The Christmas Traditions and Fun Facts

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W FOURCY Radio. Well test the
season, and welcome. It's Bill Martinez.

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Good to have you with us.
Merry Christmas. I thought we'd have

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some fun today. Adam Holtz,
my good buddy from Focus on the Family

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and plugged in dot Com, is
going to be joining us talk about some

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Christmas traditions and fun facts and music
and maybe just to get you in the

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mood here. Because we're not allowed
to play Christmas music on these channels.

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It's there. Don't even ask why, But because of my background in music

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radio, it's hard to not think
of Christmas without Christmas music. So what

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I'm going to ask you to do
is while we are talking and sharing with

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you these great Christmas traditions. Go
ahead and play a musical soundtrack of your

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favorite Christmas music in the background,
just enough to just kind of enhance,

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because if we could do it,
we would do it for you. But

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this way, you get to participate
in this show by playing your favorite Christmas

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songs in the background, because we're
going to talk about Christmas music, Christmas

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traditions, Missile Tooe, the candy
Caid, Partridge in the pear tree,

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and all that good kind of stuff. So let's bring Adam Holtz from Focus

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on the Families plug in dot Com. Adam, How you doing, buddy,

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I'm great, Bill. How are
you doing today? Hey, I'm

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I'm so looking forward to This is
the first time that you and I've been

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able to do this face to face. We do it every week on radio,

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but I thought, hey, look
at uh it's Christmas. Let's talk

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about some fun Christmas traditions. And
you were one of the first people I

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thought that this would be perfect to
do. Well, I appreciate the invite.

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And if you hear music in the
background here, it's my daughter singing,

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so uh yeah, I think she's
getting ready. And I didn't even

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have time to go up and say, hey, so you know, it'll

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just be a little real world am
Beyonce, Well why why not? And

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if she's singing Christmas music all the
more. But yeah, like I said,

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in these particular podcast channels, they
don't know also play Christmas music because

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you know, if it's not if
it's copywritten or something or whatever it could

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be. You know, it's not
like you know, the old, my

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old radio days where we were so
used to you know, playing music because

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we had you know, we paid
all the right people off and you know,

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kept them all happy so they didn't
they didn't mind it. But these

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days you got to be real,
you know, real particular. And I

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understand, look at the is worked
hard for their money and I appreciate that.

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But hopefully one day we'll get this
squared away to where we can be

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able to give them additional coverage,
you know, and because this is what

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it does, right because but we're
anyway, we're going to talk again being

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you know, from my background in
music and radio and that this time of

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year was always a fun time of
year because we were wall to wall Christmas

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music. Yep, yeah, I
mean we love this time of year.

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My wife as I've told you more
than once over the years works in a

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church. And my daughter, who's
singing right now, she has sung at

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our Christmas concerts, So I think
one of our our annual traditions in our

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family, actually we have two of
them. We usually go to Trans Siberian

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Orchestra, which is Christmas music on
steroids or something like there. And then

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my oh yeah, by the way, let me tell you Trans Siberian Radio

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one of the top and one of
the top one hundred songs on the all

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time Christmas list right now. Yep, yeah, and it's uh. I'm

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a rock and roll guy, so
I like to put some teeth in it.

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And my daughter and my daughters and
my wife always go to the Nutcracker,

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and so uh, it's a it's
a glorious time of year to celebrate

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obviously the birth of Christ, but
in addition, there's just so much there's

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so much festive and traditional music of
all kinds. You know, a lot

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of it is very much focused on
Christ's birth, and but there's a lot

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of fun music that may not be
directly focused on that that we can still

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really enjoy as well. Well.
I always get to kick out of this

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is the time of year where you
hear Jewish people singing about Jesus. It's

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not to insult them or any like
that. I mean, I think it's

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great. They've got great voices.
And you know, of course there's they're

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still waiting for him to come.
Uh, you know, an increasing number

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of Jews or Messianic I believe he's
been here and uh, you know,

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the next visit will be uh when
we go up in the air. And

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then after that, of course he
will return the Lord and king of king,

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so we can't wait. But hey, this is all part of the

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anticipation and what prepares us during this
these advent weeks that have been leading up

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to the birth of Christ. As
you said, yeah, that's right,

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and it's I mean, it's a
time of you know, Advent has to

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do with with waiting and anticipation,
and I think it's a moment to recognize

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what we're anticipating. You know,
when you're a kid, you're anticipating opening

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the presence underneath the tree and hoping
your parents didn't screw it up, that

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they got you the right thing.
And as you get older, I think

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that you you begin to have a
sense of anticipation that I think is I

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don't know, maybe more grounded in
the reality of what we hope in.

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You know, the hope for presents, but the hope is for it's for

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redemption, you know, Big Big
R and Little R. Obviously coming to

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know Jesus, but also you know, it's that moment in the year where

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you're just you're reflective, you're thinking
about your relationships. Uh in a sense

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of anticipation. Is the New Year's
right around the corner. So there's a

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lot that goes into it. And
obviously we know Bill that this is the

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time of year that it's hard for
a lot of people. If you've lost

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somebody, you feel like you're on
the outside. And I think that is

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an invitation if you're not in that
space, to just ask God to say,

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hey, you know what, where
do you want me to have my

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eyes open this year? So that
I noticed somebody that maybe somebody is having

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a hard Christmas season? How can
I be maybe a small encouragement in that,

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you know, in the midst of
the season exactly well, and the

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thing we we also you know,
consider in terms of the Advent, the

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Advent calendar, uh as a as
a as a little kid I don't know

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that I paid all that much attention
to it, but certainly in my latter

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years, and you know, and
raising our kids, I thought, well,

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okay, this is really important.
And each year it's been amazing that,

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you know, the whole idea of
the Advent calendar has become increasingly important

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to me, you know, starting
you know, starting with the first week

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of Hope. I mean, you
know, because that's what we're you know,

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you know, you think about it, that that's that sets you up

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for a moment. It's kind of
the spiritual reset button that God gives us

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every year on this liturgical calendar.
Right, That's exactly right. And I

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if you're in a tradition where you
don't have a particularly strong liturgical influence,

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it's you know, you can still
seek it out. I grew up in

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a very non denominational evangelical world,
and we never celebrated Advent as deliberately as

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I do now in a Presbyterian church. But I certainly love lighting the candle,

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you know, the four different candles
leading up to Christmas, where we're

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we're focusing on those different elements of
what Jesus brings into the world. And

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I think even in our family.
You know, our church publishes a little

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home Advent calendar where you can read
a passage of scripture and light the candle

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at home. And I think it's
a great tradition. And I'm sure if

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you just google Advent calendar or Advent
traditions, I'm sure there's a zillion things

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out there that you could do.
But I really would encourage people if you

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haven't had a tradition where you did
that, give it a shot. Yeah,

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exactly. Yeah. It really brings
additional meaning and impact that leads up

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to the birth of Christ and the
celebration. Because we start out with hope.

