phone
with my friend who had a bonemarrow transplant and is going
to come out of this procedurewith a completely new license
lease on Life, like the level ofmedical advancements that are
available to us today is justmind blowing. You know, there
(23:47):
even, even like, the fact thathealth care is available to
everybody is a huge thing. Now,we could make the case that
everyone should get the samelevel of insurance, or maybe
there's still inequity in thatarea too. But for the longest
time, only rich people got goodmedical care. Everybody else had
to get an in home visit from adoctor that really had no
(24:08):
specialties. Sure. So your levelof care has gone up your
Dave Leake (24:12):
level, but even that idea okay? And for the record,
I'm not saying that equity isnot a good idea or that people
shouldn't have equity across allstratospheres of society,
economically, racially, etc, youknow, nationality wise. But if,
if, until there's comparativeequity or meaning like people
(24:32):
are, it's not just like equalopportunity, it's people have
equal amount of stuff, if we'relike, in terms of, you know, not
just, not just things. Youunderstand what
Jeff Leake (24:41):
I'm saying though, yes, if opportunities and yes
Dave Leake (24:45):
until, if we can't be content or grateful, until we
hit a society like that, thenour entire lives will be
miserable.
Jeff Leake (24:55):
And if you look at equity between now and 1925 like
if you just go back 100 years.
We're ahead of the game nomatter who you are where you
live, right? So no matter whoyou are where you live, you're
better than you would have beenif you were born 100 years ago,
right? And so that should be thecontext for the discussion about
other inequities.
Dave Leake (25:13):
And there's, there's, there's more I want to
get into, because so where do wego from here? Is a good
question, but just just tohighlight this, the binary
thinking that gets you stuck inthe problem is, well, if we
don't have major fear aroundthis issue, nothing's going to
change. Yes, that's, that's,that's a false dichotomy. That's
actually not how things work,
Jeff Leake (25:33):
and it's not healthy, and it's not ever how
God works in us to bring change.
He doesn't say make everyoneterrified enough to act fear and
guilt and shame are not good,lasting motivators. They're not
unifiers. They're notemotionally healthy. They're not
spiritually healthy. There hasto be something else that
motivates us to do good in theworld and to solve problems than
(25:55):
fear, anxiety and gills, angerand shame, right? It's actually
Dave Leake (26:02):
a really common way to lead change in general, now
that I think about it, like, Iknow you mentioned this book,
John Cotter is leading changetalks about that idea about
creating a burning platform,like, if we don't jump, we're
gonna we're gonna die in this,you know? And that idea of,
like, it's lost version, you'replaying on lots of version.
Like, if we don't do this, it'sgonna be too late. We're gonna
(26:24):
you, we're gonna loseeverything. I think that is,
it's a little, I mean, maybesometimes it's the right thing
to do in leadership context, butin society, well, if
Jeff Leake (26:32):
the platform is burning, sure you tell everyone
sure platform is burning. But ifit's not, you don't set it on
fire.
Dave Leake (26:39):
Yeah. Well, and if it's, if it's, I can't follow
this analogy. But if it'sgetting better, the problem is
that we can never acknowledgeit's getting better, or else,
oh, it's not hot enough to jumpnow, yeah, people are, but that,
I just think that there's alittle bit of if we're not
careful, like, not thateverybody here is leading change
in this way. But I think ifwe're not, but it is the
(27:00):
atmosphere of our culture, yeah,if we're not careful, we put
careful, we perpetuate thiscycle of shame and fear, and
it's manipulative, and it alsoprobably steals from when
Jeff Leake (27:09):
we may it may not be meant to be manipulative. Some
people probably mean it thatway, agreed, but it just, it's
just like, it's almost like thebreath that we breathe, and what
it's doing, it's, it's killingour soul, yeah, that's right,
it's and Okay, I think probablyone day we'll stand before God
and we'll get have to give anaccount for the fact that we
live in an era of such blessingand prosperity, but we were
(27:30):
ungrateful for it, and we didn'tnecessarily see it from the
right perspective. Because Iimagine God must be sometimes
looking down from his throne andthinking to himself, what you
complaining about that now?
Like, come on, like there's justso much that I think we
overlook. I'm I watched thisvideo, I felt like I needed to
(27:52):
repent. Like, God forgive me.
I'm so sorry. I i Look at the Ilook at the minutia of what I
don't have, and not the, not theenormous mountain of evidence of
the things that I do have, and Ineed to live in light of. So
here's what God has providedinto our lives, right? Yeah,
(28:13):
it's
Dave Leake (28:13):
July 1 on the second. Yeah, it's July 2. Date
of recording, I'm sure it'll bereleased a week later, whatever.
But so if you're listening tothis, when it drops, it's the
middle of the summer, you know,2025 I'm just wondering, like,
how could we, how could we beginto shift and adjust our
perspective to make this like, asummer of gratitude? That's a
(28:34):
good thought, because I think, Ithink, like, especially in the
part of the world we live now,Pittsburgh, man, it's so much
better, at least. I think it is,you know, right now. Well, now
the parts of the day, yeah, forparts of the day, till the
thunderstorm, whatever. It'slike, you know, it's, you know,
negative 10 degrees and like, Imean, it's great right now. And
(28:54):
I think, like, now is the timeto appreciate we always should,
but appreciate what God's givenus and and begin to adjust our
perspective. I actually think,you know, there are all these
studies about how psychologyaffects health, like the way you
think affects your health, evenjust shifting towards gratitude,
that's an effective form ofmedicine. Like laughter is an
(29:15):
effective medicine, butgratitude is as well. Hope is an
effective form of medicine. Ithink our health would get
better. Think our relationshipswould get better. I think our
relationship with God would bericher. Our church community
would be better. So how could weturn the current atmosphere we
live in into a summer ofgratitude? To shift
Jeff Leake (29:34):
this so we actually did this. So Wednesday mornings,
we have staff prayer, andpastor, Greg Jacobs from our
butler campus, led it thismorning, and he he did something
that I have taught often, that Ido by practice often. He said to
us, let's take the next three tofive minutes, and I want you to
write down or say out loud toGod in your own private prayer
(29:55):
time, 30 things you're thankfulfor. 30 takes. Five, I can come
up with quick 10, not that hard15. It's pretty much in my
wheelhouse. But once you getpast that, then you have to sort
of search a little bit. So itwas, what am I? What am I
thankful for? This is somethingthat I regular practice during
my prayer time every morning, isI get into a season of
(30:18):
Thanksgiving, and I force myselfto come up with 30 new things
that I wasn't thinking aboutbefore that I should be thankful
for. And I think that's a that'sa really helpful thing to do.
Another thing to do would be,every time you use some modern
convenience, pause and givethanks to God, like you get out
(30:39):
of the shower, like the JimmyCarr was saying. You say, thank
you God for this shower, likewhere they still stop and smell
the roses, the little thingswhen you pop the food in the
micro. Thank you God for thismicrowave. You get in the car
and you've turned the keys. Ithank God I can I have this car
to drive, you know? I mean, sitdown. You have your meal. This
is actually what praying beforea meal is really all about Thank
(31:01):
you, God that I have this food.
For many people, it's aperfunctory religious ritual to
pray before you eat. Buttechnically, the way that
originates is that when you hadfood, you sat down, you said,
Thank you, God, I have this foodto eat like it's designed to be
a an exercise in gratitude.
Yeah, yeah. I don't think thefood so much needs blessed.
(31:25):
Sure, it needs we need to bethankful for it. That's what it
is,
Dave Leake (31:27):
right? I think here's here's the other thing
that I think maybe helps just asmuch. So those are good
disciplines of practice to beintentional, to insert
gratitude. I think practices ofbecoming aware of where
ingratitude is or where, like,let's say things aren't are
meeting our expectations, youknow, like, just, just personal
(31:50):
examples. Like, you know, sleephas been just the last couple of
weeks. Like, I've been, we'vebeen on lower sleep because
we've had to be. It's, you know,it's just been a very intense
season for us. I found myselfsome morning because I'm tired
and lower energy, like just in amood, and I'm like, you know, it
almost feels like an injustice,like I'm the one staying up that
(32:12):
late. I'm the one like drivingthe the speed that we're trying
to get our house on the market.
