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Worship | Episode 28
38 Plays30 days ago
In this Episode Danny and Shane discuss the book of Daniel and a biblical perspective on worship, happiness, life, and our ultimate purpose in life.
Link for the timeline of Israel:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://holyjoys.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Timeline-Israel-Judah.pdf
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Transcript
New Podcast Format Discussion
00:00:31
Danny Price
everybody, welcome back to Table Talk Discussions. This is episode 28. I'm Danny Price and then I'm with Shane Finley here. This is a little bit of a different episode. We're kind of changing some things up. I'm not sure if we're gonna stick with this format, but recently, you know for a while we've been doing just the questions format. So I'll ask Shane questions, I'll come up with questions, or I will have people send me questions from our listeners.
00:00:54
Danny Price
And I've kind of just rattled them off like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, however many we do, which has been fun. But especially for this this podcast, because Shane didn't teach, I thought, you know what? He didn't do all the research and this stuff. So maybe we'll we'll have questions within things, but maybe we'll just have some topics we'll talk about and discuss.
00:01:12
Danny Price
Um, and hopefully that makes for a little bit more of a flow, a little more back and forth. Um, I don't want, I never want this to become rigid and just like inner, you know, Shane doing an interview, um, every time we do this podcast, which, you know, the goal of this again is to draw on his knowledge and draw on his expertise as a pastor, but not to make it sound like, i don't know, like sterile and rigid and you know, not fun.
00:01:36
Danny Price
So, um,
00:01:36
sfinley
Especially because danny Danny is an educated guy with good thoughts.
00:01:41
Danny Price
Yeah, well, um that wasn't where I was going with that, but thank you. um But no, just wanting one in for it to be more fun and discussion-based.
00:01:45
sfinley
Yeah, of course.
00:01:48
Danny Price
And then, you know, too, as we start to try to have more people on this, there's a little less pressure to come with this crazy amount of preparedness um if we're having
Guest Suggestion: Tony's First Sermon
00:01:57
sfinley
Yeah.
00:01:57
Danny Price
different guests on.
00:01:57
Danny Price
So it's not like ah intimidating because like, you know, obviously we're going to, discuss some really cool philosophical or biblical, you know, concepts and things that might take a little bit of discussion and a little bit of study ahead of time.
00:02:09
Danny Price
But it's not like, don't know. I don't want people to freak out if they ever get invited on this.
00:02:13
sfinley
Hey, on that note, we should, um I think next week, because um Tony's preaching his first sermon on Sunday, next week I actually think you should interview him.
00:02:14
Danny Price
So.
00:02:20
Danny Price
Oh, yeah, we should have him on.
00:02:24
Danny Price
Yeah, no, I.
00:02:24
sfinley
Or maybe the two of us be on with him.
00:02:26
sfinley
um
00:02:27
Danny Price
Yeah, that'd be fun. That'd be fun.
00:02:28
sfinley
Because, yeah, think it would be great introduction for him to some people.
00:02:32
Danny Price
and That's a, that's a great idea. Yeah, I'll definitely. So Tony, if you're listening to this, which I bet you're probably not, because i don't even know if you know this exists, but you're going to be on, you're going on next, you're going on next week.
00:02:39
sfinley
yeah Yeah, I don't think he does.
00:02:42
Danny Price
So surprise. um if If you guys are listening and you you guys know Tony or feel comfortable talking to him, just like go up to him be like I'm so excited for your podcast next week and give him like, no, we'll give him like no warning.
00:02:54
Danny Price
on Sunday,
Scott McKinney's Influence and Sermon
00:02:56
Danny Price
anyways, cool.
00:02:56
sfinley
Yeah,
00:02:56
Danny Price
um So this week we had Scott McKinney from Centerpoint. We've had him in the past. I've given him, you we've given him plenty of introductions, but he's a catalyst for the EFCA, which is our association.
00:03:08
Danny Price
um Previous pastor at Centerpoint, big fan of Mountain View, big friend of the church, you know Mountain View and Centerpoint really close. Shane, did you listen to the sermon?
00:03:19
Danny Price
Anything that you wanna just a blast away?
00:03:20
sfinley
I just I listened last night. What's that?
00:03:23
Danny Price
anything Anything you just want to blast away on that you heard or thought was interesting before we get into like topics and stuff?
00:03:29
sfinley
No, I mean, I just thought it was, ah you know, ah the idea of what worship looks like and and what worship has looked like over the years and the and the mistakes we make with it and the the ways we let our hearts get pulled away.
00:03:43
Danny Price
Mm-hmm.
00:03:47
sfinley
you know it's It's always an important topic because, you know, it's funny because reading through the catechisms
Understanding Catechisms
00:03:53
sfinley
right now.
00:03:53
Danny Price
Uh-huh.
00:03:54
sfinley
um You know, i got you guys that book and...
00:03:55
Danny Price
Explain what that is. Explain what that is really quick for people that don't know what a catechism is.
00:03:58
sfinley
Well, I mean, there's different versions. um So, but real quick, I mean, the best way for me to describe it is the catechisms.
00:04:00
Danny Price
Right.
00:04:05
sfinley
And there again, as someone who's not even that super educated and all that is it's the basic core beliefs of, of Christianity. It's like the the foundational building blocks that the church decided, Hey, if people know and understand these things, um,
00:04:22
sfinley
then they would understand the core in which
History of Israel and Babylonian Exile
00:04:25
sfinley
to build faith on. And and it gives the answers to the questions that people deal with.
00:04:30
Danny Price
Hmm.
00:04:31
sfinley
And the reason I started reading to them is I was, it was a podcast. I can't remember whose podcast it was. um But they were talking about one of the reasons why so many people deconstructing their faith is they have a lot of, that they have a lot of understanding of things But they're but not built upon each other where the catechism, when you walk people through that, it it builds on itself.
00:05:00
sfinley
So so you have so it gives you a foundation.
00:05:00
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:05:02
sfinley
So so anyway, i thought, you know what? I literally have not read them since my first year in Bible school.
00:05:09
Danny Price
Hmm.
00:05:09
sfinley
when we just had to do a theological, yeah an introduction to theology, you know, and, and they said, you know, you know, read through the, what is 107.
00:05:11
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:05:17
sfinley
you know, so, you know, you just did that real quick and I never read, studied them, never, you know, long I, I'm a little ashamed to say all that, but didn't do all that.
00:05:19
Danny Price
Jeez.
00:05:27
sfinley
so I thought, you know what, I, I'm going just read some reading through them, but then I also have a ah book that gives like a three to four page, um, just deeper thoughts on each on each one that I'm going through with it.
00:05:39
Danny Price
Yeah. Okay.
00:05:41
sfinley
So anyway, it's just been kind of interesting. But these are the Wesleyan catechisms I'm reading through.
00:05:48
Danny Price
Okay. The only catechism I'm familiar with is one like my dad and my mom would repeat when I was a kid. It was the, what is the chief end of man? And it's to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
00:05:57
sfinley
Yeah, to glorify God.
00:05:57
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:05:58
sfinley
Well, and that's where yeah so i was just going to that's what i was trying to make the connection with Scott's sermon.
00:06:00
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:06:02
sfinley
I kind of forgot. But, you know, is that that is the chief end of man. That's why we're here is to glorify God. And that's what the worship of God is. And that's why the worship of God is so much more than just us coming and singing.
00:06:13
sfinley
And it's it's how we look at everything in life. Right. And, you know, and so the whole idolatry thing that he got into and all that, yeah.
00:06:18
Danny Price
Right.
