Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the Pathway.

It's good to see you. Hey. Hey. Stop your chitchatting. There's a shattering going on. Trying to put on a legitimate

program here. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, here's what's going on this week. Should be some good stuff. First, we are rounding out. We are rounding out our exposure to the 50 proofs from godisamanjury.com. I mean, there's, like, three more.

That's not enough, Ben. No. I know. What's the tally? God's at forty seven zero. Oh. By my estimation. Could be a could be a midnight rally. We look out. I don't think unless we have to adjust the point scale, so each of the three remaining are worth 15, and then we it's still no. God still takes it. Yeah. I bet bet you he saves the best for the last. We'll see. Yeah. Hopefully, it comes out sharp. So Now doesn't he have three bonus? Oh, yeah. They got couple bonus ones. Alright. So we'll we'll walk through. We'll get to those two. Alright. Sweetie, we're gonna get to that tonight. We'll do some advice on dear life from the path. Question,

is it necessary that the every man that loves Jesus study theology? Answer, no. Wait. Is there gonna point a commitment? Is anybody a yes? I am. Yeah. Okay. Nathaniel's a yes. We're Counterpoint? I I lean toward yes. Okay. So we're gonna talk about that. To what extent? What does that look like? How do you start? We'll talk a little bit about that. Also, a question for the room.

What you don't have to answer this right now. But right now, what do you know now that you wish you would have known five years ago in your walk with Christ? That's the question. That's the thinker. Yeah. That's the thinker. What do you know now?

I I may I may even accept, like, what do you do now that you wish you had been doing five years ago in your walk with Christ as well? As long as it's not a you works based solution, like, if I were as awesome five years ago as I am now in loving the Lord, I don't wanna hear that. Yeah. So so put the think on that. I'm gonna have to rethink my answer, Ben. I I had been lined up. I really put the kibosh to it. I was pretty awesome. So so anyway, that we're gonna do that, and then we'll do some, like I said, some advice on on dear life and the path. And, here's here's the big announcement. So if you remember last year, for Christmas, we did the, life from the path Christmas extravaganza, and and we're continuing our biannual music festivals with a life from the path, life from the barn spring event. And it's going down June 7 at the Simpson Barn in Johnston,

and it's an old fashioned hymn sing with a twist. I guess because it's it's it is those old fashioned hymns. There's just a there's just a little bit of a A bit of lime in there. Yeah. A little bit of lime. So anyway, not a I've tried to think of a lemon restaurant. No. That's gone. Anyway, so so here's that's a that's a live studio audience type of deal where you can come out. It's it's completely free. Jeff Arendale is holding down the fort with the with the house band. Just doing some some hymns and some songs that you'll recognize, and it should be a lot of fun. And we'll do that recording. We'll we'll probably do a CD out of it. You can come in, kinda be a part of that action. Check out the live show. We'd love to come out and meet you. And for you guys to come out and check out Jeff Arendale and his his gang of all stars doing the hymn saying at the life from the path, life from the born event.

So mark your calendars, June 7. We'd love to see you out there. And yeah. Yeah. Yep. Just plan on coming. I'll be there. Dan's coming. Buhua, you gonna make it? Yeah. I'll be there. Okay. Good. I think we're all straightened out. Alright. Let's let's talk about where we're at. We're on proof number 47 from godsimaginary.com, and he asks us to contemplate

creation. Here it goes. Many Christians look at our universe and especially life on planet Earth and come to the conclusion that what we see is irreducible complexity. In the Christian view, the complexity of our universe and life on Earth requires an intelligent creator to bring everything into existence. Correct. A Christian might say, look at how amazing and complex life is. Look at how intricate the human eye is in the human brain.

There is no way underlined that the human eye and the human brain arose spontaneously from the mud. I've said that. In the same way that a watch cannot appear without a watchmaker, there's no way that all this complexity arose without an creator. Preach an atheist, man. It it is pinned Dan correctly. Yes. So we have a question. Hold on. Can I just interject real quick? Yeah. You read the synopsis of this last week? Yeah. Dan responded with the exact same commentary as he did last week. I do not change. He's the exact same man from just just I am consistent. Just go go download the podcast from last week. Your synopsis, Dan interjected at the exact same time with the exact same comments. Exactly. Just for a heads up. I'm surprised he doesn't, at the end of this, say, I've been wrong all along. Dan is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Ouch. The immutable Dan.

Here we go. So we have a question that back to him. So we have a question that demands an answer, full colon. Did the complexity of life arise spontaneously, or did it require a creator? Christians believe that a creator is essential. Scientists believe that the idea of a creator is pure mythology, and that the complexity arose through natural processes like evolution.

Who is right? He's incorrect. Scientists are looking for proof. They're not then they don't they'll just assume he's mythology. They they can't prove him wrong. So how can they say he's not there? Hey, Dan. The proof thought over you, Dan. There's there's a little bit left, Dan. I'm sorry. I'm just I'm just. You're just wrong. He's fired up. Just hang hang tight, Dan. Okay. Here we go. I'm done. Can actually Save it for the hymn sing. Could actually answer this question yourself with a little logic. That's the problem, fellas. Uh-oh. It's a gap in logic.

Here are the two options, full colon. One, the complexity of life in the universe did arise completely spontaneously without any intelligence. Nature created all the complexity we see today. Two, an intelligent creator created all the complexity that we see today because complexity requires intelligence to create it. The advantage of the first option is that it is self contained. The complexity arose spontaneously. No other explanation is required. The problem with the second option is that immediately creates an impossibility. If complexity cannot arise without intelligence, they will immediately must ask who created that intelligent creator. The creator could not spring into existence if complexity requires intelligence. Therefore, God is impossible. In other words, by applying logic, we can prove that God is imaginary.

I'm gonna call this a softball. Who wants to take it? Go for it. It's in your eyes. Bouvet, not not for you, Okay. I was gonna say, if you want me to take it, you can well, here's basically, aren't they isn't he trying to boil it down to motivation? Like like, if something was going to be, to move forward and to evolve that of of what its motivation to do so?