But, you know, because I got tobed later than I wanted to,
maybe my kids woke up in themiddle of the night. I'm so
frustrated, or I get into if I'mgetting into a small
disagreement with Sarah or, youknow, fighting about something
stupid, I just think, like, thepractice of like, man, like, I'm
(32:32):
gonna choose to be thankfullike, for for anything. You
could always find something thatcould be better about it,
whether it's your spouse or yourkids or your house, your job, or
you could choose to see thethings about that thing that are
amazing. Like, who was it? Iknow you preach about this a
lot, but that the phrase, like,what you appreciate, appreciate,
Jeff Leake (32:54):
yeah, right, yeah, right, right, right. And what
you depreciate, depreciates interms
Dave Leake (32:58):
of in value to you, you know, like, obviously, value
in some degree is in the eye ofthe beholder. And if you choose
to value what you have by beinglike, I have the best wife and
kids in the world, you know whatI mean, you begin to I don't
know. I think it's shifting tolike. Feel where are the 10
spots of what I'm dissatisfiedwith if you're not fully
(33:19):
healthy? I mean, I believe weshould be praying and believing
for healing, but I'm thankfulthat I can still walk, or that I
can use my hands, or I'mthankful for modern medicine.
You know, i Does this makesense? What I'm saying like
just, it's
Jeff Leake (33:33):
taking a deep breath where you are in the moment
you're in, and looking for thething that you should become
grateful for, right? It's seeingthe value or the silver lining
in every every cloud, or thevalue in every moment. That is,
that is the thing.
Dave Leake (33:49):
I think I'll try, I'll try to different way one
more time, because that's notquite what I mean. I think it's
looking for, what are myperceptions of what's lacking?
Okay? And it's, it's choosing todecide to be grateful in spite
of something not meeting theexpectation. Okay? So it's like,
oh man, like, things are goingto be so much better when the
(34:10):
the boss that I have at workfinally shifts out, or I get, I
get a, you know, I'm making alittle more money. Whatever it
is that I'm so frustrated bythis, like, this is nagging
Splinter, yeah? Like, I thinkit's it. When I've done this
successfully, it's the biggestrelief in the world when
something's really bothering youand you're just like, God, thank
thank you, though, for for thisstuff, even with that person, or
(34:31):
even with you know what I'msaying? Like, figuring out, what
are the things right now thatI'm allowing to suck the joy out
of my life because myexpectations aren't being met.
Can I read a verse real quick?
Yeah, I think that sort ofspeaks on sort of this idea. So
Hebrews 13 verses, five and six.
(34:53):
It says this, your life shouldbe free from the love of money.
Be satisfied with what you havefor he. Himself, as Jesus said,
I will never leave you norforsake you. Therefore we may
boldly say, The Lord is myhelper. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me that justgives me peace to even just read
that? But the beginning there,your life should be free from
(35:13):
the love of money. The ideathere is the love of money is
the expectation of I need what Ihave, or I need more. You know
what I'm saying, and I can't besatisfied until I get it. Yes,
and it's, it's probably also,you know, greed, the love of
money. Greed isn't just you havea lot and so you, you're now
(35:34):
greedy. Greed is also being sopetrified about, Hey, I like,
I'll be honest, this is, this isan issue for me sometimes, like,
oh, we shouldn't be thatgenerous. You know what I mean?
Like, that's gonna put us I knowthat sounds bad. I'm just being
honest though. Like, it's like,like, oh, you know we need to
give somebody a card. Like,Sarah is a very generous person.
And I've noticed myselfsometimes being like, Scrooge
(35:57):
McDuck or whatever. Like, youknow what I mean? Like, trying
to pinch like, Oh, we didn'tgive it 50 bucks. Maybe, like,
10 bucks is fine here, like, youknow, but, but that that's a
form of greed. Well, there is arange, right? I'm sure there
isn't a range. I mean, you canbe unwise in being too generous.
You're right, but if you're, ifyour heart is always pulling
(36:17):
back, yes, do a little less.
Yeah, yeah. Because, and for me,that's a trust thing. Also, my
trust sometimes strays out oflike, God's gonna take care of
this, and it's I need tofinancially manage, or I need to
whatever, whatever resources mytime or my sleep, or, you know,
do I have time for this phonecall that I'm gonna take? And
again, wisdom and boundariesneed to be taken into
(36:40):
consideration. But again,Hebrews, 13, five, your life
should be free from the love ofmoney. Be satisfied with what
you have. For he himself hassaid, I will never leave you or
forsake you. Therefore we mayboldly say, The Lord is my
helper. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me? It'sgood, you know, in a in a world
(37:01):
that we live in that is sodisillusioned and jaded by
what's not fixed, or whatwhat's, you know, inequitable,
or what's wrong, what theinjustices are, I don't think we
should be taking our foot offthe pedal to pray and to act, to
try To make things like heavenas much as possible now, but
(37:24):
there should be a level ofgratitude to where, yeah,
Jeff Leake (37:26):
and a level of perspective too. So, you know
Jesus, I forget what chapter itis now Dave, but he was
responding to an interactionwith some people who were
putting to the test. And hesaid, life does not consist, and
the abundance of yourpossessions, and I always like
to counter that it actuallyconsists in the abundance of
your heart. Yes, right. So ifyou have an abundant heart,
(37:47):
which is, you know, described inthe verses that you read, what
is, what does it mean to have anabundant heart? It means a heart
that's filled with gratitude. Itmeans a heart that recognizes
God's grace. It means a heartthat's filled with the Holy
Spirit. It means a heart that'sfilled with joy. It means the
hearts of living in the moment.
And if you have an abundantheart, then that's where joy
comes from. You know, I think italso is just good. Bringing it
back to what we've been talkingabout here, to have a little
(38:09):
historical context of your lifeis important. So on July 1 every
year. I don't know if you knowthis guy, Dave, but he used to
be a Pittsburgh pirate. Bobbybunia, okay, so he lit he was a
pirate in the era of Andy VanSlyke and Barry Bonds and the
early 1990s which was the lasttime the pirates were almost in
the world when I was born. Yeah,okay, early 90s, yeah. Bobby
(38:32):
Bonilla was traded to the Metsand got this exorbitant contract
with the Mets, and he had sixyears left, and they wanted to
get rid of him. And so they hadto make salary cup room for him.
And so they wanted to clear outhis contract. And they decided
to pay him off by giving him adeferred contract where every
year for 35 years, he would get$1.3 million on July 1, all the
(38:56):
way to 2035 so So Bobby, when hehasn't been playing baseball for
20 years, but yesterday, July 1,he got a check for $1.3 million
I was I was walking with mom,and I was thinking to myself,
what would it be like just toget one of those checks? Like,
one time someone say it's July1, here's your $1.3 million
(39:18):
like, he made himself a reallygood agreement. But if you were
to talk to Calvin Coolidge in1925 he would think, what would
it be like to actually have livein an era with antibiotics? My
son would still be alive. Yeah,you know what I mean? Like,
right? If we have a context forwhere we are and what we have,
and we don't see it always aswe're we're lacking something,
(39:38):
but we see it as that we've beengiven a lot more than we deserve
then, then we live in a gratefulperspective, right? So
everything's a matter ofcontext, and because we live in
the the, you know, toppercentage of people on Earth,
even in 2025 if you live inAmerica, wherever you live,
whatever's going on in. Life,you're better off than people
(40:00):
who live in Burundi, right?
Because Burundi is the thirdpoorest place on Earth. So I
just think we need to, I justthink we need that context too
to be constantly remindingourselves I'm more blessed than
I realize. I'm more blessed thanI deserve, and I need to be
thankful for what God's placedin my life.
Dave Leake (40:20):
Okay, so let's, let's build out our summer of
gratitude. Idea. Okay, so whatare daily habits and practices?
So the daily
Jeff Leake (40:27):
30, right, get up and thank God for 30 things that
would be one thing to do everyevery moment that you use a
convenience. Thank God for it.
Pause and thank God for it. Youridea was, as you look around
your life every day, becomegrateful for who you're with and
what they add into your
Dave Leake (40:49):
life. Yeah, especially like, I think, find
what feels like the lacks or thepain points and choose to see it
from a different place. Yeah,you know, I don't have to wait
until this gets better to bethankful for what I do have.
Jeff Leake (41:01):
Yeah, actually, there's and again, I'm doing
poor on book references, but Iwill try to remember it later.
But they say that couples arethe that are the happiest are
those who look at each otherwith rose colored glasses. Yeah,
that they and you could Googlethis, probably you'll find this
if somebody wants to look thisup, if you tend to exaggerate
(41:24):
your partner's positivequalities, because what happens
in marriages that start todeteriorate is we exaggerate
their negative qualities, right?