00:06:24
sfinley
you know we we but I think a lot of people think, oh, I can go worship God, but then I can also worship these other things all week. And they don't see it that way. you know They see it as, oh, I'm just doing these things, but I worship God.
00:06:38
sfinley
But the truth is, anything we're giving our our best to or our our our you know our greatest greatest efforts towards or anything like that, that's worship.
00:06:49
Danny Price
Right.
00:06:50
sfinley
So yeah, I like, i mean...
00:06:50
Danny Price
Yeah. No, I want to talk about, more and I want to, I want to really talk about that more later too. Cause that was, that was really interesting. I love that, that part of the sermon.
00:06:57
sfinley
Yeah.
00:06:58
Danny Price
um Quickly, just to give a little background. So just the text that he's bringing up, I actually didn't actually did all this research and didn't Google this, but so he's, he's in Daniel.
00:07:02
sfinley
Yeah.
00:07:09
Danny Price
Scott McKinney is when he's going through all this. And I, before I misspeak, I want to tell you guys the actual right chapter. So he is in, Daniel 2, I believe, um that he's kind of pulling this from. And it's actually Daniel 2 and then beyond because it's Nebuchadnezzar and his dreams. um But just a little bit of a background on Israel and what's going on in this you know and this era of history.
00:07:37
Danny Price
i think I thought it'd be good just to kind of go over a quick, brief summation of what got Israel into this place and why Daniel's there in the first place in Babylon.
00:07:45
sfinley
In the first place, yeah.
00:07:47
Danny Price
Yeah. um So, man, that backing up for a while, Israel has this really bad habit, and they continue to do this. So we have, you know, the Israel's, Israel is pulled out of Exodus by God, and Moses, you know, leads the people out of Israel, and they wander the desert for a long time, they get to the promised land eventually, Moses never gets to see it. But Israel has this desire for a king and they finally get a king because God's like, you don't want a king. You don't want a king. and they're like, we want a king. They get a king and they go through this this cycle. And it's like this endless cycle that Israel has been going through for forever of the rebel against God. They'll find false idols. They'll find false gods. They'll intermarry with other people around them and they'll get swayed by their wives to...
00:08:28
Danny Price
to worship these other gods. And then God judges the people and something happens. And then a lot of times that takes a while. then all of a sudden there's a big backswing and somebody leads the people out and they repent and they follow God for a very, very, very short period of time, every time. And then they kind of repeat this process. So they good they go through this cycle so many different times. um And this is kind of the judgment that God has kind of put upon Israel at this point in time. they're They are exiled to Babylon.
00:08:58
Danny Price
So go ahead.
00:08:58
sfinley
Okay. Hey, before you get into Daniel, can I interrupt there just a minute?
00:09:01
Danny Price
Yeah, I was, yeah, yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
00:09:04
sfinley
You know, I think the important thing for us to see in that is it's, you know, it's easy, like you and I even kind of laughing at them and how they keep doing that. But why did they do that? The reason they kept it, like the reason they even wanted a king. Well, everyone else has a king.
00:09:15
sfinley
We want to be like other people, right?
00:09:16
Danny Price
Yes.
00:09:17
sfinley
um there It's God's people have this horrible problem and we do it today still is we want to follow God, but we want to be like everyone else around us. We want to fit in with everything around us instead of realizing that God calls us to something better and to stand out. And if it's when we try to be like everyone else, we get ourselves in trouble and we're, we're,
00:09:45
sfinley
we're denying God really. And that's, yeah know, that's why God does this. And that's why they're, they, they end up here in exile. Um, pay before you get into the exile though, just, just because you are given a quick history.
00:09:57
Danny Price
I'm not even there yet. Yeah. but Yeah, go ahead.
00:09:59
sfinley
Um, talk about, we'll talk about
Daniel's Rise in Babylon
00:10:01
sfinley
after David, because it's not, it's just Judah.
00:10:03
Danny Price
What happens? Right.
00:10:05
sfinley
Do you, you, you got, can you do that?
00:10:05
Danny Price
So, yeah. Yeah, I can do that briefly.
00:10:08
sfinley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:08
Danny Price
Again, I'm not a great historian with this stuff, but I've done enough study and stuff. And this is all going back to my homeschooling when my mom was giving me all this stuff.
00:10:15
sfinley
Yeah, said, you're homeschooled. You got this, Bart.
00:10:18
Danny Price
so israel has um So Israel has one king. So Israel is united, and they get Saul. So Samuel ordains Saul, and Saul becomes a king.
00:10:31
Danny Price
And Saul starts to fall away. So eventually, the kingdom, it says, we're going to remove it from Saul, and it's given to David. So everyone knows the story of David and Goliath. What you might not know is that David was anointed king by, it was we am might is that is that right? Is it Samuel?
00:10:46
Danny Price
Am I right with that?
00:10:46
sfinley
Yeah, Samuel as well.
00:10:47
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:10:47
sfinley
he Yeah.
00:10:49
Danny Price
Right, so Samuel anoints David as king for, and David is king for a hot second, like legally under God speaking, but not necessarily in the view of the people. Saul is still kind of acting as king, and David serves with Saul and kind of in his court for a long time, all this time knowing that, hey, I'm actually king, and God has given this to me, but I'm not going act on it, because David's a man of high character, and he has many made chances to kill Saul, and he doesn't. Eventually, Saul goes crazy.
00:11:15
Danny Price
Long with the short, Saul dies, David's king, and then David has his son, Solomon, that's king. um there's David has many different sons. But Solomon becomes king, David's son.
00:11:26
Danny Price
And man, Solomon sucks. Solomon is the wisest man, they say in the Bible, but he sucks.
00:11:29
sfinley
to hit that.
00:11:32
Danny Price
He does all this just stupid stuff. He has all these concubines, all these wives. He lusts after power, all this stuff. And he kind of starts to fall away. And because of that, all the kingdoms of Israel are taxed incredibly heavily to make up for all of his conquests.
00:11:46
Danny Price
So saul builds this temple or may not so sorry Solomon builds temple. um and you know does all this beautiful, beautiful stuff in the kingdom, and he's relying on the people to do that. So the people are pissed off. And then Saul, or ah so I keep saying Saul, Solomon's son, Rehoboam,
00:12:02
Danny Price
Um, you know, he comes after Solomon dies and the people go to him and go, okay, can we, can you ease the taxes and ease the burden that we have on our people? And Rehoboam goes, no, I'm not going to do that.
00:12:13
sfinley
Make it worse.
00:12:13
Danny Price
And so there's, there's a big revolt, 10 of the kingdom split into the other. you have that so you have the Northern kingdom, 10 of the kingdom or 10 of the um tribes, excuse me, into the Northern kingdom.
00:12:21
sfinley
Tribes.
00:12:22
Danny Price
And then two of the tribes, Judah. And is it Benjamin? Remind me, Benjamin.
00:12:25
sfinley
Yeah. Judah and Benjamin are the Southern Kingdom.
00:12:26
Danny Price
Yeah. Judah and Benjamin. I don't have this in front of me. i probably should put this in front of me, so I'm not just misspeaking. Judah and Benjamin in the Southern Kingdom. And the Northern kingdom Kingdom is conquered by Syria at some point, and they kind of just get lost. They kind of just like drift away. like Shane, correct me on that if I'm wrong, but they kind of just like dissolve into nothingness and eventually are gathered after a while.
00:12:48
Danny Price
But they aren't it's not like they're part of the kingdoms or the kingdom for a long time. And i don't remember what time when they get reunited.
