Revived Thoughts + Martyrs and Missionaries Top 5 Episodes of 2024

[00:00:00] Revived Thoughts is a production of Revived Studios

[00:00:17] This is Troy and Joel and Elise for the Top 5 Episode Summary Review that we do every single year

[00:00:25] and it is great to be here. Joel and Elise, you guys can go ahead and say hi simultaneously.

[00:00:31] Hello there!

[00:00:32] Oh, that wasn't simultaneous at all.

[00:00:33] No, it was pretty close though. It was pretty close.

[00:00:36] If you are a listener to Revived Thoughts, Elise is the host of Martyrs and Missionaries,

[00:00:40] the other podcast that Revived Studios does, and if you are a listener to Martyrs and Missionaries,

[00:00:47] then Joel and I host the podcast Revived Thoughts. That is the other one that Revived Studios does.

[00:00:54] And Elise and I are married, so we are currently sharing one microphone right now as we speak into it.

[00:00:59] Just how close we are.

[00:01:00] That's right. We only need one between us.

[00:01:02] And Joel, you are not with us. You are in Kansas City videoing, not videoing, teleconference,

[00:01:08] but you are calling in. I don't know. We are doing this thing.

[00:01:12] And so that is how we are recording this for everyone who is listening right now.

[00:01:17] You are going to say which color shirt you are wearing.

[00:01:19] I don't know.

[00:01:20] And I will say, big year for the studio.

[00:01:22] I had just crunched the numbers on this last night, and it is exciting.

[00:01:26] We can finally pop the imaginary champagne bottles if we wanted to,

[00:01:30] because our studio has hit officially one million downloads between all of our podcasts,

[00:01:36] almost exclusively Revived Thoughts and Martyrs and Missionaries.

[00:01:39] But between those two shows, one million downloads this month.

[00:01:44] A million, when I checked it yesterday, it was a million 5,000 downloads.

[00:01:49] So we are officially crossed at some time in the past probably week and a half or so.

[00:01:54] So congratulations, everybody. Good job.

[00:01:56] Keeping up the good work.

[00:01:58] I don't know.

[00:02:00] I think a lot of people don't quite understand how much of a feat that is.

[00:02:05] That's pretty cool for us.

[00:02:06] Troy and I have been in the podcast industry for some time with some pretty big flops in our past.

[00:02:13] And so, especially, I don't know, being in the circles of stuff,

[00:02:19] it's hard to find a show or to create a show that finds an audience in the way that R has.

[00:02:24] And so it's super encouraging and exciting to see that, yeah, that people like this.

[00:02:29] And it's with the show that everyone told us would be the least likely and the hardest to do that with.

[00:02:36] And they were proven wrong, which is exciting.

[00:02:39] They were.

[00:02:39] No, those early days, not very encouraging.

[00:02:42] But a few people here and there would help us out.

[00:02:44] But overall, it was kind of a, this is a bad idea.

[00:02:47] Don't go forward with it.

[00:02:47] But Joel, you believed in it and I believed in it.

[00:02:50] So we went forward.

[00:02:50] I believed in you, Troy.

[00:02:52] I knew you were onto something here.

[00:02:54] Thank you, Joel.

[00:02:55] I appreciate that.

[00:02:56] Well, we couldn't have done it without you.

[00:02:57] And now we're at a million.

[00:02:58] We couldn't have done it without you either, Elise, in your show.

[00:03:01] I know you couldn't have.

[00:03:01] Which was on her own that she kind of branched off into and jumped in as well.

[00:03:08] Yes.

[00:03:09] Am I supposed to say more about that?

[00:03:10] Yes.

[00:03:11] No.

[00:03:12] I'm excited about it.

[00:03:13] I think it's pretty cool.

[00:03:14] So, yeah.

[00:03:15] Yay, one million downloads.

[00:03:17] A million downloads for people who don't follow podcasting.

[00:03:20] I don't really know what to compare it to.

[00:03:22] It is a very big milestone that very few podcasts end up ever hitting.

[00:03:27] If you look on, there are, it's harder to find.

[00:03:29] So if you're on YouTube or something like that, you can see just by clicking a button.

[00:03:33] Oh, that's how many people are subscribed.

[00:03:34] That's how many people follow.

[00:03:35] That's how many views their episodes get.

[00:03:38] Podcasting is much more of a mirage.

[00:03:40] We can see our downloads, but we can't even compare them to other people

[00:03:43] because they don't release their downloads.

[00:03:46] So it's very difficult, but there are people who chart it.

[00:03:48] And if you've worked at it a while, you can figure out where everything is at.

[00:03:52] And our shows are in the top 1% of podcasts.

[00:03:55] That's not just Christian podcasts or church history podcasts.

[00:03:58] That is just in podcast period.

[00:04:00] We are ranked in the top 1%.

[00:04:02] And again, hitting a million downloads.

[00:04:04] I've seen very large shows with names and famous people,

[00:04:08] and they'll be very happy when they hit their 1 million downloads.

[00:04:10] And it's incredible that we can say that this studio has been able to do that.

[00:04:14] So we feel very blessed, and to millions more in the future, hopefully, someday.

[00:04:20] But hey.

[00:04:21] All right.

[00:04:22] But you did not come here to listen to our...

[00:04:25] Wait, let's mention that list, that top 100 list.

[00:04:30] Oh, yeah, that's true.

[00:04:32] So recently, too, our show, Revive Thoughts, was also featured on Feedspot,

[00:04:36] which is like a giant link conglomerator that did mention us

[00:04:41] and sent us a direct email to tell us they put us in their top 34,

[00:04:44] was our rank over 100 podcasts.

[00:04:47] And I mean, the very first one, oh, man, was it Stephen Furtick or something like that?

[00:04:51] Which is not to say Elevation Worship.

[00:04:53] It's not to say that we are endorsing the people.

[00:04:56] This link doesn't endorse these podcasts over other things.

[00:05:01] It's looking at podcasts in the Christian demographic.

[00:05:06] It was just purely saying, here's where you ranked out of these 100,

[00:05:09] and we put you in rank 34, which is, I mean, absolutely incredible.

[00:05:13] If you look at some of the other names on that list,

[00:05:16] I was blown away by some of the people we were considered larger than.

[00:05:20] And some of the people that we were smaller than, you know,

[00:05:22] were very, very large names of big Christian things

[00:05:26] that you would have probably heard of

[00:05:27] that were not that much bigger ahead of us in their list of rankings.

[00:05:30] So, yeah, we feel like there's been a lot of good stuff there.

[00:05:33] Our show is also at 193 Apple five-star reviews right now

[00:05:38] with a perfect 5.0 somehow.

[00:05:41] Still, we've kept that for years.

[00:05:43] And we thank you for that because we have a pretty controversial show.

[00:05:46] And it's actually crazy that our show has never been hit too hard.

[00:05:49] And Elise, you have how many ratings on Martyrs and Missionaries right now?

[00:05:53] I think it's about 128.

[00:05:55] 120, just about around.

[00:05:57] I think it's about that.

[00:05:58] We looked at it earlier and I forget.

[00:05:59] It's like 128.

[00:06:00] So, congratulations to you.

[00:06:01] So, Bo Show is doing a lot of ratings.

[00:06:03] A lot of people are listening.

[00:06:04] And, yeah, it's really exciting that so many people are, you know,

[00:06:07] tuning into a topic that church history, I do think, is getting more popular.

[00:06:12] Like, I do think this subject, we are on the right trend lines.

[00:06:15] We may have been a little bit ahead of everybody.

[00:06:17] I remember in 2019 and 2018 when we were first talking about this stuff,

[00:06:20] there wasn't that much of a push for what we're doing.

[00:06:22] And there was really only one other podcast that was doing church history stuff.

[00:06:27] I feel like this is starting to become a realm people are excited about.

[00:06:30] I just, when I mention this stuff to people I meet now,

[00:06:33] there's a lot more interest in it than there was two or even three years ago.

[00:06:38] Like, if people seem to be going towards the subjects,

[00:06:40] I think that we'll see even more people coming into this realm

[00:06:44] and following us as time goes on.

[00:06:47] All right, but now you're ready.

[00:06:48] Now you are, now is the moment.

[00:06:49] You want to hear what are our top five episodes of this year.