But if you exaggerate theirpositive quality, and you look
at your your your spouse throughrose colored glasses, even
though everyone else looks atthem and think, What are you
talking about? She's not likethat at all, or he's not like
that at all. Okay, you will behappier if you live in a
(41:46):
positive delusion than if youlive in a true reality. Now,
that's not to say that you walkaround in a purposeful delusion,
but when it comes torelationships, it's better to
see your partner through theeyes of vision and than it is to
see them through the eyes oftheir of their worst moments.
Dave Leake (42:11):
Yeah, I think that was that there was a study done
by John Gottman that's yeah,Gottman Institute, yeah, that
did the four horsemen of theapocalypse for marriages. Yes,
criticism, contempt,defensiveness and stonewalling.
And he was the one that talkedabout how marriages that see
each other through rose coloredglasses are much happier, yeah,
because they become what you'rewhat you see them as to you,
(42:33):
right? That, I think it'sbeautiful. Yeah, to his and
Jeff Leake (42:38):
if you and if you look at the world that way. I
think that also helps, not thatyou live in denial. We're not
saying live in denial. We're notsaying, Stop acting on the
things that you need to act onto make the world or your family
or your life a better place.
Like, get on the scale and yousay, I'm skinny, you know, kind
of a thing like, there's acertain limit to what positive
confession can do in your life.
(43:01):
But, but, yeah. I think that's avery powerful thing. I
absolutely do as well.
Dave Leake (43:06):
There's a song that's, um, do you know the
artist? Forest, Frank, no, he,he's like a, kind of a trendy
arts when I was a Christianartist. He has a song that's
called nothing else. I'm notsure if we could play this on
the outro. Matt, I'm not sure ifwe get in copyright trouble, but
if we could, we should, okay. Hesays, No, he doesn't know we
can't. Then you can listen to ityourself. But for summer of
gratitude, that's been one ofthe theme songs for me and
(43:28):
Sarah.
Jeff Leake (43:29):
Are you already in a summer of gratitude going in
we've not? It's
Dave Leake (43:33):
not branded like that, okay? But now it is, yeah,
yeah. I came up with that, yeah,no, but it's, you know, I think,
like, songs like that, he justtalks about, like, you know,
like part, one of the lines is,I've got my family, Jesus and my
health, and if I've got allthat, I really don't need
nothing else. That's how, like,the song goes. And I, I love
that perspective, you know, Ithink I just want to live a life
(43:57):
that's free, free from offense,that's free from that. I don't
even know that, what we call theexpectation gap, that's free
from the heaviness. And I justwant to live, live this summer,
especially thankful for all thatGod's given me with the right
context. Yes, obviously we'restill working for justice. We're
working for improvement, equity,all this different stuff. We're
(44:18):
working to to bring the kingdom,but I just want to, yeah, I want
to live a life that's thankfulthe way that we're supposed to
be. Here's
Jeff Leake (44:27):
what it says in Philippians, chapter two, verse
14, do everything withoutgrumbling or arguing, so that
you may become blameless andpure children of God without
fault in a warped and crookedgeneration. So that's a good
combination. Live as live withgratitude rather than
complaining. Even though youlive in a war and corrupt
(44:49):
generation in the midst of itall, still do that. Then the
next phrase you will shine amongthem like stars in the sky, as
you hold firmly to the word oflife. And then. Be able to boast
on that day of Christ that I didnot run or labor in vain, that
that's you know, the world iscomplaining and living in fear
(45:11):
and dread, but those of us whofollow Jesus, even in a warped
and corrupt generation, shouldlive without grumbling and
complaining instead beinggrounded, grateful for
Dave Leake (45:23):
Matt wanted me to throw something in here. We read
a book in our men's group, andcan't think what the name was
that had a flag on a beach onit, yeah. Why do I do what? I
don't want to do something likethat by JP, PUD, I don't know if
you know that, guys. Yeah,anyway, and he had this point
that we really liked in it. Wewere discussing this about, if
(45:44):
you notice, what you tend tocomplain about the most is it
tends to show the area ofgreatest entitlement. Ooh, like,
Oh, I'm entitled to beingtreated differently. Oh,
Jeff Leake (45:56):
man, that's intense.
I think that's what I
Dave Leake (45:58):
was trying to get at, is figuring out what, what
am I currently complainingabout,
Jeff Leake (46:02):
expectation gap?
What am I so that would be thenext thing in the summer of
gratitude, listen to yourself,yes, complain, because that will
reveal your greatestentitlement. That's
Unknown (46:13):
what I'm that was what I was trying to get at. JP, just
said it way better.
Jeff Leake (46:16):
And, and then repent, yeah, of that
entitlement. And and shift yourheart into a place of gratitude.
Exactly, yeah, exactly. Thatgoes way deeper than 30 things
to be grateful for. Pause andthank God for the fact that we
live in 2025 it's like, hearyourself, yes, hear what's
coming out of
Unknown (46:36):
your in your mental monolog. Oh, man, you know
that's good,
Jeff Leake (46:40):
yeah. Like, really, oh, so frustrating. Wow. Yeah, I
think we maybe just need toleave it on that note, Dave,
because that hit really, that,like I felt that in the chest,
like conviction, good stuff. All
Dave Leake (46:53):
right. Well, I'm grateful for the show that we're
gonna be doing, and also forpeople that are part of the
show, that are listening rightnow. Thank you for being a part,
and we would really be gratefulif you could help us to spread
the word. You can do a number ofa number of things for this. You
can leave a five star review.
You can like and subscribe ifit's on YouTube, share it with a
friend, whatever you want to do.
All of it's helpful to us, andwe would appreciate two minutes
(47:15):
just
Jeff Leake (47:15):
to spread the word.
Help feel like summer ofgratitude needs a t shirt. Dave,
maybe I'm not the one to designit, though. Producer, Matt,
maybe we unless you want tostock Canva t
Dave Leake (47:23):
shirt. Yeah, good stuff, hey. Well, we are so glad
you chose to join us. Hope youenjoy the beginning of your
summer of gratitude. We'll seeyou guys next time you.
How bad are things really right now? Are they
(00:02):
getting worse? Do we live in oneof the most progressively
negative situations world's everseen, or are things getting
better? It feels like what wehear all the time from news and
culture is just that things arebad, but is it possible that
maybe while some things are bad,that things are getting better
in general, and ultimately, howshould this affect the way that
we live our lives today? We'regoing to talk about things like,
(00:26):
what is negative, what'spositive, what the context has
been in the scope of history.
But also, how do I live a lifefull of gratitude, peace and
contentment in a world swirlingwith negativity? If you want to
hear more, tune in. Heyeverybody. Welcome to the
Allison Park leadership podcast,where we have culture creating
conversations. I'm Dave
Jeff Leake (00:47):
and I'm Jeff, and we're so glad you're with us
today. Again, we're father andson. We're both pastors on staff
at Allison Park Church, andDave's getting ready to make a
big transition here, so headedto Jacksonville, Florida to
plant the church in 2026 give usa quick status update. How's it
going? Dave,
Dave Leake (01:06):
the last three weeks have been 7am until midnight.
Work days,
Jeff Leake (01:12):
we hear the fatigue in your I'm so tired. But
Dave Leake (01:15):
today is the last day we kind of have the well
sort of, but it's the last dayfor the home listing. We're
getting pictures today and be onthe market, hopefully
Jeff Leake (01:24):
this home listing not homeless, right? It sound
like you said the homelessthing. So, oh, you've been
working on your house, gettingready to list it so that you can
sell it. And then once it'ssold, you move to Jacksonville,
and not a whole lot else helphappens until that.
Dave Leake (01:39):
Yeah. I mean, I mean, you know, after, hopefully
after this week, we'll be movinginto, you know, we're doing web,
website development, and, excuseme, brand branding, and all that
kind of stuff. Yeah, so, butagain, if anybody's interested
in being a part of the team inany kind of way, if you want to
be part of our prayer team, wewould love that. If you want to
support financially, we'd lovethat if you want
Jeff Leake (02:00):
to move down Absolutely. Yeah. People have
come and asked, well, whathappens when Dave moves? Are you
guys gonna keep the podcast? Andwe are? We're gonna keep the
podcast. We're looking atdifferent formats, ways to do
it. Maybe sometimes Dave willfly up here and we'll do in
studio. Maybe sometimes we'll dosome kind of tool that allows
for us to be doing it at adistance. We also may change the
(02:22):
name of the podcast and staywon't be Allison Park anymore,
although you're still alwayselse true, Dave, yeah, so, but
yeah, so that's developments yetto come. We don't have any shout
outs specifically for reviewstoday do. But
Dave Leake (02:35):
gratitude to everybody who's been a part of
this. So thank you for alwaysbeing a part of our podcast.
