Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper, you are live from your robe, your righteous mane, every shot. You're not going to do something about that. Mike, what are your thoughts on it? There's that Bob Ross. I keep acting like I'm going to fix it, and I never actually do fix it. I didn't even see it. Okay. Hey. Hey, buddy. Hey, you're listening to Live from the Path. My name is Ben Foose. Thanks for joining us tonight. Yeah. Who did that? Did you just go, wow? I did that. Why did you do that? I don't know. Okay. I don't know. Hey, so we are a man down. We're missing Dan. And decent soda short.

You know, this has been a good day for Dan to be here, because I was going to open the show with explaining how I've been a big jerk for like the last two days. And Dan, it would have been nice for Dan to be here. Why? Was Dan a victim of your jerk hood? Well, yeah, I think so. I think so. I might have made some derogatory comments about his comedy in his sermons. Oh. Well, fair enough then. So anyway, Dan would have really enjoyed that. He would have enjoyed being here while I humbled myself and said that I was a big jerk. Well, I mean, we record the show. You can always, you know. Well, I'm not certain I can do it again. You know, I can just do it the one time. What's the matter with you? Why does there have to be something the matter with me? Because you're just standing there. I'm not standing. I'm sitting here, and I'm just listening to you, Mike. See? See? Things aren't going great.

He's always liked it. Who's that? I thought we put a pretty video. What happened to the show? That's Todd Hughes. You remember her? She came to the Spirit Midwest Music Festival, and she played on the main stage, and it was sweet. She had a sweet name out there. Yeah, it was like a Miami jazz kind of action. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty good. Anyway, you're listening to Life in the Path. Plenty of cool stuff coming up for you tonight. So Jimmy Carter has a Bible out. I only saw half this story. Here's the deal. I'll read the story here in a little bit, but I'm pretty interested. I'm afraid I'd like to read the Jimmy Carter Commentary Bible. Is he like a noted evangelist? Does he have credentials of some sort? He's been teaching Sunday school for many years. Okay.

And he was a prisoner. And he was a prisoner. Well. Although, you know, okay. Okay, we'll read the story here in just a second, and I'll tell you that one of the things that slightly concerns me about his commentary about politics and religion has to do with kind of his thoughts on this Bible he's produced. I'm sure he's a wonderful man, but it's just something to keep an eye out for. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. Also, we're going to touch just a little bit on Rick Santorum. We don't do a ton of politics, but I think this was interesting. One of the stated items on his website for the political campaign is to end pornography in the United States, like use the full power of the government and the current obscenity laws to regulate or basically squash pornography. And it brings up an interesting discussion as to, A, whether you could actually do that, and, B, what level of, not civil disobedience, but what's the level of effectiveness of influencing laws and having people reach for Christ? Like morality type law? Yeah. Like ultimately, what is the impact of morality laws? So that might be a little broad, but we'll see if we can narrow that down. I just think it's an interesting thing. Oh, there's a church that's claiming that the fire code does not apply to them because it infringes on their religious freedom.

What, to be caught on fire? I hope they got one wingding of a lawyer. It's a daycare, too. Like the whole thing came up because they got a bunch of kids in there during the day, like 60 kids. Oh, this is going to be solid. Anyway, these guys are classic. And also, there's a bunch of atheists scrubbing a road in Florida, encountering some church action from a year ago. This whole thing's funny. Okay. So we'll touch in on that. Hey, I want to share with you real quick. So I went out to, Jeff Arendale was in studio last week. Yeah, it was good. I don't know if you didn't catch the show from last week. Arendale and band were in here. And I listened to the rebroadcast while I was driving around this week. And it was solid. I mean, it was just really solid. That most high tune is the one I really dig on. But yeah, it was very good. Yeah, I agree. It was excellent.

You can check out the clips from last week, the musical clips, if you go to our YouTube channel. It's youtube.com backslash live from the path. And you can check that stuff out. But so he was playing at Green Grounds. It's a coffee shop in the Valley Junction area. And so I went and checked it out. And it's pretty cool. They're hosting a lot of Christian artists in there. And I don't know. I'm going to try to get the person that runs the place, see if they'd be willing to come on the show. Because it's just a… Are they a coffee joint? Yeah. You think they'd bring us some coffee? Is it wrong to want to try to make friends who know how to make coffee? No, no. It's perfectly fine. You have to have a wide portfolio of friends. And one of them needs to bring free coffee. I mean, so far, our area of friends, I mean, the goods and services that can be rendered to us are very, very slim. Nathaniel might be bringing in some Walgreens soda.

Well, that was pretty solid, yeah. But I mean, that's not a real breadth of… Troy, what do you think? What can you contribute? I was going to say, I got nothing. I contribute security. Yeah, we have a lot of problems here with reprobates. We got a lot of street urchins in here causing trouble. I stand at the door so that if anyone ever wants to come in, they're just like, no. Troy, the problem with that is we can't even get people in here, let alone get people in here that cause trouble. You know what I'm saying? And then also need people. I think it was our last anniversary of the show. We had free pizza and killer guests. And we garnered like three, four people. And so, I mean, you're at the least need. We just don't need security personnel. I never said you guys needed that. I'm just here for it. Oh. All right. It wasn't really something that I'm contributing as a need. I'm just here.

So you're like a garbage man. Kind of. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Hey, speaking of which, so that reminds me, next week is our second year anniversary show. Yeah. I feel like we had planned something to do, and I've totally forgotten what it is. Well, there was a lot of talking. Dan was going to bring that floating shark that he likes to bring to all big occasions. Let's do cookies. Here's what we're going to do. It's the second anniversary show next week. Anybody is welcome to come join us in the studio. You can either cram in here or you can watch from the viewing area. Yeah. We'll pull a couch out there. Let's bake some cookies. Let's do some fresh baked cookies with the cookie oven. Okay. And I'll have a two-year compilation. Adam Cates is going to be here. No doubt. His CD is out.

He said he'd come back and join us once the CD was out and ready to go. So he's going to be in the studio next Monday playing some tunes and kind of sharing what's been going on with him since the last time we saw him. That's been longer than I thought. So we're going to check in with Adam Cates, and that second year anniversary show is going to be next Monday. And then the following, the Thursday following, the Newsboys are in town, and we'll be broadcasting for the Newsboys concert on Thursday night. That'll be very cool. Yeah. Troy, are you coming to that? What time is it at? I don't know. Yeah. Seven. All right. Well, that's pretty easy. We're going to need security. Yeah, I was going to say, I could be security for the Newsboys. Yeah. In fact, it's at the Indianola Church of Christ. I just like to pick you. I picked the name of the town, and then I threw Church of Christ at the end. You know, I really meant to talk to, who was in here a couple weeks ago that was at

the first? Oh, it was Wayne. Yeah, Wayne Stewart. Was that the first E-Free? Uh-huh. I remember we had a big conversation about why people call it the first, and I was totally meant to ask him, and I did not. And I didn't. You think that it put him on the spot? Yeah, no, I think it was fine. Oh. Oh. Okay, then. Here we go. County Road 98 in Polk County, Florida was scrubbed today by a group of atheists who are protesting the Polk Under Prayer campaign, supporters of which poured olive oil on the road last year in an anointment ceremony. Anointing. Doesn't that seem like a terrible idea? First of all, olive oil is expensive. Well, how much did they use, did they say? Well, I mean, the anointing, the highway, that's a lot of roads. Well, how much oil does it take to anoint something? I don't know.

I don't know. I mean, a good sprinkling is, I don't know, what's a modern day anointment? Half a bottle? Well, see, when I think douse, when I think anoint, I think dousing, you've got to have a good measure on it. No, I think it's just a sprinkler, just a tidbit. No. Just a splash. That could be an accident. That's not an anointment. That's an accident. Anointment is pouring a whole thing out of it. Yeah, whammo. No, you're covered in oil. I don't think the amount of oil is the intention on whether you meant to do it or not, as long as you're saying, I anoint thee, and then throw a little bit of something. What kind of statement is it if they're anointing a highway and they just go? Well, who anoints a highway? Who has the power to anoint things anyway? Hey, hold on a second. Should we continue holding? Yeah, okay, I don't know. We're back. Okay, good.

Cool. I'll fix it. All right. Continue. Who anoints? Well, that's what I'm saying. Hold on. Hold on. Let's back this train up. Okay, first of all, so this is a group. It's a church group that anointed a highway under prayer. Okay, so what's the… Biblically, when does anointing happen? I can think of like two or three times where God told a prophet to anoint a king. Yeah. Is that it? Dan's the man. Yes, because… He's supposed to be in here answering these questions. Crap. Okay, so let's work on that. We'll work off of it only happens when they anoint kings. That's how you anoint things, right? So is it the act of setting them apart as royalty?

Or saying that they're putting a king by God? Yeah, but who says, like, this 30-foot stretch of highway is now king of me. You know what I mean? No, I'm talking about the biblical anointing. What is this kingdom? I rule this… I rule what I am. I rule this highway and the speed limit. But the highway is what it is, right? That's like me anointing my right hand and then putting it in charge of my right hand. You know what I'm saying? Like, you've just taken the object. It already is what it is, and you've anointed it to be. Okay, so what was the point of anointing in the Bible? What was the point of doing it to the kings? Was it saying that they were king, given that right by God? Was that why God said… I can think of David… I can think of King David and King Solomon. Those are the two that I can… Yeah, I mean, it's generally to mean that this person is set apart for a specific God-given task. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, then I don't see the point of anointing that way.

Well, I mean, it's also used as a hospitality thing. Jesus was anointed in the house of the Pharisee in Luke. Yes. And also medicinal. You anointed bodies of the dead. Wait a minute. Hold on a minute. Was the highway in poor repair? Yeah. Was the asphalt… Okay, so here's the explanation. Mainly, we want this to be a safe haven for folks who want to raise… …raise their families, explained Polk Under Prayer organizer Dr. Richard Geringswold, according to the ABC News affiliate, asking God's protection from ne'er-do-wells and evildoers. That's funny. That's funny. Evildoers. Now, is that in parentheses? That's what he said? That's his direct quote. Asking God's protection from ne'er-do-wells and evildoers. You know what? I don't want any ne'er-do-wells on my road either. Maybe I should throw some oil at it.

Doesn't this seem like an accident waiting to happen? Yeah. Throwing a slick oil on the… I just don't understand this kind of religious practice. And maybe it's just because of the type of organization that I go to. But I just don't understand these type of things. So the atheists scrubbed the highway in… Well, yeah. Okay, hold on. I'll give you the one more bit of color from the Polk Under Prayer guy. Oh, wait. No, that's not the Polk Under Prayer guy. Let's see. Yeah, so the eight members of the Humanists of Florida Association who brought buckets of water to the roadway to scrub off to it. So what are they saying? They're like, we don't want this to be a safe… They actually, I think, were doing it as a joke. It said they understand that a year later there's no oil left on the roadway. It's just a symbolic gesture to show that we can poke a little fun at the Polk Under Prayer gesture. Actually, I'm not offended by that at all. It's a little funny. It is. It's kind of funny.

Plus, you know, water doesn't clean oil, so, you know, I don't know. I don't know. I'm not offended by it. The whole thing seems stupid, right? Like, if you want to invite yourself with open attacks from the Humanists, if you're going to do crap like that, I don't know. There's nothing I can do for you. It just seems like this totally foolish move. Who anoints a highway? Yeah. I don't get it. I mean, I don't know. Is there a better way to go about it? Like, is it a residential street? You pray by it. I think, I mean, the verse on the chat from James where it talks about anointing the sick. I mean, the road's not sick. I don't know. Like, that was a specific thing for elders. Always for people. Yeah, over people. So, I mean, it's just like, I mean, I kind of get, like, the symbolic use of it. But it's, I don't know, it just makes them look goofy. Pray at the highway.