[00:06:53] And we also have a tradition going back to at least last year,

[00:06:57] I can't remember if we did it the year before,

[00:06:58] where we are doing a little church history trivia.

[00:07:00] For you, the listener, and for Elise and Joel,

[00:07:03] there is an opportunity for you to get involved and to see how you're doing.

[00:07:09] Now, you can't really get involved and play the game,

[00:07:10] but you can listen to Joel and Elise play the game.

[00:07:13] I will be asking them church history trivia questions.

[00:07:16] They will try to guess the answer.

[00:07:19] There will be some scores kept.

[00:07:21] And whoever ends up getting the highest score at the end of the night,

[00:07:24] they win church history trivia for this year.

[00:07:26] It's based off a game of church history trivia.

[00:07:28] We once played a long time ago with other podcasts.

[00:07:30] We miss it.

[00:07:31] It was fun.

[00:07:31] But in the meantime, we're playing it right now with Joel and Elise.

[00:07:34] And this year I have a new way to do it.

[00:07:36] So I, over the summer, put together a map of all of our episodes.

[00:07:39] If you go to revivedthoughts.com and you go to map,

[00:07:43] you can see all of the episodes we've ever done on a trivia geographical map.

[00:07:48] This is just nice if you're kind of wondering, what do I want to listen to?

[00:07:51] There's hundreds of episodes in both of these podcasts.

[00:07:54] Where should I start?

[00:07:55] Well, maybe you're interested in a certain location or certain things.

[00:07:59] And this is kind of just a fun way to see how the church has affected all of these different locations.

[00:08:04] Now, some of these places like England and the United States have a lot more dots on them

[00:08:08] than some other places like, for example, Russia or all of South America.

[00:08:13] Russia has one.

[00:08:13] Russia does have one.

[00:08:14] And South America does have a few.

[00:08:16] But it is harder to get good Christian church history from some of those locations,

[00:08:20] even though it has kind of helped me target places to focus on as well.

[00:08:24] So from that map.

[00:08:26] Hold on.

[00:08:26] Hold on.

[00:08:26] Hold on.

[00:08:27] Hold on.

[00:08:27] Hold on.

[00:08:27] I'm already seeing a description.

[00:08:28] I'm already seeing a nitpick here.

[00:08:30] And that is, Troy, you and Elise are sitting right next to each other.

[00:08:35] We are sitting next to each other.

[00:08:37] I'm supposed to know that she's not eyeballing some answers without me knowing.

[00:08:41] Because I'm going to tell you right now, geography is not my strong suit.

[00:08:45] I mean, I enjoyed it in elementary school.

[00:08:47] But that was third grade.

[00:08:48] This is different stuff.

[00:08:49] Here's the thing.

[00:08:49] This is Rich coming from the guy last year who was totally Googling the answers.

[00:08:53] And that's how he won.

[00:08:54] I did not.

[00:08:55] I did not.

[00:08:58] She already knew we had one in Russia, which makes me think there was a map up somewhere.

[00:09:02] That's why this is my episode.

[00:09:03] Actually, she has no idea what episodes we're going to pick.

[00:09:06] I don't even fully know because I'm just going to kind of pick them as we go here.

[00:09:09] So there's no way for her to know.

[00:09:10] I have my phone turned away from her with the map.

[00:09:13] It's so easy to read map, revivethoughts.com map.

[00:09:17] And you can, so I will just show you how easy it is throughout the episode.

[00:09:20] I feel like by the end of this episode, not only do people have five great sermons or

[00:09:24] Martyrs and Missionaries episodes to check out, but they also have an amazing map that

[00:09:28] they will want to play.

[00:09:29] Wouldn't they have 10?

[00:09:30] Well, Joel and I's episodes might cross over.

[00:09:32] Which ones to do.

[00:09:33] But anyway, by the end of this episode, for sure, they're going to go, wow, this is such

[00:09:36] a fun game.

[00:09:38] Every party game.

[00:09:39] Nobody's going to look at this map.

[00:09:39] Every New Year's Eve party is going to be full of people playing this map game.

[00:09:43] You're so confident.

[00:09:45] I am.

[00:09:46] But now let me explain too.

[00:09:47] Why do we do this episode?

[00:09:49] It's actually our last year.

[00:09:50] According to Spotify, this was our most listened to episode of the year, was our 2023

[00:09:55] year in review.

[00:09:56] The reason we do this episode is not just for it's a fun chance for me and Joel and at

[00:09:59] least all be on the same program once a year, which is kind of fun too,

[00:10:02] because we don't get to do that.

[00:10:03] Even though we're, you know, podcasting in the same realm, our shows don't cross over

[00:10:07] that much.

[00:10:07] But the other reason it's kind of nice too is for you.

[00:10:10] You as a listener have, in our case, dozens of episodes every year.

[00:10:14] In Elise's case, less, but still many episodes to choose from.

[00:10:17] It might be easier for you.

[00:10:18] That was subtle.

[00:10:19] That was subtle.

[00:10:19] But it might be, it might be, you might be asking, where can I start?

[00:10:22] Like, where was a good place to go in?

[00:10:24] Well, this is kind of a list of episodes that maybe you'll hear Joel and I describe them

[00:10:28] and maybe you'll be curious or at least describe hers and you'll go, I want to listen to that

[00:10:32] one.

[00:10:32] This is kind of your, here's a roadmap from the last year of episodes to check out.

[00:10:36] That doesn't mean any of the other episodes are bad.

[00:10:38] I, this was probably, I think the hardest year I've ever had in trying to cross out which

[00:10:43] episodes I didn't want to be on this list.

[00:10:45] It was, it was brutal.

[00:10:47] I was, I was, I could not believe how many good episodes we've had this year, but it doesn't

[00:10:52] mean anything.

[00:10:53] If you're a speaker, by the way, and you, you, you read an episode for us, did not

[00:10:56] mean you did a bad job, bad job, or we didn't love you as a speaker or anything like that.

[00:10:59] This is purely just out of, you know, almost impossible task of picking episodes.

[00:11:04] These were the ones that stood out to me as ones you didn't want to miss this year, but

[00:11:08] they're all extremely, extremely, in my opinion.

[00:11:10] Very good.

[00:11:11] But let's start with trivia.

[00:11:12] Let's go ahead and get Joel and Elise some points on the board.

[00:11:15] I'll start with you, Joel, and then I'll give, if you can't guess it, Elise will get

[00:11:19] a chance to guess.

[00:11:20] You guys can kind of go back and forth.

[00:11:21] So, that's my other question is, how is this going to work?

[00:11:24] Because, like, whoever goes first is at a disadvantage because whoever goes second has the first

[00:11:31] person's answer to try to, like...

[00:11:33] Well, I think if you get it right the first time, though, then you get the point.

[00:11:36] That's an advantage.

[00:11:38] Yeah, but then it, process of elimination, it rules it out for the second person.

[00:11:42] We'll see if that's true.

[00:11:43] By the way, it has to be, like, place they're famous for.

[00:11:46] For example, I'm using this as our example.

[00:11:48] If I say Hudson Taylor, don't say Britain.

[00:11:51] Yeah, he's from Britain.

[00:11:52] But you gotta pick China.

[00:11:54] You gotta say China for that to count.

[00:11:55] Or you can't say Hong Kong because he went through...

[00:11:57] No, it's gotta be China, okay?

[00:11:58] Okay.

[00:11:59] So, let's go ahead and start with a nice, easy one to Joel.

[00:12:06] I said nice, easy one, and now I'm suddenly blinking on an eye.

[00:12:09] Oh, Joel, this is a knocker out of the park.

[00:12:11] Just getting you a point on the board here.

[00:12:13] Give me what place is this person famous for, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, go.

[00:12:18] Germany.

[00:12:19] Woo!

[00:12:20] Germany.

[00:12:21] Easy.

[00:12:21] So, that's how it works.

[00:12:22] Just kind of what they're famous for.

[00:12:24] Yes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer did go to America and London, but famous for his time in Germany.

[00:12:29] So, now we get the idea of it.

[00:12:30] That's my only point.

[00:12:31] Elise, now let's pick a really obscure, difficult one for you.

[00:12:34] Elise, what country would...