Family. Yeah, excited for this,this next season of the podcast
as well, it's gonna be great,yeah. So you found a video that
is good perspective for theseason that we're
Jeff Leake (02:51):
in, yeah? So I, you know, we have commented on this
book a number of times, calledfactfulness. It was written by a
Swede, someone from Sweden, andhe talks about how things in the
world may be bad, but a lot ofthings are getting better. And
he offers a lot of data aboutthat. And in line with that,
(03:12):
because we had talked aboutmaybe doing an episode on this
particular idea, I saw thislittle clip starts out with
comedian Jimmy Carr making somevery serious statements about
how we should view the worldright now, and then it shifts
into another teaching video froman organization called Prager u
(03:35):
which gives good statistics thatmight be very surprising. And so
we're going to make our waythrough this video. It's a
longer video, but we may well itmay show some of it, and pause
and do some commentary, andwe'll use this as sort of our
guide for the discussion today.
Yeah. So, so I guess thequestion of an episode, is the
world getting worse and worse,or is it getting better and
better, or is it a mixture ofboth? Is kind of, I guess, the
(03:57):
question we want to address. Solet's go ahead and start with
that little clip
Unknown (04:02):
you get used to how great your life is. No one had a
hot shower until 50 years ago.
So I try and do this thing whenyou stand in a hot shower.
George Mack, my friend, pointedthis out to me when, well, look
when you stand in a hot shower,just for a moment, just go,
Well, no one that you admirefrom 100 years ago had this
simple pleasure in life, andwhen you look at the world that
we live in, we're like you'redoing there's been 100 billion
(04:24):
people ever, right? We are inthe top, top percentile in terms
of the luck that we have had,that the lives, like the the
calorific intake, that we justtake for granted, the fact that
our children don't die. Youknow, in the first year the
modern medicine and our livesand the entertainment that we
get, we're living like kings. Weare, in fact, the most fortunate
(04:46):
human beings ever.
Jeff Leake (04:49):
Okay, why don't we pause there, and we will come
back to this additional butlet's just start there. Dave,
what was your reaction like youjust a few minutes ago? Saw this
clip. For the first time, whatwas your reaction to what this
comedian was saying in terms of,you know, his reflections on on
life?
Dave Leake (05:06):
Yeah, I just think it's, I just think it's
different than what you thinkabout, what you expect. You
know, man, I feel like I wish Ihad been more verbal to say than
this. My brains a little foggy.
I think so this is probably oneof the things we'll maybe theme
this out to be. But it makes methink, like, I don't think I'm
grateful enough for what I dohave, you know, I mean, like,
(05:28):
let alone America, in comparisonto places in the world that it's
a little rougher to live in, butjust even now versus 100 years
ago or 50 years ago.
Jeff Leake (05:38):
Yeah. So I think I have, I have a number of
reactions to it. First, I thinkthat because we are living in a
world of constant outrage,right? So news media and social
media is feeding the outrage, weare constantly fed the bad news.
We aren't really told a lot ofgood news. We're just told the
bad news, because fear andanticipation of the bad thing
(05:59):
that's going to happen is whatkeeps people tuned in, and what
keeps them scrolling right? Andso there is, there is a culture
war, and there's a lot of badnews being shared all the time.
I think, secondly, I think a lotof people in our era don't have
a good understanding ofhistorical perspective, sure,
like a lot of people, just thinkthe life has always been this
(06:20):
way, like they don't understandhow much technological and
economic advancement hashappened across the globe in the
LA in our lifetime. Like, so,you know, I'm a boomer, and
Boomers have lived through a lotof transitions. So when I was
born in 1964 life was at acertain level, and now things
(06:41):
have changed so much, and a lotof what we see as negative, like
so much technology change and somuch change in our culture, and
so many things that havehappened globally, and so many
wars and conflicts that havehappened, and the pandemic and
911 and like all of this stuffhas happened, and it's almost
like people can watch the newsOn any given day, and start to
(07:01):
think, Man, this must be the endtimes, because things are
getting worse and worse andworse. And yet, in many ways,
life has never been betterbecause of the level of
technological advancements,creature comforts, available
food, medicine, hospitals, youknow, just conveniences, like
you said, just the idea that youhave a hot shower. I mean,
(07:24):
that's a massive thing to standbecause there are many, many
times I go on a trip overseas toa place where maybe I don't have
a hot shower, and most places inthe world do now, and you're
like, boy do I miss having a hotshower. Boy, I miss a good hot
cup of coffee. Things that mostof the world never really knew a
long time ago, and now we sortof take for granted, but doesn't
(07:44):
take away the fact that thingsare still bad, right? There's
still a lot of things. We lookand we say, Man, that that's a
problem. Like, who is ever goingto solve that particular issue
there? And there's a lot of lotof that stuff too. Yeah. So, so,
you know, the lack of historicalperspective is interesting to me
as an old guy. Why do you thinkthat is from your generation's
(08:05):
perspective? I mean, yeah, dopeople just not care?
Dave Leake (08:08):
Like, I don't. Yeah, I don't. I think when you were
pointing out, like, the just thecultures view on life in
general, like, I've mentionedthis book, you know, a number of
times. It's been a little while,but there's a book that's all
about this. It's called Hate.
Hate. Inc, yeah, and it's aboutthe way that, you know,
regardless, as the partisanship,the way that news stations make
(08:31):
money is by polarizing,typically through fear or anger,
those kind of negative emotions,is what makes money, and it
generates a lot more revenue,they should, like, I can't even
name them, but there was like,statistics about the way news
stations used to present things,and it would be like, here's
here's what happened, and thenthere'd be like, an opinion
(08:52):
piece. But like, as soon asmedia started to polarize it,
ratings went way up. People wereglued to the screens. And so I
do think just the way theculture, culture talks about the
world, like, even when you saythat, like, So Hans Rosling
book, factfulness is about howthings can be bad but still
improving, yeah, but even sayingthings are bad, like, I guess
(09:15):
thing like, Will things ever notbe bad to some degree before
heaven. Because, I mean, thingsare also good. You know what? I
mean? Like, they're, they'rethey're not just bad and
improving, they're bad and goodand improving. Yeah, there's
just things that are like
Jeff Leake (09:32):
and getting worse.
They're bad and getting worseand good and improving, like,
all at the same time. But mostthings
Dave Leake (09:38):
that are bad are actually not getting worse. Most
things that are bad right now,like, if you we'll look at some
of those facts in just a minute.
I'm not saying that there aren'tproblems that are getting worse.
Like, obviously, tension in theMiddle East is getting worse
right now. It's, it's not theworst it's ever been.
Jeff Leake (09:54):
No, no, no.
Actually, there have beenmultiple wars that we, we talked
about in an episode about whatto do. Israel probably over a
year ago now. So there have beenconflicts. 1967 1973 and on it
goes right mid 2000s it's alwaysbeen bad in the Middle East over
the last 100 years or so. It'sbad today, but doesn't
(10:14):
necessarily mean it's gettingworse. Some people would make a
case that it might be getting
Dave Leake (10:19):
better, and maybe it is, but I'm saying, even if it
is getting worse, most thingsare getting better. Yeah, you
know.
Jeff Leake (10:26):
So, so now let's talk about, well, why is this
important? Okay, for there's acouple things. First, I think,
in our culture, we have a mentalhealth crisis, which is really
astonishing, because we live inthe most affluent time in human
history, in the most affluentnation on earth, right? But,
people's mental health is notgood. That's I'm not casting
blame if, by the way, you'regoing through a mental health
(10:46):
crisis due to some kind oftrauma you've walked through.
I'm just saying, generallyspeaking, we have a mental
health health crisis. So that'sone problem. Then I think,
secondly, you mentioned it,Dave, you say, I wonder if I'm
ungrateful, like, I think that'sa spiritual problem that can be
very personal, like maybe I getup and I see the bottom half of
things rather than the top half,and I concentrate on the the
(11:09):
difficulties of life rather thanthe goodness of God. Way too
much. Okay, so that's anotherissues in gratitude and what it
does to your soul. But then Ithink there's a third problem,
and that's just plain ignorance.
