August 13, 2025 • 9 mins
Marina Santee and Colin Lowther look at predicaments - bad situations. Why do people get into bad situations? How do they get out?
https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/the-predicament-question/
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https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/the-predicament-question/
Download our app for Android at http://bit.ly/spotlight-android
Download our app for iOS at http://bit.ly/spotlight-apple
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spotlightradio
Are you learning English? Are you looking for a way to practice your English? Listen to Spotlight to learn about people and places all around the world. You can learn English words, and even practice English by writing a comment.
Visit our website to follow along with the script: http://spotlightenglish.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Marina Sante.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Colin Lava. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I made big mistakes before, but never this big, and
I never regretted anything I did before.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Derek looked at the jail walls surrounding him. He put
his head in his hands. How did he get into
this predicament?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Have you ever been in a predicament, a bad situation?
Have you asked yourself? How did I get here? People
face difficult situations ever every day, and often they do
not know how it happened. They are in a predicament.
(01:08):
In other Spotlight programs, we looked at Rick Warren's answers
to difficult questions in life. Rick is a famous Christian
leader and advisor. Today we look at some of his
answers to the question how did I get into this predicament?
(01:31):
Here is Derek's story.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Derek was only fourteen years old when he joined a gang,
a group of young people who perform crimes. They may
steal cars, sell drugs, and even hurt other people. Gang
members are often troubled young people, they may feel alone
in life. They want friends. Derek was one of these
(01:58):
young men. The gang became his friends and he felt important.
He felt that he was part of something. However, when
he was sixteen, his life changed completely.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Derek was at a New Year's Eve party. He was
there with his gang members, but an enemy gang was
there too. One of the enemy gang members, Tim, insulted Derek.
Derek felt disrespected, and even worse, it was in front
(02:34):
of his friends. Derek could not accept such a public insult.
He remembers that time.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
My friends looked at me. I pulled the gun from
under my clothes and Tim froze. He did not move.
I liked the feeling I had. It was a sense
of power. Tim begged and cried for me not to
shoot him, but I pulled the trigger of the gun.
He fell to the ground and my friends ran away.
(03:08):
Then I understood that they were not really my friends.
I stayed there alone. I waited for the police to arrive.
Then I admitted that I shot Tim. Thankfully, Tim lived.
The bullets missed his heart, so I was sent to
jail for twelve years.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That night changed Derek. He understood that the gang members
were not truly his friends. He was all alone. Derek
was in a bad situation. He was there partly because
of his behavior, and he was there partly because of
his friends. Rick Warren says that friends can be very important.
(03:51):
Everyone needs friends. They can add such joy to life.
They can also offer encouragement during hard times. True friends
are there in good times and in bad times. But
Derek did not find good friends. He found friends who
influenced him to do wrong things, and they did not
stay with him during his most frightening time. They were
(04:14):
not with Derek when the police arrested him. These friends
all ran away.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Rick Warren believes that many people are in bad situations
because of the friends they choose. Bad friends can get
people into predicaments.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
He says, we are asking for trouble if we choose
the wrong friends. Wrong values, and wrong ways of thinking
will affect our lives.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Rick believes that there are ways to know if a
friendship is good or bad. He says that bad friendships
make people feel bad. They often find themselves doing things
that they do not want to do. They feel pressure
from their friends to do these things, and these friends
may try to control them through anger or fear.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Rick says the kind of friends you should have will
bring out the best in you. They will lift you up,
encourage you, and make you a better person.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Rick Warren says that another way that people get into
bad situations is by repeating their mistakes. Often, they do
not try to change when they make a mistake, They
continue doing the same things over and over. Derek was
(05:39):
in the gang for two years before he wanted to change.
He did not want to change until the terrible shooting.
That incident made him examine his life.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
He said the hardest part about being in jail was
that no one cared. There was no one to tell
me that I needed to change. I had no family.
I sat in jail and kept thinking about my crime.
I deeply regretted it, so I asked God to forgive me.
(06:15):
I asked him to guide me down a different road.
Then I wrote him a letter to apologize, and now
we are friendly. We have both left the gangs. Also,
I started reading in jail and I finished my high
school degree. I made a change. Many people refuse to
(06:35):
admit they need to change.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Rick Warren agrees with Derek. He says that people need
to learn from the past.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
We are asking for trouble if we refuse to learn
from our mistakes.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
It is not easy to learn from mistakes. Many people
do want to stop what they are doing, but the
problem is that they do not know how. They may
have a physical or emotional dependence on something. For example,
they may be drinking alcohol or taking illegal drugs, and
(07:15):
some people simply cannot stop. For them, it is necessary
to get support. They can get help at treatment centers
and from doctors.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Some people are afraid to ask for help. They feel
that they have failed so many times before. They may
think that it is too late for them. But Rick
says it is never too late.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
God can help us when we honestly look at the facts.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He has not given up.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
On You give him the pieces of your life.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
There is a way out of even the most difficult predicament.
With hard work and with God's help, there is always hope.