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This week is peace. So what
I find myself doing is I'm,

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you know, reading scripture during that
week. Words you know, they come

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from you know, from scripture that
align itself with hope just come jumping off

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the page. And of course the
then peace and this past week is is

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joy, which is represented in what
they call the Shepherd's candle. And this

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is where, you know, in
terms of the liturgia colors, they go

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from purple to pink. I remember
I remember being at I was at Saint

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Patrick's Cathedral, uh several years back, and I go there for what they

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call God it Sunday, which uh
and uh uh. Timothy Manning, the

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cardinal Cardinal Manning was was giving the
mask at that on that Sunday and he

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comes out wearing, you know,
this pink outfit. He goes, he

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goes, stop laughing, He goes, this is not a shower curtain.

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And it was funny he said that
because it just the way it did look

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like a shower curtain. So you
know, hey, even in the midst

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of things that are spiritual, I
think God can have a sense of humor,

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you know. So I think God
does have a sense of humor.

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I mean, I think, without
sounding sacrilegious, you know, Jesus birth

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in a place that couldn't be much
more earthy and gritty, I think it

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demonstrates in a way, again I'm
not trying to be sacrifice, you know,

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sacrilegious here that God has a sense
of humor. You know that he

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introduced the Savior of the world in
a place full of animals and all the

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things that animals do there exactly.
Well, he's always confounding the wise,

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right, Yeah, people think they're
so arrogant, and like right now we're

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in that season and heightened arrogance and
elitism and that that's going on, and

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you just, you know, kind
of just shake your head because they just

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don't know what they don't know,
but they're still done there. Right,

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Yeah, that's exactly right. And
I think it is an opportunity. The

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advent season, the Christmas season,
it's an opportunity for reflection on so many

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levels. And I think that we
have to be deliberate about it because the

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mainstream culture says it's a it's a
time for consumption, right, you know,

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the emphasis is on bye bye bye. But the ultimate present has come,

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and what does it look like for
us to receive him? What does

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it look like for me? And
you know, I'm hustling and bustling just

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like everybody else. There's a zillion
things to do. We got Christmas stuff

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at school and church and you got
you got four chilling. Yeah, I

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mean, look it is we're busy. But I do think there is an

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opportunity to reflect, as as Mary
did. If you saw the Chosen episode

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The Messengers, we get the story
as Dallas Jenkins imagines it, of the

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magnificat of her response to God,
and what a beautiful thing it is.

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Exactly. Yeah, when when you
think about it, and the thing is

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is that uh the magnificat which is
directed towards Mary? But how many times

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is God still talking to his anointed, his chosen ones. Not that you're

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the mother of God, but maybe
you're the specific key uh in in the

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wheel of life that must be there
in order to make it work. And

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if you know, like Mary,
if Mary wasn't there, what would have

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happened? Right? Yeah, I
mean it's an interesting question. And I

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think she was in a posture of
receptivity. And I think there's so much

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in our lives, Bill that we
can naturally become clenched, right with anxiety,

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with the desire to be in control. And what we see in Mary

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is this spirit of open handed reception
and what do we need to help us

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to get into that place? And
it's going to be different for different people,

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right, But I think there's that
invitation to come before Christ and to

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say Lord, just as Mary received
this invitation to be an incredible pivotal person

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in history, what do you have
for me? You know? And what

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does it look like for me to
receive that humbling? Right? It's not

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that I'm special or significant it's that
there's an opportunity to be involved in what

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God's doing in our world. Yeah. Well, and as you say,

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you know about receiving, and see, this is all part of the advent

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season that it does prepare us.
It's preparing us to receive. And I

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get it. I mean sometimes,
you know, sometimes it's hard for people

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to receive. There's just something that
blocks it. I know, call it

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ego, I don't know, but
with blocks, but here it is.

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I mean, when you think about
what God is giving us, and what

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He's giving us is the very thing
we need. The author of the universe,

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who has created it all, it
says, you know, Adam,

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I know you, I know every
hair on your head, I know everything

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about you, old del and this
is this is what you need, right

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And and you go, okay,
God, don't I mean, just like,

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for example, when when Jesus is
you know, right there outside of

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Jerusalem on the donkey and any weeps, it says because he looks over,

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he sees what's coming. Because they
don't know what they don't know right,

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and because they're not ready to receive
what God Almighty his Father had prepared for

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them, the very thing they're looking
for but they were looking for it with

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a wrong understanding. They thought,
Okay, here he's going to come as

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the conquering King. And just like
he arrived in Bethlehem in a manger,

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he's on a donkey. He's on
a donkey coming into Jerusalem. And I

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got to imagine some of the skeptics
are going, oh, this is your

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king really? Yeah, yeah,
that's exactly right. And I think,

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you know, it reminds me a
little bit of what Jesus says in the

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Parable of the Sower, and I
love Eugene Peterson's you know, paraphrase of

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it in the Message, and he's
talking about the seeds that don't grow and

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get strangled out and what is that? You know? And and so it

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says in verses eighteen and nineteen,
the seed casts and the weeds represents the

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one who hear the kingdom news.
But they're overwhelmed with worries about all the

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things they have to do and all
the things they want to get, and

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the stress strangles what they've heard.
And man, Bill, that just cuts

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me to the quick, because that's, you know, everything I have to

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do and everything I want to get. Man, isn't that the majority of

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the stress in my life exactly.
And I don't want to live a strangled

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life. I don't want to be
choked out. Well, and that's what

210
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we get choked out by the things
of this world, the temporal as opposed

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to we forego the eternal for the
temporal. And man, I'm with you.