[00:12:37] Okay, it's actually gonna sound like I picked a really obscure one,

[00:12:40] but what country would Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the three Cappadocian fathers, be from?

[00:12:44] Oh, my gosh.

[00:12:46] I don't know.

[00:12:49] Cappadocia...

[00:12:52] Rome?

[00:12:53] No.

[00:12:53] Cappadocia is not in Rome.

[00:12:54] Sorry.

[00:12:55] Oh, oh, oh, Asia Minor, isn't it?

[00:12:57] Yeah, but what country is that?

[00:12:58] Turkey.

[00:12:59] Turkey.

[00:12:59] Okay, that's how we're playing.

[00:13:01] Okay, good.

[00:13:02] All right, Joel, we'll give one more.

[00:13:04] Well, actually, we'll stop there.

[00:13:05] You guys are one-to-one.

[00:13:06] All right, let's go ahead and begin.

[00:13:08] Who wants to start with their first, number five, in their list of episodes?

[00:13:14] Joel, it sounded like you.

[00:13:15] Go ahead.

[00:13:16] All right, I'll go first, yeah.

[00:13:18] I...

[00:13:19] So, these are semi-no-particular order.

[00:13:22] I don't have, like, a, this is the best.

[00:13:24] These are just, like, five that I jotted down here because I enjoyed.

[00:13:31] And if you haven't listened to it yet, go listen to our revived conversation

[00:13:35] about if we should pay for conferences, like church conferences.

[00:13:38] It gets quite heated.

[00:13:40] It's honestly probably the most Troy and I have ever disagreed on a show.

[00:13:44] But I had a fun time with it.

[00:13:45] And it's still a fun conversation.

[00:13:47] And one that I think is worth thinking about.

[00:13:51] And maybe chatting with your friends about.

[00:13:52] So, go listen to Revive Conversations.

[00:13:54] Should we pay for conferences?

[00:13:56] Troy is of the mind that we shouldn't,

[00:13:58] despite all the logistical advantages it gets.

[00:14:01] I never said you didn't pay anything, per se.

[00:14:05] Well, I think I did, actually.

[00:14:06] I'm aware that you shouldn't be charging people $250 a ticket.

[00:14:09] But I definitely think I put us on the spot now where if we ever did have

[00:14:11] a church history conference, we're going to do it for free.

[00:14:14] So, look forward to that in the future.

[00:14:15] A nice, free church history conference from us.

[00:14:19] Yeah, no, I'm glad you picked that up.

[00:14:21] So, Jill, I actually really wanted that one on my list.

[00:14:24] But I was hoping you would pick it so that I didn't have to.

[00:14:26] And I agree with you.

[00:14:27] I think that is the most intense debate we've had on Revive Thoughts.

[00:14:30] Nothing compared to debates we've had off of Revive Thoughts.

[00:14:33] As old friends, we've had many.

[00:14:34] But on Revive Thoughts, that was definitely our closest and our most.

[00:14:39] We were not on the same side, and you could tell.

[00:14:41] So, I enjoyed that one, and I'm glad you picked it.

[00:14:44] Elise, you're up.

[00:14:45] All right.

[00:14:46] So, you're going to hear lots of different episodes from these guys.

[00:14:49] And I had seven episodes this year, which makes it really easy

[00:14:53] and also very hard to choose from.

[00:14:55] But I have a really good excuse because I was finishing up a history degree.

[00:14:58] That's done now.

[00:15:00] I had to be more episodes.

[00:15:01] 50 or 60 episodes for 2025?

[00:15:05] 75.

[00:15:05] Oh, wow.

[00:15:06] You heard it.

[00:15:07] So, mine would be, I think, early on this year,

[00:15:12] we did How Not to Teach Church History where Troy and I came on and did this one.

[00:15:17] And I'm not picking it because we were just amazing

[00:15:19] and we answered so many questions and all this.

[00:15:21] I'm picking it because we received so many emails from people that were like,

[00:15:25] this was really, really helpful and really enjoyed that conversation.

[00:15:28] So, I figured if everybody was liking it that much, it must have been needed.

[00:15:32] So, therefore, it is on my top five.

[00:15:34] I appreciate you saying that.

[00:15:35] I enjoyed being on that episode.

[00:15:36] I think we put it on both Revive Thoughts and Martyrs and Missionaries.

[00:15:39] A lot of people had a lot of things to say about it, were really positive,

[00:15:41] which was nice because we were giving strong opinions on how not to teach it.

[00:15:45] So, if you're a pastor or a teacher or a professor, devo leader, anything out there,

[00:15:50] and you interact with church history, and you should be out there teaching a little bit,

[00:15:53] maybe that episode would be helpful on what mistakes not to be doing.

[00:15:56] Now, it's a lot easier to tell you how not to do something than how to do it

[00:16:00] because then people were like, so how should you do it?

[00:16:02] And we're like, we're going to get right up on that episode.

[00:16:04] And here, nine, ten months later, we still haven't told you how to do it.

[00:16:07] So, I'm not sure that I know the answer how to perfectly do it.

[00:16:11] But you know how not to.

[00:16:12] But it's a lot easier to tell you what not to do than it is to tell you what to do.

[00:16:15] All right.

[00:16:16] So, my number five episode is a tie, which is not uncommon on my list.

[00:16:20] There are a lot of ties.

[00:16:22] But this year, I wanted to mention a very recent episode by Joel,

[00:16:26] the Roman Coliseum episode.

[00:16:27] I really enjoyed that episode.

[00:16:29] I listened to it while on the track running.

[00:16:31] I had no input.

[00:16:32] Joel completely from top to finish did that episode.

[00:16:35] And I just, I listened to it like you listening right now listen to our episodes with no input.

[00:16:40] It was just fun to hear somebody else doing all of it and just enjoying it while I ran on the track for a while.

[00:16:45] So, I really enjoyed that episode.

[00:16:46] And I tied it with the other episode that only had one of us on it, which was our French Revolution episode.

[00:16:52] I heard a lot of great feedback from people on that French Revolution one.

[00:16:55] And it was for me, I had been kind of like collecting facts about the French Revolution for years.

[00:17:00] So, it was nice to finally put it all into a single episode and just get it out there.

[00:17:04] So, I love, I like those side history projects that Joel and I do.

[00:17:09] And that was just fun.

[00:17:10] So, yeah, those are my number five tied episodes.

[00:17:13] And now, back to Church History Trivia.

[00:17:15] Are you ready?

[00:17:17] Let's go.

[00:17:17] Okay.

[00:17:18] Let's go.

[00:17:18] All right.

[00:17:18] Elise, I'm going to jump on to you here and hit you with a tough one.

[00:17:24] Maybe not a tough one.

[00:17:25] Oh, that's tough.

[00:17:26] Oh, that's tough.

[00:17:28] All right.

[00:17:30] What country is Augustine from?

[00:17:35] Go.

[00:17:36] What country?

[00:17:37] Like today, if you were to put this country on a map, where would this be?

[00:17:41] Ethiopia, yeah.

[00:17:42] Not Ethiopia.

[00:17:44] Joel, what do you think?

[00:17:45] Okay.

[00:17:46] It turns over to me.

[00:17:47] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:17:51] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:17:58] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:18:00] Is that working?

[00:18:01] No.

[00:18:02] No, no, no.

[00:18:04] Is he Beetlejuice?

[00:18:06] Let's go with, I'm going to go Italy.

[00:18:10] Okay.

[00:18:11] And that was also incorrect.

[00:18:12] Elise was closer, though.

[00:18:14] Now, I'm going to give Elise and you a hint.

[00:18:15] It's the same country that Lilius Trotter will end up going to.

[00:18:19] Algeria.

[00:18:19] Algeria.

[00:18:20] Perfect.

[00:18:20] Elise got that hint.

[00:18:21] So, yeah, Algeria, not Italy.

[00:18:24] Does that count for me?

[00:18:25] Or is that?

[00:18:26] Yeah.

[00:18:26] That was your second chance to get it.

[00:18:27] So, there you go.

[00:18:28] There's no chance.

[00:18:29] I would have gotten that.

[00:18:29] Yeah.

[00:18:30] Yeah.

[00:18:31] Well, each of you get two chances.

[00:18:33] Now, technically, Augustine did spend time in Rome, but he's much more famous for his time

[00:18:37] in North Africa.

