Good evening everyone, we want to welcome you all into today's program and we want to start with the word of prayer, let's pray. We thank you Almighty Father in Heaven for your goodness and your kindness. Thank you Father for your masses that are new each morning. Thank you Lord even for the privilege that you've given us to be called to your children even if you're not worthy and we do think that contrary to your will but Lord we come to you asking for forgiveness and cleansing that Lord may you be with us may you be our strength and this evening as we've come again to hear from you we pray for special blessings for each one of us who will listen to you today and Lord as we want to start by singing we pray that may you bless us also because we pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. We want to start with the song that says when my life work is ended I shall know him. Yes, you're welcome. It says take my life and let it be number 292, song number 292 out of my bondage sorrow and night Jesus I come. Good evening all, we rise up for our and let us believe and pray. Father God Lord our creator and our redeemer we thank you for who you are. We have come into this house to listen to what you have for us. How we pray that Lord but that you give us a listening mind also to listen to what you have for us. Hasten the steps of those who are still on the way. We commit the speaker Pastor Jacob into your hand. Lord may your spirit guide him even as take us through this message and also for the rest of the remaining program for the week. It's our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. Once more I welcome you to this evening service. For this week we have been having a series of learning and it will go through up to Sabbath the 27th. Saving you in front is the sign language is sister Joyce Kwanboka and at the piano is brother Nehemiah Nyeribo and our chorister is sister Nora Nyeribo. The preacher for this week is Pastor Jacob Lichena and he is taking us through the learning on addiction. So please invite a friend even those who are online please continue to invite a friend so that we share the message that God has for us together and apply it in our life. I'll proceed that we'll do a scripture reading and the scripture reading comes from the book of Romans. We'll read two texts. It comes from the book of Romans chapter 7 verse 25. I'll give you a few seconds to be there. Romans chapter 7 verses 25. I'll read from new international version and it reads. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law but in the sinful nature as slave to the law of sin. Second reading comes from chapter 8 the same book Romans 8 verses 1 it reads. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. May God bless the reading. Thank you. We're going to do the opening song, song number 614. It says sound the battle cry. Beautiful singing shall we pray. Heavenly Father we are before your throne again. We once again invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us Ayyanin for you. We want to talk about issues of life. We thank you because Father God in John 14 verse 6 you say you are the truth, the way and the life. That we can only learn life from you. So Heavenly Father I pray that I may decrease in that you may take over and speak to your children through me as a vessel for I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Be seated in the presence of the Lord. We want to thank the Lord for bringing us together again. That we may continue to learn and hear from Him. God has been indeed faithful and gracious to us. I know there are those who are in our midst with thank you for making time to come and for setting aside this week of prayer that you want the Lord to speak to you. I equally extend the same to those who are following us on different forums that you may continue also to attend with us this week as we look at issues relating to addiction and see how we can find freedom and peace from the enemies of the society. It's very clear and evident that we have a common enemy and this common enemy is addiction. Yesterday we agreed that at least every family is in a way infected and affected. Like we say in HIV and AIDS if you are not infected you are affected and even if there is no member in your family who is affected we have neighbors and friends who are asking questions about addiction. And today we want to see how then we can position ourselves to seek this freedom and peace and not to do it at the back but to do it at the front line. And so the title of our sermon today is Fighting on the Front Line. The song that we sang is a call for battle. It's one of the songs that is sung and you almost feel like you're preparing to go for war. And that's I hope this song is making you feel this evening. It says, sound the battle cry. See the foe is nai. Rise the standard eye for the Lord. Guard your arm around. Stand firm everyone. Rest your course upon the Holy Word of the Lord. Strong to meet the foe. Marching on we go while our course we know. We know and we want to know. And we must prevail. The shield and the banner is bright. Gleaming in the light. Battling for the right. We never can fail. Then prayer that oh God of all hear us when we call. Help us one and all by the grace. When the battle is done and the victory is won. May we wear the crown before thy face. How beautiful. That even the battle we are talking about addiction, which is a riu riu battle. Christ is already promising as victory. That the battle will be done and the victory will be won. And we shall wear a robe and a crown before the face of our God. And this gives me a lot of hope even as a start of this ceremony. Some on this evening that there is hope for the people who are struggling with addiction. There is hope for every family. There is hope for every church that has members that they care for. The writer of this song, William Fisk Shewin, Cognizes the need because he lived in the time of the end of the American Civil War. He lived between 1826 and 1888. And he knew what war was and how it feels to win a war, to come out of the war situation. Of course Kenyans, God has been kind to us. The only close we got to feeling anxiety about war was in 2007. The post-election violence. And people were uncertain. Of course we've had other small, small issues. But we're such a peaceful country. But yet we know the battle that Paul is referring, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world. Against nature, I mean against spiritual weakness in the high places. Wherefore take upon your all armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil days. And having done or stand that Paul is recognizing, all is calling us to say yes, we in a battlefield, the spiritual and the physical. And during this week we are going to see how much our spiritual, the battle of drug and substance addiction is. That is as much as spiritual as it is physical, as it is mental, as it is social. And what is written by Peter in 1 Peter 5 verse 8 comes through that you are our adversary, your adversary. The devil walks around like a rolling lion seeking who he may devote. Therefore be sober he says, and be