Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the Pathway And you're listening to live from the Path. It's be from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston Prep. I don't know. You know what? I have to keep, like, a hard mute on you jokers.

Hey. We're trying to start a quasi legitimate program around here. That explains why you didn't hear any of things I said before you took me off mute. I didn't take them in at all. Alright. You're listening live from the Path. Here's me. To sum it up, I was I was asking you to be taken off mute. Well, that's ironic and unfortunate for you. Yeah. Here's what we got going on the program this evening. First of all, a man I like to call complaint line McCormick is in the studio. Cody's back. You will recognize him. He was on a previous show, and he's we're glad to have him back in here. He also it may or may not be him. It could be just a salacious rumor, but I did get something on a question on the complaint line last week. Of which Ben googled the phone number to figure out who it was. I find the the local numbers I I feel bad. Here's what I'm actually worried about is I'm worried that I will respond and, like, someone expects that I know them, and I don't I don't actually. Like, I like, oh, well, they'll recognize my phone number. Because I just assume most people from a local number are people who I know who are listening to the program. And so What an arrogant thought. Yeah. Anyone within 15

counties believes that I should know. They they shall know me. Anyway, so I was just checking. I'm like, does anybody know person so I can make sure I respond appropriately? I didn't even get a response, though. No. I I was gonna wait. Was gonna answer it. We'll do it live. I was gonna answer today. I'll answer it today. Just so you know, if you if you write into the complaint line, Ben's gonna PI and figure out who you are to know whether he's gonna answer it or not. No. I will definitely answer. You didn't even answer Cody. I was gonna do it tonight. I was gonna do it tonight. It's a teaser. I I I I feel like we're on the fence where, like, Cody might stop listening to the show, and so I gotta hold on to him. I'd say if you listen next week, I'll answer this question. Okay. So, anyway, we're gonna get to that.

Cody, do you remember your question? Yeah. Okay. Well, yeah, what was it? Give him a give him a taste. So it has to do with the why Easter follows the Gregorian calendar and not the lunar calendar like Passover. Yeah. It should be right after Passover, like in

biblio times. It's a it's a tricky wick. Okay. So we'll get to that. Also also It rips. Have you ever spell felt spiritually meh?

Meh. Yeah. Kinda like that. Like, meh. I don't know. No. That sound more nefarious like gargoyle. Like a Minecraft villager. Who am thinking? Meh. Gargoyle. Yeah. Like a Minecraft villager. Sorry. Not Gargamel from the Smurfs like I was thinking. Yeah. So, like, you were just it's it's not like you're trying like, you have it in your mind that, like, I'm sick of Jesus or I wanna rebel with from God. But, like, living in a relationship with the God of the universe, you just don't you don't wanna do the things that you know are necessary or helpful or

that otherwise keep you connected and following and doing the stuff that you're supposed to. And, like, you can think about prayer time and bible reading, but, like, it could be just any number of things where you're like, I just don't. I know I should, but I'm not going to. And you're having trouble actually even getting yourself jazzed up to go do that kind of thing because, like, I think oftentimes, even if you do it, you're like, well, I didn't really feel anything Yeah. Related to that. And so, like, even as you do it, you're like, meh. Okay. I took it in or I spent that time or I said I thought the words or whatever it was. And so we wanna talk a little bit about that. So experiences

in in feeling that way, what what part of those things are kinda normal? And what are some things where you're like, well, you might be that that that might be in some territories of which you it's abnormal. And things you might be able to do or think about related to that to kinda change your disposition

Mhmm. Towards being spiritually meh. Meh. So we're gonna talk about that. Also, there was a there was an article on coffeehousetheology.com, and it was basically ten ten justifications that people give to not be a Christian. And so we were just gonna I thought maybe we just It's not is it to not believe in God or not be a Christian? It says yeah. To not be a Christian. Okay. Got it. Yeah. So that's well, we're gonna hit those first. And we're gonna say, like, we're we can't land on any one of them for more than a few minutes. Otherwise, the show's gonna be too long, and Mike wants to sleep in his own bed. Yeah. I do.

And so we gotta get him out of here at a decent at a decent moment. Luckily for me, I'm sleeping on the couch anyway because some recent renovations in my bedroom, and the Quickstar's open twenty four hours. I have no pressure to leave. I could be here as late as necessary. Ben is selling this as if he's on purpose renovating his room. The ceiling legitimately just fill in on its own. Yeah. Yeah. Like a like a like a flophouse apartment ceiling. It just it it collapsed. It was yeah. Okay. Here we go. 10 top 10 reasons to not be a Christian. Number one, there's no scientific evidence whatsoever of any miracles ever actually occurring. I think that's not true. Right? Well, I don't know. We're in a real pickle if it's not. What scientific evidence? Whatsoever. Pretty strong language. Yeah. That's pretty bold. That's like I've I've researched everything. Yeah. Like, I've checked all of this. Nothing. Anywhere

in any time frame. There is there is I'm gonna get maybe it's maybe I got the author wrong, but there's there's a book of miracles by I think it's by RT France. And it's there's, like, an 800 page version, and then there's, like, a more populist 350 page or so version.

And it's he's basically dude who goes, I'll just go check him out. Now here's the thing. I will tell you that we've read articles. Most of the the the investigators of Bieracles tend to feel like ghost hunters. They tend to come from the the the Pentecostal background of which is largely, like, claiming the miracles. And then they send out this team of what feel like ghost hunters to be like, hey. We're gonna validate. You've heard that article, like, four or five months ago where it was that where the guy opened the website, like, regrowthetoes.com.

Do you guys remember that? Oh, yeah. It was it it was at James River Church who also, like Oh. This week, I think, like, disassociated from the assemblies of god's denomination. But, like and it is like, the guy was like, look. Just send us pictures. Just send us pictures to this lady's toes that have regrown, and then, like, we'll know. And, like, no one would provide pictures and, like, no one would provide any justification. The guy got ahold of some pictures, and they, like, they did not regrow. Like, they they were kind of stubby, and they're still kinda stubby. And so this big miracle they were claiming. And so I say that because, like, they've done documentary filmmakers and stuff going out to validate these miracles. And, like, I don't think much of it because it tends to come from the camps of people of which there is money or power involved with being miracle workers.

This, however, the but that that miracles book is is basically, like, the guy just he went through and he's just done tons of miracles in all different sorts and, like, went and saw the physical evidence, talked to doctors who were not believers, talked to, like, other people who were not believers who were like, we we have no other explanation for this. Yeah. And so and and not only that, but, like, I think we do have, like, experience even in this room

of either being part of or hearing about people, like, one step removed where these miracles have occurred. Oh, yeah. I have a conversation with my doctor once that he basically said there is no explanation for what happened to you. Mhmm. There's no medical explanation. All I can call is a a miracle. Yes. I'm like, okay. Okay. Yeah. There we go. And, like, you'd also have to discount almost everyone who came to know Jesus. Like, they of all the parts in the chosen that where they nailed it, Mary Mary says, I was one way, and now I'm completely different. Mhmm. And it was him. Mhmm. Right? And so, like, there's countless stories of people that were that way. Right? Like, that had an encounter with God and, like With multiple eyewitnesses.

Yes. Yeah. And, like, even even people's lives have changed. Well, they want a trajectory that were completely different way than God would have otherwise prescribed. Even let's just say that it was the god didn't exist. Right? And their life completely turned around because they had this experience. And, right, like, there's people who have done drugs and that has not come true for them. There's people that have have have tried other religions and that is not a truth for them. Right? Like, they run into Jesus, and then their life just changes. And, like, there is millions of witnesses to that. Yeah. And I and I would even ask if if this is their reason to not become a Christian.

I mean, it seems pretty weak. It's like, so what what what if they're I mean, what's the flip of that? You know you know? Like Like, it's the only facet to following god is the fact whether a miracle occurs can't be a Christian. Well Yeah. Yeah. Really? Yeah. It does. I mean, we're what it does support is that, like, if you if you had a and this will I think it will happen in one of the other options that they give down the list, which is like, hey, science and what I read in the scriptures are not compatible. So if miracle by definition is something that does not otherwise behave according to the rules of science or of our perception of how the rules are, well, then that would eliminate god as not only the creator, but also any action he may take that otherwise is a deviation from those rules. And so it actually fall I think it moves into that camp, really. It ends up just being a, hey. Here's how I believe that the world functions.

Any, no one can show me that anything's behaving outside of those laws, and so miracles are not a thing. But they do that all the time. Right? Like, science has has changed vastly in even the last hundred years Yeah. Of how they believe that the world works or what it does. And so, like, where science gets the option to be able to disagree with itself and then then change a new tact, God's truths have held

forever, and he does not change. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Good good science does modify. Like, does like, we learn more. We see the world differently. We validate that, hey. Things are not quite as we expected them to be. It's part of the frankly, outside of the creation, like, it's why the Earth keeps getting older and older from a scientific perspective because the more they learn, they're like, well, I couldn't possibly work out in such a small amount of time. And so, you know, it goes from they keep adding a billion years here and there because how how the world is presenting itself, their previous explanations don't fit. Now, like we would say, it would it's just a creator. Like, you you can't continue to exponentially make the world older. But that's actually good science. It's good science to interact with something, have it change what your boundaries were, and keep learning. I think, actually, one of the there's been a level of confidence or what is most probably better targeted is arrogance

from a scientific perspective over the last fifty years on this belief that we finally got it all figured out. And that, like, none of these science has settled. Yeah. Like, that's No. That's silly. Even if you believe That's not science. Some of these things morally or whatever or they seem right to you, I'm okay with all those things. It's just, like, the settling, like, that's not science. Yeah. And so, anyway, so I I I think it's not true that there's no scientific evidence whatsoever. And there are plenty of miraculous encounters that people can acknowledge the miraculous and not acknowledge

Jesus. But to act like there's no miraculous things is just foolish. Like, I think that's I think that's just silly. Number two, the Jesus story is just an accumulation of myths of legendary people all rolled into one uber nice guy. That's not even accurate reading of the scriptures. I I don't know that you could look at Jesus' whole life and go, well, that's a nice cat. Yeah. He's a vandalizer. Yeah. He calls people a brood of vipers. Yeah. Yeah. He insults people. He turns over the temple, like, the tables.