Yeah, okay. Again, that soundsreally harsh. Let me just back,
back it up for a moment, meaningthat we do not know certain
things that are true about 2025that were not true about 1975 or
(11:33):
1925 right? And if we have thecontext of things, the more
information you get, the moregrateful you are for the era
that you live in, becausethere's just so much that has
improved. And so I don't know ifmaybe that's the point which we
hear. The rest of this video togive us some of that, but
Dave Leake (11:55):
yeah, let's get there in a second. I'm there's a
there's a phenomenon. I'll lookit up in a second. I think it
might be called the expect.
Expectation gap. Okay, you heardabout
Jeff Leake (12:04):
this? Yeah, when? So it's, I don't know if it's a
phenomenon. I preached it as aSeries A while ago,
Dave Leake (12:11):
but isn't there?
Isn't there? I think there's apsychological it's where, it's
where your
Jeff Leake (12:14):
experiences don't meet your expectations, right?
And that gap where yourexperiences and your
expectations are at odds witheach other, or there's a
distance between them that youfeel disillusioned, yeah, and
Dave Leake (12:27):
disappointed. I think that when, when you
expect, like, oh, like, I see myfriends and they're living at
this level, like, I could befinancially better. I could have
more vacations. Or, you know,it's this has been rough, or my
health should be better, orwhatever it is, my family is
more dysfunctional than I thinkit should be, then you can live
because the ideal of what youwhat you think it should be, is
(12:48):
not there. You can live feelinglike my life is awful.
Jeff Leake (12:51):
I do think we do have this. And again, I'm using
these really harsh words, butprobably most of us have a bit
of an entitlement perspective onlife, yeah, like, I deserve to
be rich and happy and have agreat job and a great marriage,
and everything in my life shouldbe perfect, especially and easy,
especially because I belong toJesus, and, you know, he's in
(13:12):
charge of my life. And if he'sdoing, if I'm doing what I'm
supposed to do before him, andhe's doing right by me, that
everything in my life will hitthis ultimate standard, almost
heaven, like in a way, whereeverything in my life is
perfect, and often we're thrownin our walk with God when we
deal with unpleasantness orunexpected problems, because
that expectation gap exists. AndI think maybe our generations
(13:38):
have this problem, maybe morethan any other generation ever
has, simply because, how couldwe not appreciate the things
that we have? How could we notwake up every day and say, Wow,
is this cool to live at thistime in history with all of
these amenities and conveniencesand blessings and benefits that
that exist, right? I mean,there's so many things that just
(13:59):
that just are a part of our lifenow,
Dave Leake (14:00):
yeah, this, let's, let's just, we keep saying like,
Oh, things are, things aregetting better. Let's just watch
a little bit more of this, andwe can
Jeff Leake (14:07):
talk more context.
Yeah.
Unknown (14:10):
How lucky are we? The late, great satirist PJ O'Rourke
summed it up in one word,dentistry. One could easily add
electricity, air conditioning,and lest we forget, indoor
plumbing. Lu the 14thmagnificent palace of
Versailles, had no proper wastefacilities. People relieved
themselves where they stood inhallways behind curtains and in
(14:34):
the gardens. One contemporaryobserver noted that Versailles
was the receptacle of all ofhumanity's horrors, the
passageways, corridors andcourtyards are filled with urine
and fecal matter. This is Lu the14th we are talking about, maybe
the richest man on earth at thetime. Ask yourself this
question, would you prefer tolive in a studio apartment with
(14:57):
electricity, a window airconditioner or. And indoor
plumbing, or a Versailles Palacewith none of these things in
19th century, stop
Jeff Leake (15:06):
there for a minute.
Okay, so I actually had thisreaction when I was in London a
couple years ago. We wentthrough one of the palaces
there, and I started askingquestions about conveniences.
And I thought to myself, if youwere to give me a choice between
living where I live now with arefrigerator and a microwave and
indoor plumbing like, like, likeI have, and air conditioning and
(15:27):
a vehicle to drive around in,like, the televisions that I
watch like I would I would muchrather live today in my home
than in a 15th century castle. Imean, there's just, there's no
comparison. Now, the artwork isamazing. The ceiling heights are
(15:47):
incredible. Probably some of theprivilege that they enjoyed was
was great, but if you start toget down to the nitty gritty, it
would be like going on amissions trip, in a way, into a
very remote place where they hadnothing to rely upon. I mean, if
you went back in time, you wouldnotice the odor and the
inconveniences of everything. Imean, you're there was no
(16:09):
driving down the road to order apizza or bringing in Uber Eats
to have your groceriesdelivered. I mean, everything
had to be slaughtered rightbefore it was it was consumed.
So, I mean, it's, that's pretty,pretty intense, right there,
just thinking about that changein the era that we live in now,
Dave Leake (16:27):
it's not just conveniences. Let's, let's keep
going, because I think those aregreat people are like, why I'd
rather have less processed food?
Yes, but there's a lot. There'smore. Let's keep going.
Unknown (16:37):
American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson observed
that no one wore white shirts.
The pollution indoors turnedeverything black. Here's another
blessing, antibiotics. In 1924Calvin Coolidge, Jr, the son of
the President of the UnitedStates, died from a blister from
playing tennis on the WhiteHouse court, many of the best
doctors of the day wereconsulted, multiple diagnostic
(17:00):
tests were run, and he wasadmitted to one of the top
hospitals in the country.
Chelsea Follett, my colleague atthe Cato Institute, has written,
yet he died within a week ofinfection. Deaths from infection
of a minor cut or blister wereextremely common at the time,
and no amount of wealth or powercould save a patient in almost
(17:23):
every way, life is materiallybetter than what it was in the
past, and not just the distantpast, either. In 1997 a 42 inch
TV screen cost $15,000 today youcan buy one for under $200 so
why aren't we more excited aboutthe future and the new wonders
(17:44):
that await us there? Becausehuman beings are born
complainers, the negativeemotions are much more powerful
and longer lasting than positiveones. That's just the way we are
wired. But the truth is that ifyou are living today, you are
the beneficiary of countlesslife enhancements, and not just
in developed countries almosteverywhere, consider the
(18:04):
following global statistics.
Between 1950 and 2020 theaverage inflation adjusted
income per person rose over 300%between 1960 and 2023 the
average life expectancy Rose 46%from 50 years to 73 years
between 1961 and 2017 the dailysupply of calories Rose 38% from
2100 to 2900 today, even inAfrica, obesity is a growing
(18:30):
concern, worried about theenvironment. There's plenty of
good news there too, the chanceof a person dying in a natural
catastrophe, earthquake, flood,drought, Storm, wildfire, all
landslide fell by almost 99%over the last century. Between
1982 and 2016 the global treecanopy cover increased by an
(18:50):
area larger than Alaska andMontana combined in 2017 the
world database on protectedareas reported that 15% of the
planet's land surface wascovered by protected areas.
That's an area almost double thesize of the United States. With
so much good news around us, whyare we so gloomy? We can pause
(19:11):
that now,
Jeff Leake (19:15):
yeah, that's a good question, yeah, yeah, that's a
good place to ask like, why arewe so gloomy?
Dave Leake (19:21):
Human beings are born complainers as a hilarious
life. And it makes me like,yeah, like, I feel a little
guilty hearing that
Jeff Leake (19:27):
and negative emotions are more attractive
than positive ones, just likenegative news is more makes more
money than than positive. Andyou even say just negative,
polarizing, right? So here'ssome others. This comes from the
book factfulness. This is, thisis such amazing stuff, if you
care about the world. So extremepoverty is dropping in 1800 85%
(19:50):
of the world lived in extremepoverty today. Less than 9% do.
I don't think anybody knowsthose kinds of things. Say that
one more time, 85% lived inextreme poverty. Poverty in the
world in nine in 1800 now, notless than 9% crazy, yeah. Global
life expectancy in 1950 theglobal life expectancy was 5050,
(20:10):
years. Today it's over 72 okay,I
Dave Leake (20:15):
think, I think what go back for a second to the to
the extreme poverty? Yep. So,like, here's the here's the
context for that. We hear allthe time about the, the, what's
it called the economic gaps?
That was the income gaps thatare increasing constantly, how
the rich are getting richerconstantly, which is true, but
actually the whole world'sgetting richer too.
Jeff Leake (20:36):
Yeah. So this is he, in fact, when I see lists 10
instincts that skew ourthinking, and one is the gap
instinct thinking and binaryeverything's rich and poor. And
so what we're saying is the richare getting richer but the poor
are getting richer. Yeah, right.
