Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path. And you're listening to live from the Pathway from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston Prabhup.

Man, I appreciate how hard you try to start this show. It coats the whole stomach. And then Mike comes in with some ridiculous hot take about the Imodium commercials from 2002. It looks so comforting. I don't know how these advertise people come up with this stuff. You know what's funny? I actually looked that up, but not this week because my wife goes, I wonder how a Pepto Bismol even works. And I said, I do too because that diagram they give you at the commercial is not sufficient to tell me what's happening. Yeah. Bismuth subsalicylate just shows up, and then everything is fine. Hey. But you know what, though? That's exactly how it described it Yeah. On the Internet. There's like… It just coats it so that your stomach acids don't break it down. Yeah. Your stomach acids are, you know, pink coat. Wait a minute. Does that mean Bismuth subsalicylate. It doesn't dissolve the food into combustible or a package? Combustible. And does it come out the same way we did it? Don't understand. Combust. That's part of the problem. No. Here's what we need to do. We need to just figure out how we can make things of Mike explaining how major medications work.

It just, like, it just goes in there, and it it just makes it so that your food isn't combustible. It's combustible. Yeah. You're Turned your stomach into a two stroke. Your chicken teriyaki on the way down, it didn't blow up. Teriyaki? Is that like a Chinese sing along? Yeah. That's

how much I'd say it. Okay. Hey. You're listening to live from the path. Here's what we got going on the show this week. We're gonna talk… There's a… There's an archbishop who says… Saying our father in the lord's prayer is problematic.

So The words our father? Yeah. Okay. That's the beginning too. We didn't get halfway. He started on first. He went, nah. Yeah. I like this. So… Okay. So we're we're gonna talk a little bit about that. I have… I I heard some… There's some teaching that I took in over the weekend, and I… It's it's a common thing. I wanna tell you why why I've been here has a problem with the… If you have a sign at your church on the way out that says you're now entering the battlefield. Mission field. Yeah.

Often often battlefield, and I'm against it. Okay. I've seen that. There was a church in our hometown actually that had, had that you're now entering the battlefield, and I said, I don't Wow. I've never heard of that. I've heard, like, the mission field. Yeah. No. The battlefield. Battlefield. Battle. Yeah. And I don't think this is the example the guy gave, but this is the one I remember seeing at a church. And I I think there's a way you can fix that, but, otherwise, I I don't like it. Throw on the armor. Yeah. Buva had an interesting situation happen. He was at a foreign church over the weekend.

I was What's the right way to say it? I was indeed at a foreign church. Yeah. I was at a church in a different city. Yeah. That's what he said. Fresh fire. How are you guys taking it? Yeah. That's a friend. Church. Hashtag foreign. He was at church with foreigners. Hashtags are on the way out. Are they? What did they replace it with? I don't know. They're trending down. Nobody's using them no more. They're they're they're trending up with with a pound sign. Oh, I'm gonna start doing hashtag hashtag and see what happens. Hey. Hey. For more social media advice, get up to life from the path complaint line. (515) 517-0085. If you… Here. Actually, this would be kind of a fun exercise. If you wanna pre complain about the show, even before you've heard anything of it, I'm open to that. Call or text the live from the path complaint line (515) 517-0085,

and leave any complaint that you feel may happen, and we'll see how close you get to the the rest of the show. I this sounds like a good idea. Couple. Is it like Pete Rose wrong if I, like, bet on something that's gonna go awry and then cause it to happen? There's no hall of fame for the show, so… No. That's fine. Sweet. That's fine. Okay. So let… Let's hit up this first this first article. Our father in lord's prayer is problematic for some, says archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. This is from the Christian Post. Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has suggested the word father in the lord's prayer can be distressing for some individuals, particularly victims of abuse or those who've suffered under oppressive patriarchy. Cottrell's comments have drawn the ire of some Christians who view his comments as a direct rebuke of Jesus Christ. So before you go any further, is there anything that you can sympathize with this man about? Yes. No. Okay. Tell me. Dan's no. Dan's a hard no. He's had no… No sympathy…. That the that the word father is

problematic for some people? For sure. Yes. Could… Yeah. Can it be true that the the language we use to refer to god in an earthly context causes some causes some problems of grief to people based upon the earthly expressions of those things? Yes. Ridiculous. Dan says no. I mean You don't think… Dan, you don't think that that the reference of someone talking about God as a father for people who have had abusive fathers gives them the wrong connotation of who God is? Well, that… I I don't know. I've always heard that, always read that, and I always thought it was ridiculous. I didn't have a great father. I I mean, I can give all kinds of terrible stories. Right. But it's like, yeah, he's different father. It feels whole and separate too. You feel like you don't really have a hard time Yeah. He measures it. Measure it to the to to the heavenly father. So so why why

would I try to reduce the heavenly father down to some earthly father who's going to be imperfect no matter who he is? Do you think that it requires a certain level of knowing god to take that in in a healthy way? I think it's just ridiculous. I I think… I mean, okay. I got in a car accident once, so every time I hear the word car, I'm gonna cry. It's like, that's stupid. It's just stupid. Okay. Damn it. An old generation guy that I'm just like, just get over the freaking word. Dan finds no sympathy in this at all. I'm like I

think… Now whether there's a… Okay. Just to get to, like, a previous show topic, whether we whether we lack grit in this area. Like, I I think it is… There is a discernment where it's… Like, obviously, there's a… It's there's… It's it's whole cloth different. Right? And so, like, it is… It's very possible

to me that our earthly expressions can unduly influence our perspective of who god is based upon the… Where we share words between filter wrong. Yes. We're we're filtering up rather than down, or I don't know if that's that makes sense, but, you know Yeah. We're putting putting god through my filter than trying to put god through his own filter and me trying to understand him. I'm trying to bring him down. Yeah. Where we share earthly concepts with the same words that we use to describe heavenly concepts, I I do think I do think there's a risk that it communicates not the clear thing. God is love. You know, like, love ice cream. It's like, no. No. Not like Yeah. Right. Not the same. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I think to to be fair, like, I like, I I I kind of agree with Dan. Yes. Mark the Like like, it's it's not it's it's not… You wouldn't change, right, the way that that god refers to himself or the way that the son refers to the father. Right? Like, that's… That I'm sure we'll get to. But the fact that, like like people been in a car accident and then they can't get over car. Right? I don't know whether it's a generational thing, but, like, it is for sure true. I could speak to that in youth ministry. Like, things that you think that people should be able… Like, that's just not even a correlation to have and they can't let it go. Like, they just absolutely can't let it go. And, like, it… I've noticed it more in youth than I have

in in people my age for sure. Like, connections that I make where I'm like, those aren't connected. I don't know why. Like, you had a one off weird incident and then all of a sudden you're like holding on to like this experience as if it applies to every car ever made. And like, they can't… Even if even if they know better, even if they know they're doing it, like they… I don't know. It it seems generational to me. Like, they cannot let it go. Like, we we swim in trauma and stay there. And, like, it's… I I I I don't know. I don't call it the hormones in the milk. I don't know I don't know what to call it.

But hormones in the milk. But, like, it's a it's a legit reality. Right? And, like, I've had a really hard time getting past it myself where people are like, this is this and this is this and, like, they get all worked up about a thing. I'm like, this isn't… Doesn't even make logical sense. And and… But they can't they can't drop it. And they know it's an overreaction, and they know it's ridiculous, and they can't. They just can't let it go. And I don't understand it myself. I'm sure there's a psychology behind it. But Yeah. Probably. Yeah. It's… Yeah. So I think I think it's okay to wreck… Well, yeah. Yeah. It actually goes for this even outside of, say, the lord's prayer. I think it's okay to recognize something has an impact. Pooh, what's the phrase? Trauma informed, not trauma… We did trauma informed, not trauma excused. That's right. Okay. Yeah. Trauma informed, not trauma excused. And so, like, I think it's okay to recognize

that a situation may cause you dissonance. And so when you say god is a father, they go, how how should I understand that? Because I think about my earthly father in this way. That's okay. You… That should that should prompt a question to go, my earthly father was a turd washer. Yeah. Like, how should I think of god? Because because, like, if all you hear is the lord's prayer… Let's say you had no no reading of the bible at all and all you heard was the lord's prayer. Yes. That's a… That's an ad comparison because the only bucket you can pull from is your own dad. Right? But, like, with a cursory reading of the rest of scripture, god points to what a father should be and the way a father should act and the and and the way that he cares for his children. And, like, that's a way different picture than whatever earthly dad you had. Yeah. And so the right way to think of it then is is… The caution is that your experiences don't explicitly define the rest of the world and how it works. Right. Mhmm. It's it's understandable

that that is the only lens you have. And so that's… I get that. However, there is there is a right thinking and a humility that goes, just because this is my experience, I have to know that it's not everybody's experience, but the concept that you're bringing to me creates a dissonance. Help me understand the difference. That's that's trauma informed. Yeah. But holding on to it and going… Like like the the suggestion here, which is, oh, we shouldn't say that because it it triggers somebody. Mhmm. Frankly, that leaves them where they are. It's… It allows someone to think and look at the rest of the world that all father relationships can be then prescribed out into the world that way, and that's actually… That's flat out not true, and we don't do anybody a service by continuing to build… To act like that. Yeah.

