Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are

live from the Pathway Hey. You're listening to Live From Path. We're coming to you from the Pathway Studios here at Johnston Proper. It's good to be with you. Or creepily through zeros and ones through livefromthepath.org. We travel a lot of ways.

Think that's creepy. That's the normal way to go about. I like to call it digital taxi. No one is really on board with it, but that's what I'm going with. I think you keep saying that. It'll catch on. You darn right it will. I've I've really invested everything I have in digital taxi. It's charging the money that I'm having a hard time with. Al Gore gives it away for free. I say we make t shirts.

Alright. Hey. Welcome to live from the path. We're talking about honest faith, fierce grace, and sometimes donkeys because you could love Jesus and talk about donkeys. Anybody that tells you different is a creeper. Well, probably hates donkeys when we don't even want to know them anyway. Here's

the deal. If you spend your effort hating a donkey, I feel like it's not worth my time to haggle with you. Did I tell you that was the reason I was gonna ever purchase a donkey? Because here's what I figured. It's like, donkeys are known as universally stubborn animals that really, like, bring their stubbornness out at the worst possible time. And so what I figured is, is that no matter what's going on in my life, like a like a bum time at my job, or the kids are giving me the roast, or whatever. I'll walk outside, and there will be a donkey in front of my car before I leave to work. And I'll think, I will be no madder at anything else in my life than that donkey right there. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's basically my life punching bag. Yeah. Like, not that I will physically accost the donkey, but I thought all my frustration can be concentrated on the donkey because he will not move because I need to go to work. And he doesn't care. He'll just look at you like, oh, yeah. Whatever. You know, he's just I mean, I can yell at him, scream at him. I can kick dirt in his way and say you know, nudge him with the car. He still ain't gonna move. He'll just say, yaw. You know what I'm saying? I thought, I've got to get Oh, what was that second sound? He's a Laurel Hardy donkey. He's complacent. He's just complacent with his place in life. He's a special kind of donkey. He's not gonna give you a full on eaw. But, you know, I I thought I there's there's because it'll happen in inopportune times. You know what I'm saying? Like, at the worst possible time for that donkey to block my car or eat my mirror, like, it'll it'll be when I'm at my most frustrated, and I will be able to take it out on the donkey. That's actually a a common anger situation

that they talk about with getting rid of your anger. There's a book that's out. It's called the cow in the parking lot. Really? And the concept is is you're pulling into the parking lot and you see the best place, the best parking spot in the whole place right up front. It's right next to the door exactly where you wanna park. Not a handicap place. Oh, I was gonna say, and it's a handy. No. It's not a handicap place. You can park there. You pull up and you're racing, you're racing, you're racing, you win the race, and there's a cow. And the cow is in the parking spot,

and it will not move. Like a Kawasaki? No. Like a like a cow, a bovine animal. So a cow is in the parking spot. Are you honestly going to get mad at this cow? And even if you get mad, what is it going to do to that cow? Is the cow gonna move? No. So you might as well just laugh about it and go find another parking spot.

That's literally the concept of the book. That is Wow. That makes a lot of sense. I had some kind of some cow take a parking spot from me at the Walmart last week. It's meant to be literal. It is that That's what I've taken. It is that kind of passive behavior that gets you parking in the back row. I would jump the cow. You just talked about a donkey sitting in front of your your car, and you're just getting really angry at it, but nothing will happen. Yeah. That's exactly right. But I'll feel so much better because all my anger is concentrated on the donkey. You're just trying you're you think your anger is just gonna float away in some type of mysterious happy bubble. If I saw cow in the parking spot now. In the middle of, like, Jordan Creek, I would start laughing at the fact that this cow was just laying in the sparking spot. I might laugh initially, but, I mean, doggone it. If he stays there for more than a few minutes, and I've been trying to get that spot. I'd text the cow. You guys Get off my phone and text him. Hey, you big cow. Hey, cow. Rupert, hey. Can we talk?

Hey, man. You need to move. Get in the handy spot. You need to move. We'd go one on one, but I don't you did give me point. I actually I actually had that happen to me at work one time. I was heading down to it was right on the Iowa Missouri border where you expect these kind of things to happen. And I was delivering something down there, and I was I was rolling the backwoods to a to a pipeline plant, and a cow comes out in the middle of the road. And I tell you what, he winked at me. He wasn't gonna move. And so I took a picture on my phone of him, and then I and then I I texted to a couple people, and I just sat there for twenty minutes while this me and this cow, and I thought, you know, I could bump him with this truck. Right? But it's a company truck, and it seems wrong. People would be like, that company hit my cow. You know? I thought, well, that's not gonna work. So I just sat there and stared at him. I thought, you know, when you open a business such as the one I work for, you have to plan for cows obstruct your employees. There's nothing I can do here. The right company move is to sit and stare at the cow, and that's what I did. Awesome. I I had an embarrassing moment once, but I spent

most of my life in in Des Moines, you know, bigger city. I mean, small town. Small city. But, anyway, we moved to a small town, in Atlantic, and we were probably there about a week. And there were two main roads in the town, and we're pulling up in one of them, and there's a cow in the middle of the road. And I'm thinking, man, that's just dangerous that, know, I better I better call the police. So we get home and I call the police. Now now first of all, I told them the wrong road. Because they're probably thinking, no. No. The Joneses don't have a cow. You know, it's a small enough town. They all know who lives out there. And secondly, they're like, yeah. God. So I said, There's a cow in the road. I don't think you understand, officer. Yeah. There's there's a large mammal in the road. I almost hit it. Did you stop?

Yeah. Oh, okay. I feel like our involvement is No. That's me. That was the most awkward conversation I ever had. Yeah. What do you want me to do? Write him a citation? We have exhausted our options now, and have a great day. Exactly. I I wanted to move. It's just like, well, I just ruined my reputation because I just moved here. It seems like that's where we're at. It's city slicker Hudson. You guys, city boy. Preaches your Greece gospel.

Watch out. There's corn on the left. Big city Hudson. Alright. You're listening to life for the path. Here's what we got going on tonight. We're we're on number 48 from the proofs from godisimaginary.com. Basically, he's got the man that owns this website has laid out 50 proofs that says god is imaginary. We've been walking through one by one to see that we can give a defense of the faith. And we're on number 48. 48 is compare prayer to a lucky horseshoe,

and so we're gonna walk through that one, and see if we I don't know, see if we can provide a defense. And then we only got a couple more. We're almost temp well, I suppose we got the the 50 plus the three bonuses. You can you can go check those out and go into godismadager.com,

and then also listen to our past shows and kinda see how we handle them, and we'll get through that tonight. Also, we got some advice on dear life and the path. Some interesting stuff in the news. It's not the end of the world, but it might be the end of people that broadcast that it's the end of the world. We'll talk a little bit about that. And that's what we got. You're a time at Life of the Path. You could catch us during the week at lifeofthepath.org, or hey, shoot us an email. Here's the deal. Some of you don't like the show. I know that. You're listening to it in your car, and you think to yourself, boy, this is this crappy. Yeah. This is this is really junk. It's understandable. And and I hear you. We're thinking ourselves. Yeah. So if you but you can let me know that. I like to be affirmed either way, know? And so if you could shoot me an email and say,

dear Ben at [email protected], I feel like your show is not good. And I'm glad the Lord loves you because I don't care much for your program. Yeah. Include your full name and address, so if we have to make a personal visit to, you know, try to hash this thing out, I'd like to show up with a dog or a donkey, and then leave it as a parting gift. Remember that time we there was that story about about that donkey that patrols like a eight mile area? In like Wyoming or something? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. I like Wyoming. We're gonna let it we're gonna let it loosen your neighborhood who's gonna patrol your place. Exactly. Okay. So anyway, that's what we got going on tonight. Feel free to give us an email so we can, we can see how things are going. Alright. You ready for the proof? I'm ready. Proof number 48.

Compare, from goddessimadri.com, compare prayer to a lucky horseshoe. Here it goes. The dictionary defines the word superstition in this way, an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.

We've all seen plenty of superstitions. These are the superstitions that a rabbit's foot or four leaf clover bring good luck. There are the superstitions that breaking a mirror or seeing a black cat bring bad luck. And we all know that these superstitions are silly. A rabbit's foot or a broken mirror has no good or bad influence on the course of events, unless you're the rabbit. This is obvious to any intelligent that rabbit part was mine. Just a just an internal dialogue. Or the mirror owner. This is obvious to any intelligent person. So let's imagine the following situation. That should have been a full colon. Let's say that you have cancer. You are lying in the hospital after a round of chemo, and you feel terrible. A person pops into your room with a bright smile on his face and a horseshoe in his hand, and he says to you, this is an amazing and lucky horseshoe. If you touch this horseshoe, it will cure your cancer, but I need to charge you $100 to touch it. Would you pay the man a $100? Of course not.