I get that. You dump stuff into it. That seems dangerous. What does that prayer sound like, though? So, dear father, look, the ne'er-do-wells have really been, there's been an uptick in them. In the ne'er-do-wells. And I'm pretty sure I saw an evildoer when I was driving here the other day across this highway. So, I'm going to throw this oil at it. And if you could keep an eye on it, too, that would be great. I don't know. Maybe I'm not a super traditional guy. And so, I'm taking it different. But I just, anointing a highway just seems like a total lame-o move. Ridiculous use of oil. I wonder how much that cost them. You think they have special oil that you could buy from, like, the Christian bookstore for anointing? For, like, anointing? Or can you just use whatever oil? Wait, no. So, here's what could be an anointing oil. It could be a perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter, or other substances. Melted butter? Yes, they do. Seriously, you could buy…

I've got to check this out. You can buy anointing oil? Yeah. You can buy anointing oil. Now, so here's my question. Do you guys remember there's a place in, when God's given Moses the instructions on how to build the tabernacle, there's a specific blend of incense that you're supposed to make that's only to be burned there. And I don't know. Yeah, doesn't he give you, like, most of the ingredients and then leaves out a couple so you couldn't make it? I mean, are you allowed to make it? I mean, no more tabernacle. Are you allowed to make the stuff? Or is that still a no-no? Are you still not allowed to make that incense? I bet you can't even make it. I bet they don't even have hyssop anymore. Do they? I bet you can get hyssop. Probably at the Christian bookstore. Well, all the old covenants, I mean, they were kind of made null and void because of Jesus' death. I don't know. It's one of those things where I feel like null and void, but… There's no reason for me to run after it, you know? Like, I kind of want to smell it, but I can wait.

See what it would smell like in the… I think you better just wait. In the tabernacle? It doesn't seem like something you want to fool around with. Oh, the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. No kidding. The International House of Prayer. That's awesome. Anyway, I don't know. I didn't realize it. I wonder what they're putting in it. Ah, Christians are such suckers. Who buys oil from a Christian bookstore? You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just a guy putting oil in a jar and then selling it to you at an outrageous price and putting Jesus' name on it. Maybe it's specially perfumed. I'll tell you what, though. I got in the mail. Did I tell you about this communion stuff I got in the mail, though? No. It's an all-in-one communion thing. Like, we ordered some sound equipment from a place. We must have spent a pretty healthy amount with them.

And then they branched off, and now they sell sound equipment and communion supplies. And so they called me. They said, hey, we got some new communion stuff. Do you want to? Can I send you some? I'm like, sure. Just send it over. So it's an all-in-one communion deal where it's got the cup and then, like, a layer and then the wafer and then a layer. It's all sealed in one. Okay. So you don't have to, like, pour it and stuff. And the lady goes, you can't believe the freshness. And I thought, it's unleavened bread. Like, it comes right out the oven tasting unfresh. But I thought, okay, I'm going to give this a shot. And then I had trouble thinking, how am I supposed to do this? Because I don't want to, like, sample communion. I was going to say, how do you sample that? That does seem weird. You've still got to be in reverence of the situation. I mean, it's still meaning. No, no, you're just trying to find the best way to distribute communion wafers to the masses. I took the communion.

I did a straight-up communion. To be fair, just to make sure. Now, hold on. Did they mail it to you? Oh, yeah. I got a pack of three. I'm saving two others in case I want to take communion at my home place. Just in case you're like, man, I should probably take communion right now. I thought, how awesome is that? I'm going to take communion right now. And I did. And I went knees and prayer and communion. Very nice. Look at these giant peanut butter cups Nathaniel's brought. It says, look, an old-fashioned giant peanut butter cup, a quarter of a pound. Boy, that's awesome. No, it's not for you, Troy. Gummy worms are for you. You're welcome. Say thanks, Nathaniel. Thanks, Nathaniel. Where are your manners? You're talking about gummy worms. It's the only thing worms and bears have in common.

Gummy. So just to tie up our atheist-washed Florida road that Christians had anointed with oil, Scott Wilder, a spokesman for the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida, said, this claim is so ridiculous, I'd rather not come in. I appreciate this man and his honesty. You know what I'm saying? That's a straightforward love. I'm pretty much just saying, I'm staying out of it. You know why? He was probably going to use profanity, and he thought it was better just to alleviate the whole situation. I appreciate a man who steers away from profanity. That's pretty solid. Oh, by the way, the last week, the Polk Under Prayer campaign members buried bricks that were engraved with Psalm 37, 9 through 11, beside the 12 major roadways leading into the county. These guys are pretty protectionist. You know what I'm saying? Like, pray for people to find Jesus, not to be protected from them. I don't… Why are they so concerned on the roads, man? Like, I mean, what happened? It's just the… I think it's the general idea of we're protecting our county.

Is there some kind of boogeyman or something on the roads that they're so freaked out? Here it is. It's the major interest. Psalms 37, 9 through 11, the New International Version. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more. Though you look for them, they will not be found, but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. Wouldn't you hate to be like a parishioner at their church and then like your car leaks oil onto the parking lot after they just made a big hairy deal about all the other roads and now you've like defamed it, the sacred parking lot? I mean, they'll probably lynch you. That just seems a bit harsh. You get shunned. You know? Burying bricks. That sounds terrible. I don't know. Like, this strikes me as having the wrong mindset, though. It's to say, like, when you pray, when Jesus' example was, you know, Lord, protect us from the evil one, it's not to say, if anyone is a sinner, keep them out of our county. Right? Right?

It's, I would say, Lord, find the sinners and bring them to me that I may share your love with them. Not, may they perish in the highway or end up in prison. I bet originally somebody had, like, a really stellar idea and then, like, somehow it got turned so that it turned into what it is now. That always happens. You get some guy with a sweet rig in his mind and he gets it out there and then you get some yahoos that grab onto it. Phil probably stood up and he's like, you know what, the roads are dangerous, people are getting in accidents, we should probably, let's just go out there and pray for the safety of the people on the roads, you know? Let's bury some bricks! Yeah! I feel like you're saying, Phil! You know, I mean, that's definitely what I'm saying, you know? Crazy man Steve shows up and he's like, let's put the bricks in the ground. That'll show them. I just, that'll keep the sinners out. Yeah. Who is it? I wonder what kind of redneck was in charge of the verse. It's like, hey man, we need to bury a verse to keep evil out. What do we put on the bricks? I know the one!

For my high school graduating class, we all, for the graduating class, everybody chooses a verse for their class. And our, since we graduated in 2011, yeah, that's when we graduated. I'm worried about your math skills on this thing, Nathaniel. It's just recently happened. I'm sorry. I forgot. Anyways, so we went through the entire Bible and looked at all the 2011 verses, like chapter 20, verse 11, and like, what we chose was like, made our foes be trodden under our feet as we marched forward or something like that. Very defeatist. Yeah. You against the world kind of thing. Kind of. It was quite brutal. It was heavy. The landscape was dark. Boy. You're listening to Life in the Path. Thanks for joining us so far. So, in case you were tuning in for the anointed highway and atheists scrubbing it off, you missed it. That was the highlight of the show. I'm not sure it's going to get all that much better.

Hey, go back to Nathaniel. I was going to eat this quarter pound peanut cake. Now, if you're going to do it, you're going to do it. Holy cats. Holy. Look at how size this brick. Give it a whirl. That's a peanut butter cup. It's like a pecan. It's like one of those mini pecan pies. I don't think you should eat that, man. Okay. I don't know why you wouldn't eat that. It just seems like a horrible decision. Take back what I said. That's good. Okay. So, here we go. Church. Where's this church at? Hold on. I don't know. Anyway, the church operated. Oh, Tennessee.

Here we go. Church of Tennessee operating a Bible school from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and during the regular school year. The church began operating the Bible school in 2000. In 2004, the church's pastor contacted the fire department to determine whether the church facilities were in compliance with the fire code. So, he, church pastor, calls the fire department and says, are we in compliance with the fire code? Okay. Fire inspector comes out and says, it's subject to daycare occupancy standards of the safety code and found a number of fire code violations during the inspection. The department also informed the Department of Human Services that the church appeared to be operating a child care facility without a license. Two weeks later, members of the Department of Human Services visit the Bible school. There's 36 preschool-aged children being cared for and another 30 or so that will show up after school. So, 60-plus kids hanging out at this place. The DHS says the church is operating a child care agency and they need a license. And they need a license. So, a letter was delivered to the pastor informing of this conclusion and that they would need a license to continue. And they couldn't keep more than four kids longer than three hours per day without some type of license. The church insisted that its Bible school qualified for one of the exemptions from licensing for

nurseries, babysitting service, and other children's activities that are not ordinarily operated on a daily basis. They're daily 60 kids. They say they don't fit. It also claimed the First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom barred the state from interfering with the operation of the Bible school. All right, boys. Where are you at on this thing? I'd say, yeah. Church has them on that First Amendment stuff. You don't think the state has a responsibility? That's ridiculous. The state has their laws. They have their codes. No way. They have their laws and codes for safety. That stuff's not just to be mean and control things. It is. It's for the safety of the kids. It's all for money. Listen to Johnny Big Government over here. You can call them to whatever you want. I just did. Cool.

Big Government Johnny. That's me. You didn't even say it right. Johnny Big Government. It's Johnny Big Government. Johnny Big Government. That's me. So anyway, so what you're saying is no matter what rules the government has put out, they're dead on. They've made the best decision for the people. I'm not saying that. I'm saying in this case, I would agree with government. There's a reason why you have to have laws for, I mean, having licenses with daycares. They're, they've got their, they've got their, why? What's the benefit? It's making sure the kids are safe. I mean, that's a lot of kids. It's for the children. It's for the children. I'm Johnny Big Government children. But they're representing themselves exactly how they are. They're a Bible-based, church-going daycare. Exactly that. A daycare.

What's irresponsible about that? Why, why wouldn't they have to have a daycare license when other daycares have to have daycare licenses just because they're a church? Because they're a religious exemption. First Amendment. Why is that a religious exemption? They're running a daycare just because it's out of a church means absolutely nothing. Why? It's still a daycare and it's subject to laws. Why, though? Why does a daycare have to be regulated? Why would, why would a, a, a daycare that's running out of someone's house have to have a law? They're a daycare. What if they taught the Bible? Does that mean that they're exempt from it? No. I think so. Anybody who teaches the Bible should be able to do whatever they want. That's absolutely ridiculous and you know that too. We're going to anoint the highway with oil. That's what we're going to do. You don't tell me what to do. You're going to keep evil people out and our babysitters in.

Yeah, that's ridiculous. If, if someone in a house is trying to run an honest business, has to have their license, has to make sure that they're up to code with the state, make sure that they're up to code with everything, with laws, constituents, everything. Why would the church not have to? They're running a daycare. It's every day, 60 kids. That is a daycare. That's not church. Church is on Sundays. Yeah, but I don't think that's what they're arguing. They're not arguing that it's church. You said they should have the religious freedom to put the kids at risk if they want. Yeah, they should have the religious freedom to have a bunch of kids in a room whenever they want just because they're in a church. That's ridiculous. That is ridiculous. To put themselves at risk. Absolutely. Is that, is that right? Should the First Amendment be able to cover people from their own stupidity? Nathaniel? Now, take it out of a reasonable religion. Let's say we're snake handlers.

What? I was going to say, I was going to go with, what about the church's Scientologists? No. Oh, no, the Christian Science. Yeah, Christian Science. The Healers, yeah. Where they, they don't take their kids to doctors. They go to doctors, yeah, yeah. Should they have that right? To put their own children at risk? Like, if they got cancer and they can't, they don't want to bring them to… I think there's a difference between a parent and their own child, and then a… Yeah, but the, the, the, the parents are bringing them to the church. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay, good point. Still, I just, I think if they are running a daycare, just because they are a church doesn't mean they are exempt from the codes. Doesn't mean they're exempt from laws having licenses. I don't know, those laws are arduous, man. They're just put in there to get, to get Johnny, make government more money. Are they lost? Yeah. God's, God says we have to obey the law of the land?