So they studied all of giants and ignored all of history. Yeah. Right. Yes. I mean, there's all kinds of historians who are like, I didn't believe in the guy, but he was there. Yes. Totally right. You're right. That's right. It is it is bad history to not believe in the historical Jesus. Whether you believe that he's the son of god is, somewhat of a separate question. But, like, I it's relatively it's firmly established that not only did he exist, that he was crucified largely for for that claim. Mhmm. And so what if whether it meant anything or had any deeper meaning to that is is is a fair question and I think worth interrogation. But to otherwise act like he wasn't a historical person,

like, that's absent even, you know, decent history. Three, science and faith are incompatible ways of thinking. Separate realms that should be kept separate. What do you guys think? Agreed. I I I think this had to have been written by a third grader.

Yeah. Actually, I would say well, I would say I don't think this is true. I do think that oftentimes we're looking for the scriptures to give us either a a newspaper like history of something or a scientific test textbook rendering of an event, and I think it isn't trying not trying to do either of those things in the same way it's not proposing to be a law book for us. And so I I I I think we do have to be cautious, on overstating

places where scripture is pointing to a truth, but it may not be not that there are different versions of truth, but there are different aspects of it. And so I it was kinda like I was reading, it was either a psalm lately or or maybe actually, maybe it's just something I wanna get to later on, which is on, David's claims in, second Sam at '22 where he's like, I've been righteous all my days. And no. But he's like, god thundered from the sky, and his shadow covered the trees and brought the lightning and all his business, and you're like, that didn't happen. Like, it was not a physical thing that occurred. This is in his life, there was no evidence or even other speculation anywhere else that some

event occurred where God's shadowed foot came to the ground and things died or things like this. Like, he wasn't describing a physical event, but what he is doing is looking back at God's movement in his life and his his the things that he's interacted with as a rescuer and as a redeemer and as a person that has empowered him to otherwise fight for Israel, and he's using very poetic language to do it, which is not a surprise from a psalmist. Right? And so to look at it and go, like, is he communicating a truth about God? Well, certainly, he is. Do I require from a biblical perspective that at some point, God's, like, stanky leg made its way down to the down to the earth. Send the stanky leg. It's it's not required, and it's a misreading the scriptures to to propose that it had to be an event that happened, which which I get is difficult because then you have to read the whole things, and you're like, well, this maybe wasn't an event, and this wasn't an event. And, like, it complicates how we read the scriptures. I get that,

which means you gotta be even more careful. But I I it does overprescribe sometimes, the basis of which we're claiming a scientific reality from scripture. I just would be I'd double check that that it's we're not having a conversation that is communicating a truth, but it doesn't have to be a physical reality. Yeah. I think we generally like to say that, like, science is the attempt to try to figure out how god did something. Right? Or how god created a thing to work. And, like, once again, like, we get to we get the freedom to go, oh, we misunderstood that a little bit. This is more likely the thing. Except for, like, when an arrogance creeps in there and goes, well, we're gonna take out the fact that god was involved. And now you're trying to explain something and saying there's no chance God was involved in it. And yes, you're gonna continually get that wrong. Yeah. Mhmm. And so, like, yeah, I I don't find like, we don't there's plenty of evidence that points that science and even biblical accounts of things are, definitely not incompatible. In fact, even almost every archaeological dig, like, deepens the fact that the Bible is correct and accurate. Yeah. Or even some of the stuff that they're finding where they're like, they'll be like, hey, we're not sure where this town is. And we're like, The Bible made it up. I mean, most of the Bible, like,

the commentators and even like the the rabbis or pre like, depending how far away you got from event, they'll be like, we're actually not sure where this is. Like, it's not uncommon just because someone made a map with a dot on it. That's like, we think, like Yeah. That's true. You don't think about that, but, like, it's Fred's map or or Balthazar's map. You know what I'm saying? You're like, if he says Gath is here, you're like, I mean, probably.

Balthazar says it's around here, but it's not like he had, like, a ruler out Yeah. Or, like, a modern survey equipment. GPS to Yeah. Right. Shot him there. Yeah. He's like, well, took a half a day ride by camel. I can usually move. Extra. A little bit quick today. Had a little extra. And then yeah. And it's problematic because, like, you've got take take around, like, Samuel's time, Saul's time. There's multiple Gaveis. There's, like, Gavea, Gaveon, and even even, like, when when he flees when David flees, he goes to

no. No. No. Think it's a mile north of Jerusalem. It could be as far as 10 miles east and one mile north, or it could be like all kinds of places. Like, they just don't. This is how I give directions. It could possibly be north or very likely to be east maybe. I guess I'm saying, like Just drive around. They're trying. You know? Actually, the ESV is pretty good. It's just if you look at maps of the ESV, they'll put a they'll put, like, a town and then, a question mark. We're like, I don't know. Maybe we we're not sure.

Okay. This is the oh, boy. They they're on a one track mind here. Number four, the history of science is the story of one religious superstition after another being eradicated by reason and logic. And yeah. Go ahead. Just one more time. Reason and logic. Reason. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Which which, like, it's sets the playing field of the chess game and says, like, there has to be there can be no miracle because there's a predictable way of something working. And so if you in the presumption that miracles cannot happen, then it becomes very then you start dismissing things that otherwise fit that assertion. But if that's not a proper assertion, then the whole game opens back up again. Yeah. And so yeah. Go ahead. As a as a

former non believer, right, if you're looking for reasons for it not to be true, right, for for all those things Yep. As as somebody that's not a Christian, you're gonna find them all. Oh, totally. Yeah. Yeah. You're gonna pick it apart. You're gonna find it. But I can tell you, as a Christian, like, they are true. Right? Yeah. Things that I would tell people, yeah, that's not true. Right? Yeah. You're you're reading that wrong or or you just you got the book that you're reading. Right? Yeah. Well, for science to not even allow one of the variables Right. You know, it's not legitimate science. It's like, no, we just decided that's not true. It's like, well, that needs to be included in, you know, as you're studying things out, as you're figuring stuff out. Yeah. Yeah. Because it like, if you just you just pick anything, pick, you know, Jesus bringing his friend back from the dead. Like, logically, that cannot happen. And so, if you immediately say, look, everything but bows to this human understanding of the philosophy of logic,

then that story is tacitly untrue. But you're coming at it from the wrong angle. You have to come with the angel, like, the angle of is that story true? And then now how do I understand it? Either it becomes logically true that people just come back from the dead, or you have an an an interactor who is able to do things outside of the realms of which our human capacity has come to terms with. And then you have to reckon with how could that possibly be. And that's how you get to God. Mhmm. Is that type of understanding. And so And eliminating other things. Like Yeah. Maybe it was a cold cave and he was damp and he suddenly woke up and then it's like, oh, but he had all the wounds. You know? Yeah. It's like, mean, you know, all the logic Yeah. Tends to prove the resurrection. That's right. And I and like, it's perfectly fine. I don't like, God God God's story can handle your interrogation. Yeah. I'd like the people who are like, hey, did Jesus revive? Did he really die? Did he really come back from the dead? I think you should totally interrogate that because frankly, if if you're saying that you're gonna give up whatever it is to like goodness

of being a human perspective is and you're gonna say, I'm gonna follow what this god says is good even when it's counter to my culture, my urges, my whatever it is, then it it better be true. Because, like, there's a there's a significant consequence, not only that to you, but you're prostalyzing. You're going to other people and saying, give up that. Don't marry this person. Stop acting this way. Don't enjoy that thing because this thing is true. And so I beat it up. Like, I you should go to town and make sure you feel comfortable with it and, like, make sure it's it's true. But I again, millions of people over the centuries have beaten this thing up and said, yep. It pans not only does it pan out on the way that we interrogated it, but I see it in my neighbor's life. I see it in my life. I see it in the peace that I have when I go to sleep at night. And so if I take the macro and it's and it's holding up and I see the micro, then what am I fighting about anymore? Yeah. So here we go. The the bible number five. The bible is a translation of a translation of tales cobbled together by Constantine in three hundred AD. Okay.

I don't know why this one's not true, but I also arrogantly laugh at the ridiculous claims. Okay. So here's the thing. Is it a translation of a translation? Yeah. Yeah. Your I mean, your version probably, unless you're reading unless you're reading either translation one, you got yourself the vogue, or you're reading in some sort of modern language, then, yeah, it's a translation of a translation. I mean, but, like, if you read Aristotle,

you're reading a translation. And so, like, what other historical documents are you like? No. This didn't happen at all because somebody had to take the words from one language and move it into another. Right. Like, if you wanna be that, like, am I cautious about how things get translated? Like, couldn't humans take a concept and have a hard time translating that concept into another language? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I actually will tell you that the more you dig into that, the more you recognize it's an art, not a science, but it's beautiful nonetheless. Like, humans trying to find the words. Like, what? How dare we even have words that try to communicate some of these things that are going on? This is why Paul is so dense. Paul is saying crap and you're like, are these combination of words together? I don't know. I don't understand what you're trying to say in this type of thing. And so language itself is difficult. So, like, yes, it's a translation of a translation. It's just, you know, do we have any reason to believe our translations are untrustworthy? No.