vigilant. I call for sobriety among things that are addictive, things that surround us that are so annoying. And this evening or today we are going to realize that there are many things that are calling our attention even as we talk about addiction. And this is what Paul, father is testifying in the book of Romans when he says, and thank you elder for reading it very well, for saying that in this battle that we are talking about addiction, although we want to be sober, it's a battle. How does Paul represent this battle in the book of Romans? Romans 7 starting from us 14 he says, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm sold under sin. Verse 15 he says, for that which I do, I allow not. But what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that I do. And you know, I am feeling like in this verse Paul is actually defining what addiction is, because addiction is a point where you have developed a relationship with something and you come to a point to realize that I don't like this thing and you want to quit, but you can't. So you are addicted to alcohol, you are addicted to cigarettes like we saw some of the drugs that we have, you are addicted to weed or card or even sex that we are going to look at. But you have come to a realization that I need to change, but the pathological love and relationship that you have with this chemical or with this experience or with this behavior you are not able to stop regardless of how much you want to. And Paul is saying what I hate, I do. And he is almost suggesting that there is guilt and shame that comes with addictive behaviors. When you do it, you sit back and say, man, I did it again and I am feeling so terrible in defining the essentials of dependency. McAuliffe in his book says that addiction is a pathological love relationship with a chemical, with a mood altering chemical, with a behavior, a certain behavior or with a certain experience or activity that you are not able to stop regardless of the consequences. Three things are coming out here or four rather. That addiction can be behavioral, that there are things that you find yourself doing and you want to stop doing them, but you can't. It could be chemical. Chemical dependency or what you call mind-ottering substances is a level of dependency. For example, alcoholism whereby an alcoholic will promise that he will never drink again, especially after an incident. And as a counselor this happens a lot where you have a family meeting with a young person, maybe a university going student and he says after a talk with the counselor and the family, group meeting and the son is there or the daughter and the other family members and you process this with them and they say, pastor, I want to promise before my family that I would never drink again. And you say a prayer and as a together you agree, yes, let's start moving forward. But after one week you receive a call, pastor, it has happened. That is the nature of dependency. And that's why we say that then chemical dependency or drug addiction or any form of addiction is not just physical. It's not sitting around table and saying, okay, from today ends forth, I will not do it again. It has a lot of psychological, say biological and even spiritual undertones. And so when we are approaching it, we shouldn't look at the only physical because I know physical. I've talked to some parents who say that I think, pastor, what I need to do is take my son abroad. If he goes abroad to invest the out of the country he will stop or even young people themselves saying, I think Kodarendi is a change of school. The school that I am in, I just need to change the words. The environment, I just need to go to another different environment. But this is not a solution to addiction because as a matter of fact addiction ignores all the consequences. It escapes reality. It is a compasive behavior. And at some point addiction can have what we call withdrawals that even when you want not to, your body itself is subjected to wanting to have. I don't know whether you've met people who will say that I need to take one before I'm able to start off my day. For them, if it's alcohol, they must wake up in the morning and at least come to when I say kutua loq. Nimpaka nituwa loq. I must unlock my word. My brain, because my brain without it, I cannot. There are people who cannot sign a book without having taken a drink.  And the other thing that is also very key in the addiction process that is important to think through is the distorted thinking. Yes, and I mean distorted. I have met some young people who would want to spiritualize addiction. And they would tell you pastor, you know what, my connection with this drug is another level. I do it, it's a ritual for me. It's such a ritual that when I smoke, especially bam, and I see the smoke is ascending upward straight, then I know that it's a God and a beef na mimi. God doesn't have any issues with me. But when I see it's becoming cloudy and moving everywhere and not doing na beef, I know God has some issues, unsorted issues. So that somebody looks at smoking weed as a spiritual act. It's a ritual. It may not be intended like that, but what I know of people who use drugs, people who smoke, they have specific time to smoke. You may want to check with somebody you know that when they wake up, there is something a ritual sort of that they must light their cigarette after a certain time. Either they wake up, go to the washroom and then come back and light the cigarette or they will light the cigarette and smoke fast or walk to the balcony or do something. And those who live and wake up in the nights are three to take a cigarette and it's such a ritual, the clock in the mind is so set that I must wake up at three in the night too to drink or to smoke, especially to smoke. And so that we were saying that addiction comes in the physical, that the body craving, the craving is not just, it's physical. Sometimes you find yourself walking to your point of the ritual or the drinking like some people don't even, they find themselves in a pub because they have been used to so much of a pattern, a routine that I go to work at eight I finish work at five and when I finish work at five I must stop over at a certain joint and it becomes, the people have been drinking for the last 30 years and they stop at one pub and now addiction is even changing the people are very organized I have met people in banking for example, Elden Pasta and they are very good accountants they will do their math and do that for three months they have not drunk anything three months not drinking, no smoking, no nothing of course it comes with drinking more but then they know the holidays what holidays in April, Easter what are the holidays coming up May, Labor Day they know that there is another holiday in June and then October and then Christmas and during those holidays they beach drink so they will organize themselves for a drink drive so they will start drinking in Nairobi go to Naivasha come back to Nairobi go to Mombasa come back to the whole holiday is used on a drinking spray so when we say it's physical we're simply saying that the body