Live from Wolf Street Studios downtown Des Moines. You are Alright. Thank you. You're listening live from the path on demoinamplified.com. Thanks for being on here tonight. My name is Ben Foust. I will be your host for this evening. Coming up tonight, we're gonna we get some hot stuff going on. There's there's Yes. There's trouble. Smoking. There's trouble. We're gonna talk about prayer versus pancakes. There's a there's a tussle with the IHOP.

So we're gonna get to that. Which IHOP? The prayer one or the pancake one? I think that's it. Or that the question? That indeed is the struggle. That's what's going on. There's one in Des Moines. I did not know that. What? An iHop? An iHop. I I was driving by on Euclid, just driving down the other day. I looked over and I said anyway, I don't wanna You did not know that there was an iHop in Des Moines? Not in Des It's not on Euclid. This is on Southeast 14th Street. Maybe there's two. It's on the South Side. There's a couple. Anyway. I love it. Yeah. It's on the South Side. Anyway. You came prepared. Yeah. Evidently high. So we're we're gonna talk about we're gonna talk about prayer versus pancakes. We're also gonna talk about and I know everybody's got one of these. Alright. You got got somebody who you continue to help out in your life. Like, you reach out for him, you you wanna help him, you try your hardest, and they never get it. He's a black hole of god's love. Yeah. Like, you keep you keep giving it you keep giving it and and nothing seems to be changing. So we're gonna talk a little bit about does that end? Where does that end? Is there such thing as helping too much? Where where's the biblical distinction between shaking the dust off your feet and teaching a man to fish?

So so sit on that one, and and it will help for the conversation to picture this person in your mind. This person that you've wasted you keep putting energy into and nothing seems to No. No. You're talking like in physical or spiritual or it whatever. Could be both. Yeah. Yeah. Well yeah. Like, we're talking to the same guy that maybe you continue to lend money because they they're in the straights or, you know, they continue to make bad moral choices and you say, look, I I think Jesus is Can you help me out? And they're like, yeah. Yeah. I get it. And then they they maybe they show up to church once or twice and then they kinda go away. Then six months later, it's a big debacle Yep. Gotcha. Yeah. Also, there's we're gonna hit there was an article on the on the CNN belief blog. Always always excellent conversation. This man, he says, as Christians, we don't we don't understand the poor appropriately. So we're gonna we're gonna see what he has to say. He's got some some points of of where people that follow in Christ don't seem to understand the poor correctly. We're gonna walk through it, and we'll we'll see how he feels about the chronically poor. Yeah. Yeah. Well Not say a guy who's been out of work for. Watch it. A while. The bead careful. You mean a hardworking guy?

Just one I just wanted to Exfoliate references. You don't understand the poor, you idiot. Also, we'll do a we'll do an update from the prayer room. We've been at at Pathway Church in Johnson, which is our home church. Oh, we should Skype from there. Which Sonya's in there, I think, at eleven. I think the computer's hitting this, it? I don't It crashed when I was in there yesterday. I fixed it. This morning. I was in there this morning. Anyway, so we're we're gonna talk about I I think I I don't I've got some interesting stuff that's that's been going on with me while I'm in prayer room. So I'm gonna I'll share the experience a little bit with you and see the same. See how it smacks you. And then I will remind you, and I will preface that reminder right now, you need to get in there. It's an experience that I tell you, you won't regret it. I I would borderline say that I can guarantee it's life changing but that really depends on your attitude. I think I think Sonya should bring her laptop and Skype from from inside the prayer room. She said she was gonna she checked on the content of the show tonight as to whether she could watch the show or listen to it while in the prayer room. Yeah. And I guaranteed 90% Jesus, fellas. Got it. I'm in. Okay. So that IHOP thing can't take to although Where we at? It's the prayer business. Right now, we're running Do have a meter? Running meter? We're a solid 100. We should certainly buy one. We're a solid 100. We need a Jesus meter. Need to do the Jesus. Joey, we could just reference it during the show. Looks like we're down to 72. When we get we'd rather 30 or 40%, we have to just hang it up.

We've turned a corner. We can't talk about brass knuckles anymore. Back to Jesus. Bummer. Also with us in the studio and you can see in the center screen that this is Flat Stanley. He was provided to us where is he from, Dan? Flat Stanley is from Eubank, Kentucky. And a friend of ours named Alex sent in Flat Stanley. It is a project there. A third grade class is working on. They read a book about Flat Stanley who becomes flat and then mails himself all over the the globe and and it kinda shows up and and he gets pictures of himself everywhere.

And he he made it on the radio. Boy, that's not showing up very well, is it? He has a he has a lot more color to him. He's pretty washed out. He looks in fact, I I hate to do this to the children, but he looks like a like a outline, like a chalk outline. What can I can I adjust him? Yeah. He's on the screen. Yeah. I'm gonna move over here. Okay. Hold on. We'll see if we can get a better look at him. That help? No. Nope. Alright. I'll tell what. Yeah? Okay. I think the lights. Yep. Okay. So I don't There's a gist of Let me have the flat Stanley. We'll put him we'll put him over here by me. He'll be my friend for this evening. Stan Stanley's a good guy. He's he went to the capital with us today with Shanna and I. It was her day off at school. And he went down to the little art park down downtown.

You have to be careful what you take pictures of there. Oh, yeah. A lady getting out of the tub. Sure. She's a little naked. Sure. What? That did not make the photos. Yeah. Oh, there's some stuff down there that that is not really public in nature, although it's a public art. Dan makes no distinction between art and pornography. I don't. My my daughter and I talked about that today. He's not. Yeah. So you can call it what you want, but that's pornography. That is pornography. But we went to the capital, I mentioned that. We went to Drake University. We went to Sailorville. Went on the tanks over there by Fort Fort Dodge. Oh. I kept trying to say Fort Dodge. Camp Dodge.

And and looked overlooked the the military base and and so it was good day for Stanley. Stanley got around. He'll be going back to Kentucky later this week. So after his appearance on the radio show, he needs to jet jet set back on the Exactly. Shall I put this down so so he shows up better? We're gonna lose Mike. Yeah. Okay. No. Perfect. There you go. Now we're gonna did I go too far? That'll work. Oh. Stanley, we love you. Anyway, Flett Stan's on the show tonight. Stanley went worldwide. He did. Anyway. So we'll we'll look forward to him. We'll talk be talking to him from from time to time. Also, we'll get a little bit to to Mike who this was this was David David Bush's week. Yeah. Mike, if you could remind people what's going on with mister Bush. Yeah. David Bush, we invited him on the show, and he said he most certainly will not come on. I think he's too good for it. I don't know whether it's due to the content or his busy schedule. I'm gonna assume I'm gonna assume maybe our our show might be Ted Lowbrow, maybe. I don't know. Who's to say? But David Bush will be on the program this evening.

Awesome. Yeah. And Looking forward to that conversation. Yeah. Yeah. And so that'll be great. We've been looking forward to it, and I'm really excited to have him on. I think he's kinda he's kinda come around to to really enjoy life from the path and and wanna give us 2¢ on on our on our Jesus talk. That is special. Well, that's exciting. Okay. Dateline, 09/16/2010. Pancake House takes on prayer group. The IHOP has filed a lawsuit against a church group called the International House of Prayer, claiming that the group is illegally using the Pancake House's famous acronym, pancakes versus prayer. This legal flap started earlier this month when the International House of Pancakes filed the lawsuit in a federal court in California. The Kansas City, Missouri based church group selected and adopted the International House of Prayer name, knowing it would be abbreviated IHOP. IHOP KC intended to misappropriate the fame and notoriety of the household name IHOP to help promote and make recognizable the religious organization, the lawsuit says. No response from the International House of Parent in Kansas City. It began I thought it was like a European thing. That's not it it it was actually birthed in Kansas City? You know, it doesn't really say that.

I think that's the national headquarters. What what is the International House of Pancakes also Truly international? International? That's a good question. I don't know. I I I How many flags do they fly? You know, Jesus knows Jesus. It it comes down to whoever came up with that name first. I'm pretty sure the pancakes win there. I agree. Prayer in this particular item. That's a toughie. I can't imagine a group that's familiar with a pancake place would would, you know, intentionally take their name truly if they're based in prayer. Yes. You know, that they have this great relationship with God. And we we need a pancake place to help spread our name. Yeah. I think the spirit can take it. Jesus is not a gimmick. Yeah. Exactly. You don't remember God with an acronym? I think yeah. I think I'm gonna have to go with pancake on that one. I think pancake wins. Yeah. Pancake Well That sounds like Well, no. If boil it down, Jesus does win. I mean, God eventually wins. But I think in the in the day to day name struggle of IHOP versus IHOP, I believe Pancake's gonna have to take that one. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. I I think that sounds where it's going. You couldn't have found a you couldn't have found a a counterpoint guy that thought the International House of Prayer could win? Who was created first? The the pancakes. The pancakes was there first. I well, see, man, don't know. Pretty cut dry. Yeah. You know what mean? They were there first and that's like we decided to name our our program mech program.

Program? The Mac show. What if we called ourselves the hour of power? You know what I'm saying? Mean Someone's done that. You know, do we get it now? Well, look at this guy. Alright. So here's some of these these blogs really riled me up. Here's Hot Air Ace. I haven't been to I iHot Pancakes for years. But if they're sticking it to a church, then I'll support them by giving them some business. There's there's a man that eats pancakes out of vindication. So does that mean anyone who believes should stop eating there? Is this a war? I no. I'm I'm not letting this guy start a war on on IHOP just because he's a a joker. Actually, would really like to see him viciously eat pancakes at the IHOP. Let me show you. Everything about pancakes is fun and fluffy and this guy is really taking it to the streets. Yeah. Don't want any whipped cream on my pancakes. Yeah. Really. Eating just give them just give them to me flat and cold. That's all I want. Coffee grounds. Give me a steak knife. Yeah. I like the sound of this guy. Yeah. In fact, I would like to pray for him at the IHOP.

This is what we should do. That's Here's what they wanna do. If I tell you what, if the Internet of House of Prayer wants to pray for people at IHOP and that's their gimmick, that's cool. I like it. But stealing the name, that's that's outright. Yeah. That's outright that. The thing is the the end doesn't justify the beans. You know I'm saying? If you're going to, you know, support the Lord's principles and say that you're a bible believing, you know, Jesus follower, theft is not in your arsenal of ways to go about things. But they could they could have, you know, gone with with j hop, you know, Jesus house of prayer or something or I don't know. Job. No. I think Job. I think they misappropriate it. No doubt. Why don't they just go with h o p? The hop. The house of prayer. Yeah. That's Exactly. Plenty. That's because they're worldwide. We need to contact them. If you're worldwide, you gotta say that you're worldwide. Show me the guy that walks up to the house of prayer and goes, oh, I thought they were international. I'm

not going in here. Local house of prayer. Local I don't think that's for those local junk is. It's just like channel two that tells me the weather and what Bob's used car is selling down the road. I don't watch that channel and I don't pray if places in my own neighborhood. Hook me up on the World Wide Web. Exactly. I'll help a starving Haitian. No no one next door. That's right. You can forget about it. That's Actually, we're we'll talk about that. That that guy the guy that that talks about how Christians don't understand the poor broaches that particular subject. So we'll get to him here in a little bit. Alright. You're listening to Life on the Path on demoniamfi.com. Hey, Stanley. Yeah. Worldwide House of Prayer. That's what I'm talking about. W I like that? Yeah. W how would you say It doesn't and it sounds like whoppling. Well, wait a minute. That's not gonna work.

That's Well, that's kind of a Burger King Burger King thing. I I think it's more of racial Ethnic slaughter. Yes. Oh, is it? Yeah. It's it's for Italian. It's an Italian slaughter. I did not know that. I wonder how many times I inter I You don't accidentally say WAP? I say that all the time. Well Just point of fact, it means the the acronym came from the term WAP being without papers. Without papers. Yeah. But as as Italian immigrants. Yeah. They didn't have immigration papers. Which I think was unfair because it just must like, the first guy without papers must have been Italian. But you can't tell me that Ellis Island was full of people with, like, with papers except for Italian guys. I agree. I gotta assume that that it's it's European wide. People sneaking in without papers. Yeah. Wow. You better tone that down, Daniel. Yeah. You're making enemies left behind. I didn't know it. That's why that's why they throw stuff at me. I thought they were jealous of my looks. I thought my sermon was killer and all Look at those fair skin. I know If I only had that, I know here are your Jesus. You make peace out and make a Jesus. Yeah. See you. Okay. Chop. That's wild.

What's that? Hour of power. I think it's supposed to be House of Prayer. Oh. Come on, Daniel. I was going with it does say prayer. Fairly consistent here. Well, tell you what. Why don't you call it the hop hop? The House of Prayer Hour of Power. Now you can do Oh, hop hop. You're in, you're out. It'd be like a constantly going a twenty four seven Pull up a drive through. Okay. I tell you what, I would if we had commercials, let's say we open this thing, I would have Dan go which I have on now on recording going, oh, hop hop. Like, I would in a commercial it's like the expedia.com guy except he's like, what? Join us at the Euclid Avenue blah blah blah blah. Blah and then Dan would go, oh, hot pop. I like it. That's how we would get people in. Alright. Okay. So we'll just take a quick vote here. Okay. Who wins? House of pancakes, house of prayer. I vote pancakes. I have pancakes. Yeah. Pancakes. Gotta win. Pancakes three o. Sorry, boys. We don't have all the information. I like to hear the arguing They're not they're not they're not talking. What possible information can they have? I'd like to know, you know, may may be IHOP prayer was started in Scotland in 1822. In that case, they beat IHOP Pancake. Yeah. But at the time, they weren't worldwide.

