Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Tuesday May 19, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Good morning and what's up to everybody? is Tuesday, May 19th. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is Beliefs, Ballots and Bets. Today's theme is ⁓ hospitality on the move, how we can use some simple and short acts to ⁓ make ordinary people feel seen, safe, honored. It's ⁓ small gestures for a big gospel, if you will. The word of the day comes from the book of Hebrews, chapters 13, verse 2. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it You know hospitality is is a ⁓ spiritual practice that that notices and honors people around you in a way that makes them feel feel recognized You know, we tend to sometimes unfortunately tend to reserve our most hospitable moments and achievements for for planned events, for dinner parties and things that you're hosting and celebrating and things of that nature. But scripture really calls us to treat hospitality as kind of an ethical approach for everyday movement, that we should do all things with a hospitable nature. And it's a posture towards embracing the opportunities when we encounter people to make a difference, to have a positive impact. The problem is simple, it's distraction. Our schedules are so busy, we're constantly in our screens and full of anxiety and all of that just shrinks our focus and our ability to pay attention to the world around us. And often that kind of, it hardens us against the potential for brief and meaningful encounters. We tend to, and I'm guilty of this, we tend to hurry past our neighbors or kind of put our head down and hope we don't make eye contact. We... We scroll through conversations in group text without really paying attention to what much of anybody is saying. Or we assume that to really be hospitable and to make a difference requires a lot of time or effort or resources you may or may not have. And the result of this is just lonely people with a plethora of missed opportunity for ministerial moments. And ultimately that leads to a narrower kingdom of heaven. We're inviting less people and making less people feel welcome. There's a lot of things you can do, ⁓ small simple things. Every time you slow down or you find yourself at a stop sign or a red light, just pay attention to something around you. Take 10 seconds to notice a specific detail. Notice something in that moment to just make yourself more present. ⁓ It could be, you know, the color of a kid's shoes. It could just be, you know, the particular look on somebody's face. And simply by noticing these things will begin to open up some opportunities for you to be more attentive ⁓ to humanity. And this will give you more opportunities for empathy and hospitality. You know, can do a lot of things. You can... you know, make simple, small gestures to people. You never know what somebody that you encounter may be dealing with. And sometimes just a simple, small gesture can really make a difference in somebody's day. And it doesn't have to be something that really even costs you anything. It can be, you know, just offering somebody a napkin or a smile or making eye contact or holding the door or a brief, hey, how you doing? You know, all of these things can demonstrate a... a welcoming and hospitable approach without having to plan or put any real work or effort into it. You one of the small things that I think goes a long way is using somebody's name. You know, we are given these proper names as something to identify us and to use that regularly when you're encountering somebody. think it makes people feel special. It makes them feel seen. It makes them feel recognized. know, and so make it a point to learn somebody's name. ⁓ It's a small sacrament of belonging, but the repeated use of someone's name makes them feel connected to you. And ultimately this converts strangers into neighbors or friends. After an encounter, don't hesitate to send a quick follow-up text or a note or something, just say, hey, I enjoyed our chat. Here's some follow-up information. Or simply telling a mutual friend to check in and say, tell so and so I said hi. You know, this sort of builds a continuity in our relationships and makes people consistently see that we're welcoming and hospitable to the world around us. it, you know, by doing it consistently, it makes it where it is a part of who you are relationally, and it's not just gonna come across as performative. ⁓ You know, we've talked about this repeatedly, and our, social tools in this modern world give us, endless senses of being connected to things, but they all feel rather empty, if we're honest. Most people are starving for some small, real moments of connectivity with people. We compensate by going on social media and making these long curated posts, or we put together photo albums and stuff that show the highlights of our life. But very little of this is real and certainly not welcoming to people. People want to know the real you. ⁓ And sometimes that means being a little more vulnerable. It's being more neighborly. Hospitality practiced in passing, it resists the loneliness. So if we can do it consistently, we will be establishing small but meaningful connections all along the way of both our personal, private, and public life. This week I want to challenge you to do a couple of things. Pick a couple of opportunities where you know you have a chance outside of a conference room to catch your breath and do one of those small things where you say, attention to a small habit, pay attention to a specific color in somebody's tie, a specific look on somebody's face. And just by noticing these details will make you more attentive to the world around you, which will then open up opportunities for you to