Agree. Yeah. The trauma informed versus trauma excused thing has been a big thing that… I mean, Ben, you and I have talked about this multiple times now, and even on the show also, it's been… There's a certain level of of, you know, like, we've all been through crap, and and and things get colored that way and and all that kind of stuff. The most recent thing that I'm I'm seeing is this trend of people thinking that there's such a thing as fat phobia, and, like, there's this this movement that, like, the world is against obese people because, like, things aren't set up for us. So, like, we have to worry about chairs that sometimes break out from under us, and we have to worry about, like, traveling and things like seats that. And things like And guess what? I've broken chairs before many times. As a matter of fact, I've been a big guy most of my life. I

could choose to go, hey. Everyone around me has to change and has to has to cater to me and things like that, or I can just go, well, I mean, I gotta deal with this. Like, this is life. I was at church this last weekend that did not have chairs that were very friendly is is the way to do them. They looked like they were made of hopes, wishes, and dreams. And you know what I did? I went and sat in the corner,

and I didn't go… Excuse me. Does anyone have a heavily reinforced chair for me by chance? Where's the Do you guys do you guys… Can I sit on the stage? Is that okay? Like Where's the Where's the big… Who do mean elder chairs? Yeah. Right. Exactly. While the guys talking to you guys sitting the throne with some extra cushion? Like, no. I went and sat in the corner, and it looked ridiculous. I probably did. But guess what? It's my fault that I'm as big as a ham that I have to worry about chairs. Like, anytime I've ever flown, I've bought two seats, and I didn't go, oh, man. I can't believe I have to have more than one seat. It's because I spill over like a busted can of piss. So isn't the point, though, like, to your point, like, let's say it wasn't your fault. Right? Let's say it's a thing that happened to you or whatever. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's… It could be argued. Right. Right. Let's… Like, let's say that's that's trauma informed, not trauma excused. Right? Like, whether you did it or someone did it to you or whatever happened there. Right? Like, then you go… Like, to to have a wherewithal and go, okay. I know what lens I'm using. Right. Right? And that doesn't mean everybody has the same lens, but I'm telling you this is where my barriers are gonna be because this is the lens I have, you know? And so, like, you can either walk into the church and be angry that everyone doesn't understand your plight or you can look out at humanity and go, their problems are different than mine. They probably don't look around the chairs and go, and I don't know. This is iffy. And here's the deal. If there's any place to stand for what's right and not what's what's pandering to triggering, it's it's this. Yeah. Like, it's this to go, okay. We understand that you come from a broken family and a broken home, but there is a father that is much greater than anything you've ever understood. The fatherless. There is a father to the fatherless that have been with the turd polishers for for most of their life. Yep. Or the guys that went went out for milk one day and never came back. Those fellas are out there. We recognize that. This is… There's a misunderstand… And I think there's there's a disservice by trying to pander to that because you're missing out on the beauty and the glory that is defining what a real father is. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what what we get to do as Christ followers. We get to go… We recognize that you're broken. We recognize that father may be a hot button word for you, but we know of a god and a father that is better than anything, and he is a good father that knows you and loves you and hears where we're coming from. Let us lay out his kingdom and the words of his son this way, not pandering our father is exactly what we should say. Yeah. You almost wanna say that, like like, there's a there's a father that will redeem the word father. Absolutely. But the thing is is, like, the original father, like, we're the ones that ruin it. He's not… He's… Doesn't need redeemed. Yeah. Right? Like… Yeah. We're not his PR. That's right. So, like, it doesn't need redeemed. It's it's always been what it's been. Right. And so, like, I… It… Yeah. Well, I think the whole wrap up of the conversation is is,

yes. Do we think that that bringing up the word father can be triggering… I hate that word, but, like, it can bring up it can bring up memories for people or a connotation with it. Yeah. Of course, we think that's true. But, like, we're not throwing out what god defines as father because some slubs in humanity aren't holding up there in a bar. And god works in those areas. Like, when we've got situations where words that are are are earthly are broken for us, god shows up and goes, but I can redeem that. And I can make that beautiful. Like, who are we to take that away? That… That's probably why I've never had an issue with the term father because

as a young child, I claimed father god as my father because he says he's a father to the fatherless even though I had one. Yeah. I I I didn't find him worthy. Yeah. And so I thought, okay. Well, I've got a better dad now. Right. Right. Right. And so… Yeah. Thank god I have one. What? Thank god I've got a better father. Yeah. Right. Exactly. So he's he's the standard. He's the sovereign. He's the holy. You you know? It's like, why would that trigger me? Boy, it's funny that you say that. Right? Because, like, do you know how many

people are walking around with, like, this this this dad complex? Right? Like, kids that grew up… And, like, here's the thing. If you have an accurate view of who god the father is at at a young age, you don't need your dad to hold all this weight. Right. So you don't have all this disappointment in him. Right? Like… And he's just a broken dude. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's probably doing the best he can. Even if he's great, he's gonna let you down. You know? And so, like, you walk into your your late twenties, early thirties, still manage your old man because he let you down in some aspect of discipline or responsibility or something rather. You know? But, like, if you have an accurate view of god the father, then you're like, I know what this man is doing. He's stewarding that gift to me. He's doing the best he can, but I don't need him to tick every box ever known Yeah. Because I have a father. I told my girls that many times throughout the years as they were growing up. I said, I… I'm gonna let you down. I'm a human being, and I'm gonna fail. There is a father who will never let you down. I'm gonna do my best. I'm gonna try really hard, and I love you with all my life, and I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna try, but I will let you down. Yeah. Worship him. I'm number two. I'm number two. Told them that since they were infants. I'm number two. I just… You're not a I'm not a number two cleaner, but I am a number two. My father-in-law, the first time he met me, he, took me out in a little Chevy Spark

and, those things are the size size of my shoes. And we're driving together, and he looks at me and he goes, do you love Jesus? And I went, yeah. And he goes, good. I'm not the father of hers that you need to worry about. And I was like, I mean, okay. I think that was a I think that was more of a buzzword statement. It was like a real rock polisher. You know? Do you have a gun? Good stuff. I use that gun. So was the… Yeah. Read the rest of the article. Is the guy, like… Is he trying to say we should change it to something? Or Yeah. Dance monkey. Yeah. So he said, if this god to whom we pray is father, then those of us who say this prayer together are sisters and brothers, family members, the household of god. He elaborated that the visible divisions among Christians, including across different denominations, are detrimental to the promotion of the gospel. According… The discussion became a point of contention during the previous sign on in February, proposals were made to consider a project on gendered language referencing god.

Yeah. He didn't say… It's not clear whether he was like, hey. Well, this needs to change. He emphasized that using our father can be disturbing for those with abusive fathers. Yeah. So if he's just saying that it can be, that's different than say… Well, although, I I guess the proposal there was for for trying to, like, ungender the language. I don't know what you're gonna say. I was just… Yeah…. Parent. I mean, your your whole parents could stink. Like, that's the thing. Our parents. It's like… That doesn't change anything. People have crappy parents. You don't not teach around David and Bathsheba because people have, you know, had situations of which, hey. That looks a lot my life. Exactly. That's why we're talking about it. As a matter of fact, I've… I'm pretty confident that every time I've touched on the lord's prayer,

we've digested, hey. Be careful that you don't take this in as your earthly father because because he's he's he's more than that. And and, like… And there may be positive connotations which help you relate to god in a way that… Because your father was awesome. And that might be true. That might break down some walls of feeling like god is is is distant from you if you had a good loving father who hugged you and who blah blah blah. The picture can be helpful, but I'm… I I mean, whatever. When you're teaching the lord's prayer, what do you bucket off in about four, five weeks? You tell… You focus on all the words because it's pretty short. Like, father comes up. It's a right way to address it, not like, let's get rid of it because it causes us trouble. In fact, you'd have to throw out the whole bible acting like that.

Yeah. Basically, you just have to say, if this triggers you, you're not getting it. Yeah. You're not understanding it correctly. Yeah. God god god is above all of this. Or Actually Praise god. Yeah. Actually, that… That's the right way to do it. It's that, like, let's find a way to say that that triggers you for trouble. Let's trigger you to blessing. Let's have you recognize that when you hear father, you think something completely different. Yeah. Thank god there's one out there who is perfect who does love. Exactly. Right. Yeah. And, like, here's the deal. I don't… We're not dismissing here that it's a real… That this is a reality for some people, but Mhmm. It does not mean that that reality has to persist. As a matter of fact, it's to your detriment to allow it to do so. Like, you have to be open. And this goes where it's difficult kinda, Mike, in the context you're talking about is if people go, you know, look. I I can't shake this thing. Like, are you are you open to shaking this thing? Because sometimes, frankly, like, we… There are situations of which the… A triggering phrase or situation causes us to back off because there's a hard work overcoming it. Some of this stuff is super hard, guys. People have put a lot of effort into screwing you up, and, like, it's hard work to get it sorted back out. It's hard work to reclaim

situations and words and emotions that have been tainted in you, especially as a kid, especially in relate to other relationships. Some of them religious, I know that. But it's not okay to read that back into universal understanding of how things work. Actually, you do have to say, and it's a conscious thing.

