November 25, 2024 • 42 mins
Ever wondered what makes Chris Molinaro from The Salvation Army Massachusetts Music Department burst into laughter? Well, join us for a ride filled with dog videos and Hollywood casting dreams! Chris shares his love for camp life and his entertaining choices for movie portrayals, sparking a hilarious game of "Which celebrity would play you?" With laughter echoing through our conversation, we also explore the charming chaos of Thanksgiving, ranking those cringe-worthy moments that every family gathering seems to have. From clogged toilets to nosy questions about marriage, we recount our most amusing holiday stories that remind us why we love—and sometimes endure—Thanksgiving.
But it’s not all fun and games; we take a reflective turn discussing the powerful role of music in our spiritual journeys. Music isn't just for entertainment—it's a conduit for worship and personal growth. Through personal anecdotes, we dive into how certain songs can spark profound spiritual insights, challenging us to view musical performances as acts of worship. We delve into the beauty of embracing our God-given talents and the importance of intention behind every note played. It’s a journey of rediscovering faith through melodies that reach deep into the soul and uplift our spirits.
As the episode unfolds, we are inspired by insights from John Mark Comer's "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry," urging us to embrace our limitations as part of a meaningful life. The discussion shifts to living with intentionality and the "unforced rhythms of grace" that Jesus offers. We explore how recognizing our human limitations can be a pathway to spiritual growth and a fuller presence in God's world. Through Chris’s stories and our reflections, discover how to slow down, embrace life’s imperfections, and find divine purpose in the everyday hustle.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
all right, we're back , episode number 21 plugged in
podcast.
We are continuing our interviewwith chris molinaro, salvation
army, massachusetts musicdepartment, nate and lorita.
I think you guys have somequestions.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I did fire away so I had a question and then Matt
kind of alluded to I was gonna.
I was gonna ask what was yourfavorite job you had at camp but
, that was alluding to all themany jobs you had at camp.
But um, I'll ask something else.
So what is something that neverfails to make you laugh?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
okay, I'll say my, uh , my like reels out algorithm.
You know what I'm saying when Isay like the videos that just
go to you because of what youwatch.
Yeah, right now is awesome, Igot like a healthy mixture of
like great, great um, like nbaand and nfl, like videos of just
highlighted plays and thingslike that, and dog videos like
populations of dog videos I okay, I I have to be honest, like I
(01:01):
was not I was not a dog fangrowing up.
We had cats.
I like didn't think dogs likedme.
And then Katie was like we'regetting a dog and I was like
okay yes, as you say.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
And I was really nervous about it.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I've become a dog person.
I really enjoy seeing a dog andjust hanging out with them and
Kai's great, anyway.
So I think dogs can are reallyreally funny and these
compilation videos of dogs doingfunny things are just they are
they always?
Yeah, like you said, I alwayslaugh, always put a smile on
(01:37):
what a great answer, though thealgorithm that's the answer yeah
, I feel like I work hard to tryto get us in people's
algorithms.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's not working, but the, the algorithm that's great
.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I'm always sending ridiculous videos to Loretta and
she's like I don't know whereyour algorithm is, but it's a
place I don't want to be.
How do you get there?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But what's funny is on our fridge we have like all
the pictures of camp staff andall of our camp staff yearly
photos, and was it 21 or 22 thatyou have a guy in the?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
picture.
Yeah, because Kai lived with meat camp with the bubble and all
that and it was so cute.
Oh my gosh, what a summer.
But yeah, I know, yeah, thatwas incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, and there's a puppy, like every morning.
Oh my gosh, I know she's huge.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And she's like my phone back or I have I'm holding
her in my phone background.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh, you have a dog.
I'm like, there you go, it'sright there.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
You know I'm always ready and it's a anyway.
Uh, yeah, it's great a rapidfire question.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Supposed to be fast for me or fat?
I don't, because I keep talking.
That's good.
No, that's what we do on theshow is rapid.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It's all dragged out.
So my question pertains to you.
Talked about all the differentthings you did at camp.
You're really like a jack ofall trades type person if you
could have anybody in hollywoodplay you in a movie, who would
it be?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
chris evans wow, that's fast, wow you thought
about this before.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yeah, yeah, captain I will say I okay, I have a
second answer, because I thinkchris evans, since captain
america, has kind of evolvedinto a lot of other roles and
yeah, yeah, before he'ssuccessful and um and and doing
a lot of great things.
I think I just saw he's in likea santa action movie.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So with the rock, right.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
But it's funny because we want, and katie loves
chris, chris evans too and wewatched preview and I noticed
him and then it came up again incase, oh, that was chris.
I was like, well, he looks alittle bit different than he did
back then and he's kind ofevolved into different roles and
knives out and things like thatbut like um.
Anyway, my second answer wouldbe um john krasinski, oh I'm a
huge office fan and I, if Icould be jim, yeah, I would yeah
(03:31):
, I'm saying so like and and hewas really great.
If that whole thing is awesome,I love the story behind that.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
If you, don't know if , oh, yeah, look into watch the
movie.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Look into the background of that.
Um, love the man, so, yeah,amazing do you have one?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
can you think of that ?
Off the off the bat?
Who would be me?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
yeah, I have no idea, melissa mccarthy melissa
mccarthy, that is a fantasticanswer.
I would watch that movie fromsuki to like anything she's done
.
I love melissa mccarthy.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yes this is different than like celebrity crush, my
like celebrity band crush,bradley cooper like if he could
play me, that'd be amazing butI'm like more of the, you know,
the jonah hill body figure type,like that's kind of where I'm
at.
Although he's changed, he'slike he's all over the place.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I know, I know, nate, who you got one.
I have no idea.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You asked the question, I know I know, but I
didn't rapid fire myself.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Toby maguire, oh no that's not the worst one.
No, that's not a bad answer.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I mean, I really like Jason Bourne movies, so Matt
Damon maybe but I don't know yougot to find someone who's five
foot three and a half, andthat's hard.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's why I went to a movie.
What's the Patriot player,julian Edelman.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Julian Edelman.
Oh yes, I wish it could beJulian Edelman, that's your
doppelganger, for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Can we?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, okay, never mind, all right.
So Nate has a segment for us.
So Thanksgiving's coming up,take it away, buddy, yeah man.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
So this is a blind ranking, meaning we're going to
give you a bunch of differentthings.
You have to give us one to ten,one being the most awkward, ten
being the least awkward and sobeing the most awkward, 10 being
the least awkward and so theseare awkward and uncomfortable
thanksgiving situations.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Have you done a blind ranking before?
Uh I I I have participated inlistening to yours okay, I
always give my own rankings,while I'm just listening.
So for the, listeners out there.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So nate has a list of 10 things, but chris does not
get to see the list, so he'sjust again blind ranking.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Go for it I'm also gonna forget them, so be ready
for that.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Yeah, no worries so the first one awkward
thanksgiving encounter theunexpected guest who only one
person knows.
No one else knows why they'rethere, but they're there.
And how would you rank that interms of awkward?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
so is one least awkward 10, most awkward one is
most most awkward is number onewait, you just gave me an
example.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Yes, the awkward or the mystery guest that nobody
else knows.
So where do they fall?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
So you're like at a family gathering.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
This is Thanksgiving, right, right?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
No, yeah, that's what I'm saying Like a Thanksgiving
family gathering.
And there's someone there thatbarely anyone knows.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So like Aunt Sue, twice removed, shows up.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I'd say sorry, one is most awkward.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, I'd say 10 because like, okay, you know,
all right, I'm a fairly okay guywith I'm taking notes are we
both taking notes?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
you take notes?
Okay, this is much harder.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
I got it all right.
So there's that one.
How about the, uh, the mysteryside dish that nobody knows who
made it or what.
It is just on the table.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
It's just on the table all right, I think again I
gotta give this like a nine,because the the problem is
you're talking to someone'sgluten free and most dishes
there I can't eat.
So if it's a mystery dish, thechances of being gluten free are
very low.
Yeah, but I'm also like I'm.
I'm also in being gluten free.
I'm kind of picky, so like Iknow already what my
thanksgiving plate is going tolook like, and if those things
(06:43):
aren't there, then I just havean empty space on the plate.
I'm not going to go grabsomething I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The mystery dish from Aunt Sue, twice removed, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
If she like, labeled it gluten-free, I'd probably eat
it, because she went throughthe effort of saying it was
gluten-free.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And unless it was like super spicy.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I'd probably be okay with just trying it.
So you've taken up the bottomtwo, so nine and ten are.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
The least awkward right.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I'm saying this right , yeah, okay, all right, let's
see how that works.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
How about the guest who doesn't help cook or clean
up and they just sit there?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I'm kind of that person.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh no.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Again with the gluten-free thing.
I typically bring the samegluten-free meal every time, and
sometimes it's a hit, sometimesit's not.
So I I try to bring, like this,this gluten-free ziti that I
really like to make um, andwe've also made um sweet potato,
a sweet potato dish, um, anyway, I'm not gonna get into it, but
like you're the guy that, likefinishes, leaves his plate and
walks to the couch and, likeeveryone's kind of looking and
talking, about like a littlemore contest ready, ready um, if
it was at, if I was hosting, Iwould absolutely be the person
to clean up and take care ofeveryone, like absolutely uh.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
But most of my thanksgivings are are at my
parents house yeah I'm one ofsix kids so the chances, stop it
, stop, no, anyway, the chancesof the chances of there being
more than more than one personlike helping clean up, like I.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I'm not the only.
You know what I mean.
So like there's plenty ofpeople involved and I'm also
super social, I don't get to seemy family that often because
I'm the farthest one away.
So, in those moments where I'mnot taking a nap like I'm
socializing, so I, I anyway.
We got it.