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I'm with you, brother. Let
me tell you, because I sit

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there you deal with this and you
want to. You know, sometimes it's

214
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things about this TV show, you
know, certain elements and gist of this,

215
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or or the radio show. And
I catch myself and I go,

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oh, God, you know,
forgive me. And because because you're not

217
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at peace and and and that's that's
the deal. I mean, you're just

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you're outside of God's peace shalom when
you are struggling with the things of this

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world. Yep. Easy to talk, easy to talk about, but in

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the middle of right, Yeah,
And that's the that's the challenge, and

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that's the invitation. And I'm I'm
thankful for you know what the prophet Jeremiah

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had to say in Lamentations three,
which Lamentations is a tough book. It's

223
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well named, but he says,
you know, your mercies are new every

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morning, great as your faithfulness.
And I want to be in a a

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posture of receptivity, not a posture
of clenchedness, you know. And and

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full disclosure, I take a little
pill every morning because I wrestle with anxiety.

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It's an issue, you know.
And and so I don't come at

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this as we talk each week on
the radio. It's not that we haven't

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figured out that there is that invitation
to respond to the message of grace every

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single day. And those promises are
new every morning, Bill, because I

231
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need them every morning, right,
exactly, exactly, I'm right, I'm

232
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right with you. Well, look
at let's let's talk a little bit about

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you know, Christmas music. Yeah, do you realize what was the first

234
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Christmas song for you here? And
I don't know. It's one of our

235
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favorite actually, the Christmas song Nat
King Cole recording artists to of course sing

236
00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:56.880
this what has become a holiday standard, you know, it's just without the

237
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Christmas song. But I will say
this, chestnuts roasting on open fire much

238
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more romantic in the song than they
are because I remember the first time,

239
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you know, being a southern California
boy, we didn't get chestnuts right,

240
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and there wasn't chestnuts on an open
fire in southern California. So I go

241
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to New York first time, and
so you got the vendors out there and

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their little carts, and I go, chestnuts open fire, let's go.

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You know. Uh it's it's like
boy, you know in Hawaii, you

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go and to go they tell you
to go. Oh, you have to

245
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get used to it. I don't
want to get used to it. I

246
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don't want to get deliver either.
It just tastes like liver. I don't

247
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care what it is. And chestnuts
on open fire, Uh will leave it

248
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for the song, but the actual
taste of it was lousy. Okay,

249
00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:44.119
I confess that I have never had
chestnuts, and being a notoriously picky eater,

250
00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:48.160
I probably wouldn't like them anyway.
Yeah, well it's okay. So

251
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anyway, that's just a little bit
of a little bit of trivia there in

252
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in terms of the music. So
you can, uh, the next holiday,

253
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uh you know part you go to, you can start showing off and

254
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let them know how much how much
you how much you know? Actually?

255
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And also what's the best selling Christmas
song? Oh man? Uh, maybe

256
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one of those ones by Purl Lives
or one of those deep voy you're close

257
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bing Crosby. Uh yeah, my
wife is chiming in from the other room.

258
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She says, white Christmas now.
And also another thing too, just

259
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again a little little trivia like trivia
here. The first song played in space,

260
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believe it or not, jingle bells. Really yeah, I'm guessing the

261
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Russians didn't play that one. No, they didn't. Something else would be

262
00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.720
jingling, it wouldn't be the bells, So we'll just leave it at that.

263
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And movies, this was a surprise
to me, the number one Christmas

264
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movie, highest grossing Christmas film of
all time. Oh man, well,

265
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I'm putting you on this crap question. I'll go it's a wonderful life.

266
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But that's probably not it. You
know what the interesting you should bring that

267
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:26.640
up. You know, when it
first came out, it flopped. It's

268
00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.759
wonderful lies about that. Yeah,
it flopped. It didn't do But what

269
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happened. See, this is how
cheap the media is. In nineteen seventy

270
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four, the exclusive of all the
royalty stuff and everything was done and so

271
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the Meetia didn't have to pay for
it, and it became a classic.

272
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In nineteen seventy four, everybody started
running it and everybody started loving it,

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and so yeah, but it was
a flop originally, but it was only

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when the copyright had expired and then
the networks could air for free. Wow,

275
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I had no idea. I mean
that it's always been a classic,

276
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you know, as long as well, yeah, most of my life.

277
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So it came out in forty six, so that's pretty exactly. Yeah.

278
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So so Here it was. It
just kind of lingered there and then as

279
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soon as it was free, everybody
started going for it. A good friend

280
00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:25.559
of mine in Los Angeles, he
was the child in the movie, and

281
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Jimmy Hawkins is his name, and
he went on to, you know,

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kind of oversee the movie. Make
sure people weren't you know, I mean,

283
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here they are, you know,
trying to steal. There's still some

284
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copyright value and royalty value, and
people would try to, you know,

285
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take advantage and even of Donna Reid, and he I think was very helpful

286
00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:52.839
with Donna Reid and in her legacy. And so here it is, I

287
00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:56.480
mean, and I did not I
did not know that it was actually a

288
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box office flop, but I don't
think I'll bring that up to him that

289
00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.359
time. I talked to him.
So what's the answer to the question.

290
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:04.920
I gave it my best shot.
Oh oh yeah, that's right. We

291
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got distracted, I believe it or
not. This shocked me. The Grinch,

292
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the original one, I'm assuming no, and Jim Carrey's Grint, Jim

293
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Carrey's the Grinch. Oh yeah,
I think And I'm like you. I'm

294
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like you. That half half half
a billion worldwide? Wow, Well for

295
00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:27.640
my money, if we're going to
talk Grinch stuff, the twenty eighteen the

296
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most recent one. It's a little
kinder and a little jentler. But frankly,

297
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when I was a kid, the
Grinch scared me to death, and

298
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I've never really understood the appeal of
this character. And so I liked the

299
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most recent animated version. It's one
of our family's favorite movie. Maybe maybe

300
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that's maybe maybe I got it wrong. Maybe I'm I'm I'm saying it wrong.

301
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You're probably right. No. The
one that is that did half a

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billion is the twenty eighteen computer animated
film. I may have misspoken there.

