Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are

live from the path. And you're listening to Live From The Path. We're coming from the Pathway Studios here at Johnston Proper. It's good to be with you this this fine evening. If you're if you're watching on the net, I did anybody catch the advertisement there?

No. I didn't. No. I didn't. What's that? It's it's for Stu Hansen's Dodge City. Yes. Awesome. Open ears are useless without an open mind. I love Stu Hansen's. I do business with Stu Hansen. What do mean? What do you what do you buy from Stu Hansen? I take my work truck in there. Oh, really? Yeah. You don't fix your own work work truck? No. That'd be foolish. Okay.

Okay. Fair enough. Here's what got going on the show tonight. Alright. Dave Herrick's got some Pope style advice. I've got some Pope style advice. We're gonna try to catch up on the article from last week, which is escaping me what it was about.

I feel like I'll come do it, though. So we're gonna find that. It it was like five things about meaningful something That's I don't remember. Okay. It's basically the same article we hash through every week. Just Five things about meaningful something. With a new title. Yeah. You you'll never believe how

whatever. Do you wanna just start over with Five things Christians say about the stuff. Oh, man. And a quiz to go along with it. Crap. I'm still looking around. I can't really find it. Alright.

So, anyway, that's that's what I think I got going on the show tonight. We've got some dear life from the past coming on, and so, we'll hit those. Also, hey, if you did if you were listening last week and didn't, or if you didn't check out last week, you missed the performances of Wayne Stewart and, and Jacob Stewart and Chris Takers. It was good. It was real good. Yeah. They did a great job. In fact, I only got some of some of the clips up already. You can catch one clip apiece from each of those guys, and hopefully, I can get the, the rest out maybe this week. But, make sure you check that stuff out. Those guys did a great job. I actually I started reading Wayne's book on on worship, and it's very good. It's really good. And so I'm gonna finish it. And then, like I said, maybe we'll we'll have a little bit of that discussion here and and see what that looks like. But but anyway, make sure you check that stuff out. Give those guys a a shout out, then follow them on the Facebook so you can see what they're up to and and be part of that kind of stuff. Sounds very, very cool. Alright. Well, I tell you what, Dave let let's, let's fire it up with, with pope style. Mike, give him a give him a heads up as to what pope style advice is. So, basically, the deal is is that, a group of ne'er do wells have convinced,

the town folk that, Dave Herrick is the pope. And, being sparked with enthusiasm, they thought, well, the pope gives out words of wisdom. We're gonna go to his place. And so now Dave Herrick's got thousands of dudes on his lawn that are expectantly waiting for some advice. And, Dave Herrick's gotta come up with something to clear him off and and set him out, on their day. Yeah. So, that happened this past weekend. It was the strangest thing. Just this random group of people just followed me around, and and I actually went caving this weekend. And so I went deep into the earth and Dedicated pope followers. Went with yeah. There were. And I mean, I went down into the deepest recesses, and and then I find these, like, thousand people just, you know, hanging out deep in the bowels of the earth waiting for me. And they said I couldn't leave unless unless I give them some kind of advice. It feels like Michael Jackson's, Beat It video. I don't know why. It's dudes down in the lower the dark place looking to start a rumble. I mean, the the the Earth was pretty intimidating by itself because, you know, it just it doesn't move. You have to squeeze through it. It Yeah. Yeah. It was and then I've got all these people now, and they're expecting something from me. So I I just, I started talking about faith and thought, hey, this this seems like a good thing to talk about. So,

here's what I said. One of the things that that when it comes to faith and and us, trusting in God is what we like is we like for God to give us a confirmation and then and then for us to believe, and then we'll obey. And and so we like that kind of order, but that's not exactly the order that that real faith takes. In in fact, if you're waiting around for the confirmation,

before you're willing to trust and obey, then it it's not really trust. That's actually just a conclusion to a matter. That's you you've observed, and now you've got a conclusion. And, what we're really called to is, you know, we'll we'll come to Jesus, and and he'll ask us for our faith, and then he'll call us to a state of obedience. And if you're you're hanging around waiting for some kind of confirmation from God, that comes later.

You can see it in the encounters with Jesus. People will come up to Jesus, and they'll say, hey. Will you heal my son or or or daughter or whatever is going on? And Jesus is like, yeah. But they're healed. Now it's funny because oftentimes in that scene, the there's no confirmation whatsoever going on. It's just Jesus is saying it, and then then he tells him, go ahead and go. And and so that leaves the person in that awkward position of, okay. Do am I trusting you, Jesus? Can you give me some kind of a sign or or some kind of way that I I I don't wanna really risk something

until I've got some kind of confirmation, and Jesus says, no. You risk. I want you to obey first. You're gonna risk, and then the confirmation's gonna come after that. So the order that we like is,

confirmation, then faith, then obedience. But the order that Jesus demands of us is, no. You're gonna trust. And in response to that trust, then you're gonna obey, and then the confirmation's gonna come.

You know, so I actually have a question on that. Sure. Because I I think where a lot of the, the the doubt comes in is, whether you feel like you'll you've heard it correctly or Mhmm. You've manufactured it and trying to decide where the source from. Like, is this really God's doing? Mhmm. Especially if there's any hint of that it might benefit you at all. Mhmm. Right? Because then you start to think, well, there's this is, of course, something that I would push for. And I I don't know whether it's coming from God or not. And then so you take a real, tepid approach to,

you know, trying to decide whether whether this came from God or not. So how do you handle that with, with the same frame of mind that you're presenting? So that's where the obedience comes in, and you just you take the obedience in a in a step of we're testing this out. We're we're trying because the the confirmation is going to come after you you take that risk, the those steps. You're you're moving forward. So you're not entirely certain.

There's gonna be some hesitation involved in it. I mean, that's that's natural. There there isn't really faith without also a presence of doubt, that's part of the backdrop. But in spite of the doubt, you you take steps, and those are steps of obedience. Those are steps of

I'm not a 100% certain that this is exactly what God wants me to do, but, it seems that this is what I'm being called to, so I'm gonna take some steps. And then in response to those risk those risks, that's when the confirmation starts coming. And that's when you get more assurance of, okay. Yeah. That that really is the genuine faith. That's the direction that we that I should be going.

It's something that there's risk inherent to this inherent to the system. Would you say that most, maybe people of the faith, are risk averse? Like, they just don't like the like the risk. Like, God since God is certain, the task that he's asking you to do should be certain, and so they just feel very averse to any type of risk like that? I I think that it just it's not just people of faith. It's our culture and society in general. We don't want to risk unless we absolutely need to. We'd much rather take a a safe bet.

I mean, who wants to take a gamble and and throw everything that that they've accumulated, everything that their life has meaning about into one quick crap shot just to see if it goes up or down? Everyone's looking for how do I manage that risk? We're averse to it. But the thing is risk is inherent to any kind of relationship. Any significant relationship, there's gonna be vulnerability involved in that. And so you've gotta take risks in order to in order to grow in a relationship,

especially a relationship with God, and and trust is gonna be built, upon that risk, that vulnerability that you're seeing. Now what's kinda neat about it is the entrance to this whole system. It'll usually start with,

hey, God. I've got a need. Something has just happened, and I need your help with something. So you you go to God and say, hey. My my life is falling apart, or, I'm in debt way over my head, or, you know, whatever is happening, you you go to God, and then that's when the the faith part starts is God will say, alright. I I see that you're in debt up to your eyeballs. I want you to give. Wait. You want me to give? No. No. I I want you to fill my bank account so that I I'm out of debt, and and God says, no. I want you to give. Just trust me that I'll take care of the debt, but I need you to start giving. That's step one.

And so, here's God calling you to, to a state of action before you even have any kind of evidence that God's actually got it under control. So he's called you to that. So you've got a need that's going on.