[00:18:38] So, I feel like that's where you got to go.

[00:18:40] All right.

[00:18:40] Next one.

[00:18:42] A little fun one for you.

[00:18:45] Joel, where was Soren Kierkegaard from?

[00:18:50] Kierkegaard.

[00:18:52] Soren Kierkegaard.

[00:18:53] I'm thinking Europe.

[00:18:54] I'm thinking Middle Europe.

[00:18:55] I'm thinking France.

[00:18:59] Close.

[00:18:59] You're in the right ballpark, but it wasn't France.

[00:19:03] Elise?

[00:19:03] Denmark, yeah.

[00:19:04] Denmark.

[00:19:05] Elise is correct.

[00:19:05] That was Denmark.

[00:19:06] Don't worry if your listener are worried.

[00:19:08] I have the map tilted towards myself.

[00:19:10] All right.

[00:19:11] So, in round two here of Church History Trivia Geography Edition, Elise has three.

[00:19:16] Joel has one.

[00:19:17] I feel very confident Joel is going to make a resounding comeback here in the next round.

[00:19:23] He was just letting her get confident.

[00:19:25] I know Joel.

[00:19:26] That's right.

[00:19:26] This is what happened last year.

[00:19:28] It's true, actually.

[00:19:30] All right.

[00:19:31] Number four.

[00:19:32] I will go first on my episode since I made Joel go first last time.

[00:19:35] My number four sermon person of the year was William Chalmers Burns.

[00:19:41] What a cool guy.

[00:19:42] This guy encouraged Hudson Taylor.

[00:19:44] This guy encouraged Robert Murray McChain and also gave his funeral sermon, which is what

[00:19:49] part of his sermon we highlighted on Revive Thoughts.

[00:19:52] And I only recently found out he was also deeply involved in the life of Andrew Murray.

[00:19:57] So, he basically affected three or four continents.

[00:20:00] And that's not something the average person can probably say, that the heroes of the faith

[00:20:05] many of us look up to were all encouraged by this one man interacting and really, truly

[00:20:11] crossing paths with all of them at the exact right moment they needed him.

[00:20:14] It is amazing that he's not like a household name.

[00:20:17] So, William Chalmers Burns, number four.

[00:20:19] I just was floored getting to learn his story and I feel blessed to have worked with it.

[00:20:24] Elise, go ahead.

[00:20:25] All right.

[00:20:26] So, my number four is a tie between Mary Reed and Mariah Fearing.

[00:20:31] So, Mary Reed was a missionary to lepers, not leopards, that kind of show, lepers to India,

[00:20:37] in India.

[00:20:38] And then Mariah Fearing was a missionary to the Congo Free State.

[00:20:42] They were both incredible women who went to very different places, but both very hard

[00:20:47] places because Mariah Fearing was a retiree and a former slave.

[00:20:52] And Mary Reed was working in India when she contracted leprosy and then decided that instead

[00:20:57] of living out the rest of her days in one of the three leper colonies or whatever, the

[00:21:03] asylums in the United States, that she would head back and go to one in India, which is

[00:21:08] pretty impressive.

[00:21:09] So, yeah, those two are tied for me.

[00:21:15] All right, Joel, you're up.

[00:21:16] My turn.

[00:21:19] I put Jerome.

[00:21:20] He did a sermon on Psalms 5, and I think it's just interesting more for the novelty of it.

[00:21:26] I think it's neat.

[00:21:27] We have a Jerome episode.

[00:21:28] We hear about Jerome, but he didn't really, at least I had no idea what he would actually,

[00:21:34] what his preaching style was.

[00:21:36] And so, I think that's a neat inclusion in our collection.

[00:21:40] All right, Joel.

[00:21:41] I appreciate that.

[00:21:42] I actually saw Jerome and thought about him because he is a novelty in that sense of

[00:21:47] like, he's not somebody you're going to see on every list.

[00:21:50] I can say with confidence, we're probably one of the only history podcasts in the world

[00:21:55] that spent any time on Jerome this year.

[00:21:57] But it was fun.

[00:21:57] It was cool.

[00:21:58] And it's always just nice to get those old guys.

[00:22:00] We have more ancient fathers of the faith in that sense, probably tracked on our show

[00:22:06] than just very few shows compared to that.

[00:22:09] It's not a brag.

[00:22:10] It's just the nature of what we do.

[00:22:11] We have all these things.

[00:22:12] And we have some really cool ones coming up in this next year, too, that once people record

[00:22:15] them, I'm very excited to get them out.

[00:22:17] So, all right.

[00:22:18] You guys are ready.

[00:22:19] Church History Trivia.

[00:22:20] Yes.

[00:22:21] Geography Edition.

[00:22:22] Round.

[00:22:23] I don't know what number one.

[00:22:24] Three.

[00:22:24] I think it's round three.

[00:22:25] Okay.

[00:22:26] This one.

[00:22:27] Joel, I'm going to let you go first.

[00:22:28] Yeah.

[00:22:29] Here and get your first crack at it.

[00:22:30] Oh, man.

[00:22:31] Shoot.

[00:22:31] I had a very nice person picked out for you.

[00:22:34] And then I moved my finger off of it.

[00:22:36] And I can't find it.

[00:22:36] Oh, okay.

[00:22:37] Joel, this one's for you.

[00:22:39] Where was George Matheson located?

[00:22:42] America?

[00:22:45] Sorry.

[00:22:46] Not America.

[00:22:47] Good guess.

[00:22:47] Has a nice name.

[00:22:49] All right, Elise.

[00:22:49] Turn it over to you.

[00:22:50] Chance to steal.

[00:22:51] Joel.

[00:22:51] I'm going to say it's not Germany because we just did Germany.

[00:22:54] Not Germany.

[00:22:55] George doesn't sound like a very German name.

[00:22:56] Well, no.

[00:22:57] It sounds, well, England?

[00:23:01] I'm going to say England is not an acceptable answer.

[00:23:03] Sorry.

[00:23:04] All right, Joel.

[00:23:04] Back to you.

[00:23:05] Do we get a layer of hint?

[00:23:09] Okay.

[00:23:10] If you remember, he was the blind pastor that preached in front of Queen Victoria that

[00:23:14] we covered on our show.

[00:23:15] Sounds like England to me.

[00:23:17] Yeah.

[00:23:17] I'm going to say France.

[00:23:19] France.

[00:23:19] France.

[00:23:20] Came over from France.

[00:23:21] No, he did not come over from France.

[00:23:23] I'm sorry.

[00:23:24] Okay, so this is the country they ministered to, right?

[00:23:28] It is where he's traditionally considered to be from, and England and America and France

[00:23:32] are not it.

[00:23:33] I think I actually just remembered it.

[00:23:37] Joel, I might give you a bonus chance here.

[00:23:39] No.

[00:23:39] At least you can't get it.

[00:23:40] Okay, something European.

[00:23:42] This is correct.

[00:23:43] Okay.

[00:23:44] We've guessed England, France, Germany.

[00:23:47] We've done Denmark.

[00:23:47] That's not a thing.

[00:23:49] Oh, goodness.

[00:23:50] Hmm.

[00:23:51] Would it be Italy?

[00:23:54] No.

[00:23:55] That classic Italian name, George Matheson.

[00:23:57] I don't know.

[00:23:58] So he was from Scotland.

[00:24:00] Oh, come on.

[00:24:01] Scotland.

[00:24:02] Hanging above England.

[00:24:03] That's why he was hanging out with Queen Victoria, but not from England.

[00:24:08] Okay.

[00:24:08] So that was round number one.

[00:24:10] All right.

[00:24:11] Elise, you're going to get the first.

[00:24:13] I feel that one's maybe too easy there.

[00:24:14] I don't want to give it to you.

[00:24:15] Too easy here.

[00:24:17] Let's see what we got.

[00:24:18] Looking for a good one.

[00:24:21] Okay.

[00:24:21] Elise, for you, where did Ambrose minister at?

[00:24:27] Hmm.

[00:24:28] How interesting.

[00:24:31] Hmm.

[00:24:32] Early church father, help mentor.

[00:24:33] Yes.

[00:24:34] Yes.

[00:24:35] Yes.