Well, kind of. Look at his look at his two options. The complexity of life in the universe did arise completely spontaneously spontaneously and without any intelligence.

Nature created nature created all the complexity we see today. An intelligent number two was an intelligent creator created all the complexity that we see today because complexity requires intelligence to create it. Now listen to the how he refutes number two.

The advantage of the first option is that it self contains. The complexity arose spontaneously. Now listen, what's different about number one and number two? Who created it? Who created Right? Number one, nature created. He said, like, guy guy. God created. Now, the only difference between those sentences

are the God and the nature parts. But the God part is a problematic because someone had to create God, but the nature part is not problematic for him because we do not have to answer the question who created nature. It just existed. It just happened. It just existed. Right? Because God couldn't. Is the Nature is imaginary. This is the most, like, blatant overlook of simple logic that I've seen from him yet. I like, if you're going to present that you have a lot now, here's the deal. I've heard some intelligent discussions on on on evolution as a as a basis for the creation of the universe. I think there are smart people out there that I don't agree with, but we can make a firm case in their mind that this is the answer. Right? And they're ignoring the god portion of it. I I can get that. This is not a test in this logic here.

This is just a complete you're ignoring you're you're putting the god section under scrutiny and completely ignoring that position on the nature part. That's that's simply what it is. I didn't I didn't see anything further there. Yeah. The fact that so he dismisses the first one saying that it's self containing. Completely content with not having to explain the concept of nature and the spontaneous reaction of of nature creating the universe. Yeah. And everything around us being created by some spontaneous primordial soup happening. Right? So I was completely content with not needing to explain that. I don't need to prove that nature existed. I don't need to prove that nature exploded

into what we have today with the elements and and planets and everything like that. But the fact that there's a god behind it, I have to prove that one. Nature, I'm okay with god. I'm not. It's it's not self contained, and he's he's contradicting himself. I just don't I don't understand. I don't understand the premise. The complexity is the is the is what was what did he say? Complexity is the reason for or intelligence was the reason for complexity? Like, here's the thing, like, how would how would something non intelligent know how to become complex? You know, like, how would the original eye that's not complicated go, hey, I feel like I'm missing more of the world. I should intelligize myself

so I could get more dimension. And actually, if that's the deal, why are there TVs that could interpret data faster than my eye can? Right? I feel like I should have evolved past that instead of making something that has evolved past me. Like, it just seems like a like there I just don't see any historical proof that that's what's going on. Like, the like, the unintelligent produce the intelligent by being unintelligent. Because the unintelligence would mean that you wouldn't know the difference between intelligence,

you know? Like, it it seems like an odd stance. I mean, apart from what he's saying, like, I I just I never quite understood that part of of evolution where they talk about, like, like, you know, where something begat and turned into something over time. Like, 10 generations ago, the fish is like, I'm thinking about growing a leg. We should pass it on to the kids. And the kids are like, my old man was kinda into growing legs. Maybe we should keep this up. And then 10 generations later, you have a crocodile. Like, I just I never quite, like, quite bought into it. Yeah. It's it's the it's the randomness. I think we talked about this on one of his other proofs before. Because because, again, like, I get the general I get the general evolution discussion, but I have I have trouble with its agency. Right? The the the the people that say for example, we're watching the kids program, and it said the the giraffe has a long neck. It adapted so we could eat the high acacia leaves. Right? But that means at some point, like,

how how is it thinking to itself? If only I could go like, the reason it would adapt that way, it'd have to be taller by, you know, centimeters and inches over millions and millions of years to get there, but, like, why not grow out and eat something else? How does it even know the acacia leaves are tasty? You know I'm saying? Yeah. That's no doubt. It says It's greener. The lady on the thing goes, you know, so because other animals couldn't get it, and I thought, well, why isn't everybody a giraffe? Exactly. The giraffe has no natural predators. It can reach food other people can't get. I feel like we should all be giraffes. That's the animal to be. Yeah. That's true. You have no natural predators. It's so it's like and you would I'm I'm sure there's some sort of explanation for that. Just No. That's not a good one. I I don't get it. Like, that's that's the agency part of as if if there's cognizance

on the way that it has evolved. I watching this dinosaur program with my kids. Right? And this doofus come on there, he's like, man, here's the dinosaurs, and they were attracted to this colorful bird known as the blah blah blah blah blah. I'm like, colorful bird. How do you know it's colorful? All you've seen is the bones. And how do you know it's attracted to it? He's like, I'm he's just Found one bone that's hidden in another one. The crazy colorful ways of wing patterns and their and their weird nesting techniques. I go, you are just you are lying to my children. You're straight up lying. You have no idea what color these birds are. Like, how do you even come close to knowing that? Found feathers from extant birds, and so they're gonna say that those are the million year old birds. But if they were millions of year old, they the feathers wouldn't be around.

They've also found some some actual skin cells that they're trying to find the pigmentation of as we speak of dinosaurs. Well, I feel like I was wrong there then. Well, then they know the colors. Well, well, but I I think he's right about the feather though. Like, it's simply it wouldn't have it wouldn't have survived. Why? A million years. How do you guys know that? You're not a scientist. Yeah. I don't know. Have you seen one?

Dinosaur man says it's a okay colorful feathers Maybe ma'am What you got there? You know just let's think about this

You kill a bird in your backyard Right? It hits the window. It's dead. K. A week later, what happens to it? Is it still there in your backyard? Cow eats it. Nope. Something eats it. It's gone forever. It decays. Nothing. Yeah. Even a vulture eating that something nasty. I don't know. You see a chicken fart with a bunch of chicken feathers everywhere. Dead chicken's gone just for the Yeah. Think about this. Like, a million years from now, are those chicken feathers gonna still be there? I don't know. I'm not a million year old man. That's what they're saying. I can already say what's in front of me. That's all I'm saying. Alright. You don't know millions.