You also have prior history. You have a little bit of an understanding that God's got a couple of things under control. You also have other people around you that that have said, hey. This god is trustworthy. You haven't exactly experienced it yourself, but you're you're looking through and you're figuring some of these things out. So you've got a little bit of evidence around you, indicating that god is the one to turn to for this. Those evidences

are then catalysts. There's something that you by you taking your step of faith, you obeying God, and then, having that confirmation afterwards, that's the catalyst for other people in in their steps of faith. That's what people are gonna look at and say, hey. I see how God was faithful in this person's life. Maybe

maybe he'll be faithful in my life in a similar way. It it's something that ends up multiplying. Because you take a step of faith, it ends up spawning more faith in other people. And if you think about it, like, that's that's very much the program of which which Jesus was asking and is demonstrated through, with the disciples. Right? Mhmm. Like, when they they're they're they're waiting for this, for this this this messiah, this this kingdom to kinda release them from their oppression, and they say, we need to fight. And Jesus says, you need to die. Mhmm. And, like and when and even even when he's up against the Pharisees, and they're talking about dropping these laws, these these things that otherwise gave them identity,

and he's trying to redirect that. Mhmm. You know, they're having to trust him. And and and it's gonna it's all about who God is. Right? Like, it's all tied up in if he is who he is, then then that our natural reaction should actually be to trust that he's got things under control, whereas we all want him to keep validating,

what it is that we we believe or think that we believe about who he is. And and because we we leave it as a contingent as perhaps he's not. Right? Perhaps he will not validate that he is who he says he is. Perhaps Mhmm. He doesn't indeed have it under control. And, like, every aspect of which, it looks like Jesus didn't have anything control, it's just because it was it was it was part of the bigger picture, which God most certainly had it under control, and we were unwilling to release ours and let God take his. Mhmm. And so, I think that's true. I think that's actually running smack dab into the realities of saying, I I will, I I will bear my bear the cross for you. Like, I will give up everything about my life, and I will do what you want and trust that you got it under control, heavy or not. And, and that's that's that's kind of a rubber meets the road deal is is we still want some sort of inkling. God, just give me a little. And the thing is is, like, he'll fight you tooth and nail for that little you you wanna keep because you're still missing it. You're still missing it if you still are asking, I just want a little. And, and and it says that I don't trust that you've got it under control. And, like, we're foolish to think that even as Christians, we're foolish to think that that is not a giant thing that God is asking. He knows very well that it's a big thing to ask to give up everything that you are. And, like, if you understand correctly,

I think you should feel the the do you to understand the consequence of what Jesus is actually asking. I think a lot of a lot of, I don't know, what I would say, of bland faith comes from the thought that, like, we feel like we've given God all he's asked for, and we just simply misunderstood what he's asked for. And so, so I think if we understand that correctly, it it it puts your life at very much a crux. It's a it's a crossroads moment to say, do I do I trust him with all this stuff? And, as opposed to saying, well, show me god a little bit and then I will give you more. Like, we we we switch the roles of the of the the faith of the steward. Mhmm. Right? We like, if I give you a little or give you a lot, that we we kinda switch roles and we get to be God and hand stuff out and then see what we trust God to do and and see if he multiplies it and whether we give him more. Mhmm. And and we've got that whole scenario backwards. But that's a reasonable thing to do if that's the position you're in, but we're not in that position. God's in that position. And so we kinda have to give up that concept, but it puts us in kind of a rough circumstance because it means you got you've got to be willing to turn all over with absolutely no additional evidence specifically in your life. That's that's a tough road. Quite often, the the thing that God is asking you to give up is exactly the idol that it is has been replacing him. So, like, if it's finances and you're saying, hey, God. I I will give as soon as I see that you've put money in the bank. Well, that's because our trust is in finances, in in money in the bank. And God's saying, no. You trust in me. So now give away that those finances, those things that are essentially your idol. They're you you can live your life and trust that. And what we're asking from God is, I wanna trust you, God, but I also wanna trust this other thing. I I want I wanna keep that other idol, and God's like, no. No. You're gonna give that up. Right. You you there's no other gods before me. There there is one, and and that's him. So he'll start off by just asking you, hey. Give this up. Get rid of it. Just whatever that's that initial step of obedience, it often takes that kind of flavor of we're gonna get rid of we're gonna do some housekeeping. Right. Sometimes you gotta tip Dagon over to actually make some progress with some stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Alright.

How'd you guys get in this cave? This is crazy. I followed a guy that looked like the pope. Turns out he was the janitor. Alright. Hey, man. There's no way I'm getting in that cave. Who wears a white robe to a cave?

A bed that makes mistakes. You're not gonna fit through there with that hat on, sir. You're listening to live from the path on live from thepath.org, broadcasting every Monday night live.

Some from ten ish to ish. Ish. Yes. Whenever whenever we wrap it up. You can catch the show still playing on ninety nine point three KTIA in the Des Moines area coming up very soon, running Saturdays at 7PM. And, you should definitely plan on going out to the website and

checking out all the past clips from the shows. Get to the get hooked up with the podcast, and then, check out some of the musical acts we had in last week. Like Ben was saying, we had, Chris Akers and the Stewarts in here, and they just they they rock it. They always do. They put out some some pretty solid tunes, but it was a it was a pretty good time. I listened back to the show, and it was it it's well worth the hour and some that I think it took to get it through. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Also, before we get too too far down the road, big thanks to our sponsors, Bob Eisenhower with the Eisenhower team. Go to eisenhowerteam.com. Now may or may not be the time to buy or sell a house. Bob and his team know better than we do. So give them a call. If you just wanna snoop around and see what's out there, you can go to eisenhowerteam.com, and you can catch the current listings and just see if there's something out there. I'll tell you this. It's like, randomly search probably every four to six weeks. I just do,

I just do a search and see what properties are out there because, like, you never know what you might be missing, what might be kind of in your range or might be hanging out there for you. So, You know what, search criteria they don't have? Because, like, I will I will decide that I'm gonna find a new house when it gets real windy at my house. I think I hate wind. It's gotta be somewhere where it ain't so windy. What made you think of that this weekend? Yeah. Because it's been windy. You know? And so I went out you know, and, like, I'll go onto the realtor.com or whatever and go to Bob's website and look and see what he's got available, you know, and there's no search criteria that gets her to win. I thought, well, forget it. I ain't moving then.

No. That seems fair. So, anyway, go to eisenhowerteam,.com. Also, Westfield Veterinary Hospital. Go to westfieldvethospital.com. They can help you with all your pet care needs. And look, they're gonna handle things that are best for your pet and best for your pocketbook. They can help you make good decisions about the, long term, health of your dog, cat, horse,

whatever small bunny, whatever small creatures you might have in your place, lizard. Bring it all in. It's a vet hospital. They didn't. If they if they wanted to limit to certain animals, they wouldn't have said vet hospital. They would have said cat hospital. Yeah. Right? They do the works in there. They do great jobs where I take my dogs. It's where Mike takes his, a random random, I don't know, menagerie of of animals that's at his place. And so go to westfieldvethospital.com. You can if you go to that website, you can set up appointment online. You can do it right now on your undies. None of this putting it off till tomorrow and saying you know, looking Fido in the eyes and saying, oh, well, maybe I'll get to this tomorrow, friend. And then how many tomorrows have passed? Alright? You should be ashamed of yourself. They won't guilt you, but I certainly will. Go to westfieldvethospital.com,