Oh, a nap, I'm socializing, soI anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
We got it.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Oh shoot, I'm sorry, I forgot I was supposed to write
this.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
No, you don't have to write anything, but you have
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, available.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So the question was that awkward person.
But I said I am that person, soI'm going to put it as eight,
all right.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Because I am that person.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We're going to spice it up a little bit here.
Clogged toilet.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
It's obvious that you were the one to use it.
I'm not going to give any morecontext to this, other than
people who know me willunderstand why this is kind of
funny.
I'll just leave it at that.
I'll give that a one.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Wow, I hate that.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
When you just feel helpless and there's no plunder
in there At my family's house,it wouldn't be that bad.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But if I was, at the Friendsgiving at your house.
Oh, I would be.
Let's ratchet it up.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You were invited to the Divisional Commander's
Thanksgiving.
He let's ratchet it up Like youwere invited to the divisional
commander's Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Like yeah, he's already made it one, easily a
one, it's still one.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
If there's any way to make it more embarrassing or
more awkward, I will.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
It's negative two All right, that's number one Clog
the toilet.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Thank you, nate.
All right, here's another goodone the unwelcome political rant
during dinner by the crazyuncle.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Political rant number two.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I am open to healthy discourse but, sometimes it's
hard to keep it civil.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Alright, how about the forced family photos?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I have seven left right.
That's the highest.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I love a family good, good, one of my yeah, so again.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm one of six kids, but my dad's also one of six
kids, so, like very, very largeextent, and one of my favorite
pictures to look at my grand atmy grandparents house was this
collection of pictures that wetook.
I think I'm like I said, I'mone of six.
I think I was the youngest, I'mthe third, so this was a long
time ago.
Um, all of us in our separatefamilies took family photos and
something together, but we wereall wearing like colored shirts.
(10:31):
It's like my family was maroonand and whatnot and uh nice.
And there's this great photo,too, of all the cousins at the
time.
We took this there was a lotthere was 18 of us, not 18 of us
, I think yeah we're all likekind of stacked up on top of
each other that's awesome andtook like a nice cute photo and
then we also took a hilariousphoto and then we like recreated
it later on that's fantasticawesome.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I love family photos yeah, all right, I'm all about
number seven all right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
How about the guest who won't leave?
When it's obvious everyone hastrickled out and they're just
there I will say I am not thatperson have you been a part of
it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
You've been part of a midwest goodbye oh my god this
is so classic in the midwest,like everyone says goodbye, then
you walk around, everyone getsa hug, and then it's just like
well, we ought to be leaving andblah, blah, it's for yeah, and
then another 30 minutes toanswer the, the, the ranking.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I got what like three , four, five, six.
I think I'll give that.
I'll skip six, I'll give five.
I'll give five Because there'syou said the Midwestern goodbye
there's the one who just won'tget the hit and leave.
The one that I struggle with isactually my dad.
We call the Italian goodbye Inthis large family when it's time
to go.
We're not leaving for anotherhour and a half because you have
to say goodbye to everyone andin those conversations it you
(11:45):
know comes, you know there's theconversation you didn't have
earlier or whatever.
So the italian goodbye is thetough one, where you just have
to feel like you have to saygoodbye.
I'm more of the irish goodbyeirish on my mom's side, where
it's uh, a goodbye to everyoneall at once yeah, just a peace
out everyone.
Good to see all of you.
If like, jen comes up, gives mea hug, like great, I'll give
jen a hug, but like yeah, you'vegotten caught.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In some after bible said you've gotten caught.
Yeah, absolutely, everyone,absolutely.
Oh, let me hug and then youchat.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Oh, and, by the way, if katie's listening to this,
she'll be like you are your dad.
You do irish or italiangoodbyes.
I'm like all right when I'm ina really situational yeah, but
like I was, at was at aHalloween party the other day.
It was like a.
I said goodbye to the hosts,thank them for having us, but
for the most part it was likepeace out.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I don't know if I've heard the term Irish goodbye,
but I think that's my style.
I like that.
Bye, everyone, see you.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think that's a pretty well-known term.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I'm going to be shared with everyone, or talking
about their colonoscopy, Idon't know.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh geez.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Something that's just like.
Why are you talking about thatright now?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I might also be that person.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
A little bit A little bit A little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I love it so much I just don't stop talking.
As we all can see, this isgreat.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I really don't know what these other options are so
I'm just going to give it a sixand just assume you're saving
some of the best for last.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's the scary part Oversharing guests Got two more
All right.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
What about cooking failures, where the dish is
absolutely terrible?
The turkey is dry and it's likeyou've got to put on a brave
face because you don't want tohurt feelings.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
absolutely terrible, the turkey's dry, yeah and it's
like you got to put on a braveface because you don't want to
hurt feelings.
I'll give that a four.
I'll give it another funnystory again, being gluten-free,
yeah you know like I only haveso many options.
My mom is amazing.
I'll say that right now.
My mom is amazing.
She not only has to cook forsomeone who's gluten-free, but
my dad's been a vegetarianforever so he always has
vegetarian options.
Uh, my siblings have been inand out of being vegan and
(13:46):
different diets, so my mom'salways accommodating for all
these different things, andthat's a lot.
My favorite Thanksgiving memoryis the year she was making me a
homemade gluten-free mac andcheese.
She had a cheese sauce going,had the pasta going.
She was going to make stovetopstuffing, dumped the glutinous
bread stuffing right into mycheese sauce.
(14:07):
My accent wrong pot.
She had like four things goingdumped in the wrong pot.
And then just no, and I'm likemom, what's going on?
And just recently I brought itup again because she was making
me stir fry and I was like oh,what sauce did you use?
Not gluten free?
Speaker 1 (14:21):
And she's like I'll rinse it off.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I'll rinse it off.
No, mom, you're not rinsing itoff the stir fry sauce.
So anyway, would I say a four.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
That's so funny.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Cooking mishaps at Thanksgiving are common.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I mean we'll sit down and my mom will go.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I forgot the stuffing or something.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
She forgot something.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
It's just too many things.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
In our family.
My mom is notorious for.
I don't have that part of therecipe, so I'm going to
substitute it with somethingthat I'm sure will work instead.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It doesn't work.
No, it doesn't work, I will runto Walmart for you, we're not
doing that Awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
All right, then the last one.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
What's number three?
All right, the last one, sorry.
Which one conversations?
When are you getting married?
When are you having a baby?
Can I take back my one?
I mean?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
three's, pretty good Three's up there.
Actually clogging toilets,still number one Again.
If you know me, you know thatI've been getting those for
about almost seven years nowNice Lined up pretty well there.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Here's your list, one to ten.
So number one is the mostawkward, number is the least
awkward.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Number one clogged toilet at a thanksgiving
gathering like his.
His ranking is pretty.
It's pretty good good youtubecomments.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
think.
Number two the political rant.
Yeah, okay, so unwelcomepolitical rant, heated
conversation.
Number three is the when areyou conversations?
When you're getting married,when you're having a baby?
Number four cooking.
Cooking failures Dry turkeygluten.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Cheesy stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Number five, the guests that won't leave.
So this is the Italian goodbye,the Midwest goodbye.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Versus the Irish goodbye.
Yeah, I like that, I'm going toadopt that.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Oversharing guests is number six.
Just had your colonoscopy lastWednesday.
Let me tell you about it.
Number seven is a good Forrestfamily photo, although not it's
not forced for all of us.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I'm all about the photos as well, and you're not a
part of the family.
You want to join in?
Join in, yeah, yeah, I'm inthere.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Number eight is the awkward, unhelpful guest who's
not about washing dishes orcleaning up after themselves In
the name of being social is whatChris says.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I will say I Anyway, I don't want to give myself the
trouble.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Number nine is the mystery side dish you see on the
table.
You're not sure what it is, butit is prepared by someone.
And then number 10, the leastawkward situation is the
unexpected guest.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Great Aunt Sue yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Great Aunt Sue.
Apologies to anyone named Sueout there, we've really
besmirched your name today Manytimes, many times Many times.
No, chris, that was great.
So, as we kind of come to theclose of our conversation, we do
want to know on our podcastfrom time to time we talk about
(17:02):
what God is presently doing inour lives, what we think he's
currently saying in our lives.
Is there something, eitherthrough your work or in your
personal devotion time, whereare you at, kind of spiritually,
and what do you think God issaying to you currently
presently?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Yeah, I think, as musicians in the church, you
know, we often connect our faithto our music, right To music
that we're performing orpracticing music that we hear.
Right to music that we'reperforming or practicing music
that we hear.
Um, I think that, uh, a lot ofmy you know bible verse memory
(17:39):
actually comes from you knowsongs that I've sung.
You give me a memory verse or abible verse.
I might be able to sing you asong that hasn't.
You know what I mean so, um, andthat's been instilled in me
from from for a for a long time,uh, but there's also, you know,
some songs that that have greatmessages that aren't
necessarily scripture, but justyou know good things to think
about.
Um and uh, I think you know, asI've grown up as a musician and
(18:04):
whatnot I um, I think thetransition to this job was a
nice opportunity for me toremind myself that these are
God-given talents, right, andit's not for my praise but for
God's glory, right, and even,you know, in the transition of
this job, I still need to remindmyself that, right, and I try
(18:24):
really hard to do that in myteaching, as well as to remind
kids that we're not here just todevelop our skills for our own,
you know, own benefit, but alsoin an act of worship.
And sometimes a song will justhit you in a certain way, right,
I was at Singing Stars a fewweekends ago at Starlight Camp,
(18:44):
and I had one of those momentswhere a song just slapped me in
the face.
This happens all the time.
It could be a song you've hearda thousand times.
It could be a song you heardfor the first time.
uh, the first time I heard um,firm foundation, he won't that
one got me, I talked about thatmusic conservatory, this idea of
of uh uh got peace.
That makes no sense, I got joyand chaos peace that makes no
(19:04):
sense.