00:12:53
sfinley
Yeah, no, they, yeah, they're, they're very much, um, they, they get, um, you know, uh, dispersed so much that they lose like almost their total identity, um, as the Northern kingdom.
00:13:05
Danny Price
Right.
00:13:08
Danny Price
Right.
00:13:08
sfinley
Yeah.
00:13:08
Danny Price
And so this period where Babylon, in Daniel, like it's the very first line of Daniel, it says there was King Jehoiakim, and he was a king who did, of course, because all these kings do evil inside the Lord. I have this chart in front of me that shows the timeline of things in terms of like dates.
00:13:25
Danny Price
I'll put this in the description so you guys can see it. But it's really interesting, just a heads up, for the northern kingdoms, it literally says that, and you know this is through chronicles and kings, not one single king in the northern kingdom did good in in the sight of the Lord, not one single king.
00:13:39
sfinley
Yeah, every one was evil. And wasn't there only two in the Southern, or three?
00:13:41
Danny Price
um there was It says eight does, eight did right in the sight of the Lord in the southern kingdom.
00:13:46
sfinley
Eight, eight, okay.
00:13:48
Danny Price
So to back up a little bit, I guess I should clarify, when these kingdoms split, they start having their own king. So you have the king of the northern kingdom who calls themselves the king of Israel, and then they have the king of the southern kingdom who also calls themselves the king of Israel.
00:14:00
Danny Price
But there's like this disjointedness, and historians and biblical people would say that God and like the line of Jesus was working through the southern kingdom, not through the northern kingdom, obviously, because...
00:14:10
sfinley
Yeah, in jerusalem Jerusalem and the temple were in the southern kingdom.
00:14:14
Danny Price
Correct, correct. um But yeah, so not a lot of kings do right inside the Lord. And so only eight in the Southern Kingdom and none in the Northern Kingdom. I'm not going to list them all, but this chart that I have in front of me, I will, again, put this in the description so you guys can see it.
00:14:24
sfinley
Yeah.
00:14:28
Danny Price
I would really recommend just look, just for your own interest, just looking through this. You can see all the kings of Judah, all the kings of Israel and all the kings, you know, in like like linear fashion. So you can see when they reigned and so forth.
00:14:39
Danny Price
So anyways, so Babylon comes in. And Babylon's world power at this point, which is kind of modern day Iraq, I want to say, or Iran, Iraq.
00:14:50
Danny Price
Iraq sounds right.
00:14:51
sfinley
Yeah, it's that area.
00:14:51
Danny Price
um
00:14:52
sfinley
i think it's Iraq.
00:14:53
Danny Price
And i'm I'm pretty sure it's Iraq. Anyway, so they come in and they conquer. um And they they kind of do what a lot of world-dominating powers have done and up to this point and continue to do, like Rome, for example. Well, they'll take some exiled people.
00:15:11
Danny Price
They'll allow the people to kind of practice their religion and do their thing, but they'll take people kind of as like a ah security back to their home country.
00:15:20
sfinley
They take the best.
00:15:20
Danny Price
And they'll take the best and eventually cripple and put into like like pretty much into a limp alymp mode the country that they conquer so that even if they wanted to...
00:15:28
sfinley
And this was a very common practice back then.
00:15:30
Danny Price
Yes.
00:15:30
sfinley
I mean, that's what all, yeah. Yeah.
00:15:33
Danny Price
So it's it's genius because what you're doing is you're allowing the people to not completely revolt because you don't take everybody and piss everybody off. But you take all the strong leaders, the the young men, the people that would lead uprisings and be rebellious, which even so, there were some rebellions that get crushed. The temple gets destroyed and but and Babylon destroys the temple.
00:15:52
Danny Price
im in Israel. And that kind of takes us up to this point. And so Daniel plus Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which aren't their actual names. They're different names.
00:16:00
sfinley
No, don't.
00:16:00
Danny Price
and i
00:16:01
sfinley
They're harder names. they're The Jewish names are hard.
00:16:02
Danny Price
I know they're harder names. But for me, growing up in Sunday school, it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And then Daniel's technically Belshazzar, but we call him Daniel.
00:16:10
sfinley
For me, it was Shadrach, Meshach, and to bed we go.
00:16:14
Danny Price
I love that.
00:16:15
sfinley
That's how I...
00:16:16
Danny Price
Is that how you remember that?
00:16:19
sfinley
We had a youth pastor who thought that was funny. They a camp I went to.
00:16:23
Danny Price
Oh, I love that.
00:16:23
sfinley
Yeah.
00:16:24
Danny Price
That's great. That's a great way to remember that.
00:16:25
sfinley
okay
00:16:26
Danny Price
And so they they have their whole story with the fiery furnace. If you're not familiar, it's a great story in the Bible. And then that's that's what that's what gets us to this point. So Daniel is one of these young wise men that has been selected to go to Babylon and be on exile.
00:16:38
Danny Price
And Babylon exiles Israel for it's like 70, 60 something, years.
00:16:44
sfinley
70 years.
00:16:46
Danny Price
And then it's kind of weird that there's this point, and it's later in the book of Daniel, where the Persians end up conquering Babylon while they are on exile. And so it's kind of interesting.
00:16:57
Danny Price
Persia is actually the the kingdom that's kind of reigning in this exile as Israel returns back. And then they rebuild the temple. And then eventually Nehemiah goes back and rebuilds the wall.
00:17:08
Danny Price
And then that's kind of how you get into modern day.
00:17:09
sfinley
Well, and wait, and not to interrupt, but what what Persian king does he, it's like a famous Persian king he ends up serving under too, with Xerxes?
Babylon's Historical and Cultural Impact
00:17:18
Danny Price
ah Well, it's King a Xerxes is the one. Isn't King Xerxes the one with Esther?
00:17:22
sfinley
That's with Esther.
00:17:23
Danny Price
Esther, it's dere King Darius is the one with, well, there's Belshazzar is the first king that gets conquered by Persia.
00:17:23
sfinley
Esther, yeah, that's right. Which is...
00:17:31
Danny Price
And that's that story with like the riot on the wall. I don't.
00:17:33
sfinley
No, I know, but I'm just saying, like, outside of the Bible, historically, Xerxes is a pretty famous...
00:17:39
Danny Price
Oh, Xerxes is super famous.
00:17:40
sfinley
um Yeah, so I just was... Yeah, never mind.
00:17:43
Danny Price
yeahve Yeah, they have movies about him and stuff like 300.
00:17:45
sfinley
Yeah.
00:17:46
Danny Price
There's King Xerxes, which they go a whole different direction with King Xerxes. But still, you get the idea. um
00:17:52
Danny Price
So anyways, so kind of getting us up to this point. So Daniel in the middle of exile. He's a foreign you know foreigner in this other nation. And That kind of leads into the story with the the dreams that he interprets, which, by the way, I can't imagine.
00:18:08
Danny Price
The first dream, it's kind of like whatever. He's talking about the statue. And then I can't imagine having to deliver that kind of news to a king of the second dream of like, by the way, you're going to get you're going to become like a beast, essentially, and crawl around on all fours.
00:18:19
sfinley
Yeah.
00:18:21
Danny Price
um Man, i I don't know if that that's some courage to say that to a king. That's pretty tough.
00:18:26
sfinley
Yeah.
00:18:27
Danny Price
So any any anything you want to add in or fill in, Shane, with just like the history of Israel or anything like specific about just the rebellion just all that?
00:18:32
sfinley
Not...
00:18:34
sfinley
Yeah, I mean, the main thing is just like i like you hit on. I mean, it was God was patient with the people. He warned them over and over and over again. Look, if you don't repent, if you don't start doing what I called you to do as my people, ah you're I'm going to abandon you.