They were just in Scotland. Maybe they were. They just didn't have a sign. You can't go shop. They just didn't tell anybody. Okay. So is that true though? If you're gonna open an international anything, you'd have to open at least two simultaneously across continent? Otherwise, you can't claim to be international. International aspirations and still call yourself international? Can you is there any is is there any legal precedent to naming your business something that is not? Like, can I open a used car lot that says Mike's International Cars or or International Mike? I have to be claimed to be international or something, you know. Yeah. Maybe so. Like, if I only have one location here in Downtown Des Moines? I mean, is there can I be sued by anybody to say It just means that we have a big dream? You plan to expand. Like Of course, you're not worldwide yet. Hold on. I got this. Okay. Coming at you worldwide on demorningff.com. This is live from the past. I

feel better. Like like we're more worldwide. World worldwide. Not with this sack, boys. Alright. I'm gonna sit a little taller. Okay. So we were talking about the prayer room a little bit and and I have some, I think, some other things to to share about how this this first week has gone with our prayer pathway. But but real quick, we don't do a lot of, like, direct scriptural reading here. Like, our the discussion should obviously be scriptural based. But I don't know. This one kinda smacked me around a little bit and got me kinda jazzed up. So I don't know. I'm a read a little bit to you from from Psalm 56. Wait. Now, just just for clarification. Yep. How does the Jesus meter go if it's Old Testament? Oh, shoot. Well, let's call it the Jesus slash Yahweh meter. Okay. We're gonna need two meters. We need a couple meters.

Heavy on the Yahweh. Except for the the Yahweh meter's gonna have to be manually done with stones. It doesn't do it automatically. Can we kill the days of Elijah in the background? Crank the Yahweh meter. It takes forever to give the Yahweh meter a point. You gotta rack out the hammer and the the soothe. Okay. Alright. So check this out. And this is I'll start in verse three. It says, when I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? I love that. Yeah. I love that part. And and there's and I think what struck me is is in the prayer room, we've got a bunch of different sections where people can pray and kinda write their prayers. And even just visually, people people's

the one where people are hurting is is is just filled. There's more ink for hurt, which is the appropriate place to direct it. But but, you know, one of the themes that I think I saw is a lot of it is hurt is world hurt. Right? It's it's it's hurt from, the world around us, like impressions of peep that people have of us, the way that we've been treated by other people, sometimes the way that we've treated others, like that kind of thing. And and what I really like is what what can mortal man do to me? Puts that a little bit a little bit of perspective for me is is, like, how much, you know, as my are there times when I look at my life and I say, you know, I'm just I'm really struggling with this particular situation with these people around me. I think, this is this is just a this is a mortal man. What what can what can he do to me? How the

amount that I let some person influence me and and perhaps try to miscolor my perception the perception of myself. My value is derived solely from my savior. Right. And if that's where my value is, I can't be torn down by a person of the world. Now you have to be careful with that because you have to this is coming from an eternal spiritual perspective. Yeah. What can mortal man do do to you? They can imprison you. They can beat you. Sure. They can kill you. They can boil you alive. They can burn you at the stake. All those things have been done to to people of great faith in the past. Right. But that's all they can do. Yeah. That would that's Right. That's the limit. It's a very it's a broad perspective and it's a tough one to get your mind around. Ten thousand years from today, whatever man does to me won't matter. Right. Because, you know, they can't take away your faith. They can't take away your eternity and your relationship with Christ. Yeah. And that's really the the the point in scripture

when when they talk like that. I mean I mean, Stephen had this great sermon and then they stoned him to death Right. Yeah. In in Acts. And, you know, Jeremiah went out and was called the weeping prophet because he he kept telling them, hey, be careful, you know, God's God's gonna get you. You keep crossing the line and the country's like, yeah, whatever. So they they they ignored him and they beat him and they imprisoned him and made him eat his own words literally from a scroll and, you know, so Yeah. But if the perspective is, so what so if they fire you, you know. Right. Yeah. Whatever. So they beat you. Whatever. If you take it wrong, then you get all disappointed. Wait a minute, they fired me and and got Right. That doesn't equal the that doesn't equal prosperity Exactly. You know, just because you've read it and you're like, well, Lord wants what I want. Yeah. Well, obviously, I want a rules Royce now. A new cut. Exactly. The Lord is not a price is right. Yeah. So you gotta be real careful with with that but but it's an awesome verse because it's I I think it is if your if your if your heart and your mind's in the right place. Yeah. And actually, know, to be honest, it's hard to get your heart and your mind in that right place to understand exactly what that verse is. Well, and I I was talking to somebody Wow. I was talking to somebody at work today about that very thing

and I realized that I am fortunate in that, like, I I I can read that verse and I and I feel like I'm getting it from the right perspective and I think, you know what? Yeah. What what what are they gonna do? And then and I could and I could see it and she said and she could basically repeated that back to me and said, you you know, you are fortunate that you can see it that way because that's a struggle. Like, people really struggle with, you know, the things that we might talk about, you know, being influences of the world, dragging them down And that perspective is completely valid. But it's something that a ton of people struggle with. And so, like, the one thing that I thought of when I was reading that as as a sense of encouragement is is realize that the things that that are likely dragging you down or or causing your self worth to be in question. Like, the these can't you can't take away what you are in God's eyes. You can't take away what you've been given and what God sees when he looks at you. And there's actually some more validation here coming up in in in the rest of the psalm that that we're gonna get to in just a second. But, like, you know, I would really when you have issues like that and they're you'll feel feel them. These are real things. It's not like this is a fake thing where like you're being a a baby because you you feel, you know, hurt by somebody. Right. But but but the more that you can focus on the perspective of, you know, this is this is a mortal this is a mortal person. This is this this does has nothing to do with this the judgments and the impressions of a shallow, judgmental, non godly world have no effect on what I am and who I am in Christ Jesus. And and and that's the thing that I that I kinda took away from it. Yeah. You know, is is and the more that you can focus on that and and stop trying to find validation in the people around you because they will continue to fail you. You that's biblical. People will fail you. Absolutely. You know, but but if we can keep that perception in your mind,

you know, I think we can get to the point where we can finally, like, fuel that verse for what it is. Well, I I think that actually compares pretty directly with your own personal sin struggle. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know that you're gonna continue to do them. And and as soon as you stop letting, you know, your your failures identify you in Christ and realize that that that his grace has covered these things already, you know, I think that's when that's when you really open yourself up for the Lord to be able to use you. Because as soon as you just start tacking on your sin, the Lord says, you know, it's done and you still got it hanging from your coattails that weigh seven hundred pounds, you ain't gonna be moving very fast. The Lord was 700 on your back. Yeah. You know, and I so I think that I think that actually, you know, not only not only, you know, speaks to the to you validating yourself against the people of the world, but also,

you you know, your your own validation, you know, in your sin. If you really truly believe that that, you know, the Lord's grace can cover your sin, you you know, let him do it. You know, you know, stop trying to validate, you know, explaining to him how how, you know, how how burdened you are and and how you you can't handle this stuff anymore. You know, he's he's taking it from you. So, you know, call call a spade a spade and and and a trip a trip and say, Lord, I tripped. Yeah. You know, let's let's get it back to going. I'm I'm ready to keep running. Yeah. Well, look look at where David is when he writes this. Did you notice that in the beginning of the Yeah. He's he's in prison. He is in the business. Yeah. He's been taken cut in the gath and The Palestinians have had they have him. Yeah. And they're like, you know, not necessarily not necessarily friendly people. Yeah. You know? Yeah. He's like, that's okay. What can what can they do to me? Yeah. Exactly. Well, any so here's some of the rest. So we start here. I'll read I'll read the first part again in case you missed it. It says, Psalm 56 starting verse three says, when I am afraid, I will trust in you, in God whose word I praise. In God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? All day long, they twist my words. They are always plotting to harm me. They conspire. They lurk. They watch my steps, eager to take my life. Physically, this is very true for David. Yeah. They they work in the corporate. Yeah. Know. That's exactly what I thought. What I thought was is, like, the they for for David here is, like, physically, someone is actually following him Right. Brutishes. Trying to kill him. Big beefy brutes. But, like, this is a very from a from a spiritual perspective, like, the they for us, I think, is is anything

that has the risk of ruining the self image that's derived from how what God sees when he sees you, you know. So and and it does. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps. Like, anything the things follow you, things jump at it at you, you know, plot against you. And these are the things that can throw you off your track and and and move your perspective from from looking to what God sees in you to looking what other people might see in you. Well, it's look at the look at the Christian the CNN Christian blog that you're always talking about. Some will write, you know, a fairly benign, you know, but but but, you know, God, fear, and peace on there. Yeah. And then these dudes will just I mean, they'll twist they'll twist every word possible and they'll make it, you know, they'll lurk and they'll find it. You know, they wait for guys to defend them and then they all jump on them at once. You know, mean, mean, that that rings true, you know, quite a bit and just even that is, you know. I mean, I've read I've read that John Acuff put a blog on there a couple weeks ago. I can't remember what it's about. But, you know, it was dead on. You know, scripturally, was right. You know, biblically, was fine. And and and man, he just got tore up in the in the chat like some guys, you know, just waiting. You know, he only his only purpose of getting on the Christian blog is to cause trouble. Right. Right. You know, it's not like I go to the atheist blog website and Where you trying find so much trouble, you know? But you know what? I bet there are believers who do and they're just obnoxious about it. I just don't don't think that's what it is. You know? No. I know. I in fact, I know there are people that do. Yeah. Yeah. And they're thinking, well, I'm gonna show them. They're all gonna love Jesus. Yeah. I'm gonna flip this guy around with my biblical insight on Jesus. The know problem with that statement is? I. Yeah. Exactly. I'm gonna do anything. Exactly. I'm gonna do this. Will win this debate. Whatever. You know, Jesus is gonna win this for you. You know, this is Jesus' battle to fight. Yeah. Yeah. You know, if you're gonna go if you're gonna go a place like that to, you know, a group of atheists, group of agnostics, you know, I think what you do is just start collecting names to pray for. There. Like, that's something to do. You know, that's that's something that you can I think you can find some fruit in? But, I mean, you're trying to have trying to have that like, you're I think you're closing doors where you don't need to be closing doors. God will make a make some opportunity. And when you see that opportunity, you can grab it. But, you know, don't be don't be setting fire to the room just so they can run out and you can catch up with the Jesus net. Exactly. Say, we got you. We we have earned our our our poor reputation. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I wonder how many people are ticked off at at Christians where a lot of Well, you know,

misrepresenting the Bible, misrepresenting Jesus. For Yeah. For like, we it it's like, some of the the it's the weirdest thing is, like, half truths can in the bible can take you one way where, like, you're not following Christ at all. And half truths the other direction is you're zealous for Christ but you're missing the ways to go about it. Like, you it's it's the same it's actually the same group of people. It's the same type of person who picks out whatever they like and they and they take it and they run with it. And, you know, and this is what we're gonna do. And it can go one or two directions. Either way, you're not bringing people to Christ or you're bringing them to a false Christ that doesn't exist. Like, you're given the impression of something that isn't really accurate and that they can lead a life a certain way and be accommodated in Christ's love and, you know, yeah, you know, god will always love you but there's some there's behavior he won't tolerate without his grace. Right. Well, and the lord doesn't need you to champion specific sins on his behalf. Exactly. You know, like, well, you know, I'm gonna go after stealing. Everyone else can cover the rest of them but I'm gonna really I'm a stealing guy. I don't put up with theft and neither does the Lord. You know, I I people people do that. They pick one one particular sin that really rubs them the wrong way Mhmm. And then they throw it out there like it's like it's God's flagship sin. Like he's showing TV Here's the sin seven days a week but really most of the day, it's this sin we're talking about. Yeah. The rest of them is just off hour stuff. Yeah. And I and again, I I think that whether this it the sin is still the sin. I that's there's not a discussion about what the sin is. But I think in general, again, you start closing doors when you're trying to miscolor God. He didn't say, like, this is the sin of sins. They're all sins. Right. You know? You don't there's no reason to condone behavior that that's not biblical. There's no reason to accept things and make it sound like it's okay. But I mean but but when you start getting on a high horse about a specific thing and and, you know, you feel like yours is the judgment seat, to to call someone as if they are cut they are painted by a single sin brush.

Like, this is all you, this is all you'll ever be and I condemn you. You don't condemn anybody. It's not your place. It's not your job. Start praying and and and finding ways to provide some influence. Scarlet letter. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. There's no scarlet letter in the bible. It's all gold leafed. Everything we don't do red On light paper. Text is red. Alright. Wait. So alright. So dig on the rest of this. Sorry. The bible's in a in a weird position here. Alright. So we read, all day long, twist my words. They are always plotting to harm me. They conspire. They lurk. They watch my steps eager to take my life. On no account, let them escape in your anger, oh god. Bring down the nations. Record my lament. List list my tears on your scroll. Are they not in your record? I like this too. He's looking at god and saying, don't you do you have this down? Are you seeing this? Do you have my tears written down so that to make sure this is all straightened out? It's a trust thing. God will. But I like it. I like it. He's openly saying, you know, do you have this this written? I just wanna make sure this is being recorded appropriately so it can be handled. Exactly. You know? He goes on to say, then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. This was the big one. Then my enemies will turn back

when I call for help. It's not, then my enemies will turn back when I run at them, when I scare them with my sword, when I prove to them how big I am, how strong I am, how fast I talk, how slick I am. Right? My enemy turn back when I call for help. Calling for God's help is the manliest thing you can do because it it helps to you recognize your place. You recognize where you belong and you recognize where the strength is. And and and David, again, he's he's in prison. He's had a rough run. He will continue to have a rough run. Like,

every two years, somebody's after him trying to kill him. He's he's having to dash out windows and go around. He knows what it's like to be pursued. And he says, my enemies turn away what I call for God's help. That's when they move. Not not when I do anything. And I don't create I don't scare them. They're scared by the help that I asked for from God. And I like that. Yeah. Definitely. I think it puts in a good perspective. God God can do things that that he's much more creative than than we are. Yeah. Right. You know? Yeah. I mean, just Seven times in the sea, I'll I'll get rid of your leprosy. I can dig on it. Yeah. What's that? What's woah. I forgot his name. Timmy. Gone completely. Anyway Nahum? Nahum? Nahum? Yeah. Yeah. Nahum. Naaman. Okay. Anyway,

this is my my rung I couldn't find any verses here I didn't like. Here's here's my next favorite. This bible is gold. Who wrote that? Usually, cut some of these things out. Yeah. These are This is trash. Like, these are all Back to the editor. Every single one of these, light me up. So they so here we go. Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this, I will know that God is for me. Not just God loves me. God is for Ben Foust. On a ballot of people, he says, Ben Foust, I'm for him. And and I thought So I lose. You win, I lose. You weren't on that ballot. God gets to vote more than once. But like, there's only one name on the ballot. I

guess I'm for this guy. That's Ben had no choice. Not sure about him, but Ben, that is the that's the other perspective I really dig on. It's like it's not just that God is willing like, Jesus died and sacrificed to save me. It's not just that he went that far. He's not only, I'll save Ben. He's like, I'm pro Ben. I love Ben. I wanna see his stuff going on through me, you know. So by this, I will know that God is for me. Awesome.