No. We don't. Like, again, just just as opposed to thinking it could be, so I believe that it is, just, like, beat it up for a while. Go check and see. Like, when we look at the look at the Masoretic text, which is most of your Hebrew bible, the the old testaments are predominantly based upon text that the Masoretes had had logged from Hebrew. When they found the Dead Sea Scrolls, there's about a 13 was think it's twelve or thirteen hundred year difference or something like that between those two. I I can't remember. Like, Isaiah's like dead on. It's like third 12, you know, it's you got a century that goes by and we're talking about the exact same

text. No one's in there jacking with it or, like, screwing around or trying to raise themselves up by power. Like, you don't have to change the scriptures for people to misuse them. The United States used them in the nineteenth century, used scriptures to justify ridiculous things with the scriptures as they sat. And so, like, I I I get that you'd be concerned about it. It just isn't really the tale of the tape. And so I would just because it's possible doesn't mean it's true. What we have is pretty good. But, like, I I was doing I'm I'm teaching through first Samuel right at the moment. And there's a guy like, one of the commentaries, this guy, like, I bet every other line, he's like, well,

we're the pointing of this thing makes us we're not sure. We're not sure about, like, either we've never seen it's a hapax legomenon. We're not sure where we've seen this word before. And the Bible only uses it one time. So, like, here's what we think. And, like like, the if you think Christian scholars are taking, like, difficulties in scripture and, like, hiding it away so that no one finds us out, you're crazy. These guys are very transparent. Yeah. There's committees of dudes meeting all the time going, no. No. We don't know. Or we found some obscure document somewhere and, like, well, let's relook then. Let's see if we understand this. We've got the most of the concepts are stock solid, but, like, every once in a while, they'll find something they go, you know, we've seen someone use this word in such a way that it doesn't completely change it, but there's something about that that, like, we think maybe the translation could be crisper, and they go back and they revise it. And so this is why I thought it was remember we talked about the we thought it was arrogant that the ESV said, hey, look, we're done. Yeah. Like, well, it's crazy. Why don't you be done? So anyway, I just What about the Constantine thing? Did did so they're referring back to the Council of Nicaea,

which interestingly enough is also where they validated the calendar. And so was it the place did did a bunch of, you know, Rome dudes get all these books together and go, these are in, these are out, like that? No. That isn't that isn't really what happened. When Constantine would also didn't choose them. It's not like he had the choice to say what to do and what not to do. Did you get a group of people who got together and said, look, over the last two to three hundred years,

here's here's the documentation that we know like, someone knows a guy who knows the guy who knows the guy who wrote it. Like, we're pretty we got we have good chain of custody on the veracity of this. And then do we have other places where we see people quoting these things or that kind of stuff? And then they looked at what they were trying to do was that what you would is what you would do is if you were trying to say, here's the stuff that's true. Here's the stuff that's not true. Think about people googling crap on Revelation on the Internet. Yeah. Okay? I would say I in fact, I taught a Revelation class, I said, look. First of all, stay off the Internet. If you insist on going about there, here's three places that is good. These are solid references. These are thoughtful. They don't always agree with me what I'm gonna tell you, but, like, they're thoughtful, and people who love Jesus believe it. Okay? Here's 10 places do not go. This is not trustworthy. They're misrepresenting

scripture. They don't even believe it, some of these guys, and no. Stay out of here. K? Does something like that happen at the council of Nicaea? Kind of. Although, almost everybody comes in with this set of like, they agree anyway. They're they're mostly going, yes. Do we agree? They're, like, affirming with each other that everyone's been functioning for the last two or two hundred fifty years around this particular set of writings. Does everybody agree with that? We kinda wanna draw a line in the sand so we're not chasing this thing so that new stuff doesn't pop up. Because you could get into the fifth century, and then someone's like, well, it's the fourth epistle of James. And they're like, well, hot dang. Now we gotta be get everybody back together Yeah. And reevaluate the thing. And so that's that's kind of what happened. James has been dead for three hundred years. Yeah. Yeah. Could you find something? Yes. You could, I guess. Like, is there a third volume, to Luke Acts? I think there probably is. I actually think Luke probably wrote Luke Axe and something else because Axe stops in a spot where you're like, hey. It

feels like there could be more. Right? And so, like, he's setting up the the trilogy. And so could we find that somewhere? I don't know. We might. But this is folks going, look. Let's just let's just make sure it's clear that at this moment, we said these are the things we trust. Anything outside of this, we can't vouch for. And that so does that happen? Yeah. Of course, does. Because that's what I would do. I would here's a good resources. Here are not good resources. And so Yeah. I think you have to do that because the farther you get away from that historical accurate, right, representation of the people that were there, the farther you get away from it, the more the Yep. You get lost, right, in some of the stuff. So Yeah. That's right. And and I don't begrudge like, if we think about stuff that's in the Catholic bible, if you or, you know, you got first and second Maccabees and, you know, Tobit and, like, some of that intertestamental literature. Like, I I I'm not I wouldn't tell you not to read it.

Some of it's interesting history. Some of it will tell you true things about God just like you could have a conversation with the dude on the street, he may tell you true things about God. Would I would I lean on it for driving my theology? I would not. I wouldn't do that because I just don't know where it came from. But it's the same reason I wouldn't lean on, like, Nathaniel's random thoughts on theology. He might be right. But if we're trying to get everybody in the world to, like, believe a thing, you gotta you gotta draw it somewhere. Yeah. So they they came up with good boundaries, they said, here we go. Yeah. This is what we got. So I find it completely reasonable. This gets poked at a lot, and I'm like, I don't understand it. Like, it's what you would do. Alright.

Saint Paul number six. Saint Paul invented Christianity by making a nice rabbi named Jesus into a god. It's really awkward for the Christians who in introduce him to Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. Weird. Yeah. That's wild. Wait. I haven't invented it yet, guys. Yeah. Yeah. Hold on. I know you're calling him Larry, but we're gonna reframe this thing. The thing is if you're gonna be against something, you should probably understand it. Do you know what I'm saying? Like Right. This one's baseless. This one doesn't even like, no one even believes the basic timeline. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't read well. Like, it it implies that the gospels have no impression that Jesus is who he says he is. Yeah. And the thing is is all of Christianity is functioning off these gospels. And so, like like, we believe the gospels to be true. And so the fact that you're like, hey. This guy made this up. Like, the evidence you're pointing you're you're getting is from the Bible. Right? Because you don't know about Paul outside the Bible nor do you can know about Jesus outside the Bible except for historical accounts by, like, Josephus and some other stuff. Right? But, like, those two appearing together, this is this is a biblical text. Right? So you're merely, like, just you want this to be true, and so you say so. This is I always find this super weird. There's a dude we had on the show. It'd been, like, the first year we were doing shows,

and, he he became a pastor of a church. And I just I don't know. Last couple years, dude is just all about all we need is Jesus. And, like, there are no basically, are no constraints. Like, all the all this theology that people have been put on that put on you and all these laws and guidances and behavior,

like, Jesus just loves you. And I'm like, who where is this where did you meet this Jesus from? Because for the same scripture of which you are pulling out, hey, this Jesus exists and he loves you, you're tossing all kinds of it out. So, like, why like, effectively, you've created your own scripture. And, like, you see this, like, both on the I don't wanna believe in God and in the I wanna manage or fashion my own God with my own hands crowd, which is like, well, I'll just take the parts that I believe and then use it against the thing that I'm pissed at Yeah. In some way or another. And so, I don't I don't understand it. Like, if I found that there were parts of it that I'm like, oh, man. I don't that doesn't hold up. I chuck the whole thing. Like, the whole thing is unstable Yeah. If it's not if it's not all good. Yeah. Alright. Number seven, evolution disproves God. Again, you've kinda mixed you've you've mixed things in here. I do I do think there is it's healthy. It is perfectly healthy to me. I'm not gonna battle with someone who tries to discern the creation account of how much is trying to tell me a physical reality,

at a at a very beginning of time versus a reality that is true, not just metaphorically. I do believe it's actually a real thing. But, like, could you believe that it happened in, after the world had already been established and then god did a specific thing through a specific group of people that he created? Well, yeah, I mean, it's kinda what he did with Abraham. And so I've heard that. I I don't I don't find that completely unreasonable. But I I none of those things would cause me to say if if evolution as we believe it from a macro evolution perspective was true,

I don't think one way or the other that tells me that god does or does not exist. I don't I you know, the the evolution thing comes up quite a bit and, like, I can't I've never seen anyone answer me to my satisfaction where to where I even think about it more than two seconds. Right? Because, like, you're always missing the drive to be something else. Right? And so, like like, even if it's the if it's the fish were first and the fish is like, hey. We eventually wanna grow legs. Legs. Like, the fish isn't like, I would like to grow legs. Do know what I'm saying? Like, the fish doesn't have the capacity to go you know what I bet? If I threw an extra appendage in here and maybe some a different way of breathing, I could become this. And then he goes back town and tells his fish buddies that this is what they wanna do. And then they what? Like, think real hard about it or, like, be like, yes. Here's how we will accomplish this. Right? Like, they have not they have no it's just like the dog has no ability to think past its next food time. Or, like, he can't tell the difference between a door knock and someone knocking on a wall, you know, three three rooms deep in the house because they just don't have it. Right? They don't have the capacity to think I this could be improved about me or this system isn't working for what my tenth generation for me needs might be. And so I will we we have to figure out a a a precipice of which to evolve.

