Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Friday June 19th, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Good morning, everyone, and welcome back. It's Friday, June nineteenth. Man, this whole year is just flying by. Can't believe we're almost all the way to the end of June yet, halfway through the year. The older you get in life, the more you just watch the passage of time. Just keep on marching, brother. ⁓ but it is, it's Friday, it's June nineteenth. ⁓ I'm your host, Greg Miller, and you have reached the podcast, Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. Almost forgot the title there for a second. Only been doing this for what, six months now? ⁓ but today's topic is ⁓ there's more going on than you can see, ⁓ which is kind of hard to think about because right now I feel like we see and hear just about everything that's going on in the world around us. But there's a there's another plane, there's a spiritual plane, and there's a there's a loving, loving God that's that's doing things sometimes I don't feel like we're all paying attention to. There is more going on than you can see. The the word today comes from Second Corinthians chapter four, verses sixteen and seventeen. Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inly we are being renewed day by day, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. It's a you know, the more I do this and the more I keep digging in, the more and more I just become aware of just how powerful daily Bible study is. It just it shapes your perspective, it just it It reminds you of of how awesome the God we serve is and how in tune He is, even when we don't necessarily pay attention to it day by day. This passage, it's you know, it relates to most people these days focus entirely on what they're going through. And that's natural. I mean, it's it's natural to get caught up in the moment, focus on the struggles, focus on everything going on around you, and focus on being very myopic as you work through those things and just focus on what's going on. ⁓ but Paul is focusing less on what's going on and what he's going through. Paul is trying to focus on what those challenges are producing. And and this is a completely different view on life. It's one that, you know, it's sort of cliche, but I've tried to adopt here in the last few years as I've as I've gotten really deeper in my my spiritual connection with God is, you know, when something goes sideways or when something doesn't feel right, or, you know, God forbid you're going through a tough time and things just feel all wrong. Instead of asking, hey, why why am I having to go through this? Why is this happening to me? I think we should all ask ourselves, what is God trying to accomplish in this season? What is He trying to use these situations to shape in me? ⁓ you know, Paul is writing here as a man who had been beaten, had been imprisoned, had been rejected countless times, had been shipwrecked. Any of us ever going to be shipwrecked? Unlikely. Paul was. Paul was persecuted, Continuously. And yet somehow Paul always kept the faith and and and states it here in Corinthians, therefore, we do not lose heart. How's that possible? How does how does somebody go through everything Paul went through and not lose heart? Well, it it's because it's because Paul looked beyond the moment. Most people, like we talked about, most people evaluate life via their current circumstances. Paul had a unique ability to evaluate life. Through the lens of eternity. Verse 17 to me is one of the most powerful statements in scripture. And it's, you know, Paul is telling us that present suffering is producing something. Whatever you're going through right now that sucks, it's producing something. And that's a very powerful sentiment because most of the times we get caught up in and we view pain as punishment, or even worse, we just view pain as something meaningless that we have to go through. Just part of life. But Paul is telling us here that pain can be productive. Not because the pain itself is good, or not because the underlying cause of the pain is good, but pain can be productive because God can use it. How many of us today are going through something? How many of you guys are carrying a weight that maybe you hadn't even shared with anybody else? You're just silently carrying a weight. It's it could be grief, it could be disappointment, it can be financial pressure. family struggles, health concerns, or any type of uncertainty that you're wrestling with, the the temptation is always to ask, it's like we spoke earlier. The temptation is to ask, why is this happening to me? But Paul is is telling us here that that we should reframe that perspective. And Paul says we should be asking, what might God be doing through this situation? It's a completely different mindset and and it's and it's an amazingly powerful way of of reframing your perspective. You know, we we live in a culture that is obsessed with the immediate, immediate reactions, immediate gratification, immediate answers, immediate results. And and it's look, in some cases, this is a good thing. The the quickness to which we can access information and stuff is is absolutely a blessing. But but scripture here, the apostle Paul is reminding us, and and the Bible constantly reminds us of this. Most important things. Happen slowly. They're built over time. So this seeking of always having the immediate response, the immediate gratification is just not realistic biblically. When you think about things like character, wisdom, faith, and hope, those cannot and will not be built overnight. Those are not something you can go to the store and buy. There's not something you can read a book and figure it all out. These things happen over time. And when you're going through a tough time, let's let's remember to try to reframe that perspective. A we have to remember that a a season is not a life sentence. We should never judge God by an unfinished chapter. Don't don't judge that that work until he's finished working on it. You know, and and a lot of times, you know, what feels heavy and burdening