Martyrs and Missionaries + Revived Thoughts Top 5 Episodes of 2024

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[00:00:47] This is Troy and Joel and Elise for the Top 5 Episodes Summary Review that we do every single year and it is great to be here.

[00:00:57] Joel and Elise, you guys are going to go ahead and say hi simultaneously.

[00:01:01] Hello there.

[00:01:02] Oh, that wasn't simultaneous at all.

[00:01:04] That was pretty close though.

[00:01:05] That wasn't too close.

[00:01:06] If you are a listener to Revive Thoughts, Elise is the host of Martyrs and Missionaries, the other podcast that Revive Studios does.

[00:01:14] And if you are a listener to Martyrs and Missionaries, then Joel and I host the podcast Revive Thoughts.

[00:01:21] That is the other one that Revive Studios does.

[00:01:24] And Elise and I are married, so we are currently sharing one microphone right now as we speak into it.

[00:01:29] Just how close we are.

[00:01:30] That's right.

[00:01:31] We only need one between us.

[00:01:33] And Joel, you are not with us.

[00:01:34] You are in Kansas City videoing.

[00:01:36] Not videoing.

[00:01:38] Teleconference.

[00:01:39] You're calling in.

[00:01:40] I don't know.

[00:01:40] We're doing this thing.

[00:01:42] And so that's how we are recording this for everyone who is listening right now.

[00:01:47] You're going to say which color shirt you're wearing.

[00:01:49] I don't know.

[00:01:50] Yeah.

[00:01:50] And I will say, big year for the studio.

[00:01:52] I had just crunched the numbers on this last night.

[00:01:55] And it is exciting.

[00:01:56] We can finally pop the imaginary champagne bottles if we wanted to because our studio has hit officially 1 million downloads between all of our podcasts.

[00:02:06] Almost exclusively Revive Thoughts and Martyrs and Missionaries.

[00:02:09] But between those two shows, 1 million downloads this month.

[00:02:14] A million, when I checked it yesterday, it was a million 5,000 downloads.

[00:02:20] So we are officially crossed at some time in the past probably week and a half or so.

[00:02:24] So congratulations, everybody.

[00:02:25] Good job.

[00:02:26] Keeping up the good work.

[00:02:28] I mean, and don't, I don't know.

[00:02:30] I think a lot of people don't quite understand how much of a feat that, like that's pretty cool for us.

[00:02:36] Troy and I have been in the podcast industry for some time with some pretty big flops in our past.

[00:02:43] And so, like especially, I don't know, being in the circles and stuff,

[00:02:49] it's hard to find a show or to create a show that finds an audience in the way that R has.

[00:02:54] And so it's super encouraging and exciting to see that, yeah, that people like this.

[00:02:59] And it's with the show that everyone told us would be the least likely and the hardest to do that with.

[00:03:06] And they were proven wrong, which is exciting.

[00:03:09] They were.

[00:03:10] No, those early days, not very encouraging.

[00:03:12] But a few people here and there would help us out.

[00:03:14] But overall, it was kind of a, this is a bad idea.

[00:03:17] Don't go forward with it.

[00:03:18] But Joel, you believed in it.

[00:03:19] And I believed in it.

[00:03:20] So we went forward.

[00:03:21] I believed in you, Troy.

[00:03:22] I knew you were onto something here.

[00:03:24] Thank you, Joel.

[00:03:25] I appreciate that.

[00:03:26] Well, we couldn't have done it without you.

[00:03:27] And now we're at a million.

[00:03:28] We couldn't have done it without you either, Elise, in your show.

[00:03:31] I know you couldn't have.

[00:03:31] Which was on her own that she kind of branched off into and jumped in as well.

[00:03:37] Mm-hmm.

[00:03:38] Yes.

[00:03:39] Am I supposed to say more about that?

[00:03:41] Yes.

[00:03:41] No.

[00:03:42] I'm excited about it.

[00:03:43] I think it's pretty cool.

[00:03:45] So, yeah.

[00:03:46] Yay.

[00:03:46] One million downloads.

[00:03:47] Million downloads for people who don't follow podcasting.

[00:03:50] I don't really know what to compare it to.

[00:03:52] It is a very big milestone that very few podcasts end up ever hitting.

[00:03:57] If you look on, there are, it's harder to find.

[00:03:59] So if you're on YouTube or something like that, you can see just by clicking a button,

[00:04:03] oh, that's how many people are subscribed.

[00:04:04] That's how many people follow.

[00:04:05] That's how many views their episodes get.

[00:04:08] Podcasting is much more of a mirage.

[00:04:10] We can see our downloads, but we can't even compare them to other people because they don't

[00:04:15] release their downloads.

[00:04:16] So it's very difficult, but there are people who chart it.

[00:04:18] And if you've worked at it a while, you can figure out where everything is at.

[00:04:22] And our shows are in the top 1% of podcasts.

[00:04:25] That's not just Christian podcasts or church history podcasts.

[00:04:28] That is just in podcast period.

[00:04:30] We are ranked in the top 1%.

[00:04:32] And again, hitting a million downloads.

[00:04:34] I've seen very large shows with names and famous people, and they'll be very happy when

[00:04:39] they hit their 1 million downloads.

[00:04:41] And it's incredible that we can say that this studio has been able to do that.

[00:04:45] So it's, we feel very blessed.

[00:04:47] And yeah, two millions more in the future, hopefully someday.

[00:04:50] But hey.

[00:04:51] All right.

[00:04:52] But you did not come here to listen to our-

[00:04:55] Wait, let's mention that list, that top 100 list.

[00:05:01] Oh yeah, that's true.

[00:05:02] So recently too, our show Revive Thoughts was also featured on Feedspot, which is like

[00:05:07] a giant link conglomerator that did mention us and send us a direct email to tell us they

[00:05:13] put us in their top 34 was our rank over 100 podcasts.

[00:05:17] And I mean, the very first one, oh man, was it Stephen Furtick or something like that?

[00:05:21] Which is not to say Elevation Worship.

[00:05:23] It's not to say that we are endorsing the people.

[00:05:26] This link doesn't endorse, you know, these podcasts over other things.

[00:05:31] It's looking at podcasts in the Christian, you know, demographic.

[00:05:36] It was just purely saying, here's where you ranked out of these 100 and we put you in rank

[00:05:41] 34, which is, I mean, absolutely incredible.

[00:05:43] If you look at some of the other names on that list, I was blown away by some of the

[00:05:47] people we were considered larger than.

[00:05:50] And some of the people that we were smaller than, you know, were very, very large names

[00:05:55] of big Christian things that you would have probably heard of that were not that much

[00:05:58] bigger ahead of us in their list of rankings.

[00:06:00] So yeah, we feel like there's been a lot of good stuff there.

[00:06:04] Our show is also at 193 Apple five-star reviews right now with a perfect 5.0 somehow.

[00:06:11] Still, we've kept that for years.

[00:06:13] And we thank you for that because we have a pretty controversial show and it's actually

[00:06:17] crazy that our show has never been hit too hard.

[00:06:19] And Elise, you have how many ratings on Martyrs and Missionaries right now?

[00:06:23] I think it's about 128.

[00:06:25] 120, just about around.

[00:06:27] I think it's about that.

[00:06:28] We looked at it earlier and I forget.

[00:06:29] It's like 128.

[00:06:30] So congratulations to you.

[00:06:31] So both shows doing a lot of ratings.

[00:06:33] A lot of people are listening and yeah, it's really exciting that so many people are,

[00:06:37] you know, tuning into a topic that church history, I do think is

[00:06:41] getting more popular.

[00:06:42] Like I do think this subject, we are on the right trend lines.

[00:06:45] We may have been a little bit ahead of everybody.

[00:06:47] I remember in 2019 and 2018, when we were first talking about this stuff, there wasn't

[00:06:51] that much of a push for what we're doing.

[00:06:53] And there was really only one other podcast that was doing church history stuff.

[00:06:57] I feel like this is starting to become a realm people are excited about.

[00:07:01] I just, when I mentioned this stuff to people I meet now, there's a lot more interest in it

[00:07:05] than there was two or even three years ago.

[00:07:08] Like if people seem to be going towards the subjects, I think that we'll see even more

[00:07:12] people coming into this realm and following us as time goes on.

[00:07:17] All right, but now you're ready.

[00:07:18] Now you are.

[00:07:19] Now is the moment.