gets so accustomed to the secret between the fingers and the lighter on the other finger or a bottle of liquor a bottle of liquor and they have a way of ensuring that they don't lack they have a stalk they have stalk either in the room I need my charger yes it's in the bag there you can remove it and plug it in for me you can easily see how the pattern because addiction is a pattern kind of like a temple of things happening in a certain way and that inability to control and now the reason we say it's a cycle the reason why we say it's a cycle is that after you drink the cycle repeats itself so we'll say that somebody will start to drink and they feel guilty about it after drinking depending on how they set themselves up and then they'll go back to drinking again and then they'll stop drinking and go back again so the cycle becomes a continuous vicious cycle the hope that we have and the approach that we use must equally address addiction as a cycle and so when we look at the chemical addiction that we're saying there's something that you induce either orally a chemical that you either induce orally you inject yourself either intravenously or you snort snorting is using a straw and I think tomorrow I'll show a feel of this in the introduction on the slides of some of the pictures now these drugs administered this action of inhaling or smoking or snorting becomes behavioural so it's a behavioural and a chemical addiction at the same time yet there are addictions that are only behavioural like sex addictions people who are ushup lived they're not using anything they're not inducing any chemical into their body but their behaviour is addictive I talk to young people and most of the young people will be addicted to things like masturbation as young adults and there's nothing that they're putting into the body but they have an addiction they have a behaviour that they're not able to stop regardless of the consequence and so we see that some of these behaviours include pathological gambling or gaming it has become very common now to find young people and even sometimes old people with the world they call it world playstation or gaming and they actually get hooked to it that they can do it the whole day some of the games like GTA which I'll talk about on Saturday because let me not talk about it now because I wanted to let me not say what I'm going to do because it's supposed to be a surprise but games that people are so addicted to that during the holiday they will sit before a computer and play the whole day I'm looking at social media and internet or sometimes excessive sporting people who do weightlifting even when the muscles become big enough they still do what they want them snappy they want to feel when it gets to a point where you are overdoing it and it becomes a form of addiction there are people addicted to their work work colleagues to them it's work and work and work they work 25 hours per day if that was possible and of course with the technology that we have today things have only become more challenging one writer says don't fool yourself that adventists are immune of these addictions addictive behaviors can be found among people of faith and our church members as well so therefore then if this is true we need to understand then what are some of the behavioral signs of addiction and we see that in either chemical there is a change of attitude personality people the way we identified them the way we understood them they change, they change their friends and the group they hang out with those who are in school or work their performance starts to deteriorate the change of activities those people used to play football they no longer play football and you can understand this that if you used to play football and you go to the pitch and you are drunk the ball will be kicked to you you see three balls coming to you and don't know which one to kick and so as you time the ball the ball you are hitting is not the one that the real ball so the ball passes and it becomes now everybody gets to know that there is something that is happening we need to run away from hobbies from activities that otherwise would have socialized and young people especially in addiction we need to confront and talk at this talk what are some of the alternative things that we can do and so that we can be able to address this sometimes at home when addiction is knocking at the door you will find that people will change their habits they used to eat together but they start to want to eat in their rooms or to eat at their own time and even that small behavior change needs to be recognized and challenged because it is in family eating together that we find that we see what is happening with the family members even parents I am not saying this technically a junior thing or a youth thing even parent who will start avoiding eating family table family get together family eating time they will start to avoid there must be a reason why they are avoiding so technically there is a loss of interest in family activities no interest at all and then the other thing that is very common is forgetfulness that people start to become very forgetful you had an appointment with them you talked about it and you called them and they said oh I forgot the energy service team goes down to a point where somebody develops an attitude I don't care at a level whereby they realize that it's unmanageable and they say I don't care what they say and we need to watch that so that we are able to see how we can help because love is a conquering love is a conquering theme of this this modiness, irritability or nervousness people are easily annoyed and angered this paranoia for both chemical and behavioural to fear that notice I'm receiving funds and these funds are I don't know who is calling me and depending on what drug they are taking then it can be a challenge therefore when we are fighting this battle that we are saying that we need to fight the enemies of the society and we are saying that the things that we are fighting against are things like gumbling we need to understand them we need to know them because the first strategy of fighting an enemy is understanding and knowing this strategy many young people are betting on football and there are many betting companies that have come or stations that have been opened for gumbling where people want to increase their chance of winning at the expense of the other person so the society pays the escalating cost of crime and victim support and family breakdown which erones the quality of life The 7th Adventist Church believes that it is again a Christian principle it is not a proper form of entertainment or a legitimate means of raising funds maybe we can discuss this on Sabbath and ask ourselves this question is one of the issues whether should we raise funds by gumbling somebody comes with a wheel and turns and if it lands on you you get a great controversy book or there are many forms so we need to ask ourselves because the motive especially when money is needed is to increase the chance of winning at the expense of the other person therefore gumbling creates a false hope the gumbling dream