I'm gonna regret this comparison, I think, but like, it's like fighting an addiction. You be have able to look at it and go, look, I want this not to drive me to a place I don't wanna be all the time. I want this not to own me and I'm not I'm not prescribing that it's easy or that it's a simple flip of the mind, but your willingness to go. I don't want this to be a trigger for me. I want to to to look at the world through the lens of a good father and not have whatever crap dad I had taint my world, you have to be willing to fight for that. It's gonna take some time. So the encouragement isn't… It goes back to the thing we talked about a few weeks ago. It's not that your emotions aren't real. It's just they don't they don't own you. You do have to choose what to do with them. And this is a good example of something where, like, it's not easy work, but it is work and you can have it. You can wreck… This can be healed. Yeah. And it's not edifying to people to… Like like, the the the common

phrase nowadays is, to be to be seen and known. Right? And, like, those are good things. Right? But, like, when it stops there, you've done them no favors. You've not you've not helped anybody. Like, even if it gives you, like, a a a… An enlarged sense of heart, like, you've just, I just wanna see people and I wanna know them. And like, I hear what you're saying, but like, God doesn't treat us that way. Right? Like like once once he gets into your life, he doesn't go, okay, I see you and I know you. He goes, I see and know you. Now you're gonna come follow me. That's time. That's where… That Jesus is actually the change. Right? Like like with the the works that he's… That he has redeemed you for is where all of the changes. And so, like, just seeing and… I… It's not a bad thing to see and know people. Right? It's better than treating them like a religious gotcha. Right? If that's if that's what we've been accused of over the last hundred years. But, like, you're you're you're failing in a completely opposite end of the spend… Spectrum if you believe that just seeing them and knowing people is like, that's enough. It's definitely not. Like, Jesus is the changer. Following Jesus is the way that that that life starts starts to make some sense. Yep. And you get some peace in there. And so, like, just seeing somebody and going, hey, I wanna be with you and, hey, I wanna know you and your struggles. If you continue to let them be in the struggles and not speak the good news into that, then you've you've not loved them well. Our…

Check out this picture. Check out this mind picture. Our modern world and our… The way our society functions is the first person in the Good Samaritan story. They saw you, and then they left you for dead. Yep. That's what we're doing. Like, oh, yeah. Yeah. See, I acknowledge… Like, we're not the… The Levi just goes around you. That looks awful. Right. Yeah. But… Yeah. Hey. I see you. Yeah. I acknowledge that you're over there beat up and crappy on the side of the road, and my reaction is not to change you, not to help with your circumstances, not to pull you out of the grave that you've tried to crawl into, but to go, I see you, and I'm gonna leave you for dead. I bet we we may even sit down for a second and go, man, that looks rough. Yeah. Doesn't that hurt? They go, yeah. It hurts. It's a water bottle. They tell you a story of how I had a wound like that once. Right. You know, I remember when I was hurting. Yep. Yeah. Good luck. Yeah. Donkey's gotta get to market. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's rough. No no no use to be seen, known, and to be left for dead. That would… That… But… And that's the thing. It's like, you know that, like, we're we're adopting that posture as a reaction to, like, you know, faceless church membership. Right. And, like, not knowing any homeless people or people who aren't your race or people of different economic backgrounds. Like, just looking at people as numbers at your place. We're rebelling against that, and that's good and right. We should be rebelling against that. But, like, both of those things were always only

only solved by the work of Jesus Christ in your life. That is it. That… And and so, like, the seeing and known is great and I'm totally for it. But, like, Ben's right. Like, we're we're the Levi in the… Like, we just walk by and go Right. I can recognize and acknowledge that you're in the straits and I can be with you for just a little bit. But, like, place to stay or offer of any… Nah. I'm a… No. But I didn't I didn't know what happened to you. Right? Yeah. I see you're in a fire right now. I have some water, but I'm gonna keep going. Yeah. Can you imagine, like… I I mean, Job's friends are always my classic example. Right? Where they just show up, sit down, and be quiet and not offer their stuff. But, like, at the end of the day, like, if they were any friends at all, they start speaking into it. Right? Like, you give time to see and know. That was… That's a great example of just, like, you're going through a rough time. We're just… I want you to know that we're here with you. And then Eliphaz gotta start running his yapper and being, blah blah blah. And he was wrong. All the stuff he was saying was wrong. But, like, that's right. Like, you show up and you, like… You say, I see what you're going through. I know what you got going on. Just know that I'm with you. Like, this relationship bond between us, it ain't going nowhere. None of this affects any of that. But now we need to look at this a little bit differently. Somehow, I don't know how we corrected this in this generation because to be seen and known puts us in the center of the story. We wanna be the center.

Sometimes if you forget the sovereignty of God, right, God's the center of the story because sometimes you're seen and known by God and he says, Yeah, you just touched the ark, you're dead. I mean, it's like, because I'm the center of the story and you tried to mess with it. Somehow that has to be communicated in a way that it'll be heard, that, I don't know, we… We're not that important. We're we're… It's his story. We're just part of it. I don't care who we are. Yeah. We're just along

for the ride. And Yeah. Alright. Hey. You've been listening to live Hey. There's a… We won't read the whole story, but, like, an interesting use of AI is bible translation. They're using AI to help translate the scriptures into languages

that are super scarce, like, rare Mhmm. Languages. And I can stop my mission support that I'm Yeah. Yeah. Those people are like What did I read? Anthony? Yeah. Yeah. You don't have to pay it. Don't have to pay it anymore, Dan. Just save me some money. Send it to the old chat GPT. You went to the Google. Anyway, I I don't know. It's a cool use of it. It's a… I've I've

heard of a number of of pastors who've, like, said, hey. Just to check it. Hey. Write me the sermon, and it's been pretty good, which, I mean, may… Again, we're sourcing from. Maybe we've got some good sermon content on the net. Good job, boys. It sounds a lot like Spurgeon. Yeah. Well… Actually, it was Sturgeon. Skynet.

Okay. Hey. So interesting story. We had… Our church went and kinda hung out with another church this weekend, and everyone… There's there's a dude that said something at this church service, and no one really commented on it, but I I thought it was the… It was, like, the coolest part of the day. He said that a friend of his… Some likes Indians,

like, Indian the country. Don't look at me. But every time I feel like I'm gonna say something culturally insensitive, boob is gonna look at me. I didn't say anything. I didn't say dots, not feathers. I didn't. Anyway, an Indian feller

texted it An Indian feller. Texted that dude some kind of spam, you know, like, trying to get him to buy something or whatever. And the dude replies, like, Jesus loves you. And over the course of… I don't remember it was, like, two or three weeks, like, the guy's professed faith to Jesus, and it's been, like like, talking to this guy That's awesome. Responding, doing, like, bible study ish things. Now it could be a long con. He's like, ultimately, I want you to send me $10,000,000.

It could be. But, like, here's what it… What I thought at the end. I said, I don't know how long… I believe the stories to be true. I don't think the guy made up the story. Whether it's real or not or how long it's true, I don't know. But what it… One of the things that it caused me to think was how many if you asked me, Ben, how many things you're trying to do on your own? I'd be like, oh, nothing. I I let Jesus take the wheel. You know? But, like, I would but I would… For the spam texter, I would go, you don't have to worry about this, Lord. I got it. I'll take care of the spam texter under my own under my own steam. Yeah. And for the most part, this seems appropriate. Right? You're like, you know, but it… What it may… It made me… It opened up something to me where I thought, you know, am I really looking for opportunity at every rock? And I… This is this is the… Ben doesn't think pamphlets are effective, and I don't think protesting's effective with the signs on the side of the road. But it's just the open concept that goes,

is every moment possibly holy? And do I go, you know, I might just see what happens if I text this tester back and see what goes on. Am I open? Am I open to God using all kinds of things where I might be missing out simply because I go, oh, well, god's got the heavy lifting. I'll handle the exchange at the grocery store. And so regardless of what you believe about the accuracy or validity of the story, it was encouraging to me to think about how many more moments can I make sure that I'm not holding on to, that have opened up for God to do whatever he wants in? And so I I don't know. I was excited. That was an encouraging story to me. I was just talking to my wife yesterday, and I…

We were talking about obedience, like, in… Specifically in spiritual disciplines. Right? Like, reading reading the bible and praying and stuff. And, like, I've always liked reading the bible more than I've enjoyed praying. But… And I I I was thinking about that when I was talking to her and I'm like, here's the thing though. It's like, there's a bit of there's a bit of arrogance even to that. Right? Because, like, when I read the Bible, I'm like, I'm I'm I'm listening for God's God's voice in the scriptures and I'm like… But but I'm also learning things. Like, I'm accumulating knowledge and hopefully wisdom from God's word. Right? And, like, I'm still at the center of it. You know what I'm saying? Like like, the amount of bible knowledge that I take in or the things that, like, where I think to myself, okay,

when when this comes up later, like, this is an excellent review of God's heart. Right? These are all great things to know. But, like, I'm still this… The main character in my bible studies because, like, it's it's about the knowledge that I'm gaining or the the information that I think God is trying to give to me. But, like, prayer is completely dependent on him. Right? Like, it, like, completely takes me out of it. I'm saying, I can't do

these things without you. These are what I'm asking you to be a part of in my life, to show me things, like, to to involve you in my life more. Where scripture is is… I mean, it's essentially kind of the same thing, but, like, I I just… It just occurred to me that, like, depending on how you approach it, it can still pee, you know, mainly focused on you as you read the scriptures. You know? So I actually think that's the right distinction, though, is that, like, you could totally approach prayer wrong and end up in the same bucket. Right? You're praying for something that is explicitly focusing on you and asking God to come buddy up to you. So I I actually think the risk in both of those things isn't the mediums themselves. Yeah. I I I think it's a… It's how you think about them. It's your posturing in either one. Yeah. I I think

maybe my posturing's off. I I know that, like, when I when I approach God in prayer, like, it's basically like Mike doing things is on time out. Right? Like, I'm asking God to do all these things or to teach me something or or do these for other people. Like, I'm saying, God under… All these things under your power alone. But I think when I approach the scripture, like, it's it's that but not to the same extent. And it's like, hey, now I remember which king died or I remember who that guy that got stabbed or, oh, man, I forgot about the fact that, like, whatever his face… You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like, it's possible to just, like, take that same attitude and and and put it in the backseat. And now I'm just… I'm learning knowledge things. Right? For hope that… I'm constantly looking for what I'm gonna talk about next time I have to teach somewhere. And I'm like, oh, we should teach about this. Right? Like, I always have half a mind on something else where prayer, I don't have that problem. Like, prayer is just solely on his ability and his efforts and his things. And so, like, I find it… I… It's… I think it's the reason that I struggle with, like, with prayer because it's not about me. It's not… It's revealing because I think it's not it's not about me as much. And, like, it was… I don't know. It was it was something that I felt like just hit me all of a sudden that, like, crap. There's no wonder I have a hard time coming up with whatever. Like like, set deciding time for just prayer.

Yeah. I I feel like… So I I I was… Would struggle with a similar thing on setting time aside for prayer. But… Because I think it's… Well, it's not it's not as prescribed for one. Right? Like, if I if I intended to sit down and read scripture, it can be accomplished.