303
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:02.240
Oh okay, you're if I thought
it was some carries, But yeah,

304
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because it didn't appeal to me that
much either, And I saw uh so

305
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I miss, I misunderstood and number
two home Alone, Home Alone. There

306
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you go. So you need to
know that at plugged in, this is

307
00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:18.839
my plugged in plug because I worked
for plugged In. We're part of Focus

308
00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.680
on the Family and we review movies
and music and all sorts of pop culture

309
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.920
stuff. We just reviewed. We
did Home Alone this week. We did

310
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Miracle on thirty fourth Street. I
saw It's a Wonderful Life for the very

311
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first time last week. You can
believe that. And we did die Hard

312
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:41.000
too. So we're trying to catch
up with some of these movies. And

313
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you know, we could have the
longstanding argument over whether die Hard is a

314
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Christmas I was going to say,
that's that's a constant. That's I think

315
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:56.839
there's I don't know what is it. Maybe two minutes of Christmas. It's

316
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.279
a Grismas movie. You know,
No, it's not. I would know,

317
00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:04.039
but I certainly have people who would
say that I'm an apostate when it

318
00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:07.319
comes to die Hard. Well,
by the way, speaking of Miracle on

319
00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:12.000
thirty fourth Street, in Natalie Wood
was eight years old. Wow, and

320
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:18.079
and she she believed in Santa Claus. And I think the number is somewhere

321
00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:22.079
out of something like three quarters of
the kids eight years old and younger believe

322
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.559
in Santa Claus even today. So
but she believed in Santa Claus. And

323
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so here Bill, you are you
saying that Santa Claus isn't real? Is

324
00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.279
that what I hear you say.
I'm not saying that. I'm leaving that

325
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.400
for you know, that's I just
want to clarify that it's in the eye.

326
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:40.079
It's in the eye of the beholder. But yeah, you know,

327
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.880
so we'll leave it at that.
But anyway, what I'm saying is Natalie

328
00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:47.000
would at eight years old believed in
Santa Claus and the movie. I mean,

329
00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:48.000
and you think about how she played
that role, and you go,

330
00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:51.440
wow, no, wonder I mean, this was I mean, she really

331
00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:55.200
believed it. And Edmund Gwenn because
you look at Edwin Gwen and the way

332
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:59.640
he was did you know did you
know that it was that was a fair

333
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:04.119
fake mustache and beard on him.
I did not know that. In fact,

334
00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:07.160
I was not aware of. They
did such a great job with him,

335
00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:11.559
and I had no idea. I
thought, wow, this guy.

336
00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:14.400
I mean, if anybody could look
like, you know, Santa Claus.

337
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:18.519
After Coca Cola's depiction of Santa Claus. You know, he looked pretty real.

338
00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:22.440
I mean, great casting on that. But anyway, she was a

339
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:26.599
little shocked and bewildered that at the
after party, I guess, after they

340
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.920
had finished everything and you know,
and they were getting all together as an

341
00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:37.279
after party of the shoot and all, Natalie Woods sees Edmund Gwen but doesn't

342
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.480
recognize him because he wasn't wearing,
he didn't have a beard, didn't have

343
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and so it was quite perplexing for
her to think that, Oh my gosh,

344
00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:48.440
you know, maybe you know,
I don't know, so, but

345
00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:52.880
a little bit of background on that
that was that is all news to me.

346
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:56.319
I'm trying to think if I have
any Christmas trivia that's worth anything,

347
00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:59.839
and I think the answer may be
no, so I may have to lo

348
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.039
well, no, no, it's
okay. But you got the candy cane

349
00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:08.319
right, yeah, yeah, the
pripes and yeah, and what it represents

350
00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.559
the whole deal. Yeah yeah,
I'm going to let you say it because

351
00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:15.240
I may get it wrong because I
don't. Well, the other thing,

352
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:19.880
first of all, which is will
kind of blow you away. They do

353
00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:22.640
you know the candy canes. It's
not fair for me to ask you these

354
00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.519
questions because I've got the answers.
It's not I it's fair. And you

355
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.160
know my children ask me questions that
a gotcha questions all the time. Okay,

356
00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:33.400
well hopefully it's not gotcha just it's
only because I'd never thought about this

357
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.400
either. How many candy canes they
produce every year? Can you believe one

358
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:44.799
point seven six billion candy canes?
That's why they're everywhere everywhere you go,

359
00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:47.799
right, youre's candy canes. You
know, I've never thought about it before,

360
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.960
but you know it would have to
be an enormous number because they're everywhere.

361
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:55.000
Yeah, exactly. In a little
bit of really, I mean,

362
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:56.680
if you when you go to the
holiday party and you talk about the candy

363
00:26:56.680 --> 00:27:00.680
cane, and they're going to really
think you're a total geek. Either that

364
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:06.440
or they think that already. I'm
probably gonna throw you over into super geek

365
00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:11.200
world now because the you know the
curved part of the candy cane, you

366
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:14.000
know, the top part, that
little hook, Yeah that some of us

367
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.200
think it's a staff or if you
turn upside down, looks Jay like Jesus.

368
00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:22.519
Anyway, they call it the warble. The warble that I guess in

369
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:25.359
candy talking. This deal it's called
the warble, I don't know, and

370
00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:30.319
the straight part is called the strape. So I just time a bit of

371
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.400
you know, something that you know, you don't necessarily need to get to

372
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:40.759
heaven, but but you know,
and after my mind goes, that would

373
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:44.519
probably still be there someone I can't
remember my name. But this is a

374
00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:48.599
warble. I know it's gonna go. Are you talking to Martinez again?

375
00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:56.799
I told you stay away crazy?
Next toga? Okay? So so then

376
00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:00.000
then so then you got the I
mentioned Okay, she got the hook.

377
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.839
Some people look at it as the
you know, the shepherd's staff, right,

378
00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:07.880
yeah, That's what I've always heard. And then or if you turn

379
00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:14.759
upside down, it's a jay Jesus. And the consistent red line in the

380
00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:18.039
candy cane represents the blood of Jesus. Yeah, that one I was pretty

381
00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:22.319
sure of. In the white represents
purity and forgiveness. Is that right?