Right? And so that that's because of because of fish could stay a fish all of its days and never have to come out of the water because of environmental reasons. Yeah. We still have fish. Right. And fish still exist. Right? And so, like, it's it's it's not that I don't think that, like, there is I definitely believe in microevolution for sure Mhmm. Or adaptation. I like the word better. Right? They say things that adapt to their environment. This makes sense to me. And and but, like or if you saw fish that were, like, where, like, the Amazon starting to slowly become, like, in a drought and the whole river's about to go away, I I don't know that it's outside god's purvey to make it make it on a cellular level. These things eventually figure out how to live in muddy water. You know what I'm saying? But, like, overall, like, the drive that a noncreated being, like, has a sentience to it that says, I just don't wanna be an amoeba anymore. Maybe I will partner with other amoebas,

and then we will become a mega amoeba, which will eventually show up to be a cell and will eventually show up to you know I'm saying? Like, there's just a there's an inherent drive within a a nonintelligent being that I just don't know how like, it wouldn't even know how to get itself there. You know? Yeah. I do think that's what like, that's one of the reasons that how old the earth is start keeps getting bigger is because, like, you have a much stronger argument on random chance. You just to make all the things happen randomly, you just need more and more time. Like, mathematically, a lot of these are math math problems. They keep figuring out that, like, well, the odds of a thing happening are so astronomical

that now the the Earth itself has to be older to get this to be plausible. And so we keep making the world older. And so I I I like the the that but that is a much firmer track than the sentience part. Yeah. Like, when I I I was watching some documentary one time, and they were like, whatever it was, like, oh, giraffes

giraffes adapted to be able to reach the leaves higher. I'm like, that requires not only, like, a sentience, but an inertia that lasts over x number of thousands, tens of thousands, hundred thousand years to go just a little bit more, and, we'll get to those leaves up there. Like, that is unsustainable

from a from a belief perspective. Like, randomness, you could you could go far enough out where you'll get some random thing to occur, but like that Yeah. I don't get that. It's like a giraffe mom and dad going, hey. Look. You need to only marry another long necked giraffe, and eventually your children will have mega long necks, and then we will have a race of super long necked giraffes. Like, they just it it's just not the way the giraffe works. Yeah.

Alright. Number eight, in their arrogant superiority, Christians think everybody else is going to burn in hell for all eternity. I mean, not everybody else. Is that wrong? I also don't believe it's an arrogant

superiority. I I believe it says it. And, actually, most Christians I know, it's it's a it's a deep sadness. Yeah. You know, that, like, they're begging you to listen, not judging you from on high. I mean, we got our own,

group of folks that suck at this. But, like, overall, like, they come on strong because they so badly want you to know what freedom and joy looks like. Yeah. And they and they they reach into their bag of whatever trying to figure out, is it just loving you? Is it being hard on you? Is it revealing truth so your life will shine in a way? Right? Like, granted, this is the roughest part of Christianity is sometimes how humanity presents it. And, the worst parts of it have been a superiority thing, but this is not most of the people I know. Right? They are just trying to figure out how they can have their life reflected in a way that you will find it plausible and be open to a conversation about the good news. And so, like, I I don't know which Christians this fellow knows, but I don't think it's it's not it's not very many that I've met. So Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I I

I think to to Cody's point, like, it's true that peep like, you could. This is your circumstance. This is your situation. And so, like, no one would go if if if Dan was standing on a railroad track with the train coming, and I said, Dan, you gotta get out the way that train's coming. And then Dan goes, you arrogant bastard. You think you're better than me? How dare you? Like, just your truth. It would be, like, it would be comical how dumb that would be. And so, like, if if your representation of someone doing that and desperately trying to get you off the track and maybe even jumping to try to shove you off the track, if you, render that as arrogant superiority, then I that is more of a personal problem than it is

Yeah. So alright. Two more. Number nine. The Bible is riddled with contradictions and therefore cannot be the perfect word of God. I'm gonna answer this because otherwise, Ben's gonna go on for thirty minutes. Yeah. Do it. Most of these contradictions that you're referring to are you asking more out of the Bible than it's actually talking about. You're trying to pull things from it or read it like a newspaper, and it's not representing itself as a newspaper. And you're asking it to be something that it's not. And so, like, there are parts of the Bible that are to be taken literally. There are also way more parts of the Bible that are to be taken poetically or prophetically or or maybe putting in metaphors in a way that allows a very spiritual and hard to understand thing in a more of a, you know, a thing that a humanity can pick up on and maybe use as some kind of foundation. So overall, like,

there are a couple contradictions here and there, that I think, as as we would probably agree, are worth knowing and worth sussing out. There could be just two different perspective from two different writers. One guy was behind a tree. One guy was not behind a tree and missed that third guy. You know what I'm saying? Like, prep like that. Let's, that's completely reasonable. But overall, most of the contradictions that you're going to point to tend to be, not literal

representations of what's going on, but more metaphorical or, you know, broader understanding things of what's going on. And they're not purporting to be a crime reporter or a lawyer of any kind. And so you're asking it to defend a case that it had no intention of building. Yeah. Question number 10. Okay. More people have been killed in the name of religion than any other cause in the history of the world. Sir, you spelled communism wrong.

You did not use the correct letters to spell the word communism when you said religion. That that I no. Have have plenty of so that is the reality. More people have died under communist authoritarian regimes far more than religious wars. However, is it true that religious wars, have caused a significant

like, a major amounts of death into the world? Yes. Is that wrong? Yes. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is. And so, but just because people are willing, I it's also very second grader way of thinking about the world. Like, just because some people have fought over it doesn't mean the idea itself is wrong. Like, that's that's silly.

And a matter of fact, it's a blindness that I think, very much risks, allowing the pervasiveness of evil, to have its way into the world. It's what been one of the strong moral questions around certain political movements. If you do not believe that people and and their motives can be evil

and that you're dealing with reasonable parties who are always after the general human good, like, you're walking around blind. And so some things need to be fought for. The extent of which, I I think is I think you should wrestle with that, the level of Christians and pacifism and how how we change the world. Well, I think you should wrestle with that. But, like, I think it is it is very elementary to act like the presence of of fighting a war is, implicitly

mean that the thing is a wrong idea or evil. Yeah. And, generally, like, to be honest, the things that the ones I'm sure are your major, examples were also tied up politically with some other things. Right? I don't know that they were directly, like, you know, I can't believe that you would do this. I will kill you because of that. Right? Like, a lot of those things were tied up in land ownership and

group domination. Right? Not like like, overall, when Jesus wanted to change the world, he sacrificed. That's the way he did it. He surrendered. Right? And so, like like Ben is saying, like, that doesn't mean no wars ever gonna be fought ever.

But overall, like, some of the examples you're gonna pick out, I would probably say this is not folks that their only aspect was to spread the good news throughout the world. Yeah. I would also say this actually isn't a compelling reason to not believe in God. You may not like him. Like like, it could be like, let's say you don't like some of the violence in the old testament or you think the crusades are reflection of people who were acting That's a great point. Like, I don't like chairman Mao, but it's I'm not like he never existed. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't like him. I the point is is that, like, you could say, like, I don't this is not true, but, like, if it were true that Yahweh directed

wars and violence, that doesn't mean Yahweh doesn't exist. Like, if so even if there even if this was consistent with God's character, this is not a good reason to say that God does not exist or even that you shouldn't follow him. You just have a disagreement with his moral character.

And so, I I don't, yeah. I think I you you have to wrestle with God's moral character, and I don't think this is a good reflection of that. But I'm just saying that, like, on the basis that, like, well, God does like, God is purported and his people are purported to do something that I disagree with. Thus, I should not be a Christian or I don't believe God exists. Well, I mean, that's the justification a lot of people are having. God does not support my relationship or my interaction with people in this way or the implications of or I don't wanna give this thing or that thing up. And so they're like, well, then I don't believe in him. I don't wanna follow him because I don't agree with him or he doesn't exist. Well, like, it may not be wars, but it's the same justification. And so none of those tell you actually whether god is real. They just tell me that whether he's real or not, you disagree with him, which is not a very good standing. Like, I'd probably figure out whether he's real or not before I just decided I disagree with him, and that's a reason I'm not gonna follow. Yeah. Alright. You're listening to Live From The Path. I don't know. Maybe we got if we got some of those right or wrong, let me know. Hit us up on the live from the path complaint line. (515) 517-0085.

Call or text. That's the Bob Eisenhower live from the path complaint line. (515) 517-0085. And we would love to hear your, I don't know, commentary. Yeah. Did we get that right? Alright. Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna do the question for the complaint line from

complaint line McCormick. He says well, it could be a lady. Based upon how it's worded, it's kinda feminine.

Anyway It may have had something to do with my wife asking. Okay. Listen to Cody defend this thing. I could see what he say. Right. Dear dear life in the past, don't have a ton to complain about, but my wonder is why Easter doesn't follow the same calendar as Passover, lunar versus Gregorian wandering in Iowa. Yeah. This is a great question. Yeah. I actually don't know why this never occurred to me until he brought to he brought this up, and I thought, why don't I ever think about this? You're right. This doesn't make any sense. This wild time.

I don't know. Anybody have any I I have a thought, but does anybody have any thoughts? Do you have an answer? Because I don't want a thought. It's one of those things I've studied a 100 times, and I think, oh, yeah. Then I go away and I forget. It's about the equinox and, you know, blah blah blah. And I I don't know. Yeah. So I I think the the the basic answer is it was done by two different people with two different names. Right? Like, the Jews established the Passover calendar, and it's it's based upon their it's based upon their their calendar and seasons and stuff like that.

They were not concerned at all with Easter was dated. Right. They they kind of bowed out of that conversation. And so it's the early church who's like, oh, we're yeah. Related to the equinox, we're gonna do it here and there. And so the problem then becomes is that from the biblical biblical narrative and as we think about things like Pentecost and like Jesus and him going to Passover festivals, we're like, things gotta, like, light on up. It should be end of Passover, Black Friday, Easter Sunday, done. Yes. Yeah. But it does not work that way. You can have Easter happen before Passover depending on how the calendars work out based upon the seasons. And so effectively,

mommy and daddy got divorced, and they keep different calendars. And they and they set their own holidays. And so, I mean, that's that's the short of it. But it is super interesting, and it's awkward to try to explain ourselves when, especially when Easter happens before Hebrew Passover. It's, it's weird at best. But that's what happens when when mommy and daddy don't communicate. Especially if it happened, like, in the biblical account. They're like, yeah. Jesus died on the cross. They're like, what? Why? What happened now? We're in the middle of Passover. We can't even go see it. Like, we got stuff to do. He

was the Passover lamb. The what now? He showed up way early on a donkey. No one no one was even here. Okay. Anyway, if you got questions, hit us up on the bible lies lies in the lower life from the path and complaint line. I actually had never thought that question. That had never occurred to me until Cody brought it up. Well, it was just, you know, as I, you know, as I was getting into the the actual resurrection story over the last couple years, right, as I became a believer and I'm going through it, it's like talking about Passover. It's talking about all these things, I'm diving in. Right? And I'm soaking it all up. Yep. And then Easter happens. I'm like, wait. Wait a minute. Wait. This ain't lining up. You know, I'm I'm, like, backtracking. I'm, like Turned leap year? Yeah. Absolutely.