So it's not that the rich aren'tgetting richer and the gap
between rich and poor are isn'tincreasing. It's just that
everyone's going up. Now there'sstill, you could say, well,
(21:00):
there's still an injusticebetween rich and poor. It's
true, but poor people aregetting richer, which is a good
thing, like, we can't ignorethat aspect of things. Well,
Dave Leake (21:11):
the Yeah, I mean, Hans Rosling talks, you know, in
that book factfulness, about howsomething can be getting much
better and still not be fixed.
Yeah. So, like, is, is, youknow, the income inequality,
like, oh, we could be helpingmore people. I mean, we should
be helping more people, but thepeople that are at a
disadvantage are much it's amuch smaller percentage than it
(21:31):
used to be. That's a good thing.
Yeah, I think this stuff that weshould we should be able to
celebrate that idea where theywere talking about, about
negative emotions. You heardabout that, that idea of loss
aversion. Loss aversion is theidea that So studies have
studies, studies have shown thatlosses feel about twice as
painful as an equivalent gain ispleasurable. So if you were to
(21:54):
lose $10 or get $10 it feelstwice as bad to lose $10 as it
does to have somebody give you10 it's like, oh, that was nice.
But because you're like, No,because you're like, that was
$10 I mean, it's like, not a bigdeal, but it feels way worse. So
you know, if it's the sameamount of like, a lot of studies
have shown, like, even if youknow, you're 90% likely to make
(22:15):
money, but there's 10% of losinga decent amount of money, people
are much more prone to, like,protect what they have. So I
think the idea of the media, andnot just the media, but our
culture amplifying the loss,sparks these emotions that maybe
skew our perspective.
Jeff Leake (22:33):
Yeah. So what should we do with this? Like, we could
go on and on with more of these,these stats, like, so there's so
for instance, here's anotherone. Global industry literacy
has risen from 50% in 1960 to86% today. That's a huge thing,
right? So child mortality rates,1800 40% of children died before
(22:55):
age five today, just 4% in lowincome countries today, 60% of
girls finish primary school,which is a huge increase from
what it was in the past. Soglobally, things are improving,
personally when it comes toconveniences and medical
advancements and things like thelittle story about about the
(23:19):
blister that killed thepresident, son,
Unknown (23:21):
insane, yeah, dead by now, just just the
Jeff Leake (23:25):
fact that we live in an era that understands
antibiotics, right, let alonelike I just got off the phone
with my friend who had a bonemarrow transplant and is going
to come out of this procedurewith a completely new license
lease on Life, like the level ofmedical advancements that are
available to us today is justmind blowing. You know, there
(23:47):
even, even like, the fact thathealth care is available to
everybody is a huge thing. Now,we could make the case that
everyone should get the samelevel of insurance, or maybe
there's still inequity in thatarea too. But for the longest
time, only rich people got goodmedical care. Everybody else had
to get an in home visit from adoctor that really had no
(24:08):
specialties. Sure. So your levelof care has gone up your
Dave Leake (24:12):
level, but even that idea okay? And for the record,
I'm not saying that equity isnot a good idea or that people
shouldn't have equity across allstratospheres of society,
economically, racially, etc, youknow, nationality wise. But if,
if, until there's comparativeequity or meaning like people
(24:32):
are, it's not just like equalopportunity, it's people have
equal amount of stuff, if we'relike, in terms of, you know, not
just, not just things. Youunderstand what
Jeff Leake (24:41):
I'm saying though, yes, if opportunities and yes
Dave Leake (24:45):
until, if we can't be content or grateful, until we
hit a society like that, thenour entire lives will be
miserable.
Jeff Leake (24:55):
And if you look at equity between now and 1925 like
if you just go back 100 years.
We're ahead of the game nomatter who you are where you
live, right? So no matter whoyou are where you live, you're
better than you would have beenif you were born 100 years ago,
right? And so that should be thecontext for the discussion about
other inequities.
Dave Leake (25:13):
And there's, there's, there's more I want to
get into, because so where do wego from here? Is a good
question, but just just tohighlight this, the binary
thinking that gets you stuck inthe problem is, well, if we
don't have major fear aroundthis issue, nothing's going to
change. Yes, that's, that's,that's a false dichotomy. That's
actually not how things work,
Jeff Leake (25:33):
and it's not healthy, and it's not ever how
God works in us to bring change.
He doesn't say make everyoneterrified enough to act fear and
guilt and shame are not good,lasting motivators. They're not
unifiers. They're notemotionally healthy. They're not
spiritually healthy. There hasto be something else that
motivates us to do good in theworld and to solve problems than
(25:55):
fear, anxiety and gills, angerand shame, right? It's actually
Dave Leake (26:02):
a really common way to lead change in general, now
that I think about it, like, Iknow you mentioned this book,
John Cotter is leading changetalks about that idea about
creating a burning platform,like, if we don't jump, we're
gonna we're gonna die in this,you know? And that idea of,
like, it's lost version, you'replaying on lots of version.
Like, if we don't do this, it'sgonna be too late. We're gonna
(26:24):
you, we're gonna loseeverything. I think that is,
it's a little, I mean, maybesometimes it's the right thing
to do in leadership context, butin society, well, if
Jeff Leake (26:32):
the platform is burning, sure you tell everyone
sure platform is burning. But ifit's not, you don't set it on
fire.
Dave Leake (26:39):
Yeah. Well, and if it's, if it's, I can't follow
this analogy. But if it'sgetting better, the problem is
that we can never acknowledgeit's getting better, or else,
oh, it's not hot enough to jumpnow, yeah, people are, but that,
I just think that there's alittle bit of if we're not
careful, like, not thateverybody here is leading change
in this way. But I think ifwe're not, but it is the
(27:00):
atmosphere of our culture, yeah,if we're not careful, we put
careful, we perpetuate thiscycle of shame and fear, and
it's manipulative, and it alsoprobably steals from when
Jeff Leake (27:09):
we may it may not be meant to be manipulative. Some
people probably mean it thatway, agreed, but it just, it's
just like, it's almost like thebreath that we breathe, and what
it's doing, it's, it's killingour soul, yeah, that's right,
it's and Okay, I think probablyone day we'll stand before God
and we'll get have to give anaccount for the fact that we
live in an era of such blessingand prosperity, but we were
(27:30):
ungrateful for it, and we didn'tnecessarily see it from the
right perspective. Because Iimagine God must be sometimes
looking down from his throne andthinking to himself, what you
complaining about that now?
Like, come on, like there's justso much that I think we
overlook. I'm I watched thisvideo, I felt like I needed to
(27:52):
repent. Like, God forgive me.
I'm so sorry. I i Look at the Ilook at the minutia of what I
don't have, and not the, not theenormous mountain of evidence of
the things that I do have, and Ineed to live in light of. So
here's what God has providedinto our lives, right? Yeah,
(28:13):
it's
Dave Leake (28:13):
July 1 on the second. Yeah, it's July 2. Date
of recording, I'm sure it'll bereleased a week later, whatever.
But so if you're listening tothis, when it drops, it's the
middle of the summer, you know,2025 I'm just wondering, like,
how could we, how could we beginto shift and adjust our
perspective to make this like, asummer of gratitude? That's a
(28:34):
good thought, because I think, Ithink, like, especially in the
part of the world we live now,Pittsburgh, man, it's so much
better, at least. I think it is,you know, right now. Well, now
the parts of the day, yeah, forparts of the day, till the
thunderstorm, whatever. It'slike, you know, it's, you know,
negative 10 degrees and like, Imean, it's great right now. And
(28:54):
I think, like, now is the timeto appreciate we always should,
but appreciate what God's givenus and and begin to adjust our
perspective. I actually think,you know, there are all these
studies about how psychologyaffects health, like the way you
think affects your health, evenjust shifting towards gratitude,
that's an effective form ofmedicine. Like laughter is an
(29:15):
effective medicine, butgratitude is as well. Hope is an
effective form of medicine. Ithink our health would get
better. Think our relationshipswould get better. I think our
relationship with God would bericher. Our church community
would be better. So how could weturn the current atmosphere we
live in into a summer ofgratitude? To shift
Jeff Leake (29:34):
this so we actually did this. So Wednesday mornings,
we have staff prayer, andpastor, Greg Jacobs from our
butler campus, led it thismorning, and he he did something
that I have taught often, that Ido by practice often. He said to
us, let's take the next three tofive minutes, and I want you to
write down or say out loud toGod in your own private prayer
(29:55):
time, 30 things you're thankfulfor. 30 takes. Five, I can come
up with quick 10, not that hard15. It's pretty much in my
wheelhouse. But once you getpast that, then you have to sort
of search a little bit. So itwas, what am I? What am I
thankful for? This is somethingthat I regular practice during
my prayer time every morning, isI get into a season of
(30:18):
Thanksgiving, and I force myselfto come up with 30 new things
that I wasn't thinking aboutbefore that I should be thankful
for. And I think that's a that'sa really helpful thing to do.