[00:07:20] You want to hear what are our top five episodes of this year.

[00:07:23] And we also have a tradition going back to at least last year.

[00:07:27] I can't remember if we did it the year before, where we are doing a little church history

[00:07:30] trivia for you, the listener and for Elise and Joel, there is a, an opportunity for

[00:07:35] you to get involved and to see how you're doing.

[00:07:39] Now you can't really get involved and play the game, but you can listen to Joel and Elise

[00:07:43] play the game.

[00:07:43] I will be asking them church history trivia questions.

[00:07:46] They will try to guess the answer.

[00:07:49] There will be some scores kept and whoever ends up getting the highest score at the end

[00:07:53] of the night, they win church history trivia for this year.

[00:07:56] It's based off a game of church history trivia.

[00:07:58] We once played a long time ago with other podcasts.

[00:08:01] We miss it.

[00:08:01] It was fun.

[00:08:02] But in the meantime, we're playing it right now with Joel and Elise.

[00:08:04] And this year I have a new way to do it.

[00:08:06] So I, over the summer, put together a map of all of our episodes.

[00:08:09] If you go to revivedthoughts.com and you go to map, you can see all of the episodes we've

[00:08:15] ever done on a trivia geographical map.

[00:08:19] This is just nice.

[00:08:19] If you're kind of wondering, what do I want to listen to?

[00:08:22] There's hundreds of episodes in both of these podcasts.

[00:08:25] Where should I start?

[00:08:25] Well, maybe you're interested in a certain location or certain things.

[00:08:29] And this is kind of just a fun way to see how the church has affected all of these different

[00:08:33] locations.

[00:08:34] Now, some of these places like England and the United States have a lot more dots on them

[00:08:38] than some other places.

[00:08:39] Like for example, Russia or all of South America.

[00:08:43] Russia has one.

[00:08:43] Russia does have one.

[00:08:45] And South America does have a few.

[00:08:46] But it is harder to get good Christian church history from some of those locations,

[00:08:50] even though it has kind of helped me target places to focus on as well.

[00:08:54] So from that map.

[00:08:56] Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[00:08:57] I'm already seeing a description.

[00:08:59] I'm already seeing a nitpick here.

[00:09:00] And that is you, Troy, you and Elise are sitting right next to each other.

[00:09:06] We are sitting next to each other.

[00:09:07] I'm supposed to know that she's not eyeballing some answers without me knowing.

[00:09:11] Because I'm going to tell you right now, geography is not my strong suit.

[00:09:15] I mean, I enjoyed it in elementary school.

[00:09:17] But that was third grade.

[00:09:18] This is different stuff.

[00:09:19] Here's the thing.

[00:09:20] This is Rich coming from the guy last year who was totally Googling the answers.

[00:09:23] And that's how he won.

[00:09:24] I did not.

[00:09:25] I did not.

[00:09:29] She already knew we had one in Russia, which makes me think there's a map up somewhere.

[00:09:32] That's because it's my episode.

[00:09:33] Actually, she has no idea what episodes we're going to pick.

[00:09:36] I don't even fully know because I'm just going to kind of pick them as we go here.

[00:09:39] So there's no way for her to know.

[00:09:41] I have my phone turned away from her with the map.

[00:09:43] It's so easy to read map, revivethoughts.com map.

[00:09:47] And you can, so I will just show you how easy it is throughout the episode.

[00:09:50] I feel like by the end of this episode, not only do people have five great sermons

[00:09:54] or Martyrs and Missionaries episodes to check out,

[00:09:56] but they also have an amazing map that they will want to play.

[00:09:59] Wouldn't they have ten?

[00:10:00] Well, Joel and I's episodes might cross over,

[00:10:03] which ones to do.

[00:10:04] But anyway, by the end of this episode, for sure,

[00:10:05] they're going to go, wow, this is such a fun game.

[00:10:08] Every party game.

[00:10:09] Nobody's going to look at this map.

[00:10:09] Every New Year's Eve party is going to be full of people playing this map game.

[00:10:13] You're so confident.

[00:10:16] I am.

[00:10:16] But now let me explain, too, why do we do this episode?

[00:10:19] It's actually our last year, according to Spotify,

[00:10:21] this was our most listened to episode of the year,

[00:10:24] was our 2023 year in review.

[00:10:26] The reason we do this episode is not just for it's a fun chance for me,

[00:10:29] Joel, and at least to all be on the same program once a year,

[00:10:31] which is kind of fun, too, because we don't get to do that.

[00:10:33] Even though we're, you know, podcasting in the same realm,

[00:10:36] our shows don't cross over that much.

[00:10:38] But the other reason it's kind of nice, too, is for you.

[00:10:40] You as a listener have, in our case, dozens of episodes every year.

[00:10:44] In Elise's case, less, but still many episodes to choose from.

[00:10:47] It might be easier for you.

[00:10:48] That was subtle.

[00:10:49] It was subtle.

[00:10:50] But it might be, you might be asking, where can I start?

[00:10:52] Like, where is a good place to go in?

[00:10:54] Well, this is kind of a list of episodes that maybe you'll hear Joel and I describe them,

[00:10:58] and maybe you'll be curious, or at least describe hers,

[00:11:01] and you'll go, I want to listen to that one.

[00:11:02] This is kind of your, here's a roadmap from the last year of episodes to check out.

[00:11:06] That doesn't mean any of the other episodes are bad.

[00:11:09] This was probably, I think, the hardest year I've ever had

[00:11:12] in trying to cross out which episodes I didn't want to be on this list.

[00:11:15] There's some good ones, yeah.

[00:11:16] It was brutal.

[00:11:18] I could not believe how many good episodes we've had this year,

[00:11:21] but it doesn't mean anything.

[00:11:23] If you're a speaker, by the way, and you read an episode for us,

[00:11:26] did not mean you did a bad job, or we didn't love you as a speaker,

[00:11:29] or anything like that.

[00:11:30] This is purely just out of, you know, almost impossible task of picking episodes.

[00:11:34] These were the ones that stood out to me as ones you didn't want to miss this year,

[00:11:38] but they're all extremely, extremely, in my opinion.

[00:11:40] Very good.

[00:11:41] But let's start with trivia.

[00:11:42] Let's go ahead and get Joel and Elise some points on the board.

[00:11:45] I'll start with you, Joel, and then I'll give, if you can't guess it,

[00:11:48] Elise will get a chance to guess.

[00:11:50] You guys can kind of go back and forth until you maybe guess it.

[00:11:52] That's my other question is, how is this going to work?

[00:11:54] Because, like, whoever goes first is at a disadvantage,

[00:11:57] because whoever goes second has the first person's answer to try to, like.

[00:12:03] Well, I think if you get it right the first time, though,

[00:12:06] then you get the point.

[00:12:07] That's an advantage.

[00:12:08] Yeah, but then process of elimination, it rules it out for the second person.

[00:12:12] We'll see if that's true.

[00:12:13] By the way, it has to be the place they're famous for.

[00:12:16] For example, I'm using this as our example.

[00:12:18] If I say Hudson Taylor, don't say Britain.

[00:12:21] Yeah, he's from Britain.

[00:12:22] But you've got to pick China.

[00:12:24] You've got to say China for that to count.

[00:12:26] Or you can't say Hong Kong because he went through.

[00:12:27] No, it's got to be China, okay?

[00:12:29] So let's go ahead and start with a nice, easy one to Joel.

[00:12:36] I said nice, easy one, and now I'm suddenly blinking on an eye.

[00:12:39] Oh, Joel, this is a knocker out of the park.

[00:12:41] Just getting you a point on the board here.

[00:12:44] Give me what place is this person famous for.

[00:12:47] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, go.

[00:12:49] Germany.

[00:12:49] Whew.

[00:12:51] Germany.

[00:12:51] Easy.

[00:12:52] So that's how it works.

[00:12:52] Just kind of what they're famous for.

[00:12:54] Yes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer did go to America and London, but famous for his time in Germany.

[00:12:59] So now we get the idea of it.

[00:13:00] That's my only point.

[00:13:01] Elise, now let's pick a really obscure, difficult one for you.

[00:13:05] Elise, what country would...

[00:13:08] Okay, this is actually going to sound like I picked a really obscure one,

[00:13:11] but what country would Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the three Cappadocian fathers,

[00:13:14] Oh, my gosh.

[00:13:15] Oh, my gosh.