Most of the time, yeah. Most of the time, yeah. Yeah. So, I don't have to agree with it, though. Oh, no, you don't have to agree with it, but you have to follow it, yes. I can fight to change it. You can fight to change it, and when they change it, and they don't have to have a license? Sure. I can claim my first amendment right to not obey it. America. My religious freedom is I get to run a red light. Yeah, no, that's not true. It's a law, it's something that's laid as a law of the land. As long as it's a law of the land, you can fight it all you want, but as long as it's a law, you obey it. And you get the license. Church or not, you get a daycare license, or you can stop doing daycare. Well, I mean, in his defense, and I don't want to defend him, but I'm going to, his proposition is that he's not running around to the law. He's not saying that I don't like the law, so I don't follow it. He's saying the law doesn't apply to me. It's a religious exemption. Yeah, and it's not a daycare that's opened up to everybody. What is his logic for it's a religious exemption?

Because it's at a church? Is that the only reason? I don't know. I'm not him. Okay. Running off a context, it's because it's a church. That's what he's there saying. Is there exempt because the daycare is inside of a church? He didn't claim to not need a food license because he runs a taco stand out of the baptistry. He didn't say he did run a baptistry taco stand. Yeah, no, I don't remember that part. Well, you just talked to me like I was him. I thought I get to be him. Well, you're sitting here with a story in front of you, so I figured you might have a lot more context than just my memory. He didn't give his, he doesn't send me his diary with him. I never said that I was asking you for a little more context that you don't have, and I apologize for doing so. I think it's, it's ridiculous. I think that just because they're in a church doesn't mean that they're exempt from laws. Troy's persuaded me. He said a lot of words right there. He looked out to me. I'm with Johnny B. Government now.

Johnny B. Government daycare kids. Take my paycheck, Mr. President. I don't need it. Do it, do it, do it. Tax me, I'm in church. Do it. I don't agree with him either, actually. I think he's kind of, that's ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah, I don't, I, no, no. There's no reason you don't have to follow basic fire code. That seems ridiculous. Okay, here's the thing. It's like saying we have a fire. Why would you call the law and then be upset that the law has come down on you? Yeah, I don't know. That's like. I'm speeding, wait a minute. That's like me running my car into a building, calling the police, having the police come out and then they give me a ticket for hitting a building and I say, what is this? Wait a minute. Like this. What is this tomfoolery going on in front of me? This is completely out of left field.

I had no idea this would be coming. All of a sudden I saw a bunch of bricks and I hit the skids. I figured if I just told you it'd be okay because I admitted my fault. Someone called me a ne'er-do-well and all of a sudden I was in the building. Like I was hanging out in my evildoers meeting every week. I went to go pick up my kid from the daycare but it was on fire. I tried to drive into Polk County. It's the worst day ever. The roads were really slick for some reason. I ran right into a building. Man. Yeah, I don't know. That's two crazed churches right in a row. Yeah, right in a row. Right in a row. Anyway, hey, you're listening to Life in the Path. We are broadcasting every Monday night from 10 to midnight here on lifeinthepath.org. Please set your calendars. If you want to go to bed tonight, that's totally cool. Next week is a two-year anniversary show. It should be smoking. It should be pretty exciting. Adam Cates is going to be in the studio. He's going to be performing.

He'll have some CDs. You can check him out. He's on Facebook. We like him so you should like him. Wait a minute. He's going to have CDs with him. He probably. Okay. And so he'll be in next week. Also, I might show our one-year anniversary clip tonight just to give you a little prep. I started doing some pre-work on the two-year anniversary show clips. And boy, they're pretty tasty. It's good stuff. They're pretty good. It's good stuff. Yep. Yep. Our show is nothing if not sound biteable. Wait a minute. Has Troy seen it? No. No. I haven't got to the Troy clips yet. I haven't got through any shows with Troy's in.

I am so horrified. I will openly admit that I do not have good points sometimes. Okay. You want to hear my impression of Troy? Yeah, go ahead. I'll be completely honest with you, and I don't mean to offend you if I do, but here's the deal. Blah, blah, blah. I just don't care about that. That's Troy like to a T. No, no. I'll be completely honest with you. You say that just about every show three times. I know. I know. I'll be completely honest. I know who I am. I'm going to be completely honest with you guys about this. I'm being completely honest about this. The best of Troy. It's going to be solid. The best. Wow. I'm not going into it.

Keep going. Okay. So anyway, so that's next week, and it's an open studio session. So anybody and everybody is welcome to show up. We're going to do some fresh home-baked cookies. Not home-baked. We've got a cookie of it. We're going to make some cookies. Don't get us too far into this. Yeah, I was going to say. We'll buy cookies if we come in. I'll probably make some. They're going to be good. Cookies will be available. Okay, they'll be cookies. We'll have some cookies. Oh, and some free sody. And some good tunes and some good times. Second anniversary, Live from the Path. That's coming up next week. And the Thursday that follows, we're going to be broadcasting live from the Newsboys show. Security. Yeah. Troy's coming.

It's going to be security. Nathaniel's going to be there. He's running the camera. You told me you were coming. I did. It's on Thursday, right? Yeah. Okay, yeah, I'm coming. He's coming. All right. I'm not going due to my religious freedom. I'm staying at home. I exercise my right to not be under the rights of fire codes. I'm going to anoint the building. Get out of here, fire marshal. You think it would have freaked the Newsboys out if we anointed him? If I threw oil at him? I would like for Dan to just stand in here and as the fire marshal comes in, be like, wait a minute. We're at church. I have a good fire marshal story with Daniel. Daniel, I'll tell it after the break. Okay. All right. All right.

Cool. Hold on. Hold on. We had something else. Oh, man. I don't want to blow it all up front, but we've got to talk about this Jimmy Carter Bible. Here we go. Jimmy Carter publishes Study Bible, discusses. It's not called the Jimmy Carter Bible. No. It's called, last week Carter published a Lessons from Life Study Bible with the subtitle, Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter. This is not a good idea. Wow. This is not a good plan. It's got a big son. I thought Jimmy Carter was dead. No, he's not dead. That's how much impact he has on today's society. There's proof of this. He just published it. All right. All right. First of all, how much do you think it costs?

$35. Is it leather bound? No. Just paper bag. That's hard. Ooh, a deluxe hardcover edition. $60. I'm going to go with $58.95. Hardcover. Is this the price is right? Yeah. You bid right on me? Hold on. Is it verse by verse and then he just adds? Yeah. It's a whole Bible. It's like a commentary. Like the Jimmy Carter podcast. That's $75.00. Definitely. $25.85. What? Wow. And ships free with super saver shipping.

Okay. That's a bargain. We didn't get to spin the big wheel. We were way over bidding. Hold on. Hold on here. It's already got three reviews on it. That's quick. What do people think? Okay. We got two. Hold on. Hold on. We got two fives out of three. And then one one star rating. What does the one star rating say? Who's the one star rating? Guy's just like, I ain't giving it to you. Okay. All right. Now, hold on a second. I'm pretty sure this guy didn't read it. Here's his commentary. Ugh.

We already knew that Jimmy Carter's one of the most repulsive human beings alive. Yeah. He didn't read it. He just wanted to hop on there. That much has been clear since he came to national attention in the 70s. Now he's taking over the Bible. What do his reflections matter? Shouldn't it be about God? Jesus? Of course, 40 years of the world stays. He's shown us that Jimmy thinks his own name to be synonymous with the previous two. Okay. I don't think he's read it. All right. He didn't read it. Do you think he even browsed? No. I don't think he even leaves. Yeah, but what's the difference between Jimmy Carter writing his own personal inflections on the Lord's Word, opposed to like ten professors getting together and doing the ESV? No, I mean, it's just his commentary. I mean, you've got to put weight as to whether you think his commentary is valid or not, but I mean… Same thing with the NIV study Bible, the ESV study Bible, or anybody that's put on the

Yeah, I'll tell you this. I have the ESV study Bible, and for the most part, it's very good. There's parts of the commentary I simply just don't agree with. But it's a very small part of it, and generally speaking, I find the commentary very helpful. But there are just parts that I just don't agree with. And I know where it came from. I know the biblical view that created it. And I, you know, I can just, I let that part of the commentary go, and I move on. It depends. Does it give a snippet of what the commentary is? Like, does it be like, I mean, after you get done reading Mark 321, and then the side footnote is, I remember this one time, me and John Sununu were going down to Afghanistan or something. You know, like, it's a total personal story of something that went down. Oh, by the way, so the guy that made that comment, he's done one review on Amazon.com. Oh, just for that reason. Of the Jimmy Carter Bible, yeah. Yeah, all right, hold on. Yeah, let's see if we can get any, let's see if there can be an excerpt. Any excerpt. As a journalist, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Let's say here, say, NIV Lessons for Life Bible takes Mr. Carter's years of teaching Sunday school lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, and messes in with the text

of the NIV Bible. Through in-focus articles, Bible and life notes, in-depth studies, and insightful observations and reflections, President Carter's teachings in this Bible provide fresh insights for you to study and contemplate. That's always scary. People that claim to have fresh insights on the Bible, that's never a good thing. Reflections, brief one-sentence sayings in quotations by Jimmy Carter. I don't know, that seems unnecessary. All right, so hold on. There was a part of this story, well, you know, I don't know the guy. He could be a wonderful man of Jesus. But one of the things that he said was a little bit strange, and it had to do with, hold on a second. Hold on, I'm going to find it. Okay, Carter says he's a disciple of President Jefferson, who famously wrote in a letter that the First Amendment established a wall of separation between church and state. Jefferson was also the producer of the Jefferson Bible. Did you guys know how the Jefferson Bible came about? No. He basically went in, into the Bible, and cut out parts that he thought were good, and pasted them in, and created his own Bible using it. Didn't he tear out all the parts that had to do with miracles because he didn't believe in supernatural? Yeah.

I have never heard of this. Yeah. So, like, the Jefferson Bible is a… Hold on, I'm being… I'm blown away. Hold on, don't move on yet. I've never heard of this going down. Yeah. Now you know about our founding fathers. Or at least one of them. Yeah. Okay, so Jefferson don't like miracles. He's pro-slavery. Keep going. So, here's… It was called… Here's a little bit of information about it. The Jefferson Bible, also titled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was a book constructed by Thomas Jefferson in the latter years of his life by cutting and pasting numerous sections from various Bibles as extractions of the doctrines of Jesus. His composition excluded sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects, as well as perceived misinterpretations that he believed had been added by the four evangelists. Who are the four evangelists? The gospel writers.

Oh, I thought they were like four prominent evangelists of the day that would walk around adding crap to the Bible. I'm like, I take that out, too. They can't be trusted. So, anyway, anytime from a religious perspective, you refer to the faith of Thomas Jefferson, a man who has taken up the inspired word of the Lord and cut it into pieces and produced his own. That seems dangerous. It seems a mistake to call yourself a disciple of anything besides Jesus. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, you never want to say, I'm a disciple of… That's true. Carter says he's a disciple of President Jefferson. Ew. That's distasteful. Yeah, I'm just going to say I'm going to throw myself on that. Anyway. No excerpt, though. I'm a little interested in the Jimmy Carter Bible. I'm certainly not going to pay $26. No, I think we get… I don't understand what happens on this Amazon, though. You've got to find it free online. That's theft, Nathaniel.

Yeah. Naughty. If you have to pay for something somewhere and someone else is giving it away for free, it sounds like theft. What if they pay for it first? Unless it's a sample station at, like, the Costco or whatever, and they're giving away Tony's Pizza. Yeah. Yeah. Or communion samples. Those are also acceptable for a minuscule amount of money. I got two more. You guys ain't getting them. I don't know. What do you mean, what if somebody else paid for it? Like, just because you pay for it doesn't mean you can distribute it freely among others. Hi, I bought the Carter Bible. I made copies for everyone. He didn't say he made copies. He said he was getting it for free on the internet, which is exactly the scenario you have. Somebody obtained it legally and then posted it for everyone else to get. Maybe someone obtained it legally and said, hey, I will send this to you. They have an internet library.