00:18:50
sfinley
And then they would just, like you said, they follow him for 10 years, 25 years, and then they'd just go off the rails again. um But then the only other thing is just when you're talking about Daniel,
00:19:01
sfinley
So when he got when they got brought in and this there again was just a common practice. They got brought in and like, hey, we selected these the best. And they start with just like, hey, we're going to train you in the the culture of our ways.
00:19:17
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:19:17
sfinley
We're going to you know, basically when they would conquer these countries, they would say, hey, we're going to we're going to get gather all the best minds.
00:19:17
Danny Price
Hmm.
00:19:25
sfinley
And we're going to make them a part of our culture. And our culture will benefit from this.
00:19:28
Danny Price
yeah
00:19:30
sfinley
And eventually they then they will start influencing the people of their culture to actually be to assimilate into our culture.
00:19:37
Danny Price
go
00:19:38
sfinley
And so that expands our kingdom even more. So so they started with that. I know there's a lot of these young men um at the beginning, but Daniel continued to rise up and and gain more and more power and more and more – not power, I guess authority and and respect because of his character and who he was and how he –
00:19:56
Danny Price
Influence. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:03
sfinley
And his wisdom and God being with him. so So, yeah, as you read the story of Daniel, he starts off with just like, you know, he's a young guy, probably in his early 20s, maybe even younger, that shows that. But then he keeps rising up because of this wisdom. So by the end of Daniel, he's like...
00:20:20
sfinley
He's like, you know, right next to the king as far as his, you know, him he becomes good friends with these kings.
00:20:23
Danny Price
Yep.
00:20:26
sfinley
And yet he still holds his values. He still holds to his God. So it's really, really cool story of ah of being able to rise up and have that kind of character. And I know that's not what the sermon was about, but and just think it's Daniel's a cool story.
00:20:38
Danny Price
No, but it's a, no, it is a really, it's really cool. That is a really cool story.
00:20:41
sfinley
ah
00:20:42
Danny Price
um One last thing before we move on, I wanted to just mention was that just that Babylon is a historical part of like world history. And this isn't something, i think some people have this, this unfounded belief that biblical history does not line up with actual history. And it's like, oh, there's like this other, it's almost like science in the Bible. a lot of people believe that science in the Bible don't coexist.
00:21:07
Danny Price
it's really interesting. Like Babylon, this is a real place. This is like a legit place that is talked about and the conquest of that, all the things that are mentioned in the Bible in terms of the historical evidence, it's all there. It's all accurate. Like you can go look this up in, um, on Google or wherever exactly what's happening. Like they're conquered by Persia and then Persia reigns for a while. Then eventually like it, it's very historical, but Babylon also is, I mean, this world power at the time.
00:21:31
Danny Price
Um, one of the ancient seven wonders of the world was the Babylon hanging gardens. Um, So this is like, we're talking, I think he mentioned it like their walls.
00:21:36
sfinley
Yeah.
00:21:39
Danny Price
Scott McKinney mentioned like their walls were so wide that you could have chariot races along them because i mean, they we're talking like empire, like huge, crazy city.
00:21:44
sfinley
Mm-hmm.
00:21:48
Danny Price
This isn't like just some tiny little castle out in the middle of nowhere. This is empire. This is huge. um You know, the hanging gardens, if you've ever seen like rendition artist renditions of what it was supposed to look like, it's insane. Yeah.
00:22:01
sfinley
Well, and the statue that that the dreams about, i mean, if you go through history, that literally all, you know, is is the order of the empires.
00:22:07
Danny Price
Yep.
00:22:11
Danny Price
Yeah, that's crazy. um And then originally i I was looking into this i because I just Googled Babylon and some history stuff about it. But then I didn't realize this, but have you ever heard of Hammurabi and Hammurabi's code?
00:22:21
Danny Price
do you know I'm talking about when I say that?
00:22:22
sfinley
No, I mean, I might have, but I don't call it.
00:22:25
Danny Price
So I remember this again from... This is homeschool stuff that my mom did with me way back when. But he was this guy that came up with this code, this law, and they used this ancient language language called cuneiform.
00:22:37
Danny Price
And my mom actually had me with like a flathead screwdriver because it was all these... like flat shapes. So it was like, i don't know, like nothing, there was no curved edges. Everything was like flat. And so they would just like write this stuff in these tablets.
00:22:49
Danny Price
But he literally wrote this code, which a lot of people say is very similar to like the Ten Commandments and you know the ancient Levitical law. But much of what we know today and much of what the cultures around them respected and did in terms of like civil law of like an eye for an eye, for example, and a lot of these things that we that we even hear sometimes in the Bible, because again, the Bible, I think, upholds a lot of that.
00:23:12
Danny Price
A lot of the ancient cultures are drawing their morals from this code. And it's, I can't remember how many codes there are, but there's, it's like in the it's like a hundred or plus, that And a lot of them are really brutal, but a lot of them are like, for example, if you're caught in adultery, you you die or whatever, or you steal this person's XYZ and this is what happens.
00:23:30
Danny Price
But it's very like based on just like your classic moral um like civil law, like almost like you'd see in the United States today or other countries where it's not necessarily like...
00:23:35
sfinley
Yeah.
00:23:40
Danny Price
like religious law. So a lot of the law in Leviticus is like between people and God and how people can best serve God and respect God and honor God. This is more just how people respond to each other. But it's really interesting that this goes right up to the time where, again, where Moses is coming through with the Ten Commandments. I'm not saying they're related. A lot of people actually say this came before the Ten Commandments, and that's where Moses stole it from, which is unfounded. And you can Google that if you're curious about that.
00:24:05
Danny Price
But I thought that was cool because this guy Hammurabi, which is the original OG founder of Babylon, is literally responsible for the morals that are that are put forth. for like for For a long time, the world kind of follows those morals.
00:24:17
Danny Price
Not necessarily Israel, but yeah, but a lot of people follow a standard.
00:24:17
sfinley
followed that standard.
00:24:19
Danny Price
A lot of people still follow that standard. A lot of those things are still echoed today. So just here just cool.
00:24:22
sfinley
Huh. I'll check it out.
00:24:25
Danny Price
But I remember it with my mom getting me Play-Doh and a flathead screwdriver. and right like You can write through Neoform. You can like write it now, and it's
00:24:32
sfinley
All right.
Purpose of Worship
00:24:33
Danny Price
kind of interesting.
00:24:33
Danny Price
so Anyways, um that was kind of just to set up the discussion, but i really wanted just to get into worship, Shane. um Is there anything you wanted just to talk about? I have a bunch of these like just rapid fire questions of like, why do we worship? Why are humans destined to worship?
00:24:50
Danny Price
Why is it that we make very poor worship worship receivers, but we're we're made and it seems like we always are going to be worshiping something. Why? like Just talk about some of that for a while.
00:25:03
sfinley
Well, I mean, there again, I'll just talk go back to the the catechism. um You know, it that idea that we were created to glorify God. I truly believe that is our our our chief purpose, um to to bring glory to God and have a relationship with God. And so...
00:25:27
sfinley
but so So we all have the, i you know, the Bible is pretty clear. We all have this innate desire two to have a God.
00:25:40
sfinley
um And so, you know, to give our efforts towards something, something bigger than us. And so as a result of that, we're we're all we're all looking to fill that void with something bigger.
00:25:56
sfinley
And if we don't fill it with God, we're going to fill it with something else. um And, you know, i you know when you're I'm having that discussion with people, it's always, well, you worship a God. you just It's just a matter of whether or not you've identified that God and whether or not you admit that you worship that God.