We all know that touching the horseshoe will have zero effect on the cancer. The belief in lucky horseshoes is pure superstition. How would you know if you never paid the $100? I'm just throwing it out here. Something about it's also very easy to scientifically prove that the horseshoe has no effect on cancer or anything else. Way we would do it is simple. We would take 1,000 cancer patients and split them randomly into two groups of 500. We will let 500 of the cancer patients touch the lucky horseshoe, and we will leave the other 500 alone in a double blind way. Then we would that's that's a very scientific thing to say. Double blind way. Then we would look at cancer remission rates between the two groups. What we find is zero benefit from the horseshoe. We would see no statistical difference between the remission rates in the two groups of 500 patients. So he is he saying he did this, or he's just assuming? That's how it would be done. Yeah. If if if we were to do that, he's assuming okay. Let's clarify. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Here. Then he says, now let us imagine another situation. You have cancer. You have just finished a round of chemo, and you feel terrible. This time, a person pops into your room with a bright smile on his face and a bible in his hand, and he says to you, there's a being named god who is the all powerful, all knowing, all living creator of the universe. I am his representative on earth. If you allow me to pray to God on your behalf, God will cure your cancer. You agree to the prayer, and the man prays over you for ten minutes. He invokes all the healing powers of God, beseeching him, reciting verses of scripture, and so forth. Afterwards, as he is getting ready to leave, the man says, oh, and by the way, God says that you should tie 10% of your income to the church. Would you consider making a tax deductible donation today? The question is, is there any difference between the two men? Will the prayer have any effect greater than the horseshoe? The answer is no.

The belief in prayer is just as superstitious as the belief in lucky horseshoes. The fascinating thing is that we can prove that prayer has no effect in exactly the same way that we can prove that horseshoes have no effect. We take a thousand cancer patients. We pray over them, blah blah blah blah blah blah. In other words, we can prove that the belief in prayer is pure superstition. The belief in the power of prayer is no different from the belief in the power of lucky horseshoes. These experiments have been performed many times, and they always return the same results. Quite simply, prayer has absolutely no effect on the outcome of any event. The power of prayer is actually the power of coincidence. Belief in prayer is pure superstition. Prayer has absolutely no effect in every scientific experiment we perform because god is imaginary.

Pedal. Discuss amongst yourselves. That wasn't even a very good example. You know what I'm saying? Like, well, here's the deal. Maybe maybe from, his outside point of view,

that is the way that the bride of Christ normally acts. Now granted, there is parts of the bride of Christ that will act that way. But frankly, like, I would rather see the man with the Bible in his hand say, can I pray for you for God's influence on your life? You know, whether it be the healing of your cancer or the comfort through this time or, you know, the the peace within your family and the family around you that you'll know who he is. Right? Like, you're more basically, when you're praying and and you're praying in that situation, you're basically saying, God, let us know that you're here. Right? In whatever way you choose and whatever sovereign way you decide you want to interact in this situation, will you just reveal who you are to us in this situation? Right? That is as a more earnest prayer than saying, hey, God is gonna do this. It's there's there's certain definites that you can pretty much bank on as revealed throughout the Bible as the character of God. He will do this.

There's not a lot of those. Right? Like, I I'm real hesitant on saying God's gonna do just about anything. I know what he's already done, and so I can I can, going forward, say, look, I know, that God has already sent his son to die for you? I know that he loves you to the point where he was willing to come down to this earth filled with people who have rejected him and suffer at their hands, because of his love for you. And I know he's gonna forgive you of anything that you've done if you wanna turn back and be in relationship with him. Those are all things that have happened and will continue to happen. But like, what God is going to do in a certain situation, can you imagine what a what a boring read the Bible would be if people could, if you could guess? Like, there's some real wowsers in that Bible. Yeah. You know I'm saying? Where you're reading along, you're like, and then a finger came out of nowhere and began to write on a wall.

I didn't see that coming. You know? Like, if someone would have said, hey. Can you pray that a finger comes out and begins to write on the wall telling me that that the king is, you know Are you using my flatware? Yeah. It's kinda what it was. Right? You know? Yeah. Like, you have been found wanting. I'm going to topple your kingdom. I don't know that I can really hit the knees and go, okay, god. Here's what they're after. You know? Like, I wouldn't have prayed for that. And I've I you know, I so, I mean, his setup where he's describing the Christian in this or the the the follower of Christ in this example is either a very shallow follower of Christ or pretty much a scam artist that wants your money. Yeah. He he seems to be describing a scam artist. And he's basically saying, God is imaginary because I don't believe in prayer.

That's his argument this time, which has been multiple times. I was gonna say, we should go through and actually count how many prayer proofs there have been because I'm actually quite interested to hear that. Yeah. Even the ones that don't mention they don't the title doesn't mention prayer, they end about prayer. Yeah. It boils down to he doesn't believe in prayer. Therefore, it doesn't work. Therefore, god's imaginary. Actually, I think you could find some studies that say prayer does work. Let me ask you this. I mean, let's say let's say god did not permit prayer. Right? He made no promises or auspices that he would listen to you. Does that make him not god?

No. No. That's just something he's allowed us to have. And now except for the fact that you it would be different if the Bible were as it were, and then God didn't listen to prayer. Right. That would be different. Yeah. Because that would make him disingenuous. Right? Right. But but if if, say, you were to deposit a god of the universe who simply said, you're not talking to me. Yep. I, I set this thing in motion. I provided you some information. Please deal with it yourselves. I'll see you on the flip side. Now I'm I'm not sure that's a god I'd be all that encouraged to worship, but he could still be god. Right. Let me let me ask you this. You're a sound man, a sound engineer, a technician, so to speak. If you if you turn a knob on the soundboard and you're fully expecting to hear something kind of out of the speakers, and then you don't hear something come out of the speakers, do you assume

there really are no speakers, or do you assume there must be some connection that is messed up between that knob and the speakers? Yeah. Yeah. I would say connection problem. Yeah. So then you start looking at the connections, then you fix connections, and lo and behold, it still works. Right. It's kinda the same thing with prayer. Usually, there's something we're not connecting well. There's something maybe there's sin in our life. Maybe there maybe it's wrong motives. Maybe God in his sovereignty says, yeah, that's a stupid prayer. I'm not gonna put a finger on your drywall wall. I I did that once. Yeah. It was Babylon. I don't care. I don't care how much It is Babylon. I'm not doing it again. I'm done with that one. I don't care how much Bruce wants to see it. I will not be writing on your garage. So because this guy, you know, let's say he did do this test and had 500 people. That doesn't mean god's gonna answer 500 of the prayers and and and to prove himself. He doesn't have to prove himself to anybody. He already is. Yeah. Exactly. This is yet another situation where he has painted god as the genie in the lamp. Yes. So that's all it is is you rub the lamp, say, god, this, and it happens. And that's exactly where we're to expect. Nothing about his will where it needs to be. Nothing about us being obedient servants. We have things we ask for, obviously. Prayer is our connection to god. However, he's not in any way taking into account the fact that we need to align ourself with God's will and what we're asking for. And if God wills it, then it's going to happen. If it's God will that that cancer gets healed, the next day that person will be completely healed. We all have faith in that, at least here, knowing wholeheartedly that if we pray that, and it's in God's will, that's how it goes. It's not just I have every bit of faith in my my heart that my phone is gonna turn into a brand new smartphone. If God doesn't want it to happen, it's not going to happen. God's not a genie. God's not a a servant.

He is there he is, the the all knowing God of this universe, and we are here to obey him, not the other way around. He doesn't believe in the horseshoe. His problem his problem in both scenarios is he has no faith in it. Right? Right. Here's the deal. So now if you really thought

he's he's causing a situation in which, like, god wants to, really wants to make that guy happy. Right? Like, if only Dave will believe in me, so I will answer this so that he will love me. You know? That's all I want. That's kind of what he's what he's proposing. He's, you know, like, well, you know, that he would come down and he would show me who he is. Right. Like, I feel like that I don't wanna be on the other end of that. Yeah. I don't wanna be Dave where I'm just like, well, I'm Dave. God, you cater to me. Mhmm. And I'm just like, oh, that's not a sentence I would use. I feel like that's gonna be an awkward meeting. Yeah. We heard one those in Job possibly. It's kinda And he opens his eyes and there's Jesus and he's like, crap.

