Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / September 16, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, what's up guys, and welcome back to the latest episode of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. It is Wednesday, September 16th. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and we're gonna have a little bit of fun here. ⁓ today I'm got a little request for my fellow Georgia fans, and this is gonna sound rather simple, but can we stop comparing every tight end to Brock Bowers? Like I get it. I I miss Brock too. Brock was freaking awesome, but he's gone, people. We got to move on. He's not coming back. And we've lived in this world ever since Brock moved on that every time a tight end catches the ball and runs faster than about four and a half miles per hour, ⁓ he reminds me of Brock. We got another one. No, stop it. We did it with Oscar Delt. We tried to do it with Lawson Lucky. We've done it with every tight end that has come through the program since Brock left. And now we're starting to hear it about Jaden Rodell. Look, and here's the thing. I I get it. I understand why we're excited about this kid. He he is starting to look like somebody who could become a major force on offense. And maybe a more interesting question isn't, is he the next Brock Bowers? Maybe we need to be looking at this as can Jaden Riddell become the first Jaden Riddell? But Brock Bowers just completely screwed up all of our expectations for what a tight end is supposed to look like. Before Brock showed up, we we just thought, hey, if your tight end caught three or four passes for 45, 50-something yards, that's a pretty darn good day for a tight end. And then Bowers comes along and just proves to be superhuman. And now we all expect the tight end to catch nine balls, run over a linebacker, run away from a safety, block a defensive end, sell some popcorn at halftime, and provide minor surgery in the locker room. It wasn't normal. Brock Bowers was an absolute freak. So let's not put that sort of expectation on every kid who comes after him. But let me be honest, I'm intrigued by Jaden Riddell. If we have found another tight end who can become one of those guys that's an absolute mismatch problem, a guy that Gunner can count on when he absolutely needs a completion, that's a pretty darn big deal. And that's what I think we're looking for out of out of Riddell and the rest of the tight end room. It's not whether or not he looks like Brock. It's not whether or not his numbers look like Brock. It's just this. When it's third and seven and everybody in the stadium knows you've got to throw the football, is Gunnar looking for number 23? That's when we'll note. That's when he goes from just being another talented player to being one of the guys, one of the guys that we know we can count on. And look, I hope that Jaden Riddell becomes so good and has so many catches and makes so many plays that from now on we're reminding the future tight ends of you know who he reminds me of? Looks like another Jaden Riddell come up. And yeah, that means one thing. It means we've learned absolutely nothing because at that point we've been putting the same sort of ridiculous expectations on that poor kid, too. Move on. We're better than that. All right, our scriptural topic of the day, and and I'll I'll come clean. I have ⁓ I have kind of been forcing the issue on some of these episodes here lately, trying to deal more with some of the the political and social and cultural issues that we've all become so aware of. And Obviously, we still anchor everything in the scripture and and we still have Bible verses verses to support what we're saying. ⁓ but today I wanted to go back and just do a more old school Bible study. Let me just pick a section and dig into it and just see what it says, instead of trying to look for verses to support a certain point that I'm trying to make. So the question today for me is: you know, what if all of us have have kind of lost the a sense of what we need to be doing? And we're focusing and trying so freaking hard to be better Christians that we've stopped focusing on the idea that we need to spend time with Christ. And hear me out here. I'm not saying, I'm not saying that effort doesn't matter. I'm not saying that obedience doesn't matter. I'm not saying you can just sit around and do whatever the heck you want to do and tell everybody it's okay. I'm abiding in Christ. I'm spending time with Him. That's certainly not what Jesus teaches. But I was reading, and in chapter in John chapter 15, something struck me, and it's an incredibly simple picture. But Jesus says to us, I am the vine, you are the branches. And then he says, Apart from me, you can do nothing. I started thinking about it, and a branch has but one job. Stay connected. That's it. I have never walked past a grapevine and heard the branch grunting and groaning and say, come on, grapes, you can do this. Be fruitful. It's ridiculous. The branch doesn't produce fruit because it tries really, really hard to produce fruit. It produces fruit because it's connected to the vine. And I wonder how many of us might be spending a lot more time trying to make fruit than probably being connected. Think about how, you know, things that the Christians won't. Think about things we are all working on. I want to be more patient. I want to control my temper. I want to stop worrying. I want to be a better husband and a better father. I want to be a better mother. I want to stop doing things that I know I shouldn't be doing. I want to stop saying things that I know I shouldn't say. I want more peace. I want more joy. I want a stronger faith. I want more self-control. And so, because of what our society has has taught us, we start to try to attack all of those things individually. I need to try harder to be patient. I need to try harder not to worry. I need to try harder not to lust. I need to try harder not to get angry. And eventually Christianity starts to look like the world's longest self-improvement program. Except now, God's watching. And so there's even more pressure. Pay attention to what Jesus comes