382
00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:30.160
Yep? Exactly, And the three
red lines represent the Triune God, Father,

383
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:33.039
Son, and Holy Spirit. Oh
wow, I don't think I have

384
00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:34.839
ever heard that, or if I
did, I had deleted the file,

385
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.640
which is also possible. Well,
you know, you can't stay in geek

386
00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:40.720
world all the time. You know, you just got to come out.

387
00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:45.000
It's true. Yeah, I mean, here you are. We're totally we're

388
00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:48.440
totally geeking out here right now.
I knew this was going to be fun

389
00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:51.559
between me and you because we can
well, my dog is in the background

390
00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:56.720
chasing a squirrel, I think.
So it's really dartening. That's that's Winston.

391
00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.519
He's letting people know who's the mass
through of the art. Of course,

392
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.119
So Winston, Winston the puppy.
I love it. That's great.

393
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.759
So anyway, that's that was the
deal. And originally, originally when they

394
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:11.960
when they invented the candy cane,
it was to silence the kids. This

395
00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:15.960
is back in the sixteen hundreds,
and you leave it to a uh,

396
00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:19.359
you know, the children's pastor.
He's going, wait, we got kids

397
00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:26.240
going to be here in this enduring
event, Christmas event. What are we

398
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:29.960
gonna do to calm them down?
And you know, see if we can,

399
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:33.799
you know, mind the restlessness,
right, And so he goes to

400
00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:37.599
the local confectionery and says, yeah, give me, give me something I

401
00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:42.559
can give these kids. And so
the candy maker comes up with the first

402
00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:48.720
candy cane, and so the pastors
handing them out to the kids to keep

403
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:55.079
them quiet. And I bet,
but someone tells me some adults probably jumped

404
00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:59.920
in. I didn't know wellout either. Keep it coming, Bill, because

405
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.799
you are a font of Christmas knowledge. Yeah, I'm all full of Christmas

406
00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:07.000
geek stuff. So anyway, Oh
and here's another one. The largest candy

407
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:15.920
cane ever fifty one feet long.
You know. Somebody had to do it,

408
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.880
how Yeah, fifty one feet long. So that'll wreck to take Chris

409
00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:22.759
forever right there, I would think, so, I mean, I would

410
00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:27.119
send the body into you know,
glycemic shock of some form or fashion.

411
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:34.359
You know. Another fun one for
me, Adam, is the twelve Days

412
00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:41.079
of Christmas. And it's estimated that
the true cost of Christmas has been increasing

413
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:47.119
every year obviously, and now it's
like two point five percent more this year.

414
00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:52.240
And it would cost you two hundred
and one thousand, almost two hundred

415
00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:56.000
and two thousand dollars for you to, you know, demonstrate to your true

416
00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:02.960
love what she means to you and
how much you'd be in debt. And

417
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:11.200
that's that's to cover the cost of
three hundred and sixty four'st presents. H

418
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:15.559
Yeah, And that's according to PNC
bunch. So these guys know. So

419
00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:18.319
that's the deal. Total two hundred
almost two hundred and two thousand dollars for

420
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:22.680
all the twelve days of Christmas.
And you've heard about the twelve days of

421
00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:26.759
Christmas? How that breaks down right? Starting? Wow? What a partridge

422
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:30.519
and a pair tree? What that
represents? Do you remember that? Did

423
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:34.160
you go through that? I don't
know. I just wonder. There's so

424
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.319
many there's so many birds, like
you sing that song and you're like,

425
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:42.000
somebody really liked giving birds for Christmas? And I have never given or received

426
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:45.279
a bird, but I know that
the partridge in paar tree has deeper meaning

427
00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.559
than my joking about it. Well, no, but the deal is is

428
00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:52.720
that now you know why you don't
get any birds for Christmas? Because they're

429
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:56.799
so darn expensive. I mean,
you know, either that or you're without

430
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:00.200
me. I love you enough,
you know, to to spend two hundred

431
00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.200
and two thousand dollars on it.
But we won't tell your wife that because

432
00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:10.640
hey, Bill, yes, I'm
going to take a super quick break and

433
00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:15.480
I'll be right back in about fifteen
seconds. Okay, all right, super

434
00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:19.319
quick break. Okay, that's fine. I understand how that goes probably Winston

435
00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:22.160
the dog is checking stuff. He's
heard hearing about the candy canes. He's

436
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.319
going, hey, Winston the dog
could use a candy cane. I'll be

437
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:30.039
quiet, I'll behave myself. Why
not, you know? So anyway,

438
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:34.000
you know, I'm so grateful because
I put Adam on the spot here.

439
00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:36.359
It kind of last minute. He
was in the middle of everything that he

440
00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:37.039
was doing. I said, Adam, you got to come on. You

441
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:39.440
got to come on the show,
and we got to be able to talk

442
00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:45.799
about some of these Christmas traditions and
with him being, you know, in

443
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:50.079
charge of plugged in dot com dealing
with all these cultural issues. Oh,

444
00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:53.599
by the way, sidebar, we're
talking with Gary Schneeberger this morning. Congratulations

445
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:59.119
to focus on the family. Get
you get an NRB award for that great

446
00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:02.960
presonation of it's a baby. Huh
oh yeah, that that is such a

447
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.279
great ad and so that is a
great honor. That's actually the first time

448
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:15.160
I had heard that. And speaking
of plugged in and being real, circling

449
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:19.200
back to what you were just talking
about, I was having Wi Fi issues,

450
00:33:19.240 --> 00:33:21.680
so I had to tell everybody to
get off the Wi Fi so that

451
00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:24.920
we can have a good video.
That was Winston's. Probably I told him

452
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:30.880
Whinston. Whinston heard candy games,
checking candy gains or dogs. He's he's

453
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:32.960
putting in his order. Hey,
send me a box of candy games.

454
00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:37.119
Yes, he would eat them.
He won't eat his food, but he'll

455
00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.400
eat everything else. Of course,
of course he coax him over here.

