Ed Young - Is Pleasure The Answer?

April 7, 2025 | S25:E83

The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young is the international on-air and online teaching ministry of Dr. Ed Young. The Winning Walk proclaims the proven truth of God’s Word to give men and women the world over a winning way to live life.

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The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young | Ed Young - Is Pleasure The Answer? | April 7, 2025

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Ed young: narcissus is one of the classic
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Figures in mythology.
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He was going home from a successful hunt,
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And he happened to go by a little pool of water,
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Deep and crystal clear.
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And narcissus looked in that pool and he saw his own image.
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And immediately, he fell in love with himself.
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He thought, "i've never seen any figure so beautiful,
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So handsome as that figure in that pool."
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And he walked over the edge and he looked at himself,
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And he said, "i'm more attractive then apollo.
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I have more appeal than bacchus."
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And he just couldn't take his eyes off his
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Own reflected image.
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The only person who observed him was echo.
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Narcissus was the son of a river god.
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Echo was a nymph, a tree nymph.
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And she watched him and observed him and couldn't take her eyes
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Off of him, and longed for his love,
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But narcissus was so overwhelmed with his own appearance,
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With his own beauty, he could look in no other direction.
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He stood there for hours. he stood there for days.
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He didn't drink, he didn't eat.
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He became dissipated and suddenly he began to be ill,
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But he wanted to embrace himself any--more than he already had,
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And so he leaned over to go and hold the reflection,
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And he fell in the pool and drowned.
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The only remnant we have is echo,
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That you might hear according to mythology,
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A little whisper of the beauty of narcissus.
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Starting the book of ecclesiastes,
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The author is solomon, king solomon.
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He was a thoroughgoing narcissistic person,
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No doubt about it.
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He fell in love with himself.
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He was number one in everything he was about.
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And ladies and gentlemen, we live in a generation that is
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Absolutely filled with narcissistic people,
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And many of us are caught up in it.
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The millennials, 18 to 38, are generally thoroughgoing
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Narcissistic young people.
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How do we know that?
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Facebook, ipad,
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Iphone, snapchat,
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Twitter, all these things in which they communicate
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With one another, and all of us are caught up in the same trap.
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We're becoming more and more narcissistic
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Than any other generation in history.
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I've been in a room with adults, just casual talking,
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And everybody in the room had out their phone or their ipad.
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And they were looking and talking all around the room.
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They were interested in somebody out there,
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Over there, but had very little interest in what was going on
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At that place.
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And it's a sad thing to observe that,
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"let me get my picture.
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Let me make sure that you follow me on facebook and all the
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Exciting, wonderful things that happened to me.
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I'm going to put them right out there in full view of the
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Watching world that's just waiting to see the people i've
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Seen and the places i've been and the thoughts that i have."
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Narcissistic.
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We see it clearly in the study of ecclesiastes.
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Solomon, this same solomon who wrote song of solomon,
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A beautiful love story, this same solomon who wrote the
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Profound book of proverbs, which tells us so much about
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Relationships, life, marriage, business,
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Profound book, solomon.
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Though he professed to be a searcher,
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Though he professed to be a philosopher,
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Though he professed to be someone who did not know about
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God and really wasn't interested in god at this
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Moment of his life, he was totally a narcissist.
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But my, what happened to him?
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If anybody had a fabulous beginning in their life,
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It was solomon.
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He inherited a kingdom from david.
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He was brilliant. he had everything you want.
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He was tutored and mentored by a god-fearing prophet.
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In the beginning of his life, read about it and turn with me
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If you would, if you have your bibles,
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To the book of 1 kings chapter number 3.
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And we're going to read about the early,
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Early years of king solomon.
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Chapter 3, verse 3, it says, "now solomon loved the lord."
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Isn't that great?
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Somebody says your name, "oh, that's somebody who
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Loves the lord."
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Then he says, "he walked in the statutes of his father david."
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God-fearing man, he loved the lord,
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He walked under the statutes, the principles
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Of the commandments.
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But then it has one little word there,
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"except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places."
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What happened to solomon?
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He married a lot of wives from other nations in order to bring
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Peace to israel and to have alliance for military and for
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Trade purposes.