I mean, like Aw. How's that gonna go? We we need to pray for this guy. Sometimes that sometimes that stuff's hard, though. Like like, they don't you don't look at it in from God's perspective to even start. Right? Like, knowing the mind of God is impossible. But, like, even from a logical human standpoint, if I look at if I look at God and I see a guy who has cancer,

and I know if I cure that cancer, it's not gonna bring you any closer to being in relationship with me than and the ultimate goal is to bring you in relationship with your savior so you can spend eternity with him, why would I do that? Why would I do something that's not good for you? Like your scale of micro and macro effects on your life,

you don't get to see the macro, right? You live in the micro. God lives in the macro. He sees what happens to you and what will draw you in closer relationship to him. And so if you if you pray and you pray and you pray and he knows when that cancer goes away, you're gonna dive off the deep end, deny his existence, and not live for God or become relationship with him, he why would he do that for you? Right? That's way more of a harm eternally

than the cancer that you're suffering now. That doesn't make cancer any less a terrible thing to go through, and and and don't be fooled to think that God's heart is not with you in the effects of sin, in this world on you, right? It's not lost on him, but like how that gets resolved in closer relationship with him, he will do things that will bring him glory and you joy, and never you glory and him joy. That's you got that flipped around. It has to be him glory and honor, and you get the joy of being in a relationship with a god like that. And and if that means that you don't get cured from cancer so you can know him more, then he's doing you a favor

that you see in a very macro level micro level. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, ultimately, our problems are we we know them in the in the scope that we're able to look at them, but general they're not our forever problem. They're those those those will not be around, forever. God sees the forever picture that we do not see. And, and and luckily, he is he is sovereign, and he is God, and he's able to see that and, you know, and reacts and and takes action accordingly. And any decision I make is is only is limited to my perspective. So

alright. Alright. Well, that was, that was proof number 48. Let's look at 49 as we, as we round the home base from goddessmeasure.com. Proof number 49, here's the opening salvo look at who speaks for god.

In Christian mythology, that started off good, god is supposed yeah. God is supposed to be the all powerful, comma, all knowing creator of the universe. I can only read it as he gives it. God is supposed to have incarnated himself as Jesus, and he is supposed to have written the Bible. And yet today, God is completely and absolutely silent. Therefore, the only thing we hear from God comes from people who are speaking on his behalf. If you would like to understand how imaginary God is, all you have to do is listen to God's spokespeople, because in many cases, these people are lunatics.

If there actually were a God, if he actually had anything to do with love, he would silence these people because they are an absolute embarrassment. Here are several videos that demonstrate the problem. Oh, man. I'm gonna have to fire these up next week. Thousands of examples like this are below. There

we go. That's it. That's the opening salvo. Oh, man. He might I mean, ultimately, he's gonna be wrong, but his examples of poor representations Are probably gonna be pretty

be very good. Yeah. Yeah. Embarrass us too. Don't worry, man. Yeah. It's not God is imagining. That's men are wrong. Here's the here's here's the test for Life of the Path next week. We need to attempt to show an example of someone who's not following the holy spirit without gossiping or slandering them. And so it'll be a real thin line here at the Life of the Path studios. Please be praying for us as next week. It's not our strong suit. Okay? A bit of silence. It's just it's not where we tend to excel. And so I've I I'm looking at the list right now, and myself, I'm gonna be deep in prayer in attempts not to slander the following men. So, yeah, you bet you best be tuning in next week, not only to see how God is gonna win this one, but also if Life From The Path can pull it off Job style without a sinful interpretation. Oh, man. Right. Parail it. So Yeah. Exactly.

It's a lot on our shoulders. Alright. You're listening to Life From The Path. Alright. So, hey. So here's the deal. Checking out the news this week. Speaking of embarrassing folks. Yeah. So in times for doomsday linked radio network. So dealing with the struggling radio business, this wasn't the way it was supposed to be. By all his calculations, Harold Camping expected to be nearly two years into his rapture rapture revelry, hanging in heaven with God and select others who'd been saved.

But since he mispredicted the end of the world Again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's having a little trouble keeping his radio station funded. Family Radio, which has been around since 1959, may be floundering. Now this was the bit of information that I thought was interesting. Okay? Financial documents show that Family Radio's assets dropped by more than 105,000,000

in less than five years despite an influx of 85,000,000 in donations over that time, the California newspaper reported. This was during the big push to spread news. $85,000,000 is what was raised. I've seen our church budget. It's not quite that. It's a little it's a slightly less. Dan, little under Start making out. Proclaim the rapture. I got a prediction.

Oh. I'll share it next week. Was gonna say. Unbiblical rapture, 85,000,000. This, of course, was during the big push, blah blah blah. Okay. Here we go. The paper also said donations have tumbled nearly 70% since 05/21/2011. I don't know why. Okay. Now hold on a minute. What's on the other side of that number?

30% of the people are still donating. What's wrong with them? A man who has falsely predicted the end of the world multiple times. And clearly, Deuteronomy says he's not a he's a false prophet. Yeah. You predict it when you are wrong. You are not from God because God is not wrong. Three out of 10 are still giving the money. I feel like those might be the people that are just like, okay. Well, $20 come out of the paycheck.

That just comes immediately out of the bank. Forgot to cancel their auto Cancel their auto camping renewal. Hey. Hey, Phil. Phil, we're still giving money to that guy, Phil. Yeah. You remember that guy predicting the end of the world? You know how that didn't happen? Yeah. We're still giving money to him. We could go back to drinking. I really think we should get that money back. Yeah. Here's the deal. I actually had a very similar question

of how God helps to purge this kind of stuff from his ranks. Right? And we're gonna look at that next week, but the kind of examples that they're gonna give of outrageous claims made by people on behalf of the holy spirit, know, sometimes I wonder, God, why do you even allow this to happen? Right? And it seems to me that that during this whole, you know, the end of time thing, frankly, was just a it was a decent discussion to tell why he's a crazy man. You know what I'm saying? Like, if if you're a Jesus believing fella and this and this topic came up, because it did, the world may or may not have ended. And if you happen to know Jesus at all and people know that, they're gonna say, you're not one of those. One of those. That happened to me a couple times. And right? Yep. It's a perfect opportunity to share the gospel and point out people that are following it as to not follow those guys. Right? And so it was a good opportunity for some witnessing and and spreading the gospel, but it also proves that God doesn't put up with that junk forever. You know what I'm saying? Like, even in this world, he says, that's it. I I, you know, I don't know how I could not affirm your message any more than to bankrupt you and get you off of the air.

Yeah. I I'm still completely, like, laughing at the fact that 30% are still giving. Like, I really wanna talk to one of those people. It's just like, okay. Why? We had one of them in. It it you know, it was a rough conversation, Steve. Yeah. Yeah. We tried that prophet thing. You know I'm saying? We're like, look. He's done this before. It's not right. He was wrong. Wasn't he a false prophet? Well, the definition of false prophet, really, it's like Jell O. You know? If you could pour it in whatever mold you want, and we'll see what comes out. And so, I mean, there's there ain't no talking sense into some people. You know? There's not Yeah. I just I really I can't I can't see how that's that's still going through their mind. Like, well, he's obviously been rung this many times.

What is this? Like, seven times the charm kinda thing. It's just like, I just I don't see the rationale for okay. So this is a man who has a heart for for god is what they're thinking, hopefully, and that's why they're giving money, which they're wrong.

It's just Based on his own wizard math. Yeah. I mean, based on decoding letters into numbers and then figuring out exactly what they're gonna into revelation that I've been skipping because I've got freaked out, and it says, by the way, it's gonna be this and this date, Mike. Heads up. That's something different. Right? But, like, when you have to not getting the full thing. When you have to do some kind of weird string theory and drag a bunch of Take Daniel four divided by Ezekiel 10 and multiply that times Revelation. Noah's a thousand years is like a day. Well, if we play that out Then

days is that's ridiculous. God he didn't say to do that. Should that be the indicator? God did not say to try to in fact, he specifically said, do not do that. Yeah. Jesus said, do not do this. He kinda basically said, yeah. Don't waste your time. Yeah. I don't even know. Be ready. Yeah. Exactly. Be ready at all times that it's gonna happen, but don't make that your reason for for for believing. I mean, isn't that it? How ridiculous it is that we wanna know when it is because that's why God doesn't want us to know. Well, yeah. Exactly. Know how stupid we are. That's the rationale is Well, until next Friday, I can do what I want until We wanna know when it is, when it ends, so that we don't have to be ready. That's right. We go exactly against what God's told us to do, which is be ready for it to happen so that, hey. I can be a complete footloose and fancy free sinner running away from the heart of god. Heck yeah. Footloose or running away from the heart of god. I don't have to believe anything.