00:26:15
sfinley
um
00:26:16
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:26:17
sfinley
You know, and honestly, more often than not, You spend couple hours with someone, you can usually find figure out what their God is. Like you can, you can usually kind of have a pretty good idea of of what their gods are, you know, and that that's not even without even, you know, you don't even have to ask them about it.
00:26:30
Danny Price
Oh, totally. Yeah, it shows.
00:26:36
sfinley
You just have to listen to them talk. And you can find out, is it is it money? Is it experiences? Is it their beauty? Is it is it health? Is it family? Is it you know this desire to somehow try to feel like you're a better person than other people? Is it competition? Is it...
00:26:58
sfinley
you know, as, as Scott said, Elvis Presley, you know, um, does it for the old people. Um, but, uh, you know, I mean, today at these different celebrities, you know, i mean, is it, uh, yes.
00:27:03
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:27:10
sfinley
I mean, is it a boyfriend, girlfriend? So, you know, we're always looking to to fill that. And, um, you know we're Because we're we were built. and god God built us for his glory, or created us. don't want to built.
00:27:25
sfinley
He created us for his glory, and that's that's our what we're supposed to be doing that with.
00:27:25
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:27:30
sfinley
But just like the just like the Israelites, we so quickly want to turn it to something else instead of him.
00:27:40
Danny Price
Yeah. Yeah. What do you think are, um I've been trying to think through this. What are warning signs um that you're worshiping something else? That's not God. Like,
00:27:53
Danny Price
I think all of us are, because i again, there's like this tension between giving value to stuff. That's not something that you're worshiping. But for example, like for example, I give value to my family. And if you were to like follow me around every day, you'd be like, okay, Daniel values his family.
00:28:03
sfinley
Yeah,
00:28:07
Danny Price
He values family time.
00:28:07
sfinley
okay
00:28:08
Danny Price
He values being with his wife and his kids. I don't worship my wife and my kids. How do you know when you're going past just valuing something and you're worshiping something else? Like what would be like some warning trigger?
00:28:18
Danny Price
Like, Hey, Whoa, that's, that's, that's too far.
00:28:21
sfinley
yeah I think it's hard, especially when it's things that the world would look at and say, well, that's a good thing, right? Like with family, um or church or you know, these different things that the fan that the world would go, well, that's a good thing. You should be investing in there.
00:28:38
sfinley
Um, To me, the question kind of comes down to, okay, so let's say God, let's but let's try to take God out of the equation for a minute, right?
00:28:48
Danny Price
Okay.
00:28:48
sfinley
And let's, if God wasn't in the equation, if he got, but i know this is weird to say, but if God did not exist, what would you believe as a a man, the number one thing you should give your your heart and your responsibility to For me, it would be my family.
00:29:04
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:29:05
sfinley
Would you agree? Yeah.
00:29:06
Danny Price
I would agree. Yeah.
00:29:07
sfinley
Okay, so so let's just say that. so So at that point, anything else you do, like work and that of thing, if you're doing those things that in such a way that...
00:29:23
sfinley
you choose to say, well, i don't have to work right now. and And I actually have done plenty of work, but I'm gonna work. I kind of just feel like I'd rather work than spend time with my family.
00:29:34
sfinley
then Then at that point, you're putting you're starting to put that above that. And so I would say you know now put God back into the equation.
00:29:39
Danny Price
OK.
00:29:42
Danny Price
OK.
00:29:42
sfinley
You know, when like I would definitely say family is my big thing, but I will say i think there are times I idolize my family. I think there are times I choose to say, hey, for my own heart, actually for even to better lead my family, to government I should be spending more time.
00:30:04
sfinley
That's in my relationship God. But I actually will choose to to minimize that to spend more time with my family.
00:30:07
Danny Price
Right.
00:30:13
sfinley
or um Or, you know, I want to spend time with my family. I know God calls me to give and and to give generously and sacrificially. But if i thought if I kind of don't give as much, I can i can take my family on a vacation.
00:30:28
Danny Price
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:29
sfinley
um I can take my family on this nice vacation. And so now I'm choosing to put my family above God.
00:30:36
Danny Price
Yep.
00:30:37
sfinley
um So, i yeah, so there's warning signs to me at any time, even if it's a good thing, like family is a good thing.
00:30:37
Danny Price
Yep. That makes sense. Yeah.
00:30:44
sfinley
But, you know, when we when we put those good things above him, we we got to be careful with that.
00:30:53
Danny Price
Yeah. Yeah. And I would say too, like financially, um I think for me, like that, that, that's like a thing of obviously like, I'm i'm hoping our listeners, I hope that you guys are giving and you know, that's, that's a part of your daily rhythm or your whatever monthly rhythm, however often you get paid.
00:31:11
Danny Price
um But I noticed too, like, like what you just said about like finances is like, it's harder to let go of things when you have priorities about things that are higher than the thing that you're letting it go to. Maybe that's like it's like a wordy way of saying like,
00:31:27
Danny Price
I feel like there's ah there's so many opportunities for me to give to different people, different organizations, different things. But a lot of times my holding onto to it is not necessarily for like, oh my gosh, if I don't, if I don't save onto this money, then we're not, we're going to starve this month.
00:31:40
Danny Price
It's never that reason. It's always, I get to do X, Y, Z and knowing full well that I'm valuing that, whatever that is.
00:31:42
sfinley
Nope.
00:31:46
Danny Price
i I won't get as enough, enough spending money to go to Cafe Rio. Cause I really want to go to Cafe Rio, whatever it is. And you can just tell you're starting to,
00:31:51
sfinley
Yeah.
00:31:54
Danny Price
you're starting to place certain things higher. And I think at some point, you know, i don't, I'm not saying everyone should just give all their money away that they absolutely don't require to survive.
00:32:00
sfinley
No.
00:32:01
Danny Price
um But I think it's very obvious when you're stingy with your giving, because you know what it means you're giving up. Cause saying yes to something always means you're saying no to something else. So.
00:32:11
sfinley
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, and this is a, you know, this is a bit of a hobby horse for mine. And I think one of the reasons is because I was not a giver. I, I, I, you know, until I was probably couple years older than you, I was not much of a giver.
00:32:20
Danny Price
Right.
00:32:24
sfinley
And I, God really worked in my heart to show me it, it was, was totally, um, taking away from my worship to him. And I still stand by you.
00:32:38
sfinley
It's, it's If you show me your pocketbook, I mean, your you know your bank account and your calendar, I can tell you who your gods are.
00:32:44
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:32:47
Danny Price
Totally.
00:32:48
sfinley
And you know i would challenge anyone growing, anyone, a Christian in the United States who is not giving percentage wise of their income.
00:32:48
Danny Price
Totally.
00:33:00
sfinley
and i And I would really push for, I think, 10%. I know the you know you could argue back and forth about that, but I think it's a good standard.
00:33:05
Danny Price
Sure, sure. It's a good place, yeah.
00:33:09
sfinley
I would challenge them that are they really worshipping God or they worshipping other
Worship Beyond Singing
00:33:14
sfinley
things? And I know even people that will go, well, I would. but And they would say, like but i'm I'm not using the money to do this, you know to do fun stuff. I just i need to save more. Okay, so your God is security.
00:33:26
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:33:26
sfinley
you you're you're trying to make sure you you can trust your finances versus trusting that God's going to take care of you.
00:33:34
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:33:35
sfinley
And so, yeah, so I, you know, i mean, that's a pretty, I'm pretty passionate about that one. And I think a lot of it is, like I said, because I see how it changed my heart.