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But as he brought these wives into the land,
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He said, "bring your own religion.
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We'll find a mountain, we'll build an altar on that mountain.
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We'll burn incense to your god, it's okay.
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We're a pluralistic kind of people."
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But they were not. they were a theocracy.
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But nevertheless, he used the means to find peace and purpose
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In israel to meet the end that was there.
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He compromised.
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The bible says in other places that all of these wives turned
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Him away from god.
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But what a wonderful beginning, and god visited him.
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And we see here in the fifth verse,
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"in gibeon the lord appeared to solomon in a dream at night;
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And god said," get this, "ask what you wish me
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To give to you."
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Can you imagine god say, "what do you want?
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Blank check. you need anything?
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You have any dreams, aspirations?
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I'll give it to you," god. and look how solomon handled it.
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It's magnificent what he did.
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Verse 7, "now, lord my god, you have made your servant king in
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Place of my father david, yet i am but a little child," see
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The humility.
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"i do not know how to go out and to come in.
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Your servant is in the midst of your people which you have
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Chosen, a great people that there are too many to
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Be counted or numbered.
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So give your servant an understanding heart to judge
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Your people, to discern between good and evil."
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Ladies and gentlemen, the most important thing that we need in
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Life is a gift of discernment.
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If you don't have discernment, your life is going to stay
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Messed up from now till you leave this earth.
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Poor choices, poor decisions, poor relationships,
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Not knowing exactly what to do.
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God gave to solomon wisdom, and wisdom is
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Expressed through discernment.
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And he was greatly gifted.
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Under the sun living, follow me carefully,
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Solomon was the most successful man who's ever
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Walked on this earth.
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Did you know that?
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In terms of human success, no one who has ever lived comes
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Close to the success that solomon had.
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And we're going to see by far he was the wealthiest person who
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Ever lived, and in some ways perhaps the most brilliant
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Person and gifted person who had ever lived.
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Solomon is a philosopher.
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He is a seeker, he is a searcher.
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He forces those who read this book honestly and intelligently
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To face the big questions of life.
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For example, i could pick anybody out and say,
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"stand up, i want you to tell me who are you."
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How would you define your life? how would i define my life?
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I heard a story that, years ago, andy williams gave a concert in
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A rest home at the peak of his fame.
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And he sang beautifully and magnificently,
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And all of those in that senior citizen home just applauded.
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They were thrilled.
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And he went up to one woman and the little lady said,
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"sir, you need to go professionally.
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You've got great talent that the world needs to listen to."
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And andy williams looked to her and said,
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"do you know who i am?"
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And she said, "no, but if you'll ask that lady at the
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Desk, she'll tell you."
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Profound question, who are you? who am i?
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Solomon, solomon forces us to ask those big questions.
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Solomon was looking for it, i-t. what is it?
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He was looking for meaning. he was looking for significance.
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He was asking the question, "well, what's life all about?
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What's valuable about life? what contribution can i make?
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What will give me happiness? what will give me meaning?"
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And ladies and gentlemen, everybody here is looking for
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The same thing, though we may not realize it.
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What's life all about? what's valuable about your life?
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What's significant about my life?
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Solomon forces the reader to deal with the big issues of life
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That most of us don't like to deal with.
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We want to be surrounded by racket,
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Or activities, or noise, or hobbies, or movement, or people.
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But you read and study ecclesiastes,
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It says, "hold everything," and presents the gigantic questions
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That all of us not only need to ask,
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But need to find answers to.
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Nothing more profound than, who am i?
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Who am i? but solomon doesn't give up.
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He says, "life without meaning, it has no value."
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But he takes us through 12 chapters,
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And in the 2nd chapter, look at what he says.
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He said, "i said to myself."
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It's good to talk to yourself, isn't it?
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He says, "come now, i will test you with pleasure to
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Enjoy yourself.
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And behold, it," there's that little word "it."
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"and behold, it too was futility."
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See, he's looking for it. what is it?
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Significance. what is it?
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Happiness. what is it?
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Meaning, meaning in life.
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And then he says, "i'm going to go through some situations here.
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I'm going to test everything that i can to see if,
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In any one of these endeavors, i will find
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Significance, happiness in life."
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And he walks us through them, why?