of winning big replaces the true hope with a false dream of stability improbable chance of winning Christians are not to put their hope on wealth of course when the bible says that money is the root of all evil it doesn't say money is evil or wealth is bad but wealth that is gained not in an appropriate way is contrary to the stewardship principles that we espouse imagine somebody who is unable to sleep because they are waiting for themselves to win a jackpot would they think of investing of course gumbling is so addictive the addictive qualities of gumbling clearly are contrary to the Christian lifestyle the church seeks to help not to blame those suffering from gumbling and that's the hope that we have that in every addiction that we are talking about whether addiction or whether gumbling sex or drugs we are not blaming the people who are addicted but we are telling them we are telling ourselves I think I need to put myself in the bracket we are sitting and ask ourselves serious questions is this thing went too far because if the principles are contradicting if the principles are built on greed and righteousness the desire to take or to gain without a fair exchange value the game is not fair for why should somebody gain or guess I mean just guessing can you imagine somebody who gets her A in the KCSE and they simply sat in the exam room and guessed or anything they just guessed or less speculated of course those who are fun of gaming in football will say no, pasiwa tunakakulit man tunakulit game kuna odds and all that yes they are but it's still a guess work the other addiction addiction that I need to talk about that is becoming very common is what is now refined by SM5 the diagnostic and statistical whereby when you get your phone the first thing you do is go to a site your favorite site and with WhatsApp now you need to sit down and calculate how many hours you spend on WhatsApp or on your phone you'll be surprised I will be surprised myself too I'm a user but we are saying then this cyber addiction can even go further where we have cyber sex addiction compulsive use of internet pornography adult chat rooms and fantasy sex it can come silently young people today are talking about of course people are talking about instead of texting they talk of sex thing so you chat and you're chatting sexual content oh how are you let me not go there I'm in the holy ground but you understand what I'm talking about then when it becomes a room whereby the exchange you're having is sexual connotation and is addictive so you look forward to going to that room when will everybody go to sleep so that I can go into my room there are cyber relationship addictions where addiction to social network and chat rooms becomes also a common thing there's a net compulsive what you're talking about gaming stock trending there was something that was trending they call it what there was something that was trending recently bitcoins was there something called bitcoins yeah it was excited about becoining but then all of a sudden I don't have the current details but it suddenly just sank I don't know what it's doing now so all this we are calling them obsessive addictions internet disorders they are built on compulsive disorder which we call the CD compulsive disorder means that you find yourself repeating things without even thinking about them on the same category of addiction sex also a pattern of out of control sexual behavior and fantasy which is repeated regardless of the consequences of self or others you're not concerned about what happens to you when you practice or when you engage in those sexual encounters and also the primary goal is actually to fantasize and of course sexual addiction as a pattern of out of control whether it's porn the sites and it turns out that studies show that people who engaged in extra marital sexual addiction disorders are unable to enjoy their conjugal privileges because all their energy is used in the wrong way so family breakages are likely to come when instead of using your bedroom with your lovely partner you're using the cyber sites with the known people and you're paying dearly you're tired and gone and of course don't forget because of this we can have a lot of sexual transmission sexual transmission diseases like HIV because of change of partners some of it is not online for sexual addiction it's not necessarily online in Panguakando it's a common thing in Kenya and so we need to see these destructive behaviors and how we can find help and hope again is the cycle that keeps on turning because the cycle of addiction is continuous the continuous cycle is I mean you experiment with the drug or the chemical or the experience and after experimenting then by experimenting we mean that you're trying to find how is it like out of curiosity or out of peer pressure or out of the thrill of adventure or out of rebellion you want to see how does it how does it go how does this game look like how does this this drink taste and after that becomes you don't stop at that because then there is the motivation for socio acceptance you have met with people you are not doing it alone and you start to find that to be a functional individual you must get into the network of those people who are using with teenage challenges peer pressure it becomes very difficult and not only young but even the old people the peer pressure is high they are calling you where are you what are we doing today and so it becomes a social network most of the social then we have the stage the stage that we call the experimental stage where we use to suppress feelings or to enhance feelings or to this inhibit behavior at this stage you are feeling low unless you drink and so to suppress that feeling of feeling low you enhance the behavior of happiness all this inhibition is whereby you are thinking about a problem this comes a lot with people who are stressed and they say that I am feeling stressed let me just take something to forget about all this inhibition the problem has not gone but it will still be there but you will not be thinking about it of course you wake up in the morning and then it becomes habitual and you see that habits are building blocks to the character so when it becomes an habit then we are talking about dependence and the progressive life of an addict is centered around coping and working around the discomfort that comes with addiction and the impending challenges and now the drug becomes medicine for all the problems you have been having at habitual stage the next stage that we go to is compulsive now compulsive is whereby you don't have a choice in the addiction rooms or in the addiction counseling we talk of a man that a man walks into the pub and takes a drink and then the drinks asks for another drink I hope you are getting this and then the drink asks for the man so when a man walks into the pub sees a waiter nilete moja and the waiter serves him one drink and then after taking that drink he wanted to take only one drink and go home so the drink that he has taken will ask for another what drink and the second drink that he has asked for now will ask for the man and tell him