[00:24:35] Oh, gosh.

[00:24:37] What you're feeling right now, Elise, is how I feel like after every question.

[00:24:42] Ambrose.

[00:24:43] Okay.

[00:24:43] Hang on.

[00:24:44] I feel like I really should know this.

[00:24:45] Try singing it.

[00:24:45] I find it helps not at all.

[00:24:48] That's a, yeah.

[00:24:49] I'm going to try that one.

[00:24:50] Nobody wants to hear that.

[00:24:51] What am I?

[00:24:52] Oh, gosh.

[00:24:53] To the listener, though, listen to the fun they're having.

[00:24:56] This could be a game you play on New Year's Eve with your map.

[00:25:00] Ambrose.

[00:25:01] Ambrose.

[00:25:01] Ambrose.

[00:25:03] Ah, it's like the entire Middle East had disappeared for me in all of Europe.

[00:25:09] Basically entire continents.

[00:25:10] That's going to be a problem for you answering this question.

[00:25:13] I know.

[00:25:13] I, okay, if I had to throw something out.

[00:25:15] Oh, gosh.

[00:25:18] Oh, ma, ma.

[00:25:20] Nope.

[00:25:21] Something, something's worth an M.

[00:25:24] Am I going to have to pass it to Joel?

[00:25:25] Yeah, pass it to Joel.

[00:25:26] Okay, Joel at least gave you ma, ma.

[00:25:28] So that was not correct.

[00:25:29] I don't know.

[00:25:30] Ambrose.

[00:25:30] Okay, Ambrose is old.

[00:25:34] So it's an old country.

[00:25:37] The old country is correct.

[00:25:40] It's an old country.

[00:25:42] Like his full name has a location in it.

[00:25:45] Ambrose of somewhere.

[00:25:48] And I'm blanking on that too.

[00:25:49] When they're old like that, they do have that tendency.

[00:25:52] Yeah.

[00:25:52] Why don't we do that anymore?

[00:25:54] I'd like to start calling you Joel of Kansas City.

[00:25:55] You can call me.

[00:25:56] That sounds acceptable.

[00:25:59] Ambrose of, I don't know.

[00:26:02] Let's go back to Italy.

[00:26:03] Let's go back to Italy.

[00:26:04] Is he from Italy?

[00:26:05] Joel is correct.

[00:26:05] It is Italy.

[00:26:06] What?

[00:26:06] I almost said Italy.

[00:26:08] You said ma.

[00:26:09] No, but I almost didn't.

[00:26:10] I thought Italy.

[00:26:10] I've been wrong on Italy like every time.

[00:26:12] You said ma.

[00:26:13] All right, Joel.

[00:26:14] Congratulations.

[00:26:15] All right.

[00:26:15] So the score is now three to two.

[00:26:17] All right.

[00:26:17] I think the real people have been fun here.

[00:26:19] What do people call him?

[00:26:20] Ambrose of Milan.

[00:26:22] So the in there was Milan.

[00:26:23] I almost said Macedonia too.

[00:26:25] So that's not.

[00:26:26] I wasn't even close.

[00:26:27] All right.

[00:26:27] But again, the real winner is the listener who's realizing this Revive Thoughts map is a

[00:26:31] hit.

[00:26:31] I can't wait to play it.

[00:26:32] You're also realizing who am I listening to?

[00:26:35] Okay.

[00:26:36] So for the listeners, you know, if you're losing faith in this New Year's time, it's late where

[00:26:42] we are.

[00:26:43] It's early where Joel is.

[00:26:44] Yes.

[00:26:44] That's the only reason you're not getting.

[00:26:45] How many excuses can we layer in?

[00:26:47] There you go.

[00:26:47] Okay.

[00:26:48] Number three.

[00:26:49] Joel, what was your number three episode?

[00:26:51] Okay.

[00:26:52] Let's go with the recent one.

[00:26:55] I really liked our recent Christmas Evans, the Cedar of God.

[00:26:59] I had a lot of fun recording that with you and I thought it was a great sermon.

[00:27:03] I thought it was a great narration and it was an all around solid episode that you guys

[00:27:08] should check out if you haven't heard it.

[00:27:10] Yeah, I really liked, I love all Christmas Evans stuff.

[00:27:13] I'd never heard of that guy till Revive Thoughts.

[00:27:15] He's got an amazing backstory.

[00:27:17] Guthrie, who I met about a year ago, he's a great guy who narrated it for us.

[00:27:22] Really kind.

[00:27:22] And he emailed me after the episode came out.

[00:27:24] And for Christmas, his wife got him a Christmas Evans sermon book.

[00:27:31] So this guy, he's a Christmas Evans fan and he's ready to go for future Christmas episodes

[00:27:36] of Christmas Evans, which also was just an amazing coincidence that on my schedule I'd

[00:27:40] put it before Christmas.

[00:27:41] I didn't even think about that at all, but I think the Lord knew when it needed to come

[00:27:45] out.

[00:27:45] So that was a lot of fun.

[00:27:46] I'm really excited about that.

[00:27:48] And I agree.

[00:27:48] Great episode.

[00:27:49] Elise, what was your number three best episode?

[00:27:53] My number three is Frederick Boddicker, who is a missionary to Russia's prisoners.

[00:27:59] And the reason that I like this episode is because it reads like a Russian novel, because

[00:28:05] it's got all the aristocracy.

[00:28:06] You've got the prisons.

[00:28:07] You've got this huge, expansive history of what was going on in Russia.

[00:28:10] Russia's a complete and utter mess.

[00:28:14] And you would also is the perfect intro to hopefully maybe at some point, I'm not going to promise

[00:28:19] this, but it's a soft maybe possible to have this expansive episode into Russia at some

[00:28:25] point in 2025.

[00:28:27] So I highly encourage you to read to not read it, to listen to it because it's amazing.

[00:28:33] There you go.

[00:28:34] All right.

[00:28:34] For me, number three is once again, a double tie because it is so difficult to pick up.

[00:28:39] I love so many of these episodes.

[00:28:41] I had to cut so many.

[00:28:42] I had Bonhoeffer.

[00:28:44] I had Wilberforce Bunyan, Tori, McChain, Edwards.

[00:28:46] There were so many episodes I wanted to squeeze on this list, but I'm doing a tie here and I think

[00:28:51] this is my last tie.

[00:28:52] And that is, there was a sermon by D.L.

[00:28:54] Moody on hell.

[00:28:56] Absolutely great sermon.

[00:28:56] Gave me some really good anecdotes to use in class and terrifying as a sermon on hell.

[00:29:02] Would you imagine it would be, but good to listen to.

[00:29:04] It really impacts you.

[00:29:06] And then another one was by John Marsh.

[00:29:09] It was about a murder-suicide that happened in his town and he had to preach the funeral

[00:29:14] sermon a couple days later, a very heavy episode, but it was a really thought-provoking episode.

[00:29:20] Made me really think about some of the questions of evil and what it would be like for, I mean,

[00:29:23] John Marsh is not a famous man.

[00:29:25] He's just a small town pastor who had to deal with this really horrible, tragic thing that

[00:29:29] happened out of the middle of nowhere.

[00:29:31] And it just made you question, what would you do in that situation?

[00:29:34] And then also somebody recently, there was a tragedy that happened and they shared that

[00:29:38] episode and they were like, hey, this is a good sermon from back in the day about a

[00:29:42] similar kind of tragedy.

[00:29:43] I think that's one of the reasons that it also stuck out to me is it's a timeless sermon

[00:29:47] in that way of here's evil.

[00:29:50] It's a horrible thing.

[00:29:51] It's been around a very long time.

[00:29:52] That sermon was from 300 years ago, but here's how a small town pastor was able to deal with

[00:29:57] that.

[00:29:58] So I think it's a great episode.

[00:29:59] And that one with D.L.

[00:30:01] Moody's Hell Sermon are my number three for the year.

[00:30:12] Okay.

[00:30:12] On that kind of darker note, church history trivia geography.

[00:30:17] Let's jump back in.

[00:30:18] Joel, for you, what town is Jerome famous for pastoring in?

[00:30:23] Since it was one of your favorites of the year.

[00:30:24] What town is he at?

[00:30:26] Why are you going to do this to me, Troy?

[00:30:27] Why are you going to do this to me?