Every, every time I hear it, ithits me because it's like yes,
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, but I have it right.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
But we were doing a song, a choral arrangement of we
Believe by Newsboys.
Great song, great, you know.
The chorus talks about what webelieve in and that was
fantastic and great declarationof your faith.
Right, there's one line inparticular that, as I started
because, again, this is a songI've heard a lot that it started
(19:32):
to it just smacked me in theface, as we're at this
opportunity to not just grow inour faith, but we're also, you
know, working on our talent.
Right, let our faith be morethan anthems, greater than the
songs we sing.
Right, and right there, I hadto, like, check myself.
I was, like, am I here to showoff?
Hey guys, I'm a great singerand I can help you be better?
(19:55):
All this stuff Is that why Iwas there?
Or was I there for theopportunity to worship with some
great people and share the goodnews with whoever would listen?
You know what I mean.
And I did, right there, Ichecked myself.
I said, actually, you know what?
Stop, let's look at this musicas a whole.
What is the message that'sbeing prepared for us?
(20:17):
You know, there was a greatsegment in the middle there of
our performance that was aboutthe cross and about, you know,
going to the cross and givingyourself to Christ right, and
living a Christ-centered life.
And it wasn't until I sang thatsection of the song that I was
like time out, let's think aboutthis.
And so I try to do that at EMtoo.
(20:38):
That idea of I didn't just pickthese songs because I like them
.
I'm trying to share a messagewith you, whether it's based on
the theme we picked or this ideaof the Sounds of Christmas
concert being about the birth ofChrist, right?
So is this telling the story?
Is it, you know, reminding usof why he came, you know, to
(20:59):
earth and why he died for us,and so just trying to remind
ourselves that we're not justdoing this music for fun, for
entertainment, but it's also forworship.
And we may know the messagethat's in there, but you might
be performing it for someonewho's never heard it before, or
they've heard a thousand times,and it was you who performed it
that day that gave them.
(21:19):
That.
That's I keep saying, slap onthe face, but feeling conviction
, right, you know that idea ofoh my gosh, I really just heard
those words for the first time,you know.
And so that's why we'redeveloping our skills to have a
more, uh, you know, convincingum and meaningful performance,
you know.
So that's uh, god's been um.
Speaking that to me, I think,since I started this job, again
(21:41):
reminding myself that these areGod's.
God's given gave me thesetalents and I'm now, you know,
in an act of worship every dayyou know, helping kids um, you
know, develop those skills andit's it's really humbling, you
know.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, thank you for sharing,chris.
So you'll hear at the beginningof this episode.
We talk a little bit about youbefore you come on the show, but
the one word, well, two words Ithink I stole your word, but we
were talking about authenticand genuine and these.
I hope these are things thatyou've heard from us before, but
, uh, it's worth it to say itagain Uh, when we see you teach,
when we see you interact, notjust with the kids but with
(22:21):
people, um, what we said earlier, uh, it's a reflection of the
love of God.
Yeah, it's a reflection ofJesus' love for people, and we
see that through you and throughyour life.
And we just want to affirm whatyou're doing, and I know the
feeling that you're describing,like when you can marry, like
your occupation, with the joyand the peace and the fruit of
(22:45):
the spirit, when you can marrylike what you're doing, you know
to those, what am I trying tosay?
It's such a right place to beand you can feel it in your soul
and uh, so I, I love thatyou're feeling that, I love that
you're here and I'm the teamand, uh, we just really
appreciate you and we're uh,we're just really thankful for
(23:06):
you, so we want to pray for youtoday and, uh, thank you again
for thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I appreciate you guys so much.
I know I wouldn't be herewithout you guys and without so
many people, but thank you forwelcoming me and making me feel
like I'm supposed to be here.
So thank you three very much.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
We love Chris, we love you man, let's just pray.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Gracious God, we thank you for Chris.
We thank you, God, for the waysthat you have used his
experiences and his story andhis passions and his gifts and
brought that into alignment.
Lord, with the opportunity tobless the lives and enrich the
lives of so many.
(23:49):
God, we thank you for hisministry here in Massachusetts.
Jesus, God, for the things thatare seen and the many things
that are unseen.
Lord, just the intentionality,the preparation that he puts
into connecting themes and deeptruths of the gospel to every
form of expression.
God to help young peopleunderstand, god, that you have
created them and wired them tobring God glory and giving their
(24:10):
gifts back to you.
Lord, I just thank you forChris's life.
I thank you, god, for hiswilling spirit to just jump in
and do, lord, whatever you needhim to do, god, and do it with a
smile on his face, lord, thejoy that's contagious, the
sincere heart that's behind whathe does, lord, knowing that he
(24:30):
never gives anything less thanhis best, god, because he
recognizes that it's more thanhim, god, but it's you at work
in him, lord, I just prayblessings over his life, lord,
his continued ministry here inMassachusetts.
God, I pray blessings over hisfamily.
God, blessings over everythingthat he puts his hands to.
(24:51):
And God, remind him, lord, thathe is yours and you brought him
here for this time and for thisseason.
And so, lord, we celebrate hislife.
We thank you for his humor,even finding himself in the
awkward situations.
God, we just thank you for theways that you've wired him and
the person that he is.
Bless him today, god, and justagain, we just thank you for who
(25:13):
you are and what you allow usto be when we live our lives in
you.
We pray this in your name Amen.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Amen, can I just say one last closing statement.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Of course, yeah, and I'm just saying this right to
the camera.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
If you were inspired today to be a part of a handbell
choir, I'd invite you to signthe petition that will be in the
YouTube comments, to join me inbringing handbells to the
Massachusetts Division of Music.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I love it.
I'll sign that.
I'll put a Google form outthere.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, there you go, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Well, once again, thank you for being on the show,
chris.
If you want to see Chris inaction, come to the Sounds of
Christmas on Sunday, december8th, at 6 o'clock pm at the
Boston Chorac Center.
Chris will be conducting threedifferent levels of choruses, as
well as doing a number of otherthings in the show.
So if you want to see Chris inaction, or if you want to
connect with him, get musiclessons at any one of the
Salvation Armies that he isteaching at.
(26:01):
Please send us a message and wewill get you connected to that
Salvation Army community.
We're going to take anotherquick break here on the Plugged
In Podcast, episode number 21.
When we come back, we're goingto continue our review through
the book of the RuthlessElimination of Hurry by John
Mark Comer.
We'll be right back.
Plugged In Podcast.
Welcome back to Plugged InPodcast, episode number 21.
(26:32):
As promised, we are diving backinto the Ruthless Elimination
of Hurry by John Mark Comer.
A pod book club.
Pod book club.
I like that.
I feel like we've said bookclub, but I didn't hear the word
pod in front of it.
I do like that.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I think I just added that right now.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Pod book club.
I like it, I'm in, I'm in, I'min, I'm in like a graphic.
So we probably uh, this wasn'tgreat planning on our part, but
the next chapter in the bookreally belonged with last week's
episode yes um?
so quick recap on the nextchapter that we that we read.
So it's still identifying hurryas a sickness, hurry as
(27:09):
literally borderline, a medicaldisease, right, um?
So the thing that jumped out me, jumped out at me in this
chapter.
He has a list of 10 things thatmaybe you can find um
relatability in.
But here's the 10 symptoms ofhurry sickness.
Number one irritability.
You get mad, frustrated or justannoyed way too easily.
(27:30):
Take a look at how you treatthose closest to you your spouse
, your children, your roommate,your friends.
Number two hypersensitivity.
All it takes is a minor commentto hurt your feelings.
Number three restlessness.
You simply cannot relax.
You give Sabbath a try and youhate it.
You read scripture but find itboring.
Number four workaholism.
(27:53):
Is that how you say that?
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Yeah, I think so, that's right.
Workaholism Is that how you saythat.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, I think so, that's right.
Workaholism, workaholic Okay,so your drugs of choice are
accomplishment and accumulationOkay.
Number five emotional numbness.
You just don't have thecapacity to feel someone else's
pain.
Empathy is a rare feeling foryou.
Number six out of orderpriorities, you realize you
still haven't gotten around toall the things you said were the
(28:19):
most important in your life.
Number seven this one hit mehard lack of care for your body.
You gain weight.
You regularly wake up tired.
You don't have time for eighthours of sleep daily, exercise,
healthy home-cooked food.
Eight hours of sleep, daily,exercise, healthy home-cooked
food all that stuff you resortto caffeine sugar, processed
carbs.
Number eight escapist behaviors.
(28:40):
Same thing.
Here you find yourself in somesort of distraction that has a
chokehold on your lifeOvereating, overdrinking,
binge-watching Netflix, browsingsocial media, surfing the web,
looking at porn what are thesemodern vices that have trapped
you?
Number nine slippage ofspiritual disciplines.
(29:03):
And then number 10 is isolation.
You feel totally disconnectedfrom God, from others and your
own soul.
So that kind of wrapped up thefirst part of the book when we
move into part two.
So I'll just give it a generalsummary and then, in a sentence,
and then I'll throw it to youguys the solution finally
arrives and what the author issaying is that, um, we are never
going to be able to conquer thesickness of hurry with adding
(29:26):
additional time.
Right, you'll fill up the timewith more stuff exactly the only
antidote to this is not to justembrace the theology of Jesus,
but to become his apprentice,which means to live life the way
Jesus lived his life.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
That's what I took it as.
And then he jumps into theselists of limitations that we
have, and some of them arereally interesting to me because
we might not think of them aslimitations, but he says Because
we might not think of them aslimitations, but he says we have
limitations, lots of them,including, but not limited to,
our bodies.
He says, unlike Luke Skywalker,we can only be in one place at
(30:04):
a time, limitation Our minds,knowing that we can only know in
part, as Paul said, and theproblem is we don't know what we
don't know, we miss all things.