00:33:39
Danny Price
Totally.
00:33:43
sfinley
And so I'm not trying to be a jerk about it.
00:33:43
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:33:45
sfinley
I just want other people to get...
00:33:46
Danny Price
No.
00:33:47
sfinley
how much it sets you free. It really does.
00:33:49
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:33:50
sfinley
It sets you free when you learn to to turn those things over. And I do think it's a huge part of worship. You just look at all throughout the Old Testament and it's a huge part of worship.
00:33:59
Danny Price
Totally.
00:34:01
Danny Price
Yeah, no, that's that's a really, that's a good insight. um And then with that too, I guess that's the ways that we can do it wrong. I do want to mention to people about worship.
00:34:13
Danny Price
I think there's this element, and I don't know if this is modern society or where this kind of came from, but a lot of us, and I know I used to feel this way. we we We think of worship as strictly the time we sing, the three songs we sing in church every Sunday.
00:34:26
Danny Price
And like, okay, that's my worship.
00:34:26
sfinley
yep yep
00:34:27
Danny Price
I worshiped this week. I'm not really thinking about what worship is. um i don't know who this was.
00:34:32
sfinley
okay
00:34:32
Danny Price
This is from my childhood. Somebody said that worship is the word worth, worth ship, like giving worth to something, um which was a good, like, just like a little, i don't know.
00:34:39
sfinley
ah yeah
00:34:43
Danny Price
It just helped me remember. But the idea that you can worship throughout your day by giving worth to God, by putting him, putting you in your place and putting God in his place, which is on the throne.
00:34:54
Danny Price
And, you can you can worship while you're in the car. You can worship while you're in a conversation. You can worship while you're talking to your family, while you're eating food. I mean, your whole life can be devoted to worship.
00:35:07
Danny Price
Um, it doesn't have to be singing. I think singing is more considered like praise and worship. And you, you know, I like the idea of praise and singing and very, very biblical.
00:35:17
Danny Price
I think we should, I'm not saying don't do that. So if you're like one of those people that hates to sing, I'm not, this is, you're still supposed to sing. I'm not saying don't sing. I'm just saying you, you should not view worship as just the, you know, the 20 minutes a week that you maybe get to do that, you know, on so on a Sunday.
00:35:34
sfinley
Yeah, no, I, I, the way I always say is, I think our, so our singing, that's just an expression of our worship.
00:35:42
Danny Price
Yeah,
00:35:43
sfinley
Our worship, you know, and, you know, there's some, especially guys, I have some guys that, worship very well who don't sing. They they they experience the the time of worship, that the time of praise. I agree with you. See, part of the reason we do that is because we make we lead it we lead it improperly as as leaders in the church. Because see, I just called it.
00:36:06
sfinley
Oh, they they worship. I literally just referred to 20 minutes.
00:36:09
Danny Price
yeah. yeah
00:36:12
sfinley
But it's not. It's a time to express our worship. And so there are guys that I know who they will go and they'll experience that time and they get stuff out of it.
00:36:16
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:36:22
sfinley
But that's not their thing to just lift their hands and be, you know. And unfortunately, think there's a lot of people who, like I just said, they're not giving. They're hardly serving. they you know like They're counting serving as...
00:36:34
sfinley
showing not showing up at a church 10 minutes a month and doing something a little extra.
00:36:37
Danny Price
Mm-hmm.
00:36:39
sfinley
They're doing all that. But they'll talk about how, oh, just love worship because they go and they sing songs for 20 minutes. And part of me is kind of going, you love emotional feelings.
00:36:50
Danny Price
Well, worship is not for you.
00:36:50
sfinley
I mean, I don't.
00:36:51
Danny Price
I mean, it's for you to get your heart right.
00:36:52
sfinley
Yeah.
00:36:53
Danny Price
But again, I'll probably ruffle some feathers.
00:36:54
sfinley
Yeah.
00:36:56
Danny Price
If you view good worship as, oh man, I got so much out of that. Like that's, you're instantly in the wrong heart position. And I'll stand by that.
00:37:04
sfinley
yeah.
00:37:05
Danny Price
If you are going to into worship to get something out of it, like, oh, that was, and if your version of, oh, that was good worship is because the music was so good and I felt so good while I was worshiping, I would really challenge you on that and say, well, what,
00:37:18
Danny Price
What does that, what is, what is you feeling good have to do directly with you worshiping God? Now I think but as a by-product eternally, by us being Christians and worshiping God, we're going to experience in his glory, but that doesn't mean, and again, I'm not faulting you.
00:37:32
Danny Price
If you do feel good in worship, I'm just saying you, that shouldn't be the driving force. I got to be careful. I'm not trying to, I'm trying to ruffle feathers, but ruffle the right feathers.
00:37:39
sfinley
Yeah, no, I have time. Yeah, well, and and and also we don't want to, I'm not, we're not saying it's bad. We're just saying make sure you're looking at why and it all fits together.
00:37:48
Danny Price
Yes.
00:37:49
sfinley
You know, like, yeah, she that's great.
00:37:49
Danny Price
Yes.
00:37:51
sfinley
and If you're you're one of those emotional people that enjoys that, you know, um yeah ill I'll just use an example. I would say, you know, Ashley, she's a good friend of ours, both of us.
00:38:01
Danny Price
Correct. Yeah.
00:38:01
sfinley
You know, um and she's kind of, an um you know, she and she does get emotional over things. and and And so worship is a very, I know she really loves to sing out and to to play music and to do that.
00:38:07
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:38:12
Danny Price
Yes. Yes.
00:38:13
sfinley
But if you look at her whole life, her whole life fits together worship. a life of worship. you know um she She's a server.
00:38:21
Danny Price
Absolutely.
00:38:23
sfinley
She's a giver. She spends time with the Lord. She you know um she she seeks to be convicted. you know she she changed She arranges her life to to to follow God.
00:38:32
Danny Price
Totally.
00:38:34
sfinley
if that That's awesome. it's It's when people live however they want to live. They don't do, they don't, but then they they come to church every other week and say, oh, worship was amazing.
00:38:46
sfinley
That's, that's i think, what we're trying to hit.
00:38:48
Danny Price
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:49
sfinley
So, yeah.
00:38:50
Danny Price
don't, don't, don't, don't come at me with that. I'm going to get attacked in service. um Let's see here. um Kind of moving on to, from worship.
Money, Possessions, and Eternal Fulfillment
00:39:00
Danny Price
Let's talk a little bit about,
00:39:02
Danny Price
the correlation with money and possessions and stuff and happiness. Cause I, cause Scott definitely touched on that a little bit. what And he, I love that analogy he used with the NBA players and Adam Silver and why he was so surprised. For those of you didn't listen just really quick, Adam Silver is the and NBA commissioner. He was a weird looking dude, by the way, if you've ever seen Adam Silver, he's a, he's not, he's like the, he's like, if you picture the NBA commissioner, think of the exact opposite of what you'd imagine. And that's what Adam Silver looks like.
00:39:29
Danny Price
He's like this bald nerd with glasses that looks, yeah, he looks weird. Anyways, um But he said he's always surprised at how in the NBA, when he interviews all these players, these young up and coming stars that are making millions of dollars, that everyone idolizes and literally they could do whatever they want. They could have whatever woman they want. They could do anything. They have so much money.
00:39:48
Danny Price
It's so funny. He's like, they're always depressed. They're always sad. why Shane, why is it? Why is it when we get what we think we want, we don't actually want it? what what is that What is that hole in our heart that we're trying to fill with other stuff? Like I'm just throwing all these like topics out just talk about this stuff for a while.