you are now my what my control and he will stand up on the table and make a round of calls that's our dictionaries it becomes a vicious circle it's a battle that requires us to continue to keep our hearts guided and like Paul is saying in the text that we read that for that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that I do if then I do that which I do not want I consent unto the law that is good now then it is no more I that do it sin that dwells in me will want to see whether addiction is sin when you are addicted to something are you sinning are you sinning and father says for I delight in the law verse 22 but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin in my members look at this that there are two laws in play here Paul is saying verse 23 that I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind the law of my mind is I should keep myself sober that I can be vigilant that I can be able to overcome but the law of sin is also fighting and Paul in verse 24 expresses desperation and says ho wretched man that I addiction is wretched it is exhausting fighting to take control of your life that is being stolen away from you for the choice that is being stolen from you and Paul is asking who shall deliver me from this body of sin and I thank God Paul says in verse 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I myself serve the law but with the flesh the law of sin and verse 8 verse 1 he says therefore there is no condemnation which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit what a joy this evening that is hope in our wretchedness in our addiction whatever it is we will okritu yes when we cry Christ is saying I died on the cross of Calvary for you Christ says in fast John 1 verse 9 that if anyone says they have no sin they lie and the truth is not in them but if we confess our sins it is faithful just to forgive us of all our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness no addiction that Christ's blood cannot deal with therefore our battle is and won at the cross of Calvary and that's why the song says then we need to sound the battle cry because we need to rise this tendance because we are the strength to make the fall and we shall prevail thanks to the victory that Christ has won at the cross of Calvary that's no addiction that is going to put me down Christ has won this battle for me it caused me to experience peace by staying my mind in him I said in verse 6 verse 3 it will keep in perfect peace whose mind is staying with them the only strategy that we can keep ourselves soba is by staying our mind in Christ Jesus when the battle the battles of addiction whether sex addiction whether drug addiction whether internet addiction whether shopping addiction whatever addiction it be our battle is won by staying at our mind at Christ and this causes brethren to be always on the frontline of the battle at the frontline you see the enemy face to face and because the battles won I like the way Paul says I mean Peter says after you have put on the armor what does he say stand and see that the Lord will fight the battles for you it's my prayer tonight that wherever you are those who are with us here in our church and those who are watching online that you're thinking through your life and you're saying yes there is something I'm addicted to and I want to break this cycle I want to promise you there is hope in Christ Jesus that's why our freedom and our peace against the enemy of the society is only won through Christ Jesus I want to invite us to sing this song again the song that we had sung before Coristan song sound the battle cry and then we will have a closing prayer song number 614 sound the battle cry faster please come and say a closing prayer and commit yourself to the Lord as we commit ourselves in this battle for a word of prayer precious Lord you have us whatever the situation we are in that is why each and every person who is struggling with any kind of addiction you plead with them in thy great mercy that they may come to you Lord we want to surrender our lives Lord this evening to you that Lord we may find freedom in the name of Jesus Christ we have no way to break the bondage that we are in but by the power of your spirit we are able to overcome Lord we have different challenges we are slaves of different problems but Lord you are able to help us come out of it and we will be free indeed may you be able to bless us Lord some of us Lord are asking you at this time that God you may touch them in specific issues that they feel they are not able to come out of any kind of sin any kind of drug addiction any kind of addiction that is coming from the website and from technologies we put them before you Lord that you may be able to help them overcome our youth we pray for them that Lord may you release our youth out of bondage that Lord they may be strong in you and know that in Christ they are able to overcome any kind of danger any kind of thing that entangles them they will be able to overcome Lord I pray for our families that you may be able to bless us Parents are pleading Lord for their children that you may help their children to be straight and be worshiping you we pray for the society today the society is rotten because the devil is really looking at the end of this world but you will stand with your people be with us and bless us continue to use our pastor as he continue to lead us all of this week in Jesus name we pray Amen God bless you thank you pastor we have come to the close of our service for today and just before we leave just want to give a few highlights we continue with our program same time tomorrow 5.30pm in the evening and it will go that way up to the close of the week that is on the Sabbath please continue to pray for the speaker Pastor Jacob Lechina and also pray for yourself that we get time to come and listen to what God has for us there is a free counseling service which is going throughout the week and the contact numbers the information has been shared online but for those who are still here with us and may not have looked at it the numbers are 0724 0724 362 216 I'll repeat 0724 362 216 008 please share that information of health with somebody who may be in need God bless you may we rise up for a closing prayer by way of grace and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship be with us now forever more amen thank you God bless you