[00:13:15] Uh, I don't know.

[00:13:19] Cappadocia...

[00:13:22] Rome?

[00:13:23] No.

[00:13:23] Cappadocia is not in Rome.

[00:13:24] Sorry.

[00:13:25] Oh, oh, oh, Asia Minor, isn't it?

[00:13:27] Yeah, but what country is that?

[00:13:28] Turkey.

[00:13:29] Turkey.

[00:13:29] Okay, that's how we're playing.

[00:13:31] Okay, good.

[00:13:32] All right, Joel, we'll give one more.

[00:13:34] Well, actually, we'll stop there.

[00:13:35] You guys are one-to-one.

[00:13:36] All right, let's go ahead and begin.

[00:13:38] Who wants to start with their first, number five, in their list of episodes?

[00:13:44] Joel, it sounded like you.

[00:13:45] Go ahead.

[00:13:46] All right, I'll go first.

[00:13:47] Yeah, um, I, so these are semi-no-particular order.

[00:13:52] I don't have, like, a, this is the best.

[00:13:54] These are just, like, five that I jotted down here because I enjoyed.

[00:14:01] And if you haven't listened to it yet, go listen to our revived conversation about if we should

[00:14:06] pay for conferences, like church conferences.

[00:14:09] It gets quite heated.

[00:14:10] It's honestly probably the most Troy and I have ever disagreed on a show, but I had a fun

[00:14:15] time with it, and it's still a fun conversation, and one that I think is worth thinking about

[00:14:20] and maybe chatting with your friends about.

[00:14:22] So go listen to revived conversations.

[00:14:24] Should we pay for conferences?

[00:14:27] Troyes of the mind that we shouldn't, despite all the logistical advantages it gives.

[00:14:31] I never said you didn't pay anything, per se.

[00:14:35] Well, I think I did, actually.

[00:14:36] I'm aware that you shouldn't be charging people $250 a ticket, but I definitely think I put us

[00:14:40] on the spot now where if we ever did have a church history conference, we're going to

[00:14:43] do it for free.

[00:14:44] So look forward to that in the future.

[00:14:45] A nice, free church history conference from us.

[00:14:50] Yeah, no, I'm glad you picked that up.

[00:14:51] So, Jill, I actually really wanted that one on my list, but I was hoping you would pick

[00:14:55] it so that I didn't have to, and I agree with you.

[00:14:57] I think that is the most intense debate we've had on Revive Thoughts.

[00:15:00] Nothing compared to debates we've had off of Revive Thoughts.

[00:15:03] As old friends, we've had many, but on Revive Thoughts, that was definitely our, I think,

[00:15:07] our closest, and our most, we were not on the same side, and you could tell.

[00:15:11] So I enjoyed that one, and I'm glad you picked it.

[00:15:14] Elise, you're up.

[00:15:15] All right.

[00:15:16] So you're going to hear lots of different episodes from these guys, and I had seven

[00:15:21] episodes this year, which makes it really easy and also very hard to choose from, but

[00:15:25] I have a really good excuse because I was finishing up a history degree.

[00:15:28] That's done now, so hopefully in 2025 there'll be more episodes.

[00:15:32] But...

[00:15:32] 50 or 60 episodes for 2025?

[00:15:35] 75.

[00:15:36] Oh, wow.

[00:15:36] All right.

[00:15:36] You heard it.

[00:15:38] So mine would be, I think, early on this year, we did How Not to Teach Church History, where

[00:15:45] Troy and I came on and did this one, and I'm not picking it because we were just amazing

[00:15:49] and we answered so many questions and all this.

[00:15:51] I'm picking it because we received so many emails from people that were like, this was

[00:15:55] really, really helpful and really enjoyed that conversation.

[00:15:58] So I figured if everybody was liking it that much, it must have been needed.

[00:16:02] So therefore, it is on my top five.

[00:16:04] I appreciate you saying that.

[00:16:05] I enjoyed being on that episode.

[00:16:06] I think we put it on both Revive Thoughts and Martyrs and Missionaries.

[00:16:09] A lot of people had a lot of things to say about it, were really positive, which was nice

[00:16:12] because we were giving strong opinions on how not to teach it.

[00:16:15] So if you're a pastor or a teacher or a professor, devo leader, anything out there, and you interact

[00:16:21] with church history, and you should be out there teaching a little bit, maybe that episode

[00:16:24] would be helpful on what mistakes not to be doing.

[00:16:27] Now, it's a lot easier to tell you how not to do something than how to do it because then

[00:16:31] people were like, so how should you do it?

[00:16:32] And we're like, we're going to get right up on that episode.

[00:16:34] And here, nine, ten months later, we still haven't told you how to do it.

[00:16:38] So I'm not sure that I know the answer how to perfectly do it.

[00:16:41] But you know how not to.

[00:16:42] But it's a lot easier to tell you what not to do than it is to tell you what to do.

[00:16:45] All right.

[00:16:46] So my number five episode is a tie, which is not uncommon on my list.

[00:16:51] There are a lot of ties.

[00:16:52] But this year, I wanted to mention a very recent episode by Joel, the Roman Coliseum episode.

[00:16:57] I really enjoyed that episode.

[00:16:59] I listened to it while on the track running.

[00:17:01] I had no input.

[00:17:02] Joel completely from top to finish did that episode.

[00:17:06] And I just, I listened to it like you listening right now listen to our episodes with no input.

[00:17:10] It was just fun to hear somebody else doing all of it and just enjoying it while I ran on

[00:17:14] the track for a while.

[00:17:15] So I really enjoyed that episode.

[00:17:16] And I tied it with the other episode that only had one of us on it, which was our French

[00:17:20] Revolution episode.

[00:17:22] I heard a lot of great feedback from people on that French Revolution one.

[00:17:25] And it was for me, I had been kind of like collecting facts about the French Revolution

[00:17:29] for years.

[00:17:30] So it was nice to finally put it all into a single episode and just get it out there.

[00:17:34] So I love, I like those side history projects that Joel and I do.

[00:17:39] And that was just fun.

[00:17:41] So yeah, those are my number five tied episodes.

[00:17:43] And now back to church history trivia.

[00:17:46] Are you ready?

[00:17:47] Let's go.

[00:17:47] Okay.

[00:17:48] Let's go.

[00:17:48] All right.

[00:17:49] Elise, I'm going to jump on to you here and hit you with a tough one.

[00:17:54] Maybe not a tough one.

[00:17:55] Oh, that's tough.

[00:17:56] Oh, that's tough.

[00:17:58] All right.

[00:18:01] What country is Augustine from?

[00:18:05] Go.

[00:18:06] What country?

[00:18:07] Like today, if you were to put this country on a map, where would this be?

[00:18:11] Ethiopia, yeah.

[00:18:12] Not Ethiopia.

[00:18:14] Joel, what do you think?

[00:18:15] Okay.

[00:18:16] It turns over to me.

[00:18:18] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:18:21] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:18:28] Augustine, Augustine, Augustine, Augustine.

[00:18:30] Is that working?

[00:18:31] No.

[00:18:33] No, no, no.

[00:18:34] St. Augustine.

[00:18:35] Is he Beetlejuiced?

[00:18:36] Let's go with, I'm going to go Italy.

[00:18:40] Okay.

[00:18:41] And that was also incorrect.

[00:18:42] Elise was closer though.

[00:18:44] Now I'm going to give Elise and you a hint.

[00:18:45] And it's the same country that Lilius Trotter will end up going to.

[00:18:49] Algeria.

[00:18:50] Algeria.

[00:18:50] Perfect.

[00:18:51] At least I'm going to have that hint.

[00:18:52] So yeah, Algeria.

[00:18:53] Not, not Italy.

[00:18:54] Does that count for me or is that?

[00:18:56] Yeah.

[00:18:56] That was your second chance to get it.

[00:18:58] So there you go.

[00:18:58] There's no chance.

[00:18:59] Each of you gets, yeah.

[00:19:00] Yeah.

[00:19:01] Well, each of you get two chances.

[00:19:03] Now, technically Augustine did spend time in Rome, but he's much more famous for his

[00:19:07] time in North Africa.

[00:19:08] So I feel like that's where you got to go.

[00:19:10] All right.

[00:19:11] Next one.

[00:19:12] A little fun one for you.

[00:19:15] Joel, where was Soren Kierkegaard from?

[00:19:20] Kierkegaard, Kierkegaard.