I'm, like, you know, Saturday's gonna rise on the third day, but Yep. Friday, Saturday, like, I did I'm trying to make all the math work. Right? Like, all this stuff. Right? Yeah. So, yeah, that's where the where it came from. It's like Yep. In my my Neanderthal brain, it doesn't work. So On the on the same lines, why do some people like, why does my calendar show Easter Monday?

Talked about that last week. Anyway, what was the answer? We don't know. It's a Catholic thing. Greek. Catholic. It's Catholic. Yeah. Probably a Greek Catholic. That guy hard to get along with. They were flat for a used to think they have a day off, they had to call a holiday. I thought it was the Orthodox. The Greek Orthodox? Yeah. I thought that that's why it was it was a day late. Yeah. But okay. So but why What does the word Orthodox mean? It just because they think that it happened like Hey. Don't ignore me. Like a day sorry. Like a like a day a day after. Ben,

what's the word orthodox mean? Does it just mean organized? Because that's what I think in my head. Greek organized. Traditional yeah. But what does it mean? Put a goog on it. What are they saying? What's the GPT say? Don't ask the chat GPT. Mike made me take it off my phone. Yeah. I did. He said I can't use it over the Facebook. Well,

some people argue, did he die on Thursday or did he die on Friday? Oh. Yeah. Or you know, there was a somebody because you got or a double Yeah. Sabbath because you have the Passover. Correct. It was like the yearly Passover plus the yeah. There was there was a whole bunch, like I said, as I was diving into it that I will say you said that I did a spreadsheet on the like, nerd style, like, two years ago for the same problem, like, to reconcile

Like how do I get three days out of the things that are happening? Yeah. And John's description is not the same as everyone else descriptions, and it and it kinda throws the days off, but I it works out. I'll I'll send it to you because it's kind of a helpful Well, you know, you just know their culture. Any part of the day is a day. Yeah. Right. Friday at 3PM, well, that's Friday, and Saturday's all day. Then some praise came up on Sunday. That's the third day. So that's the tricky spot. It's like, technically, Friday like, Friday evening is Saturday. Like, their day is hot in the evening. Yeah. And so, like So was it Thursday? Because it was the yeah. You know? That's sort of debatable. Day out. Yeah. Because it's when sundown or sunset. Yes. So Okay. Listen to me. That's right. Which is why we can get to the third day because I believe it says at dawn, they went to the tomb and it was already open. So that means that Yeah. I always thought we were two days in. Yeah. Maybe even a day and a half the way that I was doing my bible math. Yeah. That's

Okay. And hold on. I want you to keep this in mind next time you run into somebody who claims to be orthodox of any way. This is the Greek word comes from two Greek words, orthos meaning straight or right, and doxa meaning opinion. So the word orthodox pretty much means I'm of the right opinion. It's an established

long term traditional Well, that's your rendering, Dan, but I I'm very orthodox in my beliefs. Yes. Orthodox means I'm right. Boy. I like that. Who are you? I am not Orthodox. Where am I gonna be listening to you then? Mean, you have to at least believe your opinion's right. This is a this is a bold stance. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm an Orthodox Christian. That means of my opinions are correct. Yeah. I'm a Christian of the right opinion. Well, all the offshoot little branches, they're they're not real. We're the legit church Yeah. Is where it kinda comes. Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? This is not an olive branch kinda thing. Yeah. Nope. This is a no wonder we're getting nailed on superiority problems. Right? The Orthodox Church basically says,

I'm right. Well Everybody else is wrong. These churches have like, they went down the wrong path trying to name themselves. You're getting, like, the first, second, third Park Avenue Baptist Church or whatever. I should've been by now, I should've seen we are the super genuine Orthodox Christian church. Like, they built off the wrong superlative. Are there any reformed Orthodox churches? Because that would be hilarious. We are the genuine, but changed Yeah. But genuine rep. We were of the wrong opinion before, and now we are of the right opinion. Orthodox.

Alright. You're listening live for the path. Mike Mike, what do wanna do here? We we're fifty minutes in. Yeah. Do you think, like, you would do you wanna go you wanna save meh, or do you wanna do it? No. Let's hit meh right quick. Okay. So the the question is, like, what do what do you was it would you when have you felt spiritually meh? And what does it feel like? Well, how does it how

does it show itself? And then why do you think you got there, and what did you do, or what have you been doing to try to get out of it? So, like, part of me likes to give a little bit of a pass here and say that I think it's just part of a broken humanity's walk. Right? Compare this to, like, any exercise regimen that you've started. Right? Like, almost all the same things are true. You know you should be doing it. You know you feel good when you do it. It does create long term healthy things in your life. And then depending your level of capacity

for doing this, you'll get to be four weeks, eight weeks, twelve weeks in maybe, and then you're like or two weeks in, and then go, meh.

I don't wanna get up anymore. I don't wanna get I don't wanna make space for this. I can see that it's good, but, like, you know what's also good? Not doing this. Right? What's also good is just being and sitting and and resting and not, like, having this constant thought that you're behind on something or, you know, like, having this weight of repeatable responsibility.

Right? Yep. And and some of that, I think, comes a little bit with our with modernity, right, with modern daily life because, like, your job's not flexible in this way. There are a ton of things that you already have to do and you can't get out of. Right? For most people, it's their job. Like, you have to be there. And so, like, you have to do x. It doesn't matter what your opinion on it is. You're gonna have to do the thing so they give you money, and your your life will continue on. Same thing with, like, putting gas in the car or whatever, all the things that you can't get out of. And so it seems like it's on top of extra for betterment, and you think, I'll get back to it maybe. Maybe this is just not the right season for me to be in this exercise program, but I will be ripped one of these days. Yeah. Maybe when the kids are older. Maybe when my job's not so busy. Maybe when I don't stay up so late, all the things. Right? And so part of me thinks that that, like, that that our following of of

Yahweh gets sometimes falls into this category. You know it's good. You know you should be doing it. You know it's true. You're not saying that you shouldn't, but you're just like, meh. I I just don't it feels like a lot of extra work. Sometimes it is very soul stirring, right, to spend time in worship and prayer and bible reading. And sometimes it's just like, okay.

You know? That happened, I guess. You know? Like, I can think of of 10 times when I've just gone to a a church and worshiped and, like, I balled like a baby. You know? And then I can think of 10 other times where I went and I'm like, you know? Yeah, he's a good good father. I hear you. I agree. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, everybody's getting these these other people are wound up about it, and I'm like, I'm not wound up at all. You know? Or, like, I've read Psalm one nineteen and had it knock me on my face and been like, yes, Lord.

Please in like like, imprint this on my soul so I can come back to this. And then not a month later, I read it again looking for for a little bit of a uptick, and I'm like, I don't know what this meant to me at the time. Right? It's not doing the same thing. Yeah. And so, like, I don't know. Like, I know how we get there. I could because I think the same thing's true with our exercise stuff, you know, or like any other habit or thing that we're trying to do except for this one. This one I actually thinks comes to with a more I I I don't wanna say this is like a specific theology because I'm not I don't think I can actually point to a scripture that gives you this. Right? But you're more attuned to the holy spirit's work when you're immersed in god's things.

I don't think that god is moving less. I think that you are that, like, I am not seeing it as much. Right? I am not looking for god to be moving. I'm not seeing the things that he's doing. His his word is not being revealed in my steps. You know? And and, like, it feels more that way when you get separated from being in his presence. And so, that

seems a much higher consequence than, obviously, just skipping leg day. Know You what I'm saying? It's so, like mostly because, like, I think as you follow Jesus, you're like, not only do I wanna accept this grace and forgiveness of which I've been given, but hot dang, I wanna tell some other people about it. But, like, if you're not if if if god doesn't go with you or before you, if he's not going before you to these things and you're not able to see the things that he's doing, I don't know that you're being as effective. Like, I can tell the difference even when I'm praying. When I'm close to God, I pray like it like a like a water coming out of a hose. It just comes out. Like, I don't even know what I'm saying. When I'm not very close to God, I'm almost orchestrating what I believe to be a cool sounding prayer or something that I think I would have said when I when I was more paying in his scriptures or more spending time with him. Yeah. And I don't I think that I there's just a very distinct noticeable difference to me. You know? And so, overall,

like, once again, I think I give a little bit of a pass as just being a broken human like this happens sometimes, but, like, I definitely want it to happen less. And I don't like, there just becomes time that, like, you know you should do it, and you're just like, you know, meh. Maybe even you'd get up early and be like, alright. Today's the day. And then you're like, or I could make some coffee. Maybe the dog needs let out. Then the garbage is here. And then, you know, it's time to go to work. I missed the whole thing. You know what I'm saying? And you're just like, well, you know, here I am. I don't know. Is it is that a common occurrence, fellas? I think it's common. No. Would you say so, Dan? I I I say so. Like, part of it's personality too. Like, my personality, I'm, like, 95% of the time just steady

with a slight incline, know, growth, you know, but not like crazy. And then I'll every once in while hit those peaks where I'm like, woo hoo, you know, and then you hit the valley, you're like, man, everybody hates me, and I hate me too. But generally, if you just keep going back to steady, that that that keeps you going. You know? Whether you feel it or not, whether you think it or not, you know, you just keep going, and then it kinda comes back, I guess. Yeah. I mean, I think that, like, what Dan is saying is a 100% true. Like, your feelings get a seat at the table, but they don't get to run the meeting. Yeah. And so, like, when you start feeling that, like once again, like, I think the the the draw sometimes is, like, I feel so disconnected from god. And, like, I think that that's actually probably a healthy feeling. Right? Like, you know what it feels like to walk next to the father and what it doesn't. And so this is where feelings get to be. They're not always untrustworthy.