today may turn into something beautiful and be a blessing tomorrow. So just because the the story is difficult right now, don't stop turning the pages. Keep reading the book and let God finish the chapter he's working on. And and this is this is what I think is really amazing about this passage because Paul is in no way minimizing the suffering. He's not saying, hey, it's okay, I'm good. No, Paul is not minimizing the suffering at all. He's magnifying eternity. And that's a difference. It's it's not saying your struggles don't matter. He's simply saying that the struggle is not the whole story. There's more to That's what I think most people need to hear. Because right now, so many of us are evaluating our life based on the current season. And that's like reading half a book and then trying to judge the author's work. ⁓ you just can't do it. So stay patient. Remember that when you're going through something tough, you know, Paul calls us repeatedly to persevere through the tough times. But let's work on reframing and reshaping our perspective and try to be aware that during those trials and tribulations. Those are the seasons that God's working at us. And let's start asking ourselves, what is what is God trying to use this season for? And in some cases, once you can figure that out, you can shorten that that tough time a little bit once you figure out how to move on. All right, guys. 78 days until Georgia football. Can't wait for football season. The number 78's been worn by a lot of dudes over Athens that I that I can recall in my time as a fan. You got John Stitchcomb. Big John was an all-American. You got Big Trenton Thompson defensive tackle, big Nye Stackhouse with a with a part of those legendary teams over the last few years. Got a couple of all America or an all-American offensive tackle, a couple of big boy defensive tackles. The the list of number seventy eight in red and black's pretty long. ⁓ not a whole lot of sports to talk about, especially not in the in the dog arena. We we got knocked out of Omaha, so so that's that's still a tough pill to swallow. And I doubt anybody wants to listen to me just start rattling through a a a roster list in my opinion on all the current players and and likely a lot of names that some of y'all have never heard of. ⁓ so we may be a little bit short on dog content in the near future, but ⁓ I got a feeling I'll continue to find a little something to say every day. On a on a non-dog sports related note, hats off to Wyndham Clark, man. Six six under at Shinnecock Hills in the US Open yesterday is pretty darn impressive. I I I caught a good bit of yesterday's round one action and And to post minus six on that course in those conditions is ⁓ that's pretty spectacular. So so bravo, sir. Well done, Wyndham Clark. ⁓ shaping up to be a good leaderboard. The the the US Open is always just so fun to watch. It is ⁓ you know, back in my day I I I spent a few years as a scratch golfer and nowadays I play once or twice a year. So it's it's it's a bit of a struggle when I get out on the on the on the course. But you know, it it it's something therapeutic about watching the absolute best players in the world. hit some shots that it kind of remind me of some of the shots I hit. So it's ⁓ it may not be the best thing in the world from a from an emotional standpoint to take pride in watching their their misery, but there is something therapeutic about it. We ⁓ we're trying to get into some some current event stuff and and we've been adding, you know, we we've talked about you know national pride and and things of that nature here recently. And today's topic I I was thinking about something in Yeah, the the school season just ended. That my my daughters are both out for the summer. My my oldest graduated high school and is off to Athens in the fall to attend UGA. Couldn't be prouder of her. Bailey, I love you. So proud of you, baby. But my youngest is about to start her freshman year in high school and my youngest Madison is a little more ⁓ a little more outspoken, a little more of the type who will who will stand up for her belief instead of just going along to get along. And so I've been thinking about that as she's as she's getting ready to enter high school and You know, you read some of the stories today and I'm asking myself, do y we talk so much about the First Amendment, we talk so much about free speech, but do students still have free speech at school? You know, I I was reading an article where the the Supreme Court just declined to hear a case involving I think it was an Indiana high school student, ⁓ who simply wanted to post some anti abortion flyers at their school. ⁓ well, lower courts had sided with the school juristic saying that the school could restrict those and not allow the the student to post those kind of flyers on the wall. And you know, one of the Supreme Court justices after after they dissented or declined to to take the case, Samuel Alito, who is God bless Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. I hate the way those two are aging and and I know we only have a couple more years of both of those guys, hopefully a couple more years. ⁓ but Clarence Thomas and Samuel Elita are absolute legends on the Supreme Court. Those two are two of the greatest conservatives of all time. ⁓ but Alito dissented from the denying, saying that, you know, hey, the court should get involved here and and revisit how how ⁓ student speech is treated in public schools. You know, it it's kind of a catch twenty two. We we continue to impress upon and and tell our young people to get involved, speak up, care about the issues, stand for something. But then the second they stand for something controversial or something we may not be comfortable with, adults start trying to bring out the duct tape to put over their mouth and shut them up. ⁓ it that that creates an unnecessary tension. You know, it it's not about in this case, the the particular case was about abortion, but but what I'm speaking on here is not necessarily about abortion, it's about whether whether schools are are places that that truly