I don't know millions. Neither do you. Nobody does. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Alright. Well, anyway, that was that was 37. I'm gonna have to give that one to the lord. That was weak. It was weak. That was that was pretty weak. That's just a failure in logic. He's basically saying, once again, god does not fit my definition of who god should be, so therefore, he's imaginary. Alright. You're listening live from the path. Thanks for hanging out with us here. So, anyway, we're finished at proof number 37 from godisimaginary.com,

and we're gonna give that one to the lord 47. Excuse me. So let's look at opening salvo on proof number 48. Here we go. Proof number 48, compare compare prayer to a lucky horseshoe. Uh-oh. We're back we're back on to his favorite topic. Here we go. The dictionary opening salvo. The dictionary defines the word superstition

in this way, an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome. We've all seen plenty of superstitions. These are the superstitions that a rabbit's foot or a four leaf clover bring good luck. There are the superstitions at breaking a mirror or seeing a black cat bring bad luck, and we all know that these superstitions are silly. A rabbit's foot or broken mirror has no good or bad influence on the course of events.

This is obvious to any intelligent person. So let's imagine the following situation and blah blah blah. You have cancer, blah blah blah. Pay a $100. Pray to be healed. There you go. That's that's the yeah. We've we've heard this one from him before, but Yep. It's basically a prayer doesn't work, and it's silly. So I guess we'll we'll take a look at that next week. Okay. Alright.

Alright. You're listening to life from the path. We're here every Monday night from ten to eleven at lifefromthepath.org. You can also catch us Saturdays at 7PM on ninety nine point three KTA, and we hope that you do so. You can also check out lifefromthepath.org during the week for clips from the show, including the musical clips from Silverside from last week. So we didn't get to broadcast that live, but we had the ladies from Silverside in, and they were excellent. They did a great job. We had a couple clips up there on the on the website and on the YouTube channel. You can also if you sign up for the audio podcast, you got those clips and the interview that went along with it extra special. Yeah. Now let me ask you this, Ben. Because, like, well, let's say they want all the all the posts from us on the Facebook page. Is there something they have to do to do that?

Like, can't you change it in your notifications to get all posts or something like that? I think so. Like, if you go to, let's see. I don't know. I'm I'm a, I think if you go to notifications, you can change your notification settings and say that you wanna receive all notifications. Here's the deal. You want everything from live from the path because we put out a lot of junk. And but you'll miss the good stuff,

if you don't get all the notifications. You know what saying? Then you'll just see the junk, and you'll never see the good thing that we've done. On your Facebook page, you actually have, a link that'll add interests. You can put live from the path as one of your interests. Name it, a live from the path on your, left hand side, make an entertainment live from the path, and you can actually click on that link, and it'll have nothing but, what live from the path is posted.

All of everything that's been put on our Facebook page, you can have right there. Oh, that's handy. Yep. Alright. I like it. Hey, man. What do you do with a guy? So if let's say you had a guy who said he was gonna delete his Facebook page, like, three months ago, and still hasn't done it. And he keeps commenting, you know, once every couple weeks, I said I'm gonna delete it. Good. So I got a guy like this. Right? He's crying for help. What's stopping him? So here's here's here's one from today. He seriously, he said this, like, three months ago. And today, said, I said I delete my page, and I did what I needed to. It will be down in a few days, so deuces to everyone.

Deuces? Is that a positive? That's deuces. Oh, yeah. What's that? Oh, I thought that's like Peace. Goodbye. Using the restroom. No. Not too. Deuces.

Alright. Alright. So here was so here's the question. Should the every man study the study theology? Everyday guy loving the lord, Should he be engulfed in in in theological discussions? How much do mean? How what do you how much do you mean, Biff? I don't know. Nathaniel, what are your thoughts? Well,

I've written some things down. I've collected my thoughts. Oh. And this is what I have to say. Okay. Yo. Moving along, Nathaniel. We're interested. Sorry. Should all Christians study theology?

Theology is defined the study of religious I'm sorry. Hold on a minute. Did you write an essay that you're reading? Presentation? Yes. PowerPoint as well? Remember at Denny's this morning, I said, hey. I'm gonna do something. I know. When you said you were gonna write stuff down, I didn't feel like you were gonna give, like, a corporate seminar on Just spit out your thoughts. Okay. Here's what the Vagil has to say about theology. Basically.

Yeah. You study it because it's good. No. You should read off the Yeah. You should read off the presentation. I'll bet you have more in your presentation. See? That's what I'm saying. Do you have a PowerPoint? Need to read the thing. No. No. Do we have a job aid that we can follow along with? According to Webster's dictionary How far? Theology. How far are we talk like, what brain what I mean, like, how far like, are you talking, like, your basic set of beliefs on how the Bible is interpreted? Because you don't really have much of a choice but to do that. I think you should always be studying and learning and meditating on scripture and memorizing scripture

and working on getting to know it better. I don't think you ever stop. And just by nature, if you keep doing that over a series of decades, you're gonna be pretty darn good and with your bible. It's just gonna happen. I feel like that's true some more than others. I feel like there's some people who are gonna do that, and that all they're gonna get from it is just getting in religious arguments. Well, then they're not reading their bible. That's true. If you're a fickle nasty person, I mean, they're not getting the heart of God's word. Yeah.