Hey friends, today I am at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. I'm here today to just explore the resort and also grab some dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. This is one of my favorite Disney World resorts. I absolutely love it here. So let's go do this! And it has to be one of the most beautiful Disney resorts or resorts just in the world.  I am also very interested in seeing if Whispering Canyon Cafe is actually offering the skillet. I love their skillets. They're all you can eat skillets are probably the best on property. And it most certainly has one of the best lobbies. I love it here. Holy moly! That smell! All of Disney resorts have a distinct smell. This one's like pine and wood. I love it. The fireplace is burning. Usually there is just lines and rows of rocking chairs here, but now they're spread out perfectly for your safety too at a time. Still one of the greatest places just to relax after a long day at the park. So much detail from the light fixtures to like I said the wood carvings. Look at this! Anybody know who that is right there? I mean I know you got Mickey, Goofy and Donald, but let me know in the comments if you know who that is. Even though there are a lot of things they can't do because of the whole entire socially distancing requirement. They still have a pretty good amount of entertainment and dining and shopping and even a hidden Mickey hunt. For dining like I said Whispering Canyon Cafe is open. Guys are point and then the warring fork which is the quick service. They do not have Artisan Point open yet. Shopping, the mercantiles open. You can always do the hidden Mickey hunt.  But I don't think we're doing any s'mores or anything like that. Still very fun to be here though. Fun fact actually before Disney closed down I was gonna actually come here and eat at Artisan Point for the first time. That was the reservation I had. I think the week that they closed down and I never got to do it. So when it opens back up it's definitely on the list. Our reservation isn't for a little bit so I want to go kind of roam around the resort a little bit but soon we will be back here and trying one of the fantastic skillets at Whispering Canyon Cafe. As we go to head outside I want to show you some of the cool water effects that they actually have here and it starts right in the main lobby. As you can see we have a geyser right here in the main lobby and it actually runs outside and you can follow it all the way down to the pool and then right on the other side of the pool there's the actual big geyser. Because the geyser goes off every single hour we have three minutes to get down there and catch it. Like I said before tons of amazing views and rocking chairs right on the other side is the water and we're gonna follow it as it actually runs down actually through the resort. You can walk through the boulders there or you can actually head on over to the overlook. See as we're following the water right down it drops off of a waterfall right there and then the water runs down here and this is probably the best view. I love looking up at the waterfall from then down at this angle. Look at that. Isn't it beautiful? Oh I'm telling you this is seriously one of the most beautiful resorts I've ever seen and then the water runs here and obviously it doesn't go in the pool but it kind of simulates like it's going right into the pool. Just one more look though because like I said this is gorgeous. But we have one minute exactly to get on the other side of the pool before the hour shoots off the geyser. Right next to the salon by the springs a little pathway right here and I think I hear the geyser kind of firing up here. Whoa I think I do and like I said the water that started in the lobby to the geyser simulating running all the way down and then coming out of the pool right on to the major geyser right there. Oh and right on time I had to adjust the camera because when this shoots off I don't think I'm going to be able to get it in the whole frame of the picture that's how far it actually goes up into the air. It's taking a little while here. I'm kind of a little concerned. Well that makes me a little sad because I don't think they're firing off the geyser as hard as they can. Maybe it has to do with safety I don't know or maybe it's just not working right now. I don't know but any hoos it goes probably about 20-30 feet in the air. I wish that I could have showed you. I wish I could have seen it. But we're gonna move on and we're gonna head on over to the boat dock. Usually you can take transportation from over here to go to Magic Kingdom or to other resorts. They're not operating right now. I'm sure they will operate eventually but it's still nifty to come check out and plus this walkway is very pretty over here. And the boat dock leads you right out on to Bay Lake and if you actually head in that direction right there oh you can actually hear the ferry boat or yeah you can hear the ferry boat right here from Magic Kingdom but if you take that waterway takes you to the Seven Seas Lagoon and the front of Magic Kingdom. Everybody seems to be wearing their mask appropriately like I haven't seen anybody not wearing a mask unless they're in the pool area or if they're off to the side having drinks or eating but like people commonly walking around. I haven't seen one person without their mask on that's awesome. I also want to take you over to the geyser point sign which is like the bar and grill area and they also have some recreation that happens on this side. It's very pretty over here. Also I want to point out I found a pretty nifty hack to stop with the glasses fogging up so what I actually do is I lift my glasses off a little bit and then I set them right here on my nose away from my face. It's pretty nifty actually. Here is normally where you would have marshmallows right next to geysers point. Very cool bar area. They also have pretty interesting food oh and also you notice how the water from the pool like I said runs down into the geyser it runs out into Bay Lake. Not really but this is pretty amazing how they make that illusion happen isn't it? Pretty interesting I decided to get myself a beer and look at this disposable check uh like this is what they hand to you for the check you know they usually have it in the black box but these are disposable I like that they didn't have any bud lights so I went with the mick ultra and also they do serve food here but the court service location isn't open but you can actually order and right there's the whole menu if you'd like to scan it you guys can check it out see what they have to eat. Gonna take my beer and actually sit out by Bay Lake it's a beautiful view out here it's why I actually love just hanging out here they have pool table foosball just amazing views oh the cushions are all gone now but they're not marked like you can't sit here so I'm I'm assuming you can't sit here but they probably just took the cushions in because it rained but look at that what a view over there in the corners Bay Lake if you actually stand probably right about here you can actually watch happily ever after because they do shoot them off kind of over space mountain it's just kind of the way they layer them to make it look like they're coming right behind the castle but I love it here it is amazing. After enjoying the beautiful views for a little bit why I enjoyed my beer it is time for our dinner reservation so I'm gonna head back up to the lobby and go to Whispering Canyon Cafe which is perfect because I am hungry I am very hungry and look at those buffalo topiaries that little baby buffalo and then a big buffalo oh that makes sense those are buffalo tracks like I mentioned before the roaring fork is open but everything is via virtual menu or mobile ordering I do believe all the grabbing girl stuff is actually available but they are marked off for