But as long as I'm good by 12:35 on Thursday Yep. I'm set. I've been footloosen. God, it's Troy. Hit me with the grace. I'm ready to meet. Yeah. Exactly. This week is is finals in in in high school. And guess how many students haven't started studying yet? Because, well, tomorrow's the test, so they won't study until tonight. Right. You know, it's because, well, they don't have to. That's a new brand of school, Hudson. I kinda like that. It's the it's the Instapop quiz. I'm gonna give you finals somewhere between the first of the semester and the end. Yeah. You better be ready. Exactly.

That's the way to live right there. And that happens to you at work. You know? Like, you gotta be ready for that stuff. The real world. Yeah. Get ready. Exactly. Be prepared. It's gonna happen at any time. It's always on his way out. I pray that he comes to know Jesus. In a more helpful way. Yeah. Exactly. That's all you can do.

I don't know. I just thought it was interesting. That number that number figure Yeah. 30%. Stood out to me. Yeah. It's almost 30. You know what other thing I saw this week that I I actually started to irritate me a little, is is so I watch generally watch NBC, and they're doing promos for a new show called Save Me with Anne Haish. And and the premise of the show is that she has a near death experience,

and then somehow now she's like a a prophet of God. And it's totally like here's here's the reason I got up I I got irritated. It's because you have the success of the Bible miniseries. Right? And every once in while, every couple years, they come out with some kind of, like, Christian themed

sitcom or whatever that's got some Jesus thing in it. But, like, it it comes from it obviously is based upon a group of people that are writing it that have no idea about the Christian faith at all. Like, they've just taken one, like, portion of it, like some outlandish thing, and that's like the lead character does something. Right? Is a is a pastor or some kind of prophet or some kind of weirdness. Right? And then the rest of the show is, like, not relevant to anything at all. And I guess the the reason that irritated me is they thought, boy, they really think we're stupid. Right. They really think we're dumb. That I, like I see who's like, oh,

a woman heard from God, and now she's a prophet. They're they're talking to me. Like Jesus too. I need to be saved. And I thought I thought, know, like, the same the network guys that look and they say, hey, man. Look at how popular that Bible miniseries was. Like, you know, when someone tried to serialize a little bit the word of God, why don't we just get a a a woman prophet who who, like, shines, And, like, that'll get those people, then they'll watch the station. And we'll make their cash. And I thought, you know and I look. I'm generally not jaded. I don't expect a a network television to to to, like, speak to me and my religious affiliation. But there was just a point when I saw the promo for, like, the third time, and I thought, man, that is that's the kind of offensive.

That's right. That just that says, hey, idiot Christian. I've I've tailored a show for your stupidness. Yeah. We're trying to meet you on your level. Of course. Now now to be fair, they really do that with with everybody. I mean, if they do That's true. About mechanics, they never they rarely have a super intelligent mechanic. You know? It's always they they they exaggerate everything, which is, you know, that's what acting is. No. That's true. Like, in fact, the the coolest priest on most shows is the one that hides whiskey in his desk. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like like it's a like it's like it's pretty rough times he has to hit the bottle and even get through it. You playing the lottery. Yeah. I got it this time. A chain smoking priest. I can relate to him. He believes in god and has addictions. I can do that. Yeah. I totally like a flawed man of the lord. Exactly. That is true. They do that to everybody. That's that's yeah. I mean, because I kinda get upset sometimes too that I think, well, wait a minute. You know, if I don't I never put myself in the shoes of of, you know, a school teacher or something. Yeah. You know? And and and then they're always, like, you know, had the bun in the hair or something. You know? Oh, yeah. Every every dad is an affable doofus who has no control over his own house. His wife runs the show, and he's he's a dummy.

Yeah. That that's pretty the mailman always wearing, like, completely tight shorts, a little weird. You know? Which which goes back to why do we wash this junk? I mean, they're they're insulting all of us Yeah. And making our money. Here's the thing. Our money. Like, how much how much do you put aside for comedy reasons? Right? Like, I'm willing to laugh at myself and say, know, but like, I mean, sometimes the stereotypical version of me is kinda funny because there's truth in it. You know? Yeah. And so I I guess it just depends on, you know, how far I'm willing to accept that, you know? I'm okay. You make fun of me, make fun of the people I know, maybe stereotype the guys around me. As soon as you start taking that that's the hard thing, right, because people get upset because you always take your your your religion so seriously. I'm like, here's the deal. There's joy in Jesus, but the grace that that I'm given is kinda important

and kinda not that funny. You know, it's great and it's awesome, but it doesn't necessarily have to be poked fun at or made light of. Right? And, like, that's where the line is, and that's where people get uncomfortable, right, is when I stop laughing, when I'm like, you know, I'm willing even even the even the the stereotypical depiction of a, like, a Catholic priest, you know, there's always like the the ones on the TV are always some kinda wild man, you know, or or super uptight. You know? There's never one right in the middle loving Jesus and doing good things. You know? He's he's either a drunk chain smoking guy that tries to relate to you and has been in the job for thirty years, or he's super uptight and stodgy. Know? And so I'm like, you know, there's dudes like that. That's kinda funny.

But then they start making fun of Jesus, and I'm like, we're kinda we're kinda done here. Yeah. You know? And then people are like, why are you you know, why that's ridiculous. Where's a how about a hearty there, zealot? Yeah. Yes. Exactly. Enjoy my comedy. Yeah. Yeah. Poke poke fun at human flaws, but but you're poking fun at at the savior of of this world. And that that's just I mean, here's the thing. Jesus did a ton for me. I do very little on his behalf. I feel like me sitting by laughing at the at the gift I've been provided is just it's just a little it's too far from me. I just can't can't I don't feel comfortable doing it. I don't like it. You know? And so that that's what generally where my line is, and that's that's where people, you know, will lump you in the category as being conservatively unfun. You know what I'm saying? Like, everybody gets to poke fun at their own religion. Well, the people sure. God's gift. No. I can't. I can't help you there. You know? That's kind of where it stops. Alright. So I don't know. I I I may not be watching the save me on the channel

the NBC. No. No. I'm not watching TBN either. So, I mean, you know, it's not that's not a statement across the board. Yeah. There's a lot of rough TV out there. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's just, like not funny or Jesus is it's bad. Like, it's just bad. Here's the thing though. It's like, I will say I will take the same tact at at religious programming that I that is shilling for money. You know what I'm saying? They take the they take the gift that God has provided, and they put a price tag on it and try to sell it to people. I'm I'm equally disgusted by that that I am the people that don't even know Jesus that are just trying to peddle comedy. Remember, Mike, a thousand dollars gets you to apostle. And I will be an apostle. How do I buy my way into your graces, Jesus? And I suppose to be fair, first of all, like, I've not seen the show. No. No. Like, it's not started yet. What it could be just mildly offensive to me. But just to promo itself, I just just was it slightly irritating? Anyway, feel free to check it out if you want to. Thursday is May twenty third on NBC.

Our new sponsor. Hey. Might be that might be a little interesting. Actually, the bad press might even join it for him. Maybe they quote me. They would sponsor the show. Alright. You're listening to Life From The Path coming at you every Monday night here at 10PM at lifeinthepath.org, or you can catch us on Saturdays at 7PM

on ninety nine point three We do appreciate you hanging out with us. Hey. If you can now listen. Not if you can, you should. Yeah. Visit the sponsors from Life in the Path. Those guys are awesome. They they are what permit us to be on the air here on on ninety nine point three KTA. Not on the net. We get the broadcast on the net for free. Absolutely. There's no filter, no discernment. You can broadcast whatever you want on the net. That's what gets you on the trouble on the net. You know what I'm talking about. You you now listen here. And if you if we have unedited bonus content on the net after the show at KTIA wraps up. If you wanna go to live from thepath.org

and click on the podcast, you kinda go about an hour in. That's when the that's when the KTIA broadcast will end, and then anything after that is what I refer to as bonus content. Probably our finest work. Yeah. If the show was if it's crappy, it's just an extension of the crappiness. Yeah. But if it's good and we got some stuff to talk about, that's where you're gonna find all the meat and potatoes right there. So definitely go check that out. Sign up for the podcast. You can do that through the website. You can do it through iTunes. There's plenty of content out there, including our special interview with SilverSide from a couple weeks ago. Brian Leach was on the show last week or two weeks ago for the full show. We had a week we had a week last week, and then we had this week's lining up to be another stellar installment of Life From The Path. So go check that out at lifefromthepath.org.