enable young people to learn how to think and how to speak. And are they places where we learn how to have controversial and sometimes conflicting conversations that can be a little bit dangerous, but there are subjects and topics that we need to be able to talk through and work through. You know, in this case, the the school's argument isn't totally crazy here. Schools do have to keep an order and and they don't want every hallway turning into, you know, a political battlefield. I get it. You know, and the the it was reported that the the lower courts were viewing the school w the walls as as resources that could make the school look speech endorsed and not purely a private student speech. And and I get that argument, but you know w w we're dealt we're living in a world nowadays where we're school systems, major corporations, too many too many large and powerful bodies are are trying to maintain a a stance of neutrality. And I completely understand that. It is such a A volatile and vitriolic time that you just want to see if you could be comfortable in the middle and avoid the two extremes so you don't get caught up in the crossfire. But the fact is that that when things are this tense and when things are are this animus, neutrality in some cases can become censorship when it seems to only restrict speech that that makes the particular adults in charge uncomfortable. The book of Acts, chapter four. I think it's verses 19 and 20. It's whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge, for we cannot speak but of what we have seen and heard. The point here is that not every student flyer equals it's not this is not a case of where we're trying to tie this to you know equating to the apostles standing before the Sanhedrin about what they could post or what they could say. But the point is, as Christians, we should raise our children who Who know how and have the courage to speak the truth with humility and wisdom when when they feel that the times call for it. You know, I I I I try to organize my thoughts sometimes, and and I came up with kind of three points about this. it's free speech is easy until someone says something controversial. And we all it's common sense, we all know that. Like nobody Nobody needs a constitutional right to defend some sort of bland and and normal everyday speech. The the test of free speech comes when when the message is unpopular or whether it's you know from a different political angle or it's a religious note or whether it's just something that makes somebody else uncomfortable. That's when we want to try to make other people be quiet. You know Schools, in my opinion, should teach students how to disagree and how to handle those disagreements, not how to hide disagreements or just keep your mouth shut. If if we never practice, and this has got to start early, it's got to start in the school systems, if we never practice civil disagreement in school, then that's what we're dealing with today. They become adults who don't know how to disagree. They only know how to cancel or mock people or just shut down altogether. And that's not productive. And then the third point is as as Christian parents, we need to prepare our kids honestly for convictions with consequences. You know, following following Jesus never means being rude, loud, or reckless, but it does mean teaching kids that that the truth is not always going to be welcomed. ⁓ you know, i being a Christian comes with with some persecution. The Bible is clear about that. So sometimes standing for your Biblical Christian based truths may be a little uncomfortable. It may be a little tense. You know, in in this case, I I do. Look, I understand the the school wanting to maintain order. I understand not wanting, you know, the walls of school just blasted with every political issue in America. But I I don't trust a system where the bureaucrats in charge, and Lord knows the school system is predominantly liberal leftist i i in most every Outside of blood red districts and blood red states, it it is mostly a liberal democratic type of person that gets into education, always has been. ⁓ and so I don't trust the system where where the bureaucrats in charge get to decide whether whether student convictions are appropriate or whether they're too disruptive to be seen. You know, the the answer is clearly not chaos, but the answer has to be clear, viewpoint neutral rules. Whether it's pro-life or pro choice, whether it's religious or secular, conservative or liberal, the rules need to apply both ways to both sides of every argument. You know, the the goal is here is now we we don't want to turn our our schools into political war zones where where nothing gets done and the kids can't learn any of the things they need to learn. But the goal is to to stop training kids to believe that that their convictions are only acceptable when it's pre approved by authority. ⁓ and that is that is a dangerous path we've been going down. And I see that a lot in our youth where they just don't have the strength or the wherewithal to stand up for something, even if they believe it completely in their heart. That it's just too easy to get them to go along with the folks around them. As Christians, we we need to be raising our kids so that they can speak truth, hear the disagreement, and process it, but still treat people like image bearers of God, whether we disagree or not. As we circle back to to the the verse that we started today with at Second Corinthians, you know, maybe, maybe somebody today that's listening, who am I kidding? Nobody's listening to me. Maybe, maybe somebody listening today is tired. Maybe, maybe you're discouraged. Maybe, maybe you're sitting there wondering, does does any of this even really matter? And Paul's answer to us it's it's simple. He he's saying, Hey, don't lose heart. Don't lose heart. Not because life is easy. Not because every problem is going to go away or disappear, but because God is still working in you in ways that you may not even see yet. All right, folks, that's it for today. As always, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.