I don't know. I was jazzed about that. I got really jazzed about that. I think that's a perspective that gets lost to a lot of people. Probably me included. Yeah. Know, Lord, cover my sins, you know. Help me get out of this mire, you know. And I think, just keep an eye on me until I screw this up again, you know. Yeah. And instead of, help me get out of the mire, not only does he take you up, he cleans you up, he makes you look spectacular and then he sends you out clapping. Like, I'm glad I was here to get you out of the mire. Go. And and I I think that's the thing is we we sometimes we we do. We think of God as as the as the butler. As the guy that picks you up, kinda dust you up, sends you back on your way clean until you get dirty again to come back. Uh-huh. But not only does he do that, but he gives you the spit and shine. He's for you. I will save you. I'm also pro Ben. I'm sending Ben out. I'm excited about what Ben's up to Right. And can do through me. Here's a sandwich, a map, and a cell phone. Give me He's pro Ben. I love it. I love it. God is pro Ben and I can dig on that. I think that's a shirt. God is pro Ben. I'd like to get a Well, shirt with can I put my own name in there or does it have say pro Ben? I think it should say Ben. Yeah. Fine. Yeah. That's a true can't help. He's pro Dan but that doesn't wear on a shirt in here as well. Yeah yeah yeah. Ben Ben works. Alright. So And kinda likes donkeys. Yeah. God is pro IHOP. Which one?

Got I made them both. I don't know which one. If you just joined us, you've been listening to live from the path on desmoineamplified.com. Right now, we are we we we just got through our prayer versus pancakes. The IHOP pancake house is suing the International House of Prayer. It was a vote three to zero for pancakes, not against prayer as a concept, but against the International House of Prayer using the acronym. So pancakes wins that one. Prayer over I really hate to be put in this position, but I'm I'm Yeah. I'm on the pancakes. They may not feel there's nothing to do. Alright. And so also coming coming up, we're gonna be talking about making distinctions about when to shake the dust off your feet and when to teach a man to fish. Everybody's got somebody in their life where they feel like they've they've spent a lot of time trying to help them out and they feel like it's a waste of effort. The question is, is there is there a spot to cut them off? Is there is there such thing as too much help? So we're we're gonna talk about that probably here in the in the forty five minute hour. Yeah. Really? Just turn the other cheek, apply it to everything? Yeah.

Get something to think about and be thinking I know everybody's got a person like that. Be thinking of him. He's we're talking about him. He's coming up. You can give us a call, by the way. It's 32 7 He's flat. I can't help him. Flat Stanley. Every time I give him air He's no trouble. Flats again. If you wanna join us on the show, you can. It's 515313271007. That's 327-1007. You can join us here on the program. I don't want any personal names of this guy that's really causing you the business. But if you got a story to tell and and kinda how Does everybody call up call just say Ben. Yeah. I know this guy, Ben. And I'll you what. It seems like God's foreigner. I could care less because God is pro Ben. It's said right here. It's said That's right. My enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this, I will know that God is for me. You know, I don't know that they should have I wonder if they could have Bibles where they they turn it around so it's talking directly to you at all times. Like, you have your name and Yeah. Like, at the end of every yeah. Sentence At the end of every sentence, it says it says, you you know,

for God so loved the world that he gave his only son for you, Mike. Oh, right. There there are books like Bible Promise Books and stuff. I used get this stuff when I was, in college. Thought, oh, this is great. I should know this stuff. And I'd read through it and I go like like, you know, lot of times that stuff's taken so far out of context, you know, like, God says, okay, you know, certain country, I'm gonna do this if you do that. And then as they write it down as this is the promise for all believers everywhere. It's like, I don't know. I will I will multiply your herd sevenfold. Exactly. They're taking it like this. Okay. So if you do this, Lord will give you sevenfolds. I I got a business proposition. This is Lord. Lord says he'll do sevenfold. We need three head of cattle.

Let's see. Give me two Holsteins and a milker. I don't know I don't know the brand of milker. I I don't know either. Okay. Anyway, do you know cows, Daniel? Do know what they call farm animals at all? I don't. I like to eat them. Yeah. I I saw I saw one so we went to here's the we went to the Omaha Zoo and they were doing this cow show. They had a bunch of cows in a row. And I saw they were supposed to be milking cows. And I looked I looked underneath and there were no teats. Like, no and I and I I went and I accused I saw the guy hanging out and I said, look, man. That's a dude. You brought a dude cow to the milk show. And he goes, no. No. They just don't they don't get them until they have a a young have a calf. And I thought, oh, okay. Well, yeah, that makes sense. That would make a lot of sense. Sure. And then I felt bad for accusing this farmer man of bringing a dude cow to the milk fest.

I'm Joe Farmer. I know. And then I thought, well, he could be shining me on. What do I know? I call I call every bug in my house a martin. Because I don't know because they're weird bugs. Because the woman called one a martin one time and I thought, I don't know what these are. I don't know what goes on at your house. I don't know. I get a bunch of varied, you know, insect creatures and I don't know what they are. So I think there's a Martin in here. I think you have to you have to clarify it with how many legs it has. Six legged Martin or four legged Martin. There you go. Yeah. Or or a tan backed Martin. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever is this most distinctive characteristic plus Martin. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's a wing it's a winged martin. Blue winged martin. I don't think none of them fly around. It's a it's a it's a bumble Okay. Martin. White's a silverfish. Whatever. Alright? We saw a centipede in our house the other day crawling across the floor. Did you count the leg? It's a centipede. It's a 100 leg martin. Misconception. Not a 100 legs on a set. How many? Yeah. Google it. 60? Google it. Chad Deagle Are they all different? Actually, I'm I'm not sure if that's true or not. But I'm I'm I'm hedging my bets here. I'm almost certain there's not a $100. Google will never lie. Alright. Alright. So here here here we go. Let's see if I can finish out my Psalm 56.

Oh, my inspiration to the prayer. I got this one is I'm so excited. Seriously, it was like it was like 04:30 in the morning and I and I I picked this up. And here's actually, here's why I picked up the bible because I was walking around praying and there's something that that's been sticking with me in in that I read a couple weeks ago, and it was that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. And I thought and I was sitting there praying, I thought, my day should have bible reading in it. Why don't I just do that right now? So that There's one? So that I I thought I can at least I have one day. Because, like, if if I plan it out and I say, you know, every other day, I'll get a schedule together and all, I'm not gonna do that. Yeah. So why don't I just say, I'm I it has to be done and I'm gonna start it right now. So I did. And so I I picked it up and I landed right on Psalm 56. And honestly, I was as I was reading through it, it touched on, like, three things that I was thinking. There was there's a guy, Steve Hartkoff, who who goes to our church is

did he is he gone yet? He's in excuse me. I breathed in. Like Texas, is that where they're at? They're they're going soon. So he's heading to Afghanistan. He's military. Yeah. Yeah. He's heading to Afghanistan and like, I I was I was I couldn't we have this book that we're kinda filling stuff out for him to send to him with our prayers and stuff. And, like, for this applied to him for me. I found some stuff that I thought was appropriate there. I I for the people that were on on on the prayer wall, there were things that that I thought, well, you know, this this really could help. And then and then for me, this was kind of a a I don't know, just something that fired me up. A jazzer. Yeah. God is for me. What can man do to me? I love it. I I got a jazz so anyway, here's let's finish this out. Psalm 56, where I think we're in verse nine. Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this, I will know that god is for me. In god, whose word I praise, in the lord whose word I praise, in god I trust, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Same sentiment. I dig on it. I am under vows to you, oh god. I will present my thank offerings to you for you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling that I may walk before god in the light of life. Anyway sorry. I hate to take up your time with a lot of scripture, but I I love it. Like, I I It's cool. I like it. It really got me. So anyway It would be a a giant bracelet to wear on your on your arm. Yeah. Yeah. What would Jesus do? He would read Psalm 56 That's my arm sleeve. In a funny manner. I'm just gonna get a tattoo. This is this arm bracelet is ridiculous. You know, it's cutting off the blood in my hand. I'm getting up for You can do anything. You can get it in a in a headband and then just slowly have to rotate it and read it from the mirror. I like That would be the way to go. Psalm 56 headband. You could put it on your fist in real small lettering. Yeah. Put it together. Anyway, if you're looking for something to to to pray on this week or some some part of it something to to focus on the bible,

I would I would suggest joining me in Psalm 56. I I thought I mold this one around for for a while. Like, probably this week. I'll I'll just read it every day, pray on it, see what I get from it. But I don't know I don't know where you guys are at, where any of you guys are at with with the stuff in your life. But I don't know. This one this one covered a lot for me. And and it really is. I think it's it really adds depth to it when you realize, like we said, where he's coming from when he wrote that. David wrote that. I mean, he it's not sitting there in the desk thinking, well, what clever little mind can I come up with? God is for me. How does that sound? I like it. That'll that'd a great bumper sticker, you know. Yeah. I mean, yeah. He he is in captivity with the Philistines. They're known for killing each other. I mean, they're not known for like, you know, just hanging out and we're gonna show you He took out Goliath. I mean, they they gotta remember that. Yeah. Acts Goliath was indeed a Philistine? Yes. He was. Yeah. So yeah. Anyway, so Psalm 56, if you're if you're on stuff this week. I dig it. So so okay. So how does that work? You're you're doing the corporate life and and I mean, I guess you really talked about the app while the application. But I think that does give you hope. If, man, things are are just not going well and seems like everybody's out to get me and and they're undermining me. I'm trying to get this promotion but, you know, Joe Blow's knocking me down because he wants it too and they're lying about me and they're they're mistreating me and all this stuff. And I said, you know what? Don't don't worry about it. Yeah. What do you say? That's what it says to me. Hey. You know what? Give me the job. Don't give me the job. I don't care. God is for me. Whatever. Yeah. God's gonna provide my needs one way or another. Yeah. You know? I like the promotion but I'm just do my And you know how that happens and this was one of my other favorites that said that, you know, in in everything that you do, do as if you're working for the Lord. Yeah. Because the thing is is you can rest back on your laurels and say, if the Lord wants me to get a promotion and a Bentley My wife my wife had a field day with that with that. She walked around the house for a week. Mike, I said, yeah. I'm doing laundry for Jesus. Ten minutes later, Mike? Yeah. The toilet's clogged for Jesus.

She thought that was just the greatest. But, like, if you don't if you lose that part, I'm gonna tell you that I don't think things are gonna go all that well by saying, you know, the Lord will will just do whatever. Like, the Lord will do what he wants, but he asks that you're working for him. Right. And that's how he ends up doing what he wants. So, I mean, it's not like you can just sit in your chair and say, if Jesus wants me to get this promotion, I won't even have to apply. They're just gonna show up and hand it to me and say, Ben, god bless you. Here's a promotion. Along with a little word. Yeah. Yeah. You're our favorite employee. You know what Jesus is moving on. What for you? That giant Psalm 56 verse. Yeah. So I mean, you've got you have to be doing something. You have to, you know, get off your butt, take some steps. You know, God's asked you to do things as if you were doing them for him. So like, you know, if if God said, hey, will you do this task for me? And you sat back in your chair and said, yeah, but you really do it though. Right? I mean, I just get to sit in the figurehead of this operation. Yeah. I mean, are you gonna coast me around or I bring you to the table. It's like the manager with the star the star baseball player, you know, it's like Exactly. I'm not him, but I'm gonna bring him with me. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I win just because. That's one of those half that's one of those half biblical things. Jesus wears a Mike uniform the other way around. That's okay. Then see that word these these are problems here. That's a that's a 10%. We lost 10% on the Jesus Jesus meter. We're down to 90. Well, don't you think if believers

should be the hardest working I think that's where they stick out. They don't have to wear a Jesus t shirt. They don't have to wear a bracelet and they don't have to argue about why can't I wear a cross to work when they get to wear a headband? Yeah. You You know. Ought to be the hardest working person around not because you're trying to get brownie points but because you work for Jesus. Yeah. Whatever whatever it is you do, it's for Jesus. Yeah. You know what? There should be guys in the break room thinking, man, you know, what's with that guy? And like, well, he's a Christian. Exactly. That's why he works so hard. Exactly. Yeah. He's got a colostomy bag and he's got his food on him at all times. He's never doing anything. He won't stop. He needs no break. He just goes in the bag. Sorry.

They were at the meter again. I'm sorry. That colostomy bag is gonna cost us 20 points. That's a big stiff. Don't get a t shirt. God's not for me now. God says I was on board. I'm out again. Speaking of working for Christ, here's a here's we're gonna show you a quick clip of of this is from the I keep forgetting. It's the community. It's the church in in Illinois. Naperville.

Community Christian Church. Community Christian Church in Naperville. So anyway, I I thought this was pretty funny. It's it I actually had meant to show it in our mainly man talk last week. So dig on this. We're gonna come back after after the minute, and we're gonna talk about this this guy this guy that is a drag on your economy that you wanna help. You keep trying to help and and nothing seems to work, you can't decide whether you need to keep helping him or whether the whether it cut him loose. So go ahead and enjoy this. Keep that guy in your mind, and and we'll be right back with you. Hello, Christians. Look at the person next to you. Now back to me. Now back to the person next to you. Now back to me. Chances are that person is a Christian just like you. But sadly, here in your office, you're surrounded by non Christians. What are you gonna say to them? Don't answer that. Look down. Back up. Where are you? You're at your small group. Again, surrounded by Christians just like you, but not everyone is just like you, are they? Don't you wish you could talk to them like you talk to them? What's it back at me? I have it. It's two tickets to that church thing that you love. Look again. The tickets are now salt and light, which what you should be to your non Christian friends.

Anything is possible with Norse Spice body wash. It would not make you not smell like a non christian. I'm on a donkey. There you go. That was beautiful. That couldn't end it anyway. I'm on a donkey. It's that it's that last part that sold me. I couldn't let it go after that. Blah blah blah, Jesus. Blah blah blah. Donkey. Yes. It's it's for This is the best video of it.