Get us on the Facebook or the Twitter, and we send some stuff out there. We'd love to get ahold of you, talk to you. And, know, heck, if you're not busy, just come on the show, frankly. Just hit us up on Twitter and say, hey. I wanna come in. We'll give you the address. You come in. If you're terrible, we'll say so. But if you're excellent, then we'll have you back in. We might make them a sandwich. Dan is probably not gonna make a sandwich, but, I mean, it's possible. Yeah. Woah. Hold on. Dan, I'm coming in next week. Yeah. I'll be next I'll be here next week. Me and Booba would like a sandwich. I'll see what I can do. And if you've seen the sandwiches that I've eaten, there are when Dan raises eyebrows like that, he's trying to figure out how to retract. How do I take it back? How do I Let me think. Foot sandwich.

That's my promise. I don't get them. I did win the lottery this week. Good to hear. I did. I'm pretty Like the okay, Dan. It was $7. I was gonna say, I won the lottery. Alright. Fair enough. So it's coming up around the time of year where we're looking at people starting to graduate from high school, graduate from college. And generally, time of year, Life in the Path likes to do a quick roundtable on some advice for people that are leaving the,

what I like to call, the fairyland and and moving on to some real life. The what land? The fairyland. Fairyland. Yeah. I thought you said that. Yeah. And move on to some real life, you know, some stuff that maybe people haven't been telling you, things to be looking for, things to look out for, things to be praying about right now. So, I think we're gonna fire that off, and I think we're gonna start with the person closest to that age, John Buva the third. John Buva. Alright.

Here is is my tidbits of advice for college grads and high school grads. Realize that after you're leaving your school, obviously, as Mike called it, you're leaving your fairyland and you're about to to hit the real world. I meant it. And and Mike meant it.

Realize that where you're going, you need to be praying about where god wants to put you. And and I mean that in a sense where, obviously, you probably got a place lined up. You know, you're either going back home or you got an apartment or anything like that. But realize that a a chapter has just been closed in your life. You're about to start a new, start a new job. You may be actually going from high school to a new school. This is a a key time of prayer. Realize that that that all times are a key time of prayer, but but be praying about where God wants to put you. Be praying about the relationships you're gonna be forming in either your new jobs, either your new home, be rekindling relationships with people that you went to high school with or went to school with that you're finding again, the work relationships you're gonna be creating.

You need to be putting yourself as as that light in that area, that lighthouse for, for God in that place. When I left high school, one of my biggest things that that I wish I would have done is prayed for God to to really use me in these situations and the places that I was being put into. So I left high school and went straight to a full time job, and I wish I would have been praying, you know, for God to use me in that job and to take me from one place, uproot me, put me into another, and really make me that that that light for God in that area. So that's that's my biggest advice to you is make sure that, you're following God's will. You're you're trying to align yourself with that as best as you can,

making sure you're praying for God to to really use you in the new, circumstances and situations you find yourself in. It's pretty solid. Pretty solid. So here's here's what I would say, is that the the the time period of adolescence or youth is a man made time period. It's not real. Right? There's not an actual time where you enter youth and then you leave youth, or you enter adolescence and leave adolescence.

And so you've be careful not to let and and the same goes for the church. Church The will do the same thing. Sometimes we have a youth group, and I think, why? Why are you not in regular big man church living like a man or a woman? You know what I'm saying? Like and and and, you know, there's there's places for it. There's place to have, you know, a youth group. But like, and don't get me wrong, I help with the youth group, okay? But I think there's a common misconception

that when you enter, like, say, 13 or 14, that you have a free pass until you're 24 to act like a donkey. You know what I'm saying? To act like a wild fool of a man or a woman, do whatever you want, and you'll straighten it out on the other end and get back to living for God. I actually asked some of the fellows in our in our youth group last week. I said, when did you when did you plan on actually following Christ? When did you actually plan on following Jesus? I thought after you get out of college, you get kind of your job settled, you get a wife, you get a kid. You know, when? When were you thinking about it?

And they didn't know. Like, they couldn't answer. And then they kind of started to answer honestly. Well, maybe after our family gets kind of started, that's usually the time to get going back. And I thought I kind of looked around the room, and I said, do know why we have a hard time reaching your age group of people and your generation of

believers? And one of the guys raised his hand, and he said, yeah, because you guys are old. I said, you're darn right. That's exactly the answer I was looking for. Because by the time that I get to be 30, thirties, early thirties, mid thirties, I have a job that I have responsible for, a house I gotta pay for, kids I gotta love, wife I gotta support. I have responsibilities that are tying me to, you know, the choices that I've made, and frankly, they're blessings to me. Right? And not saying to avoid them, but like when Paul says, sometimes it might be better for you to be single. The years that I'm talking about are the ones where you're not tied down, to a bunch of things. You have energy. You have passion.

You have wits about you. You have you have all kinds of things that you can be doing, for the glory of God and your joy, and you lump them into a category of these are my mistake years. The years that I really screw things up, or the things that I walk away from God on a rubber band and I bounce back later. And like, don't be so foolish to buy into that. I don't care what your church has set up for you as a youth program or what, like,

your counselor or anybody else is giving you advice that labels you're in your period of adolescence and learning. You're a man now. You're a lady now. Just start acting like it. Ask do what Buva says. Pray, ask God where he wants you, and get walking there or running there, and don't wait for this this mythical stupid period of junk to to basically rob you of ten years of your life of actually getting something done when you're equipped spiritually, equipped mentally, and equipped physically to do them. You know, like, I mean, they're they're right. By the time who's look who's running our youth groups, you know, thirties, forties, 50 year old guys, 50 year old ladies, you know I'm saying? And they don't relate to 20 year old kids because they're old. They are old, you know? But we can't but we lose the we lose the passion and the and and the strength and the time and the availability to get a lot of stuff done for the body of Christ because we give everybody ten years of waste wasted time. Right? Just don't buy into it. Just don't just just do me one favor and look and see what you're doing, and don't buy into the lie that you are not useful and that you cannot get anything done for the glory to God and your joy because you're you're you're gonna end up wasting ten years and wish you had it back. That was actually very similar to the advice that I was thinking, and and basically, I think it was your life has already started. Like, don't the

way that we have our our our education system set up is like somebody tells you what to do to get to start school, and they tell you what to do all the way up till you get to high school. And then you're supposed to go to college, and you got four more years of somebody telling what to do. And then now all of a sudden, you're out, and like, you don't know what to do with yourself. And and your life already started. It started fifteen years ago. There is there isn't a transition period. There isn't a waiting time. There isn't, like, five years to kinda dink around and figure out what you wanna do with yourself. Like so I I get that. Like, there's times where you really don't know, and and you're trying stuff out. But, like, recognize that even during that time, your life has already started. That's a choice that you're making. Your life began. And when you wanna look at your life and say, here's what I wanna do with my life, people are always talking as if their life continues ten years in the future, that there's a long term plan. You're gonna wake up, and you're gonna be wrinkly and 70 and have done nothing in your life that you wanted to do because you were looking forward to a life that never started

because you don't recognize that it actually started fifty years ago. And so I I guess that would be the thing. It's it's very similar advice, which is just I mean, recognize that that when you when you're graduating from this thing, be it college or be it a high school or whatever, I mean, when you wake up the next morning, your life has already begun. You're already in the transition for it, and you get to make the choice that day what you will do with your life. What you're going to do, where you're gonna go, what your goals are, who you will serve. And that has already started. You made that decision yesterday, and you can look back at your choices and say, did that reflect the right choice or not? You get to remake that decision today. You get to change everything if you want to, and there's you owe every second and every breath gives you the chance to change a direction that you don't wanna be going,

and to start moving in a way that you want to. But you get but your responsibility, I guess, needs to it needs to feel correct when it is that's your life. You're you are living your life right now. It is not happening tomorrow. It is not happening five years or ten years from now. Your life is already rolling. You're in it at the moment. Live it. Live it how you wanna live it. Live it how you know it's supposed to be lived instead of waiting. Well, you know, I'll start that thing tomorrow. I'll start reading my Bible tomorrow. I'll start following God tomorrow. That's you're really betting on the grace of God that you last another day. You know? And and the thing is most of those those folks that say, like, I'll go out ten years, and then I'll then I'll come back when I start my family, that's you're betting on the grace of God for ten years that you're gonna survive all that foolishness that you decided you were gonna hook up with for ten years and then try to pull back from. And you know what? The thing that you're gonna regret the most is you're gonna get ten years down the road, and like I said, by the grace of God, you make it, you start raising a family, and you start to really develop and and and getting into your relationship with Christ, you're gonna look back ten look back at those past ten years and go, man, what a waste. I could have been following Christ. I could have been living a life that glorifies him over those last ten years, and and it made everything that I have right now that much better.