So our minds are a limitation.
This one was interesting to meour giftings.
But he compares it to the ideathat we're always seeking
(30:27):
comparison and how comparison isjust the thief of joy and
someone can always be better atus than at something that even
we think we're good at.
So, just like our giftings, ourlimitation, um, our
personalities and emotionalwiring, we only have so much
capacity, um, whether it'srelational capacity or you know,
(30:47):
anything we have, our emotionalwiring, our families of origin.
I thought this was interestingas well.
Right, none of us start to theblank slate.
Some of us start with a leg upin life, others of us will walk
with a limp for our early years.
Generational poverty,non-existent parents in our
lives, faith, all thosedifferent things, our
(31:08):
socioeconomic origins.
He says America is built aroundthe myth of classless society,
a myth that conceals a deep wellof injustice and the truth is,
even in our land of opportunity,some people just have more
opportunity than others.
Seven, our education and ourcareers.
He mentions if you drop out ofhigh school, that's a limitation
(31:29):
.
If you have a PhD from Harvard,that's another.
In an odd way, anotherlimitation.
A career might be a limitation.
He says our seasons of life andthe responsibilities that they
hold.
If you have a young child oryou're going to college, you're
caring for people in your lifewho are not well, a limitation.
Our 80 or years of life, ifwe're blessed, he said that's no
(31:52):
guarantee, Um, but he saysthere's no, there's simply no
way to do it all.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
So he just keeps going, so he brings up
limitations.
For what purpose to?
He's saying really that, um, ifyou are not accepting of some
of these limitations, you aregoing to spend a whole lot of
time and energy, uh, trying tofill something that may not be
realistic.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Yeah Well, it's defeating to try to be all
things at all times and thispressure that we face to ignore
our limitations or to pressthrough our limitations, and
this embrace of our limitationsactually is freeing, because it
allows us to kind of hone in towhat God is actually calling us
(32:36):
to live out and lead from.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, that's what he says.
He says what if our limitationsaren't something to fight but
to gratefully accept?
And then he quotes PeterScazzaro and he says we find
God's will for our lives in ourlimitations.
And I just thought that afterthat whole list where you can
become so bogged down with, oh,check, check, check, it's like
wait, maybe, maybe this isn'tthe fight.
You know, I like that.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Yeah.
And then we move into like, ok,how, how do we do this?
What is this?
What is this thing that Jesusis actually calling us to, then
recognizing all the limitationsthat we face every day, that can
easily become excuses or easilybe easily become things that
defeat us and discourage us.
And then it's bringing us backto the reminder that Jesus's
yoke is easy.
It's not another obligation,it's not another expectation,
(33:24):
it's not another burden, right,but the yoke is is Jesus.
You know us strapping ourselvesto Jesus so that we can
shoulder the load of oureveryday life with his grace.
He actually uses the term theunforced rhythms of grace.
Allow that to just wash overyou.
When do you wake up in themorning and face everything
(33:45):
that's coming your way and yousay, god, I just want to face
today with the unforced rhythmsof your grace.
And so he moves into thisconversation about what it means
to truly be an apprentice ofthe master of.
Jesus, to be with Jesus, tospend time with him, to become
like Jesus and to do what hewould do if he were you.
And I love this conversationbecause it goes back to this.
(34:09):
A lot of people, a lot of timeswe say I want to be like that
person, I want to run a marathonlike that person, or I, I want
to be like that person, I wantto run a marathon like that
person, or I want to play musiclike that person.
Or we look at people and wewant to emulate their life, and
then we think of what it coststo actually become that, to get
up at 5 am every morning.
To run miles To have a strictdiet of he says in the book,
(34:32):
celery and water, To become amarathon runner.
And you're like, okay, do Ireally want it?
Do I really want to do what isnecessary to become that person?
And it carries over into ourspiritual lives.
A lot of times we say I want tobe like Jesus, and then we have
to take a step back and say amI really, do I really desire to
(34:53):
be like Jesus?
Because if so, it's going tocost something, it's going to
demand something, and patterningmy life off of his lifestyle
means I'm going to have toreprioritize, reshift my focus
and really just tap into thoseunforced rhythms of grace that
he desires to produce in me andcreate in me force, rhythms of
(35:17):
grace that he desires to producein me and created me.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yeah, and I love just that.
The turn in the book as well,when he talks about doing that
means living deliberately orliving with intentionality.
Um, and then he just he divesinto all these crazy things
about matt.
You mentioned, um, where itsays the average guy spends
10,000 hours playing a videoplaying video games by the age
of 21 10,000 hours 10,000 hoursand then he's like he just goes
(35:42):
into a what could you do in thattime?
what if you had, if you hadlived deliberately in in those
10,000 hours?
What could you have doneinstead?
And it just is, it'sperspective, um, but not to add
more time to the clock, but todo better with the time that we
have.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Yeah yeah, there's this, there's this quote here
that says um, the definition,definition of insanity, doing
the same thing over and overagain but expecting a different
result.
But that's exactly what we doin our spiritual lives.
Right, we get this vision ofwhat a kind of life is like in
christ.
We go go to church, we readbooks, we listen to podcasts, we
catch a glimpse of what oursoul aches for, one of emotional
(36:22):
health and spiritual life.
And then in our gut we say, yes, god, this is what I need, I
want that life.
But then it says we head homefrom church with all the
willpower we can muster, we setout to change, but then we go
right back to living the exactsame lifestyle and nothing
changes.
And it's a cycle of repeatstress, tiredness, distraction,
and we feel stuck.
What's missing?
(36:50):
His nonstop conscious enjoymentof God's presence in this world
.
Then we not only have to adoptthe right theology and the code
of ethics, but also Jesus'slifestyle, follow the way he
lived his life.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
I found it very interesting.
He brought up multiple timeswhere Jesus is constantly saying
come, follow me.
There's an invitation not tojust believe the words but live
the way.
He brought up a couple ofdifferent stories from the
Gospels, a couple of things thatI found interesting.
He said I'm struck by howfiercely present Jesus was, how
(37:26):
he would just not let anythingor anyone, even a medical
emergency, a hurting father,rush him into the next moment.
Jesus was constantlyinterrupted.
There was two stories.
He brought up Lazarus.
So when he heard that Lazaruswas sick, he stayed where he was
for two more days and then hesaid to his disciples let's go
back to Judea.
He wasn't in a hurry.
This other story, jairus, isthat the oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, yeah, jairus' daughter.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
In another story, jesus was teaching in a
synagogue when this guy, jairus,literally fell at Jesus' feet
begging him to come and heal hislittle girl who was at the
point of death.
Again, this is life or death.
But on the way to Jairus' home,a woman with a chronic health
condition that went back 12years interrupted Jesus.
(38:12):
There's a beautiful story whereJesus just took all the time in
the world with her, no rush atall.
So he brought up a couple otherstories too, and it's just
interesting, because jesus isconstantly saying come, follow
me.
But he's also, uh, displayingthis lifestyle where he is not.
He's not in a hurry yeah he'snot prioritizing anything other
than his relationship to thefather.
Yeah, there's multiple timeswhere he's off on his own
praying, or he's uh.
(38:33):
There was one funny line wherehe I'm not gonna be able to find
it now, but he was like Jesusbasically spent.
He waited 30 years to preachhis first sermon and then, his
first day on the job as Messiah,he went into the desert and
prayed for 40 days.
You know, he just so, he waslike he prioritized his soul
(38:54):
amongst any of the otherdistractions around him.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
And so there's really this as we move into the next
section of the book.
The drive is then really, if Iwant to pattern my life after
the lifestyle of Jesus, what arethe habits, what are the
practices, what are thebehaviors that Jesus embraced,
that he's calling us to embrace,and we know these are spiritual
disciplines, but he refers tothem.
Not just he said I don't wantus to embrace, and we know these
(39:19):
as spiritual disciplines, buthe refers to them.
Not just he said I don't wantit to just be straight religious
language with you, but I wantthese to be spiritual habits and
practices and are these, youknow, kind of to the point of
you're going to get out of yourspiritual life?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
or relationship with God, what you put into it, the
investment that you make.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
There's a tangible growth in the time that we spend
with the Lord, in thediscipline that we have to say
no to the things that maybe ourminds or our bodies say that we
want, but to say no, this iswhere I need to be.
I need to be with the Lord.
I need to be in the word.
I need to be.
(39:56):
I need to be with the Lord.
I need to be in the Word, Ineed to be a person of prayer, I
need to be a person of silenceand solitude and know when to
pull back.
Just as Jesus himself wouldoften go off to a solitary place
to be renewed in the presenceof his Father, and so it's
recognizing our vulnerabilities,recognizing our limitations,
and when we recognize those andthe triggers that those things
produce in our lives, thatirritability and that, all those
(40:17):
other warning signs, where canwe lean into him a little more
through the process?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Well, that brings us to our stopping point for today.
I think maybe it's not alimitation, I don't know, I'm
just not.
I have a tough time diving intobooks.
I feel like I start a ton ofbooks and I just like, get you
know, 60 pages in and I'm justlike, ok, I just feel a little
bored or I don't, I don't know,but I will tell you that this is
(40:45):
an easy read.
Yeah, this guy is speaking sorelatable to the present world
and it's like every other pageis just like oh, that's me,
that's me, that's me.
So if you haven't picked upthis book and you're interested
in going through it with us,highly recommend it.
It is an easy read.
It's a very quick read too, buttons of practical stuff to take
(41:07):
from it.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Yeah, and as we mentioned in the last episode,
that there is a supplement thatgoes along with this on RightNow
Media that you can use in asmall group Bible study setting
or you can use it just for yourown devotions.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
A conversation sheet that goes along with it and some
supplemental videos that canjust really help enhance reading
through this topic.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
Yeah Well, thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
Another fun episode on thePluggedIn Podcast.