[00:19:22] Soren Kierkegaard.

[00:19:24] I'm thinking Europe.

[00:19:25] I'm thinking middle Europe.

[00:19:26] I'm thinking, I'm thinking France.

[00:19:27] France.

[00:19:29] Close.

[00:19:30] You're in the right ballpark, but it wasn't France.

[00:19:33] Elise?

[00:19:33] Denmark, yeah.

[00:19:34] Denmark.

[00:19:35] Elise is correct.

[00:19:35] That was Denmark.

[00:19:36] Don't worry if your listeners are worried.

[00:19:38] I have the map tilted towards myself.

[00:19:40] All right.

[00:19:41] So in round two here of Church History Trivia Geography Edition, Elise has three.

[00:19:46] Joel has one.

[00:19:47] I feel very confident Joel is going to make a resounding comeback here in the next round.

[00:19:53] He was just letting her get confident.

[00:19:55] I know, Joel.

[00:19:56] That's right.

[00:19:56] This is what happened last year.

[00:19:59] It's true, actually.

[00:20:00] All right.

[00:20:01] Number four.

[00:20:02] I will go first on my episodes since I made Joel go first last time.

[00:20:05] My number four sermon person of the year was William Chalmers Burns.

[00:20:11] What a cool guy.

[00:20:12] This guy encouraged Hudson Taylor.

[00:20:14] This guy encouraged Robert Murray McChain and also gave his funeral sermon, which is what

[00:20:19] part of his sermon we highlighted on Revive Thoughts.

[00:20:23] And I only recently found out he was also deeply involved in the life of Andrew Murray.

[00:20:27] So he basically affected three or four continents.

[00:20:30] And that's not something the average person can probably say that the heroes of the faith many

[00:20:36] of us look up to were all encouraged by this one man interacting and really, truly crossing

[00:20:41] paths with all of them at the exact right moment they needed him.

[00:20:45] It is amazing that he's not like a household name.

[00:20:48] So William Chalmers Burns, number four.

[00:20:49] I just was floored getting to learn his story and I feel blessed to have worked with it.

[00:20:54] Elise, go ahead.

[00:20:56] All right.

[00:20:56] So my number four is a tie between Mary Reed and Mariah Fearing.

[00:21:01] So Mary Reed was a missionary to lepers, not leopards, that kind of show, lepers to India

[00:21:07] in India.

[00:21:08] And then Mariah Fearing was a missionary to the Congo Free State.

[00:21:12] They were both incredible women who went to very different places, but both very hard places

[00:21:19] because Mariah Fearing was a retiree and a former slave.

[00:21:22] And Mary Reed was working in India when she contracted leprosy and then decided that instead

[00:21:27] of living out the rest of her days in one of the three leper colonies or whatever, the

[00:21:33] asylums in the United States, that she would head back and go to one in India, which is

[00:21:38] pretty impressive.

[00:21:40] So yeah, those two are tied for me.

[00:21:45] All right, Joe, you're up.

[00:21:46] My turn.

[00:21:49] I put Jerome.

[00:21:51] He did a sermon on Psalms 5.

[00:21:53] And I think it's just interesting more for the novelty of it.

[00:21:56] I think it's neat.

[00:21:57] We have a Jerome episode.

[00:21:59] We hear about Jerome, but he didn't really, at least I had no idea what he would actually,

[00:22:05] what his preaching style was.

[00:22:06] And so I think that's a neat inclusion in our collection.

[00:22:11] All right, Joe.

[00:22:11] I appreciate that.

[00:22:12] I actually saw Jerome and thought about him because he is like, he is a novelty in that

[00:22:17] sense of like, he's not somebody you're going to see on every list.

[00:22:20] I can say with confidence, we're probably one of the only history podcasts in the world

[00:22:25] that spent any time on Jerome this year.

[00:22:27] But it was fun.

[00:22:27] It was cool.

[00:22:28] And it's always just nice to get those old guys.

[00:22:30] We have more ancient fathers of the faith in that sense, probably tracked on our show

[00:22:36] than just very few shows compared to that.

[00:22:39] It's not a brag.

[00:22:40] It's just the nature of what we do.

[00:22:41] We have all these things and we have some really cool ones coming up in this next year

[00:22:44] too, that once people record them, I'm very excited to get them out.

[00:22:47] So, all right, you guys are ready.

[00:22:49] Church history trivia.

[00:22:50] Yes.

[00:22:51] Geography edition round.

[00:22:53] I don't know what number one.

[00:22:54] I think it's round three.

[00:22:55] Okay.

[00:22:56] This one, Joel, I'm going to let you go first.

[00:22:59] Yeah.

[00:22:59] Here and get your first crack at it.

[00:23:00] Oh, man, shoot.

[00:23:01] I had a very nice person picked out for you and then I moved my finger off of it and

[00:23:06] I can't find it.

[00:23:07] Oh, okay.

[00:23:07] Joel, this one's for you.

[00:23:09] Where was George Matheson located?

[00:23:13] America?

[00:23:15] Sorry, not America.

[00:23:17] Good guess.

[00:23:17] Has a nice name.

[00:23:19] All right, Elise, turn it over to you.

[00:23:20] Chance to steal.

[00:23:21] I'm going to say it's not Germany because we just did Germany.

[00:23:24] Not Germany.

[00:23:25] George doesn't sound like a very German name.

[00:23:26] Well, no.

[00:23:27] It sounds, well, England?

[00:23:31] I'm going to say England is not an acceptable answer.

[00:23:33] Sorry.

[00:23:34] All right, Joel, back to you.

[00:23:35] Do we get a layer of hint?

[00:23:39] Okay.

[00:23:40] If you remember, he was the blind pastor that preached in front of Queen Victoria that we

[00:23:45] covered on our show.

[00:23:46] Sounds like England to me.

[00:23:47] Yeah.

[00:23:48] I'm going to say France.

[00:23:49] France.

[00:23:49] France.

[00:23:50] Came over from France.

[00:23:51] No, he did not come over from France.

[00:23:53] I'm sorry.

[00:23:55] Okay, so this is the country they ministered to, right?

[00:23:58] Yeah, this is where he's traditionally considered to be from.

[00:24:01] And England and America and France are not it.

[00:24:04] I think I actually just remembered it.

[00:24:07] Joel, I might give you a bonus chance here.

[00:24:09] No.

[00:24:09] At least you can't get it.

[00:24:10] Just...

[00:24:11] Okay, something European.

[00:24:12] This is correct.

[00:24:13] Okay.

[00:24:14] We've guessed England, France, Germany.

[00:24:17] We've done Denmark.

[00:24:17] That's not a thing.

[00:24:19] Oh, goodness.

[00:24:20] Hmm.

[00:24:20] Hmm.

[00:24:21] Would it be Italy?

[00:24:24] No.

[00:24:25] That classic Italian name, George Matheson.

[00:24:27] I don't know.

[00:24:28] So he was from Scotland.

[00:24:30] Ah, come on.

[00:24:32] Scotland.

[00:24:33] Hanging above England.

[00:24:34] That's why he was hanging out with Queen Victoria, but not from England.

[00:24:38] Okay, so that was round number one.

[00:24:40] All right.

[00:24:41] Elise, you're going to get the first...

[00:24:43] I feel like that one's maybe too easy there.

[00:24:44] I don't want to give it to you.

[00:24:45] Too easy here.

[00:24:47] Let's see what we got.

[00:24:48] Looking for a good one.

[00:24:51] Okay.

[00:24:52] Elise, for you, where did Ambrose minister at?

[00:24:58] Hmm.

[00:24:59] How interesting.

[00:25:02] Early church father help mentor St. Augustine.

[00:25:04] Yes, yes, yes.

[00:25:05] Ugh, gosh.

[00:25:07] What you're feeling right now, Elise, is how I feel like after every question.

[00:25:13] Ambrose.

[00:25:13] Okay, hang on.

[00:25:14] I feel like I really should know this.

[00:25:15] Try singing it.

[00:25:15] I find it helps not at all.

[00:25:18] That's a...

[00:25:18] Yeah, I'm going to try that one.

[00:25:20] Nobody wants to hear that.

[00:25:21] What am I...

[00:25:22] Oh, gosh.

[00:25:24] To the listener, though, listen to the fun they're having.

[00:25:26] This could be a game you play on New Year's Eve with your map.