Another thing to do would be,every time you use some modern
convenience, pause and givethanks to God, like you get out
(30:39):
of the shower, like the JimmyCarr was saying. You say, thank
you God for this shower, likewhere they still stop and smell
the roses, the little thingswhen you pop the food in the
micro. Thank you God for thismicrowave. You get in the car
and you've turned the keys. Ithank God I can I have this car
to drive, you know? I mean, sitdown. You have your meal. This
is actually what praying beforea meal is really all about Thank
(31:01):
you, God that I have this food.
For many people, it's aperfunctory religious ritual to
pray before you eat. Buttechnically, the way that
originates is that when you hadfood, you sat down, you said,
Thank you, God, I have this foodto eat like it's designed to be
a an exercise in gratitude.
Yeah, yeah. I don't think thefood so much needs blessed.
(31:25):
Sure, it needs we need to bethankful for it. That's what it
is,
Dave Leake (31:27):
right? I think here's here's the other thing
that I think maybe helps just asmuch. So those are good
disciplines of practice to beintentional, to insert
gratitude. I think practices ofbecoming aware of where
ingratitude is or where, like,let's say things aren't are
meeting our expectations, youknow, like, just, just personal
(31:50):
examples. Like, you know, sleephas been just the last couple of
weeks. Like, I've been, we'vebeen on lower sleep because
we've had to be. It's, you know,it's just been a very intense
season for us. I found myselfsome morning because I'm tired
and lower energy, like just in amood, and I'm like, you know, it
almost feels like an injustice,like I'm the one staying up that
(32:12):
late. I'm the one like drivingthe the speed that we're trying
to get our house on the market.
But, you know, because I got tobed later than I wanted to,
maybe my kids woke up in themiddle of the night. I'm so
frustrated, or I get into if I'mgetting into a small
disagreement with Sarah or, youknow, fighting about something
stupid, I just think, like, thepractice of like, man, like, I'm
(32:32):
gonna choose to be thankfullike, for for anything. You
could always find something thatcould be better about it,
whether it's your spouse or yourkids or your house, your job, or
you could choose to see thethings about that thing that are
amazing. Like, who was it? Iknow you preach about this a
lot, but that the phrase, like,what you appreciate, appreciate,
Jeff Leake (32:54):
yeah, right, yeah, right, right, right. And what
you depreciate, depreciates interms
Dave Leake (32:58):
of in value to you, you know, like, obviously, value
in some degree is in the eye ofthe beholder. And if you choose
to value what you have by beinglike, I have the best wife and
kids in the world, you know whatI mean, you begin to I don't
know. I think it's shifting tolike. Feel where are the 10
spots of what I'm dissatisfiedwith if you're not fully
(33:19):
healthy? I mean, I believe weshould be praying and believing
for healing, but I'm thankfulthat I can still walk, or that I
can use my hands, or I'mthankful for modern medicine.
You know, i Does this makesense? What I'm saying like
just, it's
Jeff Leake (33:33):
taking a deep breath where you are in the moment
you're in, and looking for thething that you should become
grateful for, right? It's seeingthe value or the silver lining
in every every cloud, or thevalue in every moment. That is,
that is the thing.
Dave Leake (33:49):
I think I'll try, I'll try to different way one
more time, because that's notquite what I mean. I think it's
looking for, what are myperceptions of what's lacking?
Okay? And it's, it's choosing todecide to be grateful in spite
of something not meeting theexpectation. Okay? So it's like,
oh man, like, things are goingto be so much better when the
(34:10):
the boss that I have at workfinally shifts out, or I get, I
get a, you know, I'm making alittle more money. Whatever it
is that I'm so frustrated bythis, like, this is nagging
Splinter, yeah? Like, I thinkit's it. When I've done this
successfully, it's the biggestrelief in the world when
something's really bothering youand you're just like, God, thank
thank you, though, for for thisstuff, even with that person, or
(34:31):
even with you know what I'msaying? Like, figuring out, what
are the things right now thatI'm allowing to suck the joy out
of my life because myexpectations aren't being met.
Can I read a verse real quick?
Yeah, I think that sort ofspeaks on sort of this idea. So
Hebrews 13 verses, five and six.
(34:53):
It says this, your life shouldbe free from the love of money.
Be satisfied with what you havefor he. Himself, as Jesus said,
I will never leave you norforsake you. Therefore we may
boldly say, The Lord is myhelper. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me that justgives me peace to even just read
that? But the beginning there,your life should be free from
(35:13):
the love of money. The ideathere is the love of money is
the expectation of I need what Ihave, or I need more. You know
what I'm saying, and I can't besatisfied until I get it. Yes,
and it's, it's probably also,you know, greed, the love of
money. Greed isn't just you havea lot and so you, you're now
(35:34):
greedy. Greed is also being sopetrified about, Hey, I like,
I'll be honest, this is, this isan issue for me sometimes, like,
oh, we shouldn't be thatgenerous. You know what I mean?
Like, that's gonna put us I knowthat sounds bad. I'm just being
honest though. Like, it's like,like, oh, you know we need to
give somebody a card. Like,Sarah is a very generous person.
And I've noticed myselfsometimes being like, Scrooge
(35:57):
McDuck or whatever. Like, youknow what I mean? Like, trying
to pinch like, Oh, we didn'tgive it 50 bucks. Maybe, like,
10 bucks is fine here, like, youknow, but, but that that's a
form of greed. Well, there is arange, right? I'm sure there
isn't a range. I mean, you canbe unwise in being too generous.
You're right, but if you're, ifyour heart is always pulling
(36:17):
back, yes, do a little less.
Yeah, yeah. Because, and for me,that's a trust thing. Also, my
trust sometimes strays out oflike, God's gonna take care of
this, and it's I need tofinancially manage, or I need to
whatever, whatever resources mytime or my sleep, or, you know,
do I have time for this phonecall that I'm gonna take? And
again, wisdom and boundariesneed to be taken into
(36:40):
consideration. But again,Hebrews, 13, five, your life
should be free from the love ofmoney. Be satisfied with what
you have. For he himself hassaid, I will never leave you or
forsake you. Therefore we mayboldly say, The Lord is my
helper. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me? It'sgood, you know, in a in a world
(37:01):
that we live in that is sodisillusioned and jaded by
what's not fixed, or whatwhat's, you know, inequitable,
or what's wrong, what theinjustices are, I don't think we
should be taking our foot offthe pedal to pray and to act, to
try To make things like heavenas much as possible now, but
(37:24):
there should be a level ofgratitude to where, yeah,
Jeff Leake (37:26):
and a level of perspective too. So, you know
Jesus, I forget what chapter itis now Dave, but he was
responding to an interactionwith some people who were
putting to the test. And hesaid, life does not consist, and
the abundance of yourpossessions, and I always like
to counter that it actuallyconsists in the abundance of
your heart. Yes, right. So ifyou have an abundant heart,
(37:47):
which is, you know, described inthe verses that you read, what
is, what does it mean to have anabundant heart? It means a heart
that's filled with gratitude. Itmeans a heart that recognizes
God's grace. It means a heartthat's filled with the Holy
Spirit. It means a heart that'sfilled with joy. It means the
hearts of living in the moment.
And if you have an abundantheart, then that's where joy
comes from. You know, I think italso is just good. Bringing it
back to what we've been talkingabout here, to have a little
(38:09):
historical context of your lifeis important. So on July 1 every
year. I don't know if you knowthis guy, Dave, but he used to
be a Pittsburgh pirate. Bobbybunia, okay, so he lit he was a
pirate in the era of Andy VanSlyke and Barry Bonds and the
early 1990s which was the lasttime the pirates were almost in
the world when I was born. Yeah,okay, early 90s, yeah. Bobby
(38:32):
Bonilla was traded to the Metsand got this exorbitant contract
with the Mets, and he had sixyears left, and they wanted to
get rid of him. And so they hadto make salary cup room for him.