We made it.
That was a great interview withChris that was a lot of fun.
He's the best Great stories.
Really good time Before we go.
I want to plug an event or two.
We said it earlier, but Soundsof Christmas, sunday, december
8th.
Hopefully the entire SalvationArmy Massachusetts division will
(41:48):
be coming out to the BostonKroc Center Standing room, only
Standing room only Hot chocolate, coffee water desserts.
The Standing room, only Standingroom.
Only Hot chocolate, coffeewater desserts.
The world famous sound ofChristmas.
The world famous the ninthannual.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
The ninth annual Sound of Christmas.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Anyways, thanks for joining us today.
This is episode 21 of thePlugged In Podcast, and I'll
tell you every single time wewill see you next time, thank
you.
all right, we're back , episode number 21 plugged in
podcast.
We are continuing our interviewwith chris molinaro, salvation
army, massachusetts musicdepartment, nate and lorita.
I think you guys have somequestions.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I did fire away so I had a question and then Matt
kind of alluded to I was gonna.
I was gonna ask what was yourfavorite job you had at camp but
, that was alluding to all themany jobs you had at camp.
But um, I'll ask something else.
So what is something that neverfails to make you laugh?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
okay, I'll say my, uh , my like reels out algorithm.
You know what I'm saying when Isay like the videos that just
go to you because of what youwatch.
Yeah, right now is awesome, Igot like a healthy mixture of
like great, great um, like nbaand and nfl, like videos of just
highlighted plays and thingslike that, and dog videos like
populations of dog videos I okay, I I have to be honest, like I
(01:01):
was not I was not a dog fangrowing up.
We had cats.
I like didn't think dogs likedme.
And then Katie was like we'regetting a dog and I was like
okay yes, as you say.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
And I was really nervous about it.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I've become a dog person.
I really enjoy seeing a dog andjust hanging out with them and
Kai's great, anyway.
So I think dogs can are reallyreally funny and these
compilation videos of dogs doingfunny things are just they are
they always?
Yeah, like you said, I alwayslaugh, always put a smile on
(01:37):
what a great answer, though thealgorithm that's the answer yeah
, I feel like I work hard to tryto get us in people's
algorithms.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's not working, but the, the algorithm that's great
.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I'm always sending ridiculous videos to Loretta and
she's like I don't know whereyour algorithm is, but it's a
place I don't want to be.
How do you get there?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But what's funny is on our fridge we have like all
the pictures of camp staff andall of our camp staff yearly
photos, and was it 21 or 22 thatyou have a guy in the?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
picture.
Yeah, because Kai lived with meat camp with the bubble and all
that and it was so cute.
Oh my gosh, what a summer.
But yeah, I know, yeah, thatwas incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, and there's a puppy, like every morning.
Oh my gosh, I know she's huge.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And she's like my phone back or I have I'm holding
her in my phone background.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh, you have a dog.
I'm like, there you go, it'sright there.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
You know I'm always ready and it's a anyway.
Uh, yeah, it's great a rapidfire question.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Supposed to be fast for me or fat?
I don't, because I keep talking.
That's good.
No, that's what we do on theshow is rapid.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It's all dragged out.
So my question pertains to you.
Talked about all the differentthings you did at camp.
You're really like a jack ofall trades type person if you
could have anybody in hollywoodplay you in a movie, who would
it be?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
chris evans wow, that's fast, wow you thought
about this before.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yeah, yeah, captain I will say I okay, I have a
second answer, because I thinkchris evans, since captain
america, has kind of evolvedinto a lot of other roles and
yeah, yeah, before he'ssuccessful and um and and doing
a lot of great things.
I think I just saw he's in likea santa action movie.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So with the rock, right.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
But it's funny because we want, and katie loves
chris, chris evans too and wewatched preview and I noticed
him and then it came up again incase, oh, that was chris.
I was like, well, he looks alittle bit different than he did
back then and he's kind ofevolved into different roles and
knives out and things like thatbut like um.
Anyway, my second answer wouldbe um john krasinski, oh I'm a
huge office fan and I, if Icould be jim, yeah, I would yeah
(03:31):
, I'm saying so like and and hewas really great.
If that whole thing is awesome,I love the story behind that.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
If you, don't know if , oh, yeah, look into watch the
movie.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Look into the background of that.
Um, love the man, so, yeah,amazing do you have one?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
can you think of that ?
Off the off the bat?
Who would be me?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
yeah, I have no idea, melissa mccarthy melissa
mccarthy, that is a fantasticanswer.
I would watch that movie fromsuki to like anything she's done
.
I love melissa mccarthy.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yes this is different than like celebrity crush, my
like celebrity band crush,bradley cooper like if he could
play me, that'd be amazing butI'm like more of the, you know,
the jonah hill body figure type,like that's kind of where I'm
at.
Although he's changed, he'slike he's all over the place.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I know, I know, nate, who you got one.
I have no idea.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You asked the question, I know I know, but I
didn't rapid fire myself.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Toby maguire, oh no that's not the worst one.
No, that's not a bad answer.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I mean, I really like Jason Bourne movies, so Matt
Damon maybe but I don't know yougot to find someone who's five
foot three and a half, andthat's hard.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's why I went to a movie.
What's the Patriot player,julian Edelman.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Julian Edelman.
Oh yes, I wish it could beJulian Edelman, that's your
doppelganger, for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Can we?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, okay, never mind, all right.
So Nate has a segment for us.
So Thanksgiving's coming up,take it away, buddy, yeah man.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
So this is a blind ranking, meaning we're going to
give you a bunch of differentthings.
You have to give us one to ten,one being the most awkward, ten
being the least awkward and sobeing the most awkward, 10 being
the least awkward and so theseare awkward and uncomfortable
thanksgiving situations.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Have you done a blind ranking before?
Uh I I I have participated inlistening to yours okay, I
always give my own rankings,while I'm just listening.
So for the, listeners out there.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So nate has a list of 10 things, but chris does not
get to see the list, so he'sjust again blind ranking.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Go for it I'm also gonna forget them, so be ready
for that.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Yeah, no worries so the first one awkward
thanksgiving encounter theunexpected guest who only one
person knows.
No one else knows why they'rethere, but they're there.
And how would you rank that interms of awkward?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
so is one least awkward 10, most awkward one is
most most awkward is number onewait, you just gave me an
example.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Yes, the awkward or the mystery guest that nobody
else knows.
So where do they fall?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
So you're like at a family gathering.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
This is Thanksgiving, right, right?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
No, yeah, that's what I'm saying Like a Thanksgiving
family gathering.
And there's someone there thatbarely anyone knows.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So like Aunt Sue, twice removed, shows up.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I'd say sorry, one is most awkward.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, I'd say 10 because like, okay, you know,
all right, I'm a fairly okay guywith I'm taking notes are we
both taking notes?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
you take notes?
Okay, this is much harder.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
I got it all right.
So there's that one.
How about the, uh, the mysteryside dish that nobody knows who
made it or what.
It is just on the table.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
It's just on the table all right, I think again I
gotta give this like a nine,because the the problem is
you're talking to someone'sgluten free and most dishes
there I can't eat.
So if it's a mystery dish, thechances of being gluten free are
very low.
Yeah, but I'm also like I'm.
I'm also in being gluten free.
I'm kind of picky, so like Iknow already what my
thanksgiving plate is going tolook like, and if those things
(06:43):
aren't there, then I just havean empty space on the plate.
I'm not going to go grabsomething I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The mystery dish from Aunt Sue, twice removed, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
If she like, labeled it gluten-free, I'd probably eat
it, because she went throughthe effort of saying it was
gluten-free.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And unless it was like super spicy.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I'd probably be okay with just trying it.
So you've taken up the bottomtwo, so nine and ten are.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
The least awkward right.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I'm saying this right , yeah, okay, all right, let's
see how that works.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
How about the guest who doesn't help cook or clean
up and they just sit there?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I'm kind of that person.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh no.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Again with the gluten-free thing.
I typically bring the samegluten-free meal every time, and
sometimes it's a hit, sometimesit's not.
So I I try to bring, like this,this gluten-free ziti that I
really like to make um, andwe've also made um sweet potato,
a sweet potato dish, um, anyway, I'm not gonna get into it, but
like you're the guy that, likefinishes, leaves his plate and
walks to the couch and, likeeveryone's kind of looking and
talking, about like a littlemore contest ready, ready um, if
it was at, if I was hosting, Iwould absolutely be the person
to clean up and take care ofeveryone, like absolutely uh.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
But most of my thanksgivings are are at my
parents house yeah I'm one ofsix kids so the chances, stop it
, stop, no, anyway, the chancesof the chances of there being
more than more than one personlike helping clean up, like I.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I'm not the only.
You know what I mean.
So like there's plenty ofpeople involved and I'm also
super social, I don't get to seemy family that often because
I'm the farthest one away.
So, in those moments where I'mnot taking a nap like I'm
socializing, so I, I anyway.
We got it.
Oh, a nap, I'm socializing, soI anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
We got it.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Oh shoot, I'm sorry, I forgot I was supposed to write
this.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
No, you don't have to write anything, but you have
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, available.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So the question was that awkward person.
But I said I am that person, soI'm going to put it as eight,
all right.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Because I am that person.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We're going to spice it up a little bit here.
Clogged toilet.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
It's obvious that you were the one to use it.
I'm not going to give any morecontext to this, other than
people who know me willunderstand why this is kind of
funny.
I'll just leave it at that.
I'll give that a one.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Wow, I hate that.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
When you just feel helpless and there's no plunder
in there At my family's house,it wouldn't be that bad.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But if I was, at the Friendsgiving at your house.
Oh, I would be.
Let's ratchet it up.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You were invited to the Divisional Commander's
Thanksgiving.