along and says. Jesus simply tells us: abide in me. John chapter 15, verse 4: Abide in me. And I in you. And Jesus says a branch cannot bear fruit by itself. Neither can we. That's the order. It's not try harder, become better, and impress God. It's stay connected to Christ. Christ changes you, and then fruit begins to appear. Slightly different approach. And I think a lot of us have it reversed. We're trying to produce evidence that we're connected to Jesus instead of actually connecting to Him. Then we go on in in Paul in Galatians chapter five. It makes this even more obvious. Paul talks about love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And then what does he call all of those attributes? He calls them fruit of the spirit, not the fruit of Greg finally getting his act together. Not the fruit of impressive willpower or the fruit of reading enough self-help books, or the fruit of winning every battle through sheer personal determination. No, it's the fruit of the spirit. There's a source, and we're not it. It's humbling, but it's also freeing because maybe we've been beating ourselves up too much lately. Maybe we keep saying, Why am I still struggling this? Why am I still impatient? Why do I lose my temper? Why do I deal with anxiety? Why do I keep falling into these same temptations? Why is it my marriage better? Why don't I have more peace? And look, all of those can be really good questions. We should examine ourselves. But maybe before asking ourselves, why don't I have more fruit? We ought to ask ourselves, just how connected am I to the vine? Because if the connection is weak, why are we surprised that the fruit is lacking? Let's make this painfully practical. How much time did you spend with Jesus yesterday? Not listening to people like me talk about Jesus. How much time did you actually spend with him? How much time in scripture? How much time praying? How much time just being quiet and reflecting? How much genuinely did you spend time seeking God? All right, think about that. How much time did you spend yesterday on those things? Now, how much time did you spend on your phone? How much did time did you spend at work? Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, sports, news, podcast, email, whatever it is. And again, I'm not saying any of those things are inherently evil. A lot of those things are absolutely necessary in today's world. Hey, you're listening to a podcast right now, and hey, I'm glad you're here, both of you. But this podcast can't be your vine. Your pastor cannot be your vine. Your favorite Christian author cannot be your vine. And your church cannot be your vine. There is but one. Jesus is the vine. Those other things just help point you towards him, but none of those can replace him. And what I think about today is that I think where modern life really makes this especially difficult is. We are in a constant mode of consumption. Something is always playing, something is always buzzing. There's always another notification, another video, another episode to watch, another game, another email, another thing somebody wants or needs from you. And then somewhere in the middle of all that chaos and all that consumption, we're wondering to ourselves, man, why don't I feel closer to God? Well, maybe that's because we never just take the time to sit with Him. And look, maybe that's uncomfortable, but maybe it's just that simple. Psalm chapter 46 tells us, be still and know that I am God. Some of us are pretty good at the knowing I am God part. We know God. We've got Bible studies, podcasts, sermons, books, commentaries, apps, YouTube channels. We've got more Christian information available to us today than any generation before us ever is. ⁓ but the first two words, be still, most of us aren't really good at that. And here's something else in John chapter 15 that I don't think we talk enough about. Jesus doesn't only talk about fruit, he talks about pruning. Chapter 15, verse 2, he tells us, every branch that bears fruit, God prunes so that it can bear more fruit. Think about that. And the branch getting cut isn't necessarily the bad branch. Sometimes the fruitful branch gets pruned too. And that's important because in our society, we tend to interpret Every uncomfortable thing in our life is, ⁓ something's wrong. God must be mad. I screwed something up. Why is this happening to me? But sometimes God removes something, not because you're failing, but because he's growing something in you. That's pruning. And look, pruning doesn't always feel productive. Sometimes it feels like loss. Something gets cut away. And maybe it was an opportunity you were looking forward to. Maybe it was a relationship that you really enjoyed. Maybe it's a habit. Maybe it's something that you participate in that you shouldn't. Maybe it's something you depend on. Or maybe it's just a certain season of life comes to its natural end. Maybe God is putting his finger on you and saying, This can't come with you. And our natural inclination is to go, yeah, but I really like that. God says to us, I know. Snip, prune, cut. And look, that's what makes the pruning difficult. We see what's being removed, but God sees what he's making room for. But that perspective is different, it's powerful. We see the loss. God sees growth. We question why are you taking this away? But God underneath knows what he's producing in us. And look, maybe some of us are begging God to give us something back, but it's a thing that God's trying to free us with. That's worth sitting with. We also need to be careful though. I don't want to turn every bad thing that happens into something spiritual of God pruning you. Sometimes consequences are consequences. And they result from poor decisions. Sometimes people hurt us. Sometimes people make stupid decisions. Sometimes life in a broken world just hurts. We can't slap a spiritual explanation onto every painful event. But Jesus absolutely teaches us that the Father is actively shaping us. So when something is being stripped away, there's a worthwhile prayer to get into. God, is there something that you're trying to grow in me through this? Not why