and they can help you out with that. Alright. So here's the deal is is Herrick starts starts having this conversation with people as a pseudo pope, and he he gives something that seems like reasonable pope style advice. And then, they need a new pope. Yeah. They didn't like what I had to say. I mean, a lot of them just left and said, nuts with this guy. Yeah. Nuts with this guy. Was a gay friend's sake. Well, that's true. It's not believable. Yeah. So anyway, I'm I'm driving down the road, and there's, like, 10,000 people following me, and I agreed to take only a few of them in the car. Hey, which road was this? 62nd. Really? Yeah. Yeah. That's where that's where people come at. Okay. Anyway, so so anyway, I'm driving down the road and I say, hop in boys, Pope style time, because I need to I can give them a mobile Pope and then they have to get out of my car. So here's a Pope style advice. Stop quoting stop quoting Bible verses to people. Okay. Stop quoting Bible verses to people. So here's here's how I came to this this week. I was having a hypothetical conversation via text message with John Mayer. Everybody familiar with John Mayer? Guitar man. Yes. Music man. Okay. So anyway, I was driving home from church, and for some reason, I got the idea that I might run into John Mayer at the gas station. And then I thought, what would I say to a John Mayer? Because I feel like he he should love Jesus. And so I thought, well, if I were to strike up a hypothetical conversation with John Mayer, I would, you know, I would say, hi. How are doing? I would talk to John. I would say something quippy, he would remember me. And, but I would say something I'm coming from church. I would make it make it known that I'm a Jesus man. Then I would say something about you remember the the phrase I said from that story? Like, if such and such fails fails you, give me a call. So I was gonna find something that I could say to John Mayer when like,

hey, It looks like you live a pretty cool life. When you find yourself at some point where it's let you down, give me a call. Okay? So I was gonna I thought that's the wisdom. That's the whiz bang for John Mayer. He's gonna he's gonna give me the text. And so I give him a we exchanged digits. And then he sends me a text message and starts asking me random questions about Jesus, like big heavy things that he wants to sort out. And then I thought to myself, like, you wanna respond with biblical wisdom. But then it occurred to me that, like, how people would receive biblical wisdom because you always say something that the Bible said, and then you put the verse on it. And and you took something that is applicable to someone's life, like true, honest wisdom, things that should change how people think about the world, and then you made it academic.

Mhmm. Because you took you took a biblical bit of a bit of encouragement or wisdom or truth, and then you added a reference to it. And it would be the same thing as if someone were to say, hey hey, what does this word mean? And then, like, I attach a dictionary page number and and additional information, like, made something very academic that I could answer in a very human way. And so I thought, we gotta stop doing that. We gotta stop doing that, be because we pull a human conversation and it feels more academic. It feels like we're almost if you're saying, here you go. Look it up. I could be lying. Like, I'm not lying. It's it's like, our quote should be followed with, bit of wisdom dash Jesus.

Bit of information about your life dash Paul. Yeah. Like because that's how everyone else communicates quotes by someone else. People don't go Abraham Lincoln, page seven, paragraph three,

Gettysburg Address. Unless they're otherwise trying to harass someone that you don't understand how the government works. Then peep but that's an academic dispute. So so anyway, I I just it feels like a very minor thing, but it occurred it occurred to me in a hypothetical text conversation with John Mayer that I had I would have tried to address a serious faith question, wondering about the ins and outs of the universe, who God is, what does he think of us, and I took what is a very human desire to wanna understand those things, and I made it academic if I attached a verse number to it. You know, actually, I find this, oddly true, when I listen to, sermons. Like, I for some reason, I really appreciate when people say, you know, Paul was at the church in Corinth, and he was talking about this. And then they they basically just quote Paul and don't and don't throw the the Bible verse in there. And I don't know why it seems more real to me like it happened, and it was and and and and this was the mood,

like, when the Bible verse isn't attached to it. But for some reason, it does. Like, it feels like a a conversation that had happened earlier that day when I said, you know, my wife was talking to our daughter, and she said this. You know? And I don't say in the book of whatever with with, you know, connotations. For some reason, it just it feels more real when you when you don't tie it to the Bible. And there's nothing wrong with having the actual reference if people don't believe you. But, like, I I don't know. When you do purvey it as a conversation that happened, especially when when when Jesus is talking, like, Jesus said this when he was talking to his to his to his folks. He said, blah. You know? I I don't know. I I do find that a little easier to connect with, and I'm not exactly sure why. Well and I had, we were at, we were at a conference a couple years ago, and Andy Stanley was there. He's a relatively well known guy from the from the South, a pastor. And one of the things he said was is if, like, you wanna help people who don't know Jesus to know Jesus, you have to have conversations with them to the on something that they could digest. Right? So, like, if you're gonna say Paul, you they need to know who Paul is. Mhmm. If you're gonna say you're gonna talk about some of these guys, like, give them the context. And it it changed sometimes of how I talk about things is I'm I I don't say I don't tend to say, Paul said x y z without explaining the context of why what Paul thinks would be important in this circumstance and, like, even a a brief sentence on his background. A guy who thought Jesus wasn't the guy, and then he interacts with Jesus and everything changes. That's Paul. Right? And so, like, even that changes the conversation how you understand that. And it would be it was just something was a blind spot for me because I wouldn't have thought about that. Yeah. And frankly, it helps you interact with, with some of those guys. Like, they're people.

Yeah. Like, I I you tell a story about Rumpelstiltskin and, like, you can always refer to him in that way and without context because, like, everyone knows that's a story. Right? But, like, even when we talk about Bible stories, like, these are real people interacting with a real God, real circumstances, real things that we can take away. And I think sometimes we just we we it becomes a little too academic because of how we reference it. And it's it's such a minor thing to not do that I think makes that it's it's not that it's more palatable. Like, the truth is still the truth. It just I think you catch it more in the in the terms of what it was. Right? Like, those bible verses and chapters weren't there,

until centuries later. And so there's no reason they're not holy. It just I think it, like, allows people to connect with it better. So Pope style advice, for me and for you is, like, just be know your audience on who you're talking to and, allow people to connect with with scripture on a human level as if there were humans in it because there were. And and maybe,

you know, save the verses and stuff for academic conversations or people who are gonna challenge you on it. Yeah. That yeah. I mean, people who don't know Jesus don't care that it's in the book of Ephesians. They think, am I like the Ephesians? Is that what you're saying? Or am I like the guy talking? Yeah. Like, that's what they wanna know. And and they will care later. But I I was when you were talking, I just thought, you know, my daughter knows, all the books of the Old Testament. Does she know what's in all the books of the Old Testament? No. Well, this is backwards. You know what I'm saying? Like Right. I don't care whether she knows whether a certain,

passage is from Daniel or not. I care that she knows that something happened to Daniel. Yeah. What happened to Daniel? What happened to to to Saul? What happened to these people? Right? Like, if she can't tell me what book it's in, I don't know that I really care. Right? I want her to get God's spirit, God's heart, and the people and the way that that people interacted, with God. And, like, if we could do that opposed to her being able to rattle off in order the books of the Old Testament, I I take the, I take the former. Right. Because the truth is those things will come. Right? Like Yeah. The things that we Maybe. I mean, I I I if I get to my end of my life and I don't know the Old Testament books in order, I No. Yeah. I guess what I'm I'm saying is is that, like, I mean, there's there's it's helpful to know to know that you understand the arc of it better. Here's the deal. It's like, as you study and understand the the stories and how things connect in God's big narrative, like, you will just start to inherently know those things. I don't know that you have to specifically spend time trying

is what I'm getting at for those types of things. It's it was the same concept of of kind of what we we were talking on Dan was talking about on Sunday is that, like, we we are all we we tend to focused on the concerns about the out what does the output look like? How can I tell x, y, and z as opposed to, look, if you love and follow Jesus, the things that I'm concerned about you changing in your life, Jesus will change for you? Like, he will work in your life to get those things done. What we we try to do is, like, shine them up on the other side, not for Jesus to accept them, but as proof that something has happened. And, like, it's it's just a tail wagging the dog. And so it's kind of that same concept. Like, the only reason I know anything about where scripture certain scripture is located, because I'm terrible at memorizing things, is because I read my Bible often enough, and I I I care where it's at. I I remember what story it was and the argument that was or that was thing that was being discussed, I think, yeah, that meant something to me. And so where's that story at? And I remember it's in Romans because I remember the conversation that it sits in, and I remember that happened to the church in Rome, what was distinct about them. Not because I said, always remember what happened in Romans. It's because, yes, the church in Rome had was having this issue. It must have been in Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Yeah. Mhmm. So, anyway, that's, Pope's advice. You, you guys gotta get out the car. I hopefully have a run to John Mayer at the, at the Casey's. Yeah. I don't think he's gonna agree to text me like I thought. But, on the off chance he does, I'm They almost never do. I'm ready. I'm ready. Sometimes I think that me and Denzel Washington would be real good friends. That's really weird. I haven't heard from him at all. You want me to hit him up on a Twitter? Yeah. Just say, hey. I I think my brother Mike and you would get along real well and see if he responds. Okay. And then if he's cool with it, like, let me know, and then, you know, we'll talk from there. Is this the real Denzel? Hold on.