He let's ratchet it up Like youwere invited to the divisional
commander's Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Like yeah, he's already made it one, easily a
one, it's still one.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
If there's any way to make it more embarrassing or
more awkward, I will.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
It's negative two All right, that's number one Clog
the toilet.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Thank you, nate.
All right, here's another goodone the unwelcome political rant
during dinner by the crazyuncle.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Political rant number two.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I am open to healthy discourse but, sometimes it's
hard to keep it civil.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Alright, how about the forced family photos?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I have seven left right.
That's the highest.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I love a family good, good, one of my yeah, so again.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm one of six kids, but my dad's also one of six
kids, so, like very, very largeextent, and one of my favorite
pictures to look at my grand atmy grandparents house was this
collection of pictures that wetook.
I think I'm like I said, I'mone of six.
I think I was the youngest, I'mthe third, so this was a long
time ago.
Um, all of us in our separatefamilies took family photos and
something together, but we wereall wearing like colored shirts.
(10:31):
It's like my family was maroonand and whatnot and uh nice.
And there's this great photo,too, of all the cousins at the
time.
We took this there was a lotthere was 18 of us, not 18 of us
, I think yeah we're all likekind of stacked up on top of
each other that's awesome andtook like a nice cute photo and
then we also took a hilariousphoto and then we like recreated
it later on that's fantasticawesome.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I love family photos yeah, all right, I'm all about
number seven all right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
How about the guest who won't leave?
When it's obvious everyone hastrickled out and they're just
there I will say I am not thatperson have you been a part of
it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
You've been part of a midwest goodbye oh my god this
is so classic in the midwest,like everyone says goodbye, then
you walk around, everyone getsa hug, and then it's just like
well, we ought to be leaving andblah, blah, it's for yeah, and
then another 30 minutes toanswer the, the, the ranking.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I got what like three , four, five, six.
I think I'll give that.
I'll skip six, I'll give five.
I'll give five Because there'syou said the Midwestern goodbye
there's the one who just won'tget the hit and leave.
The one that I struggle with isactually my dad.
We call the Italian goodbye Inthis large family when it's time
to go.
We're not leaving for anotherhour and a half because you have
to say goodbye to everyone andin those conversations it you
(11:45):
know comes, you know there's theconversation you didn't have
earlier or whatever.
So the italian goodbye is thetough one, where you just have
to feel like you have to saygoodbye.
I'm more of the irish goodbyeirish on my mom's side, where
it's uh, a goodbye to everyoneall at once yeah, just a peace
out everyone.
Good to see all of you.
If like, jen comes up, gives mea hug, like great, I'll give
jen a hug, but like yeah, you'vegotten caught.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In some after bible said you've gotten caught.
Yeah, absolutely, everyone,absolutely.
Oh, let me hug and then youchat.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Oh, and, by the way, if katie's listening to this,
she'll be like you are your dad.
You do irish or italiangoodbyes.
I'm like all right when I'm ina really situational yeah, but
like I was, at was at aHalloween party the other day.
It was like a.
I said goodbye to the hosts,thank them for having us, but
for the most part it was likepeace out.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I don't know if I've heard the term Irish goodbye,
but I think that's my style.
I like that.
Bye, everyone, see you.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think that's a pretty well-known term.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I'm going to be shared with everyone, or talking
about their colonoscopy, Idon't know.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh geez.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Something that's just like.
Why are you talking about thatright now?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I might also be that person.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
A little bit A little bit A little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I love it so much I just don't stop talking.
As we all can see, this isgreat.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I really don't know what these other options are so
I'm just going to give it a sixand just assume you're saving
some of the best for last.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's the scary part Oversharing guests Got two more
All right.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
What about cooking failures, where the dish is
absolutely terrible?
The turkey is dry and it's likeyou've got to put on a brave
face because you don't want tohurt feelings.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
absolutely terrible, the turkey's dry, yeah and it's
like you got to put on a braveface because you don't want to
hurt feelings.
I'll give that a four.
I'll give it another funnystory again, being gluten-free,
yeah you know like I only haveso many options.
My mom is amazing.
I'll say that right now.
My mom is amazing.
She not only has to cook forsomeone who's gluten-free, but
my dad's been a vegetarianforever so he always has
vegetarian options.
Uh, my siblings have been inand out of being vegan and
(13:46):
different diets, so my mom'salways accommodating for all
these different things, andthat's a lot.
My favorite Thanksgiving memoryis the year she was making me a
homemade gluten-free mac andcheese.
She had a cheese sauce going,had the pasta going.
She was going to make stovetopstuffing, dumped the glutinous
bread stuffing right into mycheese sauce.
(14:07):
My accent wrong pot.
She had like four things goingdumped in the wrong pot.
And then just no, and I'm likemom, what's going on?
And just recently I brought itup again because she was making
me stir fry and I was like oh,what sauce did you use?
Not gluten free?
Speaker 1 (14:21):
And she's like I'll rinse it off.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I'll rinse it off.
No, mom, you're not rinsing itoff the stir fry sauce.
So anyway, would I say a four.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
That's so funny.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Cooking mishaps at Thanksgiving are common.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I mean we'll sit down and my mom will go.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I forgot the stuffing or something.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
She forgot something.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
It's just too many things.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
In our family.
My mom is notorious for.
I don't have that part of therecipe, so I'm going to
substitute it with somethingthat I'm sure will work instead.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It doesn't work.
No, it doesn't work, I will runto Walmart for you, we're not
doing that Awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
All right, then the last one.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
What's number three?
All right, the last one, sorry.
Which one conversations?
When are you getting married?
When are you having a baby?
Can I take back my one?
I mean?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
three's, pretty good Three's up there.
Actually clogging toilets,still number one Again.
If you know me, you know thatI've been getting those for
about almost seven years nowNice Lined up pretty well there.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Here's your list, one to ten.
So number one is the mostawkward, number is the least
awkward.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Number one clogged toilet at a thanksgiving
gathering like his.
His ranking is pretty.
It's pretty good good youtubecomments.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
think.
Number two the political rant.
Yeah, okay, so unwelcomepolitical rant, heated
conversation.
Number three is the when areyou conversations?
When you're getting married,when you're having a baby?
Number four cooking.
Cooking failures Dry turkeygluten.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Cheesy stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Number five, the guests that won't leave.
So this is the Italian goodbye,the Midwest goodbye.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Versus the Irish goodbye.
Yeah, I like that, I'm going toadopt that.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Oversharing guests is number six.
Just had your colonoscopy lastWednesday.
Let me tell you about it.
Number seven is a good Forrestfamily photo, although not it's
not forced for all of us.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I'm all about the photos as well, and you're not a
part of the family.
You want to join in?
Join in, yeah, yeah, I'm inthere.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Number eight is the awkward, unhelpful guest who's
not about washing dishes orcleaning up after themselves In
the name of being social is whatChris says.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I will say I Anyway, I don't want to give myself the
trouble.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Number nine is the mystery side dish you see on the
table.
You're not sure what it is, butit is prepared by someone.
And then number 10, the leastawkward situation is the
unexpected guest.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Great Aunt Sue yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Great Aunt Sue.
Apologies to anyone named Sueout there, we've really
besmirched your name today Manytimes, many times Many times.
No, chris, that was great.
So, as we kind of come to theclose of our conversation, we do
want to know on our podcastfrom time to time we talk about
(17:02):
what God is presently doing inour lives, what we think he's
currently saying in our lives.
Is there something, eitherthrough your work or in your
personal devotion time, whereare you at, kind of spiritually,
and what do you think God issaying to you currently
presently?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Yeah, I think, as musicians in the church, you
know, we often connect our faithto our music, right To music
that we're performing orpracticing music that we hear.
Right to music that we'reperforming or practicing music
that we hear.
Um, I think that, uh, a lot ofmy you know bible verse memory
(17:39):
actually comes from you knowsongs that I've sung.
You give me a memory verse or abible verse.
I might be able to sing you asong that hasn't.
You know what I mean so, um, andthat's been instilled in me
from from for a for a long time,uh, but there's also, you know,
some songs that that have greatmessages that aren't
necessarily scripture, but justyou know good things to think
about.
Um and uh, I think you know, asI've grown up as a musician and
(18:04):
whatnot I um, I think thetransition to this job was a
nice opportunity for me toremind myself that these are
God-given talents, right, andit's not for my praise but for
God's glory, right, and even,you know, in the transition of
this job, I still need to remindmyself that, right, and I try
(18:24):
really hard to do that in myteaching, as well as to remind
kids that we're not here just todevelop our skills for our own,
you know, own benefit, but alsoin an act of worship.
And sometimes a song will justhit you in a certain way, right,
I was at Singing Stars a fewweekends ago at Starlight Camp,
(18:44):
and I had one of those momentswhere a song just slapped me in
the face.
This happens all the time.
It could be a song you've hearda thousand times.
It could be a song you heardfor the first time.
uh, the first time I heard um,firm foundation, he won't that
one got me, I talked about thatmusic conservatory, this idea of
of uh uh got peace.
That makes no sense, I got joyand chaos peace that makes no
(19:04):
sense.
Every, every time I hear it, ithits me because it's like yes,
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, but I have it right.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
But we were doing a song, a choral arrangement of we
Believe by Newsboys.
Great song, great, you know.
The chorus talks about what webelieve in and that was
fantastic and great declarationof your faith.
Right, there's one line inparticular that, as I started
because, again, this is a songI've heard a lot that it started
(19:32):
to it just smacked me in theface, as we're at this
opportunity to not just grow inour faith, but we're also, you
know, working on our talent.
Right, let our faith be morethan anthems, greater than the
songs we sing.
Right, and right there, I hadto, like, check myself.
I was, like, am I here to showoff?
Hey guys, I'm a great singerand I can help you be better?
(19:55):
All this stuff Is that why Iwas there?