[00:25:30] Ambrose.

[00:25:31] Ambrose.

[00:25:31] Ambrose.

[00:25:33] Ah, it's like the entire Middle East had disappeared for me in all of Europe.

[00:25:39] Basically entire continents.

[00:25:40] That's going to be a problem for you answering this question.

[00:25:43] I know.

[00:25:43] I...

[00:25:43] Okay, if I had to throw something out...

[00:25:45] Oh, gosh.

[00:25:47] Um...

[00:25:48] Oh, ma, ma.

[00:25:50] Nope.

[00:25:52] Something...

[00:25:52] Something starts with an M.

[00:25:54] Am I going to have to pass it to Joel?

[00:25:55] Yeah, pass it to Joel.

[00:25:56] Pass it to Joel.

[00:25:56] Okay, Joel, Elise gave you ma, ma.

[00:25:58] So that was not correct.

[00:25:59] Joel?

[00:26:00] Ambrose.

[00:26:01] Okay, Ambrose is old.

[00:26:04] So it's an old country.

[00:26:07] It's the old country.

[00:26:08] The old country is correct.

[00:26:09] He's going back to it.

[00:26:10] It's an old country.

[00:26:12] Like his full name has a location in it.

[00:26:16] Ambrose of somewhere.

[00:26:18] And I'm blanking on that, too.

[00:26:20] When they're old like that, they do have that tendency.

[00:26:22] Yeah.

[00:26:22] Why don't we do that anymore?

[00:26:23] I'd like to start calling you Joel of Kansas City.

[00:26:25] You can call me.

[00:26:26] That sounds acceptable.

[00:26:30] Ambrose of...

[00:26:31] I don't know.

[00:26:32] Let's go back to Italy.

[00:26:33] Let's go back to Italy.

[00:26:34] Is he from Italy?

[00:26:35] Joel is correct.

[00:26:36] It is Italy.

[00:26:36] What?

[00:26:36] I almost said Italy.

[00:26:38] You said ma.

[00:26:39] No, but I almost didn't.

[00:26:40] I thought Italy.

[00:26:40] I've been wrong on Italy like every time.

[00:26:42] You said ma.

[00:26:43] All right, Joel.

[00:26:44] Congratulations.

[00:26:45] All right.

[00:26:45] So the score is now three to two.

[00:26:47] All right.

[00:26:47] I think the real people have been fun here.

[00:26:49] What do people call him?

[00:26:50] Ambrose of Milan.

[00:26:52] So the in there was Milan.

[00:26:53] I almost said Macedonia, too.

[00:26:55] So that's not...

[00:26:56] That wasn't even close.

[00:26:57] All right.

[00:26:58] But again, the real winner is the listener who's realizing this Revive Thoughts map is a hit.

[00:27:02] I can't wait to play it.

[00:27:02] They're also realizing, who am I listening to?

[00:27:05] Okay.

[00:27:06] So for the listeners, you know, if you're losing faith in this New Year's time, it's late where we are.

[00:27:13] It's early where Joel is.

[00:27:14] Yes.

[00:27:14] That's the only reason you're not getting...

[00:27:16] How many excuses can we layer in?

[00:27:17] There we go.

[00:27:18] Okay.

[00:27:18] Number three.

[00:27:19] Joel, what was your number three episode?

[00:27:21] Okay.

[00:27:22] Uh, let's go with...

[00:27:24] Let's go with the recent one.

[00:27:26] I really liked our recent Christmas Evans, The Cedar of God.

[00:27:29] I had a lot of fun recording that with you, and I thought it was a great sermon.

[00:27:33] I thought it was a great narration.

[00:27:34] And it was an all-around solid episode that you guys should check out if you haven't heard it.

[00:27:40] Yeah, I really liked...

[00:27:41] I love all Christmas Evans stuff.

[00:27:43] I'd never heard of that guy until Revive Thoughts.

[00:27:45] He's got an amazing backstory.

[00:27:47] Guthrie, who I met about a year ago, he's a great guy who narrated it for us.

[00:27:52] Really kind.

[00:27:52] And he emailed me after the episode came out.

[00:27:54] And for Christmas, his wife got him a Christmas Evans, like, sermon book.

[00:28:01] So this guy, he's a Christmas Evans fan, and he's ready to go for future Christmas episodes of Christmas Evans,

[00:28:07] which also was just an amazing coincidence that on my schedule I'd put it before Christmas.

[00:28:11] I didn't even think about that at all, but I think the Lord knew when it needed to come out.

[00:28:15] So that was a lot of fun.

[00:28:17] I'm really excited about that, and I agree.

[00:28:18] Great episode.

[00:28:20] Elise, what was your number three-est best, or third-est episode?

[00:28:23] My number three is Frederick Boddicker, who is a missionary to Russia's prisoners.

[00:28:30] And the reason that I like this episode is because it reads like a Russian novel.

[00:28:35] Because it's got all the aristocracy.

[00:28:36] You've got the prisons.

[00:28:37] You've got this huge, expansive history of what was going on in Russia.

[00:28:41] Russia's a complete and utter mess.

[00:28:44] And it also is the perfect intro to hopefully maybe at some point, I'm not going to promise this,

[00:28:49] but it's a soft maybe, possibly, to have this expansive episode into Russia at some point in 2025.

[00:28:57] So I highly encourage you to read, to not read it, to listen to it, because it's amazing.

[00:29:03] There you go.

[00:29:04] All right.

[00:29:04] For me, number three is once again a double tie, because it is so difficult to pick up.

[00:29:10] I love so many of these episodes.

[00:29:11] I had to cut so many.

[00:29:12] I had Bonhoeffer.

[00:29:14] I had Wilberforce Bunyan, Tori, McChain, Edwards.

[00:29:17] There were so many episodes I wanted to squeeze on this list.

[00:29:19] But I'm doing a tie here, and I think this is my last tie.

[00:29:22] And that is, there was a sermon by D.L. Moody on hell.

[00:29:25] Absolutely great sermon.

[00:29:27] Gave me some really good anecdotes to use in class, and terrifying as a sermon on hell.

[00:29:32] Would you imagine it would be?

[00:29:33] But good to listen to.

[00:29:34] It really impacts you.

[00:29:36] And then another one was by John Marsh.

[00:29:39] It was about a murder-suicide that happened in his town, and he had to preach the funeral

[00:29:44] sermon a couple days later.

[00:29:46] A very heavy episode.

[00:29:47] But it was a really thought-provoking episode.

[00:29:50] Made me really think about some of the questions of evil and what it would be like for, I mean,

[00:29:53] John Marsh is not a famous man.

[00:29:55] He's just a small-town pastor who had to deal with this really horrible, tragic thing that

[00:29:59] happened out of the middle of nowhere.

[00:30:01] And it just made you question, what would you do in that situation?

[00:30:04] And then also, somebody recently, there was a tragedy that happened, and they shared that

[00:30:08] episode.

[00:30:08] And they were like, hey, this is a good sermon from back in the day about a similar kind of

[00:30:13] tragedy.

[00:30:13] I think that's one of the reasons that it also stuck out to me, is it's a timeless sermon

[00:30:17] in that way of, here's evil, it's a horrible thing.

[00:30:21] It's been around a very long time.

[00:30:23] That sermon was from 300 years ago.

[00:30:25] But here's how a small-town pastor was able to deal with that.

[00:30:28] So I think it's a great episode, and that one with D.L Moody's Hell Sermon are my number

[00:30:32] three for the year.

[00:30:38] Wir sind Teresa und Nemo.

[00:30:40] Und deshalb sind wir zu Shopify gewechselt.

[00:30:42] Die Plattform, die wir vor Shopify verwendet haben, hat regelmäßig Updates gebraucht,

[00:30:46] die teilweise dazu geführt haben, dass der Shop nicht funktioniert hat.

[00:30:49] Endlich macht unser Nemo-Boards-Shop dadurch auch auf den Mobilgeräten eine gute Figur.

[00:30:53] Und die Illustrationen auf den Boards kommen jetzt viel, viel klarer rüber, was uns ja

[00:30:57] auch wichtig ist und was unsere Marke auch ausmacht.

[00:31:00] Starte deinen Test nur heute für 1 Euro pro Monat auf shopify.de slash radio.

[00:31:12] Okay, on that kind of darker note, church history trivia geography.

[00:31:17] Let's jump back in.