Because because knowledge puffs up and I I wouldn't say they're not reading the bible. I I would say they're not getting out of it what they should be because they're not putting any anymore, so they get it. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Are you saying I just The fruit of the spirit is not a fickle man that argues the bible with people in a nasty way. No. Let me put that way. Right. But so let's let's take it into account. So let's say, has mentioned it. I got him. Yeah. So do you think he's reading the bible? I think he's read portions of it. He's not studying the bible. I think he's not He said that that you shouldn't that's not reading guy's obviously not reading his bible. No. He he's reading it. He's just not getting into the word and actually trying to get the heart of god out of it. So you can read the bible and make it whatever you want. But the question that wasn't, hey, is it acceptable to partially read and then pervert the scriptures? Right? The question is, should a person should the every man who has a genuine heart for Christ

study theology? And and I so my answer is yes because it comes out of wanting to know by reading God's word, it brings up questions. Right? Like, you wrestle you wrestle with the scriptures. I I think when we're talking about theology, you're talking about, like, questions that arise from the scriptures as you study it. I want to study the scriptures. Now now based on that definition though, it's impossible to say no. That's right. You're right. I Yeah. I think that's what they're looking for, Mike. Because if you're if you're just trying to learn, like, theology as in getting all the $20 words down so you can impress people, then I don't care. Who cares? Who I don't care if you know what some man written word is that defines if you believe in a in a, you know, mind, soul, and spirit, you're a trichotomist or or, you know, I mean, who cares what it's called? Do you understand the biblical concepts? Yeah. That's what I think every believer Hold on second. So what Buva said before you just started talking was, yeah, that's what they that's what they want. Like, we're a group of, like, bible roughs

that want you to agree to theology. You basically, you set up a question that that you it's impossible to answer no, not because of its own virtuistic answer, but of the way that you phrased the question. You said that to define theology like a theology are the questions that come out of reading scripture. And if I say that's not necessary, then then obviously you're gonna say either I'm not reading scripture or I don't have any questions because I I get it. Okay. Now hold on a second. So back back to Nathaniel's lame corporate introduction. So theology is the systematic and rational study of concepts of God,

and its and its influences and nature of religious truth. So I mean, yeah, I think everyone should be should be into that. I I guess it just depends on how far out it reaches. Right? If that's a systematic study of the Bible, then that's great. If that means you gotta read 50 different authors on their take on the Bible, maybe not. That's all I'm saying. Oh, I I'd go with that. Yeah. I agree. Nathaniel, what are your thoughts? What about That was basically my last paragraph.

You come up. Let me flip to page seven. I also want you to know that I had citations. No plagiarism here. Alright. Alright. What okay. Study your bible. I mean I wrote it all out. What'd you think that was gonna be? The big bomb, Ben? You know what I'm saying? Study theology. No. No. Give it up. Join the Peace Corps. I so so here's what I here's what I think is I think sometimes we approach the word theology as if it is for somebody else. Right? Because it seems like so we don't call it what it really is. Like, we we think it refers to studying other people who have studied the bible as opposed to the the the the study of god in his word. I feel like you're just splitting hairs. Just study your bible. You don't have to call it anything. That's fine. That's I guess that's what I'm saying, though. It's that's what it is. That's what it is.

Alright. That could not have been was that your transition? People on radio kids, I'm I'm taking my paper back and forth. You should write that out. In a very business like manner.

Alright. Alright. It's okay. Next question, smarty pants. Five years,

so five years ago, like, what do you wish that you knew or did in your Christian walk or or in your walk with Christ five years ago that you know or do now? You asking me? Yeah, I'm asking you, another participant on the program. Mister Sassafras from the previous Mister Sassafras. Listen. You you oh, you saw the conversation that you Rich is a part of There's not two answers to that conversation. That means it's not a conversation.

It's just a podium. That's it. Are just standing there going, yes. Hold on. You started with no. Yeah. Until you rephrase the question, I got you straightened out. I feel like that was successful. I'm still going with my no. Okay. Just check this out. Would you ever kick your dog?

Yes. Okay then. That's it? Yeah. I've done it. Okay then. Man, I've been the right thing to do. Just wanna do it. Five years, Mike. Answer the question.

I don't know. Actually, I wasn't I wasn't prepared to answer yet. I I can't even remember what I was doing five years ago. So okay. So five years ago, I'll I'll take this one then because this is definitely something that I should probably think about considering the fact five years ago,

and I still am a complete and total idiot. But five years ago on that? Yeah. We can vote on that. It's gonna be unanimous. Yes. Okay. I wish I would have realized how helpful it is when you're honestly in daily prayer and daily excuse me, daily

studying your bible. Honestly, in the word, seeking the heart of God exactly through that, reading your bible every single day. Five years ago, I had read Matthew, and that's about it. And I'd read Matthew probably 10 times saying, oh, I'm gonna read the bible entirely, but I would get to the end of Matthew and say, I think I got it down. You know, I I think I got the gist of it. You know, Jesus is an awesome guy.

All this good stuff, but I didn't actually try and seek the heart of God, and I didn't actually try and seek my own faith. All I wanted was to be able to say, yeah, I'm reading my bible, and I pick it up every couple months, and my prayer was listening to my dad pray at the dinner table every once in a while, and then if I'm at a bible conference or or a believer or anything like that, I'm breaking down in tears and crying in my prayer life. But I did not live my walk every single day, and I feel like if I could go back to my 16 year old self and say, dude, you know, you need to get in your bible every single morning before you do anything, before you get dressed for the day, before you shower up, get in that bible, study the heart of God, get into it, and then pray on it. You know, pray for forgiveness and repentance every time you even get into that bible, man. That way, you know, you get exactly what God wants you to get out of that. God, you know, take take what what I'm reading today and really get and and write on my heart today what you want me to know from this scripture. And I I feel like that would help me at 16 so much. You feel like 16 year old Buva would listen to older Buva? I feel like 16 year old Buva would see me with a shaved head and a bit of a beard and a chipped tooth, and I I would I would probably scare me. To be a 100% honest, I was big, but I was a wussy. Yeah. And I'm not afraid to admit that now. I'm still a wussy, but I'm less of a wussy than I was back then. Did you say wussy on the radio? I don't think so. No. Wussy?

I think you should stop saying it now. Let's swap it out for pansy. Yeah. I don't I just don't I don't think it's allowed. Well, my apologies to anyone who's offended. I was a pansy.