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As he walks through these, i hope you and i will walk with
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Him 'cause we get caught up in these same kind of pursuits.
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You know, what's it all about? you know, who am i?
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Where am i going? where did i come from?
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What's my purpose?
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Will i make any difference that i live two,
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Or three, or four score on this earth?
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And look what he says, he starts off and says,
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"come now, i will test you with pleasure.
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So enjoy yourself."
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And he already tells us in the beginning he tried pleasure,
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It was futility.
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But look at the pleasure, he said verse 2,
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"i said of laughter, 'it is madness,' and of pleasure,
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'what does it accomplish?'
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I explained with my mind how to
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Stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me
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Wisely, and how to take hold of folly until i could see what
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Good there is for the son of man to do under heaven and the few
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Years of our lives."
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He starts off with pleasure. logical place, isn't it?
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I want to find meaning in life, happiness in life,
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Let's just try pleasure.
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He started off with humor, laughter.
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Some people like to fill their life constantly with laughter
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And humor, and you can't get serious a minute.
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It's almost a protective kind of layer.
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I like laughter. man, i like having fun.
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I love pleasure, all of us do, but when we get so caught up in
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Our own humor, in our own cutting remarks,
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In our own lifestyle, we're covering up for something.
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Solomon says there's no pleasure in constant laughter,
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There's no pleasure in pursuing these,
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In wine in his day and whatever the addictive things would be.
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And i would say that's true today.
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When there is emptiness, it has to be filled with something.
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And tragically, the younger generation and many of us are
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Filling our lives with things that take away our happiness now
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And will shorten your life radically.
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That is absolutely true.
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So, we look at solomon and we learn from him.
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He said, "i'm going to try pleasure."
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He said, "i didn't find any meaning in pleasure."
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And then he says, "i'm going to try projects.
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Surely i'll find meaning there."
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Look at verse 4, he said, "i enlarged my works.
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I will build houses for myself."
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Note the plural in all of these, "and i planted
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Vineyards for myself.
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I made gardens and parks for myself.
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I planted in them the kind of fruit trees.
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I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate
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The forest of growing trees."
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Myself.
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In fact, in the first 11 verses, in the first 11 verses of
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Chapter 2 of ecclesiastes, he mentions i 21 times.
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You think he was a narcissistic? looking for it, meaning.
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He tried pleasure, didn't find it there.
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Boy tried projects.
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All of these things he did, he was a horticulturist,
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A gifted someone in agriculture, and certainly
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He built the temple.
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How long did it take for him to build the temple in jerusalem?
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Magnificent edifice. took him seven years.
00:16:22.738 --> 00:16:26.542
He also built his own palace.
00:16:26.542 --> 00:16:29.278
You know how long it took him to build that?
00:16:29.278 --> 00:16:30.646
Thirteen years. over 30,000 workmen.
00:16:30.646 --> 00:16:37.352
You see, he did it for myself.
00:16:37.352 --> 00:16:40.089
I'm going to build projects, put my name on it,
00:16:40.089 --> 00:16:42.558
Get bigger and better and more, and maybe in this i'll have
00:16:42.558 --> 00:16:45.727
Meaning, i'll have significance.
00:16:45.727 --> 00:16:47.796
My life will count for something.
00:16:47.796 --> 00:16:49.531
But he got through, he said, "that's all vanity.
00:16:49.531 --> 00:16:52.835
Pleasure, you don't find meaning there.
00:16:52.835 --> 00:16:55.537
Projects, you don't find meaning there."
00:16:55.537 --> 00:16:57.840
And then he moved on, he said, "i'm going to try
00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.908
Something else here.
00:16:59.908 --> 00:17:01.376
I'm going to try wealth and possessions.
00:17:01.376 --> 00:17:04.746
Verse 7, "i bought male and female slaves and i
00:17:04.746 --> 00:17:08.250
Had homeborn slaves."
00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:09.985
He was the first ruler in israel ever to make slaves of their--of
00:17:09.985 --> 00:17:14.957
His own people, the first one.
00:17:14.957 --> 00:17:17.559
He said, "and i possessed flocks and herds larger than all who
00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:22.431
Preceded me in jerusalem."