Official Denzel Washington Twitter. No. I don't wanna talk to his handlers. I wanna talk to Denzel. Yeah. This can't be him. One tweet, 16. Oh, he's following 16 people. Okay. Anyway, I'll check into Denzel. Yeah. See if he wants to be my friend. He likes a lot of weird stuff. I know.

I don't get down on that. Whatever it is. Yeah. Alright. Here we go. Relevant magazine. Guy with backpacks standing outside with an oversized watch looking at a sunset, and he wants he says, six problems with trying to be sold out for Jesus. Oh, yeah. I used to be a radical Christian. I bet. No. I didn't preach on street corners or drive an RV covered to doomsday verses, but I did drop out of college at age 20 to become a full time missionary in Africa.

In the last few years, books about Christ centered compassion for the poor have skyrocketed to the top of bestsellers list. Coney twenty twelve, an awareness campaign conceived by younger Christians went viral. Katie Davis, a young woman barely older than I, made headlines when she moved to Uganda, adopted a dozen orphans, and started Amazema Ministries. That sound right? No. Nobody cares. Fact check. I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to travel the world and make a difference. But most importantly, I wanted to show God that I was willing to do anything for him. I made a foolproof plan, radical obedience, helping the poor, African kids, all the things God likes. What could go wrong? Well, as it turned out a lot. Being sold out for God isn't a bad thing. We should be willing to follow wherever he leads. The problem is that it can easily turn into another legalistic way to prove our love for God. Here are a few things I wish someone had told me before I went radical.

Here we go. Number one, you can develop a messiah complex. There are plenty of stories in the Bible about Jesus healing the sick and feeding the hungry. But what about all the people he wasn't able to help? If Jesus had been obsessed with helping everyone, he wouldn't have had time to party or fish or preach or do any of the other things we see him do in the gospels. So if Jesus didn't feel the need to do it all, why do we? Maybe we're just meant to love the person in front of us. That's the example we see in Jesus and in his parables, especially the one about the good Samaritan. The hero in the story doesn't save the world. He just loves his neighbor. That that's funny, because Jesus is, like, the one guy that actually has the right to have a messiah complex, and he never does. I mean, like, he's he's marching towards Jerusalem that literally the spiritual fate of the of the entire universe is resting on what he's about to do. And and he stops to have a conversation with a couple of guys on the way. He's like, hey. Let let's hang out and chat. He has a date with then Destiny, and he's gotta be there by Passover or else. And he just kinda, you know, takes his time, you know,

goes through life. I'll, I'll do what I wanna do. Yeah. Alright. So, I mean, I don't know. Any that sound about right? Yeah. Have you seen that in people? Feel it feeling the burden of of having to handle all for having having to got involved with some? Oh, yeah. I I see it all the time. People in in ministry I mean, it's kinda hard answering God's call and then also seeing

God involved in it because it means that you you end up seeing both the need, but you also see that God's sovereignty is involved in it. And and it it's it's this weird duality of it. You're in touch with what's going on, but you also have to be in touch with what's going on. And I know that sounds strange, but seeing the need is seeing how how people are going around and they're they're hungry. They they have needs. They're they're starving in in one way, shape, or form. But you also have to trust that, ultimately, it's all in God's hands. And that's hard to do at the same time when, especially, when needs are right there in your face. Well, actually, I get a lot of,

ministry guilt from dudes involved in stuff like that. And they'd like, hey. You gotta come do this. It's a blah blah blah blah blah. You gotta do I'm like, you know? I no. No. I don't. No. I do. And they go, well, how how can you do that? I I have a heart for blah blah blah, and you gotta I'm like, listen. I you know, I hear what you're saying. And there's not sometimes when the Lord doesn't send a guy to yell at me and and and open my eyes to a perspective. But, like, I'm happy the Lord has you pointed in the direction. He didn't point me in that same direction, and you have to be okay with that. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, you can't you can't burden everyone else with with what the Lord has given you unless he's told you to burden somebody with it and say, look. Here's here's what I want you to go get this guy or tell these people or or or cast out a net, and I'll I'll put the fish that I want in the net. But, like, I get that a ton where people trying to get me involved in a bunch of stuff. I'm like, listen. If I if I join you, if I do what you're asking me to do, I basically have to tell the Lord no on the five other things that he's asked me to do. So the answer is no, friend. And, boy, they just get they get snippy. They get kinda snippy. It's You know, Francis Chan had the book Crazy Love and and people then it was a small group study as well. And lot of groups are going through that and talking about and having those conversations and you know, god hasn't called everyone to sell their house and he hasn't called everyone to, you know, leave their jobs and and and dig a hole and and live in some third world country and and try to reach them for Jesus. I mean, he he does call some. Yeah. But but all of sudden, everybody was like trying to sell everything and and and and and

it was just kind of a fad almost. Yeah. Well, you know, it's funny because it's it's it's it's what it like, it's it's the opposite coin of pharisaical behavior. Right? Like, this is the behavior we're looking for. Do the behavior. Don't worry about knowing God Yeah. Or talking to the holy spirit or looking for Jesus. Just do this behavior like selling all your crap and living in poverty and expect other people to pick up all your bills. Yeah. And then, everything will be fine. Right? And once again, if that's what the Lord laid on your heart and you took a couple steps that direction, and he's like Then go for Yeah. That's what I meant. Yeah. Okay. Great. Let's do this thing. But maybe before you sell every single thing that you got, you might wanna say, is is right now or lord right? This is what you want. Yeah. Yeah. It's what I want. Okay. Great. That's what I'm gonna do. Yeah. Sometimes people get into that to try and legitimize a faith that they're struggling with. It's like, hey. I I'm I'm very unsure of this, and I feel like if I do this, then it'll legitimize what I believe in. And that's

it it's tough. It's something that you it's a road for burnout ultimately because Yeah. You you end up you're taking your faith in your own hands, and so you're trusting in yourself. And you're gonna burn out, and you're calling others to end up doing the same. And you can see it because they're they aren't satisfied in what they're doing. They're they're always seeing a need for more, and they're there's nothing that's gonna sustain them because it's ultimately them pulling from their own backpack.

And then they're just asking others to come in and and join them in this very unsatisfied type approach to life. Yeah. Well, and I think that's the thing is that there is there's a legitimate they're reacting to something that's probably legitimate in their life. Like, God is probably is calling them to something. Mhmm.

It's just they're not reacting to what God has for them specifically. They're just reacting in to God's call in their own way. And and you're right. It doesn't have teeth, and it doesn't sustain itself. Because I I I want a faith that's special, and I I wanna be involved in some of these great stories and and wonderful signs and and things like that. And, that desire is it's a good thing, but it's something that's founded on

you trusting God, and it's not something that the trust comes after that. It's that the trust comes first, then the obedience, then then come the, the awesome stories. Right. Yeah. Right. And and and the the thing is is, like, it's it's probably the wrong thought to think that God doesn't have something for you. I I think he I think he most certainly does. He's got something that he that he's probably calling for you to let go of or calling for you to to to pull towards. It's just that, you you didn't ask you didn't actually approach God in an attempt to figure that out.