me. Maybe what are you doing in me? It's a different prayer and it's useful. And then Jesus keeps going because abiding isn't just sitting under a tree and thinking spiritual thoughts. Jesus connects in John chapter 15, abiding connects to his words remaining in us. And a few verses later, Jesus connects abiding in his love with keeping his commandments. So this isn't passive. There is obedience involved, there's discipline involved, there's action involved. Christianity is not just let Jesus do everything and I sit around and do nothing. And Paul captures this tension, I believe, beautifully in Philippians chapter two. He tells believers to work out their salvation and then immediately says, For it is God who works in you. You see both here, right? You work because God is working in you. That's Christianity. It's not God does everything while I sit around and do nothing. And it's not I transform myself or transform myself through sheer force of will. It's cooperation with grace. God supplies what I cannot produce. I simply have to respond with obedience. Maybe think about it this way if if if anger is something that I'm struggling with, look, yeah, there are times where I just need to shut my mouth. That's discipline. There are times where I may need to apologize. There are times where I need to may need to hold myself accountable. I may need to walk away from certain situations before I say something stupid. Those things matter. But deeper than that, I need to figure out. How do I stop being so angry? And maybe it's how do I get more deeply rooted in Christ? Because eventually, if I'm abiding in him, something in me should start growing. The patience, the kindness, the gentleness, the self-control. That fruit will start to grow. Same thing with marriage. You can read every self-help marriage book ever written. You can learn about All the different communication techniques. You can schedule date nights, and you should. You can try to learn your spouse's love language, assuming they have one. All of those things are good. But if neither person is being transformed by Christ, eventually two selfish people just become really well-educated selfish people. Marriage doesn't require better techniques. Marriage requires people who are transforming in God together. Transform people come from that relationship and that connection to Christ. Same thing with anxiety, temptation, resentment, pride, fear. Sometimes we are hacking away at the fruit when Jesus is telling us to look at the root, or more accurately, look at your connection. And here's the part that I really love. Jesus doesn't give us this teaching so that everybody becomes like just miserable religious robots. At the end of this section, Jesus starts talking to us about joy. He tells us, he said, that these things, he does these things so that his joy may be in them, and that their joy may be full. Think about it connection, fruit, pruning, obedience, all of these things according to Jesus lead us to joy, not exhaustion, not a sense of, well, hopefully I performed well enough today that God still likes me. None of that. It leads us to joy. And so maybe that's another sign worth examining. If if your faith has become exhausting, If Christianity feels primarily like a list of things that you're failing out, well look, maybe you have turned connection and abiding into performing. Christianity begins with something we constantly forget. You, I, we are not divine. And that's good news. We don't have to generate the life. We receive it. Jesus is the source. Your job is just to stay close, listen, and obey. Return when you wonder. Repent when you sin. Stay in his word. Pray. Walk with him. And let him do in you what you cannot manufacture on your own. So here's what we're going to do today. Nothing complicated. You don't have to go buy another book. You don't have to download another app. You don't need to make a 14-point spiritual growth plan. You're not going to stick to it anyway. What I want you to do is spend some time with Jesus. Open your Bible, chapter, John, chapter 15. Read it slowly. Don't read it to get it done. Don't read it just to finish it. Don't read it to check the box, saying you read the Bible today. Read it until something in there catches and just resonates with you. And then sit there and ask, Jesus, where am I disconnected? Jesus, what fruit are you trying to grow in me? Is there something you're pruning in me right now? What am I trying to produce through effort that I need to just surrender to you? And then listen, be still. Nothing dramatic might happen. It might grow slowly. Branches don't grow fruit dramatically. Quietly, day after day, they grow fruit because they remain connected. And maybe that's what somebody out there listening needs to hear today. You don't need another major life spiritual breakthrough. You don't need some huge emotional experience to a greater awakening. You don't need to reinvent your entire life by this weekend. Maybe you just need to stay connected. Tomorrow, stay connected. When you're frustrated. Stay connected. When you're tempted to do something you shouldn't, stay connected. When you don't understand what God is doing in your life or the world around you, stay connected. When you're being pruned and you don't like it, stay connected. When you feel like you've done everything and you still don't see any fruit yet, you got it. Stay connected. The branch doesn't have to understand everything the mind is doing. It just has to remain connected. So this goes for all of us, myself included. Stop trying to manufacture fruit. Stop trying to be your own source. Stop treating Christianity like it's a self-improvement program with Jesus' name on the cover. Abide. Stay close. Let his words live in you. Obey what he tells you. Let him cut away what needs cutting and trust that if you remain connected to the source, the fruit will come. Get in your Bible, say your prayers, tell the truth, spend some actual time with Jesus today. Stay connected. And remember, you don't have to make the fruit. You just have to stay connected to the vine. That'll do it for today, guys. God bless.