00:17:22.431 --> 00:17:24.399
You read about the number of animals that he had under his
00:17:24.399 --> 00:17:28.504
Power in his ranches, it's unbelievable.
00:17:28.504 --> 00:17:32.241
They're listed there, a lot of it in 1 kings.
00:17:32.241 --> 00:17:35.410
And he said, "i collected for myself silver and gold and the
00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.981
Treasure of kings and provinces."
00:17:38.981 --> 00:17:42.417
He collected one year 666 shekels of taxes.
00:17:42.417 --> 00:17:49.658
Do you know how much that is? twenty-five tons of gold.
00:17:49.658 --> 00:17:58.267
You can take all the multibillionaires in the world
00:17:58.267 --> 00:18:01.436
And put them together, they can't even touch the
00:18:01.436 --> 00:18:04.907
Wealth of solomon.
00:18:04.907 --> 00:18:08.010
The most successful man, the wealthiest man who's
00:18:08.010 --> 00:18:10.779
Ever lived under the sun.
00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:14.016
And now, he's trying to find meaning in life,
00:18:14.016 --> 00:18:16.251
And he's running down all these traps and all these trails.
00:18:16.251 --> 00:18:21.190
He said, "i didn't find it in pleasure, i
00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:23.859
Exhausted myself there.
00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:25.961
I didn't find it in projects, all the things i built and
00:18:25.961 --> 00:18:28.564
Constructed, eye candy for myself."
00:18:28.564 --> 00:18:33.235
And then he moves on, he said, "i just hoarded things,
00:18:33.235 --> 00:18:36.872
Things of value, property, gold, silver for myself."
00:18:36.872 --> 00:18:39.908
He said, "i didn't find meaning in my great wealth."
00:18:39.908 --> 00:18:43.979
But then he said, "ah, this is where i'm going
00:18:43.979 --> 00:18:47.583
To find significance."
00:18:47.583 --> 00:18:50.385
And look at this, the latter part of verse 8,
00:18:50.385 --> 00:18:53.522
"i provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures
00:18:53.522 --> 00:18:59.461
Of men, many concubines."
00:18:59.461 --> 00:19:04.666
Now, he's going to fulfill all of his passions.
00:19:04.666 --> 00:19:08.036
He's going to find meaning there.
00:19:08.036 --> 00:19:10.472
And i'll tell you, do you know solomon had 700 wives,
00:19:10.472 --> 00:19:16.345
300 concubines?
00:19:16.345 --> 00:19:19.414
He perhaps had the largest casting couch in history.
00:19:19.414 --> 00:19:28.357
He exalted himself in sensuality.
00:19:28.357 --> 00:19:31.927
And he said, "it's empty, you find no meaning.
00:19:31.927 --> 00:19:35.964
No significant--" he said, "that's not it.
00:19:35.964 --> 00:19:41.670
That's not it."
00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:45.240
I thought as i looked at this in the latter parts of these 11
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.311
Verses, solomon says, "i was a great man."
00:19:49.311 --> 00:19:53.582
And he was. my goodness he was.
00:19:53.582 --> 00:19:57.352
He said, "i was filled with pride."
00:19:57.352 --> 00:19:59.521
He said, "look what all i did."
00:19:59.521 --> 00:20:01.923
Man, trace his life, nobody's close.
00:20:01.923 --> 00:20:05.160
There's nobody in second place, ladies and gentleman.
00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.262
You can't name them.
00:20:07.262 --> 00:20:10.632
He said, "i was great, i had it all."
00:20:10.632 --> 00:20:13.135
And he expressed all of this pride,
00:20:13.135 --> 00:20:16.271
But he said, "as i marched down every stream,
00:20:16.271 --> 00:20:19.708
Tried everything, went through all the avenues,
00:20:19.708 --> 00:20:22.778
Faced all the big questions," he said,
00:20:22.778 --> 00:20:25.314
"i came out empty, void."
00:20:25.314 --> 00:20:27.182
He said, "all of it has no meaning,
00:20:27.182 --> 00:20:29.551
Has no significance, did not lead to happiness."
00:20:29.551 --> 00:20:35.123
Quite a testimony, isn't it?