[00:31:18] Joel, for you, what town is Jerome famous for pastoring in?

[00:31:23] Since it was one of your favorites of the year, what town is he at?

[00:31:26] Why do you got to do this to me, Jerome?

[00:31:27] Why do you got to do this to me, Jerome?

[00:31:32] Jerome of?

[00:31:33] I figured I hit Elise with several ancient people, so I owed you one.

[00:31:39] Canterbury.

[00:31:42] Canterbury.

[00:31:42] Is that, oh, you actually, no, sorry, Canterbury's not correct.

[00:31:45] Elise, Jerome.

[00:31:46] Jerome.

[00:31:52] We've already done Italy.

[00:31:53] Are we doing, is it cities?

[00:31:55] I will go ahead and say there will be no future Italys just to help you guys out.

[00:31:58] So you can get that off your list.

[00:32:00] Okay.

[00:32:01] Okay, okay.

[00:32:02] Let's see.

[00:32:03] Technically, if you get the name of the country, I guess I'd be okay with it.

[00:32:06] But I'm looking more for, this one needs to be a city for it to really count.

[00:32:09] Because it's an old one.

[00:32:11] You can just say Roman Empire and cover like 50 of them, so it needs to be more specific.

[00:32:15] Okay, okay.

[00:32:15] We know it's Roman Empire.

[00:32:16] Well, that really narrows it down.

[00:32:17] Well, everyone knew that about Rome already.

[00:32:18] Yeah, totally.

[00:32:19] We all knew that, yes.

[00:32:21] Hmm.

[00:32:23] Oh, gosh.

[00:32:26] Why?

[00:32:27] Would you like to guess them again?

[00:32:30] It's freaking great.

[00:32:33] Okay, okay.

[00:32:33] Roman Empire.

[00:32:34] What's a city?

[00:32:35] What's, I don't, I don't know.

[00:32:37] These ancient guys.

[00:32:39] Why?

[00:32:39] Why?

[00:32:40] I don't know.

[00:32:40] I'm going to pass.

[00:32:40] All right, hey, I'll give both of you a hint.

[00:32:42] It sounds kind of like his name.

[00:32:46] That's Rome.

[00:32:47] But you said it's not Italy.

[00:32:49] It's not Rome.

[00:32:49] Rome is not the city.

[00:32:50] Okay, let's clarify it.

[00:32:51] That won't be a guess for you.

[00:32:53] Jerome the Gnome.

[00:32:53] Sounds kind of like his name.

[00:32:56] Constantinople.

[00:32:57] I want to say close, but no.

[00:32:59] All right, was that your guess?

[00:33:00] I don't know.

[00:33:01] All right, go ahead.

[00:33:01] Joel, you got anything?

[00:33:03] No.

[00:33:04] What city rhymes with?

[00:33:06] Jerusalem.

[00:33:06] I didn't say it rhymed.

[00:33:07] Oh, come on.

[00:33:08] Rome, Jerusalem, they both start with the same letters.

[00:33:11] That's on you, bro.

[00:33:12] There's no correlation there.

[00:33:14] Okay, is that part of the Roman Empire, though?

[00:33:16] Yes.

[00:33:16] Really?

[00:33:17] At that point, it was.

[00:33:18] Totally.

[00:33:18] Yes, definitely.

[00:33:19] You know, Christmas was recent, and there was a whole census taken by the Roman Empire.

[00:33:26] Okay, so you guys aren't doing good with the ancient ones.

[00:33:28] That's okay.

[00:33:29] I'm sure the listener at home was getting all these cracks.

[00:33:31] So let's go ahead.

[00:33:31] This one's more recent.

[00:33:33] For you, Elise, give me old Rutherford Waddle.

[00:33:36] Hmm.

[00:33:37] That is not ancient.

[00:33:39] Rutherford Waddle.

[00:33:39] And I'll give you the country.

[00:33:40] If you can hit the country, I'll count it.

[00:33:41] Waddle.

[00:33:43] Ireland?

[00:33:45] You know.

[00:33:46] Okay.

[00:33:46] So I did say you had to pick the country they were, like, most from.

[00:33:50] But using his name working backwards, it would have been Waddle.

[00:33:55] You're correct.

[00:33:55] He is from Ireland, but then he moved to do ministry in what country?

[00:34:00] Do you know what country he moved to do ministry to?

[00:34:02] Waddle.

[00:34:04] Waddle.

[00:34:05] Waddle.

[00:34:05] It's totally a shot in the dark here.

[00:34:10] Can you give me his time frame?

[00:34:12] That would help.

[00:34:13] 1800s.

[00:34:14] 1800s.

[00:34:14] Well, that doesn't actually narrow down.

[00:34:17] 1850s onward.

[00:34:18] Okay.

[00:34:19] You've done an episode on this place.

[00:34:21] Oh.

[00:34:21] But this is not one of your episodes.

[00:34:22] Oh, hang on, hang on.

[00:34:24] Oh, the new Hebrides?

[00:34:26] I'm sorry.

[00:34:27] It's not the new Hebrides.

[00:34:28] All right, Joel.

[00:34:28] Chance to steal.

[00:34:30] What's it?

[00:34:31] Waddle?

[00:34:32] I'm feeling Irish, right?

[00:34:35] I ain't.

[00:34:37] You feeling lucky?

[00:34:38] He did move from Ireland.

[00:34:40] He was from Ireland.

[00:34:41] He moved to this area and ministered.

[00:34:43] It's one of our episodes from this year, Joel.

[00:34:45] Oh, is it Canada?

[00:34:46] Canada?

[00:34:47] Not Canada, Joel.

[00:34:49] That's okay.

[00:34:49] I feel like the new Hebrides.

[00:34:51] I feel like that was close.

[00:34:53] I'm not going to get too much of a hint.

[00:34:53] I feel like it's somewhere in, not the Sandwich Islands, but somewhere.

[00:34:57] It's not a Sandwich Island.

[00:34:58] I don't even know what that is.

[00:34:59] Is it the Cook Islands?

[00:35:00] It is not the Cook Islands.

[00:35:02] Come on.

[00:35:03] I feel like I'm real close.

[00:35:04] You are.

[00:35:04] And when I say the answer, you're going to be really annoyed with yourself.

[00:35:06] Joel, what do you got?

[00:35:07] Last chance to steal.

[00:35:09] Waddle.

[00:35:10] Oh, 1850s.

[00:35:19] Switzerland.

[00:35:21] That famous, right next to the Sandwich Islands and Cook Islands, Switzerland.

[00:35:25] No, it's New Zealand.

[00:35:26] New Zealand.

[00:35:27] Oh, my word.

[00:35:29] I remember that.

[00:35:30] Well, hold up.

[00:35:31] Hold up.

[00:35:31] Didn't that guy, didn't that guy, is that the same dude that ran shopping in Canada for

[00:35:37] a hot second?

[00:35:39] Am I getting him confused with someone?

[00:35:41] I think he might be getting confused.

[00:35:42] I do think there was a guy we covered that went through Canada.

[00:35:44] I think you're thinking of William Chalmers Burns, who went to Canada and learned French

[00:35:49] in Canada.

[00:35:49] Yeah.

[00:35:50] He was all over the place, too.

[00:35:51] So I can see why.

[00:35:51] Because then he eventually made his way to China.

[00:35:53] So, all right.

[00:35:54] Number two-est, second best, not second, best, again, not the right words.

[00:35:59] Second most, here's the episode you got to listen to this year.

[00:36:02] All right.

[00:36:02] For me, Cotton Mather, Pirate Death Row.

[00:36:06] I mean, even when I put this episode out on X, a listener, Yesi, was like, you got to mention

[00:36:12] that Cotton Mather one, right?

[00:36:13] It's such a good episode.

[00:36:14] I really loved it a whole lot.

[00:36:16] And yeah, no, I definitely, definitely am up there with saying that one was probably,

[00:36:21] even just as a sermon.

[00:36:22] This is a sermon that was given on Death Row by a famous pastor.

[00:36:25] It was an on-the-fly sermon.

[00:36:27] The whole episode of hearing how these guys ended up on Death Row, their whole hot pirating,

[00:36:33] everything about it.

[00:36:33] I just loved it.

[00:36:34] The speaker was wonderful, a great episode.

[00:36:37] Honestly, an all-time revived thoughts classic for me.

[00:36:40] So that was definitely my number two-est episode.

[00:36:45] Elise, go ahead.