Alright. You've been listening live from the path on desmoinesamplified.com. You can catch us on the web at livefromthepath.org at our new and improved live from the path website. I hope you enjoy it. I certainly enjoy it. New and improved? Yeah. I don't know. Have you seen it? You've seen the website? Well, I I obviously send out the wrong link every time Yes, to our church every This dude is classic. Classic. He's supposed to be sending out the links to the show and like, look, everybody. Look at the show. He's giving out the wrong, website address at least twice. And I think it's it's just too sketchy to correct it, lest he do anyway, life from the path of pneumonia at fly.com. Okay. So you had your minute. You had your minute to think. Everybody got in your mind. So I'm gonna paint a picture of this fella, Okay? Or lady, whoever it is in your life. So this is a person where, yeah, it seems like they just can't make a right decision to save their life. They're they're pretty earnest. They show up and they say, look, I really wanna change. I wanna do the right thing. And they seem on board for a couple hours, couple days, whatever. It usually comes in twos, probably no more than a couple months. K? They wanna do the right thing and you wanna help them. You see you see it in their eyes. They're they're trying hard. So you you give them money, give them time, you provide support. But you give them, you know, biblical counseling. Just you pray for them, that kind of thing. You put a put a lot of effort into this deal,

and then they take it. And they do something just outrageously stupid that you cannot comprehend with all the effort that you've done, all the prayers. Nothing's happened to your money. They bought an I'm pro Ben shirt and they're wearing it around. K? And then, you know, you're a little disappointed, but you wanna be supported. You go back and you you're nice to them, and then you pretty start you get back into it. They say, you know, you know, I really wanna change my weight. I wanna change my life. And they come back, and they're really earnest about two weeks, two hours. You give them some money. You pray for them. You give them time. K? And this plays itself out over, I don't know, years. Years, this this person. And the question is,

does it stop? When does it stop? Is there is there a from a biblical perspective because and the two things I can think of are are shaking the dust off your feet and teaching a man to fish. So is there a time where you say, you know, he's just not learning how to fish. I'm I'm spinning my wheels here. I give up. God never will never give up on you. Do you give give up on him from a from a support perspective? Mike?

Man, I don't know. I don't know. I looked I looked I I I looked scripturally, you know, for answers here. And, like, I can't I can't find anything that says, like, per se, you know, shake the dust off the feet for them. Like like I don't know. Like I was looking for something to say I don't have to give them money anymore.

You know? Like I was looking for something to say, know, like like how many times in the middle of the night do I have to leave, you know, my family to go deal with whatever's happened? You you know what I'm saying? Like like, you know, of course, that's you know, the Lord's not gonna hit that example directly, you know. I mean, I don't think you can ever lose, you know, your, you know, your spiritual gifts to you know, like like like, if if someone calls and says, I I need help, you know, there should be a light in in every Christ follower's head that says, I got the answer. You know? Yeah. I I have time. Let's talk about this, you know? But but, you you know, like Ben says, it it just it just it never ends. It never stops. It never ends, you know. And finally, you you now you feel like, you know, maybe you're sacrificing,

you know, I don't wanna say, you know, your your family, you know, but you are. You know, you're you get you you get so strung out, you're sacrificing your family, you know, to to hit this one individual and and and and you have to look in your your poor wife's eyes and say, they need help, man. They need help. And I I I guess I'm the only one to do it. And then you go. And then six months later, it you you get burned again. And then you have to look at your same significant other and go, I gotta go. You know? Like like, I I don't know. I don't know where it is. It it is tough. It is it is a tough thing. At some point, you are feeding

their irresponsibility by continually, you know, giving them life support Right. Or life preservers. And and at some point, you're you're you're hurting them.

But that's the toughest thing. I guess, this this hits me because I talk to so many people. You know, a lot of times people will I'm like, because of the title, they'll come to me. Right. There's a pastor, get them. Exactly. Exactly. And and it is challenging because you're sitting there trying to discern, are we helping them or hurting them? Are we just being a codependent person, you know, enabling them to to live a self destructive life? Or are we truly helping them get out of a pit?

And I suppose if they keep falling into the same pit over and over again, you're you're obviously not helping them. You're you're just giving them more time before they drown. True. And, you know, and and may maybe you just, you know, keep doing I don't there has to be a time you cut it off. Well, see that's that's I I guess I I I mean, maybe that's a maybe it's a specific specific situation prayer deal, you know. Like, Lord, you know, how how much more do you want me to give? You know, like I mean, I I guess if you're willing, you know, say, Lord, I'm a blank slate. You want me to keep giving until I'm homeless? What you know, whatever. I'll I'll I'll keep at it, you know? I mean but see, that's the thing. That that's where I think that's where the prayer comes in, you know? Because, I mean, there could be actual situations where the Lord's trying to teach you something at the same time. Right. You know, I I I think that and that's I think prayer discerns that, you know, but and it just, you know, you go through this with with a ton of people, especially in the the Christian walk is the hardest thing. You know, their their their relationship with Christ is the hardest thing. Like, I can I can easily I shouldn't say easily, but I can cut money off of people and say, look, I just don't have it now? Yeah. You know, I'm sorry. I'd love to help you. I can't. You know? What are the benefits of being broke? Right. I I have no money for you. You know? You know, the time thing is not as easy for me. You know, I can still give, you know, if I I can say, look, if you're willing to meet me say, 1AM when my entire family is sleeping, you know, I'll sacrifice my time in the middle of the night. You can you don't have to sleep every day. Mhmm. You know? But the spiritual thing like, that one's really hard. Like, you know, because because they'll they'll guise it under the same blanket. You know, they'll show up under the same cloak. It's like, you know, I really need to straighten some my life, you know. And and so right now, they're they're asking for inherently money

and time and as far as I can see it, spiritual counseling. Because if you're getting my time and it's one in the morning and I think you got troubles, you only have one solution for you. You know, Jesus is your answer. Mhmm. You know? And so it's hard to say I don't have time to talk about Jesus with you because you're just gonna waste it. Right. You know? And so that's that's a hard thing to say to somebody, you know? But, you know, if they're not honestly seeking a relationship with Christ, you know, it's hard for another guy to discern that, you know? It is. It's hard to judge else's walk with with Christ, you know. If they come at you and say, look, I need help. And you're like, well, that's perfect because I have the answer. You know, Jesus is the answer. No matter what they're asking help for, you already know what the answer is gonna be. And it's it's hard to say, no, I can't. But even even the apostle Paul said, hey, if you don't work, you don't eat. Right. You know, mean, he got pretty tough with with believers going, okay, you're a believer, you should know better. Get off your butt and get to work, you know. What do you think is easier with believers than it is with non believers then? Yeah. I I I think it definitely is because you have you have somewhere to go, like, you if it's if they're Like, be able to say you know better? Yeah. Like, because they should. They should definitely. If they don't, that's your first session. Oh, here. Let's talk about work. Let's see what the proverb says about work. Let's see what apostle Paul says about work. You know, it's so clear. You know, if if you, you know, what is it? Little little slumber. What's that proverb?

A little sleep, a little slumber, turning on the hinge. I can't remember mixing three together. Basically, your house is gonna fall apart if you don't do anything to fix And and and you're gonna run out of food if you don't do anything to, you know Get the survive. Yeah. Exactly. And it's like, well, you kinda planted those seeds and you reap what you sow. I mean, it's all over the place in scripture. Well, but I mean, on the other hand, it's on, you know, it's all over the place in scripture to to, you know, help thy neighbor. Exactly. You know? In the old testament I mean, is God's heart too. In the old testament, part of the command was if you're a farmer, you leave part of your crops unharvest so that people can come and eat who don't have a job, who don't have food. And, you know, you don't have a clipboard saying there, oh, wait a minute now. Did you make some poor choices? Because you can't come in, you know. Well, are you lazy, sitting around, fishing? Well, that's probably good. Were you, you know, playing checkers instead of, you know, working? Well, you you know, whoever needed it could just go eat. Right. You know, they didn't I don't know. Yeah. Right. There was no sign on the on the fringe of the field that was to be left for the poor to for you to explain yourself. Exactly. But you you were in the straights. I set this out for you. I'm not asking you any questions. You were still to provide for the poor. You were still to provide well and I think the the the question is is

is how you're doing it. Like, is there an extent where have you given so much time, so much effort where your your matter, of course, is is basic basic needs and that's to the extent when people are gonna have to start helping themselves. Yeah. It's it's tough because, like, it relative to our our example from god, his his grace is eternal. It's it's it's always there. It always will be there. You can't do anything to get it away. It's just as strong the first day as it is the last day. Doesn't get burned out. Yeah. He doesn't get bored with you. He doesn't get lazy with you. And so, you know, if I see, you know, I benefited from and I'm saved by this fierce grace of Jesus Christ,

but I don't have to I don't even I'm gonna try to live up to that standard. This guy, I'm gonna say, well, I've, you know, 70 times seven. Let's see. Legitimate 490. Okay. I'm done. Yeah. We're there. We're there. Yeah. You know, but but on the other hand, you know, I mean, if you if you walk at it with that mindset, you know, spend you'll spend twenty four hours a day doing these things for people. You know, like, you will honestly be dragged around by your coattails, you know, and and dropping you know, like like I mean, there's enough scripture to support your marriage and your family to know that you can't just disregard them for everybody's whim, you know? Yeah. And and so I I I guess it depends on what scripture you grab onto, you know? I I don't know. But can't. I mean,

it seems like we have to have a a total picture here from God, which would which would imply to me that it's really a we we've been talking about distinctions a few times of, you know, there there's a time for everything. There's a there's a time in our Manly Man stuff, you know, there's a there's a time for going to the mat and fighting for something, and there's there's a time to make peace. And it's, you know, it's discerning those times, which is is the struggle for the Christian. It's not that it's not like we're all capable of this. We're all capable of helping people. We're all capable of, of backing away. The question is is is when is the appropriate time? And and and frankly, I think that's where, you know, the strong the strong pair stuff, you know Comes rolling in. Yeah. Exactly.

Exactly. I agree with You know, you add an element of this too, and I hate to cross this line, but when you have the government playing the role of God saying, well, we're gonna supply your needs and we're gonna be your welfare and we're gonna feed you and we're gonna clothe you and yada yada yada. Yeah. They're taking our money from us without our permission and then redistributing

that to to whomever they decide. Right. So we don't have it so much as we used to Right. You know, or could have to to give personally to someone. It's so much to have personal accountability than just, well, hey, it looks like you're a welfare little Right. Because it's easy to take money from faceless people Oh yeah. And just go, you know. You can tell anybody any story and they're like, okay, I'm okay. We'll sign you up. You're in. You you know and yeah. You know, and I think there's there's there's a couple sides to that. I think the the first one is is I I would agree. I think it's completely it's necessary.

I think or I think you get the most out of it, the people with your that you're interacting with, where you are going where your money is going. Like Yeah. You're not just I mean, there's some people who have a lot of money and they they just can't be everywhere and God bless them for giving it out. Right? But I mean, you know, your money should follow your passion. We had this discussion at work where, you know, they have a lot of they have some generic charities that they always sponsor through work, you know. And I just I I don't I'm not gonna give my money there. I there's I know it did. Sometimes there's some questionable things that that charity might support that I don't. But for the most part, you know, I I have specific things that God has put in my life to be a part of. And and I think that's where my time and and I feel like my money should be going. The other part of that though, and I think we do run into some issues with this, is you'll get you'll get people that will try to drag people to Jesus through charity. And I and I I use drag

specifically. Like, you know, you you owe me to go to this bible. You owe me to to tell me that you accepted Christ. Like, you're not introducing people to Christ. You're not fostering a relationship with Jesus by example and by discussion. I think there are some times where where people misuse charity as a way to further an agenda, including a Christian agenda and and they're not doing anybody any favors. We've given you something now you owe me. Yeah. Exactly. Whether it's an audience or, you know Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And I think it's it's it's a it's a real danger. And so and sometimes, we can cloud we can excuse ourselves because we because we were doing good. Mhmm. You know, oh, I'm doing this work for the lord. So I can excuse

this behavior. I'm giving all my time. I'm giving all my money. You know, we should be getting something out of this. And it's it's that type of mind frame that skews the biblical principle. The biblical principle is still to introduce people to Christ and have them get there. But, like, a false relationship with Christ is not any better than none at all. Mhmm. I mean, you need to understand your savior. You need to understand, you know, his grace. And to the extent that you've been tricked or scared into this relationship with Christ and it's if it's not a real one, you know, no one no one don't It's of no value. Yeah. Exactly. Like, what have you done? You you got another line on the chalkboard. Oh, we we we got another one for you might as well say Jesus because it's because it's not Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. So He's got the mafia. You can't you can't buy them out. Bummer. Yeah. Really. I don't know. I I mean and here's the thing. It's not that that that type of outreach isn't completely appropriate and awesome.