00:20:35.123 --> 00:20:37.559
Maybe it'll awaken some of us who are going down some of those
00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:40.429
Dead end trails that'll take the life and the joy out of you,
00:20:40.429 --> 00:20:44.966
That will guarantee you'll never find meaning and
00:20:44.966 --> 00:20:47.336
Significance in this life.
00:20:47.336 --> 00:20:50.772
And i thought about, are there any modern-day
00:20:50.772 --> 00:20:54.543
Solomons running around?
00:20:54.543 --> 00:20:57.913
I wonder who that would be.
00:20:57.913 --> 00:21:04.086
These are replicas of the super bowl rings that tom brady has,
00:21:04.086 --> 00:21:12.994
Absolute replicas.
00:21:13.895 --> 00:21:16.631
There they are, he has five super bowl rings.
00:21:16.631 --> 00:21:21.336
Tom brady is handsome.
00:21:21.336 --> 00:21:24.072
Narcissus couldn't have been anymore handsome than tom brady
00:21:24.072 --> 00:21:26.875
If you've ever seen him, right?
00:21:26.875 --> 00:21:29.044
He's articulate, he's intelligent,
00:21:29.044 --> 00:21:31.780
He's a great athlete, probably the best quarterback who's ever
00:21:31.780 --> 00:21:35.517
Played the game.
00:21:35.517 --> 00:21:36.852
You can debate that.
00:21:36.852 --> 00:21:38.787
He's been married to two beautiful women, models.
00:21:38.787 --> 00:21:44.259
He's been everywhere, done everything.
00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:46.194
He has more money that he could spend probably
00:21:46.194 --> 00:21:48.463
In several lifetimes.
00:21:48.463 --> 00:21:51.767
You can't find a figure more like solomon i think off the
00:21:51.767 --> 00:21:55.804
Top of my head.
00:21:55.804 --> 00:21:57.973
I could name one or two, but i'll rest that, than tom brady.
00:21:57.973 --> 00:22:04.980
Five super bowl rings.
00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:06.314
If i had five rings, you know, i would wear them all the time and
00:22:06.314 --> 00:22:13.989
I would wear them on, you know, both hands in case those over
00:22:13.989 --> 00:22:19.361
Here didn't know that--and i would go around and you'd say,
00:22:19.361 --> 00:22:26.468
"well, you've been to super bowl."
00:22:26.468 --> 00:22:30.238
"how did you know? how could you tell?
00:22:30.238 --> 00:22:36.611
I try to keep that--i try to make a very low profile here
00:22:36.611 --> 00:22:40.782
Of what i've accomplished."
00:22:40.782 --> 00:22:45.554
And tom had won only three super bowl rings a few years ago.
00:22:45.554 --> 00:22:52.127
He was interviewed on "60 minutes," a very
00:22:52.127 --> 00:22:59.334
Profound interview.
00:22:59.334 --> 00:23:02.637
I want you to look verbatim of something that what was said.
00:23:02.637 --> 00:23:07.108
He said--this is tom brady.
00:23:07.108 --> 00:23:10.879
I don't know where he is today, by the way,
00:23:10.879 --> 00:23:12.481
This was after only three super bowl rings.
00:23:12.481 --> 00:23:16.818
He says, "i mean, i'm making more money now than i thought
00:23:16.818 --> 00:23:19.287
I'd ever make playing football."
00:23:19.287 --> 00:23:21.556
Kind of an understatement.
00:23:21.556 --> 00:23:23.725
He said, "why do u have three super bowl rings and still,"
00:23:23.725 --> 00:23:27.496
Listen, "think there's something greater out there for me?
00:23:27.496 --> 00:23:33.735
I mean, maybe a lot of people would say,
00:23:33.735 --> 00:23:36.071
'hey man, this is what,'" there's that word, "it is!"
00:23:36.071 --> 00:23:45.480
Surely you've reached a life that is meaningful,
00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.416
This is what it is.
00:23:48.416 --> 00:23:50.252
A lot of people would say that.
00:23:50.252 --> 00:23:51.586
He said, "i reached my goal, my dream, my life is," tom brady.
00:23:51.586 --> 00:23:59.828
But then there's the rest of the interview there, "60 minutes."