That's illegal. That's illegal. No, I'm not going to retype it. I'm just going to send you it like a gift. It's like saying buying a book for someone is illegal. Oh, right. Yeah, that happens all the time. Hey, I bought this for myself. I was just… Just let me know and I'll send it over. Just hypothetically. And I won't enjoy it anymore. Hypothetically throwing it out there. I wasn't saying that was what was happening. How do you sleep at night with your thievery? That's perverse. Pretty well. Yeah. Oh, man. It's comfy. On a stolen mattress. On a stolen mattress. You make me sick. I'm sorry about that.

You're a disciple of Jefferson. It's supernatural stuff. Freaks me out. I might read that. No, don't pollute your mind, Ben. I might pick it up. No, it's not that intriguing. Stay away from it. Is it a Carter Bible or a Jefferson Bible? Oh, man. It's got a five-star rating from a guy, the editor of Read the Spirit magazine. Dude, people… That's the same guy that annoys Rhodes. You can't… People can't be trusted. Luther also tore out parts of his Bible. Yeah. No taking parts of the Bible out. That's not going to work. You can't decide which parts you like. I'm against it. I'm against it. A word to Carter critics. There are many who…

This is you, Mike. Ready? I'm not against Jimmy Carter. There are many who oppose… What was Jimmy Carter's occupation before the White House? I don't know. Wasn't he like a farmer or something? Peanut farmer. He was a Georgian peanut farmer. I don't know the thing about the man. So far, all I know is that he is a disciple of some man that tears apart the Bible. And some guy, I mean, said he was despicable. So, I mean, those are the two opinions I have so far. All right. So, here we go. Here's a word to Mike, a.k.a. Carter's critics. There are many who oppose some of Carter's projects and some of his viewpoints. This Amazon review is not the place to engage in that kind of often heated debate, especially because Carter himself avoids such debates in the pages of this Bible. Carter worked on this project with the goal of producing a Bible for future generations. So, he tried to avoid references that would lock this book in a time capsule and make its references seem dated within a short span of time. This Bible contains reflections on the underlying moral and spiritual principles that he sees in biblical passages.

This Bible does not present fuel for further debate about specific stances he has taken. Well, it should. So, calm down. Well, if he's living the life for Jesus, then people should be able to say, oh, that's why he stands that way. Either, yay, good man, or boo, you sided with Jesus, I'm upset. What are your thoughts on personal branding of the Bible? I'm against it. Yeah, I don't see the point. Nathaniel? Can you repeat the question? Like putting out Mike's Bible? The Bible according to Troy. Let's say we produced a live from the path Bible. Okay, it's the NIV text with our random interspersed commentary. Horrible decision. Is that bad? Is there anything wrong with that? No. You say no. Actually, Nathaniel swayed at me. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. What do you think, Troy? What's your problem with it?

I'm trying to go across the whole point of, I think if God intended for commentary to be added to it, it would have been done that way from the beginning. So you're saying preaching is no good? And any Bible teaching at all is just… I'm not saying… You guys are backing me in the corner here. Excuse me, you built the two walls and we're standing there when we showed up. Good point. That's actually a really good way to picture it. Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, Troy. Here's the thing, though. Very astute analysis. I know. I'm… I know you guys hate it. I'm sorry. I just… I don't like… I don't like to… Okay, so seriously, I don't like taking the Bible and then adding… I can see trying to create a study Bible, asking questions, but this is my personal reflection on the Bible and here's my commentary right next to what God wrote. I don't… Basically what a preacher does.

He takes a bit of passage from the Bible and then expounds on it and explains it. But to actually publish it as mass production? Just part of that, for some reason, just makes me uncomfortable. Well, what if the Holy Spirit has led you to do it? How am I supposed to know the Holy Spirit has led you to do it? Oh, no, no, no. So what Troy's saying is that you're okay to give partial commentary to a few individuals, but it shouldn't benefit everybody. I'm not saying it should… It's not what… Hold on. I'll paint the wall while you're in the corner. Excuse me. Can you move over? I got to get… Excuse me. It doesn't really shape it up to look like a corner in here. Man, it's like a corner in here. What's going on? I don't know. It just makes me uncomfortable when someone takes… The Bible and explains it. What's there to… I mean…

Don't say what's there to explain. I know there's plenty to explain. Have you read Isaiah? Yeah. Actually, I'm reading Isaiah right now. It's like being hit in the face with hailstones. Dude, I love it. I got to have someone tell me what's going on. I love it. Just part of that, just taking… Okay, so reading the Bible and then taking my personal experiences and my personal commentary and then mass producing it for thousands of people. Just, I don't know why exactly it does. It just makes me uncomfortable. Like, I'm putting my human spin on the Bible. Well, people who want to read it are going to buy it. I mean, not everybody's going to buy it. People who say, hey, man, that Troy guy, he's all right. I hope no one ever says that. That's true, but what's the Ephesians verse, right? It's spiritually discerned. You know, like sometimes the Holy Spirit opens up something about the Bible that explains it to you so you understand it and you write it down so others can understand it and say, whiz bang. There it is.

I would say… But don't tell too many people. That seems to be Troy's concern. It's not that you have your own thoughts on the matter and discernment about what you read. It's that too many people are getting it at once. What are you guys talking about? Maybe I'm really confused right now. What do you mean by spiritual discernment? What's that? Like, if you're reading through… You're reading the Bible and as you read, you can see how something applies to your life or you understand how it works within context of something else, right? So you're providing an analysis of the study of God's Word, how things intertwine, how things connect, how things apply to somebody's life. That's basically commentary. You're providing commentary on what was in the Bible. And your concern sounds like it's because it's mass-produced, is that you've shared that commentary but with too many people. That seems to be the distinction you're making. Yeah, that seems like it, but that's not what I'm trying to get across. Because just part of it, I can see what you mean by the whole mass-producing idea. What I'm saying is I, for some reason, just don't feel comfortable with having read the Bible and then regardless of how many times I read the Bible, maybe someday I'm actually going to be smart and be able to have commentary on this show that will help.

But I don't know if I would ever feel comfortable saying, okay, these are my views on everything. This is, here's Scripture, and then right beside it, here's my human, very narrow, I have no real clue on what's going on idea right next to God's Word, the living Word of God. Part of that just makes me feel uncomfortable. I don't know how to explain it besides that. So is it the incorporation of the same book if you produced a second book like a study guy? Yeah, a study. I think it's just the incorporation of the same book. Oh, so it's the convenience. It's too close together. The convenience. How inconvenienced are you by study guides, Ben? Open, open. I got two books, or I can have it right next to it. But I say this is too convenient to be an analysis of the Lord's work. I don't know where I'd be without the study guides. I mean, I could fish something out when something sounds like it's coming from a human perspective. That's pretty easy. But apart from that, I always find those study notes to be pretty helpful. They include context for cultural references and time period type things, things that have been going on that make sense. And I can see, like, a study guide, yes. I'm talking about, like, actually putting, well, you know, I read this passage,

but then I thought to myself, this is what happened in my life, and I'm trying to relate it to me. I can understand, you know, this is what Jesus said. Well, this is the context of that. This is where he was. This is who he was speaking to. Here's some more about this verse. This is what this makes sense with this verse directly, and these are two of the same verse. Jesus is talking about this right here. Okay. Actual contextual study guides with the Bible, not just what you're putting into it. So it's the life application piece that you don't care for. Sure. So you're not a fan of, say, the very popular life application Bible? I don't think I've ever read it, so I don't know. It's pretty good. It's not bad. It's not bad. I don't know. Like I said, the study guides make sense. But not if it's too close to the Lord's Word. It has to keep a six-inch distance. The living Word of God should be set apart from other books. Yes. And not incorporate.

My apologies for thinking that way. If the Lord wanted a foreword, he would have put one in there. Exactly. If that was supposed to be in the same book, it would have been in the same book. This book is a collection of my writings over the years that I've learned. Make a memoir of yourself in your biblical walk. This is what this made me think of on June 13th of 1976. No. Just because you would produce a lame book doesn't mean everyone else is doing that. Because I was around in 76, so that was relating to me, right? Have you read the Jimmy Carter study? I haven't yet. I've heard good things. Except for that one guy who said it was horrible. It does make you wonder, though, why the way that we looked at the stuff that was going to be in there, it says personal reflections with Jimmy Carter, why it wasn't just a separate book. Like, why produce it along with the biblical stuff? That's probably from reference standpoints, right? What if Billy Graham wrote it? What if Billy Graham said, look, I've spent the last 75, 80 years of my life evangelizing about my father through the Holy Spirit. Here are some of the things that have really stood out to me over time in the Bible. Would it have been different if it wasn't Jimmy Carter?

Separate pages, plenty of distance. Exactly. And a picture of Billy Graham going… Yeah. Billy says, and then right underneath it, you know, no. I'm not meaning it inconveniently as in, oh, don't put words next to God's word. I'm talking the same Bible. I don't like… Well, that's exactly… That's the distinction, is it not? How close is it to the biblical text? I think that the living word of God, the Bible, should be a set-apart book. It's the living word of God. Don't put your commentary… So this big Bible that I have, that I purchase, that I read and enjoy, is a dirty sin. I never once said it was a dirty sin, first off. I feel uncomfortable about it. I don't know how to explain it other than what I've said so far. Keep it away from me, it's dirty. No, I don't know how else you guys would like me to explain this. I've said what I've said, and I exactly mean every word I've said. Well, see, I think Ben's trying to give you the chance to redeem yourself. I don't think I need any redemption. The way you keep explaining it just sounds ridiculous.

How about the message? Like, they're not even, like, taking the Bible and then putting commentary next to it. They're just taking the words and how they see fit. How do you feel about that? I'm all right with… Yeah, there's parts of it that I, uh… I don't know. Like, there's some really tough… There's some really part… There'll be some parts, especially in the Old Testament, that I have a hard time understanding. And I'll go check it out in the message. See how it came out. If it helps me, it helps me. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I've used it. I've taken some passages out of the message. But I don't know. I'm not inherently against it. I'm not for it. I don't generally read out of it. But like I said, if there's some tough text that I don't feel like I'm understanding well, I'll pick up the message, have a read of it. I don't know.

Sometimes it's helpful. Here's the thing. I can't imagine the Lord's going to steer me the wrong way. On his Bible. You know what I'm saying? If the things of God are spiritually discerned, then he'll discern them. You know? I mean, you can't take the Bible and take pages out of it and then say, this doesn't belong, this doesn't belong, and hope the Holy Spirit will fill the blanks in. Because he did produce a Bible in its entirety. But on the other hand, you know, I mean, if I have to go, if I know that I'm not understanding something about the Lord's Word, and I want to, and I go to the message and whatever, and he discerns it for me, then great. I don't know. I can't imagine the Holy Spirit leading me astray on that, I guess is what I'm saying there. Well, and I think that's generally the case. It's like any time that you're not either, like if you're not the guy who received the direct revelation through which the Holy Spirit caused you to write the book or the letter, or not holding the original, you know, Greek, you know, or Hebrew texts, you know, you're always reading something that somebody else has touched. And so, I mean, it's a discernment thing. Like, everything else is not written by Jesus. So, I mean, regardless of, you know, what program you read or what commentary you read or whatever, it wasn't written by Christ. So, I mean, there's a potential that it's not correct. In fact, it's likely. And so, you know, when you're walking in a situation like that, I think as long as you're approaching, doing things in a prayerful manner and saying, God, let me see what you want me to see.

And you trust that God's not going to lead you the wrong way. I mean, that's why, like, I can read certain things or I can listen to certain things and I know what to keep and I know what to leave. You know, I don't have any problems rejecting certain things that people say because it's just not right. And then I can move on. Seems like a completely reasonable way to do it. But I don't think you throw it. I don't think you have to toss it all because the deliverer is fallible, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm going to buy this book. Yes. I'm going to pick out the parts that I like and I'm going to chuck the rest. I did think this was interesting and I like this about Mr. Carter. It said, long before he worked out of the Oval Office, he and his wife, Rosalind, developed the habit of reading a passage of Scripture allowed every night. She would take a turn one night and I would take the next. A lovely time of sharing between husband and wife, reading Scripture. I think that's solid. I think that's really solid. What don't you like about that, Troy? You know, there's no record in the Bible of Jesus reading Scripture at night. Jesus never read Scripture at night. So I don't see why they should do that. Jesus never had a spouse here. Jesus didn't have a wife.