00:40:03
sfinley
Well, it it goes back to what we kind of said the very beginning about the hole in the heart that we're always trying to fill. And unfortunately, the more we have, the more opportunity, the more um we have available to us, the easier it is to get pulled away by these things that compete for that spot in our heart.
00:40:25
Danny Price
Hmm.
00:40:30
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:40:30
sfinley
Right? So, you know, When you get sucked into that lifestyle, it's very easy to just start chasing after those things instead of chasing after God.
00:40:47
sfinley
And man, that's why I have such huge respect for really strong believers who do have loads of money or fame or you know are in these like positions where they can kind of do whatever they wanted in life and yet they...
00:41:05
sfinley
they're devoted to, to these things, you know, um people who choose to say, Hey, you know what?
00:41:07
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:41:13
sfinley
My faith is too important to, to take this step and, and, and, you know, maybe compromise that to chase after this.
00:41:24
sfinley
So it's just so easy to get pulled. I mean, I just, I noticed it all the time and, you know, I mean, And notice I can get pulled into those things. So um I try not to judge it.
00:41:41
sfinley
And yet, man, you try to try to warn against it. you know There's a difference between warning against it and judging it.
00:41:45
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:41:48
Danny Price
Right. No, that makes sense. um Do you think, and again, this is a little little bit less biblical, I guess. I guess I'm just asking your opinion.
00:42:00
Danny Price
Do you think there's anything wrong with having a lots of resources, A, and then B, is there a time is there a there's like a crossover point where You go from... How do I set this up?
00:42:14
Danny Price
Should we all aim to be in poverty? and Or is is there like a sweet spot where you have just enough money, where you're not just trying to survive, but you're not in excess? like Is that where we should aim to be? Or does that even matter? Is it more about a heart position?
00:42:28
Danny Price
Just like what are your thoughts on that? Is there like a crossover where you you get enough money and you start becoming happy because you have enough... like Oh, I can breathe. Or does that not even exist? Is that just like a state like a state of mind that we trick ourselves into thinking, like, once I have this, I'll be happy?
00:42:42
Danny Price
Does that make sense when I'm when i'm kind of like getting at a little bit with that?
00:42:46
sfinley
Yeah, a little bit. um I don't think there's a sweet spot, though. I think it's every person. You know, um um i yeah yeah that's I didn't see.
00:42:58
sfinley
ah You might want to look it up. There's a verse.
00:43:02
Danny Price
Hmm. Let me look.
00:43:02
sfinley
Would you?
00:43:05
sfinley
or g You know, that whole, when you're faithful with much with ah when the servants, right, who are faithful, it's it's Matthew, Jesus talks the parable where the servants are given an amount to take care of.
00:43:19
sfinley
You know what I'm talking about?
00:43:19
Danny Price
Yeah, Matthew 25, I'm pulling it up.
00:43:25
sfinley
And I think that is a good illustration of when you're faithful with much, God will give you much. and And that's why I was saying I have a lot of respect for people who I see who can continue making more money and yet they continue giving more.
00:43:43
sfinley
They will actually increase their percentages of giving.
00:43:43
Danny Price
Mm-hmm.
00:43:46
sfinley
They'll actually look for ways to bless people. um
00:43:49
Danny Price
yeah.
00:43:50
sfinley
they're not a you know They make a lot of money and they have a lot of resources, but they'll still put themselves in situations where they're not afraid to come down to the church and sweep a floor, um you know, watch children, ah you know, clean up after an event.
00:44:02
Danny Price
yeah
00:44:07
sfinley
You know, it's when you start thinking, well, I'm at this level, I need, you know, to not do... certain things or I, you know, I, yeah I started being greedy about my finances and that kind stuff.
00:44:21
sfinley
Um, so, you know, I know people with hardly any money that still have a hard time.
00:44:22
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:44:27
sfinley
They're, they're not generous and they're not, you know, um, they don't know how to steward their money and, um, those things. And yet I know some people with hardly any money who are the most generous people you know And then I know people who are very wealthy who are super generous.
00:44:40
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:44:43
sfinley
So so I really think it's it's
00:44:43
Danny Price
yeah it's
00:44:46
sfinley
um it's different for every person. I don't think there's a – yeah.
00:44:49
Danny Price
There's not like a line like you make, if you make, once you make $80,000 a year or whatever it is, then that's like when you need. Yeah. Okay.
00:44:56
sfinley
Yeah. I will say there's a national average. It changes a little bit every year. But yeah I want to say what – because I did some research on it like so five years ago for a sermon. And I want to say it was – Like over 60,000 in the United States, once your household income is over like 60,000, your happiness does not increase.
00:45:17
sfinley
Like, yeah, like there is an under certain amount where the average person in America, just because it like you're either always going to be like just barely trying to.
00:45:17
Danny Price
The more you, the more you get.
00:45:28
sfinley
you know, get through. but But it's, you know, household, total household income of under $60,000, if that's the right number. But it was it's low enough where I'm like, most people, you you can, you know, you can go work two fast food jobs, you know, and have a six household income of $60,000.
00:45:43
Danny Price
And almost make that. Yeah, right. Yeah, no, that makes sense.
00:45:47
sfinley
so
00:45:48
Danny Price
um Yeah, that's a good point. I love how Scott keeps pointing back to like throughout the sermon, just about we we're destined to worship God. Like that was, that's what we're meant to do and doing all these other things.
00:45:58
sfinley
yeah yep
00:45:59
Danny Price
Like it just, it comes up empty. It got me thinking, i don't know if you've seen this.
00:46:02
sfinley
Yep.
00:46:03
Danny Price
It's a really interesting quote by Jim Carrey. And he's accepting, well, Jim Carrey is a weird guy in in general, but this is it this is back in 2016.
00:46:06
sfinley
Yep.
00:46:09
sfinley
Yeah.
00:46:11
Danny Price
And I see it like on my YouTube shorts or stuff when
The Emptiness of Success and Eternal Pursuit
00:46:14
Danny Price
I, and it's always so interesting to me.
00:46:14
sfinley
Yeah, I think I've seen what you're talking about.
00:46:15
Danny Price
I got, I got to quote it. So I Googled it just a second ago. um But it's, it's fascinating because as he's talking, you know, he's a funny guy and everyone's like laughing. And then he gets to the end of this like whole thing.
00:46:27
Danny Price
And then people are like, it's like depressing because he's drawing attention to just the emptiness of a lot of this stuff. So here's the quote.
00:46:34
sfinley
Yeah.
00:46:35
Danny Price
um he So he gets up, he's accepting this Golden Globe award that he gets. And he says right here, he's like I am two time Golden Globe winner, Jim Carrey. You know, when I go to sleep at night, I'm not just a guy going to sleep. I'm two time Golden Globe winner, Jim Carrey going to get some well-needed shut eye. And when I dream, I just don't dream any old dream. No, sir. I dream about being three time Golden Globe winning actor Jim Carrey, because then I would be enough. It would finally be true.
00:47:01
Danny Price
And then I could stop this terrible search. Which is like, that's a haunting, you know, everyone at first is like joking, and like, haha, it's so fun. Like you can see the crowd and like the clip. And then as he gets to the end, everyone just like kind of stares like, why are we doing this?
00:47:13
Danny Price
Like why? Like these awards are great, but like it's meaningless. And like, he I think he kind of draws attention to that.
00:47:17
sfinley
yep
00:47:18
Danny Price
Like how ridiculous it is it to think that once I get one more of these awards or one to begin with, then then it'll be enough.