Right? They could be very good indications that, like, I only feel this way if I've not been spending time with God. And I'm not saying that it's gotta be three three chapters a day plus, reading every moment holy and then, forty five minutes in prayer, and otherwise, you're out. God's mad. You know? Like that. I don't think he's walking away. But, like Right. I think it's way more a intentional, like,

god, I wanna spend time with you. I wanna know I wanna be a part of the things that you're doing and help me to see that. And, like, I think I just flat out see less when I'm not part of it. Like, I still believe everything I've ever believed. I don't think god be mad at me, but I know that it just feels like like I have a harder time, like, seeing opportunities that I would normally have seen if I was listening to him. I guess, like like, the same thing with your spouse. You know? You have a relationship,

and then all of a sudden, you know, you go through a busy season at work or and and there's and you're you got some stuff. You're trying to have we gotta pay this bill, and car's broken down and and your your mind starts focusing on other other things. You still love your wife. You're still connected to your wife, but you're just kinda distant, and she'll say, hey, dude. I'm over here. Then you have to kinda recalibrate, you know, go, oh, yeah. You're right, you know, and and and get back in. And and I think it's the same thing in any relationship we have. But but that goes back to the steady though. You you go back. You go back. It's it's you haven't lost anything. You haven't, you know, suddenly decided you don't wanna hang out with your wife anymore. You you you reboot and say, man, you're right. I've gotta I gotta I'm the one who's changed. I'm the one who has to engage here. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Cody, have you had have you had this happen? You run into kind of seasons of meh?

Oh, yeah. Abs absolutely through everything. Right? I think intentionality is what brings it back. Right? Just being that intentional, that desire for it. I think, myself, I get lost in words. Mhmm. Right? As I'm as I'm reading the Bible and I'm doing all these things, I just I've said it a couple times. Like, I just don't understand something. I get lost, and I'm like, man, I'm a just put it away because I don't Yeah. I don't I didn't come here to feel dumb. Well, yeah. I mean, I didn't I don't I don't understand it. So, you know, I have to go back and then I feel like I'm not I'm not progressing. Right? Because I'm reading the same thing three or four times because I'm like, oh, what what what and maybe

maybe in my mind, I'm thinking, like, I have to get something out of everything I read. Uh-huh. Right? And and maybe in today's season, that's not the that's not the desire, that's not the plan for for me in in that season of what I'm doing right there. So part of that is me getting past my own, you know, thing of of having to understand and having to know it all Yeah. Before I can move on to the next thing. Right? So Yeah. Yeah. I I can get very quickly, like Yeah. I don't wanna Yeah. You know, I I was went for a walk the the other night with my wife. Right? And I I'm getting back working out and and doing things like that, and she's like, what's your goal?

And I said, well, right now, my goal is six days a week. Yeah. Well, but but what is like, do you have an intention of strength or or losing weight or whatever? And I said, six days a week. Yeah. Just yeah. Like, that intentional doing it every day, and and I did that last week. And now this morning, and so all these so I said everything else will come, it'll fall in. Yep. Right? And I'll I'll develop my plan. I'll develop all those things, but I gotta get intentional with it. Yeah. And if I don't, then it falls away really quick. Yeah. Yeah. So I do actually, and I there is a little bit of a risk of self fulfilling

separation in there. Because I think, like, you could go you know, maybe you're praying and reading your bible, and you're like, you just the things, like, the right shape of things is happening, but then you kinda get an expectation in your mind that, well, with those things, something else should be happening. Yeah. I should be, hey. I'm listening for god to speak. I don't hear anything. I want to go tell the world about you, lord Jesus. I've not met anybody that I did not know anytime within the last ten days. Sure. You know, so, like, you're looking out on those things, and then it it kinda gets the sense for, well, like, did this stuff is it am I either I'm not doing it right. And no one likes to spend a bunch of time. Like, if you were exercising and we're having no impact or whatever, you lose a lot of your motivation to keep exercising. You're like, why am I even doing this? Or do I look silly doing it? Like, I must I must be doing it wrong. And then, like, what am I now now I am feeling like I'm just going through the motions and, like, that feels wrong. And then you just kinda just kinda fade away from the thing because you're like, I don't who wants to be involved in any of this? You don't wanna be a fraud. You don't wanna be fake about it.

And so, like, I could I I I could definitely see that having happened in my life where, like, I'm like, I'm feeling the it feels good to start. Feels good to hit do the things that you're supposed to do. It's feel good to six days a week. You're like, yeah. This feels great. And then you six days a week, like, there's a high that's with that. And then, you know, you get, like, three months in, you're like, I've been cooking at this six days a week, and I'm not seeing the things that maybe I expected. Sure. But I think part of that's driven by you don't do everything else that's expected you to do to see the changes. Right? Yeah. I mean, you brought up working out, and I you gotta change your diet. You gotta change So your if you're gonna be in the word and you want a relationship with God, you gotta change to make sure you have that relationship with God. Right? Your mindset has changed, your interactions with people, all those things, being in the word, bringing in prayer. If if you're only reading the Bible and you're not in prayer and you're and you're not sharing and you're not doing that, you're just reading it. Yeah. Right? Yeah. So you're doing part of it. So you're not gonna see those changes. Yeah. Right. Right? So Right. I mean, you have to do a lot of things to see those changes, to see that shaking and moving, right? So, if you're gonna

be intentional about it, gotta be intentional about the whole thing. Yeah. And then about the time you're doing that, and you're seeing some good results, you start feeling overconfident, you think, well, now I don't have to. Yeah, Right? I'm actually pretty good at this. We're really close to god right now. Right? Like so And then you're like, crap. Yeah. I I somebody told me one time, you know, not not too long in the past that, you know, god's always right there, and you get to be as close to him as you wanna be. So if you want to be in the word and you wanna be close with him, you wanna have that close relationship, you just have to do it because he's right there waiting for you. Yeah. And, like, I I I think it's a good reminder too to think about

you know, we're talking about reading your bible. We're talking about praying and stuff. Again, these aren't just like like tickets to entry. Nope. If you were trying to otherwise keep a good relationship with your wife, I mean, yeah, you could you could learn about her by reading her diary, but it's not really a healthy relationship if you never talk to her. Right. Right. And, like and so, like, it's just it's these these things aren't arbitrary measures of which god goes, if they do that, then I will do this. You're not trading him for that. Like, it's it's the natural way of which you otherwise start to understand god and the way that he interacts with the world. It's it's how you get to open to things happening around you where if you're not looking for it, you won't see it. There's people who are just so good at this. Like, they're just they're open to god working that they'll see all kinds of things that I it would've just gone over my head

because they they live well, god can, god does, and it may. And I just like, I don't know. I'm not sure about that. And so, you know, like, I I there's just an openness to that that you get from practicing listening Mhmm. Reminding yourself like, oh, god does interact in those types of situation. He has done these types of things, and then you recognize them the next time they show up. And so you're not trading bible reading and prayer as an entry ticket to, like, maybe god will interact with you. These are the natural ways of which you interact and become perceptive, and then the things that are going on will become more obvious. Yeah. And

and to be open to feedback from other people. Right? I mean, get that feedback from God, get that feedback from other people that are like when when I'm saying, look, man, he's just not moving for me. He's not he's not doing these things, not fulfilling, and they're like, man, what about that at the other day? That was a God thing. Yeah. Yeah. Right? What do you just open your eyes a little bit, and sometimes takes that calling you out and and pointing it out to you and saying, hey. No. He is shaking. Yeah. It's going on right over here. You're in meh, and you're looking for meh. Yeah. And you're ignoring everything else. Now, Samuel, why are you always in the meh? I don't know. Sometimes I I even go past Met.

And I think I start thinking, man, maybe maybe John Calvin was right. Some of us are out. Maybe I'm not in. I must be bet. Green green tea all day. Actually, that's a really good point. I do wonder how many people have embraced being on the wrong side of of a reformed theology

because they felt meh. Because they're like, I'm not feeling this thing. Maybe I'm just not chosen. And so that like, and that's how you that's what's explainable because they're like, if I tried to do these things, I didn't see it. Some people are are doing the exact same things I'm doing or even less than that, and they're having these experiences that I'm not having. My only explanation is I simply have not been allowed to experience these situations. I'm not chosen. I actually do think that's a quite quite a possibility. Wow. That's bad. Maybe you should come to the first church reformed orthodoxy, my friend. Nathaniel, what have you like, have you

in in a season or a, I don't know, a longer of meh, what have what have steps have you taken? What have you found effective, and what have you not found effective? On getting out of the Yeah. Well, shoot. That'd be a good question.

Usually, I I come out of the mat when someone, you know, gives a kick in the behind and says, what are you doing, bro? You ain't you ain't doing this right. Yeah. Usually, it's one of you fellows or my wife who says, what what are you doing? Are you even leading this family? Are you even a man?

You got it. Never mind. I take it back. I'm not gonna submit to this buffoonery. You know, it's it's it's it's interesting to me. I remember one time we were teaching on where the the fellas unroofed the roof. They tore the roof apart to lower the dude down.

And I remember, like, what part of the discussion was like, boy, what mean? What is it as a as a have you thought about what it would mean in your life to just be someone who, like, tears off the roof as friends? And I'm like, I would just I would love to be part of kind of what an unroof the roof moment. And then after I was done teaching that day, somebody came up to me and, like, do you not do you not realize that you've you've done that? I'm like, what? Unroof the roof? Right. No way. They And they told a story. It was just about showing up. It was about being at a place when they needed people to be there, and I didn't think anything of it. I just like, it just felt like the it's just the thing we do. Like, someone needed someone to be there, and we were there providing support and encouragement and soda probably.