There's no record of Jesus sleeping in a bed, so I sleep on the floor. He's on the dirt. I wear sandals and robes and I grow my beard out. I'm glad, Troy, I'm glad you filled in the caricature you made of yourself in that corner over there. Yep. My little area. That's where I live. My choice. That's where I live. Hey, so you're listening to Live from the Path. We are here every Monday night from 10 to midnight. You can catch a story in the week at livefromthepath.org. Make sure to check out the YouTube channel, youtube.com backslash livefromthepath. You can catch videos from our musical artists, selected clips and stories from your favorite Life in the Path moments. I'm going to go ahead and turn it over just for the next three to five minutes to Jeff Arendale. He was in here last week with his band, the Fierce Five. And I got the chance to see them at Green Grounds on Saturday. It was a very good show. I did just catch a little bit of it. It didn't go as late as I thought. But the last song he played, he played also in here. The song is called Most High, and it was an excellent rendition. So I'm going to play that for you now and enjoy that. And we'll be right back.

You are listening to Live from the Path. Left a place you had on high to show a sound. I have a sacrifice. Wash the feet of all the others. Scold them when we needed a talk to heal the sickness of another. Opened up our eyes when you told the truth. You told the truth. You were a lamb to the sacrifice. You rose. You lived. Made it possible to be born twice. I don't need any other. Even for myself. No more running for my… I don't need anybody. Listen to Live from the Path. That was Jeff Arendale. And a thorn-eared crown. I'd like to sing that with him, but I'm not good. Oh, it was good, too. I love that song. I really do love it. The other ones were also good. That one just sticks out to me.

I mean, you've bought a CD before, right? And then you're like, I like this CD, but let's listen to track five. Yeah. That's what happens to me. Yeah. Most High is track five. So anyway, great news on the Jeff. You can learn more about Jeff by going to jeffarendale.com. Also, his CD is going to make it out. What? It's coming. It's coming. Yeah. And I think within a few weeks or so, he's going to have it. And then we've got to get a CD release party together. I'd drop up to, I mean, seven, eight bucks on that thing. On that CD? Yeah. Yeah. I'd pay more. Oh. Full price, a $25.95. You'd pay more than the Jimmy Carter Bible? Yes.

Yes, I would. That says something. That was some rockin' tunes right there. Don't you? It was good. I'm very impressed. Yeah. Yeah. That drum was cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, hey, you're listening to Life in the Past. What's that? You heard from Daniel? No. No. No. He's not even visiting when he's out of town. No. I don't know what he's doing with himself. Yeah. Yeah. Pastor Dan's out.

He's left the state. I don't know. I don't know why. He's not on the chat. It's so we're dropping like flies, man. Oh. So it must be lower end tonight. Yeah, kind of. You know. What do you do? Maybe he's anointing Rhodes. He's busy. Okay. So here we go. On his campaign website, presidential candidate Rick Santorum says that he believes federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced and that if elected president, I will appoint an attorney general who will do so. Is it really possible for the federal government to prohibit, as Senator Santorum says, the distribution of pornography on the internet, on cable satellite TV, on hotel motel TV, in retail shops, and through the mail or by common carrier? You know, some of the hotel motels are getting out of that business anyway. Because it tracks the wrong element? No. They just said they're not making any money.

Oh. Something smells fruity. Anyway. I think, wow. I want to say it was the Radisson is chucking them. I read it in the paper the other day. Because they're not making money on the dirty films? I assume it's paper? I assume it's because of the internet. I assume the internet is boosting it. But, ooh, I don't know. I don't even know if that's possible. Well, so the answer, yes, says UCLA law professor Eugene Volok. He says, if the government wanted to aggressively move against internet porn, it could do so. Here's the deal. In most parts of the country, a lot of pornography on the internet would plausibly be seen as obscene. There are a few approaches that Santorum could pursue in an attempt to eradicate internet pornography. It wouldn't be that difficult to close down a lot of the relatively visible websites that are used for the distribution of pornography if they're in the United States. Santorum's administration could take American-based porn distributors to court for violating obscenity laws and have them shut. But that would leave foreign-based sites untouched. To block out foreign sites, Santorum would likely need legislative action requiring internet service providers to use a mandatory filter set up by the government or by the service providers. But the government could also prosecute individual citizens who view porn and already has the legal authority to do it. Let me ask you this. Is it effective?

Is it effective to shut down pornography? Does that solve, like from a Jesus perspective, does that do anything to win people for Christ? Go ahead, Troy. No. You're not taking, you may be taking away the ability, but the temptation's there. Just because you're not able to visibly view porn on your internet, just because you're not able to visibly view porn on your TV, doesn't mean that your mind isn't going to entertain sexual thoughts about another, and that's the problem. Well, I mean, isn't there something to be said about reducing the amount of not good things that you're able to take into your mind, that your eyes are able to see? I think if you want to see it, you'll see it. You can go out in the world and you can see it if you want to. It's got to be in each individual person. It's not going to be that effective if you just take away the ability. Because if you can't look at porn and you want to entertain sexual thoughts, you can't. It's extremely easy. Walk outside whatever city you're in, chances are you're going to be able to see someone you can entertain sexual thoughts about, regardless if you have porn or not. What about Alaska? I mean, they'll always be wearing heavy coats. That's pretty kinky. I don't know what to tell you. Even if they do shut down all the internet things, really, it's just going to have big porn, I don't know, industry, whatever it is, instead of the internet. Sales are going to rise. They're talking about across the board. Oh, it's just like cocaine. They outlawed cocaine.

People still be making it, taking cocaine. Same thing with weed. I mean, take any illicit drugs. Look at prohibition. As soon as they made it illegal, there's every underground hooch parlor from here to San Diego who was popping out booze. It doesn't make a difference. It's no different. So you don't think there's a place for trying to legislate certain sets of moral principles? No. Well, I shouldn't say that. I don't agree with that. You're an anarchist. They've tried this before in states, not federally, but in states, where they try to shut down porn shops and stuff like that, and they got by it by having the people who go there sign sheets that says, this is for a medical reason. Sorry, that's funny. Yeah. I had no idea. I watched Stossel. What kind of doctor do you have? I'm in a bad way, doc. Here's what you do. Here's what's going to happen. Take one of these. I won. If I don't see you in six hours, you took more than one.

What? Legislating morality. And if they can't stop it on a state level, if they can get by it. I don't think they can stop it on a city block level. Yeah. If they try to debate it on a block, it's just not going to happen. The thing is, it's something we always talk about, right? Like, you always want, your children are more likely to obey what you say because they know that they're loved instead of just because you told them to. Right? Like, if they, very similar with our relationship with God, very similar with, hopefully, my children's relationship with me, right? Like, I want them to obey me because they're like, my dad loves me. He wants the best with me, blah, blah, blah. I'll stay away from this thing, you know, because he said so, not because he's going to punish me if he doesn't. And I think that's where true rehabilitation, true change, true obedience comes from, right? In those simple areas, right? But, I mean, there are current limitations on what you can do. You can't set up a shop on the main square with a big window that says, tall dude, buck nude, work for food, and have him, like, sit in there. It's not. Well, I'm sorry, you're stored in it. Get off the ground, Ben. I mean, seriously. You have thought about that name. That was not. You're not permitted to do it.

You're not permitted to just stand out there. So, what is, Mr., Mr., and Mr., toss it out. You can't morally legislate it. But, in your world, there's a tall guy, buck naked, working for Eats, sitting in the main street. And that's fine with you. I can't stop him. He's being stopped today. No. I mean, you can send him to a different street corner. He's being corralled. But he's not being. Isn't that enough? The action is still happening. Isn't he publicly obscene? I mean, I think obscene is a pretty subjective term, right? Fine. Choose whatever he's doing that makes it obscene for you, and that's what he's doing. Okay. What do you want me to do about it? Currently, now, he's not permitted to do it. What do you want me to do about it? I'm asking you. Like, you're saying that you can't legislate something to keep people doing the right thing. No.

No, I can scoff. That's what I can do. It's ineffective. And you think legislation is effective? He's not doing it now, is he? Who? The tall, naked man? The tall, dude. Wasn't it said that there's three times as many adult bookstores in places like that than there are golden arches in the world? What's your legislation doing there? That's not true. Yeah. No, it's not. Yeah. True story. True story. I read it, too. I mean, it's accurate. Hold on. I'll find it. I guess I'm not following what you're saying. You're saying that it's currently being legislated, and it's being kept out of certain areas, right?

But that's certainly not stopping it. It's just moving it to a different place. So how is that effective? Everyone is not exposed to it, but the people who want to be are. Right. And I agree. So all you're doing is you're siphoning out so that people are not unwittingly or unnecessarily exposed to something they don't want to be. The problem to our society is not that people are being unwittingly and unwillingly put into porn. That's not true. Everyone. Okay. 95% of the people that are watching, viewing, looking, participating in any sort of sexual porn, anything whatsoever, they're doing it on their own accord. You know the websites you go there. You know the places where they're on the court. I agree. You go there. So I guess my question, though, is, do I have, is there a certain level of, like, for example, what keeps someone from having sex out in the middle of everywhere? That's illegal now. You can't do it. Right.

It's insane. I was going to say rocky terrain. Excuse me. I misinterpreted. That was, that was awesome. So, uh, I guess, so, but what you're saying is you can't legislate that type of morality. Well, just because. People should be getting it on wherever they want to. No. You can't do that. I don't think that's. You're for naked men. I don't think that's in any way. Yeah, but the people, the difference between that is people who are just walking down Main Street and you can't do that because other people are going to see that. But like the guy in the window. Yeah, but like. You've created your own example and put it on a flagpole and fly it around town. People, people who go looking for porn are looking for it, not people who are just walking around. Right, but if there were not, but that's because if there were no laws that said you couldn't have it displayed, what I'm saying is that that exact situation would exist. It would be, you could sell it at the counter at the Walmart. You could.

No, because then unwittingly, people who weren't seeking it would have to look at it. And the reason that that is, there's laws against that today, obscenity laws that restrict that today. What I'm saying is, is that all we're saying is how much those obscenity laws. So what you're saying is you don't agree, you don't disagree with the obscenity laws. You just disagree to what extent that you can enforce them. No, what I disagree with is that people who want, if you're seeking, if you're looking for something obscene, I think constitutionally you should probably be able to buy it. Yeah. If you're not looking for something obscene, you constitutionally should not have to see it. Rick, he's trying to ban it because of his beliefs. What do you mean? That was the sound of the wind coming back at you, Mr. Tall Naked Man. He's banned. Tall dude, buck nude, work for food or something like that. Also, I don't like the government getting in the internet at all like that, like restricting things, because that's just a slope that could go way too far. That's true. Yeah, it's an extreme truth. So you could probably say, but take it down, take it on there. What if some people find the word of God obscene? That I think is the ultimate point, is that if you permit somebody from a government position to say what is and what is not obscene and that you can restrict people from seeing it

under their own volition, they very well present the opportunity in which they can say, you know, I am able to restrict Christianity because it is obscene. Right. Because what they're saying is they're taking a freedom that exists for me to be able to look at what I want, believe what I want, you know, pick your poison. But saying that because we deem it obscene, we can protect people from that. And so I actually think that's the dangerous part. You know, regardless of whether you're trying to use it for something that you think will improve society as a whole, I think you run the risk, especially in a nation like ours, that you're putting that power. You're ultimately establishing the right of someone to have that power and then take it and use it in a nefarious fashion at some of the time. It's a very tricky, it's a very teeter-tottery subject, right? Because us as Christians want to say, hey, we want people to have the freedom to worship Jesus Christ when they want without restriction. But to get that freedom, you have to allow someone else to have the same freedom to worship a three-headed goat, you know, that occasionally eats six dozen chickens. It happens. You know what I'm saying? And so, but people have a really hard time with that, right? Like, people are like, and they try to legislate from that viewpoint. And I always find it very interesting, biblically, like how you come at that, right? Like, you have to obey the laws of the land. The laws of the land allow us to have a fairly non-persecutable religious freedom.