It started. It stopped. It succeeded. Yeah. Right? Prayer, although way more nebulous because, like, will obviously implicitly kinda start and stop. Like, what could happen in there? It… I I think you're… I think it does facilitate a more… If you approach it right, a more freeing

open… An openness to something that God may may do… Call you to in your life. But, like, again, I I don't know that it doesn't run the same risk though because, like, you could… If that's a posturing. You go into… If you approach prayer in a way that says, God, I can't do this. This is me opening up to share and hear from you. If you showed up and go, God, here are the things that I want. I want you to come do this, heal this person, bless this person, guide me in this thing, send me on my way. Like, that's no different than the risk that you approach the scripture if the only reason you approach scripture is for an accumulation of of a set of facts. Yeah. I… Maybe let's talk… Let… Let's put it in the context of, like, someone who's coming at it, like, with the right heart intent and maybe just their aspects of their personality or aspects of the way that they do either one, you know, tends to float them in a direction, like, one way or the other. And, this this leads in a little bit to the the… Like, we were talk… When talking about hearing from god, the other thing I was talking to her about was, like,

especially if you don't have a rhythm of prayer in your life, like, run out of things to say real fast. Mhmm. Right? You're like, well, like, my general posture, if through most of my life has been, like… I mean, I could ask him for it. He already knows that I need it. And for real general things, like like, even when I'm praying for my kids, I'm like, he loves my kids more than I love my kids. I mean, he already is gonna do great god things, you know? And so is there any reason to, like, talk about it ad nauseam? Because it would be me, like, talking to God in a way that, like, I don't talk anyway. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't have long conversations with folks, you know? So, like, I just kinda get to the point and then and then move on. Yeah. But, like, what I've noticed is, like, when I had, like, a fairly consistent rhythm of prayer,

like, I listened to, like, my wife pray and she just says, like, beautiful things when she talks to Jesus. Like, when she pray… When her and I pray together or, like, we're praying as a family, she just says, like, these on point awesome heart of God things. And I'm over there going, well, god, could you bless so and so? Or could you get involved in this guy's life? You know what saying? Like, real generic stuff. And I'm like, dang. She's just better she's just better at this. But I think the truth is is, like, she has a very consistent rhythm of prayer in her life. And the more you are obedient to that and and, like, submit yourself to that, the more that, like, your heart becomes his heart. Mhmm. And you start to say things very close in line. You know what I'm saying? Like, you start… It starts coming out of you because that's what you've been putting into it. I think that's so key. I I think… That struck me a few weeks ago. I was studying through this, and I think it's a level of intimacy that that most of us never get. I mean, I haven't got there yet. I I I would love to get there. Yeah. That it just kind of struck me like you look at some of the stories of miracles that took place, some of the prayers that took place in the New Testament where Jesus said, okay, Lazarus, come forth. He didn't say, well, God, it's your will, maybe, or or after after

the the resurrection and and and Peter's walking along, you know, and and, well, silver and gold, have none. I'd… Here, I should really have. Get up in the name of Jesus. Yeah. He he wasn't real… Like, I I don't pray with that confidence because I don't know. I know God can do it. I don't know if he's going to do it. Peter knew he was gonna do it. So there something in that relationship with the Holy Spirit. Something was going on there that Peter didn't have doubt in his prayer like we tend to have. Maybe I'm wrong, I think that's the conclusion I came to, like, maybe the reason I have doubt in my prayers, Lord, if it's your will, blah blah blah, is because I haven't spent the time to know him well enough in an intimate way to know what he's thinking. I feel like that's convictingly true. It's a combination, it's Bible study, it's prayer, it's just the whole thing, listening,

we try to compartmental, well, here's my buddy, my prayer time, here's my study time, here's this time, rather it's this whole ball of spiritual walk that

should exhibit itself in knowing the heart of God and communicating it. Yeah, so think about this from a… If you need a worldly example, let's say one of my kids who goes into the kitchen and goes, oh, we're out of we're out of milk. And my wife would say, dad will pick it up. Well, did you did you text him and let him know? No. He he knows we need milk. He knows that we need it, and he's going to get it. I have… I I don't need to call him. I I guarantee your dad will have it because I'm gonna be… Like, let's just presume I'm consistent at bringing milk. I keep a good eye on it. I know when the family is built. Brand, the right Yeah. Percentage of baby. Correct. Right? And my… And because I've acted that way and my wife knows me, she's seen me behave this way. She pays attention to what I'm doing. We talk about it. So, like, she doesn't have any doubt that I'm gonna bring the milk even though it wasn't spoken or even if it was. Yeah. I I asked your dad, is he gonna forget? He won't forget. Yeah. He'll do it. Right? And so, like, that's a very shallow example, but just think about that. Like, that requires, like, trust and knowing

and being… And seeing and and remembering so that, you know, you can… You… My my wife is not going out on a limb. Well, if he wants to, your dad will pick it up. He… He'll do it. Mhmm. Right? And, like, where I'm inconsistent, god is consistent. And so, like, he can keep those, but, like, if my wife is not checking in with me, is not seeing these situations, she won't have the confidence that she should have by just knowing that I'm gonna bring it. My my Sorry. I'd… Like, I was I was just thinking, like, this is this is where, like, the plane is driving here is, like, it centers around obedience.

Like, it centers around… Like like, we've been… We talked about this a couple a couple shows back where we're talking about, like, you know, we're trying not to be legalistic and… About our, you know, our spiritual disciplines. And, like, I don't know what that's gained us. Right? Like, by gaining… By, like, having a bunch of… Like, I'm not saying that, like, we… You know, we should judge whether you're saved or not based on how often you read your bible. That type of legalism is garbage and not God's heart at all. Yeah. But, like, if we're talking about, like, you know, you don't have to read your scriptures every day. You don't necessarily have to pray every day. You know? It's… And and you're like, I suppose you don't. But, like, why would we prescribe anything other than that? Like, why would we prescribe spending less time with God? Like, if you have time,

you should be you should be pointing it in that direction. Like, there's just… There's zero… That is not consistent with the Bible at all. Yeah. Right? To say, like, well, you you know, like, as long as you do it sometimes, like, we're we're legalistic and completely the opposite direction with the meager amount of time. Yeah. I mean, the Bible… I I I don't know if it's fair to say that's not consistent with the Bible. The Bible doesn't prescribe that. But the but the point I think you're making, which is a salient one, which is like, I I I think you gotta be cautious that people don't misunderstand God

nor their relationship by legalistic measures. Yeah. However, consistently being obedient to God, spending time with him, doing the things that you know are are good and and help maintain right relationship,

you should want to do those and it has certainly held… And we would encourage people to do it. Yeah. Right. Because, like, the legalism part that that, like, where we got it wrong is we started acting like like Jesus is not the one that keeps you. Jesus is not the one that holds you. Like, your relationship, like, waxes and wanes based on behavior. That's garbage. That's not the way that that works at all. But the way that that, like, god can communicate with you and you can see the acts that he's doing in the world that he's created, yeah, I think that is tied to obedience. So that is tied to submitting to the holy spirit. That is tied to spending and be having an intimate relation with him. So, like… And, like, one of the points… I was just listening to a podcast, somebody was talking about it. And they said, like, we have a we have a, like, a generation, and and that includes mine, that likes to… That thinks, well, you know, I can be somewhat obedient, slightly hypocritical, and still be used by God. And, like, the answer is yes. That's completely true. Pharaoh was that way. Right? Pharaoh was used by God and he had no obedience to Yahweh.

You know? So, like, yeah, can God use you? Can you thwart his purposes from Job forty two two? No. You cannot. But, like, is that really the intimate relationship that that that… Is that the relationship you want with God? He's gonna casually use you for his purposes whether you're obedient or not, or do you wanna be in on it? Right? Do you… Or do you wanna be a part of it? Do you wanna sit in the front row and experience the the things that God is doing, or, like, do you wanna just be randomly used? Right? Like, that doesn't sound great at all. Yeah. I mean, he's he's looking down into Jerusalem weeping over people like us, sheep without a shepherd because we're a bunch of idiots. Then he's on the cross dying, showing how much he loves loves us, and we're like, yeah. Yeah. I mean I I could take it in. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting is that, like, you're simultaneously saying, don't misunderstand

god by your relationship to the disciplines. But if you want to understand god, you probably should have a relationship with the disciplines. Like yeah. Yeah. But but it's but it's it's it's putting the things it's putting the things in its proper place. Yeah. Yeah. Well… And also think about, like like, even even good hearted people who are trying to follow Jesus, you're like, I'm just trying to spread the light to other people. Like, you can't spread something you don't have. Mhmm. Right? Like, you can't just passively pick it up from the buffet table and then, like, hand it out to people. Like, it gonna come out of you. Right? Like… And so, like, if you're immersed in it, you won't have a choice in the matter. It'll just come out. Right? And and so I I I think… I mean, I'm I'm preaching to others while I'm preaching to myself here. But, like, I just can't fathom why we… Like, we were trying to get away from legalistic salvation

and and legalistic love from god. That is that is not true. Right? But, like, the depth and width of how you get to experience that, that's that's tied to obedience. That's tied to your spiritual disciplines. And so, like, if you find, like, other people are having this amazing experience with god and and, like, they're like, I felt god's presence or god said this to me or god showed me this and you're like, wow. God… You know, maybe god doesn't talk to everybody. I… Yeah. I think he does. And I think he will communicate with you and, like, he will show you things, but, like, you've read James when the pastor read it. And then that's about as… You listen to to Olsteen once a week and then pop out your devotion calendar with a quippy saying from Proverbs that you're never gonna memorize. You know what I'm saying? Like, that is not immersing yourself and being obedient to the things like god… The relationship god has called you to. I really like what you said with the whole… We we can't spread a… Like, we're trying to spread light and things like that, and we can't just spread something we don't have. And it reminds me of when I when I first started going to therapy maybe two years ago. One of the things that my therapist talked to me about was the the positive and negative self talk. I'm sure we've all heard those words before. And just even a few conversations in, she goes,

hey. I… Stop. Stop talking for a second. And I'm like, oh, okay. She knows me. She knows what she needs to do. And she goes, I have an assignment for you that starts right right now. And I go, okay. What's up, Karen? And her name actually was Karen. She's great. She goes, you

are the meanest person I've ever heard in my life to you. And I go, okay. She goes, yeah. You're really rude to yourself. Did you know that? Like, you call yourself fat, like, every five sentences. And I'm like, well, I mean, in all five of those sentences, I am fat. Nothing nothing has changed. You're lucky you're lucky the other four don't have a reference to it. Like, for being honest, like, a constant state of existence. Makes sense.