456
00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:44.000
We'll get him on the camera,
but he may go crazy. So anyway,

457
00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:47.720
it's a baby campaign real quick.
That's great. Yeah, yeah,

458
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:53.319
I mean it's it's it's a longer
sort of public service campaign. That sort

459
00:33:53.319 --> 00:34:00.759
of it gently, and I think, very creatively pokes fun at even how

460
00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:04.279
we use language. You know.
I think they say we're having a fetus,

461
00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:07.920
and it's not a fetus, it's
a baby, you know, and

462
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:15.199
just that this is a person,
and so much of the way language gets

463
00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:16.840
treated in our culture, Bill,
you and I talk about stuff like this

464
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:23.480
all the time. Words get co
opted, and once that word gets co

465
00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:30.039
opted, it has a certain kind
of meaning to whoever got to it first,

466
00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:35.800
exactly, you know, whether it's
hate or affirming or diverse or these

467
00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:37.920
are all perfectly good words, but
now they only mean one thing in the

468
00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:43.800
context of our culture. Exactly,
and so I'm a little bit of field

469
00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:45.320
of our Christmas conversation with this.
Well, no, no, that's okay,

470
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:49.760
it's simple. I wanted to bring
that up because you know, in

471
00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:52.960
a sense, this is what happens
with the Christmas holidays, and here we

472
00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:57.880
wanted we can say Christmas for you
know, a couple of years, you

473
00:34:57.920 --> 00:34:59.960
know, kind of deal. And
now it's kind of like, look at

474
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:06.519
you know, why are you going
to fight the natural tradition and the natural

475
00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:10.199
response of people. You can try
and hijack these things, but for what

476
00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:15.039
purpose? To make them less significant? That's what they want to do.

477
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:19.360
Well, and if you're offended by
the reality of what it is, right,

478
00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:23.159
it's like, well, look,
Christmas is it's not about German pagan

479
00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:28.920
tree ceremonies, right, with all
due respect to Christmas trees, it's about

480
00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:34.719
Jesus. So yeah, it's been
co opted by consumerism, but that's not

481
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.480
the point. And the thing is
to see God, you know, who

482
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:43.760
makes all things for good right here
here. You know, you're you're exactly

483
00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:46.280
right. The Christmas tree comes out
of Germany and then Christians look at it

484
00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:51.280
and go, well, that's three
points, three points father son, and

485
00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.239
Holy Spirit. That's the Magi.
It's the representation of the Magi. I

486
00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:59.039
mean, you know so, and
we're going to do that again with you

487
00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:04.159
know, the Twelve Days of Christmas. And there is some urban controversy over

488
00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:07.280
it, whether or not it is
or it isn't, but the fact of

489
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:15.599
the matter is is that regardless of
how it got started supposedly and the different

490
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.840
arguments, as we've mentioned before,
because people want to try and hijacked or

491
00:36:19.880 --> 00:36:23.840
distort, but it is what it
is. And when you understand, the

492
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:29.320
Twelve Days of Christmas departures in the
pear tree that represents Jesus. Okay,

493
00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:30.519
so it starts with Jesus, all
right, So at the very top,

494
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:37.079
so you got two turtle doves,
which represents the Old and New Testament.

495
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.360
Now I'm going to feel really bad
about making fun of all the birds in

496
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:45.760
this Songeah, No, no,
no, it was thought. See God

497
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:47.199
uses this stuff. This is amazing. I mean, this is so cool.

498
00:36:47.400 --> 00:36:50.559
Three French hands. Okay, we're
gonna stay with birds here for a

499
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:53.039
while. And you're right, there's
plenty of birds. Trinity is the Trinity.

500
00:36:53.400 --> 00:37:00.000
Yeah, that's the and that guy
also come into play. Faith Hope

501
00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:05.239
and love is also you know,
so in the eye of the beholder.

502
00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:07.880
But yes, three franchids. Then
you've got four calling birds, which is

503
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:13.280
the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, five Golden

504
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:17.000
Rings, the penitive, the first
five book survival, right, and then

505
00:37:17.800 --> 00:37:24.719
the six Geese of laying representative of
the creation story. Right. I mean

506
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:30.079
you can see how this is laying
out that you are in talking about the

507
00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:36.440
Twelve Days of Christmas. And here
it is. Christians are persecuted unbelievably all

508
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:42.840
around the world right now. And
it's amazing as that persecution continues. As

509
00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:45.719
you and I've discussed many times on
the radio show, Adam, is that

510
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:53.000
revival repentance in places that you would
think wouldn't happen in Muslim countries where look

511
00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:55.400
at to death. To his part, I mean, you're not going to

512
00:37:55.480 --> 00:38:00.000
walk away from the faith without it
costing you or your family something. So

513
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:07.679
for people you know, who have
been indoctrinated all their lives one way to

514
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:12.159
a certain faith and then to convert
to Christianity, for them to do that,

515
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:16.800
I mean, that's liken too.
What eleven of the twelve Apostles who

516
00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:22.960
were martyred because of their faith.
I mean, what kind of faith does

517
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:27.639
it take for eleven out of twelve
apostles to be martyred, and it would

518
00:38:27.639 --> 00:38:30.760
have been twelve out of twelve,
but they just kept for John. Yeah,

519
00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:34.719
they messed up on killing John.
Well, they sent him to an

520
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:37.679
island in the middle of the Mediterranean, so it wasn't like it was a

521
00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:40.000
cakewalk for him by any states.
Yeah, but before that, didn't they

522
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.119
throw him like in a bucket of
oil or something. I mean they tried,

523
00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:47.800
they tried to kill anyway, So
but still and then not to mention

524
00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:54.800
all the other disciples who were harpooned
and used to light up the driveway to

525
00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:59.119
the king's residence. Right, right, No, that's exactly right. I

526
00:38:59.159 --> 00:39:04.559
mean, what happened with Nero?
You know, there's tradition that says he

527
00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:08.559
used them as torches for his garden
parties. Right. And the thing that's

528
00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:14.639
amazing you and I have talked about
this before. One of my favorite books

529
00:39:14.639 --> 00:39:19.320
of the Bible is First Peter and
First Peter. If you get into it,

530
00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:23.880
it's written to and he uses a
bunch of words like Bathynia and places

531
00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:28.760
you've never heard of. It's all
Asia minor it's all modern day Kirky and

532
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:34.039
the church is on the run and
they're being pursued by Nero. But Peter

533
00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:40.840
is remarkably unperturbed by the reports of
what's happening, and he calls us to

534
00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:45.480
lift our eyes and say, you
know, even if now you have to

535
00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:50.239
go through a light in momentary suffering, I'm like, well, I'm not

536
00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:53.400
sure getting lit on fire as a
torch for an emperor feels like a light

537
00:39:53.440 --> 00:40:00.199
in momentary suffering. But Peter's perspective
gave him the ability to look at the

538
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:09.400
most horrific persecution and say, this
is not significant in the context of the

539
00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:17.519
bigger thing that we're that we're receiving
and what exactly exactly, Yeah, that's

540
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:22.559
that's that, you know, leading
those things behind, reaching forward to that

541
00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:25.719
higher calling, you know, that
we're told about in the Book of Philippians.