Yeah. That's it, Smitter. I don't know why. There we go. Alright. Got some more clown air. Yeah. I was a pansy, and I I'm still a bit of a pansy, but I'm less. Are we gonna have to beat that out? Because that'd be hip. Anybody that gets upset about that is a wussy. Yeah. Exactly. Anyway, go ahead. So,

yeah, I I would honestly, taking that those those I I don't wanna say the word ritual because that's gonna sound bad, but those daily Discipline. Principles. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Disciplines. Thank you. Those daily disciplines and and actually growing your faith and getting brought under sanctification from the holy spirit. So

k. That's a good answer. I'm much in agreement with that. I'm much in agreement with a spiritual discipline of of prayer and bible reading, and and not not because I worship the bible over God or because I treat prayer as if it's a Santa Claus, but because

there's a there's a living creator of the universe who has revealed his character to me through his word and given me access to be able to speak with him through prayer, and you'd be a fool to not want to do that believing what I believe. And and but seeing it in it is proper perspective on what that actually gives you access to, like, is not just a historical

historical account. It is it is the heart and character of the living God. And and and you have this you have the same access, for example, to a to a holy spirit that that that Peter had and that Paul had, you know. And and and and thinking about it in those terms, I think,

really brings brings your the the bible reading alive. And I would say that's something that I wish I would have had the correct perspective on, five years ago. Dan Hudson? Yeah. That that's a that's a fairly tough question. I've been trying to ponder.

I think from a a preacher's perspective, I can say

that giving myself permission to teach more on a Sunday morning as opposed to I mean, there's difference between, like, preaching and teaching. Know, there's, like, the preach or I've I've I've told myself there's a difference. And I think

that I kind of swallowed in some of the the, you know, put put cotton candy on. Not that we watered anything down. I mean, I think I've always tried to teach the scripture truthfully. I mean, I've never intentionally like soften anything, but but maybe you add a little more flare to it or something, know, a little little pretty packaging and hey, we're doing a series on blah blah blah, you know, and and sparkles and and rather than just say, hey, guess what? Like right now, we're just going through acts. Yeah. You know, just open your bible. Here's where we're at. Next week will be the next verse, you know, and and I've I've I've enjoyed doing that

very most recently. And I don't know. I think that's maybe what I would do sooner than later. Right. I mean, I've done it before, and it's not like I've never done this before. Right. I just kinda strayed from it for a while, and and that's

that's all that's that's what kinda comes to mind. So far, we're three for three on hardcore bible. Mike, you've had some time. I'm sorry, dude. I got a complete blank. I couldn't I have can't form a thought for nothing. I pretty much arrived and I here's the deal. I'm sure it's different, but I'm It's not because there's not, like, things that I could tell my five year old, the ghost self. But I've been sitting here, like, trying really hard to come up with a coherent thought all night, and it's just not been happening for me. Can't do it. Maybe you tell yourself to hang off the NyQuil a little bit. I don't know. Ever since I I started decided to stop being some such a negative guy, got nothing. Like, there's nothing in my head to use. Absolutely nothing. That's interesting. And Everybody has said something. You notice there's no rebut from me? It's a it's a horrible mean a blah blah blah blah blah. I got nothing to say. I would hope that you're not rebuttal like what we're saying right now. No. That's not true. You put up in a business at the end of that theology discussion. I just Something Ben blah blah blah blah. Yeah. But that was the truth. You you put out a question that wasn't really a question. You basically said, do you believe my name is Ben? You don't have any choice because my name is Ben. That was basically your discussion on theology. I don't why I have to be treated this way. I'm good looking.

The world isn't supposed to be this way for me. All the magazines say that people are supposed to treat you right when you look as good as I do. It's not happening that way. Anyway,

Nathaniel, did you have some? I did. Yes. I would if I could talk to my 15 year old self, I'd say, hey, man. There's no need to be so angry, and why are you filled up with pride? There's nothing that you should be able to boast for in except for Christ and his resurrection.

So Do you do you think you would take your own advice seriously at that point? Probably not. Are you guys angry today about how you were angry five years ago? I don't think I I'm angry about think that's a growth step. But my parents told me the same thing back then, and I didn't listen to them. So I don't imagine why I would listen to myself. Because you're better looking. Well, that's true. Your man's a little rough. His head is filled with gray.

Alright. Well, there hey. Maybe something to think about for for all you guys. What would you do differently? What would you what would you have told your five year old yourself five years ago? And maybe I mean, how well, how does it help you look ahead to the next to the next five years? And then once you figure that out, don't wait five years to do it. Why don't you start five minutes from now? Really save yourself the trouble of having to answer dumb questions like this on a radio. Oh, no. See, you put yourself in this position.

Don't act that way. You're listening to life from the path. That's a mistake. See? Five years from now, what will you be doing with yourself? Mike, what do you got? Dear life from the path, my wife's niece is marrying a wonderful man of Greek descent this summer. Her grandfather insists that his last name is too long and impossible to pronounce.

He thinks they need to change the name when they marry. He went so far as to make them call him so he could tell them what he wanted. Then he gave them ten days to think about it and call him back with their answer. He told the mother of the bride that if they don't change the name, that he's just not into the wedding anymore, implying that he won't help them pay for the event. Needless to say, this is this has most of the family shaking their heads and think the old man has finally lost it. We understand that this was common practice for families passing through Ellis Island coming to America a century ago, but have you ever heard of this being done for a wedding? Being a therapist, I thought I'd seen and heard it all until now. Please give us some insight. I'm hoping this lady friend will read your reply and share it with him. Okay. Time out.