And the the the way this person looked at it were like, like, you these you people totally you unroofed the roof. You tore the place up to make sure that, like, we got to see Jesus in that moment. I'm like, well, hot diggity dang. I like, it felt so banal, that situation to me. And in their mind, they looked at it and said, these people love me and they love Jesus, and they unroofed the roof to make sure that connection was in there in that moment. And so it's kinda like that. Like, I I just it gets to Cody's point, and I think a little bit to what Nathaniel

benefits from, which is like, you just sometimes need people to reorient. Like, what are we talking about here? Like and are we it's even weird that the same earthly expectations that we know better than to chase from a Christian perspective we'll give up and then start chasing other Christians around, like, with that kind of stuff. And, like, I I get it all comes from the right heart because it goes, again, I don't wanna be a fraud. I wanna be doing the things that I'm supposed to. I've been doing sheep in and sheep out, and other people aren't doing that. Am I sure that I'm not being lazy and that I'm not listening to god? Like, I they're the right types of things to to posture to Jesus for sure. But sometimes we just end up chasing other people's experiences,

and we miss out on the stuff that god is actively doing or has been doing in our lives because we were looking for something else. And even if it was intended for good, it becomes a mistake, and it becomes a distraction, and then you miss the thing that God is is able to do around you. And so I think it's it's just we gotta be careful that our the first question on, hey, I'm feeling meh. I'm like, well, I don't know. Do you have anybody that can help you do a gut check as to whether you're even rendering your life correctly? Because maybe you are. Maybe you are. And it's it's a meh because you're not doing the things that otherwise would help you. It's a meh because you've like, you're what you're chasing isn't something that god has for you to chase. You just saw someone else's experience. Mhmm. Or maybe you're just feel like, I don't know. You're not eating well, and so you feel crappy and the mess on three different places and includes your spouse relationship and Jesus. Okay. Well, then, you know, it gets more protein, homes. Like, you gotta we help someone like, maybe that's the right step. It's like when you're feeling mad, don't feel mad on your own. Find someone you trust. Help them evaluate and talk with you, pray with you, and let's figure out where that mad is coming from. And maybe you just need some encouragement or maybe you need a contact mark.

Alright. David is confusing to me in second Sammy 22. I'll give you a week to to check that out. I will talk about that next week. Also, reminder next week, we've got a trio of musical guests Oh, boy. Coming in. And so I'm excited. We it's been a while since we had some musicians in the studio, and so we'll have some performances from Jeff Arendelle and Dirk Dirk Von Stein, who we had in earlier in the year. And then another miss miss Triplet. I've I've forgotten her first name. Yeah. We've I've not met her. Right. And so, anyway, they're all gonna be on the show next week. They got a show coming up, and we're gonna get them in studio before they before they do that show together. So I'm excited to have them in. Alright. Mike, let's give some advice. Dear,

life from the past. My boyfriend and I have had a tumultuous relationship. Right now, it's good. But the issue I'm having is that his bed is super uncomfortable and so is his couch. What? I spent a lot of time or he spent a lot of money for both of them, but I am unable to sleep or get comfortable on his couch. How do I tell him he needs to replace them or else I don't wanna spend the night with him or watch movies on the couch at his house? How uncomfortable is this couch? Sounds really uncomfortable.

Expenseively uncomfortable. This whole conversation is uncomfortable. Yeah. I mean wait. Was that it? That's it. Okay. Question. Okay. He bought a couch made of marble. Doesn't this will be expensive? Well, first of mean, she's boyfriend, so you shouldn't spend the night anyway. There we go. That's that's where I was gonna go. Doesn't matter if it's bed and uncomfortable if you're not staying the night there. Yeah. Maybe that's the holy spirit. Yeah. Sin is an uncomfortable cushion,

my man. Mhmm. Mhmm. Okay. This is it. Our entire advice is, look, man. You don't need to be dating this fool anyway. Doesn't matter what his couch be feeling like. Let's saying don't date him. Okay. Let's caveat. First, I'm gonna set the scene. I'm gonna add a couple extra details. K. K? They're both 25 years old. Yep. Mhmm. They both love Jesus. Okay. Yep. He invited her over to watch movies at his house. K. The bed is not an option, and they just wanna comfortably watch

the chosen on the couch. Holding hands? And there's no there's occasional hand holding only when the holy spirit has done something great in the episode. And they celebrate it together. Yeah. That's awkward as crap. They just look at each other and say, god is so good. And and then Yeah. And there's no blankets. Everybody is just stay sit sitting regular. There's no hanky panky funny business. Okay. Looking for an excuse to get rid of him. But this couch is very uncomfortable. No one can even grasp the holy spirit when on this couch. Have you has anybody have you ever sat in a piece of furniture where, like, this is so uncomfortable? When you're in love with someone and you're dating, you don't you could be a rock. It could be it didn't matter. You could be sitting on a box of thumbtacks. You'd be like, I don't care. I'm with you. How many times have you like like, when you were in your dating relationship and like, I don't know, your the person that you love is done falling asleep with their head on your shoulder and you don't wanna move but it is You're not like, I don't care. Yeah. You gotta pee. You do it. Yeah. Your arm fell asleep, but you ain't going anywhere. Tries to move on. Yeah. I mean, through the dating process,

I I agree with you. You said it, but I from experience, I was told that a couch is not allowed to come into a marital house. Mhmm. So Mhmm. I think that might have had something to do with uncomfort, but you do put up with it during the dating phase. For sure. For sure. Okay. I don't know. I've sat in I've sat in chairs where I'm like, this ain't This is I can't be in this thing for an for, like, a movie amount of time? No way. Hour and a half? Yeah. But I'm but here's the deal. I am of an age of which I can't sit places for very long. So, I mean, in your scenario, I don't I can't sit most places for for forty five minutes. This is why I find it to be very difficult. If something were ever to happen to my wife, this is why I have zero plans for remarriage. Because if I sat down on some other woman's couch, I'm like, this couch sucks. I'm out. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've already had a lifelong love. I'm gonna go home. I have a comfortable couch at my house Yeah. That I love. So, one, I don't know where you keep the mayonnaise. Two, this couch is very uncomfortable. Three, you use Tide. I don't use Tide. Yeah. I'm out.

Yeah. She's not serious about the relationship. She needs to move on. Okay. Yeah. Dan says, if you're talking about this way about the couch, then it's the man that's the problem. Nathaniel, do you agree? Yeah. Okay. I'm with Dan. Have you Nathaniel, you sat in a T shirt. You sat in a couch or a chair where you're like, I just can't do it. No. I find my my buns find most things comfortable. He said, I I come with the seat. The lord provides. I have conforming buns. That's true. I mean, I can sleep outside. I can fall asleep in the driver's side of a car. I can lay down uncomfortably. A picnic table one time. That's what I'm saying. Like, if I wanna rest and be comfy, I can come up with something. Yeah. I sleep on the floor occasionally just for the walkie do of it. Hey. That that actually what Nathaniel said made me think that, like, bones of steel are very impractical.

Yeah. That's not comfy. Yeah. Who would want that? Yeah. That's why quit doing squats. Bet bet Schwarzenegger don't sleep for beans. Yeah. You should go to McCormick, you gotta cut that down to four days a week. Yeah. You're you're heading down the wrong path, friend. Yeah. I'm only about three weeks in. So we'll That's true. We haven't got to that. Hey, man. What's your goal? I exercise for comfort. Which means I will not be up tomorrow. Yeah. It's it's like, hey. I want you to think I look good, but I wanna be very uncomfortable doing it. No. I'm out. Yeah. Yuck. I'm I'm cutting my program. Okay.

Our advice is you need to dunk this guy either way. One He's out. This is inappropriate. Two, you you you don't care. I mean, if this was uncomfortable, you wouldn't care because you're Netflix and and watching the television. Hold on. Hold on. At what point would it switch? Like, let's say you're engaged. Do you tell your betrothed? You just tell him that he can't bring it to your marital household. He said, I spent a lot of money on this bed and all on this couch. We will choose a couch together, which means this as the That means you have no choice. Which means I will be picking the couch, and you will deal with it. Yeah. And he says, I think oh, it's so if it's a deal breaker, you might as well know it now. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I would here's the deal is we make decisions on my house based on who uses the thing the most. Right? I'm not like, woman, I want your in pick your input on which hydraulic jack I pick up. You know what I'm saying? I don't care what she thinks. I'm gonna buy the one I want. You know? But when it come to the couch, like, they just home more often than me. So I feel like she gets to pick out the couches and go, this is comfortable to me. And I go, great. Yeah. I will make this happen. Yeah. Do you grouse about it? I don't grouse about anything. Really? You say I love every all this stuff, whatever it is. Yeah. She's like, hey. What you think of the couches? And I'd say, solid pick, woman. I also have What if she said, what do you really think? Would you would you get pressed into the corner like that? Here's the deal.

When sometimes sometimes I act as if I don't believe what I actually believe. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes I'm Paul, and I say, why don't I do what I really wanna do? And the truth is is that I actually do want to love my wife well more than I could speak about the couches. And so it doesn't matter what the actual answer is. I will say these couches are great. So she she goes, like, it's okay to Anne Frank that couch. You're gonna lie about it. What's the Anne Frank mean? Blind it? No. You're gonna tell no.

I said Anne Frank blind. I don't understand. I don't know what that means to blind the couch. Why are you talking like this? Listen to me. Anne Frank told lies to otherwise protect people. Do was she the prolific liar that you came to mind? Yeah. Everybody knows. Anne Frank's a liar.