[00:30:28] Oh, Jerome of...

[00:30:33] I figured I hit Elise with several ancient people, so I owed you one.

[00:30:39] Canterbury.

[00:30:41] Canterbury.

[00:30:42] Is that...

[00:30:42] You actually...

[00:30:43] No, sorry.

[00:30:44] Canterbury is not correct.

[00:30:45] Elise, Jerome.

[00:30:46] Jerome.

[00:30:51] We've already done Italy.

[00:30:53] Are we doing...

[00:30:53] Is it cities?

[00:30:55] I will go ahead and say there will be no future Italys just to help you guys out.

[00:30:58] So you can get that off your list.

[00:30:59] Okay.

[00:31:00] Probably.

[00:31:01] Okay, okay.

[00:31:01] Let's see.

[00:31:02] Technically, if you get the name of the country, I guess I'd be okay with it.

[00:31:05] But I'm looking more for...

[00:31:07] This one needs to be a city for it to really count.

[00:31:09] Because it's an old one.

[00:31:11] You can just say Roman Empire and cover like 50 of them.

[00:31:13] So it needs to be more specific.

[00:31:14] Okay, okay.

[00:31:15] We know it's Roman Empire.

[00:31:16] Well, that really narrows it down.

[00:31:17] Well, everyone knew that country already.

[00:31:18] Yeah, totally.

[00:31:19] We all knew that.

[00:31:19] Yes.

[00:31:21] Hmm.

[00:31:23] Oh, gosh.

[00:31:26] Why?

[00:31:27] Would you like to guess again?

[00:31:30] It's working great.

[00:31:32] Okay, okay.

[00:31:33] Roman Empire.

[00:31:34] What's a city?

[00:31:35] What's...

[00:31:35] I don't know.

[00:31:37] These ancient guys.

[00:31:38] Why?

[00:31:39] I don't know.

[00:31:40] I'm going to pass.

[00:31:40] I don't know.

[00:31:40] All right.

[00:31:41] Hey, I'll give both of you a hint.

[00:31:42] It sounds kind of like his name.

[00:31:46] That's Rome.

[00:31:47] But you said it's not Italy.

[00:31:48] It's not Rome.

[00:31:49] Rome is not the city.

[00:31:50] Okay, let's clarify.

[00:31:51] That won't be a guess for you.

[00:31:52] Jerome the Gnome.

[00:31:53] Sounds kind of like his name.

[00:31:57] I want to say close, but no.

[00:31:59] All right, was that your guess?

[00:32:00] I don't know.

[00:32:00] All right, go ahead.

[00:32:01] Jill, you got anything?

[00:32:03] No.

[00:32:03] What city rhymes with...

[00:32:05] Jerusalem.

[00:32:06] I didn't say it rhymed.

[00:32:07] Oh, come on.

[00:32:07] I said start Rome, Jerusalem.

[00:32:09] They both start with the same letters.

[00:32:11] That's on you, bro.

[00:32:12] There's no correlation there.

[00:32:13] Okay, is that part of the Roman Empire, though?

[00:32:16] Yes.

[00:32:16] Really?

[00:32:16] At that point, it was.

[00:32:18] Totally.

[00:32:18] Yes, definitely.

[00:32:18] You know, Christmas was recent.

[00:32:21] And there was a whole census taken by the Roman Empire.

[00:32:26] Okay, so you guys aren't doing good with ancient ones.

[00:32:28] That's okay.

[00:32:28] I'm sure the listener at home was getting all these cracks.

[00:32:30] So let's go ahead.

[00:32:31] This one's more recent.

[00:32:32] For you, Elise, give me old Rutherford Waddle.

[00:32:36] Hmm.

[00:32:37] That is not ancient.

[00:32:38] Rutherford Waddle.

[00:32:39] And I'll give you the country.

[00:32:40] If you can hit the country, I'll count it.

[00:32:41] Waddle.

[00:32:42] Ireland?

[00:32:45] You know.

[00:32:45] Okay.

[00:32:46] So I did say you had to pick the country they were like most from.

[00:32:50] But using his name working backwards, it would have been Waddle.

[00:32:54] Waddle.

[00:32:55] You're correct.

[00:32:55] He is from Ireland, but then he moved to do ministry in what country?

[00:33:00] Do you know what country he moved to do ministry to?

[00:33:02] Waddle.

[00:33:04] Waddle.

[00:33:05] It's totally a shot in the dark here.

[00:33:10] Can you give me his time frame?

[00:33:12] That would help.

[00:33:13] 1800s.

[00:33:13] 1800s.

[00:33:14] Well, that doesn't actually narrow down.

[00:33:17] 1850s onward.

[00:33:18] Okay.

[00:33:18] You've done an episode on this place.

[00:33:20] Oh.

[00:33:21] But this is not one of your episodes.

[00:33:22] Oh, hang on, hang on.

[00:33:23] Oh, the new Hebrides?

[00:33:26] I'm sorry.

[00:33:26] It's not the new Hebrides.

[00:33:27] All right, Joel.

[00:33:28] Chance to steal.

[00:33:30] What's it?

[00:33:30] Waddle?

[00:33:31] I'm feeling Irish.

[00:33:34] Right?

[00:33:37] You feeling lucky?

[00:33:38] He did move from Ireland.

[00:33:40] He was from Ireland.

[00:33:40] He moved to this area and ministered.

[00:33:43] It's one of our episodes from this year, Joel.

[00:33:45] Is it Canada?

[00:33:47] Not Canada, Joel.

[00:33:48] That's okay.

[00:33:49] I feel like the new Hebrides.

[00:33:50] I feel like that was close.

[00:33:52] I'm not going to get too much of a hint.

[00:33:54] It's somewhere in, not the Sandwich Islands, but somewhere.

[00:33:57] It's not a Sandwich Island.

[00:33:58] I don't even know what that is.

[00:33:59] Is it the Cook Islands?

[00:34:00] It is not the Cook Islands.

[00:34:02] Come on.

[00:34:02] I feel like I'm real close.

[00:34:03] You are.

[00:34:04] And when I say the answer, you're going to be really annoyed with yourself.

[00:34:06] Joel, what do you got?

[00:34:07] Last chance to steal.

[00:34:09] What the hell?

[00:34:10] 1850s.

[00:34:18] Switzerland.

[00:34:19] Switzerland.

[00:34:21] That famous, right next to the Sandwich Islands and Cook Islands.

[00:34:24] Switzerland.

[00:34:25] No, it's New Zealand.

[00:34:26] New Zealand.

[00:34:27] Oh, my word.

[00:34:29] I remember that.

[00:34:30] Well, hold up.

[00:34:31] Hold up.

[00:34:31] Didn't that guy, didn't that guy, is that the same dude that ran shop in Canada for a

[00:34:37] hot second?

[00:34:39] Am I getting him confused with someone?

[00:34:41] I think he might be getting confused.

[00:34:42] I do think there was a guy we covered that went through Canada.

[00:34:44] I think you're thinking of William Chalmers Burns, who went to Canada and learned French

[00:34:48] in Canada.

[00:34:49] Yeah.

[00:34:49] He was all over the place, too.

[00:34:50] So I can see why.

[00:34:51] Because then he eventually made his way to China.

[00:34:53] All right.

[00:34:54] Number two-est.

[00:34:55] Second best.

[00:34:56] Not second.

[00:34:57] Best.

[00:34:57] Again, not the right words.

[00:34:58] Second most.

[00:35:00] Here's the episode you got to listen to this year.

[00:35:02] All right.

[00:35:02] For me, Cotton Mather, Pirate Death Row.

[00:35:06] I mean, even when I put this episode out on X, a listener, Yessi, was like, you got

[00:35:11] to mention that Cotton Mather one, right?

[00:35:12] It's such a good episode.

[00:35:14] I really loved it a whole lot.

[00:35:16] And yeah, no, I definitely am up there with saying that one was probably, even just as

[00:35:21] a sermon.

[00:35:22] This is a sermon that was given on death row by a famous pastor.

[00:35:25] It was an on-the-fly sermon.

[00:35:26] The whole episode of hearing how these guys ended up on death row, their whole hot pirating,

[00:35:32] everything about it.

[00:35:33] I just loved it.