You just felt guilty for a minute because you saw someone else doing what God has called them to do and then reacted in some sort of arbitrary way to try to fill that void. When really, it was just just draw closer to Jesus and it will reveal itself and be ready for whatever it is. And I I think some of that's just a just a guilt thing too is where we say, I haven't been doing anything. I must have to do this thing. Mhmm. And, and and really, the truth is we we overreact because we underreact it to begin with. We we just listen to God like those types of of of things that you see, you see kind of things that go on a crazy level and you say to yourself, hey, cool. Look at what God's got that guy doing. Mhmm. As opposed to, oh, shoot. I I stink. Maybe God has me doing that very same thing. Like, that's that isn't you share in what other God has other people doing as opposed to having it look and be a burden upon your life. Mhmm. So alright. Thanks, boo boo. Alright. So that was number one. Number two, six problems with trying to be sold out for Jesus. Number two was there's no room for ordinary.

We can get so focused on changing the world somewhere else that we ignore the people all around us who need our help too. Yes. Some people are called to go overseas, but some of us are called to stay. I didn't need to move to Africa to feed the hungry. There are soup kitchens in my hometown that need volunteers every day, but that felt too ordinary. It didn't require much sacrifice, and, truthfully, it wasn't as glamorous as moving overseas. As a Christian, I thought if my life looked boring, I was doing something wrong. Sometimes in our desperation to do something big for God, we forget that it's okay to be normal. Not only that, but we miss out on all the small beautiful things we can do right here at home. Yeah. Once again, I think that jumps right off the first the first one is is, I mean, are are do you know Jesus? Like, are you asking? You talking to him? You know what I'm saying? Like, I I feel like he flushes all this stuff out. And then, like, after you get some some some confirmation and you and you start doing some stuff, you gotta rock that. Like, I mean, you you gotta take the confidence that the God of the universe said this is what you're doing and go, look, I can take all kinds of sneers and I can take all kinds of input from other people, but, like, the rock don't move. I move when the rock moves. Rock says I'm going this way, and that's what I'm doing. And if that means that I slug out a forty hour week job and and casually talk to people about Jesus when their heart is ready, then that's what I'm doing because that's the mission field I got. Do I feel kinda bad standing next to the guy that's been burrowed down in a tent for, like, six months? Yeah. Kinda.

But, the Lord will sustain me. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But not everyone gets to that point, in their relationship with God that that they're able to talk with him. A lot of us, we're introduced to God through someone else, and then we continue to be in this state of just being a child growing, but entirely dependent on some other human being. And if we haven't gotten really our own relationship with God going, then we're still, you know our our life course is being mapped out by someone else, and

that's not gonna be the right course for us. I mean, no matter how much wisdom and discernment you've got, you don't have the right life course for me. God does. That that's something I've gotta get from him. Yeah. And if you and actually so so the example is a perfect one. Right? When you look at, Francis Chan in Crazy Love. Right? When you read some of the stories that go on there, when you see that stuff happen, you should think, I want I want what he has. And it's not because of of of, you know, that that he sold his place or did all this jazz. Like, when I heard that story, I thought, I wanna be obedient like him. That's what I want. Like and I don't know what that means for me. It means something different for me than it does. But I see him and I see that he was When you see stuff like that, go, I want that obedience. And that's a perfect time to start praying and say, Lord, help me to see obedience when it's coming. Help me to see where I can be obedient and where I'm struggling and and and fisting back so I know what to do. And I think going along to the the original point that that the author had here was,

that obedience could be to do something that's that's not going overseas. That obedience could be doing something that's that's completely in your in your neighborhood right now, and then making sure that your ego is not getting in the way of what you think God is calling you to do. I'm built for overseas work. Yeah. Right. Like, who are you glorifying if if God is not calling you to go overseas, but you are completely the one who's pushing everything about you're going over there, and and God keeps showing you stuff that's happening right in front of your face.

And it's truly not on on you to be the one who goes over. I I mean, there's people do, But I think that that that's a total total ego thing, and it's something on on something that you should step back on. Who am I glorifying when, you know, I'm not okay with doing something that's right in my hometown? Yeah. I'd like to help with that local whatever, but I'm overseas, man. Yeah. Exactly. I don't know if you know that. Yeah. I don't know if you've seen me recently, but I'm definitely the dude that needs to be in in Haiti right now. Yeah. It's just like, you know, is that truly what's happening right now? Are you putting your name in in the spotlights right now rather than God's? I think it's part maybe of our narcissistic society. You know? Well, we'll read through the bible and we interject our own selves. Well, I should be I should be David. I should be the guy slaying the giant. Well, I should be Moses. I mean, that'd be kinda cool standing on the rock and and and, you know, parting the sea or getting water from a rock. And it's like, no. Those were, like how about the guy who was pulling the cart? You know? I mean, he was doing a a a very valuable thing too. They all need they all have a place.

Moses happens to be the guy that he talked about for generations because he was so unique. You know? I'm not that special. I mean, I I you know, if god calls me to do it, I'll do it. But Yeah. Do yeah. Like you said, do do what god calls you to do, not what you hope, you know, he's calling you to do because it it kinda sounds cool. So, yeah. Obedience is the big thing there. Be Enoch. Enoch ed it. Enoch ed Did you Dan, did you use the example of the guy that was pulling the cart that saved the that died? Is that who you had here? I was generically a cart. Oh. There I'm sure there were a of carts. That's the first guy that popped into my mind. It's the guy that stunk at it and died. No. Not that guy.

I thought, well, don't do that. I was gonna start. Oh, okay. Don't be okay with being that guy. That's awful. That that was always a confusing story to me. Dude, cop. Had noble thing. He's trying to keep the ark from falling down. I was like, no. Oh, no. No. I'll take care of myself. We we need guys who are gonna live their lives in a way that's spectacularly

consistent, not just spectacular at one time. For three hundred years. You know, that was that was the thing is and, I I I thought of this after I said it, that that was it was a sermon a couple weeks ago, and it had to do with, like, like, like, we're not we're not crazy. We're Christians. Like, you crazy things happen. Like, people should should be looking at your life and be like, boy, something is going on over there. But, like, it's not to imply that you have to conjure up something crazy. I think what we're saying is that, like, being faithful to God in your normal everyday life will produce situations on its own of which you're like, what the heck? You know, like, you're gonna meet people at work and you're gonna you're gonna have interactions with them and you're gonna see lives changed or or or conversations that you never thought you'd have and you're like,

God does that. That's crazy. Like, it's that type of thing. You don't have to create a circus and ask God to join it. You have to be faithful in the means and God will bring the circus. I'll I'll be devoted. I'll let God bring the crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Even even Moses, you know, one of the most talked about guys in the Bible, it's not like Heath probably didn't think he had a spectacular life. I mean, he was 80 before finally, oh, I guess now it's time for my assignment. I mean, that's a long time to wait. That's a lot of mediocre walking around the desert caring for sheep. You know? Jesus, I mean, you know, you get a little information about him, but until he's, like, 30 Right. There's nothing happening. And he he's just, you know, he's learning. He's he's doing his thing, but nothing spectacular.

Mhmm. So, yeah, we want he want we want spectacular, like, every week. Yeah. You know, we we want our daily up update, you know, to to have this is what God did, you know, mountains moved and and and it's not always that way. Yeah. Alright. Let's see where we're at. This list is taking forever. Three, you constantly feel guilty.

Problem with trying to be sold out for Jesus, you constantly feel guilty. Millennials are arguably the most informed generation to date, but we also feel the most burdened. We feel like if we're not doing it, boo. Is that true? No. We are not informed at all.