I have two comments. None of her related to solving this problem. First of all, if you're going to the the therapist who when they run into problems

writes into the newspaper, I feel like Exactly. Feel like I should really figure out who you're I mean, as much as as much as Dan will tend to mock the everyday person that solves their problem through the newspaper, it's the therapist that makes money doing this that writes into the newspaper that really takes the cake for me. Second of all, as opposed to dealing with their problems outright, they're very being very passive aggressive about it as a therapist and writing in, and they hope that someone else reads the newspaper and picks up on the answer. Also very poor. I agree. Okay. Now, go ahead, solve the problems. Booba,

fix this. Their life's on a tangent. I can I can see that? So I'm So let me make sure that I know exactly what's going on. So the grandfather is is whose grandfather is this? It's the it's the gal. So the lady who's writing, it says my it says my wife's niece

is marrying a Greek man. The niece's grandfather says his last name is too long. You need to fix that. That's ridiculous. Think about fixing it. Otherwise, I'm not really that into this wedding.

I I'm just astonished at the fact that this man is is willing to to not pay for his what would this be? His granddaughter's I don't know why he's paying anyway. Yeah. That that also could be I'm sure that goes into it could be a cultural Yeah, there's got to be a reason why it's happening. He probably didn't just say well You know I think I'm gonna pay for this wedding now. That be her dad?

Wife's niece so siblings daughter's grandfather.

Wouldn't that be her dad? So it's the grandpa, the wife's dad. Possibly. It's a weird way for her to say that. It could be like, hey, my dad. No. No. It's not it could be the husband writing in. My wife's niece. So my wife's niece,

wife's It could be a doozy. Oh, okay. Wife's siblings daughter. Oh. Okay. Why did I assume it was a woman? That's wrong of me. Yeah. It is. Okay. Go ahead. Who else would write in Oh Problem.

Alright. Okay. So what was our recommendation? Okay, grandpa. Here's the deal. We love you. We honor you. We totally respect and and understand what you're coming from. However, we also cannot disrespect the family heritage of my future husband's family, and, we're we're gonna we're gonna stick with that. Thank you very much. Husband, Apollos hooped Apopolis. Exactly.

I leave my family and cleave to my new husband. And, if if you're not into that, that's all. I we're sorry. And, but, he's my husband, and, I'm I'm That's a that's a curmudgeonly old man. I feel like His last name is too long. Yeah. His last name's too long and hard to pronounce. Change it. I feel like there are deeper issues here than the than than the last name. Like, he knows that they're not gonna change the last name, so he just chose that as a battle to fight. He he doesn't like nationality. See, that's an issue. You think he's just picking a fight? He's just picking a fight because he doesn't like the the dude that she's marrying.

And so he said, you know what? His name's too long. So there that's a chance that I mean, obviously, it may be kinda clouded under all that stuff, but there's a chance that this guy just really doesn't want to pronounce the last name. Like, I mean, I I wouldn't immediately throw out the concept that there's a chance this guy is just that engraved in his ways that he does not To the extent that I'll refuse to pay for the wedding because I don't wanna say the last name, like, don't say it. Call him Potts. Yeah. Call him Ted and Dolores Potts, if that's what he would call it. I'm not saying he's Grandparents get away with that crap all the time. They'll just call you whatever they want. Hey, Spooky. I'm I'm not saying he's Why are you saying that that guy needs to change his last name? I'm just saying I would not be surprised if someone's honestly asking that. They're honestly asking their What if his name really was Hoop de Populace?

Because that's just And we just destroyed all concept of anonymity for this guy. Ridiculous. He's watching live from the path thinking, hey. How do they know? No. I'm I'm I think I'm on board with the grandpa. He needs to change that business. Hooptopolis is a it's a ridiculous name. Depending on the name itself, you're okay with the grandfather requesting the name change. If it's Hooptopolis If his first name is Hoopty, if his name is Hoopty, Hooptopolis. You think there's a chance this guy's name is Hoopty? They Hoopty Populace. It's a possibility that grandpa's the only sane one in this tribe. Okay. That's always their chance. Everyone else is off their binge gypsy,

and Hoopty Hoopty Populace is trying to get in a Hoopty Hoopty Populace is coming around. Grandpa is not happy. He's the only good one in the crowd. That's true. A therapist is writing into the paper. So, like, grandpa might His family's abandoned gypsies. They're gonna marry Hoop de Hoop de Populace. Grandpa's trying to just he's trying to get this family He's trying to end this. Back on track. It's three wheels of a wagon headed to a mountain, and grandpa's trying to steer this this bison back to where it goes. Grandpa says no to the hoop de hoop excited with grandpa. Come on. Okay. Surprisingly, Mike has gone with grandpa against hoop hoop de hoop de populace

on the grounds of he may be the only sane one. Who is unreasonably I'll accept that that's not an argument from a coroner. Any minor variations on hoop de hoop de populace also could be problematic. Agreed. Hap de hoop de populace. That's also true. Hap de hoop de hoop I mean, come on. Pappy and hoopty poop populous. De Here we go. Secular says, you have described a man who is used to being in control and is not above using his money to manipulate gypsies. Now hold on a minute. Doesn't all money manipulate? I mean, aren't you always using money to influence one thing or the other? Yeah. Give me that hamburger. Here's $5. Exactly. Exactly. You will you will serve me because I gave five bones. All money is used that way. Agreed. Okay. A century ago when people came to this country through Ellis Island, many of them were escaping discrimination and wanted to leave their past behind them, which is why they Americanized their names. Oh, what?

Maybe if they're criminals. No. It happened a lot at Ellis Island. That's fair. No. No. I know that they changed their names, but like you changed it. You're not escaping discrimination by changing your name. You think everyone's gonna like the big the Italian guy that that's running a cart on this on the street after he came through Ellis Island that they're not gonna discriminate because he changed his name to Smith?

That's that's just kind of a weird justification. That doesn't seem No. No. It's a Smith. Smith. It's a You've mistaken. No. No. No. It's a Smith. Easter shampi, Smith. That's what they're saying. It never happened okay at my house. Hopped a populace.