[00:35:34] The speaker was wonderful.

[00:35:36] A great episode.

[00:35:37] Honestly, an all-time Revive Thoughts classic for me.

[00:35:40] So that was definitely my number two-est episode.

[00:35:41] So at least go ahead.

[00:35:45] Hit us with number two.

[00:35:46] All right.

[00:35:46] Number two for me was John Hunt, Missionary to the Cannibals of Fiji.

[00:35:51] And I liked it because it was such a stark contrast, like start to finish.

[00:35:56] Because when you think of Fiji today, you don't think cannibal islands.

[00:35:58] You think beautiful paradise of a place I can't afford to visit.

[00:36:02] But back in the day, it was all cannibals.

[00:36:04] So this guy helped change that.

[00:36:06] Because you start out with like this whole woman strangling thing.

[00:36:10] And you have these prisoners that would literally get like run over by these boat launches because they would like sacrifice the prisoners to like christen a new boat or whatever.

[00:36:20] And then you have like he came in and was using the New Testament and the translation work there to teach them how to read.

[00:36:26] But then also like it started to convict them.

[00:36:29] And so many of the people that came to Christ were – it was because they learned how to read using the New Testament.

[00:36:35] And then you had so many people who were coming to Christ that they had all these native teachers that had to be sent out all over the place actually.

[00:36:42] But a lot of them just like six months to a year before had been like cannibals, murderers, polygamists, all these things.

[00:36:49] So I really like it because it's just like this amazing night to day difference.

[00:36:56] Nice.

[00:36:56] Troy, you're not going to believe – this is pure coincidence.

[00:37:02] I also have Cotton Mather Pirates on Death Row Thurman as my number two slot.

[00:37:07] Which makes me wonder if – I'm pretty sure our number one slot is also probably the same.

[00:37:11] But it's a great episode.

[00:37:14] Cotton Mather, that was one when it came out.

[00:37:18] Like I was like literally just telling my friends like, yo, when was the last time you thought about pirates?

[00:37:22] Like you should check out this episode.

[00:37:24] It's pretty interesting.

[00:37:26] Pretty interesting stuff.

[00:37:29] Highly recommended.

[00:37:31] All right.

[00:37:32] Well, Jill, that does make me wonder if our number ones are the same because I have a feeling they might be.

[00:37:36] And you know what?

[00:37:36] Well, if they are, they're probably both well-deserved.

[00:37:39] And this – again, this was a really frustrating year.

[00:37:41] To all of our speakers, we're really grateful.

[00:37:43] You helped us bring so many great sermons back this year.

[00:37:45] And we also had – honestly, it was killing me to pick episodes this year.

[00:37:51] It always hurts a little bit just picking your favorites.

[00:37:53] But this – and not even your favorites, just top five for people to check out.

[00:37:56] But it genuinely – this was the most difficult year I think I've ever had and just narrowing it down because there are so many good ones.

[00:38:03] But before we do that, guys, it's time.

[00:38:06] Are you ready for the final two on this one?

[00:38:10] Joel, you're going first.

[00:38:11] I'm going to say this – whoever wins this match will be the winner here so we can end on our number ones on a nice high note.

[00:38:17] Joel, Samson Ockham is from where?

[00:38:21] Not a clue.

[00:38:22] Let's see.

[00:38:23] All right, let's break this down.

[00:38:24] Samson Ockham.

[00:38:27] I feel like this is a more recent cat.

[00:38:30] I feel like we're firmly in the last 300 years.

[00:38:34] Am I right?

[00:38:35] I'm not doing any more ancient guys.

[00:38:37] So you're right.

[00:38:37] The last 300 years.

[00:38:39] Samson Ockham.

[00:38:42] England.

[00:38:43] Let's go England.

[00:38:45] Joel, he is not from England.

[00:38:46] Ellie's chance to steal –

[00:38:47] Oh, it's America, baby.

[00:38:49] Isn't it?

[00:38:49] Yep, it is.

[00:38:50] Yeah.

[00:38:51] That was my number two.

[00:38:52] Yeah, he was the first Native American to ever preach and have their sermon written down, and it was written down.

[00:38:58] He did it in English.

[00:39:00] Samson Ockham, also famous for Ockham's Razor.

[00:39:02] No, I'm just getting that part made up.

[00:39:03] That was a philosopher.

[00:39:04] But anyway, all right, the score right now is actually four to two.

[00:39:08] So technically, the game is pretty much over.

[00:39:11] But, you know, I don't feel good about this victory, just so you know.

[00:39:14] It was a hard one scrap.

[00:39:17] Joel, I want to give you a chance, though, just one more time.

[00:39:19] I'm going to give you a classic, okay?

[00:39:21] Okay.

[00:39:22] Let's give you a chance here to do some damage with something.

[00:39:25] Where is – I think somebody we've had on the show, you know, kind of somebody recently here.

[00:39:32] Here's what I do.

[00:39:32] If you can name the building where our episode by William Wilberforce was at.

[00:39:40] So William Wilberforce gives a speech.

[00:39:42] What building was it in?

[00:39:43] Can you tell?

[00:39:44] Parliament?

[00:39:45] At least looking at me with this face that says, like, this is ridiculous.

[00:39:48] But to be fair –

[00:39:48] It's Parliament, right?

[00:39:50] All right, Joel, good job.

[00:39:51] You get a point.

[00:39:52] So it'll still end four to three.

[00:39:53] But that was a good job.

[00:39:54] You got the building, and I appreciate that.

[00:39:55] Yeah, we had a speech on our show by William Wilberforce from Parliament.

[00:40:00] What an – oh, was that me just sliding another episode in?

[00:40:03] It might have been.

[00:40:03] Okay, well, I couldn't put it on my – you know, it wasn't on my house.

[00:40:05] I think next year – next year I'm going to run the game.

[00:40:08] I'm going to come up with a better game, and it's going to be – leave it to me.

[00:40:13] Leave it to me next year.

[00:40:14] Okay.

[00:40:15] I'll leave it to you.

[00:40:15] But better game.

[00:40:16] This was a great game.

[00:40:17] Everyone at home right now is pulling out Revive Thoughts on a Calm Map, and they're going,

[00:40:21] I've got to play this with friends.

[00:40:22] Everyone at home is unsubscribing right now.

[00:40:24] No, they're not.

[00:40:24] They're like, no, I can't listen to these people.

[00:40:26] They're definitely not.

[00:40:27] All right.

[00:40:28] They could have been playing along, actually.

[00:40:29] I'm sure they were.

[00:40:30] I'm sure they were.

[00:40:31] And they probably got better more answers than we did.

[00:40:33] All right.

[00:40:34] Okay.

[00:40:35] Number one episode.

[00:40:36] Joel, go ahead.

[00:40:37] What was your number one episode of the year you couldn't miss?

[00:40:41] Spurgeon.

[00:40:42] The one you did with Clay Cravey.

[00:40:45] I was out.

[00:40:46] I'm not sure what I was doing, but I enjoyed listening to that.

[00:40:50] I think Clay did a great job.

[00:40:52] I think you did a great job.

[00:40:53] And I think it was all around a tight, great episode.

[00:40:58] Joel, I appreciate that.

[00:40:59] That was not my number one episode, though.

[00:41:01] So we are not going to overlap this year.

[00:41:03] And that makes me very happy.

[00:41:05] But it was a great episode.

[00:41:06] And any year where you have a Spurgeon episode, it's a winner.

[00:41:09] Again, so many.

[00:41:10] I was just doing some editing on the Old Revive Thoughts book, and I had just gotten through

[00:41:14] a Spurgeon sermon that we'll feature on there.

[00:41:17] And it is amazing.

[00:41:18] Spurgeon is Prince of Preachers, and it is his nickname, and it is well-earned.

[00:41:22] But that was not my number one episode for the year.

[00:41:24] But if you haven't listened to it, you should definitely do so.

[00:41:26] At least you're number one.

[00:41:27] All right.

[00:41:28] So I said earlier, I only have seven episodes, so it really narrows it down.

[00:41:31] But my number one is Isabel Kuhn, which is actually technically two-parters.

[00:41:36] So there were eight episodes that happened.

[00:41:38] But she is a missionary to China and later to Thailand, to the Lisu people in China there.

