All good things must come to an end. Hi…this is Tony Agnesi.

Since 2012 I have done a weekly podcast originally called Finding God’s Grace in Everyday life and for the past few years Five Minutes with Tony. This is the final episode. We have featured 172 episodes here on Breadbox Media and I want to offer my sincere thank you to Pete Socks for adding both Five Minutes with Tony and The Storytellers to the Breadbox Media lineup.

Currently, I am converting Five Minutes with Tony to video. So far, we have recorded over 40 on Youtube.com/TonyAgnesi and on Facebook Live and Instagram. In addition, thanks to The Fiat Ministry Network and Patchwork Heart Ministries The Storytellers radio program now has a video version also available on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

All of the programs are available on my web site at TonyAgnesi.com. So give our video versions a try and don’t forget to subscribe and follow us so you don’t miss a single episode.

Blessings my friends……This is Tony Agnesi.

In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony offers seven spiritual resolutions for your new year.  We are either on one of two trajectories, growing in our relationship with God, or frankly, we are growing away from God (toward the devil).  As we are reminded in the book of Romans; we are either moving toward darkness or moving toward the light.

Before I could open the box my parents sat me down and told me that a neighbor boy’s father had been laid off and they couldn’t afford presents for my friend. Wouldn’t it be nice if I gave up one of my toys so that he would have something under his Christmas tree?  In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony discusses the tough decision he was forced to make on Christmas morning and the Christmas lesson we can learn from little children.

Christmas day is fast approaching.  For many people, it is the happiest and most joyful time of the year.  For others, Christmas can be the saddest time of the year.  In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony gives some helpful advice if you find yourself sad or lonely at Christmas and what you can do to help others that are alone, lonely, or sad at this time of year.

As we get older, receiving presents at Christmas isn’t quite as important as the people we have around us.  Family and friends become very important at Christmas time.  There is not a parent alive that wouldn’t trade even the biggest present for having their family together at the holidays.  Sons and daughters, grandkids, and friends, who are living far away are the best Christmas gifts.  In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony discusses how their presence in your holiday is the best Christmas present you could receive.

In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony discusses Secular Advent. For those of you who are not familiar with the holiday season, it began several years ago and has grown into the biggest secular holiday of the year. But, it’s not OUR Advent!

A palliative nurse wrote an article a few years back about the research she had done with the elderly.  The article talked about the five regrets of the dying.  In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony’s explains how we can all have a life of no regrets.

Scripture: It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus].  Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. –Philippians 3:12:14 NAB

For godly sorrow produces a salutary repentance without regret, but worldly sorrow produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

Reflection: How do we live a life of no regrets?  What are the top five things we can do to live a life of no regrets?  Is Tony’s list relevant to your daily life?

In this Five Minutes with Tony, Tony discusses worry.  Americans spend so much time in their lives worrying.  We worry constantly.  We worry about unimportant things, things we have no control over, things that we can’t change. What can we do to stop worrying?

Scripture: Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?  Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  Matthew 6:27-29

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

“If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?”  Matthew 6:30

Reflection:  Do you spend time worrying about things that are out of your control?  Have you ever worried so much that you made yourself sick?  What do you think of the idea that faith is the antidote to worry?

My friend was an atheist and a struggling alcoholic.  In one of several attempts to overcome his alcohol addiction, he placed a 3X5 card on our shared bulletin board with the words, “That was Yesterday.”  In this podcast, Tony talks about experiencing a metanoia, and turning away from yesterday and looking forward to tomorrow.

Scripture: On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.  The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one.  Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.  For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.  Acts 9:3-9

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. –Romans 8:18

Reflections:  Was there an experience that turned your life around?  Have you put your old self behind you? Can you say “That was yesterday” about a time in your life before Christ?