542
00:40:27.039 --> 00:40:30.719
So yeah, and to have that
mindset, and I know, you

543
00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:35.639
know, look at as humanoids,
we sometimes get a glimpse of that moment

544
00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:38.840
to moment where you know, the
apostle talks about glory to glory and it's

545
00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:45.039
just you just wish sometimes it would
last longer, you know, And but

546
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:49.079
you're so grateful for the experience.
So, you know, getting back to

547
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:53.280
the twelve Days of Christmas is just
with with the persecution of the church.

548
00:40:54.039 --> 00:41:00.079
People have been using this for hundreds
of years, this illus stuation, and

549
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:04.880
as you go through it, it's
the gospel message. It's amazing. I

550
00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:08.719
had no idea. Yeah, so
grossly under educated. Thank goodness we got

551
00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:15.440
together this morning. Well well yeah, I mean it's it blesses me every

552
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:21.079
time I recall this because again,
like we were talking about how God makes

553
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:24.119
it evident, you know, I
mean you have to really just say,

554
00:41:24.360 --> 00:41:29.239
I refuse to see it. You
know, you talked about our mercies are

555
00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:32.199
new every morning. I mean,
you think about the manifestation of God's mercies

556
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:37.119
every day you wake up. There's
the sun it's shining, you know,

557
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:42.559
and today's a beautiful day here in
eastern Florida, by the way, compared

558
00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:45.840
to the last couple of days we
had previously. In fact that it messed

559
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:50.440
up my golf schedule, which I'll
put for you. I'm a little displeased

560
00:41:50.519 --> 00:41:52.840
or thank you very much, but
yeah, so, but you know,

561
00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:58.760
it was just a minor, a
minor annoyance. But I'll take even the

562
00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:02.000
rain and the winds that everything that
we're coming through here because we're because Floridians

563
00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:06.599
are going, wait a minute,
it's December. We're outside of hurricane season

564
00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:09.800
and we're getting hit with you know
some uh, you know, tropical storm

565
00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:15.039
like influences and so h you know, the people on the east coast here

566
00:42:15.079 --> 00:42:19.719
Flora, they get cranky when when
things aren't happening according according to the proper

567
00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:22.360
battern, you know, so just
you know a little sidebar. But anyway,

568
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.000
but getting back to, uh,
the twelve Days of Christmas. So

569
00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:30.840
now we had six geysa laying okay, which the creation story six days God

570
00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:36.199
created the earth, seven swans a
swimming okay, seven gifts of the Holy

571
00:42:36.239 --> 00:42:39.679
Spirit, uh, prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, leading compassion in

572
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:45.360
that. Uh again you you'll have
some you know, differing versions on that,

573
00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:49.400
but you get the context Holy Spirit
gifts, giftings, Okay. And

574
00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:55.880
then you've got the eight maids of
milking eight beatitudes. Yea cool huh.

575
00:42:55.920 --> 00:42:59.000
So now every time you see them
made of milking, you're going to think

576
00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:00.840
of the eight Beatitudes. And then
you know, I seem everywhere I look

577
00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:05.079
too funny, funny as you say
that. I exactly in my travels.

578
00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:07.320
I see them all the time.
I all of a sudden they pop up

579
00:43:07.360 --> 00:43:12.719
sometimes and there should be signs up
there be prepared maids of milking ahead,

580
00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:16.239
you know, just saying. Uh. Then you got nine drummers drumming,

581
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:20.320
which is the nine fruits of the
spirit, love, joy, piece of

582
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:22.239
patient, this gllness, meekness,
you know. Uh. And then you

583
00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:28.280
got ten for the ten commandments,
ten pipers piping, right, So there

584
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:36.440
eleven the ladies dancing and uh.
That stands for the eleven Apostles. Judas

585
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:38.000
was you know, you know,
he doesn't count, so he doesn't get

586
00:43:38.039 --> 00:43:43.760
a lady dancing for him. Uh. And so that's the twelve days can

587
00:43:43.800 --> 00:43:49.360
be rough on people. Sometimes it's
not very that's yeah, that's something you

588
00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:52.360
have one less lady dancing for you. And then you got the twelve lords

589
00:43:52.360 --> 00:43:57.440
of leaping, which is the twelve
statements of the Apostles Creed. Now,

590
00:43:57.960 --> 00:44:00.880
this is funny. You're gonna appreciate
this because you know, as guys,

591
00:44:00.920 --> 00:44:05.280
we appreciate this. So I'm talking
to Phil Hotson Pillar, a senior pastor

592
00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:08.840
in southern California also the founder president
of American Faith who's on with us regularly

593
00:44:09.079 --> 00:44:16.119
on Mondays just and so anyway,
so we're I'm talking about the how much

594
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:22.239
it's going to cost in order to
you know, your true love and you're

595
00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:24.039
giving her all these gifts and what
it would cost and all this kind of

596
00:44:24.039 --> 00:44:28.280
deal. So I said two hundred
and two thousand dollars and I said,

597
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:30.800
he goes, Man, he goes, I don't know if I can afford

598
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:31.840
that. I go, maybe I'm
want to cut it back and I'll just

599
00:44:32.039 --> 00:44:37.280
I'll just do eleven days, I
said, I go. Don't you realize

600
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:42.199
women count? They know if you
try and cheat them and you only give

601
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:45.800
them eleven days, they're no,
they know, no one's missing, right

602
00:44:46.599 --> 00:44:51.079
they do. I feel like anything
I say right now potentially gets me in

603
00:44:51.119 --> 00:44:53.119
big trouble. So that's right,
your wife, Your wife is at earshot

604
00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:58.480
here. But yeah, you know
what, you know what I'm talking about?