And it will be a regret because you decided you weren't gonna wait to to start living your life. So, actually, it was very, very, very similar advice. Yeah. My mind's come right right along that same line. What I always think of in in this setting is is someone someone somewhere along the line told me this, and it just really stuck with me. Of it's in the scripture that that life is a vapor that it just goes by so quickly. I mean, you just it's just bam. Five years goes by 10, 15, twenty. And and when you're young, you're thinking, oh, man. I remember when I when I'll when I'll be old, I'll be like 35. You know, you think just think it's so far in the distance future, but all of a sudden, you're just there. And it just it just it just pops up on you. Bang. And every stage of your life, it goes through quickly. And and

I've talked to so many people in nursing homes who are, you know, in their I don't know how they are. Don't ask them how old they are. Seventies, eighties, nineties, whatever. And they're still like 20 in their in their mind. You know, unless they've lost their mind. That's a different setting. But you know, mean, they're sitting there and they might Fair be in a enough. Except for that. No. But I mean, mentally,

they look in the mirror and they're still shocked that they're old. Yeah. Because they're they're just the same person they were. Like you say, you're already living it. Get out there and and do it. Don't, you know, and and especially in in the area of faith, there is there is no reason at all to to to do the the ten year thing or wait. Oh, I'm going go through my college years and do what I want. Man, that is that's like you said, that's the productive time. I think of Joseph in in the Old Testament. I mean, he was a young man who who was a godly guy. I think of, you know, Daniel in the Old Testament, a young man who was a godly guy. Look, look, he he he helped shape a nation because, you know, he he stood his ground and and and believed in his god and

he did it as a young man and so, yeah, don't don't wait. Just live live all out 100% for god. Don't know when he's coming back. You don't know when he's calling you home. Either way, you wanna be ready and do it. Yeah. So, I mean, we'll say some prayers. I know I've I've been praying for the graduates around me and the and the people heading out to do some life. But frankly, the way I look at it, you've already been fooled to think that this graduation thing's a big hairy deal. You've wasted two years up until this where you could have been getting some real stuff done, and it just happens to be a door you're walking through and not a curtain that's been unveiled. Right? I I fell under the same foolish the foolish derision. You know I'm saying? Graduating high school, yes, it's a big deal. You know what? There's a lot of people that graduate high school. You know what I'm saying? It's you're moving along. It's part of your path, but, like, if that's where your path starts after after graduation, you're two years behind already. Get moving. Find something to do. Yep. You're on the live path. Mike, go ahead. Dear,

live from the path. Here's the thing. Please settle a family disagreement. A scratch ticket is given to a friend or relative as a gift. If that ticket is a winner, is there an expectation that the winning should be shared with the person who gave the ticket? Oh. No. It's a gift. Absolutely not. Gift. If I give you a bag of popcorn, I don't expect half the popcorn back. Is it good, though? Because I think I should have it. Yeah. But what if the popcorn produced 10 more bags? That's not that's not an apples to apples example. Like, someone gives you the popcorn, 10 more bags fly out. Like, if I give you an apple seed, I don't expect you a bushel of apples every year. Yeah. If I give you a puppy, I don't expect five years down the road for you to give me a puppy if it comes out,

if it has more puppies later. I know. I think you guys are I mean, it'd gracious if someone gave you cool. Is it an expectation? Actually not. No. Here's the answer. Secular says, a gift is a gift. There's no obligation to share. Alexander Pope wrote, hope springs eternal in the human breast. Right on. But if you're hoping Very timely.

Excellent advice. Alexander Pope. What's But if you are hoping you'll get a cut of the money, don't hold your breath. That was unnecessary. No. I would probably, as the recipient, would probably give a little back. Yeah. Yeah. I would I would probably give a little back. Yeah. But I wouldn't expect it. No. Would I would secretly expect it. But I wouldn't it wouldn't Dan would secretly be thinking, hey. I wouldn't say anything, and it wouldn't ruin the relationship. I just think, gosh.

They have a 3 $600,000,000, and I gave it to him. Yeah. 10% is, like, 60,000,000. These buds are insane. What? 10 bags of popcorn, please. 10 up to 10 up to 10,000

gift is nontax. Come on. Alexander Pope overdid it on the estrogen pills. That's what's going on in his business. Exactly. Here's the deal. I really wanna say breast. I need something to sound like I need something to sound like wisdom and say breast. It's the pornography in the sixteenth century.

Dear life from the past. I doubt this will be answered, but I am desperate. No. We'll answer. I have been dating this awesome guy for three months. Dump him. He is really sweet, and I feel like it's going somewhere. The problem is I lied to him. He's well educated, and he continuously encouraged me to further my education. He thinks I'm a college grad, when in reality, I am three credits short of a diploma. I plan to finish this summer. Should I come clean, or should I let him think what he thinks? Gotta come clean. Yeah. Just tell him. If if it's ah, I'm not even gonna go deep into if if it starts with this. What's he gonna do? Oh, I didn't I haven't quite finished. I got one more class to go. Idiot.

You buffoon. How dare you I lie to feel like the guy's just gonna be like, alright. Why don't you finish that up? Why don't you finish that up then? Stay away from the bank account. You're no longer around to the grocery bills. Three

months I've been connected to a dunce. You're not a graduate? Here's the deal. If he takes that poorly, he may not be the awesome man you envisioned him to be. That's an appropriate filter. A guy that gets upset about that has got a Chuck. But it's it's a good time to fess up and say, hey. Here's the deal. I was silly. I was trying to impress you. It was a mistake. I just wanna tell you, honestly, yeah, I just I need another class. Yeah. I'm I'm three credits shy. I'm almost done. What are you, not gonna invite him to your really super late graduation when you finish in summer?

Yeah. Like, he's not gonna notice. Where are you going? I'm going to the store for about four, five hours in this gown. Can I borrow that hat? I did yoga

for the next eight hours for the next couple months. There you are on the front page of the college paper. Yeah. I had a funny funny day. Yeah. Funny day. It was interesting. I was just walking through and reminiscing about my days here. Yeah. I found your old college diploma. It has yesterday's date on it. Yeah. They forgot to give it to me. Just like I just got my bill.

I I forgot to pay them the fees so they could send it to me. Had parking ticket? It was a notary kind of deal. It's just it's it's I just love tassels. Don't talk about me like that. Who doesn't like tassels? 13. I thought you graduated in '12. It's not a big deal. Well, I tell you what, there's some silly people in here today. Okay. Here we go. Secular says,

I think you'd feel better if you clean the air. And if you do, I'm sure he will respect you for having the character to do so. Explain that in your eagerness to impress him, you didn't mention that you're three credits short of graduating, but you'll have them by Autumn. Make sure you qualify that you are gonna get them and not a bum. That might be unnecessary. If it's a deal breaker, I'd be surprised, but it would mean he wasn't the man for you. You're listening to life for the path. If you're on 99.3, we gotta let you go.

If wanna you listen to more content, go to lifefromthepath.org. You can check out the bonus content from this week's show. We will see you next week. Thanks for listening to life from the path. Okay. Go ahead.

Dear life in the path. I took care of my husband for ten years before his death from early onset Alzheimer's. I'm in a relationship now, and I'm finding that a widow status is far different than that of a wife. Not long ago, I was invited to a friend's daughter's wedding. When I asked if I could bring Sam, I was told, no. We don't know him, and there are lot of other people we'd like to invite. I got the same response from my first cousin when I asked if I could bring Sam to her son's wedding. No. We don't have room for him, and we don't know him.