[00:36:45] Hit us with number two.

[00:36:46] All right.

[00:36:47] Number two for me was John Hunt, Missionary to the Cannibals of Fiji.

[00:36:52] And I liked it because it was such a stark contrast, like start to finish, because when

[00:36:57] you think of Fiji today, you don't think cannibal islands.

[00:36:59] You think beautiful paradise of a place I can't afford to visit.

[00:37:02] But back in the day, it was all cannibals.

[00:37:05] So this guy helped change that.

[00:37:06] Because you start out with like this whole woman strangling thing.

[00:37:10] And you have these prisoners that would literally get like run over by these boat launches because

[00:37:15] they would like sacrifice the prisoners to like christen a new boat or whatever.

[00:37:20] 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.

[00:37:26] But then also like it started to convict them.

[00:37:29] And so many of the people that came to Christ were was it was because they learned how to read, use the New Testament.

[00:37:35] 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.

[00:37:43] But a lot of them just like six months to a year before had been like cannibals, murderers, polygamists, all these things.

[00:37:49] So I really like it because it's just like this amazing night to day difference.

[00:37:56] Nice.

[00:37:57] Troy, you're not going to believe this is pure coincidence.

[00:38:02] I also have Cotton Mather Pirates on Death Row Sermon as my as my number two slot, which makes me wonder if I'm pretty sure our number one slot is also probably the same.

[00:38:12] But it's a great episode.

[00:38:14] Cotton Mather.

[00:38:16] That was one when it came out.

[00:38:18] Like I was I was like literally just telling my friends like, yeah, when is the last time you thought about pirates?

[00:38:23] Like you should check out this episode.

[00:38:25] It's pretty it's pretty interesting.

[00:38:27] Pretty interesting stuff.

[00:38:29] Highly recommended.

[00:38:31] All right.

[00:38:32] Well, Joel, that does make me wonder if our number ones are the same because I have a feeling they might be.

[00:38:36] And you know what?

[00:38:37] Well, if they are, they're probably both well-deserved.

[00:38:39] And this again, this was a really frustrating year to all of our speakers.

[00:38:43] We're really grateful.

[00:38:43] You helped us bring so many great sermons back this year.

[00:38:46] And we also had honestly it was it was killing me to pick episodes this year.

[00:38:51] It always hurts a little bit just picking your favorites.

[00:38:53] But this is not even your favorites just top five for people to check out.

[00:38:56] But it genuinely this was the most difficult year I think I've ever had.

[00:39:00] And just narrowing it down because there are so many good ones.

[00:39:03] But before we do that, guys, it's time.

[00:39:06] Are you ready for the final two on this one?

[00:39:10] Joel, you're going first.

[00:39:12] I'm going to say this.

[00:39:13] Whoever wins this this match will be the winner here.

[00:39:15] So we can end on our number ones on a nice high note.

[00:39:18] Joel, Samson Occam is from where?

[00:39:21] Not a clue.

[00:39:22] Let's see.

[00:39:23] All right.

[00:39:23] Let's break this down.

[00:39:24] Samson Occam.

[00:39:27] I feel like this is a more recent cat.

[00:39:31] I feel like we're firmly in the last 300 years.

[00:39:35] You are.

[00:39:35] I'm not doing any more ancient guys.

[00:39:37] So you're right.

[00:39:38] Last 300 years.

[00:39:39] Samson Occam.

[00:39:41] Occam.

[00:39:42] Occam.

[00:39:43] England.

[00:39:43] Let's go England.

[00:39:45] Joel, he is not from England.

[00:39:47] At least chance to steal.

[00:39:47] Oh, it's America, baby.

[00:39:49] Isn't it?

[00:39:50] Yep.

[00:39:50] It is.

[00:39:50] Man.

[00:39:51] That was my number two.

[00:39:53] Yeah, he was the first Native American to ever preach and have their sermon written down.

[00:39:58] And it was written down.

[00:39:58] And he did it in English.

[00:40:00] Samson Occam.

[00:40:01] Also famous for Occam's razor.

[00:40:02] No, I'm just getting that part made up.

[00:40:04] That was a philosopher.

[00:40:04] But anyway.

[00:40:05] All right.

[00:40:05] The score right now is actually four to two.

[00:40:08] So technically, the game is pretty much over.

[00:40:12] But you know, I don't feel good about this victory.

[00:40:13] Just so you know.

[00:40:14] It was a hard one scrap.

[00:40:17] Joel, I want to give you a chance, though.

[00:40:19] Just one more time.

[00:40:20] I want to give you a classic, okay?

[00:40:22] Let's give you a chance here to do some damage with something.

[00:40:26] Where is, I think somebody we've had on the show, you know, kind of somebody recently here.

[00:40:32] Here's what I'll do.

[00:40:33] If you can name the building where our episode by William Wilberforce was at.

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

[00:40:42] What building was it in?

[00:40:44] Can you tell?

[00:40:45] Parliament?

[00:40:45] At least looking at me with this face that says, like, this is ridiculous.

[00:40:48] But to be fair, like I said.

[00:40:49] It's Parliament, right?

[00:40:50] All right, Joel.

[00:40:51] Good job.

[00:40:51] You get a point.

[00:40:52] So it'll still end four to three.

[00:40:53] But that was a good job.

[00:40:54] You got the building.

[00:40:55] And I appreciate that.

[00:40:56] Yeah.

[00:40:56] We had a speech on our show by William Wilberforce from Parliament.

[00:41:00] What an event.

[00:41:01] Oh, was that me just sliding another episode in?

[00:41:03] It might have been.

[00:41:04] Okay.

[00:41:04] Well, I couldn't put it on my email.

[00:41:05] I think next year.

[00:41:07] Next year, I'm going to run the game.

[00:41:08] I'm going to come up with a better game.

[00:41:10] And it's going to be.

[00:41:13] Leave it to me.

[00:41:13] Leave it to me next year.

[00:41:14] Okay.

[00:41:15] I leave it to you.

[00:41:16] But better game.

[00:41:17] This was a great game.

[00:41:17] Everyone at home right now is pulling out Revive Thoughts on a calm map.

[00:41:21] And they're going, I got to play this with friends.

[00:41:22] Everyone at home is unsubscribing right now.

[00:41:24] No, they're not.

[00:41:25] They're like, no, I can't listen to these people.

[00:41:26] They're definitely not.

[00:41:27] All right.

[00:41:28] They could have been playing along.

[00:41:30] I'm sure they were.

[00:41:31] I'm sure they were.

[00:41:31] And they probably got better more answers than we did.

[00:41:34] All right.

[00:41:35] Number one episode.

[00:41:36] Joel, go ahead.

[00:41:37] What was your number one episode of the year you couldn't miss?

[00:41:41] Spurgeon.

[00:41:42] Spurgeon.

[00:41:42] The one you did with Clay Cravey.

[00:41:45] I was out.

[00:41:46] I'm not sure what I was doing.

[00:41:48] But I enjoyed listening to that.

[00:41:51] I think Clay did a great job.

[00:41:52] I think you did a great job.

[00:41:54] And I think it was all around.

[00:41:56] A tight, great episode.

[00:41:58] Joel, I appreciate that.

[00:42:00] That was not my number one episode, though.

[00:42:02] So we are not going to overlap this year.

[00:42:04] It's not.

[00:42:04] And that makes me very happy.

[00:42:05] But it was a great episode.

[00:42:06] And any year where you have a Spurgeon episode, it's a winner.

[00:42:10] Again, so many.

[00:42:11] I was just doing some editing on the Old Revive Thoughts book.

[00:42:14] And I had just gotten through a Spurgeon sermon that we'll feature on there.

[00:42:17] And it is amazing.

[00:42:18] Spurgeon is Prince of Preachers.

[00:42:20] And it is his nickname.

[00:42:21] And it is well-earned.

[00:42:22] But that was not my number one episode for the year.

[00:42:24] But if you haven't listened to it, you should definitely do so.

[00:42:27] At least your number one.

[00:42:28] All right.

[00:42:28] So I said earlier I only have seven episodes.

[00:42:30] So it really narrows it down.

[00:42:32] But my number one is Isabel Kuhn, which is actually technically two-parter.

[00:42:37] So there were eight episodes that happened.

[00:42:38] But she is a missionary to China and later to Thailand, to the Lisu people in China there.