[00:41:45] And I love it so much because I felt like she was super relatable because she wrote everything

[00:41:51] down.

[00:41:52] Like, it was basically like you're chronicling along with her on her whole life's journey.

[00:41:56] And then all the people that she talks about, which are many, many people.

[00:41:59] You just feel like you get to know them as well.

[00:42:01] Really enjoyed that.

[00:42:02] So you feel just really invested the whole, like, from the beginning of her life all the

[00:42:08] way until the end of her life.

[00:42:09] And you feel like you're just walking with her the whole time.

[00:42:12] So very cool lady.

[00:42:14] And I hope the episodes do her justice.

[00:42:16] But if you haven't checked those out, definitely do.

[00:42:18] They're amazing.

[00:42:19] Yeah, I will say, of all the people that Lisa's featured on Martyrs and Missionaries,

[00:42:22] I feel like Isabel Kuhn was the one that I was most like, hey, that person, I can relate

[00:42:28] to that person.

[00:42:29] I feel like they have, I have had similar experiences to Isabel Kuhn.

[00:42:33] Not all of them.

[00:42:34] Obviously, she has a part where Japan is invading China.

[00:42:36] I directly relate to that.

[00:42:38] Yeah.

[00:42:38] I cannot relate maybe to that part necessarily.

[00:42:39] But a lot of her interactions with other people.

[00:42:42] And I'm like, oh, man, I've definitely been in similar situations where what do you do

[00:42:46] kind of thing.

[00:42:47] But no, my number one episodes were the Typing Rebellion episodes, part one and two that we

[00:42:52] put out this year.

[00:42:53] Joel, how can I forget?

[00:42:54] You got to.

[00:42:55] Joel, the Typing Rebellion episodes.

[00:42:57] I knew that was going to be on your list somewhere.

[00:42:59] Yeah.

[00:43:00] Yeah.

[00:43:00] It had to be my number one.

[00:43:01] Now, yeah.

[00:43:02] Now, part of it is, it's a little arrogant.

[00:43:04] It'd be like the time where I talked for four hours.

[00:43:06] That's my favorite part.

[00:43:06] But no, it's just that I'd wanted to do the Typing Rebellion for years since we first

[00:43:10] did the Hudson Taylor episode and first ran into it.

[00:43:12] It was a concept that fascinated me.

[00:43:14] Finally got it out on paper.

[00:43:16] Was very happy with it.

[00:43:17] We have heard so many positive feedbacks from people who really enjoyed the story, couldn't

[00:43:22] get enough of the story.

[00:43:23] And I have even personal friendships in my actual life that have been enriched by the

[00:43:28] Typing Rebellion.

[00:43:28] I was with a friend of mine the other day and a student that I work with at school came

[00:43:32] up and was chatting with us.

[00:43:33] And they were like, wow, I feel like I'm, you know, I'm in an adult conversation.

[00:43:35] I had these two adults that are chatting with me, treating me like an equal.

[00:43:39] And they were like, so what do we, you know, what do we adults talk about?

[00:43:41] Now, me and my friend, without a beat, we just looked at each other and we said, so the

[00:43:44] Typing Rebellion started.

[00:43:45] And we just immediately started going.

[00:43:47] Because it's just become like a part of the culture.

[00:43:49] And so for me, Typing Rebellion, absolutely.

[00:43:52] If you've not listened to those episodes, got to listen to them.

[00:43:55] If you do not know the story of this man who declared himself as Jesus's brother, took

[00:44:00] over China for 15 years.

[00:44:02] Absolutely a story you should listen to.

[00:44:04] It's sad.

[00:44:05] It's a happy story per se, but it's definitely a story that I can't believe is missed in history.

[00:44:10] So many honorable mentions.

[00:44:12] John McGowan's satirical sermon.

[00:44:14] Jonathan Edwards' farewell sermon.

[00:44:15] I have so many I'd love to add to the list.

[00:44:17] But that is my top five for the year.

[00:44:20] And if you notice, I cheated in my top five a lot.

[00:44:22] Are there any aspirations?

[00:44:23] Like in the next year, you're thinking this is an episode that I would love to do.

[00:44:27] Because for me, it's a cult.

[00:44:28] I need a cult to top the Moravians.

[00:44:30] Because the side hole bother people.

[00:44:32] I still get emails about the side hole.

[00:44:34] And I need 2025.

[00:44:36] I need something that's going to rival the side hole.

[00:44:39] So that for me is, I'm going to do it.

[00:44:42] All right.

[00:44:42] So if you don't know, at least the Martyrs and Missionaries had an episode on the Moravians.

[00:44:46] That was a lot.

[00:44:48] Disturbing.

[00:44:48] If you haven't listened to it, you should go do so if you like that kind of thing.

[00:44:51] But it was intense.

[00:44:52] It was a lot.

[00:44:52] And it was kind of weird.

[00:44:53] So for us, Joel, do we have any major aspirations for where we're going this year?

[00:44:59] I do.

[00:44:59] I've finally begun to crack down on some Revive Thoughts deep dives that I'm excited about.

[00:45:05] So after typing Rebellion, I genuinely didn't know where to go next for a while.

[00:45:09] But I now have some directions I'm beginning to put into.

[00:45:12] So I'm excited for those.

[00:45:14] Joel, you're about to say something, though.

[00:45:15] Yeah, I think 2025 is going to be the year of our Revive Thoughts book that has been in

[00:45:20] the works for a long time.

[00:45:22] So imagine, if you will, a beautiful book laid out on your coffee table.

[00:45:28] And a buddy says, what's this?

[00:45:30] And you say, oh, it's a collection of sermons throughout history memoriam that you can scour

[00:45:37] and read through.

[00:45:38] Almost like a printed form of a Revive Thoughts concept here.

[00:45:44] They're available coming soon.

[00:45:47] Just one of many.

[00:45:49] Which is funny.

[00:45:50] Volume one.

[00:45:51] Yeah.

[00:45:52] Which is funny because our whole show exists to bring these sermons back to life.

[00:45:55] And now we're bringing them back to bed.

[00:45:57] But anyway, we're getting there.

[00:45:58] And I like it.

[00:45:58] Come full circle in some ways.

[00:46:00] But yeah.

[00:46:00] But no, we're definitely that will be ready.

[00:46:02] I've been editing it like crazy over the Christmas break.

[00:46:05] It's a lot more.

[00:46:06] I'll just say it.

[00:46:07] It's a lot more work to write and edit sermons for a book than it is for a podcast.

[00:46:13] I am.

[00:46:13] Because the way you talk a sermon and the way the sermon needs to be with the semicolons

[00:46:17] and all the apostrophes, it's a very different deal when you're getting it ready to send to

[00:46:21] someone's coffee table than it is to get it ready for someone's ears.

[00:46:25] Okay, guys.

[00:46:25] I love how the height of aspirations for you guys is someone will put this on their coffee

[00:46:28] table.

[00:46:29] Someone might even read it.

[00:46:30] I don't know.

[00:46:33] Look at that beautiful, that front cover that will never be open.

[00:46:35] I know.

[00:46:36] You know, look.

[00:46:37] I hope you read it.

[00:46:38] I picked sermons that I think are especially good for reading and that are especially

[00:46:41] wonderful.

[00:46:41] But I know a lot of people, they just buy it for their shelf to look smart.

[00:46:44] But we hope you, we know you who are listening right now.

[00:46:46] You're not those.

[00:46:47] You're the type of people who read them because you're the type of people who listen to a

[00:46:50] show like this.

[00:46:51] So you're definitely the kind of people who read a book like this.

[00:46:53] We're excited about it.

[00:46:55] And you know, for us too, we'll be back in the States this summer.

[00:46:57] So Joel, that'll be an opportunity for us to collaborate and do even more as they say.

[00:47:02] I'm looking forward to it.

[00:47:04] All right.

[00:47:05] Well, I think we can put a wrap on it here.

[00:47:07] Good year.

[00:47:08] Great year for the shows.

[00:47:09] And a million downloads.

[00:47:10] Can't beat that.

[00:47:11] This is Troy.

[00:47:12] This is Joel.

[00:47:12] And this is Elise.

[00:47:13] And you've been listening too.

[00:47:14] Revive Thoughts and Arters of Missionaries.