Just because we have a plug in to social media doesn't mean we use it for the right reasons. If you feel like you're informed because you can tell what your relationship status is and all of your friends' relationship status doesn't mean you know a thing about the world. I also might make the case that, like, there's a generation of people who do not feel the most burdened. We're we are the least informed generation probably ever. I I think you have just so much quantity of information, but no real quality. You you don't approach things from a, hey. Let's make sure we get all the basics in order and and then build upon that foundation. It it seems more like just throw everything at millennials. Yeah. Yeah. Not to go on on on tangent here, but, I mean, we have we have access to vast amounts of information. We have access to YouTube,

which is literally an online compendium of of videos Human knowledge. Of human knowledge. Yeah. You can go on YouTube and figure out pretty much anything you need to do, whether that be fixing a car or fixing a house or cooking a meal or something like that. You you can go on to Facebook, and you can look up articles that have to do with current events and all kinds of things throughout the world from different perspectives and from different social norms. Yet all we care about is the next funny cat video. It's sad, and we're not informed. Cats are cool. No. That's true. Mhmm. Like, to look at these five movies that Michael j Fox turned down. Oh, no doubt. I didn't know he turned down that movie. Let's talk about the newest cute video that has to with a baby, or let's talk about something that that makes me laugh more than than something that makes me think. We're we're a generation that that are stimulated within seven and a half seconds of laughter rather than twenty five minutes of learning. You know what? I actually had this conversation with one of my kids the other We were talking about, like, how much of your day is spent being entertained,

like, on any level. Mhmm. Like, not just with technology, but, like, how much of the day are you spending entertaining yourself? Mhmm. Like, you sound like a crazy person. No. Absolutely. I completely agree. I mean, this generation, it makes me sad. And I fully acknowledge that I'm part of this, by the way. I I'm working on it, God's kinda trying to draw me out of that. But, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we we have Netflix. We have YouTube. We have Facebook. We have all the other social media sites. We have everything there. We have Google that literally has links to hundreds of thousands of ridiculous things that we can learn on a daily basis. Yet all we Google is the newest trend that's going on with the Kardashians.

Right. How do I comb my hair, Google? So so I yeah. It how do you comb your hair and then get made fun of by people for it? Especially Chinese girls. So okay. Sorry. That that was my that was my random break off from that. Alright. So millennials have a bunch of information, but they don't do We have the ability to be informed. Keep going, Ben. Sorry. Let's see. We feel like if we're not doing everything we can to help, we're part of the problem.

Yes. And the fact that we live in Social activism? Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that we live in an affluent society when most of the world is suffering doesn't help either. Agree. In the Bible, Jesus asked a rich young ruler to sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor. The man is unwilling to part with his earthly possessions, and so we're told he's unable to enter the kingdom of heaven. Christians often use this story to warn of the dangers of holding on to our lives too tightly. It's meant to convict us and inspire us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. And it works because guilt is a powerful motivator. I would disagree with that outcome. Everything could probably up to that point, but I'm not sure it is the notion of guilt. Yeah. I don't like using guilt. No. It's a it's a I abhor it, actually. Find It's motivation of truth. I find Jesus the enemy of guilt. Yeah. Great. That's my main that's my main condo of forgiveness. It really is. It sure is. Yeah. In fact, more often than not, he he's saving us from among other things, guilt. So yeah. Yeah. So he says, but here's the thing, full colon. Jesus didn't use guilt. In fact, he let the rich young ruler walk away for all as opposed to what? Like, roping him,

tied him to Judas? Strike down. He used five fresh wits. For all we know, the rich young ruler may have spent the rest of his life being generous and helping others. Or maybe that wasn't Jesus' point at all. In the end, it's grace, not guilt, that gives us the freedom to do good. Here's the deal. People understand guilt way easier. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Because guilt comes with consequence and they get it and they feel it and they can go, yeah, I should've, would've, could've. You know, but like grace,

it's it's almost incomprehensible apart from Jesus to understand. You know what I'm saying? Like, people have a hard time and this is true with, Jesus across the board. Like, if you tell people the story of Christ, they they will buy in it, buy in it, then they'll say, I hear what you're saying. I just don't understand grace because they will never run into it apart from, the stuff that Jesus is offering in a realistic and and and understandable way. But guilt, they can definitely get. They got it from their grandma, their mom, their dad, and their creepy uncle at the family reunion. Mhmm. But well, guilt's a natural language of the world. And that so grace is introducing something new. So you can't just talk about it in an academic way. You can't just leave it for discussion. It really has to be demonstrated in in every way that you can. You have to live grace, and that's tough.

Yeah. So what's weird though is that, like, in this premise here, I I would agree that Jesus isn't using guilt. But, like, if we're supposed to think of that story in the nature of grace, I actually think it should still have the same outcome. He still should have sold everything he only gave to the poor. We should notice that we live in a fluent society when most of the world is suffering and and should consider

that whether we are to have some level of impact to that or not. And we feel like if we're not doing anything that we're part of the problem, that's implicitly true. Not every problem, but certainly some problems. It

has to do with the Jesus respected the guy making his choice. He just said he just plainly said, here's what's gonna be needed for you to to get involved in this. And and just left it very simply. He didn't come around behind after the guy had made a decision and and tried coercing him one direction or another and and using persuasive language or anything. He just simply said, here's what's going on. Here's what you're gonna have to do. It and then left the choice to the guy. There there was no guilt involved. There was no character attack or anything like that. It it was just, here's what's going on. Your choice. Your call. So so I guess what I'm saying though is, like, where I where I it's kind of a it's a bit of a non sequitur, I think, like, this direct direction of this came from. We're fit we're we're burdened. We feel the most burdened. Like, you constantly feel guilty as a problem for trying to be sold out to Jesus. I think the outcome of you you I feel like you should feel burdened, but just not for it's not because you're guilty for not helping. It's just because you love people, and that creates a a burden in your life for which you want to help. Yeah. Am I thinking of that wrong? No. It's awareness. You're right. Okay. You're you're aware of of the problems that are going on. You're aware of the,

of the the the hole that's created in the in the society that that God can fill. And being aware of that all at all times, there's there's no detriment to that. Understanding that that's going on and then actively pursuing a way to fix that, whether that be in the one specific area or whether that be in a broad spectrum, whether that be giving some money to people doing adoptions and then spending time with people in the area that are orphans or that are widows or homeless people, whatever that may be. You know, just being being aware of those situations, maybe not necessarily feeling guilt about it, but definitely feeling that burden like you were saying, understanding that it's happening and realizing that you can be a help. Because I feel like that's our kingdom work. Right? Like, that's Absolutely. We're we're part of God's process is setting wrongs right. And so, like, if you I don't need to feel guilty about it. I need to be motivated and and excited that God's got me part of what he's going on and that I can be part of that. Yeah. If your entire focus is just on the hole that needs to be filled, and you forget about the fact that God is in there and and that ultimately he's got control of it, then you feel like you have to be the one to

not just fill it yourself, but motivate other people to to fill it. And so Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You'll pull into every every tool and tactic that you have. And if you don't know that using guilt is something that's actually more detrimental than anything else, then you're gonna you're gonna pick up that tool as well because anyone who grew up in the world knows how to use guilt. Yeah. That's true.

I feel like he's could've said that better. I can feel it could feel like he's talking about two separate premises there. Moving on. Yeah. Six problems trying to be solved after Jesus. Number four, you start acting like a pharisee. When you're obsessed with being a real Christian, you start noticing Christians all around you who don't seem to fit the bill. Yeah. And if you're like me, you start pointing fingers. Yeah. I thought I was some kind of prophet preaching a lifestyle of sacrifice and self abandon that I expected everyone to follow. Yeah. That's where I stopped being able to. Okay. Go ahead. But but my concern for the suffering was making me insufferable. My passion had turned into misery. I wasn't being a prophet. I was being a Pharisee. And by sneaking legalism into a freeing gospel, I turned Jesus into a Pharisee too. It's much harder to spot legalism when it's disguised compassion. But here's a telltale sign, it always ends in despair.