00:23:59.828 --> 00:24:03.765
Brady says, "me, i think--" by the way,
00:24:03.765 --> 00:24:07.702
This is almost like a prayer, "god,
00:24:07.702 --> 00:24:09.771
There's got to be more than this!"
00:24:09.771 --> 00:24:13.808
And the narrator said, "what's the answer?
00:24:13.808 --> 00:24:17.746
What's the answer, tom?" he said, "i wish i knew.
00:24:17.746 --> 00:24:23.418
I wish i knew."
00:24:23.418 --> 00:24:28.857
I would say to this solomon-like personality,
00:24:28.857 --> 00:24:36.264
It is not an it.
00:24:38.600 --> 00:24:44.739
It is jesus christ.
00:24:44.739 --> 00:24:52.881
Male announcer: trials are woven into the very fabric of life.
00:24:54.482 --> 00:24:58.653
When we least expect it, storms can come and turn our lives
00:24:58.653 --> 00:25:02.123
Upside down, they can come crashing like waves on our
00:25:02.123 --> 00:25:06.194
Finances, our health, and our relationships.
00:25:06.194 --> 00:25:10.065
So how do we weather these storms and turn the trials
00:25:10.065 --> 00:25:13.001
Of life into triumphs?
00:25:13.001 --> 00:25:15.537
In his booklet, "hope in the storms of life,"
00:25:15.537 --> 00:25:18.873
Dr. ed young looks at how the apostle paul, though beaten,
00:25:18.873 --> 00:25:22.477
Robbed and shipwrecked, found great joy in life, a joy that
00:25:22.477 --> 00:25:27.148
Our heavenly father wants to fill your life.
00:25:27.148 --> 00:25:32.587
Right now, this powerful booklet is our gift to you for your
00:25:32.587 --> 00:25:35.657
Financial support of this ministry.
00:25:35.657 --> 00:25:38.159
Call the number on your screen or go online at winningwalk.org
00:25:38.159 --> 00:25:42.397
To get a copy for yourself or someone you love.
00:25:42.397 --> 00:25:46.468
When trials come your way, you can turn those trials
00:25:46.468 --> 00:25:50.205
Into triumphs.
00:25:50.205 --> 00:25:52.273
Ed: how is it possible for someone like solomon,
00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:58.380
With all the promise, skill, and blessings of god on his life to
00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:02.984
Move so far away from god that he,
00:26:02.984 --> 00:26:06.454
Can you believe this, that he no longer has meaning or purpose?
00:26:06.454 --> 00:26:10.859
The answer, one step at a time. it's called gradualism.
00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:16.164
Compromise happens, we begin to fall in love with all the world
00:26:16.164 --> 00:26:18.800
Appears to offer until we end up on that dead end street where
00:26:18.800 --> 00:26:24.706
Life has no joy, no meaning, and no significance.
00:26:24.706 --> 00:26:30.812
I wonder what advice would solomon give us today.
00:26:30.812 --> 00:26:34.182
I think he'd say, "watch out for that first step.
00:26:34.182 --> 00:26:39.454
It will lead you in a direction you may not want to go."
00:26:39.454 --> 00:26:43.458
The question, are you going in the wrong direction?
00:26:43.458 --> 00:26:46.461
Be honest. i have some good news.
00:26:46.461 --> 00:26:48.830
You can turn around today.
00:26:48.830 --> 00:26:50.965
Call the number on your screen, we're waiting to pray with you
00:26:50.965 --> 00:26:53.735
And share with you how you can begin a life in another
00:26:53.735 --> 00:26:57.272
Direction with a brand new purpose and meaning.
00:26:57.272 --> 00:27:00.275
And it can all start, guess when, tomorrow?
00:27:00.275 --> 00:27:04.212
No, right now.
00:27:04.212 --> 00:27:06.848
And thank you for watching today.
00:27:06.848 --> 00:27:08.750
Join me again next week as we take another exciting step on
00:27:08.750 --> 00:27:13.855
"the winning walk" with jesus christ.
00:27:13.855 --> 00:27:17.292
♪♪♪
00:27:17.292 --> 00:27:17.292

Ed Young - Is Pleasure The Answer?

April 7, 2025 | S25:E83

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