My lungs feel it. She goes, and, like, you call yourself stupid a lot. And I'm like, well, same same situation. But she goes, like, just stop. Stop for a sec. Your goal this next week is I want you to start every day, and she goes, it's gonna be obnoxious, and it sounds like I'm talking to you like you're a child. You just… I need you to to say five nice things about yourself. And I'm like, what is wrong with you, woman? Like, I have twenty years of trauma that I'm gonna frigging deal with. Like, I got the Mississippi ribbon, and you're like, hey. I'll throw in a pebble of boovoo. You're not fat.

You're You're fluffy. Lovable. The lord went, we need more of him. Like, what? No. That's not… That's not how this works. And, like, the first couple days when he was a stupid scribe over, I'm like, I'm a really nice guy. And people generally enjoy being around me. It smells like it smells like the the Stewart's smiling.

Talk on people like you. Positive self talk. You're the greatest. No. But, like, two days in, I'm like, this is stupid. Four days in, I'm like, okay. This is less stupid. Yeah. A week and a half in, I'm like, holy crap. This is crazy. Uh-huh. Like, I'm starting to recognize, like, I I stopped calling myself stupid. I don't think I'm stupid so much. Like, I stopped calling myself fat. That didn't change, but the fact of the matter is is, like, it's not the first thing on my tongue. Yeah. Like, I don't immediately go, like, oh, I'm fat. And so it's interesting because I was… Like, my entire worldview changed based off of what I was taking in, what I was feeding in, what I was saying. And so I I take that, and I think to myself, like, there's commandments in the Old Testament that is basically like as

God is giving the law to Moses, he then says, like, you need to read this amongst each other at all times. Like, you need to… When you gather in, like, certain feasts and things like that, you need to read through all of my law. And then going into, like, Psalms, it talks about… I think specifically within one nineteen, I think it's David that writes that one. He's talking about, like, I have I have meditated upon your statutes. I have I've I've I've I've grown up and have learned nothing but your laws, and, like, it's it's interesting because there's a parallel for in Psalm one nineteen,

that was a way for them to, like, learn their alphabet was a way to go through Psalm 119 because there's so many different stanzas that they go through that like… It was like an acrostic. Yeah. Each one is an acrostic to a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and so it's like they're immersed, like completely immersed in Yahweh's law at all times and their stories, And when you take it even further back, and it's not just a list of dos and don'ts, it is the fulfillment of God's character and his covenant through a unruly people.

Like, over and over again through all the stories of of of the books of the law and then into the old testament. It's literally god's story and his revealing of himself through those stories. It's his way of showing who he is as a god, Elohim over… Elohim of Elohim, I think, over this peoples that he's chosen as his people. And it's a story of covenant after covenant after promise after promise that he never broke and never failed once. He was the one who filled… Fulfilled completely, took on all the curses, took on all the bad stuff that was supposed to happen with… Whenever one of those promises and covenants were broken by his people. Right? And, like, when you take a step back and realize that every single day, they were meditating on the promise that God gave them and the fact that he never failed those promises. Like, imagine,

not from a legalistic perspective, but imagine going back into that positive self talk thing, you are completely immersed daily in an identity that God is giving through his word to show you who he is and how he has never failed and how he will never fail you. Imagine how much different your life looks when every single day is an Ebenezer to his glory, his holiness, and his trustworthiness

and faithfulness to all of it that he never failed and never will from end to end, beginning to end, all of it. Like, that changes things for you, and it changes your day to day when it's no longer peppered by, ugh, I gotta go to work today and blah blah blah this stuff, my normal daily life of, no. I start my day or end my day or part of my day, whatever is a reminder of who my god is and who I am based off of who he is and what my day and what my work looks like because I'm in the kingdom of that father and that god. It's just crazy. Yeah. Yeah. It is it is wild to think about, like, how, yeah, like, what you take in matters, how you think about things matters. Actually, I was having a rather long conversation with my wife this morning. We're just… We're sorting out some bumps. And, like, one of the things that, like, we kind of agreed to focus on is that, like, sometimes sometimes in close relationships, marriage relationships specifically, whatever, you start getting unhappy with each other, and you're like, well, you… If if you change this, then things will go better. And then the other person looks at you and goes, well, if you change this, things will go better. And, like, one of the drags of that is that, like, we took… Like, these are we problems. They're not like they're not like you, my… Like, wife problems, husband problems. Like, we we a unit, man. And so, like, we think about it wrong when we don't approach these issues as we's. Hey. My husband's having a hard time. Like, I don't know. He's lazy around the house or he doesn't do anything that I want him to do or something. Like, when you frame it as, oh, my husband sucks and he should just change that, you've actually misunderstood the calculation.

It's, hey. My husband's having a rough time living up to help us be the strongest we we can. How can I help him be that? Yeah. Not make sure that I know… He knows that he stinks about it. And same thing, you pick your problems with, like, whatever it is you're going going on with your spouse and go, oh, you know what? They just… I don't like the way they talk to me, or I'm I'm upset about something or other. And you… Once you need to change that so that I'm happy as opposed to, know what? Our we is not as strong as it needs to be. And part of that is stuff that my… Maybe my wife needs to change. How can I help her be that? Not just make sure that she knows that I'm unhappy with it. Right? Like, I don't get to pass our marriage problems onto any given spouse. These are we things. And when I… But when I think of it that way, it… You don't spend all your time thinking negatively of a person in another sided relationship. You look at yourself and say, how can we strengthen the thing that we have? How can I help strengthen us by helping to strengthen her? And, like, I… When I'm at my worst, I'm antagonistic to my wife and probably similarly going the other direction. And when we are at our best, I look at her with sympathy and grace. And I say, where she is struggling and it is negatively impacting me is the exact time where she needs me at my best to help her

bridge those gaps. And the… But the only way that works is if you have… If you really trust each other and go, like, I I trust this person is for me. I trust this person is for us. And what they're trying to do is strengthen us, not just make it so that they… Like, any any censuses where where both Peter and Paul start to go after attempts to dominate each other. That's… These are calls to humility and service for this type of reason. And so… But, like, what feels like a subtle change of language, hey. We're having, like, spouses who may not be agreeing on something to, hey, man. Like, these are we problems, not you and I problems. It changes the paradigm of how you start to to to think about it. And so if something as subtle as that and an earthly relationship, I think is powerful and changes how you approach things when you're… To to Mike's point, to your point, if you're feeding in reminders of who God is Yep. You're feeding in like scripture gets to dance in your head. You're open to these things soaking into your life and probably saying no to other things that we don't get those channels things and going, I'm not gonna take that stuff in anymore. Like, I think we underestimate how powerful some of that stuff can be in, one, changing our life for the better, but sometimes,

whizzing in the well Yeah. And changing some things for the worse. Yeah. I I think if if you're being honest with yourself, like, you can look back at your life and go, I've never done this. I've never actually committed Mhmm. To being obedient to this. And, like, you have no idea what it will produce. Zero idea. You… In your head, you're like, it will produce the same thing I'm doing now. That's why I'm doing less. You know I'm saying? There's no reason to put more work into it. God will speak to who he speaks to. He will move in who in who he wants to move in. He's already said I should have hope, so I'll just manufacture the hope. You know, like, I'll pretend to have it or… You know? And hopefully, other people seem to have more of it. But I mean, I believe God is good and I do think he does all things. So that's good enough. Right? And like…

I mean, dang it, friend. You know what I'm saying? Like, you've never done this. You've never committed to going, look, I'm gonna strive every day to spend more time with the god who made me. Yeah. Right? And just… I mean, just… Let's try legalism for a month. You know what I'm saying? Let's try legalism. Let's get that in you just be… Why don't you just discipline and be and and be in it, like, for a month? Be like, I'm gonna do this. It's oceans 11, man. It's never been tried. Yeah. We're gonna do three casinos at once by following, reading the scriptures, praying to the lord. Like, get… Right. Trying something consistently that you may have given a week and go Yeah. I'm not sure it should honest. You gave it two days,

and you picked to start in Leviticus like an idiot. Hey. Although to Buvah… Well, here's what I thought with Buvah's point. Daniel or David looks back at Deuteronomy and goes, I delight in your laws. Yep. Daniel delight in just about to say that. Up in Leviticus. Do it. Mhmm. Here's the deal. Like I love Leviticus. So do I. Mine can attest to this, and I keep talking about this in every circle. I think the lord just keeps putting on me to keep saying. I've I've been going through this weird phase for me because I've never done the try it friend where I'm like, Lord, I want you to speak to me, but I really don't wanna read your word. And I I… That's what I've done many times over in thousands of hours worth of, like, hey. I want you to speak to me, but I'm gonna spend a lot of time on the I shouldn't be on, and I'm gonna spend most of my time in crappy places that you are not present because of my choices that I'm keeping you out of. But I really wish you would talk to me more. Right? Be Jesus. You… Use me, Lord. Hey. What's that part of that bible? No. But, like, it's this interesting thing that I… I've read through the old testament, I think, fully once before in my life because I had the same mentality where it was like, okay. I gotta do it so that I can say that I can get a gold star Christian. Right? Like, I get to go to Sunday school and go, yes. I have read through the old testament. Mhmm. I'd like it to spend a lot more time in the new testament, but I've read read that old stuff, so I got that gold star. Right? And I always did this checkbox crap where I'm just like, alright. Fine. I did it the one time. I don't understand most of it. It's not my culture, so how am I supposed to get anything? I can't pronounce most of the names. Whatever. Right? It seems pretty rough in there. I'm a stay out of it. This last and most recent run, like, I started randomly in the epistles and kinda went through all of the, the New Testament, and then when I guess I'm going to Genesis, and I think I've tried to start Genesis maybe 10 times, and I've gotten 15 chapters in and get bored. This