I don't think that's the name of the show. I don't think you're right. I probably wouldn't lie about this. There'd be no reason to lie, but I I mean, it's I I've never met anything that that's actually that big of a deal to me. There's, like, two things that are a big deal to me, and I can't even tell you what they are right now. It's the mayonnaise and the laundry detergent as far as I heard. Yeah. That's true. I I don't like change. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Let's do one more. Wait. You don't know what the secular says? Oh, shoot. Sorry. Secular says, start by telling your boyfriend that you can't get a good night's sleep in his bed because the mattress is uncomfortable for you. Do the same thing after watching TV on his couch. If your back needs more support, he shouldn't regard it as a personal insult. Then invite him to your place so he won't feel rejected. Why is everybody coddling this guy?

Basically, like patting him on the head saying, you a good boy. I don't care for your better account. No. No. Your steel bed of iniquity has nothing to do with me. I like I I guess that gets to the point though. It's like, point do you go, look, man. Your your stuff's not comfy. And by the way, I don't care for this couch. I would say it to my friends. Like, where did you buy this steel beam? Like, we why are we sitting on this? Yeah. If I went over to my friend's house to watch something, like, for the Super Bowl, and I'm like, why did a pallet? You bought an iron girder and a pallet for furniture. I ain't sitting on none of these things. I'm not bleeding an inflatable chair. Yeah. Get a new chair if I'm coming back over here. Yeah. You have you invited people over to this crap hole, and now you want them to sit on this board of nails? Ain't gonna happen. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Here we go. Last one. Yeah. Dear life

from the path. Man, I started a new job a year and a half ago. It's in a small office. My boss and I are the only employees. I enjoy the job very much, but there's an aspect of it that has really started to wear on me. Increasingly, my boss has been asking me to take care of personal tasks for him that are unrelated to the business. I understand that he has no one else to rely on, but it shouldn't be my problem. I'm a single mom with two kids, and I already have enough on my plate. The final straw is when I asked for the day off to spend with my entire family, and he asked me to pick up his pets in the afternoon to save him the cost of having them boarded overnight and then give him a ride home from the airport at 09:30PM. I had to leave my family gathering to do this. Part of me knows it wasn't fair of him to ask for these things. I don't wanna lie and say I can't, but I don't want to seems petty. I have enough trouble running my own household without helping out with another. How do I stay how do I say this without losing my job? What's the job?

Unknown. Like, personal assistant? Two people. Let's go with what it felt like. Information here. What's what yeah. There's only two people. Let's okay. I'm gonna add some decent two people that work for the company or two people in the office? That he runs an insurance agency and you run the front office. She's the secretary. Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Administrative assistant. Okay. Well so I you gotta separate a couple of things. So if he says during the workday, if he's paying you

and he wants you to take his mail to the post office or go pick up his dry cleaning, like, either do it or don't do it. Like All pay is the same? Right. Like, what do you care? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now the but the other things, the, hey. Pick me up from the airport at 09:00 at night. Like, that's not a this is not a job thing anymore. That's him just asking you to do it. And so if you don't wanna do it, say you're not gonna go do it. Yeah. I can't. It's not your job. And so, like, within the hours of if he's paying for your hours I always get this I work at a pretty large corporation. And I get this all the time where people are like, oh, I don't really wanna be a burden on this person or, like, I'm not sure whether we should go ask him. I'm like, we pay these people. Like, we're sending checks every two weeks. And so, like, they can like, what do they what do you care? What do you care? You're gonna work here for forty hours this week. What does it matter to you what the forty hours is actually doing? Like, hey. We gotta redo we gotta redo it because it wasn't good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's just exact we're gonna pay you. Yeah. Like, I don't know what the complaint is. It's but when you start wandering outside of the work hours, then you gotta go, yeah. Look. I you're paying me. My time is yours within reason for eight hours a day. After that, no. That's my time. I took the day off. I'm not take go pick up your pets. You're gonna have to pay for an Uber. Yeah. So, like, Nathaniel and I will understand this point, but, like like, what's a very central part of our job is they take a very simple task that you could just do and they make it extremely complicated.

Right? Like, what is a like, for example, if I was gonna go unscrew, like, the cover on a on a light switch. Right? I'm like, okay. We can just do this. And they would say, you need a procedure. And a JSA. To do the and you need to do a job safety analysis to make sure that what are the hazards of doing this? They have to list out all hazards. Right? And so, like, some people will get to the point where they're like, this is so stupid. I don't even wanna work here. And to Ben's point, right, they pay by the hour. Like, if you don't wanna work here, I think that's fine. You could should get a job somewhere else where they don't make you do all these things. But, like, at the end of the day, they're paying you by the hour. If they want you to do an easy job very that and make it very difficult, that's their company. Fright to be the change you wanna see. But other than that, right, like, just follow whatever they're doing and take their money and go home with a smile on your face and go, well, I spent eight hours doing something should take three minutes. That was inefficient. Yeah. But other than that, they paid me. Well, I I used to subscribe to that when I was hourly. Right? I'd they'd say, I need to go sweep the warehouse. And I'm like, how many times? Like, if

you're gonna pay me, like, that that's you know, our hourly employees I mean, I I had an office that I think is about three inches smaller now because it's got about 800 coats of paint because when you didn't have nothing to do, you had to go paint the office. Like, if you didn't wanna do it, that was fine. Yeah. You don't gotta do it, but I'm not gonna pay you for Right. We're gonna send you home. But or you can paint the office. Yeah. Yeah. We painted it yesterday. Yeah. That's Yeah. Could you use a fresh coat? Yeah. Mhmm. Good. I mean so, like, during to to Ben's point, during work hours, just you you do it. Yeah. Mhmm. My my question would be, though, if he's gonna have me pick him up from the airport at 09:00, are you paying her? Yeah. Like, if you're gonna pay her and say, hey. I need you to pick me up at 09:00. It's part of your job duties, and now you're gonna clock a couple hours to do it. Yeah. It's probably a different conversation.

This is where a salary count conversation starts to look a little different too. Right? Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Mean And how big the salary is. Yeah. I mean, if you're a personal assistant making big dollars from some super wealthy person It's probably a little different than you're someone making upfront, hey, by the way, I own you. Yeah. Yeah. And so gonna take the job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, like, ultimately, he you weren't here's where you're in a tricky position. If he's just a wealthy man, and he's and you're getting paid very, very well and, like, reasonably, you're getting overpaid if you're only doing the normal nine to five and these are the extra things make sense and you need it for your family, then figure it out. Then say, well, it's worth it. No problem. Mhmm. If you're working the job, it's an okay job. You're getting paid okay, but some of these things are extra. And he's kind of implying like, maybe he feels like he's got a closer relationship with you than you have with him. That's gonna be weird. Yeah. It's gonna be awkward to go, look, dude. We're not close enough for me to come pick you up at the airport at 09:00 at night and leave my kids at my place. Yeah. Like What if her and her kids flew in and be like, hey, Denver, you need to come pick me up? Yes. Right? That's right. Either you gotta pay me for it or it has to be something that if I were in the same situation, I think that you would do it. And if it's not, then like, you are gonna have to have a weird conversation. And he may not fire you because, frankly, you could probably sue him if he fired you for that reason, but it's gonna be real weird to work there. Yeah. So I get you just gotta figure out what you're willing your trade offs are in there somewhere.

Maybe even an honest conversation with the man and say, look, man. I'm a single mom. I have a lot of responsibility at home. I just don't think I can offer the things that you're looking for. Is that gonna be a problem with me working here? Right? I I like this job. I like the company that I work for. I like everything about this job, but I just cannot like, basically, it's taking time away from my kids that I I've just I'm not able to give. Yeah. What can we work out? Yeah. Okay. Well, yeah. And then I actually didn't I guess you that puts it on the table. He's either gonna have to go I'm more important than new kids. Yes. Which you know that then it's not sustainable. Well, good. Now you're on a path to figuring out something different. Or he's the guy who goes, you're right. That doesn't make any sense. Yeah. You do you. Especially if you haven't said anything. Right? He's like, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me I was pulling you out and you're putting your kids to bed at 09:00 at night? Like, I shouldn't even I I didn't even think about that. Right? That's not the stage of life I'm in. It didn't even cross my mind. This sounds like he's got dogs and no kids. Right? Exactly. So Yeah. Yeah. And he can just put them in their jail and tell them to shut up. You know what I'm saying? Eat these milk bones. Daddy going out of town. I think you can deal with kids that way. You just gotta acclimate them to it. Alright. Segular says, for your boss to expect you to run errands from for him without being compensated is taking advantage of you. First thing I would do is if I were in your shoes would be to start exploring the job market in your community. Then if I found anything that suited my particular skills, I would have a talk with my boss and explain that I have responsibilities after working hours that make it difficult to comply with his requests.

If he values what you contribute to his business, he may figure out another way to get his errands run. However, if he doesn't, you will have another job lined up. Okay. Well, I mean, maybe I could just give a fairy tale ending to everybody's problems. Right? You, like, you instantly found a job that's just as good that match all your skill qualities, and then you went in and told them what fur. Yeah. And then you had a complete Well, they're holding off. Race to wait to get out. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody's life works like this, secular. Don't worry. I already have a multimillion dollar position lined up. But if you're willing to give in a little on this airport thing, I would stay working here. Ridiculous. Weird.

Alright. You're listening live from the path. Thanks for hanging out with us. Big big thank you to mister McCormack. Thanks for joining us tonight. And Nathaniel Nathaniel is not up this late. He's burning the midnight oil tonight. Which I don't know why he ain't getting up hitting the juice. He ain't getting up reading his bible, and he also ain't getting up hitting the iron. So I don't know exactly why he's all worn out. I got up this morning. What what did you do this morning? I buzzed in. I saw it. Yeah. Did you hit the iron? No. I did it after work. Okay. Never mind. Nathaniel's tired for legit reasons. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's out there burning it up. Alright. So, anyway, thanks for coming in One day in a row. Stop it. Every pattern starts with it. Alright. Anyway, thanks for hanging out with us this week. Excited. We'll see you next week live with some music in the studio. In the meantime, be faithful to means. God will hand to the ends. You've been listening to Live From The Path.