It's just I you know, we've gotta be humbling ourselves when you're doing stuff like that and making sure that you're out there for you. I mean, I I think I can attest for the for the three dudes in this room. No one steps into this radio station without saying, I hope these words are yours and this doesn't become about me because, I mean, it's it's a risk. It's a risk when you when, you know, your guy talking for two hours that it could very easily become about you. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, I don't know. That stuff's on every every drive in here, every Monday, that stuff's on me. Well, I you know, you know, this happens a lot with a lot of Christian media stuff, you know. You know, TV and and and commercials and radio, you know. You know, whatever whatever, you know, they you know, I was I was watching something the other day and they they were having like a raising money thing, you know. And you know, I get it. You know, that they, you know, they they don't have advertisers whatever, you know. So and they're saying, you know, it's a ministry and that's, you know, that's true and and everything, you know. Like some of the things that they were promising in exchange for your money contribution, it just it seemed off. Kinda crosses a little Like like the one of them one of them had said, you know, if you're waiting for if if you've been praying on it and you're waiting for, you know, God to give you the next big step in your life, in your spiritual walk, This is it. Oh. I I thought, man, I I just I don't think you can say that. I don't think you can say that with with a 100% backup truth. You know, I suppose he could have been praying for the last three days and fasting and the Lord convinced him that every single person that will be listening, this is the next step. But, man, I find that real hard to believe. Yeah. You know, so it it the thing is like and I I wanted to be careful because,

you know, that doesn't make the industry, you know, less representative of God, you know, but but sometimes I listen to that and I go, man, you gotta watch out what you're promising here. You know, because I mean Exactly. You're kinda taking the Lord's words and steering them right towards your interest. Right. You know, which which I mean and it it may be right. Your TV program or your, you know, your broadcast may may reach, you know, millions of people. But once again, if you're not if you're not dropping out, you know, what the Lord put down for you, you know, now you're in you're you're in hesitant territory. What if what if God is done with that broadcast? Yeah. What if God if Maybe he's drying it up. Yeah. You know, he doesn't need us to to like guilt people into yeah. That that's why at church we don't take an offering. It's all about that. It's like either you're there to give to Jesus out of an act of worship. Half the time we don't even mention it. I mean, I forget, you know. And it's like, well, there's this box there that you don't know what it is unless you're like Right. What's that weird box? Yeah. Why is there a box there? It's like Yeah. We just don't wanna make that a thing because if if this is God's deal, his ministry, his thing, he's gonna take care of it. I mean, he'll do it through his people. Yeah. But but if we have to beg and coerce and and and start making stuff up, know, like, God will give you a new car, know, put a $100 check-in today, you're gonna get a thousand dollars this week. Right. You know, I mean Like he's an ATM. An equal Exactly. He's a he's a he's a betting you can't lose. Exactly. Yeah yeah. That just that just makes me squirm a lot. No. Actually, and and it's something that I've heard you say before is is, you know, Gunn doesn't need your money. Exactly. What do he doesn't He already has to do with money. It's his stuff. What is he I own the mountains, like, need your $8. Like, I don't need your money. He's laid out, you know, giving in tithes as a as a discipline

to as a way to help you to keep your focus where it needs to be. And frankly, also to con conduct his business in a world that, you know, you can't soup doesn't just show up. I mean, you wanna give soup to homeless people, someone's gotta buy it. So I mean, you know and someone's gotta turn the lights on. But Yeah. But in but generally speaking, he doesn't need your money. It's and and so, you know, when when people are giving under compulsion, you might as well keep it. Just put it in your pocket, take it home with you. You know, god god needs your $8, you know, like he needs anything else in the world. It's just it's all his anyway. He does not need it. So, I mean, unless you really wanna give it to him and you're giving it to him as as a as an act of worship to him, put it back in your pocket. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, because that goes back to mankind again. You you know who benefits when someone gives her $8? Well well, I do. Because then I know I get paid next week. Right. Yeah. Well, it's not about me. I mean, it's either God's church or it's not. Yeah. I don't know. We get we get so easily entangled

with with the worldly stuff that that and we don't have enough faith in God to say, either God's gonna do it or he's not. And if he's not, maybe he has the better plan. Right. He's the one with the chess Maybe we came up with bad ideas. Exactly. That's that happens a lot. We don't want you to do this. Because see, I'm sure I'm sure this is what you want. God, I don't know if you realize but this stuff is on sale. We need to get it now. And actually, that was another thing that I've been kinda praying on within this week is is is for me not to try to to limit god with my ideas. Lord, here's what we're gonna do. Help me to do it. How about I say how would I start with, Lord, help me to try to understand what it is you want done. Because aim way higher. I can't think God sized ideas Yeah. Because I'm not You I'm not can barely dress yourself in the morning.

There was I remember I was in when I was in college, there was a guy that asked, like, how would these so the question ended up basically saying, how would you how would this philosopher describe god? And basically, response was, we don't have words that are capable. Like, I don't I don't have words that can capture this god appropriately to answer this question. Mhmm. That is an a plus answer, by the way, just in case you need to use it. Okay. That got an a if you have an open minded floss, heck, that's an a plus answer. Okay. So but but, I mean, that but that's the deal. It's like, what what about I could you could waste and I I I do mean waste pages and pages because, like, it's a futile effort. So anyway, what's came to mind? Did you say there's a thesis written on it? It looks kinda like this. It's like it's gold leaf. Like gold leaf. Keep an eye They're getting kinda expensive. Depends on where you get them. You know you know what surprises we haven't seen yet though on the yeah, these really pricey Bibles that are out there? Drives me crazy. It's disgusting. Hey. Did you hear that the National Atheist Convention is gonna be in Des Moines? There's another thing? And they're and the the only reason they're having it here is because the or at the hotel is because the hotel has agreed to pull all the Bibles out of the room. See, here's here's the thing about that. Like, if you don't if you believe God is fake,

like, that's like having a comic book in the in the in the drawer, is it not? Like, if it's a story to you, if it's if you think people are foolish for reading it and foolish for believing it, you could just as well put a Superman comic in that drawer. And they wouldn't say, take all the Superman comics out of the drawer. Exactly. And here's the thing. I could care less that they're taking it out. It's not like you're throwing God out. He's not contained by a drawer in a hotel room. What they don't know is we're gonna be giving out Psalm 56 t shirts. Yeah. I'm for I am totally in. You wanna go? Here this is the thing that that that I find odd about that whole situation like and I I thought I'd explain this and maybe I didn't do a very good job but but like, they spend I spend my whole life promoting something that I believe in. They spend their existence

promoting something that they don't believe in. You know, like like anti promoting something that they don't you know, it's like it's it's like I I you know, I don't go out of my way to to, you know, like like we were talking about, get on the atheist blog and say, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Or or, you know, or write songs about how much I don't believe in atheism or how much I think the whole thing is is crock, you know, like like it's it seems so odd to be so passionate about what you don't believe. Well, I think that goes back to the reaction to to the obnoxious believers out there that are Yeah. Getting under their skin and, know, you know, tell them they're gonna go to hell and everything. Well, I mean, honestly, they are. But but, know, really, is that how you're gonna win someone over? It's a you know, you don't believe how I believe, so therefore, you're gonna burn forever. Right. And it's like, well I mean, at some point, you gotta present truth. But I think it can be done without a fist. A little more tastefully. You know, unless a fist that's where you pray on it. Lord, do I need a fist? I'm ready. This will straighten it all up. With an iron. Well, Let's see, like, I can and this is gonna come out wrong, but, like, I could kind of understand

a guy that's, like, an agnostic, like a guy that's, you know, I don't believe it. I don't not believe. I just, you know I'm not concerned. Whatever. You do what you wanna do. I'll do what I wanna do. Like, I can that is a line of thinking of which still allows freedom to believe what you want. But is, you know, is not so spirited in, you know, you believe what I want or I'm gonna stab you in the eye. You know. That's the that's the point of having a a god that sits on the judgment seat. You're not responsible. Keep it to yourself, buddy, you know. But, you know, it's I don't know. But but but, actually, that that that convention, I I was pretty excited about because it's just just somebody pray for it. What is it, you know? No. I don't know. But I tell you I tell you what I what I was thinking though. If I see one dummy out there with some kind of freaking protest sign or banners or music From Wichita? Yeah. I I'm kicking in some heads. Seriously.

Because God's for you. God is for me. He's pro men. Are you saying it's not right for someone to go down there and and and Oh, it's this spring? What are what are you protesting? I don't know. The man needs help. They need they need Christ. Okay. Well, okay. So what if he's down there with a sign that says, I'm praying for you? Is that cool? Okay. That's alright. Like his level of protest? Yeah. Here here's what I don't wanna see. I don't wanna see burning hell, you know, Jesus loves you, but I can't stand your ugly face. Like, whatever it is that they decide they wanna put on Like, that that's what I'm saying is is is

the the thing with the with that type of protest right there is you're putting yourself in the judgment The I'm calling out if I know that you're an atheist and you're going to an atheist convention, k, I know that you're separated from God. I'm more likely to weep, frankly, than protest and say, you're an atheist forever and going to hell. Because you know what? As as long as I am breathing, as long as this world is spinning and Jesus has not come back for it yet, there's opportunity. So so how about we do this? How about when we find out when it is,

chat says in the spring, we have another fast. We're the midst of a forty day fast right now. Or what if we plan our twenty four seven prayer room at that same time? I want on board. And what if we join them? And not to be obnoxious, not even to engage them. We just kind of show up and and in in the midst of a season of prayer and we're fasting and let's have God do it. And that which kind of goes back to we don't need signs. We don't need to yell at people and and if if God is is really happening, God will bring to us who needs to come to us. So me and you and Ben and the Lord are gonna go to the atheist convention here in Des Moines. I think it'd be kinda cool. I'm in. Yep. I'm in. We can have them on our program. Say, well, please tell us why you hate God so much. Yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna debate him. I'm not I'm not a debater. I'm Yeah. I know. I'm like I'm not very good with that either. You know, I can tell you that Jesus loves you. I mean, but, you know,

I'd rather take this in a spiritual way which is kinda what tends to work with people and with God, he works spiritually Yeah. Rather than than throwing things at him and yelling at him and calling him sinners and smelly sneaky people. Yeah. It's like, that's let's the spirit of God. Yeah. Whatever. God's gonna do what he wants to do. Yeah. It's the thought you know, the actually, maybe the other thing that that irritates me is the guy who who again puts it on himself, I'm going to influence this situation. Yeah. You're looking at for the wrong I'm gonna make a difference. I'm gonna slay people for the Lord. I mean, if someone's standing outside our church saying, I hate your Jesus and I hope you die, you know, I'm probably not gonna go talk to him out of like, well, I really wanna know what he has to say. Yeah. But I don't know I don't know what I'm trying to say. Well, see what you're saying because we talked about this at the man show. You know what I'm saying? Like like that's the exact situation that David was in, you know? Big old giganto Goliath is like, oh you Christians are blah blah blah causing trouble yelling, saying bad things, profane, whatever. You know, every morning he finally said that this is it. You know, and he goes out and and settles the score. You know, I like like we said, there's a there's a there's a time to there's a time to hit the mattress and there's a time to, you know, take it easy. Yeah. You know, so I mean, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with with someone, you know, and just say, hey, here's here's where I'm coming from. Where are you coming from? And and as adults, have a conversation where we're not like all emotional and trying to persuade anybody. Just rather, hey, this is this is Were you standing up straighter and straighter as the thing goes on? And what Talk a little louder. I don't think you'd really you know, in the back of your head, you're thinking, you know, I'm right, you know. You know there really is a God. And the thing is we we know we are right.

What makes this conversation so easy. He's gonna come in and go, you're never gonna convince me to believe in this God. What's wrong with you? And Dan goes, you're never gonna convince me to let God be. So this ought to be fun. You know, that's one of the things we've we've had we've talked about starting like a a midweek, noon ish campus here for the Des Moines area downtown where we kinda do the same scripture that we did on Sunday morning. Kind of a maybe a toned down a little bit sermon of what, you know. And

someone had mentioned, great point, probably knowing the area down here, Who we would attract is all the atheists coming up to to to make fun of us. Right. So I'm trying to get my my wrap my mind around that. Part of me says, well, that's kinda cool. Yes. If they'll sit down and engage in conversation and not just throw things and be stupid and wear Yeah. You know, I hate Jesus t shirts, I'll I'll do it. Yeah. You know. But I wanna know what we're getting into. I guess that's why I haven't moved forward personally with, yeah, we should just do this. Know, there's no reason not to. Well, it it almost What does God want? It almost be really interesting to to to talk to him anyway, you know, just because, I mean, if if you I mean, if you've read the bible, you know, and and, you know, I give it to a lot of the atheists are are are well learned in the bible, you know, they read it and they say no, you know. But if you read the bible cover to cover, I don't know how you can't say, yeah, this is for me, you know. Yeah. Never ending grace. Love constantly, you know. Loves me. This sucks. This is terrible. I hate being loved. I just wanna I just wanna go to hell. Leave me alone. You know, but you know, so so it's interesting to see exactly what, you know, what turned them what turned them about the whole thing, you know. Because You're a out of 10. Thing with a church. Nine out of 10. Yeah. It's it's a it's it's a people, you know. Like Mhmm. This guy, you know, who represented Christ to me was ridiculous, you know. And they can't get past it. Yeah. I don't know. Agreed. I think we should go to this conference. I'm in. We should bring flat Stanley. We should bring flat Stanley. Stanley, how do Send him back to How do you feel about this? Stan? Stanley? Flat Stanley?

He he's in favor. Okay. Good. He's in. Raise your hand, Stanley. I'm not sure we should take pictures of Flat Stanley at the easiest commission. Hey, that's just one more place he's gone. That's right. He hit a Christian radio show and he hit the easiest commission. He loves all people. Yeah. Does. Stanley's an equal opportunity dude. He can fit fit anywhere. Alright. You've listening to life from the path on the mourningamplified.com. Did we straighten this out then? What are we doing with him? What do we do with this guy? Is it so is

it the Oh yeah. Guy? You mean Stanley? See, that's the that's the worst part about this whole situation is you forget about the guy. Yeah. You know, until he calls. You know, like like he you know, you talk to him, you know, you help him and then like two months later, well, must have gotten it figured out. Haven't heard from him, you know? Yeah. And then two months after that, here he come. Here he You know you know what I struggle is is is feeling like in those particular instances, like, I could I should have done more. Like, he's fallen and let it go. Like, I I didn't follow-up with him up with him for two months and now look where he's at. I should have kept on him. And but the thing is is, like, really, you can't be all things to all people. Yeah. You can't. Well, it's just like the prayer thing we were talking about, you know. If you you're gonna say you're gonna pray for somebody, you know, pray for them but don't, you you know, don't tap yourself with, like, 7,000 people at the end of the night to pray, you know, to save it all up because you you're gonna start forgetting So I think you gotta cut shuffle. You gotta get the guys that you know, that the that the Lord leads you to get. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes you have to let them fail. I talked to someone today who,