Abby, dear life in the path, Sam and I are a couple. He is not a casual boyfriend. Surely, if we were married, he would be invited. Please tell me what is proper when inviting a widow to a wedding or other event. I find the responses I received from my friend and relative to be insensitive and hurtful. From widow stands alone. You know, if, I'm inviting Troy to my wedding, and there's honestly not that much room, I might not invite your girlfriend.

And Although I can't imagine not, but it's I could I mean I feel like I'm not the person to get offended about that because I'd be like, well, alright. Have a good day, Tessa. Got a wedding to attend. I've known you a lot longer. See you in six hours. I promise. Yeah. Just I I just okay. So I I feel like she's thinking that it's gonna be different if if she were still married.

And I don't see maybe I'm just looking at the from the wrong standpoint because I just I don't see that the the the cousin is doing something wrong. I don't see that the friend is doing something wrong. I I don't see the problem. Yeah. Here's I thought it was pretty standard affair that if you're gonna bring a plus one that the invitation says plus one. Yeah. Exactly. Like, if you're seriously worried about the count of people, you you that's why it says plus one. They don't know who you're gonna bring. Right? Right. Like, especially if you're a single person, you could bring your drunk college buddy. You know? It's your plus one. It'd bring you and a buddy in case the party stinks. You got somebody to talk to. And so, like, if on both of on both occasions, it should be squared away. So, like, if you receive an invitation, right, and you're worried that Sam is not gonna be accepted, which seems to be the pattern, you call and say, hey. Is this invitation a plus one? And if they say, it depends on who are you bringing, then you're not going. Right? Because it shouldn't depend, because then the the amount of people doesn't really matter. They just wanna judge your buddy and your new husband or your new boyfriend. So, like, drop out of that. Maybe Sam's a creeper. Yeah. That's all I'm thinking. That's actually I'm agreeing with that. Yeah. Two two in a row that just happened to not have room for Sam. I feel like there's a chance Sam's a creeper. He's a creeper. Nah. He he's an old guy creeper. Like, I'm not I'm not I think he he might be a creeper. There's a good chance there's a reason Sam is the crutch point where no. No. That allowed? I no. No. I like Sam.

I there's there's a chance that that Sam's a creeper. What? There is a chance Sam's a creeper. A big chance. But tell me that there's not a little odd feeling when when especially, like, one of your grandparents have been in a relationship for, say, forty years, fifty years,

and one passes away and then someone else shows up, you know, there there is a little bit of apprehension. Like, I'm sure you love this person. I just I don't know them. I'd probably go, oh, that's cute. You bring him. Yep. Yeah. I feel like these people honestly cared about that person in that aspect. He would have to be a huge creeper for everyone to know he's that big of a saying. Bitch. I think he's a big creeper. Mean, there's a mover in agreement here. There's a good chance this guy is just super duper creepy. Two weddings in a row. Like, that's I mean, that's totally odd. So one's relative.

Right? So one's relative, which they would know about grandpa, and they would know who Sam is most likely. The other one's just a friend. So no I have to see grandpa there. No relation of it's weird because, you know, grandpa James isn't here. It's a friend saying, no. You can't come you can't bring Sam. I'm thinking Sam's a creeper. You know what, though? I didn't know at least half of the people at my wedding.

All the Cheryl's side of stuff. Yeah. I I feel like I don't even know who was at my wedding. I don't care if there's a creeper. If they're gonna long as if someone was plus one or invited in some way, shape, or form, and not just some drunk dude off the streets, I don't think the bride and groom are gonna notice, wait a minute. I don't know that person. They're not allowed here. Hold on. Just a quick question. If there's a creeper at your wedding, what do you think they bring for a gift? I think I know what it is. Adult uno. Okay. You're right. That's creepy. Yeah. See? I was thinking adult password. I was thinking underpants.

These should mine, mister Hudson. Here's what I thought. A massage lotion basket. I thought it I thought it was one of those guys that's got the squeeze thing, like, where you squeeze and he drops his pants, gives the moon. Oh, that's that's what I think the creepiest I feel that's not the creepy.

Now hold on. Listen here. I agree with the chat. You guys are being too hard on Sam. Nah. Sam's a creeper. Whether he's a creeper or not. He could get to come. It's a listen. It's hard. Troy. Think about how hard it is to get into a new situation with new people you've never met. Think about it from Sam's perspective. Right? He's trying to basically he he knows one person of the family. It's like being introduced to your in laws for the first time when you're when you're 19. Right? It's a creepy day. And whether you're 19 or 95, it's weird to get moved into that situations.

I I feel like they're being an unusually hugged by that. So I had this situation happen two months ago. I met Tessa's mom. Mhmm. So sorry for everyone on the show. Tessa's my girlfriend. I met my girlfriend's mom through My girlfriend who's a lady. Hello, everybody. Well, I just I yes. Sorry. I was justifying it. I met her through their wedding. If I would have been if she would have said, you know, I I really don't want him there. Tassie, yes. You can come. Can you bring a friend that I know is the plus one? I wouldn't have been offended. I really wouldn't have. I'd have been like, okay. What am I gonna do with this moon man, though? What

am I gonna do with this lavender body lotion set? Like, what what's going on here? I'm not Well, I might use it. I had Kohl's package it up for me. Hey. They offered a free gift wrap, man. I said, this this looks legit. No. All I had do is buy two pairs of jeans. Free.

Sam's a creeper. Okay. I don't think Sam's a creeper. I'm gonna disagree. Dan Hudson? Wrong. I like I like Sam. Sam seems alright. Here we go. Secular says, it is considered a breach of etiquette to ask to bring a guest to an expensive event like a wedding if only you have been invited. If that option were open, your invitation would have been addressed to Mary Smith and guest. It's likely that money constraints dictated the guest list, be limited at both these weddings. If this happens again, it's up to you to decide whether witnessing the event is more important than your discomfort. Some people would skip the reception because sitting around listening to music and watching couples having a great time on the dance floor is too depressing.

Hey. Sam's a lush. So Sam's a drunk. And they got open bar. They got open bar. They know he's he's gonna grab the bottle. When my daughters get married, I'm gonna have a $50 reservation fee. It's gonna be great. Dan, I I I And we're gonna have mints and nuts. I'm a friend with of Dan.

Wanna celebrate this with your family. I don't wanna get you out here. I don't wanna pay for it. I'm just saying, like, I'm friends with both of your daughters, and I'm not paying for either. Buddy. No. Alright. Alright. I live from the path will be hosting their own reception for the girls. For the Huntsman girls. Hey. I have DJ equipment. I got it. Yeah. And so I feel like we're not inviting Dan because of his a bunch of the attitude. He's a creeper. There you go. Toy.

Yeah. Can I bring Dan along? Well, we don't really know, Dan. Whose underwear is this? Hey. Actually, you know what be pretty cool in those invitations if they sent it out as, like, Mary Smith and guest except for Sam. Except Sam.

No no pretty person. No, Sam. No lush. No creeper. No Sam. Okay, Mike. Oh, boy. Okay. Here we go. We got one more here. I'm trying to pick out the best one here. Here we go. Dear life in the path. I'm a 40 divorced female. After my divorce

that's right. After my divorce, I met a man I enjoyed being with. He led me believe he cared for me, and I bought into it. He was a it was a vulnerable time for me, and unfortunately, I let my guard down. I did something stupid and cosigned for a student loan for him. Oh. Oh. Oh, man. Okay. Here's wait. She must be three credits shy. Here's the here's the big shocker. He has stopped making payments.

Oh, funny. He's blocked my calls, and he moved. Oh. And now I'm stuck with the financial burden. I've learned that he had a fiance while we were involved, and they are now married. He was bilking me the whole time. I need to know what legal recourse I have. Obviously, I don't know the advice columnist at the at the newspaper is the best legal resource, but continuing on. I know where he lives and possibly where he works. So if he needs to be served with papers, I can find him. I regret that I didn't keep my guard up and don't feel he should get away with this. What should I do now? He got away with it. Yeah. He totally got away. Just gotta you learn. You'll pay it. You're gonna hate it. It's a bummer.

You signed for it. You signed the paper. You know what? You should give them your tunic as well. That's the risk. Yeah. Go over there and give them $20. Take your graduation. Anything. I I a bad debt. I didn't cosign for my own daughter.