social distancing so you just grab go and pay right there if not you order and pick up this is also one of my favorite hallways right here there was a time where I actually rolled down this whole entire thing I don't know if I should say I'm proud of that but it was a lot of fun right outside of artisan point is the territory lounge which is kind of like the bar lounge area inside with the wilderness lounge is not open so basically you have roaring folk and the whispering canyon cafe and also guys are point only couple areas you can actually relax get something to eat get something to drink and that's it because artisan point is storybook dining which is featured snow white they do have plenty of snow white art for sale look at this that is amazing that is the diamond mine mining with the dwarves unbelievable I don't even think it has a price tag on it but that's expensive I bet the frame alone they do offer mobile check-in so you can just open up your app and say you're ready to eat and check yourself in and then they can call you whenever you're ready or you can line up and actually check in right here they do have the separators and they just called me in so here we go hello very excited I love the tables in here it's so nice very colorful get to take the mask off thank you she said I'm handsome oh I feel very special now I think I'm gonna scan the menu anyways so there it goes I mean I know what I'm going for I'm definitely going for the traditional but I wanted to show you guys what they'd actually all comes with so the traditional comes with oak smoked mustard barbecue beef brisket maple chipotle pork ribs slow smoke pulled pork citrus herb chicken western style sausage smashed potatoes butter corn and green beans all you care to enjoy for $34 that's what I like and like I said they have different options the pig the land the sea and the plant-based the reason I went with the traditional is because I'm kind of really in the mood for brisket I do love brisket I love trails and brisket so that's why I went with that one if not I probably would have went with the pig because I do like a lot of pork but I think instead of brisket you get wings normally when you dine at the whisper and can in cafe the actual cast members are very theatrical when it comes to waiting on you for instance sometimes they'll be more off-putting like you're inconveniencing them or they could literally throw a stack of straws at you and god forbid you ask for ketchup here but because of the current restrictions a lot of that is toned down quite tremendously but as you've seen when we walked in I got talked to probably about three times just on my way to the table and as people just walk about they still stop and actually say some random things to you which is really funny before you actually get your platter you get a serving of cornbread and coleslaw oh right on time but I actually don't like coleslaw so I just went with the cornbread and look at that look at that butter it's like a honey butter I like it well I don't know if I like it I probably won't like it I don't like butter but it looks good but I'm not going to fall for their antics I know what they do here they give you all this cornbread to fill you up so you don't eat an extra serving of the platter but let me tell you something I'm in the mood for the meat sweats so I'm going to just taste the cornbread it's very good I said I wasn't going to fall for it but I already ate three pieces of that cornbread so I'm gonna like distance it over there to my friends you know let them have some of my cornbread thank you and look at that the skillet is here this is a lot of food for one person man I do know though if you do like something like in particular then you can just ask for a little bit more of that you know what I mean so like if I really like the sausage I can be like can I just have a little bit more sausage not the whole skillet so this is really really awesome but the chef came out and actually brought me the ingredients for the pig platter so that is the burnt ends or the pork belly and the piggy wings and then he also brought me some of the salmon so that way I can taste pretty much all of the platters that's awesome right he also said I'm very happy that you found your phone isn't that awesome so that means he must have watched my video from Animal Kingdom I don't think I'm going to be able to just go bike by bike and tell you what I think about each item because because he brought out those other things I have one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve twelve different food items to try here so I think I'll just eat it and then pinpoint some of the things that I think are just phenomenal and just overall talk about it once I get done they also told me that the mashed potatoes were like their signature item they said it's like their own recipe so I think I'm going to try some of these smashed potatoes here they look really creamy and rich that's good potatoes oh wow good job I don't know uh no the service listen here go back to your section are you lost unbelievable I think I got the brisket and uh the pulled pork I love the sausage the sausage is my favorite yeah I destroyed the sausage yeah that was I have officially tried just about every single thing except for the piggy wings and I have to say the sausage was probably my favorite thing I really love the sausage everything has a big smoky flavor to it and I like that I like it a lot so I might as well try these piggy wings here maybe not how to eat them that's good oh yeah the cast member just came over and asked me how everything was and I said wow I don't think I'm gonna be able to finish this because I really don't think I'm gonna be able to finish this and she said that because I'm one single person I got the single person skillet so this is actually a single person skillet if there's two people they give you two of each meat and then so on so like if there's three they give you three and eventually there's bigger size skillets so I couldn't even finish the one person skillet which makes me a little bit sad and now I think I am finished dinner was absolutely delicious I love the staff here they are in such great spirits and they're doing a great time making everything magical joking around like I said they have some limitations to what they normally could do they can't do any more but they're still making the best of the situation and I appreciate that so kudos to them and I'm not just saying that because they brought me some extra food they were really fantastic and if I was actually staying here I probably would come over here after dinner and just fall asleep in front of the fireplace and then probably wake up and walk up to my room but unfortunately I have to go home and I know if I sat down in front of that fireplace there would have been lights out so that's going to do it for me today I hope you guys enjoyed the video I enjoyed making it and we'll see you next time bye