you know, I've been working with for forty years. Ups and downs, hot, sometimes cold, sometimes and it's just that it's the it is that battle of the flesh. Know, maybe that's why there that's where the the compassion comes is, you know, man I do stupid things too. Yep. You know. So it's hard to just have this judgment where we're cutting you off because Right. I've got it together and you don't. What's your problem? You know, I don't have it all that together. You know, some days I do and sometimes I I I really don't. And and this person came and they were just absolutely broken and they were just like, wow, I've I've really gotta do some change, and don't I? Like, yeah, absolutely. We read some scripture in Romans six that we kind of did the last couple Sundays, you know, slave is sin is not your you're not a slave to sin, is not your master, that whole thing. And I said, that's awesome. Right now, you're in a great spot. It could be an hour from now, your flesh is gonna be crawling and screaming at you for something that right now you're saying you never wanna do again. Right. You know, and and we wanna be here for you, but tell us how. Sometimes you just gotta ask because we we don't know. I don't I don't know how to help someone who whatever the issue is. You know, how can we be with that person who makes that that that that poor choice that then takes them off the edge again and they come out screaming for help. It it wow. I can't you can't be with everybody Yeah. At all moments. Right. So you teach them. You build them up in the faith. You you ground them in scripture. So at least, hopefully, at least a scripture comes to mind before they do that thing, whatever it is their thing is. Right. But even then, we're we're weak. We're just a bunch of idiots. Yeah. Man, we really didn't straighten this out. So so far so the characterization of

of the Christ follower, if you're following the show over the last few weeks, is a hypocritical dummy. I'm getting a new t shirt. God is for this hypocritical dummy. Do you know why? Man, I this is a tough one. This is a tough one for me. It is. I tell you the reason this came up actually. And it was because of the prayer room. I've been praying you know, like, had some time in there and I try I try to, because I know I'm gonna have more than one hour, you know. So I usually I'll I'll take some time and I'll try to maybe devote an hour to to, you know, what the you know, how I'm walking with the Lord, what I can do in in my life and and what he wants me to fix and, you know, what I can change and and some worship and whatever. And and then I tried to take another hour and do people, you know, people I know. And I Mhmm. I got I realized

that that I think that the a big thing that I've been missing from my walk with Christ is I don't have the I don't have like the the Francis Chan lovey dovey, you know, relationship with God. And I thought, just don't, you know, why why why why can't I feel this, you know? And and I I kinda I kinda, you know, talked it out with somebody for a little while and and to a certain extent, I kinda I kinda felt a little bit better about it. And but I still realized that there were some things missing and it was my it was my love of his people. Like, I am terrible about this. I don't love people. Like, at all. Like, I I really I just don't I judge them and I and I look at them and I cut them off and I don't want anything to do with them and they irritate me and and and, you know, there's there's always gonna be irritation with people but like like Yeah. Do I honest I'm not I don't honestly love people, you know. And and and I spent the good majority of my time in the prayer room over the last week, you know, just say just just help me to just help me to see these people how you see them and and and stop clowning them with my my stupid judgment, you know. And and that's how this topic came up because I thought, you know, let's say that's the case, you know. This is this is me worried about jumping headlong into loving people and ended up being some kind of weird goofy hippie man, you know. And so, like, when do I get it cut off? When do I get it stop. When when can I say, look, I've loved enough? I can't take anymore. This is not We're out, you know. Because because I can definitely see it, you know, ending up being that way. Jumping in a pool of love and then you end up, you know, neglecting other people with your love. And you know what though, you do love people. I mean, we had a band in here a couple weeks ago that said, wow, we we need we need a van and we're gonna go on the road, we're going to Indiana and and and you I mean, it wasn't like, it was barely out of their mouth. You guys were like, well, you can we got a band. Mean, you know, it wasn't like, you you could have kept that from them. You didn't have to you didn't have to say that loud.

You just don't like to get all warm and fuzzy and and group hugs and No. You might have No. I lick your earlobe because Jesus was That's okay. You know, I mean, Jesus wasn't necessarily all that warm and fuzzy that we know of. I mean That earlobe licking Did that did that cross the line? Did points? We That's on par with the colostomy bag from earlier. Okay. 20 points down. But I'd say that we gained up to our 100. Right? Oh yeah. So now we're just at 80 again? Yeah. We were solid Jesus meter for the last twenty minutes. I hear a little thing. I'm always bowing it. We're weak. Actually, if it helps matters, we would we would use kind of a maze analogy on the chat. And I said, the last one from Swanart, it was yeah. Maybe you'll set her for the cheese in the middle because we're talking about, like, going through the a maze of life.

And I said, cheeses? And that lost point. That's gotta lose point. That's in writing. That lost point. So that means we each contributed to at least a 20 loss. Yeah. Except for you and Dan did it. If we did like ten seconds of each other, so we're Yeah. My bad. Sorry. This Jesus meter was a terrible idea by the way. Terrible. It's defective. I you know, I I think that's a that's a real strong I I don't know. Like like I'd I'd hate to I really like to talk to people that are struggling with the same thing because I I I think there's there's there's probably some folks out there who are just like me that like, you know, they see people weeping and they're like, man, I just wanna feel the power of God in my life so much that it that it overtakes me and I and I cry, you know, that I that I weep, you know, and, you know, I'm I'm not gonna say that I've cried some hymns every once in while. You know, I'll cry the worst tune every once in while. That's what I'm playing. You know. It's a whole different reason. Oh, Lord. I don't know why you've been He's on stage? Are you serious? I said I'd follow you anywhere, but you gotta be kidding. Dan Hudson is worse. That's all that's all we got? We're gonna have to spend more money outside of COVID. I love you, Dan. Yeah.

In my manly way, see, we're not gonna hug or anything. You're not gonna lick my earlobe? I'm not gonna write anything down that says these things but I said it won't. But I don't know, like, I I just man, I like, I'm just tired of struggling with it, you know? Like, I'm tired of feeling like like like, you know, because I'm not that Christian, you know, that that that that I'm not my my relationship with Christ isn't right. You know, like, there's something wrong. You know, of course, there's always things to to gain and always things to to work for and and and, you know, you know, there's intimate intimacy with with Christ that I don't get because I'm I'm not in his word enough. You know, but there's I guess there's just certain characteristic like like I feel like they they push on people. You know, like like I'm I I just don't know that I'm gonna have it. Trying to think of a scripture of I'm trying to put the picture in my mind so I can even know how to search for it. Jesus has an encounter with someone or maybe it's maybe it's not even a gospel. Maybe it's later on where they're like, something I'm gonna mess it all up. Like, they're they wish they had a miracle. They wish they had experienced something. And basically the answer was, well, didn't know it, you already had faith. I don't know if I mixed it up with something in Hebrews, you know, towards eleven ish, twelve ish.

I'm I'm I'm just muddy in my mind. I'm kinda following you. It's like, well, you you didn't need it. You didn't you didn't need to have that miracle. Yeah. You already had faith, you know. Right. It's the gospel. And I'm it's just keep thinking the more I talk, I'll I'll talk to myself. Okay. Well, before we butcher the Lord's word and lose another 20 points. You know, actually, of the things and and I don't know why I feel compelled to say this on the radio. But, like, I think I'm in the same boat as you to the extent that I don't I don't see people in, like, in, like, over empathetic for them. You know, I don't like, I I can look at I have to work hard not on loving them, but caring about them. Like, the effort of caring for somebody. Like, if you were to put me in a position that I, you know, I think I would feel love for for that person,

person to person. But, like, actually looking them and and and, you know, taking them out of the the me perspective, the selfish perspective of how is this person impacting my life, doing whatever in my life and saying and thinking, I wonder where they're at with god, you know, I wonder what's going on with their life. I care enough to even think about that and that is something that I have been working on over the last few weeks and one of the things that I have been praying praying for. But, you know, with the weeping thing, it was the weirdest thing. The the first night I was in the prayer room, which was it was about a week ago. And, of course, I have what I have, like, a 2AM to 4AM shift. And I walked in and, like, I turned on I there there were some tunes in there, and I turned on. It was it was this one. It it was it was Agnes D. And it was playing and and it it was loud. And I tell you what,

that I I'd started weeping, like like, openly crying for, like, I mean, seven minutes. And I I and I wasn't bad or anything. I was looking around. I'm, like, looking up. I'm going, I don't know what this is about. I didn't I didn't I don't even know what's going on in here. I don't want I'm, like, wiping stuff away. Don't wanna Stop it. Stop it. What's what is going on? The lord's coming. Clean yourself up. Never happened to me. And I walked into the room and Mike Dazed down. I wasn't thinking about anything and just just weeping weeping. And I'm and and seriously, I couldn't explain it. Not sad. I wasn't thinking about anything in particular. I was just crying. And, like and I I was well, I was on one these these at the time. Like, I'd gotten down. I was gonna so for some reason, I feel like the formal start at the prayer room is I I start in the whatever the traditional prayer was in.

Wonderful. And then I then I then I move around to walking about and yelling. But but it it it anyway, just just throwing it out there. It was it was the weirdest thing. But I I think to one thing is I'm thinking on it now that maybe I I got from it. It was just kind of a a cleanse. Just like, you know what? Let's just drain this just drain out for a minute and then I can then I can pray. And I, you know, whatever it was it was a largely selfish prayer session. I'm praying from a family. I'm praying from a church. You know, things that are exposed not selfish but, like, things that are attached to me. Yeah. You know? It's not like I'm in there. I'm clean out now. I'm benevolent about the bright kids in Somalia. Please help Brazil. Yeah. They seem to be having a rough time. I'm not really sure what they got going. Yeah. Love their nuts. But anyway, just just Brazil nuts. 30 points. What what was wrong with that?

Did nothing wrong. You have to be careful. What embarrassment out there. Luckily, the camera's still on me. I believe I believe the I believe the Jesus meter is now broken and it left the wall and it's leaving. Yeah. Anyway So just just throwing it out there. I've had the experience and I've I've never cried at anything in my life when it like, relative to this to to, like, following Christ. I might have teared up at a misted at a funeral or something. But other than that, like, for some reason, it just broke me. I don't I don't know what the deal was. I've actually done that before and and, like, I've I've I've actually ruined

my worship in the prayer room because I've attempted to recreate it happening. Yeah. Because I'm like, I just I wanna feel that broken again, you know, like, I I Okay. Took a step left. Right. Then I twirled. Yeah. How did I how did how did I end up weeping last time? Because it happened to me. Like, it was the last prayer room that happened to me. And almost the exact same story, like, just I just started crying. I'm like, well, this is ridiculous. There's no cameras in here, brother. What's going on in here? You know, I better write something on the wall. I'm obviously guilty of something. But Okay. So you guys have both experienced the prayer room. You have come in after we had already had one before. So for the first time, like, you were sitting in church and we're saying, oh, this is Purim. It's really great. It's really cool. Yep. What was your first reaction, a thought to that, like, dorks, compared to now that you've experienced it a few times?

Like And what what was it that broke through that go, okay, we'll give this stupid thing a try? I so that's the biggest thing. It's it's when you when someone goes there, they're, like, instantly, like, oh, okay. This is really cool. But to try to explain to someone, no, really, you need to do this. They they just look at like the Goliath is glaze over So gonna pray for an hour. Whatever. I I think I can answer that question. But let me start with just a review of the other premise. So what we're doing is we we it ends up being about biannual is our church does a twenty four seven prayer room. And the gist of the thing is is that for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for two weeks or however long past two weeks it'll go, someone is in a room, or a section of our of what is our ministry center, praying. The walls are lined with paper, so people can kinda write their write their thoughts, write their prayers out there. There's a lot of different things going on. There's a, you know, some symbolic things for you to work through to help you, get to talking to God. There's a shredder. So if you wanna symbolically write down the things that you're carrying around that you know you should have let go because God has forgiven them, you can write them down and run them through the shredder. There's a there's a cross in there that you can kind of kinda kneel at and you can kind of pray pray around. There's a it's it's one of my favorite spots that I haven't used as much this this time as I did the last time, but there's like a dark, a silent room just to kinda get in there and be with God. You don't have to say anything. You don't have to think anything. It's just, you know, I I have my eyes closed and I just think I'm just hanging out. I'm just here with God. So that's kind of the premise of the prayer room. And I would say,

I initially when I first did it, the very first time that I went to the prayer room, I did it because I think I I I think I knew that it was something that I was lacking. Because, I mean, the foundation of our relationship, of any relationship, there has to be communication. And and if I'm going to have relationship with Christ, I've gotta be talking with him. And I and I recognize when when you started talking about the importance of prayer with at the 247 Prayer Room, like, that's when the discussion about prayer tends to come and I thought, you know, I can there's more here. I'm whatever it is that I that I'm not feeling, that some people feel that I'm not feeling, I'm pretty sure is tied to me not talking with God enough and not being personal with God, not being transparent with God.

I I was probably a time in life where I thought still thought, I'm probably fooling him. I could come up with something cool to say and, you know, that's where he might care about that. Thoroughly cliches in a prayer. Yeah. You know, like Best of children. Yeah. I had certain prayers, things that I said and then, know, I I kinda walked through the motions of the deal. And and I think that's probably what got me in there. I was I was open to it and then, you know, if you leave the door open, God will go in and and I think he tugged me in there and and and, seriously, I I was trying to figure out there's there was someone who I thought I should invite to the prayer room and I was trying to figure out whether it was too much to say, look, I I I think this will change your life. And because it did change my life. Now, I mean, I I didn't start growing hair where it wasn't before, you know. I said it. Like like elbow hair. So very top. But, you know

but I think what I decided was is, like, I think that's true. I think it will change your life, but it some of it has to do with your attitude. Like, if you go in there with the, you know, with what it's for and talking to god and you're open to that, I I think it it can't not change your life. But I think that's been my impression and then this this time, that that's kinda how it started. It was a really really cool for me. And then this time, I mean, I've been taking some I've been doing a a couple hours. Most people do, like, an hour. I've been doing two because I feel like an hour, I start watching the clock. You know, ten minutes in, maybe someone might be showing up here, you know, start tucking stuff away, putting anything that I got out, kinda cleaning up the joint for the guy. Not singing quite as loud in case there's a guy standing out the door. Exactly. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you a story later. I made that mistake. Yeah. So so I but but the two hours, I mean, I got all the time in the world. I'm walking around. I can I can see one of the one of the really cool things is to see what's on the minds of the around you? And it puts god's people in perspective to you that that you realize how frail some things are.