Hey, Dan. I'm I'm looking to get a place soon. I don't care. No. Yeah. No. I you you you're you're out of luck. You shouldn't have done it. Yes. You're in a vulnerable place, but you put yourself out there. You weren't you may have been vulnerable, but you weren't absent minded. Yeah. Here's the thing. People are are not near creative enough in these type of situations. Right? Their first jump is to an expensive attorney. Right? I would take a bottle of weed killer and write, you owe me money on his front grass. And then two days later, when that specific writing is dead, then he will know that I am on to him owing me money. And I will bring I will bring the tornado of fury to his place and his new marriage until he starts paying his bills. I Vengeance. No. This is I don't know if can do that far? You go to jail. No. No. No. No. It's true. You're not thinking this right. So here's what you do, is you start you subscribe

to some brisket magazines in his name and have them sent to his house. I feel I feel like this is a very childish way to to attack this. Here's the thing. Like, teapots unlimited. Like, something where, like, stuff that he wouldn't that he wouldn't otherwise be looking at. I mean So if you think you know where the man lives Yeah. I would say there's no restraining order.

Go over there. Take one of his tires. Do not take one of his tires. Hey. Okay. Wait a Go over there as an adult, first off, because It's not it's not gonna I'm sorry. Yes. It's not gonna work, but at least you could show, yes, I have made a conscious effort to get this resolved. No. No. This is taken care of. Okay. No. I didn't write, you owe me money and leave kill on a straw. I'm just being ridiculous. I didn't throw a brick through his front door. Would be a good conversation with the wife. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Here's the documents. That's what I'm thinking. Here's some photos of our dating time together. Text messages, phone calls. Look at this. This is what happened. You guys were Here is my name on a student loan at the time you guys were dating. Here. Hold on. Listen to my other idea. You put that glass etched liquid inside of his windshield washer tank. So when he goes to spray his spray his windshield washer, it will actually etch the glass in the in the foam that it's that it's sprayed. Yeah. What do think about that? He'll be in a real pickle. Yeah. Check this out. This this requires no dishonesty or vandalism. You write you write a love letter, what looks like a love letter to him from you, and say, like, you romanticize the agreement you made. It's like, remember that time that we spent together really entwining our lives coming together financially?

Things like that. Things yeah. I said teapots.

Teapot magazines. Oh, no. The basically, a lady cosigned just a refresher for the chat, a lady cosigned student loans with another guy, and then he he just split and buried another woman. Yeah. And now she's stuck with the student loans. We're trying to figure out the the appropriate way to handle it. Okay. You guys engaged to her while they were dating. Yeah. Right? We've been answering this fictitiously for the last two minutes. The real answer is I did. You're screwed. Yeah. You're you're gonna pay the loan, and then that's that's the long and short of it. Yeah. You're not gonna take it into court. You I suppose you could if you wanted to. I I frankly, just to be done with it, I would just accept responsibility for the loan. You made a bad decision. Keep paying. Now the etching the etching glass liquid inside the windshield washer, that's an option. Maybe not a good one.

Maybe the weed killer. I think that's alright. I thought about doing that before, actually. I feel like you made legal decision to sign it. You pay. Yeah. He didn't make you do it. No. You wanna do one more here? I got time for one more. Yeah. Okay. Do one more. Okay. Wait. Wait. Hold on. What was the secular advice?

Oh, come on, Ben. Oh. I'm in I'm actually interested in this one. Secular says, it appears you have been the victim of a fraud. If I were you, first thing I do is share his address with the loan company. Then I discuss the matter with the police to find out if he has a history of bilking women and if I could file charges. If that is impossible, the next thing I do is talk with a lawyer about any legal remedies available to me, and that's what I'm advising you to do.

Alright. My bad advice. No. I I just don't hear any personal responsibility in that answer. Like, hey, I agree. Here's the thing. And we as Christians do this a lot. Right? Like, it's very noble for you to say, I'm a sinner, and I do sinful things. Right? But you don't really ever own up to it or repent of your ways. You're just a big man in front of others because you're willing to admit that For the person, yeah, who says, I take full responsibility. Yeah. Except for if it requires me to do anything. Yeah. Because then I'm not in. I just like to say it. It's a big word. Here we go. Last one. Dear life from the path. I'm I'm the mother of a five year old daughter. I'll call her Mandy. Mandy. If that was her name, that'd be helpful. If not, your relationship with your daughter is is weakened.

Her father and I separated when she was 16 months old, and now we are divorced. I'm newly engaged to a wonderful man and very happy. I've just learned that my ex is having a baby boy with a woman he has stated he does not love and isn't even in a committed relationship with. I would like to protect Mandy from any pain this might cause her because she is a daddy's girl. How should I deal with this and maintain my composure regarding the sibling who sibling who will now forever be part of my daughter's life?

So I'm gonna say this from from this standpoint, and you guys, as normal, feel free to disagree with me. I would say I wouldn't immediately

try and take the the new child out of your daughter's life. I understand that that you wanna protect your daughter as much as possible, the whole daddy's girl thing that you threw out there. You wanna protect Mandy and make sure that she's safe, she's loved, she's cared for. But at the same time, you're really putting a lot of the father's negative connotations on this new child. So

I'm not saying that you have to, adopt this kid, bring him into your home, and treat him, you know, as like, literally adopt him legally. I I'm saying that it's not fair to the new kid to immediately

strike him out of your life, strike him out of your heart entirely just because of the father and mother's mistakes. That's my thoughts on it. Here's the problem. When these questions come up, I can't ever get past the fact that I'm so mad at the man. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That I'd like, I can't even get to the real advice. Right? I feel bad that that two two women and two kids have now been victim to a foolish adolescent

who has impregnated ladies and not treated them appropriately and not loved them as God has instructed, which now produces two separate families with the same crap dad. Yeah. Guy's a joke. And so Yep. And so so this is hard. Right? Because I can't ever get past the fact that you need to go find yourself a good Christian man that will go over and and and and punch the man with the love of Jesus and straighten him out. You know what I'm saying? But, like, here here's the long and short of it is they are basically both kids without a good spiritual

guiding father. And so you you take this new kid, you look at it as an opportunity that God has placed, to give you, the ability to show the child love, especially if the mother is only to find out here in the near future that the man that claims that he was gonna take care of her and love her is not gonna do that. You both have been have fallen victim to the same doofus,

and, you know, understanding her situation, you might be very very well be the person to show that family love and support and and and get started there. Right? And I, you know, I don't know. I I don't I don't know what you do about the guy. I don't know what you do about the guy. He's the father of the kid. He has to be involved, but boy, I would guard her spiritual walk very, very quickly. Exactly. He he the dad is gonna let her down at some point, so she needs to let her have that relationship, but also kind of temper it by saying, hey, you know, nobody's perfect, without even talking down specifically her dad. But at the same time really nurture the relationship with her. She's marrying someone else, or engaged, or she's in another relationship. I thought it sounded serious. Let that relationship flourish,

and, at point, it won't hurt so bad. I mean, she'll she'll, at some point, look at this guy and say, yeah. He's kind of a creep. She'll she'll get that at certain age. She'll get it. She'll get it. Just like everybody does when they go through the Bible and realize that they're talking about me in here. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I'm that guy Jesus is talking to. Eventually, you know, enough things will roll by and enough examples of of maybe what a dad, should be representing, and you'll go, there's something just a little bit off here. Yeah. You know? I Yeah. Don't think she needs to tear him down or or even keep her away or anything like that, but but do some good solid bible teaching then.

Secular's answer was, it is not appropriate to show your disgust with this situation to your daughter Because your ex has gone on record that he doesn't love the woman he impregnated and he is not in a committed relationship with her, you may be worrying needlessly. He will have a financial obligation to his son, but whether he's willing to be a father, in the best sense of the word, we don't know. If Mandy interacts with her half brother, she will have to learn to share, which is an important life lesson every child must learn sooner or later. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that's kinda obvious, I guess. That's kinda obvious. Frankly, sometimes it's hard to bring a the second kid always causes trouble for the first one. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I I think ultimately, the advice is you can only do what you can do. Right? Like, you're not married to this guy anymore. He's gonna do what he's gonna do. You can only you can control what you can control. So you be I mean, be honest. Try to protect their innocence as much as you can to the extent that it doesn't set them up for future failure, and then, move on with your business. Yeah. Agreed.

You're listening to Life on the Path. You can catch us every week here on Monday nights at lifeforthepath.org at 10PM if you wanna join us for the live chat. If

you're listening right now, you're either on the website or signing up for the podcast. Thanks for doing that. We appreciate you listening to us. Keep us from feeling lonely and cold in the dark doldrums of this room. I'd give you a kiss, but I don't believe in it. No. We're gonna go. Have a good night.