And so they wanted to clear outhis contract. And they decided
to pay him off by giving him adeferred contract where every
year for 35 years, he would get$1.3 million on July 1, all the
(38:56):
way to 2035 so So Bobby, when hehasn't been playing baseball for
20 years, but yesterday, July 1,he got a check for $1.3 million
I was I was walking with mom,and I was thinking to myself,
what would it be like just toget one of those checks? Like,
one time someone say it's July1, here's your $1.3 million
(39:18):
like, he made himself a reallygood agreement. But if you were
to talk to Calvin Coolidge in1925 he would think, what would
it be like to actually have livein an era with antibiotics? My
son would still be alive. Yeah,you know what I mean? Like,
right? If we have a context forwhere we are and what we have,
and we don't see it always aswe're we're lacking something,
(39:38):
but we see it as that we've beengiven a lot more than we deserve
then, then we live in a gratefulperspective, right? So
everything's a matter ofcontext, and because we live in
the the, you know, toppercentage of people on Earth,
even in 2025 if you live inAmerica, wherever you live,
whatever's going on in. Life,you're better off than people
(40:00):
who live in Burundi, right?
Because Burundi is the thirdpoorest place on Earth. So I
just think we need to, I justthink we need that context too
to be constantly remindingourselves I'm more blessed than
I realize. I'm more blessed thanI deserve, and I need to be
thankful for what God's placedin my life.
Dave Leake (40:20):
Okay, so let's, let's build out our summer of
gratitude. Idea. Okay, so whatare daily habits and practices?
So the daily
Jeff Leake (40:27):
30, right, get up and thank God for 30 things that
would be one thing to do everyevery moment that you use a
convenience. Thank God for it.
Pause and thank God for it. Youridea was, as you look around
your life every day, becomegrateful for who you're with and
what they add into your
Dave Leake (40:49):
life. Yeah, especially like, I think, find
what feels like the lacks or thepain points and choose to see it
from a different place. Yeah,you know, I don't have to wait
until this gets better to bethankful for what I do have.
Jeff Leake (41:01):
Yeah, actually, there's and again, I'm doing
poor on book references, but Iwill try to remember it later.
But they say that couples arethe that are the happiest are
those who look at each otherwith rose colored glasses. Yeah,
that they and you could Googlethis, probably you'll find this
if somebody wants to look thisup, if you tend to exaggerate
(41:24):
your partner's positivequalities, because what happens
in marriages that start todeteriorate is we exaggerate
their negative qualities, right?
But if you exaggerate theirpositive quality, and you look
at your your your spouse throughrose colored glasses, even
though everyone else looks atthem and think, What are you
talking about? She's not likethat at all, or he's not like
that at all. Okay, you will behappier if you live in a
(41:46):
positive delusion than if youlive in a true reality. Now,
that's not to say that you walkaround in a purposeful delusion,
but when it comes torelationships, it's better to
see your partner through theeyes of vision and than it is to
see them through the eyes oftheir of their worst moments.
Dave Leake (42:11):
Yeah, I think that was that there was a study done
by John Gottman that's yeah,Gottman Institute, yeah, that
did the four horsemen of theapocalypse for marriages. Yes,
criticism, contempt,defensiveness and stonewalling.
And he was the one that talkedabout how marriages that see
each other through rose coloredglasses are much happier, yeah,
because they become what you'rewhat you see them as to you,
(42:33):
right? That, I think it'sbeautiful. Yeah, to his and
Jeff Leake (42:38):
if you and if you look at the world that way. I
think that also helps, not thatyou live in denial. We're not
saying live in denial. We're notsaying, Stop acting on the
things that you need to act onto make the world or your family
or your life a better place.
Like, get on the scale and yousay, I'm skinny, you know, kind
of a thing like, there's acertain limit to what positive
confession can do in your life.
(43:01):
But, but, yeah. I think that's avery powerful thing. I
absolutely do as well.
Dave Leake (43:06):
There's a song that's, um, do you know the
artist? Forest, Frank, no, he,he's like a, kind of a trendy
arts when I was a Christianartist. He has a song that's
called nothing else. I'm notsure if we could play this on
the outro. Matt, I'm not sure ifwe get in copyright trouble, but
if we could, we should, okay. Hesays, No, he doesn't know we
can't. Then you can listen to ityourself. But for summer of
gratitude, that's been one ofthe theme songs for me and
(43:28):
Sarah.
Jeff Leake (43:29):
Are you already in a summer of gratitude going in
we've not? It's
Dave Leake (43:33):
not branded like that, okay? But now it is, yeah,
yeah. I came up with that, yeah,no, but it's, you know, I think,
like, songs like that, he justtalks about, like, you know,
like part, one of the lines is,I've got my family, Jesus and my
health, and if I've got allthat, I really don't need
nothing else. That's how, like,the song goes. And I, I love
that perspective, you know, Ithink I just want to live a life
(43:57):
that's free, free from offense,that's free from that. I don't
even know that, what we call theexpectation gap, that's free
from the heaviness. And I justwant to live, live this summer,
especially thankful for all thatGod's given me with the right
context. Yes, obviously we'restill working for justice. We're
working for improvement, equity,all this different stuff. We're
(44:18):
working to to bring the kingdom,but I just want to, yeah, I want
to live a life that's thankfulthe way that we're supposed to
be. Here's
Jeff Leake (44:27):
what it says in Philippians, chapter two, verse
14, do everything withoutgrumbling or arguing, so that
you may become blameless andpure children of God without
fault in a warped and crookedgeneration. So that's a good
combination. Live as live withgratitude rather than
complaining. Even though youlive in a war and corrupt
(44:49):
generation in the midst of itall, still do that. Then the
next phrase you will shine amongthem like stars in the sky, as
you hold firmly to the word oflife. And then. Be able to boast
on that day of Christ that I didnot run or labor in vain, that
that's you know, the world iscomplaining and living in fear
(45:11):
and dread, but those of us whofollow Jesus, even in a warped
and corrupt generation, shouldlive without grumbling and
complaining instead beinggrounded, grateful for
Dave Leake (45:23):
Matt wanted me to throw something in here. We read
a book in our men's group, andcan't think what the name was
that had a flag on a beach onit, yeah. Why do I do what? I
don't want to do something likethat by JP, PUD, I don't know if
you know that, guys. Yeah,anyway, and he had this point
that we really liked in it. Wewere discussing this about, if
(45:44):
you notice, what you tend tocomplain about the most is it
tends to show the area ofgreatest entitlement. Ooh, like,
Oh, I'm entitled to beingtreated differently. Oh,
Jeff Leake (45:56):
man, that's intense.
I think that's what I
Dave Leake (45:58):
was trying to get at, is figuring out what, what
am I currently complainingabout,
Jeff Leake (46:02):
expectation gap?
What am I so that would be thenext thing in the summer of
gratitude, listen to yourself,yes, complain, because that will
reveal your greatestentitlement. That's
Unknown (46:13):
what I'm that was what I was trying to get at. JP, just
said it way better.
Jeff Leake (46:16):
And, and then repent, yeah, of that
entitlement. And and shift yourheart into a place of gratitude.
Exactly, yeah, exactly. Thatgoes way deeper than 30 things
to be grateful for. Pause andthank God for the fact that we
live in 2025 it's like, hearyourself, yes, hear what's
coming out of
Unknown (46:36):
your in your mental monolog. Oh, man, you know
that's good,
Jeff Leake (46:40):
yeah. Like, really, oh, so frustrating. Wow. Yeah, I
think we maybe just need toleave it on that note, Dave,
because that hit really, that,like I felt that in the chest,
like conviction, good stuff. All
Dave Leake (46:53):
right. Well, I'm grateful for the show that we're
gonna be doing, and also forpeople that are part of the
show, that are listening rightnow. Thank you for being a part,
and we would really be gratefulif you could help us to spread
the word. You can do a number ofa number of things for this. You
can leave a five star review.
You can like and subscribe ifit's on YouTube, share it with a
friend, whatever you want to do.
All of it's helpful to us, andwe would appreciate two minutes
(47:15):
just
Jeff Leake (47:15):
to spread the word.
Help feel like summer ofgratitude needs a t shirt. Dave,
maybe I'm not the one to designit, though. Producer, Matt,
maybe we unless you want tostock Canva t
Dave Leake (47:23):
shirt. Yeah, good stuff, hey. Well, we are so glad
you chose to join us. Hope youenjoy the beginning of your
summer of gratitude. We'll seeyou guys next time you.
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