And that's probably the only difference between our faith and the faith of a lot of the characters in the Bible, right? It was straight up persecuted. And we are willing, maybe that's the truth, right? Maybe we're willing to forego, we like all our laws of freedom because it keeps us from being persecuted. So we're just lazy. You can't, the biggest reason that you can't legislate morality is because morality is opinionated. Morality is based upon the person. I may think something is moral that Mike thinks is immoral. But that's my question, Troy. He's like, is… So does that mean there's no truth? What is truth, Troy? What is truth? What is morality? Where does it come from? Why do you have to say it whimsically? What is morality? Morality is opinionated. I didn't say like a dainty princess. I said whimsically. You did say it like a dainty princess. You do.

I'm sorry. But morality is something that is opinionated. I think, obviously, if you were to set me down with an atheist, let's just go off of that hot subject, their ideas of moral are very different from mine. They think things are permissible that I don't think are permissible. They think things that I do are wrong when I think they're perfectly right. So who's right? You can't determine who's right when it's an opinionated thing. You have to have the same viewpoints for it to be right or else it's an opinion. That's where it comes from. You can't legislate morality because we are a diversified culture. We are a country that is of many religions, many faiths, many peoples. I think something is right that my neighbor down the street is going to think so wrong. Yeah, but that's my question is the Christian faith as a whole have no spine because they enjoy the life in America to worship Jesus freely without being persecuted. Would you continue to worship Jesus freely even if you were persecuted? So do you not stand up and say, hey, I don't want X and X and X going on in my town because that's not what we want as America. But they're like, well, if you're going to have the freedom to worship your Jesus, then we should have the freedom to worship our three-legged camel. Well, that's the whole thing is if we want the government, First Amendment, if we want the government to stay out of our business, how are we supposed to interject our religious beliefs on the government? But that's what I'm saying.

Man, I feel like maybe we should be causing more of a stink and just get persecuted for it because that's the way God laid it down. I'd be completely cooler going into the Chinese area where we get persecuted for being Christians. That's called upon. I'm talking about changing your environment so you're persecuted here at home, like at your own place. You're the minority. You caused a stink. I am the minority. What do you mean? And I've had to put myself, well, I'm not even going to go there. I think I agree with you to a point, but where does that come from to the whole nation's setup of legislation? Where does, yeah, I agree with we should be the minority. Well, not necessarily. We should be the minority. We should be battling for what we believe in. Yes, 100%. We should be willing to go hand-to-head against someone 100% for what we believe in. But at the same time, where does that put us in a national standpoint? That's what I'm asking. That's what I'm asking. Is your opinion on the freedom that's forbeard to you here in America, does that take precedence over your beliefs in Jesus?

Do you let things slide because it's a free country, and if their rights are infringed on, then your rights will be infringed on? I don't think it's a matter of whether or not I let it slide. I think it's the fact that they have the free will to go and believe what they want to believe. Does that mean I'm not going to talk to them about what I believe? No. No. But am I going to infringe on their rights because of what I believe? Absolutely not. I don't think that's the standpoint we need to be taking. I don't think we need to get into a government official area where this is what we believe, so we are going to try and make it a law. I think those things are separated for a reason. Yes, if I made… Like divinely separated? Like God wanted them separated? Now, honestly, I don't think that if the separation of church and state happened, I don't think it happened if God didn't want it to happen. Absolutely. Ben, where are you at on this thing? Well, I mean, the current, that's a little much for me to think that, to state that, something that was, first of all, not even a part of our original founding documents, the separation of church and state.

It came from a letter written about the First Amendment by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. So to say that that was, happened because God wanted it to happen, I think is a stretch. A couple other things you said, give me pause. One of them would be, is that when you're talking about infringing on people's rights, the rights that we are, that are established here in the United States are not necessarily rights as dictated by the Bible, right? So like, the laws and rights that exist within the government that we have aren't necessarily the rights as dictated by God. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not a right, not a godly right, right? It's a right in the United States, it's not a godly right. So when we talk about protection of rights, again, you're flipping the standard of where, what are you protecting? Am I protecting biblical mandate? Am I protecting the structure and the government under which I am able to act freely? Absolutely. The other thing would be, it's true to say, when you talk about something being opinion, it's probably more true to say that it is perceived as if it is subject to opinion, when ultimately it isn't, right? And obviously I would say that because there's certain things that I believe to be true. Someone else believes otherwise. It doesn't mean they have a different opinion. It means that they are incorrect.

Yes? But flip it around. They think you're incorrect. Well, that doesn't make them right. That makes them just pretty assured in their wrongness. But where is it that we step in with a government-mandated thing? Where is it where we step in is we know that obviously here as Christian men, as Christ followers at this table, we hold things to be correct that are given to us by the Bible, given to us by God. However, where is it our point where we step in at a government level to have these things mandated and legislated by the United States government, by any government, ultimately taking the free will away from the other people? If we make it a government-mandated thing that pornography is… But that's exactly what you're talking about when you talk about the gay marriage law. That's the exact thing that we're talking about. You have a section of the country that wants to make it illegal to have a gay marriage, right? Mm-hmm. We don't believe in that. Right. So we go out and vote and say no. We're trying to get legislation passed to say no, you can't get married. Are you against that? Am I against gay marriage? No, are you against voting against gay marriage? That's going to be something difficult for me to answer because…

But that's exactly what you're saying, Troy. You're saying that you don't want to get it in a government area. I am 100% against voting against it. It is not our right, just because we are Christians, to get across legislation, get across government legislation. It is completely separated where I am not for gay marriage. So the person that is opposite you does have that right to infringe on… Your rights, then. What do you mean? You're like a no-bellied fish. So what you're saying is that it would be an infringement on their rights for you to vote against them getting married. But they know that you're against them getting married, and they say, I don't care what your rights are. I want to get married, so I'm going to vote for it. I may be against it, but that's my morals. It's not a law. You're being real shifty here. Why can't you just kill anybody? Why are you not allowed to murder anybody you want to? Why am I not allowed to murder anyone I want to? Yes. What's the moral authority that says life is to be protected? I think that's unanimous.

Really? Because I can think of a lot of… What was the story going around about that wild guy in Uganda? Often people left and right. He doesn't protect life. He doesn't think it needs to be protected. You're saying that there's been a moral consortium of folks who say, you know what, we should, generally speaking, we shouldn't kill people unless it's an unborn child, and then that's cool. Unless it's an… What are you… I'm not following. I'm confused, to be honest. What part are you missing? Where did the interjection of the unborn child come through? It's a life, yes? Absolutely. It's not protected in all situations. You're permitted to have a legal abortion in the United States. That's not an agreement. So what you're saying… Your stance on the last issue that Mike brought up, if you're coming from the same perspective, it says you're bowing out. It's not my right to say, I can't infringe upon that person who wants to make that choice.

Okay, so thank you for clarifying, I should say. I'm trying to think of the best way to answer that. I mean, obviously I'm against abortion, 100%. I mean, I am, 100%. I believe that. That I'm asking you to answer that position in the context of you saying that it is not our responsibility to act upon moral things from a legislative perspective. Right, but we need to tackle the moral, not the legislation. So you don't think there should be a law protecting people from murder? We should just try to talk to everybody and convince them to… Hold on there. Hey, guys, don't murder. Obviously, okay, yes, there should be a law against murder. Okay, so hold on a second. Just hold on a second. So you've established that you're okay infringing on people whether their morals agree or not when it comes to protecting lives. But now what we're doing is now we're debating as to what should be morally protected and what shouldn't. Right? Because you're accepting the principle that from a moral perspective, I'm okay to say you shouldn't kill anybody. Regardless of where that moral came from, you're saying that we're going to legislate from a moral perspective that it's not right just to either take people's things or to take their life. Agreed? Agreed. So from a moral perspective, you're okay using legislation to keep people from doing things that are immoral.

So now all you're doing is you're picking at what moral things you're willing to go after and what things you're not. Yeah, I guess I never really thought of it like that standpoint. The funny part, Troy, is that I agree with you. I give a rip of whether they pass gay marriage or not. I don't care. I just don't care. I don't care. Abortion, I do. Gay marriage, I don't. It does not. Right. Gay marriage, see… I don't want to get on the top of gay marriage here, but I guess what I'm saying is that I do that. I pick and choose which things I'm going to stand on and which things I don't. And I think here's where we have to be careful is because, again, I think everybody in the room would agree, frankly, that it's okay to legislate on moral things. That's not really up for debate. No one's saying that we shouldn't legislate on moral things. Now all you're doing is you're ultimately bargaining. You're bargaining with what moral things that God has handed down that you're willing to legislate and which ones you're not. Now I don't know that that means that you're going to go to the pits for every moral law that God has instituted because, frankly, I don't think it's effective on getting people to see the love of Christ in it. Right. The mistake is that you try to get the government to share the love of Christ through enforcement. That's a mistake because it's not the full counsel. You're not getting the whole breath of Christ.

All you're getting is you're getting the rod part. And, frankly, government can't tell the story well. So you're using an inefficient messenger to send the means of Christ's love by saying, I'm just going to beat you up for this thing. However, I think to say that you completely bow out and you say that morals go the low ground, I don't really care. It's not my business. I'm just going to share Jesus in my pocket of the world. I think you run a risk of saying, I'm not willing to stand for truth because look at the things that we differ on here. Everyone is willing to stand up for defense of a life. It's the things that are culturally problematic, the things where there's a strong opposition. Those are the things where maybe you're a little more iffy on whether you're willing to stand that moral ground or not. Is it a fear of man problem as opposed to something else? Now, what also goes along with those same things is because you tend to have a stronger part of society that is against these things, it tends to be less helpful for the love of Christ to spread by putting your foot in the ground and simply alienating them and taking yourself out of being able to tell the story of Christ through these particular situations. But I would be careful on where you draw those lines, making sure that you're not drawing lines because man has otherwise drawn those lines for you. Right. So I think that would be the danger. I like it. I'd say so. You're listening to Live from the Path. We are on here every Monday night from 10 to midnight at livefromthepath.org. Head to our Facebook page, facebook.com backslash livefromthepath. And like us.

We don't have – Troy doesn't have any friends. I'm well-friended. People love me. People Facebook friend Troy, but it's not true. They just want to get pictures of him. Troy, how many friends you got on Facebook? He's got a ton. Like 2,600. It's outrageous. 2,600. He signed up for a list. I barely have like 200. And I get rid of at least 10 a week. Yeah. Go. I should. I should get rid of them. Sometimes I go through my Facebook friend list and I just delete one at random. And if I really miss it, I'll realize that I deleted the wrong person and re-friend them. You know, honestly, it just – I would have to sit down for multiple hours to do that. I don't want to do that. I could just rather care less about who's all on my Facebook. Because if I'm putting stuff on there that I don't want 2,600 people to know, I shouldn't be putting it on there in the first place. VNTN Laos.

This story kind of came up because we were talking about Jeff Arendale, him and the other guys from Certainty had done a missions trip to Laos. And this just kind of popped up. It says, the only known Christian in a rural district of northern Laos was under pressure to abandon his faith in Christ or face expulsion from his village, his supporters told Worthy News. Kamla of Dongvian Village in Vienfunga District was told by local authorities to give up believing in the Christian religion by March 7th or be cast out from the village, said Human Rights Watch for Laos Religious Freedom, which supports local Christians in Laos. The Christian, who uses only one name, was allegedly summoned to appear at the local government headquarters where he faced some 20 officials, including a representative of the Communist Party, the village leadership, and security personnel. Well, authorities are believed to be attempting to abolish the Christian religion from taking root in Vienfunga District. I mean, there's only one guy. Yeah, so here we go. Kamla reportedly embraced the Christian faith only after claiming to have been healed from a long-term disease during following fervent prayers by other believers outside the district. Vienfunga District's estimated 20,000 people are mainly farmers and live in small rural villages. 20,000 people, one guy is a Christian. And they're stamping it out. And they've got a committee against him. That's because Jesus is involved. If it was Buddha, they wouldn't be worried about it. But you put the holy God of the universe in there, and then they're freaking out. That's why people don't freak out about that stuff, right? They don't care about the spread of another religion because it's some innocuous God that is false and can't do anything. You don't fear that God. No one ever says, hey, man, Buddhism is really taking hold. We're in some trouble. You don't see them trying to annihilate that action. There was an interesting video from Penn Jillette. The video is like two or three years old, but it's kind of making the Facebook rounds.