Sometimes, the people you know, you know what they want you to know. You know, they they share things with god and they still share things with a piece of paper that they'll never share with you. Right. And I understand that. I get it. But but to see that and think, oh, I didn't even I didn't even know that. I there's names that come up like a way of a computer that kinda shows the names of the people in the church and, you know, and I'll pray for them. I'll take a picture of my mind. I'll kind of kind of, you know, pray for them. Most of the time, I'm praying because I don't know their situation so I just pray I I can know them better. And there's some people I don't know at all. Oh, look, I don't know that guy. God, can you help me remember to find that guy and, like, see what he's up to? Like, that's where that's where my where my thing is is connecting with some of those people. But, you know and I'll spend time doing that. And then this time, you know, I've spent just a lot of time music really loud. Like, I've been praying with really loud music going Oh, yeah. And That's what usually do. And talking out loud to God and In your underpants? That's

that's just his take off. Shoes, dude. Oh, it's a shoes your take off. You best read the sign. I like to go all the way. This is holy ground. I never have. Okay. Admit it. I've always wanted to. It's a David thing. To pray in the skinnies. Is that what you're saying? You don't have to explain it to us, Daniel. Okay. If you wanna be skinny fied inside the prayer room, I guess that's you and God. It's not like you ain't got nothing Lordy There's a gym bay in there, you can beat on that. You can clean that gym I can't go in that room anymore. I'm done with it. I've done it. So so you know, I I guess overall, here's here's the thing and this I'll throw this out there for anybody that's considering that's here in, like, the Des Moines area, if you're interested at all in the prayer room. Somebody posted the link out there. Oh, no. Oh, he's nude. That's funny. Dan? I didn't say nude. Listen to here. You do what you wanna do. Skibbies. I don't need to know about it because then I I won't be able to focus on what's going on.

We got covers over the leather furniture. Everything's fine. Anyway, so here's here's what I'd throw out there. If you're if you're in the like, the in Iowa, in the Des Moines, the the peril rooms in Johnston, this is not tied to, like, church membership or anything. Sorry. Con is not wearing underpants. Says Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, maybe he means he's not gonna okay. Never mind. No. I'm out of Pencil. Oh. Oh, no. I think he's saying you can't go in your underpants. Not that he doesn't have any he's leaving. He's leaving. He's through the prayer room right now. He's heading out the door. I don't think he's going out the I thought it was just a report. Oh, by the way, I'm not wearing underpants. No. I don't think that's what's going on. Oh, okay. Okay. Anyway. Sorry. He had something serious going on. Yeah. It's a jeezy Completely back around here. Nudes and colostomy bags and earlobes.

It's going downhill fast. Pancakes and prayer. Alright. So if you're in the Des Moines area, this is not tied to, like, a membership of the church. There's no one in the Bible where it says you have to belong to a if I do we even do membership? Not no. Not really. I haven't found a bible verse to back it up. It's okay. I I didn't think so. So anyway, you don't have to go to our group of people. If you came to the Gideon to New a Pathway church class, you'd know these things. Yeah. Sorry. I skipped it. I've been. I went to Have you been there? You taught it. I know I did. Fan of the people. I I skipped it and went to the one zero two. Mistake. Anyway, so you can you can click that link there, sign up. Sign up. And if you're hesitant at all if you feel hesitant, that means some part of you wants to do it. And I would say, just try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to come back. I guarantee that you'll love it. And and for for the folks that that if you're not in the area,

it's not pray anywhere. Like, actually, the the one thing that I walk away from the 247 Prayer Room is I realize how disconnected I've allowed myself to be. Like, I'm not separated from from God or anything. Like, his grace is still sufficient. I you know, you know, I'm still cool here. But, like, I realized how much how much peace I have in my life when I'm spending my time talking things over with god, taking stuff to him that I can't take anywhere else. The things that I would write on the wall but that I wouldn't show anybody else. Like, that's the kind of stuff that, you know, we feel like, oh, I gotta keep it in and I will deal with it. That's a fool's parade. You know, you're a frail human. Give it to god. He's pro you. We're talking about we're talking about Psalm 56. Right? He's pro Ben. He says, Ben, bring it to me. I wanna I wanna help. Well, it's it's amazing the the breadth of stuff that you find, you know, on the on the prayer wall. Know, you find you you know, there's a there's a lot of sickness and and physical illness, you know, and and and that's certainly something to pray for. But there's there's, you know, there's there's brutal honesty on the wall. You know, there's people writing, look, Lord, I'm trying to follow you. I just don't know that I can keep doing this. I don't know what I'm doing here, you know. And it man, it's those that that that really break me down. You know, I'm like, man, I gotta pray for this fella or this gal or or you know, like I really I wanna make sure, know, that that if you're trying and you're losing steam, know, and and that you you know, that that it's not like the sickness thing's not important but you know, when you you know, when someone is is honest enough to look in their heart and go, Lord, I'm not I'm just not following like I want, you know. I don't know if I can live another day. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And he was just like, oh man. Man, you know, we gotta you know, pray pray pray. You know, it just makes you wanna drop right there and then start praying, you know. And and they they got a map set up so if, you know, if you got people that you wanna pray for, you know, that you can take a little sticker and go, Lord, get get Carlisle. There's trouble in Carlisle, you know. And, you know, that you and then there's and then there's there's places to write the praise. And I love to write the praise stuff because I think I skip a lot of that in my normal prayer life. I don't I forget to say, you know, I have an amazing wife, amazing children, amazing church family, amazing everything. My life is amazing because of what you've given me. You know, and I I I always forget that part, you know, and I try throwing it at the end like, oh, yeah, by the way, God, you're you're awesome, you know. Let's sneak it, you know. And I mean, to truly sit down and think about what the what the Lord has provided for you, you know, the praise wall is really cool. I I don't know, like, the the the prayer thing and the only reason I went in is because

people that I looked up to for their walk with Christ were going. Mhmm. The the only reason I signed You know, I thought, you you know, this sounds stupid. I wasn't I wasn't digging on it. And and then I went and I didn't I don't was kinda along the lines like Ben said, like, didn't realize how dishonest I was being with the Lord. I was being a phony, fake. You know, like, I believed everything that was being said but I didn't really mean it, you know. Sure. Like, you know, Lord, I'm trying. I wasn't trying. I was trying. You know, I mean, I said I I said I was trying. I wasn't trying. Right. And so, you know, like it broke down a lot of stuff for me and and and really showed that that that I mean, just we're just talking an hour. You know, you're just signing up for an hour. And it flies by it. Man, it's gone. It's gone quick. You know? And there's I mean, especially, like, we always encourage people to sign up right at the beginning of the two weeks because you're gonna wanna go again. Mhmm. And and I mean and it's been you know, we've been we've been signing up, you know, almost every every other night, if not every night, you know, going. You know, if there's an open prayer slot, it's like, well, someone's gotta fill it. And, know, you kinda almost play in the waiting game like, is anybody gonna okay. I got it. I'll take this one. You know? Yep. And it's, you know, it's even in the middle of the night and you're you're dragging and you've only got two hours of sleep or whatever, man, I I it's just something that I just don't regret. You know? Like, I just don't regret going out there, you know, thinking, you know, it it is just a room, you know, and it is just just a room. You have rooms at your house, you have rooms at your neighbor's house, you know, it's it's just a room but but, you know, you it's it's a mindset that you're walking into, you know. Like like I mean, there's a sign on the door that says, you know, it's you take off your shoes, this is holy ground. And and prepare yourself to actually sit down and have an honest, you know, conversation with your God and creator and that's that's huge, you know. I I usually spend the first ten minutes thinking that I'm not ready enough, you know. Am I I ready? Am I still thinking about a bunch of weird crap? You know, Lord, really wanna talk to you but there's bunch of stuff going on and I don't want I don't want it to get in the way, you know. And, you know, the more time you spend in that prayer room, the more time you just spend in prayer in general, the more time you get past it. Yeah. You know, the more time it's not an issue, you know. You don't have to you don't have to close your eyes every time and shut all the blinds and make a huge deal out of it, you know. You may pray in your car, you know. Just turn the radio down for two minutes and pray on your way in. Just have a conversation with them. And that that's one of the things that I think

keeps people from talking to god more often is they have this idea of of what it is like to talk to god. I mean, let's get on board. If if if you're believing there's an, you know, omniscient, omnipresent god, he doesn't require, like, I only listen to prayers when you're crouched down Yeah. Or when your eyes are closed. I don't listen to people who don't say thou. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like and let's let's break prayer down to its to its basic necessity basic thing, which is you're to god. It's it's a formalized word to describe you're agreeing to talk to god. And the cool thing about prayer is that it carries no other restrictions. It carries no other requirements. You you could have just

got done doing the stupidest thing you've ever done in all your days, and there's not a better time to start praying. There's not a better time to start talking to god. You might not have done a stupid thing for ten years. No better time to start talking to god. No matter what you've done, no matter where you've come from, no matter who you are, no matter what you, you know, you think has happened before, no matter what you've said, thought, whatever it is, you are just as close to the god of the universe as anybody else that proclaims to follow him. Right. As soon as you open up with, dear god. Yeah. You're a yeah. You're you're you're a thought. You're a word's worth away. Right? Just just just bothering to focus on the on the the god of the universe and you've got him. Yeah. Well and and and you know, think we've talked about this before is that's the hardest time to turn to turn to God in prayer when you know you've just done the stupidest thing, you know, that you've defied

the lord on purpose. Mhmm. Nobody has to stay and say Your eyes wide open. I'm out. I'm I'm not gonna do it this time. And then and then, you know, you screw it up and you go, man. You know, and and man, it's it's hard to close those eyes and say, Lord, I I've I've done it, you know. But man, it's the it's the best decision you can make. Because man, as soon as you don't, you don't you just start getting further and further and you let more and more time go by and it gets harder and harder to close your eyes and say, hey, Lord, you know. And and and the first prayer will do it just like it will a year from now. You know, the same prayer will cover it but you've been missing out on on the love and the support and and and the maybe even the fatherly discipline that I need, you know, to keep in check. You know? So I mean, the relationship with Christ really is a relationship with Christ and and and prayer is the way to have it. Yeah. You know, I I think one of the one of the things that I've realized is that when I feel the least like praying is when I needed the most. Because the thought that I don't wanna approach my father with whatever I'm up to, that's a pretty good indication that I need to get on it. Yeah. And so, you know, even it could be the split second after something happened. I'm like, and I knew it. And I knew I shouldn't whatever it was, I saw it coming. I did it anyway. I thought it anyway. I looked anyway. Whatever it was.

And and split second after that as much as you're like, I'd because it feels like I did it and now I'm gonna go for the cleanse. And that's not what it is. It's that that moment right there, I knew that. I knew that was separating me, and I chose to do it anyway. And I can try to say, like, give God a couple hours of cooling off before I go back. That's stupid. That's a that's foolishness. And so, I mean, it's I'm not exempt from those moments. It's gonna continue to happen. I I I've been trying my very hardest to stay away from it, it will happen. Mhmm. You know? And and the thing the thing that's that that I think helps make those moments fewer and farther between is is right at that moment when I feel most, like, I don't wanna look at God. I don't wanna turn to him with this, is the time when I have to because that's when I need it the most. And that's when he's on me to say, look, I I we tried to keep you from this. You did it anyway. You've got to come back and this deal or it's gonna take you over. And that that goes way back to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, you know. As soon as they ate the fruit, they knew. They knew exactly what had happened.

And and then they they hid, you know, when they heard God coming and it's cool, God came. I mean he knew what happened. Right. You know, wasn't like holy woah there's there's like a fruit miss. Mean you know, he It would happen. I told you. I mean he knew exactly what had happened and he and he still pursued them and he pursues us and we're the ones who who hide Right. And run and that that's it it's you gotta kinda man up at some point. Gotta I mean, I need to restore this. Well, know, and it's it's like some of the some of the I've come to that thinking I think because I've I realized how how don't know how harsh stupid it is. Like, oh, yeah. I believe in an again, an all knowing god of the universe and I'm gonna give him time to cool down with whatever I'm after. Because he's probably really mad. Yeah. Come on. I mean, like, I know he's I know he doesn't like it. He's he's been clear about that. But he he's also been clear that he understands where our fallibilities are and that's why his grace was necessary and is sufficient to cover. But you've got to you've got to repent from it and go back to him and and and that's the thing is, you know, the thought of hiding from god is goofy. It's just a goofy thought. Like like, you'd almost have to, like, stop believing that god existed for this to make sense, to be running from it.

So I don't know. You wanna listen live from the path on desmoinesamplify.com? Hey. You guys are going going lively on the chat. I love it. Keep it up. Yeah. I like I like what you guys are up to. Thanks for thanks for listening. Thanks for stopping in and getting me. Are they mad at are they mad at me? No. It's a secret. We won't tell Mike anything. Go ahead and say anything you want about Mike. Here's the Oh, my prayer room story. So Oh, yeah. So I was at the prayer room and I turned the music up really loud. In fact, I I kinda snuck a computer in there this year because it we used to have a CD player that played tunes, you know, which was okay. It was great, you know. It's still there. Yeah. It's still in there. But, like, it it never had the tune I wanted at the point that I wanted it. And I knew that if I brought a computer in, I could bring in my awesome computer speakers, which are really loud and pop out really good tune. And so I I I say, well, we should have a variety of choices, you know. I'm on the prayer room team. I love you. From paranormal. These are my ideas. You know, they're totally selfish. I'm like, I want this I want this loud worship in here, you know. So I I go ahead and bring this in. That's the second guy today I said hello to that did not say hello to me. That was part of the loving people conversation. But anyway, so I have the music turned up way loud and it's it's it's it's gotta be five tale two. I had the 1AM to 2AM shift. Ben has two to three. So at five to two, I am I'm I am a worshiper. I'm a singing, and I come out and say, hey, Ben. He goes, I had to leave. I said I said, why? He goes, if you're gonna listen to music that loud and sing, you're gonna have to turn the music up louder than that because that's terrible. He goes, I was embarrassed for you and I'm the only other guy here. I had to go to the other half of the house so I didn't have to listen to your God turned his back. Yeah. Seriously. It's a it looks like it sounded like someone went after a cat with a cheap razor. It was very I and and I couldn't I was tired. And all I could think of was, god.