last time, I don't know if it's a weird maturity on me or it's obviously Jesus, not me, but like this freaky thing came over my head where I'm just like, okay, If I take a step back and I recognize that even very much so the Old Testament is the revealing of God's character by himself in words and a story of him covering all offenses, fulfilling all curses, and taking over all the redemption that needs necessary for this family that he promised to build from the ground up with a a impossible situation

that starts at the beginning that goes all the way through to the… A nation over and over again redeemed by their god. Right? If I'm listening and reading these stories from the perspective of this is literally over and over again, whether it's the laws or whether it's a census or whether it's the the story of a family over and over again of how many sons were fighting sons that could go out to the battlefield. Right? If I take all that step back and I go, every single bit of this is God revealing his character and revealing his his tenacity to never fail and give up on a family that is constantly

failing and is awful and is screwing up and has destroyed every covenant and won't freaking get rid of the Asherah poles for anything. Like, how many times they picked up a Baal and picked up an Asherah pole is nuts. But the fact of the matter is that God, through all of this, has this redemptive arc of, like, every curse that you're gonna have to take on because of what you did in this in this covenant that you broke, all the things that are consequences of you being unholy and unclean in my presence, I'm going to redeem it all. I'm gonna take every single bit of it perfectly. And it's such a beautiful thing to be… Get to the Jesus side of it and go,

I remember all of these stories that I've been reading through through the last 35 books, I think, that are literally thousands upon thousands of generations of God going, I made a promise here, and I never once failed it, and I never once gave it up even though they kept screwing up over and over and over again. They kept screwing up, but I never failed them, and I never gave up on them. I may have given them over to an enemy a time or two. I may have allowed them to be exiled from the country that I gave them, but I never gave up on them fully, and I was always there. And it's such this… It's this incredible, insane revelatory thing where it's like, why would I not be on the edge of my seat? Because if I thought of my own life as, like, the low points that I have,

if I could constantly go back and go, but I know the stories of when God never failed me, and I know the the Ebenezer's that I raised for the times that God fulfilled promises, and I remember the times that I prayed for exactly where I am right now, it will completely change the way that you look at the daily thing, and it's such a beautiful thing that when you're going through Leviticus, you go, what an incredible thing that there is a holy god set apart from humanity and through all of this because of their fall and their mistake, and they ate from the wrong tree. This people,

right, there still is a god that loves them wholeheartedly and never gave up in this thing and will redeem them fully through it. What a beautiful thing for me to remember. Like, I'm that same wary people that is running away from a god that's established a covenant for me, spitting in his face, putting up Asherah poles, worshiping the bales of my life. Right? But god is willing to stand there and redeem it as long as you are willing to call him your king and your father and run to him as he's standing there with arms open with a frigging ring for you and a coat to throw over you and a fattened cat for you to eat. Yeah. Like, what a beautiful thing. Yeah. But in defense of people who have trouble getting Leviticus, most of what you said is not in there. But what… From the perspective, though, but, like, this is god separating his people and saying you will be known by the laws that you follow of mine because I'm not giving up on you Oh, yeah. Yeah. Even though you suck. Yeah. I'm… I totally… I hear what you're saying. But if you start at Leviticus, you… They'll… Will miss the the the addition… Like, the contextual information that happens both before it and after it in Deuteronomy. It may be an overstretch to say start Leviticus. Yeah. Yeah. But don't skip over it. Okay. Yeah. Is it Deuteronomy where, like, god says, here, Moses. Here's what you're gonna tell the people. And then it's like five paragraphs of what's to tell the people. And then the next five paragraphs is, and Moses said…

And then they just write it all over And the that's that's not just Deuteronomy. That's all over the place. Like, you get the retelling of the of the law within Joshua as well. And, like, people come down from mountains then go up to mountains then come down from mountains and then there's calves that jump out of nowhere. Yeah. There's a lot of retelling of this. You wonder if Moses ever said, you know, god, maybe we can meet on the ground once. I just… I'm tired of hauling up this mountain all the time. Because everyone went running screaming from that mountain where god was. Yeah. It's the coolest. Alright. You're you're listening to live from the path. Thanks for hanging out with us so far. Nathaniel, are doing alright over there? Yeah. I'm doing good. Okay. Doing real good. I don't have any… I watched the audio meters, and yours does not move, really. I'm making sure you're alive. I was thinking about I was thinking about… I was actually… I was taking in some pee wash this week. What? Paul that's Paul Washer. Paul Washer. Yeah. Nathaniel has been a Paul he die? No. Paul Washer. He's been a Paul Washer man since he was, like, 16. Right. Fast and furious one. Here's thing. Here's the thing you need to know about Brian Spindler? Here's what you need to know about Nathaniel. He has not changed the preacher he listens to or the music he listens to

in approximately fifteen years. Alright. You took in the pee washer. Yeah. I took in the pee washer. He was talking about being devoted to prayer. And one of the things that he said… He brought up actually was Jesus,

was god incarnate, often slipped away to the wilderness to pray. Yep. And if we're trying to be Christians, you know, and look like Jesus,

we should slip away often to prayer. And also he said, I thought this was pithy. I thought that the pee wash being pithy. Yeah. I thought he had some pith and wit.

You know, often, you know, you you slip to… You you slip away to something that you like. You know? You slip away… You you don't wanna mow the lawn. Right? So you slip away to a iCubs game. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Actually, I think I I keep having in my head. I'm gonna take a day off work sometime and play video games all day. Yeah. I have never once thought do it. I'm gonna take a day off work and pray. I… Okay. Yeah. I'm not holy and righteous, but I did actually think of that. I thought I really wanted to… I felt like a jump start to go fast and pray

in some sort of, like, secluded cabin, not because the cabin itself is righteous, but but, like, I just have such a hard time letting go of all the things that are around me that I thought, like, legitimately, I need to take three days off, give myself a travel day, a walking day, and then just, like, go twenty four, thirty six hours of, like, nothing. I don't care how rustic this thing is. Just slip away. And just give it a shot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then God may be talking when you're distracted, but you're the one distracted now. Yes. Yes. That's what I thought. And, like, I I… Like, my my family loves the nature. I just… I don't get as much out of it, and so I thought, like, it's not like I'm gonna be enamored with the glorious golden pecker that's outside the door or something. Like, something that otherwise draws your attention in. I need I need us to never say those words again. Whoops. Okay. Maybe woodpecker?

Hold on. Hold on. Just to just to bring this in something applicable and and plus the things we were talking about. Glory is golden pepper. There's just nothing… There's there… There's greatness in getting away from folks and, like, spending time with god. Right? But, like, you can do this at your lunch hour. Oh, totally. You can. Totally. Like like, you can do this But you don't. You get… That's right. But you don't. That's the thing. It's like you can do this in minutes, not hours. It's not holding in the days. You know, like you… Like, what's what's Ben always say? You live your live your days like you live your hours like you live your minutes. You know? Yeah. And so, like like, where you feel like you have to go sit in the lunchroom with everybody else or you have to go blankety blank to do this or, like, you use your break to blankety blank. Right? Just you can use it for that too. I think I think it's part of the Sabbath rhythm, though, to to get away once in a while. You know? Like, hey, everybody. Go to Jerusalem. Oh, man. What a pain. And, yeah, just just do it. Yeah. You know how many great conversations probably had on the walk to Jerusalem? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I see a blemish on that oxen.

Johnny, turn it around, brother. I heard they changed the temple tax ratio again. You kidding me? What kind what kind of bird is that? A glorious golden pecker? I'm like I'm like, you know, Ben. I'd… I I used to think, yeah. Yeah. Go out in nature and sit by a lake or something, and then I'm like, yeah. I'll just go to the Marriott. That's much better. Air conditioning, put… Threw a fan on me, turn off the lights, and just kinda relax. It's good enough for you. The distractions of modern amenities are a problem for me. Do. I'm gonna I'm gonna own up here, and I'm gonna I'm gonna submit this for for ridicule to all of you. There was a time about eight years ago that I was in

I was in San Antonio for work, and I drove down to Galveston so that I could see the the Gulf Of Mexico because I'd never seen it before. And I brought my bible with me because I thought to myself, like, I'm on my own, and I'm, like, on the beach of the Gulf Of Mexico. That's kinda cool.

And I thought to myself, wow. What an awesome opportunity for me to, like, just, like, set my phone down and listen to god and, like, listen to to to see what he has to say to me. Like, I'm a thousand miles away from home. There's nothing around me. Like, this is such an opportunity. And so I get sat down at this bench and, like, literally right in front of me is the Gulf Of Mexico, and it's like this really cool thing. And I set my Bible down and I pulled open and I was like, Lord, just speak to me. And so I pulled open a Psalm and I read the Psalm, and then I immediately set my phone in front of the bible and took a photo of the bible in the Gulf Of Mexico.

And I immediately posted it to my Instagram, moved it to my Facebook, and said, like, man, really getting some time in with god today down at The Gulf Of Mexico. And within four minutes, I was bible closed on my phone looking for a place to go to eat real quick. Uh-huh. And I really did just flat out set up the Instagram photo. And, I mean, I… My Instagram still is a a ground, so you could still go look and find a photo of… I think there's a rock that I picked up and set in front of the the the bible Mhmm. And then took an artsy photo where it's only a third of the of the picture is the bible and the rest is just the ocean, and I'm like, god speaks in such beautiful ways. That is not what we're talking about right now. Move a bible bombed. Yeah. Straight up. It was… I mean, it was all for for my glory. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure I kept in a a close eye on how many likes I got on that Instagram photo, and I was like, how holy am I? Like, wow. God really must be looking down like, that's my son today.