From what mistakes, have you learned something that made you
change what you do? How important is it to have
(08:16):
good friends? Tell us what you think. You can leave
a comment on our website. You can also find us
on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky, and x. You can
also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or
Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
The writer and producer of this program a part of
the Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from the
United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and
voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again
and read it on the Internet at WWLYE dot Radio
English dot net. This program is called The Predicament Question.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Goodbye,
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Marina Sante.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Colin Lava. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I made big mistakes before, but never this big, and
I never regretted anything I did before.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Derek looked at the jail walls surrounding him. He put
his head in his hands. How did he get into
this predicament?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Have you ever been in a predicament, a bad situation?
Have you asked yourself? How did I get here? People
face difficult situations ever every day, and often they do
not know how it happened. They are in a predicament.
(01:08):
In other Spotlight programs, we looked at Rick Warren's answers
to difficult questions in life. Rick is a famous Christian
leader and advisor. Today we look at some of his
answers to the question how did I get into this predicament?
(01:31):
Here is Derek's story.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Derek was only fourteen years old when he joined a gang,
a group of young people who perform crimes. They may
steal cars, sell drugs, and even hurt other people. Gang
members are often troubled young people, they may feel alone
in life. They want friends. Derek was one of these
(01:58):
young men. The gang became his friends and he felt important.
He felt that he was part of something. However, when
he was sixteen, his life changed completely.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Derek was at a New Year's Eve party. He was
there with his gang members, but an enemy gang was
there too. One of the enemy gang members, Tim, insulted Derek.
Derek felt disrespected, and even worse, it was in front
(02:34):
of his friends. Derek could not accept such a public insult.
He remembers that time.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
My friends looked at me. I pulled the gun from
under my clothes and Tim froze. He did not move.
I liked the feeling I had. It was a sense
of power. Tim begged and cried for me not to
shoot him, but I pulled the trigger of the gun.
He fell to the ground and my friends ran away.
(03:08):
Then I understood that they were not really my friends.
I stayed there alone. I waited for the police to arrive.
Then I admitted that I shot Tim. Thankfully, Tim lived.
The bullets missed his heart, so I was sent to
jail for twelve years.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That night changed Derek. He understood that the gang members
were not truly his friends. He was all alone. Derek
was in a bad situation. He was there partly because
of his behavior, and he was there partly because of
his friends. Rick Warren says that friends can be very important.
(03:51):
Everyone needs friends. They can add such joy to life.
They can also offer encouragement during hard times. True friends
are there in good times and in bad times. But
Derek did not find good friends. He found friends who
influenced him to do wrong things, and they did not
stay with him during his most frightening time. They were
(04:14):
not with Derek when the police arrested him. These friends
all ran away.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Rick Warren believes that many people are in bad situations
because of the friends they choose. Bad friends can get
people into predicaments.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
He says, we are asking for trouble if we choose
the wrong friends. Wrong values, and wrong ways of thinking
will affect our lives.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Rick believes that there are ways to know if a
friendship is good or bad. He says that bad friendships
make people feel bad. They often find themselves doing things
that they do not want to do. They feel pressure
from their friends to do these things, and these friends
may try to control them through anger or fear.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Rick says the kind of friends you should have will
bring out the best in you. They will lift you up,
encourage you, and make you a better person.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Rick Warren says that another way that people get into
bad situations is by repeating their mistakes. Often, they do
not try to change when they make a mistake, They
continue doing the same things over and over. Derek was
(05:39):
in the gang for two years before he wanted to change.
He did not want to change until the terrible shooting.
That incident made him examine his life.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
He said the hardest part about being in jail was
that no one cared. There was no one to tell
me that I needed to change. I had no family.
I sat in jail and kept thinking about my crime.
I deeply regretted it, so I asked God to forgive me.
(06:15):
I asked him to guide me down a different road.
Then I wrote him a letter to apologize, and now
we are friendly. We have both left the gangs. Also,
I started reading in jail and I finished my high
school degree. I made a change. Many people refuse to
(06:35):
admit they need to change.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Rick Warren agrees with Derek. He says that people need
to learn from the past.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
We are asking for trouble if we refuse to learn
from our mistakes.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
It is not easy to learn from mistakes. Many people
do want to stop what they are doing, but the
problem is that they do not know how. They may
have a physical or emotional dependence on something. For example,
they may be drinking alcohol or taking illegal drugs, and
(07:15):
some people simply cannot stop. For them, it is necessary
to get support. They can get help at treatment centers
and from doctors.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Some people are afraid to ask for help. They feel
that they have failed so many times before. They may
think that it is too late for them. But Rick
says it is never too late.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
God can help us when we honestly look at the facts.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He has not given up.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
On You give him the pieces of your life.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
There is a way out of even the most difficult predicament.
With hard work and with God's help, there is always hope.
From what mistakes, have you learned something that made you
change what you do? How important is it to have
(08:16):
good friends? Tell us what you think. You can leave
a comment on our website. You can also find us
on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky, and x. You can
also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or
Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
The writer and producer of this program a part of
the Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from the
United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and
voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again
and read it on the Internet at WWLYE dot Radio
English dot net. This program is called The Predicament Question.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Goodbye,
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