be more empathetic, more comp- Passionate more welcoming and ultimately just just more hospitable as a whole You know, there's there's a lot of little tricks you can do it know whether it's after checking out at the grocery store or whatever and you know, just make us passing comments I'm gonna hey, you know if they've got their hands full Hey, it looks like you got a full full stack there. Is there anything I can help you with? You know, if you're if you're in a waiting room somewhere, you know in somebody's it's a crowded or on the bus or mass transit You know, hey, do you mind if I scoot over looks like you could use this seat? ⁓ You know at the office, you know introduce yourself to somebody yet. You haven't spoke with you just simple say hey I'm so and so if you ever need anything or just want to grab coffee and chat Let me know ⁓ You know in the neighborhood and I'm guilty I go for a walk in the neighborhood every day and in a lot of cases when I pass by my neighbors I'm putting my head down hoping they see that I've got my earbuds in and that I'm zoned out usually listening to Bible study Which is great, but I should be more neighborly. I should go out of my way to just say hey look if you ever need anything I'm around. I'm here to help you those types of neighborly and welcoming hospitable activities will really serve to help you build more long-term and beneficial connections as a whole. All right guys, get into the card for the day. We've got five plays today. We were two and two yesterday. No harm, no foul. Not what we're looking for, but we won't usually complain about breaking even. Today's card, we're going start, we're going back. They got absolutely hammered yesterday. It was painful to watch, but... We're going to lay some juice with the Braves at minus 140 against the Marlins. I look for them to bounce back and get the W today. We've got two plays on the Baltimore Orioles Tampa Bay Rays game. We're going to Rays money line minus 125. And we're going over that nice low total of seven and a half there. Fourth play, we're going to Rangers money line minus 130 at Colorado. Simply think it's a better team at a fair price. Give me the Rangers. And then in the NBA tonight, we're to go with the Cavs plus the seven and a half at the Knicks. I like this Cavs team. They showed a lot against the Pistons to get out of that series. Just a gritty team. I'm a big Donovan Mitchell fan. Like the way they play together. I think this is a gritty team. me the Cavs to keep it somewhat close. I don't expect them to win the opening game in the garden, but give me the Cavs plus the seven and a half. As we get ready to get out of here for the day, let's be ⁓ Let's be reminded of what Hebrews calls us to. And this kind of plays into even a little bit of what we talked about yesterday. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 2, calls us to welcome all around us. Each encounter is a chance to be a blessing. And it's practicing the noticing things, looking for small details to notice as this will help make us more aware. of the opportunities to connect with people. It's making small offers and small gestures along the way, remembering to use somebody's name, following up after a meaningful conversation. All of these things just make hospitality more a part of your day-to-day life and that consistency will pay off and have dividends. And ⁓ we reflect back to kind of even what we talked about on yesterday's show is in all that we do, we are serving him. ⁓ And therefore all that we do should be done with that sense of purpose and conviction as if we are serving him. I think it's a really powerful thing to know that at some point throughout the course of any day, any walk through life, you may encounter an angel. You may have the opportunity to have one of those interactions and not even be aware of it. So what if we went about our business all day every day? And we simply made the decision to try to treat everybody as if they were that angel that we didn't know about. I have coined the phrase or I didn't coin the phrase, but I've used the phrase, you know, a lot. And I've made it a point to use it, especially in front of my girls whenever given the opportunity. You know, he blesses us so that we may be a blessing to others. A lot of us have been blessed and have a hard time giving back those blessings in the appropriate amounts. And I myself may be guilty of that. You know, I try to, and this sounds very grandiose, but I've always tried to live my life in such a way and to conduct myself around people to where, you when I put my head on the pillow at night, I can honestly say that anybody that interacted with me, anybody that crossed my path that day, I'd like to believe that I somehow made their day at least a little bit better. And I think we can all take that approach. And good Lord, just imagine what if we all did take that approach? What if we all just decided right here and right now go, Hey, I'm just going to start treating people better. I'm just going to start putting more pleasantness and more hospitality out into the world. This is contagious just like anything else. The negative energy is flowing all around us and that's not hard to see. But let's be intentional about putting some positive energy in there. Go about your day, be hospitable and remember that every time you interact with anybody, whether it be somebody you know or a stranger, you don't know what kind of day they're having. You don't know what kind of burdens they're carrying and you may be given the opportunity from God. to make a difference in that person's day, week, or life. You may in fact even be speaking to an angel and not know about it. As always guys, just remember, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.