Yeah. Sometimes. Thanks for hanging out with us on Live From The Path. Here's the question. Like, if if… Let's say, if you're gonna jump in, one, let this be an encouragement to you. Like, jump in, commit to the thing, and then we wanna hear back from you. And I I mean, I don't know. I don't wanna put a time limit on it, but, like, let's go at least thirty days or something. I don't I don't need your weekly check-in or something. But, like, like, do the thing. Rob the casinos, man. Like, they say it can't be done. It's it can be done. And and commit to the to the prayer and to the reading of the bible. It's from the Oceans eleven. Yeah. I used it earlier. Rob the casinos. Yeah. Yeah. Like what… Yeah. Well, like like, shed your shed your old skin. You're starting over. This is what you this is what you want your life to look like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, that was another thing I've been thinking about. I'm like, whatever. I'm I'm middle aged, and so I started to think of things. And I think to myself, hey, man. Is this what I want? Is this working out? Is this what I wanna be? And, like, how many of the things that are within my control

that aren't with the way I want them to be? And I was like, well, okay. Well, I should probably start changing those. Like, they're not just gonna change. I run my own shop. And so, like, I should probably start shifting those around. It's… I'm high past the time of which the society has a complete control over my existence. I have a lot of control over myself, and I'm probably not asserting it in places that I want to. And so I feel like I probably should. You know how you should assert it is you can either decide to go to a weed shop or a modern day church. Oh. But how do you know which one to go to, Ben? I was wondering the same thing. Like, you know, is it woke or or is it toke?

Sometimes you can't tell the difference that easily. Let's see if we can. Okay. Let's give it a shot. Alright. On today's episode of woke or toke, fellas, number one, Midtown. Midtown. Nathaniel, woke or toke. Midtown. Oh, reverse counterclockwise.

This is messing with my mind. What was the… What you just said? Far out, man. Oh, wait. That doesn't make any sense. That would be clockwise. I gotta spend more time with Jesus. Tennessee because they go Midtown. Woke or toke? Woke.

In for a woke, Dan. Woke or toke. Midtown. I'm I'm gonna go woke. Woke. Okay. Yeah. Woke. Yeah. Woke. Toke. You're… We got three wokes and a toke. Come on. Alright. Come on. Come on. Midtown is a woke. Mike's already minus 100. I feel good. Must be continuous. Hey. Just in case… So just reminder on the premise of the game here is that these these are names that Buba has found, and this is either a weed shop or a church name.

And the contention is is that sometimes these are hard to discern, and you take whatever implication you have from that. But we're gonna see how good we are picking out weed shops versus woke churches here on the life from the path of woke for toke brought to you by Bob Eisenhower with the Eisenhower team. The Bob Eisenhower Eisenhower team. Woke or toke? Yeah. Alright. Number two, Citi Beat. Oh.

Citi Beat. Dan, is that woke or toke? Citi Beat. I just I just… I'm feeling the vibe of a toke. Dan goes for toke on Citi Beat. Ben, Citi Beat. I'm wide woke. We got one toque, one woke. Mike, I'm in for the w. You're in for a woke? Nathaniel, woke or toque? City beat. I'll also go toque. We got two toques, two wokes.

Gentlemen, city beat is a woke. Yes. Nailed it. Alright. That… I can't… Well, they were so excited about the T shirts when they named that church. Were broke. City Beat? Yeah. Alright. The joint venture. The joint venture. Ben, Woke or toke? Oh, man. I kinda wanna go with the wild card answer, but I'm gonna I'm gonna stay safe. I'm gonna say that's the… That's a toke. That's a toke for Ben. Mikey. Big t, hit me. You're going toke with joint venture. Nathaniel.

That… I mean, that has to be toke. If it's It has to be toque. I'm gonna be shocked. So toque. Okay. Dan, the joint venture. Services at 01:37 and four. I'll go toque. Oh, is that four tokes and no wokes? Yep. Yep. Alright, gentlemen. The joint venture is a toke. Yeah. It is a toke. We

haven't gone that far. I tell you what, that would blow up the game. If that was a woke, I feel like all bets are off across One the love. Oh, no. One love. Where we at, Mike? Oh, man. Woke or toke? One love. That's a tricky poodle, Mike. I'm going woke on that one. You're going woke on one love? Yeah. Nathaniel, one love. Yeah. I'll go I'll go I think it's a modest Yahoo song.

I'll go woke. You go woke? Okay. Dan, one love. I'm I'm feeling a strong woke on this one. Feel a strong woke. A strong woke. Alright, Ben. Both. Lastly, one love. Where you at? I got strong woke in the subway once, and I regretted it, But this is it. Every one of us regretted you saying that aloud in in the world where there's air where we could all hear it. I'm having a hardcore episode.

You really are. I'm gonna stick with woke. Okay. Is that… What… Do we have any It's four woke. Four woke. Four woke. On one love. Gentlemen, that was a trick. It was both.

Oh. I found that on two lists. One love was both woke and toke. Wow. I had to throw a doozy in there. I'm sorry. One love is both woke and toke. All points all around. Alright. I like it when I win and everyone wins too. Yes. Indeed. Indeed. Entirely. Alright. I think everybody's saved, to be honest with you.

Everybody's saved? Yeah. Universal. We're gonna shut off. It doesn't matter. I really think we should probably go. Alright. Nathaniel. The lost leaf. Oh. The lost leaf. Walker Toke? Toke. Nathaniel's in for toke on the lost leaf. Dan, I'll go toke. Toke. Gonna go toke? Yeah. Is that a heavy toke? That's that's… Yeah. I mean, a leaf sounds pretty toke y. Right. Could possibly be of the lord.

He didn't make leaves. Woke or toke, Ben? A toke. Toke. No additional commentary. Toke. Woke. Woke. Oh, three tokes and a woke. Lost leaf. Mike, going out on a limb. Fire. That's a toke. Dang it. The lost leaf is a toke. I can't count on anybody these days. You really can't. Alright. Next. I think it's Dan this time, the change. The change. The change. Change. Woke or toke? That… That's… You said me. Right? I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna say woke. I did say you. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Ben, the change. Woke or toke? No additional commentary. Woke. Woke. Mike? Woke. Woke.

Yeah. It's got that definite article, so woke. It's definite got article. The change is woke. Yes. Woke. Now, Nathaniel, what if it was like the good doctor? The haze.

The smells. Woke or toke? I would have to say with that. The cafe. The the cafe. That might be woke. That's possible to be woke or toke, actually. Alright. We got four more. Alright. Next. This one is to Ben, I believe. K. Lifted spirits. Lifted

spirits. Is that woke or is that toke? Oh, toke. I'm going toke. It's gotta be toke. You can't… There's not more than one spirit. Hey. I might Mike goes in for toke because there's not a plural of spirits. Now hold on a minute, Mike. The kind of a church that would name it lifted spirits may also not be bound by your… There's only one spirit. Is there a lead pastor with way too many bracelets and denim?

Nathaniel. Woke. Yeah. Nathaniel goes in for woke on lifted spirits. Dan, bring us home. I'm I'm I'm going toke. Dan in for toke on lifted spirits. Lifted spirits, fellas, is awoke. Oh, no. Yeah. Awoke. Eat it, Mike. There are more than one spirit.

Come on. That's not right. With a guy named Colton who is the main pastor there. Is it like a apostrophe s? No. I should have asked. No. It's it's a pluralization, not a possessive. Alright. Three more. Hold on. Where did you go? Wait. So slight clarification. This is a Christian church. Yes. Okay. Yes. I mean, it could… Maybe you're… Know, it's our spirits where our spirits are lifted when we go to Our spirits are lifted in the in the joy of the lord. Mean there's, like, demonic spirits. Colton loves lifted spirits. Oh, yeah. Bracelets. That's good. It's focused on me and my lifting. That seems good. Yeah. Alright. Okay.

Are we to Mike now? Yes. I think so. Mike, high society. Oh, come on. High society. Is that woke or toke? Oh, that's… He's going straight in on that one. Nathaniel, high society, woke or toke? Toke. Dan, high society. Token. Toke? Toke. Ben, you wanna be a wild card or you're going toke? You going safe? Toke. Toke. High society. That is a toke. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Two more. The new tribe.

New tribe. The new tribe called Quest. Nathaniel, the new tribe. Woke or toke? Woke. Woke, Dan? Yeah. It's it's woke. Oh, cool cool guys use the tribe word now. Ben, woke, toke. I trust I trust… Well, the the cool guys now is a decade old, Dan. Yeah. It is. Yeah. It's it's kinda… It should be past it, but they The new tribe. Woke or Toke. Dan subscribes to the magazine, so I trust him. That's how woke. Pre wokes? Mike, the new tribe. Toke.

Mike's in for a toke. Come on. The new tribe is woke. Alright. The last one. The left hander. The Hemperer's new groove. The Hemperer's new groove.

Bethany, I believe that's you. Is that woke or toque? The Hemperer's new groove. I I think… And I might be going out on a limb on this one, but Possibly. I think it might be toque. Going in for a toque. Dan, the Hemperer's new groove. Dan, you know what that means? The groove? Yeah. I know the groove. Yeah.

Hey. The groove sounds like one too. The chicks say I'm groovy. I'm going to go with that's a toque. That's a toque. Alright, Ben. The Hemperer's New Groove. Yeah. Toque. Yep. Toque. Alright. That's foreign for toque. You're correct. Toque. The Hemperer's New Groove. I saw that, and I was like, it's an obvious one, but there's no way I'm not grabbing on hand to that one to throw it on. The Hemperer's New Groove. Alright. Yep. You've been listening to the Bob Eisenhower Eisenhower team brought to you by them, Woke or Toke. Alright. Hey. If you wanna hear… Check out the past game. This is… That was number two version of woke or toke, and you can catch the number one, the inaugural woke or toke. I wanna say within an episode within the last, I don't know, six, eight weeks or so. Yeah. So go ahead and hit that up and see how good you are at picking out the difference between Christ our redeemer and Ben the lifted for your favorite church name.

