Welcome to Season 5 of the Excel Stillmore podcast. I'm still your host, Chris Emerson, and I'm here to encourage you in your walk with the Lord, and I'm glad you've joined.

The program continues to be sponsored by Cunningham Financial Group. John is a good friend, and he's helped me and my family in everything

from stock and mutual fund investing to annuities, life insurance, and retirement planning.

I certainly commend him to you. If you have needs in any of those areas, you can reach him

at 615-895-7773. Thank you again for your ongoing encouragement and support. Let's get started.

Hey, welcome back today and thanks for listening in. I can personally testify to how unpleasant it is

to listen to my voice because I did so on the way into work

today. For reasons that I will soon explain, I listened to episode one recorded in January of

2019, Just Get Better. Have you ever done that, by the way? Have you ever listened to your own recorded voice?

I've had to do so many times over the years because of podcast and sermon recordings, and

admittedly it's gotten a little easier over time, though I still would not call it a pleasant

experience. And typically for me, it's even harder when it's a long time ago. Like, for instance,

the episode you're listening to right now, I will need to go back and listen to it through and check

for mistakes before posting it. And that doesn't really bother me anymore because I am the same

person that I'm listening to. It will have only been about an hour ago. I still think and feel all of the

same things. And sometimes I have to listen back through sermons for any number of reasons that are a week

old or maybe a month old, and usually I'm like, yeah, I totally agree with that guy. I said that,

and I still think that, and I would say it again. Although usually with the caveat that I clearly

could have said it differently. But the farther back you go, the more suspect that gets. Here I am

listening to myself from over four years ago. I am not that person anymore. My life is different. My

experiences have changed. The amount of time I've put into studying the word has changed.

I understand some things differently. I pray I understand them better. So there is always this risk

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