Okay. No. No buy sausages from a hoopity hoopity. Get the hoop a day away from me. Others had it done for them by the government officials who couldn't understand them when they pronounced their names and wrote down what they thought they heard. Years ago in Sioux City, Iowa, my mother knew two brothers who walked through different lines and wound up with the names Ginsburg and Landsburg. I don't know which one's correct. That's a side note.

Still others were so eager to become Americans that they shortened or changed their names for that reason. I sincerely hope no one is expecting granddad to pay for the upcoming wedding. That he would attempt to blackmail the young couple in this way is shameful. Let's hope they're mature enough to ignore him and that they have a long and happy life together. Opa. Opa. What happened? That that was that was that was Wait. So are we in agreement?

She basically said don't involve grandpa, but don't expect him to pay for it either because he seems like a crotchety black male. Yeah. I I get yeah. That's kinda it's it's gonna go with the territory. And I'd say listen to your elders. Stop living your gypsy ways and get pop populous out of here. Grandpa's is the only say one in the group Moving on dear life from the path our youngest daughter will graduate from college next month The school is ten hours away by car or a two and a half hour plane ride There are no direct flights My husband and I are excited about this special day and so is his 82 year old mother. I'll call her Ethel. She mentioned yesterday that she's excited to go.

Life on the path Ethel is not a well woman. She has trouble walking falls occasionally. Hasn't been out of this town for thirty years. She's also hypercritical. She does nothing but complain about other people. Dang it. Her health, this country, etcetera, everything. Look, after her would be a huge burden. We'd like to attend this milestone event without the added stress of taking care of her. My husband and I have been married twenty five years, and Ethel still complains about me. Because she's such a handful, we have never taken her to dinner or a movie. How do we kindly

tell her that what she has in mind is not going to be possible? I think you put in a video of the movie vacation, and you just walk through what happened to grandma.

What do mean? Are you seeing veiled threats? Maybe not. There's a movie called vacation? Yeah, Chevy Chase Chevy Chase. I I kind of It's the national lampoons. Oh, so mean when grandma ends up on a rocking chair on top of the car. Okay. No. I well, here's the deal. If she's critical anyway, it's not like you're gonna stir a reaction that you're not gonna get with anything else you say. Yeah. Just tell her she's not going. You're going. I don't wanna go. You're staying. Don't I wanna stay. You know, oddly enough, a year ago yesterday,

I was in the exact same situation except without a a cranky mother, but a daughter twelve hours away. No direct flights. We drove, brought my mother-in-law. It was a great trip. Of course, she's not the person that, is described. That's what kinda hinges the whole story, though, Dan, is the fact that she's cranky and hard to get along. The real issue is they don't like her. But you know what? Guess what? It's family. You you just

get her a separate room. She has to ride in the car with you. Well, yeah. You probably gotta pay her away. Get her some headphones. Get her some nice big band music. I think no. You sit mom down. You say, mom, a year of crotchety living has left you home for this trip. Yeah. Their issue I mean, they've had issues that go back back a long time. Yeah. They had they don't even take her out. What's she gonna do? You know, write you out of the will? Who cares? You know? Sorry, mom. They just need to work on the relationship. You know, you need to You gotta hug her. You know, clean her dentures before you leave, but she's not going. Not with that attitude. I like the firmness of the chat. They just say, what you have in mind is not gonna happen. Yeah. That's that's clear. I like that. Meanwhile, what you're thinking? Not gonna go down.

You don't even like our daughter, so why do you wanna go? What? Now now, understanding though, like based upon the description here, is that this woman is always critical of the person that wrote it. So like her view of the of the True. Grandma might maybe skewed slightly. It's just she's always been critical of me, you know, again, something that didn't have to be added to the conversation.

I agree. Here's did you have something to add, Nathaniel? No. Just a agreeance. Yeah. Secular says, you and your husband should tell his mother that graduation in the best of circumstances are stressful events and can be difficult for someone who is unsteady on her feet. Oh, yeah. That's gonna go over like butter. Absolutely. We don't bring clutches, grandma. I'm sorry. I saw you're old and hard to get along with. You're

feeble. Your age is a problem. Seriously. Here's the deal. This is insulting. Old people aren't stupid. Right? They're just a lit their mind works a little slower, their feet move a little slower, but they're not idiots. When you walk up and say, now, grandma, it's a stressful situation, and it might be hard for you because you're unsteady on your feet. They hear exactly what you're saying. We're not taking you because you're a burden. Right? I mean, they're they're not dumb. That's insulting. It is.

You could also mention that seating is limited only for important people. You're not one of them because because it is often at graduations. Then offer to videotape the ceremony so she doesn't have to miss it. We'll take the newfangled portable TV box and capture it for you, and you could play it on your tube when we get home. Yeah. While you sit at home on your loathsome. Yeah. You burdensome, not important enough woman. You can't go. I don't know. I just think sometimes in family, you're just gonna do some things that aren't enjoyable. She's she's afraid she's not gonna enjoy it, the the mom, I and understand that, and she's not gonna enjoy it. There's gonna be tense moments. It's and it's gonna take away, you know, some of the thrill of watching their child graduate. But you know what? That's only if they allow it to take it away. They they just need to focus on their child.

Suck it up, take your family member, if she's healthy enough, and and just just do it. It's you're not going on some six week, you know, sabbatical thing. You're you're going on a a trip to a vacation. I mean, excuse me, a graduation, and then you're returning home. You know, I that's true too. It's just like if you take if you take the old lady with you, and you know that she's critical, if you know as long as you know that ahead of time, there's no reason to get so upset about her. Right? Like, when if you Just say that's grandma. If you're half a day in and she's being critical, you can't be like, I can't believe she's acting like this. Well, yeah, you can. She always acts like that. Here's what you do. Stop taking it personally. Here's what forgive her. You say, mom, I love you. I rented you a limo. It's gonna take you all the way down there in a separate car.

You rent mom a limo, you put her in the back, buy her some champagne, drive her down on her own, then you can take your Volkswagen and hold hands with your wife. You should be able to hire someone from the Craigslist. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Nothing says I love you, grandma. Got you. Like, hiring Jim John down from the I got you Craigslist boy.