Or was I there for theopportunity to worship with some
great people and share the goodnews with whoever would listen?
You know what I mean.
And I did, right there, Ichecked myself.
I said, actually, you know what?
Stop, let's look at this musicas a whole.
What is the message that'sbeing prepared for us?
(20:17):
You know, there was a greatsegment in the middle there of
our performance that was aboutthe cross and about, you know,
going to the cross and givingyourself to Christ right, and
living a Christ-centered life.
And it wasn't until I sang thatsection of the song that I was
like time out, let's think aboutthis.
And so I try to do that at EMtoo.
(20:38):
That idea of I didn't just pickthese songs because I like them
.
I'm trying to share a messagewith you, whether it's based on
the theme we picked or this ideaof the Sounds of Christmas
concert being about the birth ofChrist, right?
So is this telling the story?
Is it, you know, reminding usof why he came, you know, to
(20:59):
earth and why he died for us,and so just trying to remind
ourselves that we're not justdoing this music for fun, for
entertainment, but it's also forworship.
And we may know the messagethat's in there, but you might
be performing it for someonewho's never heard it before, or
they've heard a thousand times,and it was you who performed it
that day that gave them.
(21:19):
That.
That's I keep saying, slap onthe face, but feeling conviction
, right, you know that idea ofoh my gosh, I really just heard
those words for the first time,you know.
And so that's why we'redeveloping our skills to have a
more, uh, you know, convincingum and meaningful performance,
you know.
So that's uh, god's been um.
Speaking that to me, I think,since I started this job, again
(21:41):
reminding myself that these areGod's.
God's given gave me thesetalents and I'm now, you know,
in an act of worship every dayyou know, helping kids um, you
know, develop those skills andit's it's really humbling, you
know.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, thank you for sharing,chris.
So you'll hear at the beginningof this episode.
We talk a little bit about youbefore you come on the show, but
the one word, well, two words Ithink I stole your word, but we
were talking about authenticand genuine and these.
I hope these are things thatyou've heard from us before, but
, uh, it's worth it to say itagain Uh, when we see you teach,
when we see you interact, notjust with the kids but with
(22:21):
people, um, what we said earlier, uh, it's a reflection of the
love of God.
Yeah, it's a reflection ofJesus' love for people, and we
see that through you and throughyour life.
And we just want to affirm whatyou're doing, and I know the
feeling that you're describing,like when you can marry, like
your occupation, with the joyand the peace and the fruit of
(22:45):
the spirit, when you can marrylike what you're doing, you know
to those, what am I trying tosay?
It's such a right place to beand you can feel it in your soul
and uh, so I, I love thatyou're feeling that, I love that
you're here and I'm the teamand, uh, we just really
appreciate you and we're uh,we're just really thankful for
(23:06):
you, so we want to pray for youtoday and, uh, thank you again
for thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I appreciate you guys so much.
I know I wouldn't be herewithout you guys and without so
many people, but thank you forwelcoming me and making me feel
like I'm supposed to be here.
So thank you three very much.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
We love Chris, we love you man, let's just pray.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Gracious God, we thank you for Chris.
We thank you, God, for the waysthat you have used his
experiences and his story andhis passions and his gifts and
brought that into alignment.
Lord, with the opportunity tobless the lives and enrich the
lives of so many.
(23:49):
God, we thank you for hisministry here in Massachusetts.
Jesus, God, for the things thatare seen and the many things
that are unseen.
Lord, just the intentionality,the preparation that he puts
into connecting themes and deeptruths of the gospel to every
form of expression.
God to help young peopleunderstand, god, that you have
created them and wired them tobring God glory and giving their
(24:10):
gifts back to you.
Lord, I just thank you forChris's life.
I thank you, god, for hiswilling spirit to just jump in
and do, lord, whatever you needhim to do, god, and do it with a
smile on his face, lord, thejoy that's contagious, the
sincere heart that's behind whathe does, lord, knowing that he
(24:30):
never gives anything less thanhis best, god, because he
recognizes that it's more thanhim, god, but it's you at work
in him, lord, I just prayblessings over his life, lord,
his continued ministry here inMassachusetts.
God, I pray blessings over hisfamily.
God, blessings over everythingthat he puts his hands to.
(24:51):
And God, remind him, lord, thathe is yours and you brought him
here for this time and for thisseason.
And so, lord, we celebrate hislife.
We thank you for his humor,even finding himself in the
awkward situations.
God, we just thank you for theways that you've wired him and
the person that he is.
Bless him today, god, and justagain, we just thank you for who
(25:13):
you are and what you allow usto be when we live our lives in
you.
We pray this in your name Amen.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Amen, can I just say one last closing statement.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Of course, yeah, and I'm just saying this right to
the camera.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
If you were inspired today to be a part of a handbell
choir, I'd invite you to signthe petition that will be in the
YouTube comments, to join me inbringing handbells to the
Massachusetts Division of Music.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I love it.
I'll sign that.
I'll put a Google form outthere.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, there you go, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Well, once again, thank you for being on the show,
chris.
If you want to see Chris inaction, come to the Sounds of
Christmas on Sunday, december8th, at 6 o'clock pm at the
Boston Chorac Center.
Chris will be conducting threedifferent levels of choruses, as
well as doing a number of otherthings in the show.
So if you want to see Chris inaction, or if you want to
connect with him, get musiclessons at any one of the
Salvation Armies that he isteaching at.
(26:01):
Please send us a message and wewill get you connected to that
Salvation Army community.
We're going to take anotherquick break here on the Plugged
In Podcast, episode number 21.
When we come back, we're goingto continue our review through
the book of the RuthlessElimination of Hurry by John
Mark Comer.
We'll be right back.
Plugged In Podcast.
Welcome back to Plugged InPodcast, episode number 21.
(26:32):
As promised, we are diving backinto the Ruthless Elimination
of Hurry by John Mark Comer.
A pod book club.
Pod book club.
I like that.
I feel like we've said bookclub, but I didn't hear the word
pod in front of it.
I do like that.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I think I just added that right now.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Pod book club.
I like it, I'm in, I'm in, I'min, I'm in like a graphic.
So we probably uh, this wasn'tgreat planning on our part, but
the next chapter in the bookreally belonged with last week's
episode yes um?
so quick recap on the nextchapter that we that we read.
So it's still identifying hurryas a sickness, hurry as
(27:09):
literally borderline, a medicaldisease, right, um?
So the thing that jumped out me, jumped out at me in this
chapter.
He has a list of 10 things thatmaybe you can find um
relatability in.
But here's the 10 symptoms ofhurry sickness.
Number one irritability.
You get mad, frustrated or justannoyed way too easily.
(27:30):
Take a look at how you treatthose closest to you your spouse
, your children, your roommate,your friends.
Number two hypersensitivity.
All it takes is a minor commentto hurt your feelings.
Number three restlessness.
You simply cannot relax.
You give Sabbath a try and youhate it.
You read scripture but find itboring.
Number four workaholism.
(27:53):
Is that how you say that?
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Yeah, I think so, that's right.
Workaholism Is that how you saythat.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, I think so, that's right.
Workaholism, workaholic Okay,so your drugs of choice are
accomplishment and accumulationOkay.
Number five emotional numbness.
You just don't have thecapacity to feel someone else's
pain.
Empathy is a rare feeling foryou.
Number six out of orderpriorities, you realize you
still haven't gotten around toall the things you said were the
(28:19):
most important in your life.
Number seven this one hit mehard lack of care for your body.
You gain weight.
You regularly wake up tired.
You don't have time for eighthours of sleep daily, exercise,
healthy home-cooked food.
Eight hours of sleep, daily,exercise, healthy home-cooked
food all that stuff you resortto caffeine sugar, processed
carbs.
Number eight escapist behaviors.
(28:40):
Same thing.
Here you find yourself in somesort of distraction that has a
chokehold on your lifeOvereating, overdrinking,
binge-watching Netflix, browsingsocial media, surfing the web,
looking at porn what are thesemodern vices that have trapped
you?
Number nine slippage ofspiritual disciplines.
(29:03):
And then number 10 is isolation.
You feel totally disconnectedfrom God, from others and your
own soul.
So that kind of wrapped up thefirst part of the book when we
move into part two.
So I'll just give it a generalsummary and then, in a sentence,
and then I'll throw it to youguys the solution finally
arrives and what the author issaying is that, um, we are never
going to be able to conquer thesickness of hurry with adding
(29:26):
additional time.
Right, you'll fill up the timewith more stuff exactly the only
antidote to this is not to justembrace the theology of Jesus,
but to become his apprentice,which means to live life the way
Jesus lived his life.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
That's what I took it as.
And then he jumps into theselists of limitations that we
have, and some of them arereally interesting to me because
we might not think of them aslimitations, but he says Because
we might not think of them aslimitations, but he says we have
limitations, lots of them,including, but not limited to,
our bodies.
He says, unlike Luke Skywalker,we can only be in one place at
(30:04):
a time, limitation Our minds,knowing that we can only know in
part, as Paul said, and theproblem is we don't know what we
don't know, we miss all things.
So our minds are a limitation.
This one was interesting to meour giftings.
But he compares it to the ideathat we're always seeking
(30:27):
comparison and how comparison isjust the thief of joy and
someone can always be better atus than at something that even
we think we're good at.
So, just like our giftings, ourlimitation, um, our
personalities and emotionalwiring, we only have so much
capacity, um, whether it'srelational capacity or you know,
(30:47):
anything we have, our emotionalwiring, our families of origin.
I thought this was interestingas well.
Right, none of us start to theblank slate.
Some of us start with a leg upin life, others of us will walk
with a limp for our early years.
Generational poverty,non-existent parents in our
lives, faith, all thosedifferent things, our
(31:08):
socioeconomic origins.