Penn, you guys are from Penn and Teller. You guys recognize the guy? He's the guy with the ponytail. He's an atheist. He's been an atheist for a very long time. But it's all interesting. He did a video posting on YouTube. It was about a guy who, after one of his shows, a guy said, great show. And he showed up the next day and kind of gave him a Bible. And he was talking, and he said, you know, I really – he was a great – he was a really nice guy, and I really appreciate this guy. And one of the things he said was, you know, I don't mind proselytizing. I don't mind people sharing their faith because if you really believe that, you know, what I think and do and believe right now will cause me to be punished forever versus being, you know, saved by the Almighty God of the universe, and you refused to share that with me, you know, how unloving is that? You know, how much can you hate a guy to say, I refuse to tell you about Jesus Christ? I refuse to share the love of God with you because I'm – because what? You know, I don't want you to go. I don't want you to be saved. I don't want you to be, you know, a part of this community of believers. And I don't know, it was something that stuck out to think that there is – there's a certain level of – it's not just a fear of man, but, like, think of – think of what you're putting above that person knowing Jesus. You're saying, I'm okay with the consequences of them not knowing Jesus because I'm so afraid of the consequences of me going and sharing Jesus with them. Right. It's an interesting guy. It's an interesting point.

Boy, I feel like a real jerk if you said that. Yeah, that's a really good point. Actually, it was about you, Troy. Boy, I was just saying that so you would agree. You're coming. Oh, you've been duped. Well played. I got duped. Oh, man. You ready for it? Yeah, let's go. Iron. Ding. Charpent's iron. I'm so pumped. That's not bad. Hey, man, you want me to run into me? Here we go. Dear, live from the path, I'm an amateur playwright. Our local theater sponsors an annual playwriting contest. The prize isn't monetary, but something far more important to an author. A full-scale production of the play. I have won this prize four times, more than any other writer in the history of the contest. But is my family impressed?

Not at all. My wife told me she thinks I write everything the same way and have simply repeated myself four times. Her put-downs are deeply hurtful. I am up in years. It's unlikely I will ever again win this prize. So how do I respond to such indifference? What do you do when you feel you have accomplished something important and the response is, So, what else is new? The accomplishment should be for you. Or else you're just superficial and want people to see how great you are. Enjoy your accomplishments. Be proud of what you've done. Don't care what other people think if it's something you are proud of. Troy, have you ever been on the basketball team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters? You know what I'm saying? Like a crowd… No, I've never been on the basketball team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters. So, it's a crowd… If you're trying to relate this to me personally. It's a crowd full of like 30,000 people. Okay. Right? They're all there to see the Harlem Globetrotters. And every once in a while, the whatever, the New York…

The Generals. Yeah, the Generals. The Generals win. And the crowd goes, Boo! Now, how victorious do you feel winning the game and 30,000 people hate you for it? Not a good feeling. Okay, well if we're using this, being on the Generals, you know what you're getting into. You know that when you're winning, you're going to get booed. Everyone wants to see the Harlem Globetrotters win. Just throwing that out there. But if it's an honest thing that you're trying to do for yourself, I don't think you should really care about what other people think. It's his wife. I think you should take the instructor's criticism. You should do it directly with your wife. And change his ways. But he's winning. He's winning the contest. Well, if it's a good thing that he wrote the first time, then it's going to win again. If it's the same thing that he's doing. If it's a good recipe, don't change it. Maybe he's up against a bunch of hobos. Yeah.

How prestigious is this award anyway? It's a local town. Yeah. Well, I don't know. Never argue art with your spouse. You know what I'm saying? Like if they just… You don't argue art in general. They just don't… They just… Well, then what are you butting in for? This is an art discussion. Are you an artist? Go talk baseball. You know what? I hate baseball. That's what I think. That's what I think. That's my contribution. I know what you're talking about. I just want to make it clear that I hate it. I can't. All these bad things. No.

So… But like… I mean, it's just her opinion. Like whatever. If she doesn't… If she doesn't enjoy it… Yeah. If other people do… I don't know. What's the big deal? It's not like she thinks you're ugly. Or you have a terrible heart. Or tells people that you beat the kids. Right? She just disagrees from an art perspective. That's not how Lonely Hearts is selling it. He's trying to say like… Okay, hon. I'm going to go work on my play. The same play you've written three other times. You know what I'm saying? Snide comments from your wife all the time. All right. First of all…

Maybe he should have been a little more choosy before he married somebody. He's getting on in years. It's too late now. Yeah. It is too late now. He has to deal with his lot in life. If he made a bad choice when he got married, he'd always got to swim in it. Sorry. Swim. Don't marry a beast. He is a playwright. I'm just saying. He's probably… He's a little overdramatic. Artsy fella. Yeah, maybe. Who needs to calm down. And like… I think you've presented this the wrong way, right? I think you've presented it as if they're the generals. But really, he's probably the Harlem Globetrotters. And you have one guy that showed up to cheer the generals on. And when the Globetrotters win, the one guy goes, Boom!

Except for the guy who's… That's like the Globetrotters' wife sitting in the stands going, Boom! Yeah, big deal. What do you mean, big deal? I say it doesn't matter. Your life partner. The two become one flesh, and half your flesh hates you. He made a bad choice. They don't hate you, and they just hate what you're doing. Yeah, exactly. They don't hate you. That's pretty much the same. It's just exactly what you do. The guy stakes his entire existence on these amateur plays. Okay, first of all, he's put too much into it. Second of all… That's his fault. If he's unequally yoked himself, he's kind of done that. This particular item is peripheral to the fact that he married a beast that doesn't love him. You know what I'm saying? Dear sir, you chose wrong. That's what you've taken from this? Die well.

Not that his wife is acting inappropriately, or he is overdramatic. You've just married the wrong person. Okay, now let me put it this way. The wife is not making any efforts to build up her husband, right? She's not trying to be supportive. She's not trying to… She's intentionally tearing him down. That's different than letting it go because you don't like it. Yeah, but according to you, he's an over-emotional saucepan. He is an over-emotional saucepan. He is an over-emotional saucepan. Yeah. He is. A what? He is. He's overdone it. But what I'm saying is she has some… She's not responsible. She has places to move here and not be so jerky to her husband. However, just because people are being jerks doesn't mean you have to take it in, internalize it, and brand yourself a jerk. You know, she might be right. He might just be regurgitating the same garbage for four players. I was going to say, that's the chance. Maybe he's the king of the dummies.

He's in a town full of people that stink, and he keeps turning in the same play just with different characters in it. And there's… I mean, he's up against people that don't have any talent. Maybe she's right. She's an honest evaluator of his talent. Yeah, actually, it's not like he's won a prize. He's just… It's a local… Here's the first two sentences again. I am an amateur playwright. Our local theater sponsors an annual playwriting contest. Yeah, how many people write plays? There's probably three entries. It's him and his wife. And, like, some guy that… You beat me. His wife's even worse, so she can't win. So he keeps winning with the same story. Yeah. Yeah. What's the secular advice? The secular advice is this. My hat's off to you, sir. That you have won this prize more than any other writer in the history of the contest is a notable achievement,

and one that's not likely to be matched for a long time, if ever. Attend the production. Take your well-earned bow in the spotlight, and accept the less you look to your wife for validation, the happier your life will be. I agree. Except for that part about him being awesome. It sounds like he probably stinks. He's a strong man, an environment of, you know, fourth graders. This is a series, uh, fourth annual playwright. Dear Life from the Path. About… This is a solid one. About a year ago, my fiancée, Jane, reconnected with her childhood friend through Facebook. Christine is gay, unattached, and very attractive. She has a great personality, and everyone who meets her seems to be attracted to her. Jane and Christine have had overnighters together. I have asked my fiancée if Christine has ever made advances toward her, and she said no. I want to believe her, but part of me is weary. Oh, that dirty old goat. They are now planning to go on a trip for a few days to an island. Jane says she loves me, and that I have nothing to be jealous about. Am I being naive? What should I do? You're being a perv.

Yeah. You're being a perv. All right? Pull yourself together. He is. He is. It… Oh, man. Here's the problem with this description. Christine is gay, unattached, and very attractive. Ah. That's a big mistake, right? Because if she wasn't gay, and you said that about one of your wife's friends, you would get a size nine to the Grundys. You know what I'm saying? They don't put up with that kind of talk about their buddies. You can't talk about that way. No. Ah, this guy's in big trouble. No, yeah, he… No, he's… Boy, I mean, how can you be so… Yes, he is naive. He's naive to the fact that he's being a pervo, and he just told everybody that he's a pervo.

He's like, no, my wife cannot have a gay friend. Without something wild going on, because she's really hot. Seriously. He's a pervo. Gay wild people are unstoppable. No one can betray their advances. Especially if they're attractive. Very attractive. He'll probably turn my fiancé. No, yeah, I think the guy's a perv. Sorry. Okay, here we go. Nathaniel, what are your thoughts? He's a weirdo. Yeah. Creeper. Okay, here it is. Uh… Believe it or not, gay people are capable of platonic friendships with members of the same sex. Just as straight people can have platonic relationships with people of the opposite sex. I don't know that I agree with that part. No, I think that's always dangerous. I agree. The bottom line question is, do you trust your fiancé?

If the answer is, you're not sure, then you should rethink the engagement. Bam. Who goes away to an island? New dude on the mood for food. I just can't imagine my wife ever coming up and going, you know what, me and my friend, we're just going to head off to an island. Unless they already live on an island. But man, that sounds expensive. What jobs do these people work that these kind of problems happen? They're doctors. Man, no doubt. Why'd you say it like that? Yeah. Boy, that was weird. Have you ever seen the movie Patch Adams? Yeah. Yeah. I have. I watched Patch Adams. Yeah, I've seen it. I don't recall some kind of dog howl. I watch it every August 6th. 6th of August, every year, Patch Adams. No, that's what he is.

We're going to make doctors out of you. That's not the phrase you said. You just said, they're doctors. Like Redbeard. Arr. All right, there we go. Dear Life from the Path. That one didn't garner much conversation. My brother has systematically taken over my parents' lives for the past 20 years. Sorry. He uses his depression and agoraphobia as an excuse not to lead his own life. He lives on government disability payments, and the majority of his support comes from my parents, whom he lives with and mooches off of. He doesn't help them around the house or contribute in any way. He refuses to get treatment for his disorders. How can I help my parents finally be free of him? They are fast approaching 70 years old. Talking to my brother is useless, as he becomes extremely hostile and threatens to kill himself. My parents deserve some rest at their age. Well, the dude has to be at least, like, what, 50? They're 70, 50. That makes sense, right?

40 at least. Yeah. If you're going to go with 40. He's well past his prime. You know. He's no longer useful. Let's just kill him. Yeah. He sounds like a drag on the economy. Let's get rid of him. Why would you want to morally intervene in this industry? Just kill the man. What do you do about a guy like that? You don't. Is it the parents' problem? Yes, it's the parents' problem. Yeah, I was going to say, that's not where you sit. Obviously, there's some responsibility for brothers and sisters to keep each other accountable and be brothers and sisters. But the parents need to stop letting themselves be mooched up. Here's the deal. First of all, I don't trust this guy's description of the situation. Right? Like, he doesn't live there.