[00:42:46] And I love it so much because I felt like she was super relatable because she wrote everything down.

[00:42:52] Like it was basically like you're chronicling along with her on her whole life's journey.

[00:42:56] And then all the people that she talks about, which are many, many people,

[00:42:59] you just feel like you get to know them as well.

[00:43:01] Really enjoyed that.

[00:43:03] So you feel just really invested the whole, like from the beginning of her life,

[00:43:08] all the way until the end of her life.

[00:43:09] And you feel like you're just walking with her the whole time.

[00:43:12] So very cool lady.

[00:43:14] And I hope the episodes do her justice.

[00:43:16] But if you haven't checked those out, definitely do.

[00:43:19] They're amazing.

[00:43:19] Yeah, I will say of all the people that Lisa's featured on Martyrs and Missionaries,

[00:43:23] I feel like Isabel Kuhn was the one that I was most like,

[00:43:27] hey, that person, I can relate to that person.

[00:43:29] I feel like they have, I have had similar experiences to Isabel Kuhn.

[00:43:33] Not all of them.

[00:43:34] Obviously, she has a part where Japan is invading China.

[00:43:37] I directly relate to that.

[00:43:38] Yeah, cannot relate to maybe to that part necessarily.

[00:43:40] But a lot of her interactions with other people.

[00:43:43] And I'm like, oh man, I've definitely been in similar situations where what do you do kind of thing.

[00:43:48] But no, my number one episodes were the Typing Rebellion episodes,

[00:43:52] part one and two that we put out this year.

[00:43:54] Joel, how can I forget?

[00:43:55] You got to.

[00:43:56] Joel, the Typing Rebellion episodes.

[00:43:57] I knew that was going to be on your list somewhere, yeah.

[00:44:00] Yeah, it had to be my number one.

[00:44:02] Now, part of it is, it's a little arrogant.

[00:44:04] It'd be like the time where I talked for four hours, that's my favorite part.

[00:44:07] But no, it's just that I'd wanted to do the Typing Rebellion for years.

[00:44:10] Since we first did the Hudson Taylor episode and first ran into it,

[00:44:13] it was a concept that fascinated me.

[00:44:15] Finally got it out on paper.

[00:44:16] Was very happy with it.

[00:44:17] We have heard so many positive feedbacks from people who really enjoyed the story,

[00:44:22] couldn't get enough of the story.

[00:44:23] And I have even personal friendships in my actual life that have been enriched by the Typing Rebellion.

[00:44:29] I was with a friend of mine the other day,

[00:44:30] and a student that I work with at school came up and was chatting with us,

[00:44:33] and they were like, wow, I feel like I'm in an adult conversation.

[00:44:36] I had these two adults that are chatting with me, treating me like an equal.

[00:44:39] And they were like, so what do we adults talk about?

[00:44:41] And me and my friend, without a beat, we just looked at each other and we said,

[00:44:44] so the Typing Rebellion started.

[00:44:46] And we just immediately started going.

[00:44:47] Because it's just become like a part of the culture.

[00:44:50] And so for me, Typing Rebellion, absolutely.

[00:44:52] If you've not listened to those episodes, got to listen to them.

[00:44:55] If you do not know the story of this man who declared himself as Jesus' brother,

[00:45:00] took over China for 15 years, absolutely a story you should listen to.

[00:45:04] It's sad.

[00:45:05] It's not a happy story per se,

[00:45:08] but it's definitely a story that I can't believe is missed in history.

[00:45:10] So many honorable mentions.

[00:45:12] John McGowan's satirical sermon, Jonathan Edwards' farewell sermon.

[00:45:15] I have so many I'd love to add to the list,

[00:45:18] but that is my top five for the year.

[00:45:20] And if you notice, I cheated in my top five a lot.

[00:45:23] Are there any aspirations?

[00:45:23] Like in the next year, you're thinking,

[00:45:25] this is an episode that I would love to do.

[00:45:27] Because for me, it's a cult.

[00:45:28] I need a cult to top the Moravians.

[00:45:31] The side hole bother people.

[00:45:32] I still get emails about the side hole.

[00:45:34] And I need 2025.

[00:45:37] I need something that's going to rival the side hole.

[00:45:39] So that for me is, I'm going to do it.

[00:45:42] All right.

[00:45:42] So if you don't know,

[00:45:43] at least the Martyrs and Missionaries had an episode on the Moravians

[00:45:46] that was a lot.

[00:45:48] If you haven't listened to it,

[00:45:49] you should go do so if you like that kind of thing.

[00:45:51] But it was intense.

[00:45:52] It was a lot.

[00:45:53] It was kind of weird.

[00:45:54] So for us, Joel,

[00:45:55] do we have any major aspirations for where we're going this year?

[00:45:59] I do.

[00:46:00] I've finally begun to crack down on some Revive Thoughts deep dives

[00:46:04] that I'm excited about.

[00:46:05] So after typing Rebellion,

[00:46:07] I genuinely didn't know where to go next for a while.

[00:46:09] But I now have some directions I'm beginning to put into.

[00:46:12] So I'm excited for those.

[00:46:14] Joel, you're about to say something, though.

[00:46:16] Yeah, I think 2025 is going to be the year of our Revive Thoughts book

[00:46:19] that has been in the works for a long time.

[00:46:22] So imagine, if you will,

[00:46:25] a beautiful book laid out on your coffee table.

[00:46:29] And a buddy says, what's this?

[00:46:30] And you say, oh, it's a collection of sermons

[00:46:33] throughout history memoriam

[00:46:36] that you can scour and read through.

[00:46:39] Almost like a printed form of a Revive Thoughts concept here.

[00:46:45] Available.

[00:46:46] Coming soon.

[00:46:47] Just one of many.

[00:46:49] Which is funny.

[00:46:50] Volume one.

[00:46:51] Yeah.

[00:46:52] Which is funny because our whole show exists

[00:46:54] to bring these sermons back to life.

[00:46:55] And now we're bringing them back to bed.

[00:46:57] But anyway, we're getting there.

[00:46:58] And I like it.

[00:46:59] Come full circle in some ways.

[00:47:00] But yeah.

[00:47:01] But no, we're definitely, that will be ready.

[00:47:02] I've been editing it like crazy over the Christmas break.

[00:47:05] It's a lot more, I'll just say it,

[00:47:07] it's a lot more work to write and edit sermons for a book

[00:47:11] than it is for a podcast.

[00:47:13] Because the way you talk a sermon

[00:47:14] and the way the sermon needs to be

[00:47:16] with the semicolons and all the apostrophes,

[00:47:19] it's a very different deal

[00:47:19] when you're getting it ready

[00:47:21] to send to someone's coffee table

[00:47:22] than it is to get it ready for someone's ears.

[00:47:25] Okay, guys.

[00:47:25] I love how the height of aspirations for you guys

[00:47:27] is someone will put this on their coffee table.

[00:47:29] Someone might even read it.

[00:47:30] I don't know.

[00:47:33] Look at that beautiful, that front cover.

[00:47:35] It will never be open.

[00:47:36] I know.

[00:47:36] You know, look, I hope you read it.

[00:47:38] I picked sermons I think are especially good for reading

[00:47:40] and that are especially wonderful.

[00:47:42] But I know a lot of people,

[00:47:43] they just buy it for their shelf to look smart.

[00:47:45] But we hope you,

[00:47:45] we know you who are listening right now.

[00:47:47] You're not those.

[00:47:47] You're the type of people who read them

[00:47:48] because you're the type of people

[00:47:49] who listen to a show like this.

[00:47:51] So you're definitely the kind of people

[00:47:52] who read a book like this.

[00:47:54] We're excited about it.

[00:47:55] And you know, for us too,

[00:47:56] we'll be back in the States this summer.

[00:47:58] So Joel, that'll be an opportunity

[00:47:59] for us to collaborate

[00:48:00] and do even more, as they say.

[00:48:03] Looking forward to it.

[00:48:04] All right.

[00:48:05] Well, I think we can put a wrap on it here.

[00:48:07] Good year.

[00:48:08] Great year for the shows.

[00:48:09] And a million downloads.

[00:48:11] Can't beat that.

[00:48:11] This is Troy.

[00:48:12] This is Joel.

[00:48:13] And this is Elise.

[00:48:14] And you've been listening to

[00:48:15] Revived Thoughts

[00:48:15] and Harders and Missionaries.

[00:48:17] We're going to talk about it.