Ben the lifted. Alright. We got time for one? We got time for one. Dear life from the past, I need an attitude adjustment. My sporty, outdoorsy type a daughter who is in her thirties, dates men who are typically wussy, milquetoast, dead fish, handshake individuals. Wow.

She's respectful toward them and doesn't bully them, nor does she mother them, try to change them to improve them. But she should. How can I be less critical of her choices, and how do I respond tactfully when she asked me for my impression of her boyfriends? They're wussy, milquetoast, dead fish handshake individuals. What is milk toast? Bland. Yeah. Milk milk milk toast is… Back in the day, you put toast and you put it… Warm milk over it and it's a little sugar.

So it's, really wimpy Soup and toast crust. Think of no flavor. Soaked in milk. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, it… Yeah. No firmness at all. Yeah. Right. Soggy. Yeah. Soggy. It doesn't sound half good. Yeah. No. It's about a fourth good. I mean I appreciate that the daughter is asking for an impression. Like, hey. What do you think of Clarence? I mean, is there any… Is there any possibility this… The mom runs a women's prison or something? Like,

does she look at everybody and go, you know, like, every every man is weak because she's, like, she's big enough. She goes by Thunderella, and she's a roller derby gal, and she doesn't think anybody could be possibly Do you think this is coming from the mom or dad? It doesn't really say. Oh. Oh, I was assuming the mom. I see the mom too. That's way to check our our low guidance. Yeah. Dad would be more offended about that. Probably, I'd be like, if my daughters were just going after the wimpy boys, I'd be like, really? I mean… That dead fish handshake, that's terrible. That does sound like a dad move or a mom who runs a state penitentiary. That's what I'm saying. Now if the opening description, though, was, like, what was… She is athletic… The the girl's athletic? Yeah. The daughter is athletic, type a personality,

go getter kinda gal. Yeah. And she dates dead fish. Like, when you go to shake a dude's hand and it feels like you just caressed each other opposed to actually You know what I'm saying? That's… I mean, that's true. It just feels awkward. You're like, yeah. But grab it. Grab it. Shake it. I will grab it again and say, man, I'm really sorry. I squeezed too soon. Do not isolate the audio from the last twenty seconds. All I'm saying is, like, I've had… I've shaking hands with a lot of people in my day, and, like, I never remember a guy with a furry handshake. But people who cold fish me, I certainly remember that. The argument could be made that you should do that then to be more memorable. Yeah. What? Give him the cold fish? Yeah. You don't wanna be remembered like that. I remember your hands. Yeah. Gross. Yeah. That guy gave me the gave me the the trout. I mean, okay. Yeah. Your your daughter is asking your impression.

I don't think you need to go, like, haul in and call the dude a milk toast, but, like, you can be honest and not a schmuck. Like, you could be a a human being and be fine in that. I mean, could you make a joke? How close are to your kids? You know? You'd be like, man, he's got he's got a handshake like a spaghetti noodle. I mean, I don't know. Does that… Yeah. I might I might… I I think it's totally reasonable to say, hey. It's interesting. Like, this does not seem like a very assertive or confident individual. What do you see in him? That… Yes. That's what I was gonna say is ask guiding questions. We know how to talk to people, and especially your kids. Like, you don't… They're not gonna take in very well that you, like, just, I mean, freaking give them the beats and yell at them and stuff like that. But you go though. What do you see in them? Like, how'd you meet? What do you what do you think about them? Those are better questions. Because, like, you raised a outdoorsy, assertive,

you know, type a daughter. And so, like, maybe you just thought, like, this is how kids should be. And, like, you know, like, opposites will attract to each other. And, like, there ain't room for two type a fighters in there. It gets rough. Right? And so, like, I don't know how you're have a a relationship going forward with two very assertive people. Like, it's just gonna be hard. Mhmm. You know, my… It's interesting to me because my nana, my dad's mom, was a very outspoken, loud, like, very strong in her ways woman. Right? Like, she just… She's a world traveler. Like, she was a very, very, like, strong woman, and she dated

the most, like, wet fish, wet noodle kind of dudes on the planet. Like, every dude she brought around were just punks. Like, ridiculous. Had no backbone whatsoever. Had, like, no personality at all. Were just weird fellas. And she loved it because she had no competition in the relationship, and she was never, like, pushed to be anything she didn't want to be because she was essentially with Plato. Like, that was it, and she loved it. Like, that was her favorite thing on the planet after my grandfather,

who I believe was not that way at all. Like, I think my grandfather was a very hardheaded, you know, heavy minded fella. And so there may be a certain level of she's dating, you know, the the the limp fish, limp noodle dudes because, like, she's a very assertive person, and she'd like to be the the the dominator in that relationship, the the domineering personality. So maybe that's just her preference. I think the thing is is, like, where I could probably make some caveats for their personality and someone being a little bit more driven. I think that's all okay. But, like, you do need to be supportive under strength. Right? Like, not supportive under weakness. Yeah. And so, like, that's that's probably not healthy True. In the long run. And so, like, if you wanted to speak to your daughter in that way, just… I mean, if… Let's say, like, I'm hoping that you're coming from a marriage that's been successful, like, that you're still together and, like, you've known some ins and outs and how to coexist with a person for x number of years. And so there's nothing wrong with giving your kids some advice that this is where I think you're gonna butt heads. So if you wanna continue down this path, I think that's okay. But just know that, like, you know, at some point, you're gonna want some support.

Like, the leaders all… Also needs to be supported too, and you're gonna you're gonna want that as you get older, as you take on responsibilities and and all kinds of other things. You're not gonna wanna be in this by yourself and have to be, you know, keeping track of this of this fella. So, I mean, I think there's a there's a good opportunity to, like, give some wisdom, but you don't have to be, like, a judgmental jerk about it. I don't think Yeah. I… Otherwise, I think that is a solid point that you need to… When you consider how you choose from a marriage perspective, like, should… Does this does this person help me be better or do they simply let me be?

Because, like, if you're a dominating aggressive person and this person is willing to just, lie down and let you, oh, well, well, like, this person's aggressive so they get to run the relationship, then, like, the the quality of your relationship is limited by you and that's a fail. Like Yeah. That's that's a wrong way to think about it. And so it's I think it is possible. This is where it's funny because sometimes, like, you… Common interest is what carries a relationship. Sometimes people with completely different interests have awesome relationships because they complement each other. Both can be true. There's not a hard and firm line that one has to be better than the other. And so you can't just go, oh, well, like, I'm type a. The… This man friend is not type a, and so we have a problem. It could actually be a good compliment. It it really comes down to the next level set of details. It's like, does this person enrich you? Do you enrich him? Like, are are do you…

Or are you just kinda beating up on him because he can't defend himself Yeah. Against Secular says, tell your daughter she doesn't need your endorsement. And that if any of her suitors make her happy, you are happy for her. Then bite your tongue. No. That's bad parenting. No. No. We're not gonna do Like, that's just lazy. That's lazy parenting. Like, if you see a roadblock, this gets hard because, like, sometimes you bring your own stuff into it and then you're, like, basically poo pooing on other people's relationship based on your own lens. And so you need to be mindful that you're not doing that. But, like, I mean, like, if if I saw my kid walking for a big hole, I'd be like, there's a hole. So either prepare to be in it Yeah. Or go around it. But I really like this hole, dad. I chose it. Yeah. I mean, that's that's probably gotta be harder, like, you're ready for a little bit. Let me know. Like, because when your kids are younger, you just pick them up and move them out of the hole. But, like, as they get older, sometimes you gotta watch them fall in it. Like, you can say there's a hole. And if they're like, that's where I wanna be, you go, okay.

You know? Okay. You know? Like, that's that's hard to do as your kids get older. I totally get that. But, like, there's no reason not to give good advice to your children. Yeah. I think that goes back to an example that Dan had provided previously around, you know, like, ultimately, you have to be willing to accept and support your children's decisions, but it doesn't mean that you don't have the initial… Here's some things to consider. Do you really wanna be in a hole? Are you sure living in a hole is the way to go? Here's some things you should think about. So without asserting yourself over them and feeling like you're trying to live their life for them, it doesn't mean you can't provide a commentary because you love them and in a loving way to help them make right decisions. Yeah. You've been further down the road than they are. Yeah. So here… Here's here's what I've learned in life. Take it or leave it. But, you know… They'd be foolish not to listen to that. Yeah. And actually, I've I've run into this a little bit, like, even with my own kids, like, where you give them, you know, parameters or, like, they screw something up or you're like, hey. You need to make a choice here. What do you wanna do? And, like, they've said, will you just tell me the right thing to do? Like, not everything has to be a less… Like, just tell me so I don't screw it up. I don't wanna, like, make this decision on my own. So, like, you know, like, there is… There's…

I think kids at a certain aspect will will ask for your advice. If they're… If she's asking for your opinion, I think you should give it to her. Mhmm. And, like, be honest about it in in a loving way. But, like, sometimes they really are asking for your opinion. It's not just a formality. If I don't wanna know what my dad has to say on a subject, I just don't ask him. You know what I'm saying? And so, like… But if I want his opinion, I will ask him. Alright. Hey. Well, thanks for hanging out with us tonight. We very much appreciate it. If you got any feedback for us on the show, use that complaint line. (515) 517-0085. Call or text. We'd love to be able to hear from you. You can also use an email if you're that kind of Luddite. It's [email protected]. So go ahead and shoot us a… What what? A GIPHY?

Send us a GIPHY. Know what be a you know what would be a good name for a for a woke or for a woke or toke church would be when the role is called up yonder. We should end the show. Yeah. We should we should just end the show. Yeah. That's a good one, Mike. Speak more. (515) 517-0085 if you wanna tell us how rough that was. Edible or credible. Come on. Edible.

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