Spongebob Squarepants is such a happy and cheery show. It has characters such as Spongebob, Squidward, Sandy, Mr. Krabs and many more. But it isn't as cheery as you might think. I was flipping through channels one day because I was trying to find something to watch while I ate lunch. I suddenly found that Nick was airing a new Spongebob episode. I went to that channel. There were a few commercials before the program. One cocked my eye. An announcer for the commercial said, as follows. A new, special Spongebob episode comes on in just a moment. But don't switch to another channel, because the episode is so special. This is the only time you get to watch it, only on Nick. I was confused. It was so special, it would never air again. I continued waiting. A few minutes later, the familiar Spongebob intro began to play. It looked slightly off-centered and tilted, but I didn't care enough to question it. After the intro, the screen turned back to normal. The title card was blue and it read Patrick's degradation. There was no sound for the title card, though. I wasn't easy. The opening credits played. Bubbles covered the screen, only to soon disappear and transition to the next scene. Blacati Nuea, one of the most happy music tracks in the series, began playing. While the sun was coming up, Spongebob was seen happily skipping to the crusty crab to do his job, as a fry cook. Patrick's rock was seen, slightly opened. Patrick peeked out at Spongebob. The happy music that was once playing immediately stopped and was replaced with sad music. How does he keep this happiness up so well? Patrick moaned. I was a little frightened at his sentence. It's like he uses something to do it. And he six-signs to happy all the time. But he doesn't know how I am. Patrick continued. I can't live with it. If I can't live with it, I'll at least stuck it. At this point, I was starting to get really scared. I knew why the episode was only airing once. I must think of a plan. A plan to stop Spongebob Zero once and for all. A bubble transition appeared briefly. In the next scene, Patrick was walking to Spongebob's house with a very serious expression. Patrick swung open the door. Spongebob was nowhere to be found, so he was probably still at work. Patrick grabbed the TV and smashed it into the wall. He then ripped at the couch with a crowbar he had brought along with him. He also had hammers, axes and other various tools in a box that he brought with him also. He was destroying everything. When no furniture remained, Patrick grabbed a sledgehammer and began making huge holes in the walls. The pineapple was crumbling above Patrick, who was laughing psychotically. A faint crying could be heard. Then a voice whispered, Save yourself, if you still have the energy. Which made me feel horrified. I couldn't believe that Patrick, the peer meaning of fun and joy, would do such a destructive act. The scene panned to Spongebob, who was getting his things together before he left for home. He sighed a happy sigh and skipped away. He slowed down his skipping until he stopped. His face was in utter shock and horror. He trembled as he ran to his dilapidated pineapple home. He slipped through the open door and stopped to see Patrick, his best friend, turning the house to rubble. A single tear ran down Spongebob's face. Spongebob took a step backwards. Patrick. He yelled. He paused for a moment. The screen began to get redder. Why? I'm sorry, Spongebob, that I can't live with your luck and joy. It's all too much. Patrick growled at a shocked Spongebob. Spongebob tried to attack Patrick, but Patrick swung an axe and the scene immediately changed to Spongebob limping out of his house with half of a leg and part of his face missing from his body. Wheezing pain screams and making ear piercing, choking noises. I couldn't believe I had just watched this grueling horror happening in front of me. I wanted to change the channel, but I had to see what would happen next. Spongebob suddenly slammed his face on the ground, looking pale. Patrick walked behind him. He's dead. Finally. Patrick cheered. He ran to Squidward's house. He knocked on the door. As voices could be heard mumbling and crying, Squidward opened the door. Patrick pulled out a pocketknife and jazzed Squidward through the side of his head. Squidward, with a surprised expression, slumped over and fell to the ground, blood dripping from the door. Static started to overlap Squidward's corpse. Then, Patrick left the scene. About 15 seconds passed. The camera panned to Mr. Krabs' home, a giant anchor. Patrick stood at the door, looking down at something. The camera quickly zoomed into the object Patrick was looking at. It turned out to be Mr. Krabs' dead body. Patrick began going into disgusting detail of how the corpse looked. It's arm! It's all the way over where your eyes are, and your eyes are in my tummy! He's got a cracked heel, because I hit it with a sledgehammer and... I didn't hear anything else, because I had ran into the bathroom to vomit, as that description was sickening and repulsive to hear. I wished that I had never watched this episode, and it was just a bad dream. I went back into the room, and thank God, the scene had ended. But the next one wasn't any better. Instead of the music that was playing, there were sounds of people screaming at each other, they were saying that they were going to kill each other, and then you could hear punching and stabbing. With those horrible sounds happening in the background, there was Patrick walking to Sandy's place. It was presumably sunset, as the sky was pink and the half-visible sun was bright red. Sandy was working on an experiment in the tree in her tree dome. Patrick opened both doors that led into the dome. He was holding a large rock. Sandy!  Patrick said, I was a little confused, but I guessed that Patrick might have become more lighthearted, because Sandy was friendly. Sandy jumped from the tree with a Yee-haw! and fell to the ground with a somersault. Howdy, Patrick. She said in a strong Texan accent, What's up? So, do you see this rock? Patrick asked. Yep. Sandy replied, What's this? Patrick explained. He then lifted it up, heaving, and tossed it at the glass. Patrick, no! Sandy gasped. The rock broke through the glass and water poured like a waterfall into the dome. Sandy screamed, Her lungs filling to the brim with water. Patrick smiled as the water gushed into the hole in the glass. Sandy's head was red and her lips were blue. She scurred to find an air spot, but the water got the best of her. Her body floated out into the ocean.   Patrick looked at her. He frowned. I killed everyone I ever loved. He began to realize that what he did was bad. He pulled out a butcher knife from his back pocket. He put it to his throat. He hesitated long enough to say through his teeth. I'm so sorry.  He bled all over the street as Dary the Snail was watching. Dary looked at the camera with a traumatized expression on his face. He meowed in a frightened way. The camera faded to black. The TV shut off on its own. I was happy that it was over, but horrified that I had watched it. Every night, I think of how Patrick slaughtered everyone who made him who he was. I think of how he was so innocent. But I don't know what to believe in that show. I've completely stopped watching TV. I think it's for the best.