605
00:44:58.920 --> 00:45:01.400
Yeah, And the reason I can
talk like that because I'm the knucklehead

606
00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:06.559
that would do that. Yeah.
Yeah, it's like, did did I

607
00:45:06.559 --> 00:45:08.519
ever tell you my favorite Christmas story? You did not, but I can't

608
00:45:08.519 --> 00:45:13.440
wait to hear it. Oh my
gosh, I'm telling you this even a

609
00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:16.239
Rebel's gonna Rebel's gonna let rebels our
producer, and she keeps me, tries

610
00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:19.880
to keep me out of trouble.
There's some things she can't stop me from

611
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:22.440
that we'll pay for her too.
Yeah, but no, she need but

612
00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:25.360
you know I needed her years ago. Would have kept me out of trouble

613
00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:30.679
because I'm not going to believe you
did this anyway. So we're, you

614
00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:34.079
know, with our family, we're
saying, Okay, we're going to really

615
00:45:34.119 --> 00:45:37.039
focus on the reason for the season. Okay, we're going to back off

616
00:45:37.159 --> 00:45:44.840
on gifts, and so we're just
going to a minimal number of gifts.

617
00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:50.039
And my wife says, in order
to punctuate this commitment that we need to

618
00:45:50.079 --> 00:45:54.920
have towards minimalizing the gift situation on
Christmas, she says, I don't want

619
00:45:54.920 --> 00:45:59.199
you to buy me a gift.
I'm not going to buy you a gift.

620
00:45:59.760 --> 00:46:04.440
You don't buy me a gift.
Merry Christmas. So, uh,

621
00:46:04.960 --> 00:46:07.119
I can see where this is going. Okay, So I listened to her.

622
00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:14.639
So Christmas morning comes, what does
she ask me? What did you

623
00:46:14.679 --> 00:46:21.719
get me? Exactly? I got
you what you asked me to get you.

624
00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:30.039
Bubcust me it didn't work. Well, no, hey, no,

625
00:46:30.039 --> 00:46:32.400
no, no, that didn't come
into the you know, hey, come

626
00:46:32.440 --> 00:46:36.920
on, we're guys. We're guys, you know, hey, simple,

627
00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:42.000
no exactly. So yeah, to
this day, to this day, I

628
00:46:42.039 --> 00:46:46.719
live with that. Well, his
promises are new every morning. Bill,

629
00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:57.079
So I guess just keep hanging on. I'm telling you, man, Yeah,

630
00:46:57.119 --> 00:47:00.239
that was one. You should have
known better. I mean you you

631
00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:01.719
should have had one. You say
that, you see, I should have

632
00:47:01.800 --> 00:47:05.599
known better. I should have known
better because I listened to her, and

633
00:47:06.199 --> 00:47:09.840
right, it's it's double jeopardy,
isn't it. Yeah exactly, But I

634
00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:13.360
but I think that's why, you
know, and the other thing, that's

635
00:47:13.360 --> 00:47:16.480
why when when you know, Jesus
was talking to the Pharisees and they were

636
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:21.199
talking about the one guy who had
uh, well, the one woman who

637
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:23.719
is married to seven of the brothers
they all died, and and I'm like,

638
00:47:23.800 --> 00:47:25.519
hey, before I got the seven, I'd be saying, hey,

639
00:47:25.559 --> 00:47:30.880
wait a minute, she's a black
widow or something. I don't even get

640
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:35.599
her out of the family, like
counting on exactly, Like, hey,

641
00:47:35.639 --> 00:47:38.000
my number is coming up, and
this isn't good, you know. And

642
00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:43.599
so these guys, these wise acres
go Okay, well, who's you know

643
00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:47.719
in heaven? Whose husband is she
going to be? Right? And uh,

644
00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:51.159
that's great, and Jesus kind of
chuckles goes, well, you don't

645
00:47:51.159 --> 00:47:54.320
get it in heaven. There's no
marriage in heaven. And so I mean,

646
00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:57.639
for me, immediately, I go, that's the only way you can

647
00:47:57.679 --> 00:48:06.159
have peace. There's no marriage myself. You don't have to comment on that.

648
00:48:06.360 --> 00:48:08.119
I worked for Focus on the Family
Bill, so I you know,

649
00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:14.519
I'm You're not supposed to say anything. Just it's just part of the you

650
00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:19.159
know again, it's God's sense of
humor. Yeah, great, great,

651
00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:25.440
Okay, we get to heaven.
No marriage, everything's punky dory, very

652
00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:31.360
funny. Oh that's funny. That's
very well, Adam Holtz. I cannot

653
00:48:31.360 --> 00:48:37.039
thank you enough for sharing this time
with with our audience and being able to

654
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:40.960
talk Christmas and go Christmas geek and
and all this good stuff and hopefully it's

655
00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:45.199
been a blessing to our audience.
Except for my sidebar stories of my personal

656
00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:50.599
Can I toss one thing in very
quickly? Okay? Yeah, if you

657
00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:53.480
if you go to plugged in dot
com up in the right hand corner in

658
00:48:53.519 --> 00:48:58.239
the search bar, type in best
Christmas movies. And we've got two different

659
00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:01.800
blogs. One of them is five
Christmas Movies that are about Jesus and the

660
00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:07.360
others ten best family Christmas movies.
And it would be a blessing for your

661
00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:10.079
family. Wow, very cool,
Adam Holts, You're awesome, buddy,

662
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:15.280
God bless you. Tell your wife
please forgive me. I'm just them.

663
00:49:15.719 --> 00:49:19.320
I will. You know I need
prayer. Wow, we'll pray for you.

664
00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:22.840
She's already out there burning no being
of candles for me. Tell her

665
00:49:22.920 --> 00:49:24.960
thank you, I will. I
appreciate it, my good friend, take

666
00:49:24.960 --> 00:49:29.599
care of Merry Christmas, Da in
the family. Thanks bless our, Thanks

667
00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:32.320
Adam Holtz from plugged in dot com
for being with us, and thank you

668
00:49:32.400 --> 00:49:35.559
for sharing a part of your day. May God bless you and keep you.

669
00:49:35.599 --> 00:49:37.920
May make His face shine upon you, May be gracious unto you and

670
00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:40.880
give you peace. His shallam.
Thanks again for being with us. Merry

671
00:49:40.920 --> 00:49:42.960
Christmas, and God bless