Yeah. So like I I was guilty of this, kind of, for a while. When because people a lot of the people that I run into have have had encounters with the church. I won't say Jesus but the church.

And, like they would tell me all their horror stories on this happened, this happened. I'm like, man, that's not not the way that, Jesus intended, for this to go down. Right? And I would start to kinda borderline take just taking the opportunity

to to to show their legalism or show their their brand of whatever Jesus they're selling compared to the one that I was trying to explain and how their suck. And and and some of it was just frankly true. Like they taken, you know, the Lord's stuff and use it to beat people over the head with it, you know, and I was doing it not out of love. But like, there was there was times when I would just take that like my the best selling point of the gospel was the whole gospel you've heard up to this point was trash. But none of it was true. And and the problem is it sucked in a bunch of people that probably love Jesus, and and and and I I probably slandered them unnecessarily.

And so I find this very easy to do. Yeah. I I I feel like, one of the general themes of all of these is we're trying to take God's role into our own hands. And it's

ultimately God that is gonna convince a person of what's true. I mean, I will I will go out and, as much as I can, tell them, hey. Here's here's what I found to be true about God. If they accept it or not, that that's between them and God. I I don't need to be pushing it on them or beyond that. I just present them with it. They pick it up. If they don't believe me, it's a and they just continue on in the way that they've been living. I I ultimately need to just let it go into God's hands and and be okay with that and just have peace with the fact that I'm not here to fix everything in in the universe, and I don't need to fix them, and I don't need to fix that and and whatever else. I can ultimately just leave it to God to straighten out their theology or mine as is more often the case. I I think I see that a lot in,

it seems to be a phase a lot of newer believers will will go through especially. They get so about the changes going on in their life that they've kinda projected up in everybody else. They'll they'll they'll see what their old habits and other people and and and try to correct them on everything, you know, and and I think that's part of the the them becoming a disciple or the follower of Jesus is is learning to, hey, slow down there a little bit. Let god let god be god and you you you worry about yourself, you know, and it's it's it's a stage, I think, that that people go through and and this guy or gal, whatever it was, has struggled with it, it sounds like and and it could be not only as a new believer but when you have a new area of growth and you get into a new area of of service maybe you've never done before. Suddenly, everybody needs to be doing it. Why aren't they doing it? You know, if they love Jesus, they'd be here. So so which is I think it's part of our human weakness. You know, we get excited about something. We we want everybody else to be excited about it. Yeah. Well, I mean, and that's that's true. Some of that is is people's excitement that they're not carrying that burden anymore. And that and and they may be doing it completely unselfishly like, I see you're carrying that burden. Jesus

lifts that burden. Let's talk about this and why you need to let that go. Like, so it's not completely selfish, you know, or or you know, personal kingdom building that they're doing it, but it is a bit ambitious. Maybe. Yep. Yep. Hey. Here's the deal.

If you're listening to the truth network, nine point three FM, we've got to let you go. Yeah. Amen. Make sure you go to lifeandpath.org.

You can check out what we're doing during the week. Visit our sponsors, Bob Eisenhower with the eisenhowerteam.com and westfieldvethospital.com. You know what?

What are we listening to? Seriously, man. You made this creepy. Hey, ladies and gentlemen. All all you ladies and gentlemen out there listening in on radio land. It's lounge night. It's Saturday night on the Truth Network. This is the Ben Show. I'm not saying we gotta talk about school jazz music,

spending time in dark corners of a jazz club. Alright. You know, we're gonna let you go. If you listen to the podcast, god bless you. We we appreciate you. We'll be right back with you.

Don't you go nowhere. Will Pull me back on the bait show. Painful in the means, for heaven's sakes. Now you've been listening. God handle the ends. You've been listening. You've Yeah. This song is called I hate you.

Is that Mahalia Jackson? No. This is our buddy Scott Henderson. He does he does all our our actually, good majority of our outro tunes. Yeah. He's alright. He's he's this guy. This is him. Yeah. Hey, man. That's more us. Yeah. Yeah. That's how we set people up. Not this lounge time that you're trying to play it around as. Alright. We we appreciate you on that front. Lizard.

It was so it's so I have a list of songs that I that I use from Spotify. And, like, the one I was looking for by him wasn't there. And so I thought I'd this song was on the list. And I thought, well, I've never played that one, but I must have listened to it at some point and said, oh, that'd be a good one. Because it's in my list of live from the past tunes. I don't know what I would say. Hey, man. Remove it. Remove it. Yeah. When we need to put our audience to sleep, that's the one I know. If you're gonna pass out on the podcast, stay tuned. Here's the deal. You're listening to If we're gonna put our audience to sleep, we're gonna do it ourselves, Doug, on it. That's the truth. I'm not farming that out to some Internet man. We'll

sing lullabies before we put that out there. Alright. Let's get through these last two and then we're gonna do a life dear life from the path and we're gonna call this thing a night. Here we go. Number five, problems with trying to be sold out for Jesus. Number five, you could fall into blind devotion. Yeah. Sometimes, when all you want is to be used by God, it's not a stretch to allow yourself to be used by others as well. Yes. Experienced this when I fell into the hands of an abusive ministry in Africa. Woah. Every aspect of my life was under its control. What I did, who I spent my time with, and even what I said on my personal blog. That's a cult. It's They do that. Yeah. No. It holds barred with Mike. It's leaders lied about and they misused donor money. Oh. They even held

instant submission. Sometimes susceptible you are or to spiritual abuse.

Hey. Look, man. You're just a dummy. You got suckered into some stuff. It's funny that what a lot of ministries will get away with things that just would not fly in the secular world, and we just create this culture of you need to sacrifice. You must die to yourself. But, ultimately, the undercurrent of that is I want you to do exactly what I tell you to do type of thing. It it ends up becoming a a control issue, using Christian rhetoric, and it's very common. And it's something that

probably the most susceptible people to it are women, getting involved in ministry. We the just the kind of abuse that happens are things that, you'd be going to court for in any kind of secular setting. So, yeah, watch out for that. And it's not just internationally.

But no. Shoot. Yeah. Yeah. I got some I got some happy birthday cards I need to return, I guess, based upon what Harry's talking about. One of them had a donkey on it. I just it seems to be inappropriate in light of what he was Alright. Let's see. I saw it's just joke. I don't know why we're laughing. This is sad. No, it's not. This is not even a funny joke. Alright. Alright. Let's see.

That was it? Anybody else followed it blindly? Yeah. Mean, a freaking one of those should have been like, hey, wait a minute. This ain't that's the difference between knowing the difference between rhetoric and Mhmm. And the lore. Yeah. Yeah. This don't seem right. Yeah. I I guess, like, I'm having troubles well, so I I guess I understand, Harik, what what what you're saying. Like, if you're trying people feel like there's some some level of devotion. But, like,

is I I'm trying to figure figure out, like, what naturally causes people to to attach that to an organization or a person that's not Jesus? Well, I'll take, for example It's a cause usually. Through to this thing, Crazy Love. Right? And then you're like, okay, I'm gonna go down to his compound or whatever and hang out with him. He seems like a pretty solid guy. And then you get there and he does a bunch of weird stuff and you're like, yeah, but crazy level was life changing. He loves Jesus. He sold all this stuff. You know what I'm saying? Like, you let you you let a little bit carry you a long way when maybe that boat should only held water for, I don't know, a couple minutes. Mhmm. Sometimes a a person will come along very well meaning, and and they want your sacrifice for themself instead of to God. And it it's interesting. I was just reading, the way that Paul described it is the church that was, giving in Macedonia, and he's bragging to the church in Corinth about about what they're doing. And he said they gave this to the Lord,