00:47:26
Danny Price
Um,
00:47:26
sfinley
Yep.
00:47:28
sfinley
Yeah. That reminds me, i I just heard recently about there's a golfer that's got a really she's pretty strong faith. I don't know. is You know me. I don't know golf at all.
00:47:36
Danny Price
I don't know golfers either. I'm sorry.
00:47:37
sfinley
um But they played a clip. I thought it was awesome because he had just won one of the big PGA things.
00:47:44
Danny Price
Yeah, sure.
00:47:46
sfinley
and And they asked him, like, how does it feel? Like, again same thing. I think it was like his second or third one. And, um, and, uh, he's like, you know, he goes, it's awesome.
00:47:52
Danny Price
Mm
00:47:55
sfinley
I'm, I'm happy to have it. He goes, but he just full on took that and gave glory to start giving glory to God.
00:48:01
Danny Price
hmm.
00:48:01
sfinley
Um, but he goes, but the, the, because, but then, so if I didn't win, so what, you know, he's like, I, he goes someday I'm not going to win anymore. And I, you know, he goes, and the truth is when I do win, everyone's happy, we're excited. It lasts for about 10 minutes. And then we're like, Hey, where are we going to go to eat?
00:48:18
sfinley
And he goes, if this is what your life is purpose,
00:48:19
Danny Price
Yep.
00:48:21
sfinley
your purpose Our purpose is to serve God. He just flat out just said our purpose is to serve God and to give glory to God.
00:48:24
Danny Price
Wow.
00:48:27
sfinley
And and this is this is really kind of meaningless. and sp So i I actually should have looked that up. I can't. But I heard it on something and I was i was really impressed with his just he took the opportunity to not just say there's something more, but very clearly say where.
00:48:45
Danny Price
That's cool.
00:48:46
sfinley
Yeah.
00:48:46
Danny Price
Yeah. And you see this all throughout the Bible. I mean, Solomon and Ecclesiastes is kind of throwing some of this stuff down, which, you know, Ecclesiastes is a very depressing book of the Bible, but, you know, kind of the whole idea of like a lot of this is vanity. Like a lot of this is just going to pass away.
00:49:01
Danny Price
um and I mean, you see it and, jesus you know, when Jesus talks about it, and we're dust, we're going back to dust. Like if our minds aren't focused on what's eternal, ah All this stuff, I mean, it it matters in such a temporary sense. And I'm not saying temporary stuff doesn't matter. I got to be careful because I think some people, you can get into almost that monk mentality of like, I'm just going to try to be as plain and simple for the rest of my life just because you know nothing matters. And I almost get into like a depressive state. I'm not saying, dude, you can enjoy food. You can enjoy...
00:49:34
Danny Price
traveling You can enjoy some of these worldly things, but man, you got to realize that the emptiness of it.
00:49:36
sfinley
Yeah.
00:49:40
Danny Price
And you if you're go if you're getting, if you're trying to fill your hole in your heart with that, I mean, to use the, an old analogy with the hole in your heart, I mean, man, yeah it's going to be empty. I mean, I've seen so many camp, you know, speakers, you know, in my, you know, working up at camp, I've seen so many speakers come through and all, a lot of speakers that'll be their go-to is, you know, there's so many analogies.
00:49:59
Danny Price
There's a flashlight with everything, but the batteries, there's all this stuff that we try to fill our lives with. And if you're not filling it with the right stuff, I mean, you're it's it's coming up empty over and over and over again. So I thought this was, you know again, just credit to Scott McKinney for that.
00:50:09
sfinley
Yep.
00:50:12
Danny Price
He did a great job kind of calling attention to that throughout the sermon.
00:50:16
sfinley
Yep.
00:50:17
Danny Price
So...
00:50:17
sfinley
Well, and you know, even the family one, I'll go back to the family because you and I both talked about that. You know, that, you know, that obviously I think family can be way more fulfilling than cars and jobs you know jobs and all that. But,
00:50:32
sfinley
And if if you make it about that, all of a sudden you're putting pressure on your kids and the relationship you have with them to to fulfill you. And, you know, all of a sudden you're that.
00:50:42
Danny Price
What if someone dies?
00:50:42
sfinley
kind
00:50:43
Danny Price
Yeah.
00:50:43
sfinley
Yeah. Yeah. And then now, yeah, your whole your faith is based on the health of your family. And, you know, and and there's just there's just no promises. Right. And um when it comes to that stuff. And so it really just does not matter what it is. Eventually, it will let you down.
00:50:59
Danny Price
Totally. but Well, that's a good place to end that, I guess. um Hopefully not too depressing for you guys.
00:51:06
sfinley
Yeah.
00:51:06
Danny Price
um
00:51:08
sfinley
Eventually it will let you down.
00:51:09
Danny Price
Put your trust in Jesus.
00:51:09
sfinley
Well, that's a good point then.
00:51:09
Danny Price
Put your trust in Jesus, guys.
00:51:11
sfinley
Yeah. but lets Let's start. Let's end there.
00:51:15
Danny Price
Oh, gosh. um Awesome. Next week, Tony's teaching at Mountain View, or this coming this coming Sunday. We're recording this Wednesday morning.
00:51:21
sfinley
Yeah. I will be there.
00:51:22
Danny Price
so
00:51:23
sfinley
i will be there, but I just wanted, um you know, since you just started, I feel like it's a great way for everyone to get to know him is to,
00:51:27
Danny Price
I'm excited.
00:51:30
sfinley
him to preach. And then that just gives me one more Sunday. As you can tell, i think my voice is all, I'm hoping when I get back, and it'll stay sounding like it does right now, but we'll see.
00:51:34
Danny Price
To recover.
00:51:40
Danny Price
Yeah. No, totally. Yep. Um, so we'll catch you guys next week. Hopefully Tony, if you're hearing this, going to to have you on, um, hopefully get him on this next podcast just so we can interview him and talk through the sermon a little bit.
00:51:53
Danny Price
Um, appreciate you guys again. i didn't get any questions this week. Um, but if you guys are listening to Tony's message, I'm again, prep trying to prep you guys. Think about that. I think about a question you want to ask him, um, specifically, because if we're going to try to have him on, if you're curious, just be thinking about that. Ask him a question through us on the podcast. Um,
00:52:12
Danny Price
And yeah, we will see you guys next week. Hope you guys are just chugging along with life everything's going well. Um, we don't really do prayer requests or anything like that, but again, if you guys have prayer requests or anything like that, or stuff that's on your mind, again, regarding just any kind of questions, we'd love to answer that kind of stuff or talk through that. Even if you want to put it in anonymously.
00:52:30
Danny Price
Um,
00:52:30
sfinley
Yeah, and it doesn't have to do anything it doesn't have to be related to the sermon at all. just If there's anything you want us to discuss, we'll talk about it.
00:52:34
Danny Price
yeah.
00:52:36
Danny Price
Yeah. Um, Yeah, any i we're a little shady on political events and like current stuff because I'm i'm not super well versed in a lot of that. But even if it's yeah political stuff or current events or you know without taking too strong of stands on stuff or theological questions, we're we want to talk about that kind of stuff and be useful to you guys. so But this won't be a political podcast just as a heads up.
00:53:00
Danny Price
I'm not going to go briefly.
00:53:00
sfinley
Yeah, same. We'll talk about the political stuff, probably not too deeply.
00:53:05
Danny Price
Yeah, i'm I'm not turning this into a full on. Ben Shapiro show or whatever. So anyways, awesome. Appreciate you guys. We'll see you guys next week. Bye-bye.