He's probably working a job, and he's upset parents aren't taking care of him. Oh, yeah. It's probably the, what is it? The son. Blood Chronicle son. Right? He's the guy in there, you know, sheafing the grain or whatever, and then here comes Lazy Man, come flying back, and Dad says, oh, glad to see you. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, oh, you're always taking that guy. You're always giving him money. He doesn't help around the house. That's a bit of a childish argument, isn't it? He doesn't use the dishes. I do. He doesn't clean his room and the dog poos him. I can't move, and I had to shovel the wool. He sleeps on the couch, and I can never sit down and watch TV. Yeah. So, first of all, I think that we've got a skewed perspective from brother, and I would say this is very much the parents. This is two people. Two parents and a son that lives with him.

If they're being, I mean, unless they're actually being bullied. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like the guy, when you say he's like systematically taken over their life, I mean, he sounds like a drama queen, and he sounds like a guy who doesn't, I'm not sure he has any legitimate problems. He just doesn't know how to deal with life, so he's shacking out in his parents' basement. Damn, man. And his parents are, frankly, not doing a very good job, because they're not doing anything to change his behavior. Yeah, I was going to say, what do the parents say about it? Do the parents even, like, interject against it, or are they just completely… Yeah, but you know something funny going on there? No parents want their kid living with them by the time they're 70? That… Like, come on, John, get out. Seriously? I mean… Try to retire. Leave. I mean, there's something funny there. Move to Mesa. That's what the parents need to do. Just pack up and go. Leave the son.

That's a good idea. Move out of the home that they built and cherished, just so they can abandon one of their children in the basement. Yeah, remember, the guy's got agoraphobia, so he's not going to be able to live in a living room. He's never going to leave the house. Just paint the basement to look like it's outdoors. It'll freak him out, he'll leave on his own. A little son up in the corner, he's like, oh my gosh. That's true, that probably exposed him for what he is. Go ahead and just open up the blinds. Secular's advice is, at the rate they're going, your parents may not get the rest they deserve until they are in the great beyond. Why do they deserve a rest? Don't have kids if you don't want them plaguing you for the rest of your days. I mean, you're not likely to outgrow your kids, which means they will be harassing you as your natural-born life. This rest you deserve is if you get to punt when they're 30 and it's your time to go off to your place and die. That's true. Unless they're willing to take a stand and make living with them conditional upon your brother getting counseling and medication for his mental illness, nothing will change. This is a great stance, right? As soon as you find someone with a mental illness, you give them an ultimatum and expect

a non-reasonable person to make a reasonable decision about getting treatment for their own mental illness. I know you're not right in the mind, but contemplate this. You're going to live on the street. You mental incapacitant. I mean, son. Solid advice. Solid advice from everybody. Let's see. I think I probably got one more. Give me just one more second. I didn't look past the three. I thought that second would garner more conversation. Yeah, I know. That guy was a total perv. Yeah, there's no conversation to be had. That guy's a creeper. Oh. I will graduate from college. Dear life in the past. Ting, ting. Our terms are. I will graduate from college in June and be a social worker. I am psychic, although I dislike the word.

Shut up. Listen to the whole thing. Listen. I am psychic, although I dislike that word because it conjures up visions of crystal balls, quacks, and scams. For legitimate psychic individuals, it can be overwhelming to live this way. Stop it. I first noticed my ability when I was young, but I repressed it because my folks thought I was imagining things. It began to resurge in college. The school is haunted, and so I've become used to daily interactions with ghosts, often in the dead of night. I also noticed that during client counseling sessions, images will pop into my head. I once gave a classmate the wheelies by perfectly describing the garden in her backyard having never laid eyes on it. Most gardens are crazy and unique, and no one could ever make such an assumption. My advisor says I must never tell my clients the things I see in them because it will frighten them. It's hard to separate my own thoughts and emotions from those of spirits around me. I am concerned about my psychic ability in relation to my clients. If I pick up on abuse in the mind of a child, for example, am I obligated to report it? Being psychic is as natural to me as having blue eyes. It will never go away. I must now find the means to manage it.

I don't want a career as a medium. I'm dedicated to the profession I have chosen. Listen, can you offer me advice? Go ahead, Nathaniel. Help her out. Well, she's got to be at least what? 6'2". What is the question? Here's what I'm saying. Let me lay it down for you, okay? They think they're psychic, right? And they want to be a what? A shrink? A psychologist, yeah. Okay. So that means they had to take some psychology classes. Okay. I'm sorry. Is this going somewhere? I'm riding on this train and enjoying it. I don't really. Thanks, Troy. Troy? All right.

Yes. So they didn't want to be a psychologist. They wanted to be a social worker, correct? Yeah, social worker, yeah. Okay. So there are plenty of people in the world who get on just fine without their psychic abilities for being a social worker. So if you take your job seriously and if you expect your clients to take you seriously, which most people aren't going to if you say you're psychic, leave it alone and then be psychic on your own. You're susceptible to demons. You should stay away from people. That's where I'm at. If you think you see spirits everywhere, yeah, you have a serious mental illness or a legitimate spiritual problem. Or are just a compulsive liar. You need to stay away from everybody. Everybody. Shut yourself in a basement. Go live at your parents' house. Develop agoraphobia and leave it alone. Develop agoraphobia and don't help around the house. Yeah. Just for a quick clarification, from the Jesus worldview, we do not believe in psychics.

No, well, I think the worldly definition of psychic is not correct. It's totally possible that she could see spiritual beings. I mean, I don't have a reason to think that that's not true. And it's probably, frankly, very dangerous for you to open yourself up and kind of dive around in that world. Like I was saying, I know very little or anything about what we were talking about and believe solely in Jesus Christ. Please stay away from me. Boy, hold on. I'm going to read the first sentence again. This is classic. I will graduate from college in June and be a social worker. I am psychic. Although I dislike that word. Criss balls, quacks, and scams. Man. Okay. That's the take on it. Ben says, has way too much connection to crazy demons or mental illness. Troy says, just be a social worker and repress your demon type activities. Nathaniel said, nothing. Here's what, how would she stop seeing, yeah, see, that's a good question. Like, how would she even propose, like, what advice could you give that's going to help? If the advice is, don't see them anymore.

Well, no. Are we basing this off of the fact that we're believing this person? I think, well, yeah, I don't have, let's assume that she is, yeah. She sees things. Okay, well, in, I'm, okay, I was basing my opinion off of this is absolute crap. Oh, she's a filthy liar, so she should go ahead and just be a social worker. Help, help people. Just because you're a filthy liar doesn't mean you can't help people. You're right, you're right. People with no moral stance on the ground should be able to influence people's lives for the positive. You may not have a stance in compulsive lying. That's it. Yeah, if you're honestly seeing. I'm scared to death of you, Troy. That's perfect. Hold on a second. What job, regardless of your other qualifications, is it okay to also be a compulsive liar? Oh, I totally had a good joke, but I was going to say, um, maybe a, like, train conductor? This is a Ferrari. There are a lot of government workers who do that. Yeah, but even then. A call center operator. Even then, though, like, I mean, what if he's a compulsive liar, he lies, whereas we're going to Pennsylvania, instead they're going to Tennessee. Like, I mean, I cannot think of a situation in which I want some kind of professional worker to me that's okay because they're a compulsive liar.

What about a playwright? Ah, bummer. Science fiction author. Okay, back on the streets. I don't know where it is. Go ahead. Go ahead, Mike. What is the advice? Okay. Dear Gifted from Secular, instead of using your visions to form judgments about your clients, use them to guide you during interviews as a spiritual helper. If you do, you will then be better equipped to provide concrete proof of the need for an intervention than revealing what you saw, something others can't see or wasn't disclosed to you. Many people have psychic abilities to a greater or lesser degree than you do, and those vibes can be invaluable. It is possible that your gift will give you insight into the individuals you will serve. I wish you success. I was really impressed that Secular was not secular. And see, this is a very secular, this is an oddball thing to say. That's a straight-up secular answer. Indeed. No, man, that's straight-up no good. In fact, what kind of, if I was just, let me ask you this. Let's say you're the guy that's teaching the social work department at this college, and some yutz comes walking in and says, I see things and I hear, the school is haunted. I'm going to graduate in a few months. I want to know how to use my abilities to help others.

I'd say, please sit down on the couch for a second. Yeah, where's the professor's moral obligation to kind of break this down? That's what I'm saying. Can you, like, is a professor, can they say, look, this person is dangerous? I cannot. Yes, they passed all the classes with decent grades, but they came to me and they said they see spirits and stuff, and I think they're dangerous. We cannot graduate them. I'm sure that takes a toll, yes. Like, as in the actual graduation process of it, if they're going to, like, pass the person. You mean it's completely subjective? It doesn't matter what classes you take. A guy can just come in and say, I don't think we should pass them. They're like, okay, we won't. No, I'm talking about what you were literally just saying. That's what I just said. I didn't say, but when I re-explained it, I voted on the other side. What, what, let me, okay, fine. Maybe I'm really confused right now. Can a guy who's, it doesn't matter what side I'm on, I'm asking a general question. Do you think it is right for someone, if you're at a college, and this person's passed all the requirements of being a social worker, and then two months before graduation they come up and they're plum flipping wacky, right? Can you step in and say we shouldn't graduate these people from our university? No. You can't do that because I said so.

Being eccentric probably doesn't stop you from getting a degree. I'm just, like, wouldn't you be afraid as a school to have your name associated with this person? As a teacher being… I know that you can't be, you can't do a demeritus. You know what I'm saying? Like, they give out emeritus professors all the time. You can't be like, we graduated this guy, but it's under reluctance. You know? I don't think you can do that. How can we not prove they're wacky? You didn't pay for it. It's just not a transaction. You say, I mean, it's a good. You pay it. They teach it. You pass it. You got it. Yeah, but isn't the part of the benefit of going to a college is to say, like, I earned a degree from this institution, and an employer can trust that that degree represents some sort of level of integrity. Well, you should screen your application process better, I guess. Yeah, maybe so. I'm sure plenty of rapist murderers, et cetera, graduate college. I'm not saying, like, if they come and murder someone in front of you, like, that's different. Check this out.

I'm saying, let's still graduate. Put it on the application as a questionnaire. But, I mean, if someone comes up, it's, like, just, I mean, wacky. Can't you say, hey, look, man, this guy's wacky. He shouldn't be helping people. I don't know. I feel like, as a college, I should have the right to say who gets to, you know, wear my name around. I think so. Troy would agree with the chat that maybe the government should just decide. Oh, yep, that's me. Johnny Big Government. Yeah, I like that move you had. Yeah, that's the way the government works. I'm moving in and shaking. Legislate this. Hey, by the way, if you want to see. Morals in government? No way. If you're friends with my wife on Facebook, there's a video of me dancing. Yeah, I plan on actually going and seeing. It's saucy. I plan on not watching it. I'm going to post it on my Facebook. Yeah, do whatever you've got to do.

It's more of an embarrassment. I'm going to tag Live from the Path in it. As long as you tag my wife in it as well. All right. That's fine with me. All right, hey, you've been listening to Live from the Path. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Next Monday, the two-year anniversary of the Live from the Path program. Celebrate it right here in the Pathway Studios at 6510 Rohe Road in Johnson. It's an open studio night, 10 to midnight. Come out. Bring your friends. Bring anybody. Yeah, whatever. You don't have to. Bring a psychic. Bring a psychic social worker. They already know they're coming. They already know the show's going to take. They're going to call you. Hey, can I come? Yeah, a psychic. I'm cool with what I just said. Why would the psychic ask if he could come if he already knows what you're going to say?

I don't get it. To be courteous. I already know the answer to this question, but just because I'm not a jerk. Just invite yourself. Is it cool? Will you just invite me already? Yeah. Yeah. All right. We're going to send you out. Let's have a little bit of Wayne Stewart from two weeks ago. We will see you next week for the anniversary show. Thank you for watching Live from the Path. Is 99 minus 22 enough times for us to say that we're both finished with this? I'm tired of fighting. You're tired of hurting. Is this the place we both walk away bleeding? Yeah. They'll ruin.