Shut up, Ben. He totally he totally ruined Jesus Messiah for me. Jesus Messiah. It's way out of my key ring. Name of Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Name above all. See, I have to wait. That's Ben's right though. The two hour time frame is the best way to go. Because if you're gonna grab the guitar and you're gonna sing some tunes you got no business singing, you gotta do it like quarter to two and not, like, five to two. Because the next guy is gonna be showing up and he'll be waiting patiently, looking at the schedule, seeing who's what's going on. And there's you going, hallelujah. You're like, boy, that guy really loves the Lord, but I hate it. But oh, what was it? I was about to talk about something else. What was it? The prayer room thing and then we were saying something something something something. Yeah. Pancakes Oh, chat. Yeah. This do

you guys realize that I'm the only guy that cannot see the chat here? Yeah. Ben and Dan both have computers to see the chat. And Ben says I can't have a computer because I would get distracted by the chat and try to talk to it all the time. And I don't have it. So I don't have any idea what's going on here but I really appreciate what you're saying and what's going on, I think. I usually don't respond. I every once while, throw something out but Yeah. Anyway, so I knew we were gonna talk in about this loving people, you know, washing your hands of them. Yeah. But and I don't know how this ties in. But there was a guy who was working today. Working. Not legitimate work but it's work. But Hey. The chat would like you to sing something. What would you like to hear? Oh, wait. Hold on.

Hold Let's take suggestions. I'm ready. Can't think Days of Elijah? I can't think of anything that I'd like to hear from you. I'm gonna finish my story while you guys come up with that. Go ahead. Okay. So anyway, this guy we're working on his house. Right? And we're we're we're we're putting siding on this house. And the next door guy gets into he's walking out, get to his van, he looks right at me and go, howdy. And he doesn't say anything. He just kinda ignores me completely. And there's nothing that irritates me more than I have taken the step to bridge this gap, me and you unknown guy. We are within 10 feet. Mister Eibel don't even really like people. Yeah. I don't. Yeah. And I've said, howdy, you know, and he's got nothing. The chat is voting for for the theme from The Bodyguard. You've you've done your own undoing. We will come That one right there.

Is this it? This is you right here. Here, sit get get back a little bit. You gotta step away from that. It is. This is the scene at 2AM. Be ready for it. If you didn't have coffee, you wait for my singing. It'll wake you up. You you don't play that rock and keyboard in there? No.

That keyboard is an embarrassment to me. Maybe I should start. Ben Ben fifty one fifty, you're gonna have to raise your standards. Hey. Did I get a positive a positive affirmation? Dude, your wife just left. Don't you? They're dropping like Clive's. She promised he would leave. What an embarrassment. I'll be surprised if her bags aren't packed because she's gonna run and get home. It's funny if this key worked earlier today. Hey, I got hit by a deer last night. What do mean? On the way home from the prayer room. Talk about the Lord in action.

You know, I used to always do the middle of the night prayers rooms. It was weird. In the beginning, we couldn't fill the middle of the night, but the daytimes rocked. Yeah. It's like it's like flipped. I always just wait now till whatever can't be filled, I'll just do it then. Yeah. Every single night, I'd see deer. That was like my little gift from God. Would leave the prayer room because you can't leave the prayer room and go, oh, I'm gonna go to sleep now. Yeah. Know, it's just like, woo hoo. Like, you're going so I drive around. Always see deer. I never hit him though, Mike. Actually, Mike said the deer hit him. Oh, that's true. Yeah. Like, as a person or as a vehicle. Is it a demon deer? Yeah. I got out of the car, I was standing on the street corner and a deer showed up, rammed you in the van and head butted me. Wait. Actually, Dan, let me ask you a question. So the you know, as the as the as the pastor of the church, you have a little bit of a different maybe a different frame when you're walking into this prayer room. And this is I mean, this is the church that God has put you

to to to shepherd. Yeah. To shepherd k. Yeah. Together in a prayer room. And you walk in there and you look around, like, what types of things are are you thinking about? How's that experience for you? The first thing I do it's it's always kinda funny because I hear people trying to guess who wrote stuff. The first thing I do is completely blank out of my mind even trying to guess someone's handwriting. Right. Okay. I don't wanna know who wrote something. I don't wanna try to figure it out because because they didn't write that Dear Dan, you know Right. Unless they said, hey Dan, read this. This is for me. Then then but I haven't had that. So that's the first thing I do. And and secondly, you you you get to where the heart of people are, know. And and I don't know. It's it's different I guess. I I I go and I've spent more time the last couple times just in the listening room.

This particular prayer room, I've read less than ever. Mhmm. I I used to always spend my whole time just going and just read the walls and you're kinda like, okay, praying with this person and that person. And I've done some of that. But I will go and just just kinda like, okay, God, what do you want? You know, this is this is your your your church. And I'm I'm an idiot, know, I admit that often. The shirts are coming. The shirts are on their way. They're printing right now. And and I'm not smart enough to even know what to do. What do you what do you want? You know, and I don't I've never had an overwhelming experience, you know, I've never had something crazy hit me. It's just been it's just cool. It's just very peaceful. It's very

like an escape from from everything and you just go in there and just I'm not pastor guy in there I guess. I mean, that's it. I'm just hanging out with God. Yeah. I'm just Christ follower Dan. Exactly. Exactly. And maybe that's maybe that's one of my biggest downfalls is it's so hard for me to play the role of of like shepherd guy although I care. You know, if that makes sense, you know Yeah. If something's going on like I care, there's just like, wow, these are sheep and they need they need help. But Well, but I mean, I wouldn't I I mean, you know, not to be too heavy handed about it but I mean, maybe that's what makes you a a good shepherd. You know what I'm saying? Like, when you can put it in perspective, look, I'm just a Christ follower guy too. Yeah. You know, just the Lord's gift that he's given me is You're not trying to force it. Right. You're you're a sheep. I'm a shepherd. Right. Follow me. You see this rod? This is not a problem. Now hold on a minute. I got an email back from you sometime this week. We're talking about shepherds beating up on sheep to keep them in line. Well, that's done. They're bouncing it out. Rod's in business. Yeah. Execution thing at this stage. There there are times that has to come up with stuff. Sometimes I think about that. Can't you just see a shepherd, like, looking through the rod catalog going, oh, yeah, boy. I think that'd do it. Okay. Where's that this one has spikes. This one's made out of titanium. I bet I bet I could yeah. I bet I could swing that one Hey, pretty Harold. Have you seen those no hook stabs they've coming out with? Those are for hikers, man.

Oh, come on. Those aren't real shepherds. Yeah. I don't know. I I I can't say I can't say enough good things about I I just can't. Like like I I mean. Which in effect is saying, I can't say enough good things about God and my and the time that I can spend with him. And I think in the in the environment of the church, and when I say church, I mean God's people is the church. We're not talking buildings here. You know, the church praying together, focusing on spending time. You know, everybody's, you know, spending time with god. And, you know, you can you can pray for other folks. You can kinda just get a feel for what's going on out there and have those people on your I mean, some of it's just spending it's just time. You know, you could probably this could be you every week. It's just it's an opportunity to spend time

thinking about praying for others that, frankly, you just might miss during the week. And and I think more about my church family during this twenty four seven prayer, not necessarily because I'm I'm spending it in prayer but I'm dedicating time that I otherwise would be doing something else, keying things in from from the the people around me within the church. Yeah. You know? You wouldn't know those things about people No. Exactly. If you hadn't invested in that time and they hadn't invested in that time. So you might not be sitting across the table saying, wow, this is a song I'm going through. But because you both have shared that same experience in in the sense you are. Yeah. Right. You know, sharing that information and Well, and like, you know, 98% of the stuff that's on the prayer wall, you know, they don't put their name by it. Right. You know, I mean, they just it's just a it's just a prayer and it's on the wall, know, they they don't say like, I'm Tom, by the way, you know. You know, and and so, you know, you you kinda really get a feel for you you know, how much how much that maybe we're all different, we're all the exact same. You know? Like, I mean, you see struggles that you've had before on that wall. Mhmm. And and you see hurt and that and and that you've had before and praise that you've had before. You just realize, man, you know, the Lord's Lord's put us together as a as a church for a reason, you know, we're all we're all heading the same way. Yeah. Don't that's you know, and it may sound, you know well, our example might be a little extreme. Like Ben and I like the middle of the night. Know, that's why like, I and, you know I love it to just your sleep. Yes. That's exactly what I like it for. Because then you're doing well on purpose. Yeah. I'm getting I'm getting up for Christ. Like, I could be sleeping. I'm intentionally foregoing that sleep, not because I'm making a sacrifice necessarily, but, like, saying, I this is important to me and I will make the time to do it. Yeah. By the end of two weeks, you're like physically dead. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which and you know what? Which is cool. It's the best place to start, you know. Yeah. But but, know, I guess what I'm what I'm getting at, you know, I mean, it doesn't

you know, if you wanna try it, you don't have to take 3AM shift. You know, there's there's there's daytime. You know, there's always time available. However, tonight, there's 1AM, 2AM and 3AM. There are. And 7AM and 8AM and 9AM. They all will get filled. Yeah. 1PM and 2PM and 3PM. But it could be you. It could be you. And 5PM.

Oh, if it's not you, it might be me. Yeah. I'm already up. I posted the link on the chat a little bit ago. Anybody can get on there and sign up. Yeah. Yeah. So do that. Like, I really what I would and and again, don't there's nothing there's nothing to feel awkward about here. It's it's it's just a our ministry center, it's just a house. It's always a house that sits on Merlehay Road in Johnston. Yeah. You know, show up. Make sure Watch out for deer. Sure you get in. Yeah. Take your shoes off and walk in the door knock on the door, who or guy or gal will come out and you say, hey, what's up? And they'll say, hey, have we met? And they'll shake your hand and they'll say, good luck, Brian. Didn't see you. They're gone. Yeah. Then And you're in. There's coffee. Pants bought Dunkin Donuts coffee. Oh. Is that good? I'm out of I kept forgetting to buy coffee because I just don't drink coffee. I know that's why Pants bought it. Thanks, Pants. Yeah. Yeah. I've been having a stop for hot chocolate. Don't drink that Dunkin' Donuts. I got a bunch of hot chocolate. Did I put enough out there? No. It's hiding in my mouth. There's only apple cider left. There's a bunch of hot chocolate in my office. Oh. That's where Where all the shirts that fit you are apparently. Exactly.

Boy, I wish someone would buy these shirts. And a fresh supply of underwear. Alright. You've listening live from the path on desmoyneamplified.com. Again, there was a there was a link. I don't know. Dan, you may maybe you wanna repost it. Okay. I don't know if it's gotten up there a little bit. Don't you can't scroll and see it. But if you're at all interested again, this this prayer room thing, this is a you and god thing. It's not a you and Pathway Church thing. It's not a you and and other people thing. It's a you and god thing. I think through you and god, I think all that stuff will come together and I and I think you'll you'll really feel it when you go in there. But I would highly encourage you if you're in the area to to take advantage of that. And, you know, whatever. It's just a moment in time. Again, you're like Mike said, it's it's just a room. It's just an hour. It's just yeah. It's just an hour. But I mean and you could do it at home. But I think there's something to be said about the experience of of as as as a group of God's people getting and praying together. Yeah. It's kinda like a like a you know, that we don't have anymore, like, you know, everybody going to the temple or, you know, everyone going to the holy place, you know. Like, I mean, it's it's just easier to I think it's easier just to focus focus your energy, you know, when you know this this is set aside. You know, like our like like God's people are set aside. This area is set aside for God's use Exactly. During these two weeks and that's all that goes on here. And and we pray that it will the presence of God will be there. I mean, it's a worldwide thing. This isn't anything that we invented like, hell, those clever

the book Red Moon Rising, it describes how it was started in '99. It swept the globe, started in Europe. And that's where we got the idea from reading that book. I have no idea where I was going with this. What was I talking about? It's it's not a pathway thing. Yeah. And pray that it could something or other. Good stuff. God's presence. Jesus love you Yeah. And You know, actually invited I called some people from some other churches. Saying, look, I really think you should come chow. I begged people to come. For any reason just to see if you could dig on it and maybe your church would dig on it too. Yeah. Know, like You guys can do it? We don't sell the kit. You know, We have nothing to gain from this and I think We could. You have yeah. This is a $24.07 kit. Here's our pamphlet about prayer with God. We could sell you for $35. Maybe you've never heard of this. There's a shirt that says, God is for and we'll leave it blank. You can just write your name in. So yeah. It's I mean, it's not like, you know, anybody you know, there's not cash involved. You don't have to sign up to do anything, you know, but man, this I I I called them and I said, man, just check it out. If you have time, if you're interested, if you're not, whatever. I'm just, you know, throwing it out there. But, you know, if you're interested, just give me a call and I'll get you a slot.

Like I know people. I have friends. I could I could get you squeezed in. I'll make some phone calls. Okay. We're gonna boot this guy. He comes to church regularly. We're gonna boot this guy. Yeah. He's a little shifty on Jesus anyway. Get him out. Alright. Well, thank you so much for everybody that's been that's been on the chat. I really appreciate you guys hanging out and participating. It's it's really awesome when you guys are in on the conversation. You'll be listening to live from the path on desmoinesamplified.com. You could find us during the week on livefromthepath.org. There, you can check out our YouTube channel. We've got a a ton of stuff on the YouTube channel. We've got from last week, a couple of posts from our manly men. We were talking about how to be a manly man for Christ, how to treat your wife. Our musical guest from the past six months. Yeah. You know, two weeks ago, Syndrome of Fire was in the studio. They did they did an awesome job. They're up to some really cool stuff. You can check them out at syndromeoffire.com,

and we're gonna be hearing from them. They've got We got a cut coming from them. Right? Yeah. Yeah. They spent some time with the, I think, the Chicago Symphony. I anyway, it's exciting. Like they got some cool stuff going on so The Chicago Symphony plays Jesus Messiah. Jesus. Maybe they'll let you sing with them. Something tells me they'll do it. I think they will. With or without permission. I'm gonna just show up. You think they'd boot you? Who? The symphony? I'm pretty sure. Yeah. They don't want anything to do with it. Anyway, you can catch us next week. We'll be off from ten to midnight on the morning f fly.com. Next week, we're gonna touch on the perennial favorite, Why do bad things happen to good people? They deserve it. Yeah. Oh. Oh, did I say that out loud? I think you might have given it Because they're really bad. It it might only be a ten minute conversation. It it's actually a pretty easy answer, but we're gonna talk about that a little bit and

maybe figure out why we keep asking that question instead of doing something else. Well, because we never think we're oh, we'll talk about it. Dan. Dan, it's a teaser. I'm ready. Hey, you gotta you gotta hook them, Dan. I I'm not a good hooker. I'm we're out of here. Thanks thanks for listening. Have a wonderful week.