and then he, entrusted it to us to be used as our ministry. And a lot of people will kinda skip the whole this was given to the Lord thing, and they will just take it for themselves. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it and so they'll go up to people looking for a donation from the person to them, directly and skipping the the whole role of God involved in all of the situation. And yeah. I actually, this is funny, And it was petty on my part. But I had a conversation with a pastor one time. They have a playground in their church. And one of the houses I was at backed right up to it. And we let the kids go out and play on this playground. He's like, hey,

that's for people who go to church here. I'm like, hey, man. People gave that money to the Lord, not to you. And the Lord built this playground. We're gonna we're gonna play on it. Okay? And he's like, no. No. You have to be a member of this church. I'm like, oh, kids. You still hear from that man. I remember the man. But like, that's that's that's the mindset. Right? Like, God gave me this building for these people, for this church, and this is what it's for. And I decided we were gonna buy brass plates with it and serve communion on them or whatever. And this is what I decided and blah blah blah blah blah blah. And I and and and, like, they do follow that mindset where where, you know, this stuff is for me or my ministry, not for the Lord or how I'm or how he intended to use it. Yeah. Alright. Last one. Number six. Six problems trying to be sold out to Jesus. Number six, you never seem to measure up. My biggest fear was that I would miss God's call or worse that I would fail his test. I used to measure my devotion to God because secretly, I thought he was too. When unbearable circumstances forced me to leave Africa, I felt like a total failure. After all, I wasn't just letting the world down. I was letting God down. When I came home, a friend asked if I thought God loved me less. I said no. But that got me thinking. It's true. God doesn't love us any less when we fail. But what took me longer to realize is that God doesn't love us anymore when we succeed either. The problem with trying to prove your love for God is that in trying to prove yours, you end up trying to earn his. Suddenly, your relationship with God becomes all about what you do rather than what he has already done. Jesus was a sacrifice to end all sacrifices, so there's nothing more we need to do. If we were any good at being radical, there would be no need for Jesus, and that's the whole point.

From these six things that that this author has pointed out that that are problems with being sold out for Jesus, it doesn't seem like they're they're reasons to be sold out for Jesus. It's it feels like six things that they're sold out for the work Mhmm. And the actions. Yeah. This isn't someone chasing after Jesus. This is someone chasing after the actions. Mhmm.

If you are thinking that you're qualified for for God's love or for Jesus' grace or or for the sacrifice based off of what you're doing, well, great job checking the boxes. You you went to Africa. You did the right things going to the right places. You did the radical things when it came to quitting college and all the different stuff, but but that's not what we're after. That that's not what the point is. You're missing the whole point, which is your relationship with Jesus. That's the most important thing. The actions are going to come. The the works are going to come. That that's not the most important thing. You need to realize that you should seek first the heart of God. You need excuse me. You need to be seeking Jesus.

And if that's your main point, if that's your main situation, you're no longer worried about am I doing quality work? Am I doing crazy enough stuff for him? It's not from that perspective. It's am I doing the right things for him that he's called me to do? Whether that be in my backyard or whether that be 3,000 miles away, whatever it be, glorify him, make it about him, and stop making it about the works that you can do and how well you can do them. So this is something that happens when you replace Jesus the person with Jesus as just a method or a recipe to follow. And then

we end up, glorifying some kind of Christian lifestyle. And Jesus has no place in that, and we just reduce him down to a couple of statements and and platitudes and say, alright. Now do this. Instead of getting to know Jesus and just responding

to him, we end up responding to a a type of Christian culture. And and it's it's twisted because it's it's ultimately idolic even though it's using God's own words, what, against him. It yeah. It's pretty awful.

Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Alright. That was it. That was all the problems with trying to be sold out for Jesus. I think Boofah's nailed it. I think I think you're right. I think they were trying to be sold out for Jesus is awesome.

Yeah. Sell yourself out for Jesus. What what what he's talking about is is is trying to sell sell yourself out to look like you're selling yourself out for Jesus. Yeah. And that's a mistake across the board. Yeah. Just do things genuinely and and you're gonna be fine. Okay. Alright. Mike, what do got over there? Dear life from the path. My sister and her husband are well-to-do but cheap.

They recently invited themselves to stay three nights in our snowbird condo on their way to a vacation in The Caribbean. Snowbird condo, Not exactly living light yourself. What is that? It's a it's a second place that they have that they go in the wintertime. Oh, okay. My

wife and I hosted them. And during their stay, we went out twice for dinner. Both times, my sister was quick to request separate bills. In the meantime, we had provided lodging and all their other meals for them. I'm offended that they didn't show appreciation for our hospitality by at least taking us to dinner once. I wanted to confront my sister about my feelings, but my wife has vehemently told me I should not. What would you suggest? I believe that the oh, sorry. No. Go ahead, Dan. I was I think the ethics on this is as the host, they should have actually been reversed, and they should have provided the meal and the housing. Mhmm. Yeah. I I tell you what you could do. You could look up the word generosity

Yeah. And love. In your second home. Jeez. I think here's the you're trying to trade social protocols.

Right? If you're gonna be that's the thing. If you're gonna be generous to somebody, be prepared to be generous. And then be wowed if they choose to wow you. And if they don't wow you, just wow at the fact that you were able to be that generous. Yeah. I feel like that's some because then no matter what happens, you're wowed.

You're like, you're a happy man. You feel some joy. You got to be very generous to somebody or someone got to be generous to you. Either way, the trip goes done. Everybody's joyful and good times were had by all. Why why would you trade a a relationship for apparently the bill? Yeah. And that just seems strange to me. I mean, contact with human beings, that that's what life is made of. Yeah. Finances? No.

It comes and it goes. Actually, I do that sometimes. Like, we'll go out to some kind of work lunch or something, and then it'd be time for the check. I'm like, I hope boss man covers the whole thing. I secretly and then there's an awkward silence. I'm like, he'll cover the whole thing.

And then it turns out we're gonna split them up. But still, like, there's still an awkward silence at the end of a group meal on who might cover the check. Is there a good way to handle that? Yeah. Just cover the check. Yeah. Just you offer to cover the check. Well, like 10 people came out. Solves that problem directly. Do you wanna solve the problem or don't you? I gotta call my wife for her to spend that kind of money. You should give her a heads up and say, dude's going out. Might not spend big money. The people at the table will be like, wow. Why is it that Mike keeps covering this? Is he made of money? Then they come up and they say, do you have some kind of financial backer? And then you say, yeah, God. Yeah. I have a backer. The Lord Jesus. They love that. Evangelism would spread wide in the Mexican restaurant. Yeah. Alright. Yeah. Leave it alone.

No. You shouldn't bring it up. Does anyone wanna wanna say, hey. You should you should talk to him about this thing. No. Alright. Secular says, I see two ways of dealing with this. Keep your mouth shut, avoid confrontation, and the next time your sister tells you she's coming for visit, roll up the welcome mat saying you already have other plans,

or you can tell your sister how you feel. Personally, I think it would be healthier to express your feelings because your sister's and her husband's behavior was rude. It shows that because people have money doesn't necessarily mean they have class. Well, that's a real bummer. Yeah. I here's the thing is I wish I could go around my entire life judging people by how much money they have

because that sounds like a whole lot of fun. Or you could just be generous to whoever it is and send them on their way. Yeah. No. I know. I I alright. Here we're we're gonna cut this thing out of here. Thanks for listening to Life from The Path. Appreciate hanging out with us here on the podcast. Live from The Path. Hey, fuck. Sign

up to Twitter. Hey, hook us up on Twitter. Facebook's really causing us big troubles. They you can't really see our stuff. So if you wanna engage with us at all, go to the Twitter, look for Life in the Path, and we'll hook up with you there. And, yeah, I think that's it. Stay faithful to me. Scott will handle the ends. And, you know, next next time you think you're gonna say something clever about some kind of card with a donkey on it, you just let that pass. It's not funny. Thanks for listening to life in the past. I have a question about how to handle a situation with the what if my friend.