He says America is built aroundthe myth of classless society,
a myth that conceals a deep wellof injustice and the truth is,
even in our land of opportunity,some people just have more
opportunity than others.
Seven, our education and ourcareers.
He mentions if you drop out ofhigh school, that's a limitation
(31:29):
.
If you have a PhD from Harvard,that's another.
In an odd way, anotherlimitation.
A career might be a limitation.
He says our seasons of life andthe responsibilities that they
hold.
If you have a young child oryou're going to college, you're
caring for people in your lifewho are not well, a limitation.
Our 80 or years of life, ifwe're blessed, he said that's no
(31:52):
guarantee, Um, but he saysthere's no, there's simply no
way to do it all.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
So he just keeps going, so he brings up
limitations.
For what purpose to?
He's saying really that, um, ifyou are not accepting of some
of these limitations, you aregoing to spend a whole lot of
time and energy, uh, trying tofill something that may not be
realistic.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Yeah Well, it's defeating to try to be all
things at all times and thispressure that we face to ignore
our limitations or to pressthrough our limitations, and
this embrace of our limitationsactually is freeing, because it
allows us to kind of hone in towhat God is actually calling us
(32:36):
to live out and lead from.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, that's what he says.
He says what if our limitationsaren't something to fight but
to gratefully accept?
And then he quotes PeterScazzaro and he says we find
God's will for our lives in ourlimitations.
And I just thought that afterthat whole list where you can
become so bogged down with, oh,check, check, check, it's like
wait, maybe, maybe this isn'tthe fight.
You know, I like that.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Yeah.
And then we move into like, ok,how, how do we do this?
What is this?
What is this thing that Jesusis actually calling us to, then
recognizing all the limitationsthat we face every day, that can
easily become excuses or easilybe easily become things that
defeat us and discourage us.
And then it's bringing us backto the reminder that Jesus's
yoke is easy.
It's not another obligation,it's not another expectation,
(33:24):
it's not another burden, right,but the yoke is is Jesus.
You know us strapping ourselvesto Jesus so that we can
shoulder the load of oureveryday life with his grace.
He actually uses the term theunforced rhythms of grace.
Allow that to just wash overyou.
When do you wake up in themorning and face everything
(33:45):
that's coming your way and yousay, god, I just want to face
today with the unforced rhythmsof your grace.
And so he moves into thisconversation about what it means
to truly be an apprentice ofthe master of.
Jesus, to be with Jesus, tospend time with him, to become
like Jesus and to do what hewould do if he were you.
And I love this conversationbecause it goes back to this.
(34:09):
A lot of people, a lot of timeswe say I want to be like that
person, I want to run a marathonlike that person, or I, I want
to be like that person, I wantto run a marathon like that
person, or I want to play musiclike that person.
Or we look at people and wewant to emulate their life, and
then we think of what it coststo actually become that, to get
up at 5 am every morning.
To run miles To have a strictdiet of he says in the book,
(34:32):
celery and water, To become amarathon runner.
And you're like, okay, do Ireally want it?
Do I really want to do what isnecessary to become that person?
And it carries over into ourspiritual lives.
A lot of times we say I want tobe like Jesus, and then we have
to take a step back and say amI really, do I really desire to
(34:53):
be like Jesus?
Because if so, it's going tocost something, it's going to
demand something, and patterningmy life off of his lifestyle
means I'm going to have toreprioritize, reshift my focus
and really just tap into thoseunforced rhythms of grace that
he desires to produce in me andcreate in me force, rhythms of
(35:17):
grace that he desires to producein me and created me.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yeah, and I love just that.
The turn in the book as well,when he talks about doing that
means living deliberately orliving with intentionality.
Um, and then he just he divesinto all these crazy things
about matt.
You mentioned, um, where itsays the average guy spends
10,000 hours playing a videoplaying video games by the age
of 21 10,000 hours 10,000 hoursand then he's like he just goes
(35:42):
into a what could you do in thattime?
what if you had, if you hadlived deliberately in in those
10,000 hours?
What could you have doneinstead?
And it just is, it'sperspective, um, but not to add
more time to the clock, but todo better with the time that we
have.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Yeah yeah, there's this, there's this quote here
that says um, the definition,definition of insanity, doing
the same thing over and overagain but expecting a different
result.
But that's exactly what we doin our spiritual lives.
Right, we get this vision ofwhat a kind of life is like in
christ.
We go go to church, we readbooks, we listen to podcasts, we
catch a glimpse of what oursoul aches for, one of emotional
(36:22):
health and spiritual life.
And then in our gut we say, yes, god, this is what I need, I
want that life.
But then it says we head homefrom church with all the
willpower we can muster, we setout to change, but then we go
right back to living the exactsame lifestyle and nothing
changes.
And it's a cycle of repeatstress, tiredness, distraction,
and we feel stuck.
What's missing?
(36:50):
His nonstop conscious enjoymentof God's presence in this world
.
Then we not only have to adoptthe right theology and the code
of ethics, but also Jesus'slifestyle, follow the way he
lived his life.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
I found it very interesting.
He brought up multiple timeswhere Jesus is constantly saying
come, follow me.
There's an invitation not tojust believe the words but live
the way.
He brought up a couple ofdifferent stories from the
Gospels, a couple of things thatI found interesting.
He said I'm struck by howfiercely present Jesus was, how
(37:26):
he would just not let anythingor anyone, even a medical
emergency, a hurting father,rush him into the next moment.
Jesus was constantlyinterrupted.
There was two stories.
He brought up Lazarus.
So when he heard that Lazaruswas sick, he stayed where he was
for two more days and then hesaid to his disciples let's go
back to Judea.
He wasn't in a hurry.
This other story, jairus, isthat the oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, yeah, jairus' daughter.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
In another story, jesus was teaching in a
synagogue when this guy, jairus,literally fell at Jesus' feet
begging him to come and heal hislittle girl who was at the
point of death.
Again, this is life or death.
But on the way to Jairus' home,a woman with a chronic health
condition that went back 12years interrupted Jesus.
(38:12):
There's a beautiful story whereJesus just took all the time in
the world with her, no rush atall.
So he brought up a couple otherstories too, and it's just
interesting, because jesus isconstantly saying come, follow
me.
But he's also, uh, displayingthis lifestyle where he is not.
He's not in a hurry yeah he'snot prioritizing anything other
than his relationship to thefather.
Yeah, there's multiple timeswhere he's off on his own
praying, or he's uh.
(38:33):
There was one funny line wherehe I'm not gonna be able to find
it now, but he was like Jesusbasically spent.
He waited 30 years to preachhis first sermon and then, his
first day on the job as Messiah,he went into the desert and
prayed for 40 days.
You know, he just so, he waslike he prioritized his soul
(38:54):
amongst any of the otherdistractions around him.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
And so there's really this as we move into the next
section of the book.
The drive is then really, if Iwant to pattern my life after
the lifestyle of Jesus, what arethe habits, what are the
practices, what are thebehaviors that Jesus embraced,
that he's calling us to embrace,and we know these are spiritual
disciplines, but he refers tothem.
Not just he said I don't wantus to embrace, and we know these
(39:19):
as spiritual disciplines, buthe refers to them.
Not just he said I don't wantit to just be straight religious
language with you, but I wantthese to be spiritual habits and
practices and are these, youknow, kind of to the point of
you're going to get out of yourspiritual life?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
or relationship with God, what you put into it, the
investment that you make.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
There's a tangible growth in the time that we spend
with the Lord, in thediscipline that we have to say
no to the things that maybe ourminds or our bodies say that we
want, but to say no, this iswhere I need to be.
I need to be with the Lord.
I need to be in the word.
I need to be.
(39:56):
I need to be with the Lord.
I need to be in the Word, Ineed to be a person of prayer, I
need to be a person of silenceand solitude and know when to
pull back.
Just as Jesus himself wouldoften go off to a solitary place
to be renewed in the presenceof his Father, and so it's
recognizing our vulnerabilities,recognizing our limitations,
and when we recognize those andthe triggers that those things
produce in our lives, thatirritability and that, all those
(40:17):
other warning signs, where canwe lean into him a little more
through the process?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Well, that brings us to our stopping point for today.
I think maybe it's not alimitation, I don't know, I'm
just not.
I have a tough time diving intobooks.
I feel like I start a ton ofbooks and I just like, get you
know, 60 pages in and I'm justlike, ok, I just feel a little
bored or I don't, I don't know,but I will tell you that this is
(40:45):
an easy read.
Yeah, this guy is speaking sorelatable to the present world
and it's like every other pageis just like oh, that's me,
that's me, that's me.
So if you haven't picked upthis book and you're interested
in going through it with us,highly recommend it.
It is an easy read.
It's a very quick read too, buttons of practical stuff to take
(41:07):
from it.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Yeah, and as we mentioned in the last episode,
that there is a supplement thatgoes along with this on RightNow
Media that you can use in asmall group Bible study setting
or you can use it just for yourown devotions.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
A conversation sheet that goes along with it and some
supplemental videos that canjust really help enhance reading
through this topic.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
Yeah Well, thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
Another fun episode on thePluggedIn Podcast.
We made it.
That was a great interview withChris that was a lot of fun.
He's the best Great stories.
Really good time Before we go.
I want to plug an event or two.
We said it earlier, but Soundsof Christmas, sunday, december
8th.
Hopefully the entire SalvationArmy Massachusetts division will
(41:48):
be coming out to the BostonKroc Center Standing room, only
Standing room only Hot chocolate, coffee water desserts.
The Standing room, only Standingroom.
Only Hot chocolate, coffeewater desserts.
The world famous sound ofChristmas.
The world famous the ninthannual.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
The ninth annual Sound of Christmas.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Anyways, thanks for joining us today.
This is episode 21 of thePlugged In Podcast, and I'll
tell you every single time wewill see you next time, thank
you.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.