Jim John's back alley taxi service. What was it? Hippo hippopotamus. What was the guy's name? Hoopty hop Hooptopotamus. Yeah. Hopapopalus. Hopapopalus. Anyway, he'll be taking you. He'll be he'll be taking you. Escorting you. You were a Greek gypsy. Good night. It's a 1987 Ford Pinto. He likes some songs. Dear life from the path. My six year old daughter wants a dog more than anything in the world. She mentions she mentions it at least once a day. She's a great kid, well behaved, doing well in school. So I hate to disappoint her, but I have absolutely no interest in taking on the added responsibility of a pet like that. My wife and I work long hours, and our home is unoccupied for most of the day.

Are you it's not over boo boo. Hold on a minute. It would have to be adjusted to be pet friendly. I have nothing against pets, but I could never be considered an animal lover. We currently have two goldfish, but I could see that that the time on those guys brought me as a quick We don't take them out for walks. I want my daughter to be happy and rewarded for what a great kid she is. I don't want a dog. What do I do? Bad daddy. You don't write your bad daddy. Get that dog. You No. Get a stuffed dog. You say no. Yeah. You say no. Get him a dog. No. Absolutely not. Enough to take care of it. Yeah. Yeah. And at six years old, maybe you can start fostering some responsibilities and everything like that, but you're not gonna be able to foster in a dog. You don't know what you want when you're six years old. You you saw last. Oh, last he was on. I'd like to have a collie. I mean, you know, hey, come on. I I'm sorry. He's not on anymore. You were going to bring yourself nothing but stress. The kid is gonna wanna play with with the dog for ten, fifteen minutes a day. Yep. And it's it's just not gonna work. I'm sorry. It's not going to.

Yeah, it is. No. You find an alternate you find an alternate way to reward your child. Obviously, you wanna make sure that you're rewarding her for doing great school. Unless you live on a farm, and they can dog outside and do their ones. Unless yeah. But I think they said they have to, like, farm. They have to prove it for them. I live on a farm. PS. I live on a farm. Get lassie. Have fun. Hope you don't fall in a while. Get an outside dog. Here's what I'm gonna say. An unoccupied home most of the day is an unhappy home. Get the dog. Get it. Get to give it to you. An unoccupied home that has a dog? This one with two parents who work really long hours. They don't have time to train the dog in anything. If you work with parents coming home to the trash being ripped up

The dog having destroyed most of the stuff and then the parents have completely one of the parents quit their job and raises their children Yes, I'm that's what I'm for then dog yeah, and then you have time if one of the parents quits their job helps out the kids. Sure. I'll agree to that, and they live in a farm. Okay. Yeah. So this is Then they raise chickens. What are gonna raise chickens? Get a dog. And they have to have a friend down the road whose name is Hoop de Hoop de Populace. What's the have they got the only way?

No one's home. Then then they're gonna spend all their time taking care of the dog rather than their child, which they're not taking care of anyway. You you can only have time for a dog. Yeah. I would say your first step is to just try to try to find time in your day to spend spend time with your kid. And Let's get a cat. We wanna buy our kids love. Now a cat. What about a cat? What are your thoughts on cat? That seems Cat is much themselves. Yeah. They're they're Maybe lizard? High maintenance lizard. Actually, don't have any problem flushing a lizard if it dies. You know? That feels amphibious to me. Dude, flushing a live cat's really difficult. I think it's your toilet or how small is your cat? That is The only

reason you're not flushing it down the toilet is a moral problem. That's a sound you'll never forget. You know? That's like, oh, no. Yeah. That's that's some plum. Yeah. That's plum. Memo. You think Roto Rooter's gonna take care of that for me? Nathaniel, your thoughts? Dog, no dog? No dog. Cat, maybe. Maybe cat. No dog. Here we go. Dear life, here we go. Make it quick. Yeah. A minute and a half. Secular says, I would have suggested that you consider allowing your daughter to adopt a hamster or guinea pig, but they require a certain amount of care. Child has to be responsible enough to feed water and clean the cage daily. I've had pets at 30 years old. I don't even do that crap. That's unrealistic. And at six, your daughter's not mature enough. My my fish died because I don't clean the tank out. You know I'm saying? I'm an old man. I'm a grown man. I don't do that. I don't think you should have any pets, Mike. I know. I I got kids. Tell her tell her that when she is older, you will consider letting her have a pet. Cats require much less care than dogs do. Perhaps a compromise could be worked out at a later date.

Alright. Holy cats. We gotta read the next one. Oh, hold on. It's gonna have to wait. Okay. You've been listening to live from the path coming to you from the Pathway studios here in Johnston proper. We do appreciate you hanging out with us. If you were listening to ninety nine point three KTIA, we've just got to let you go, and so I'm gonna have to do that. You can catch the live broadcast on Mondays at 07:00 at life in the path dot org. You can help us during the week at that same website,

and we'd love to hear from you. Hey, you got complaints about the show? I hear you. I don't even like it. I'm in here. I'm gonna send myself an email at [email protected] and say, happened to you guys? Okay. That's not your show is not a fruit of the spirit. Anyway, we will thanks for listening to the show.

Make sure visitor advertisers are good folks. Okay. Alright. Hit me with it. Dear line from the path, I am 75. And when I pass on, I would like the undertaker to remove my six gold caps from my teeth. Then my wife could sell them to pay for my funeral.

I think this will work out well. What is your take on this? Hey, Cap. Sure. Do it now. What are doing for? Yeah. I'm doing Little buy your dentures and I love this man. You know what? I'm dead. Take him out. He's caring. He's caring. I mean, what are you gonna do with your teeth? You know, here's the deal. In in the in in the country of Vietnam, do you know that there's a booming economy for grinding bowls because people are buying buying rhino tusks and drinking it? I feel like I could sell my teeth as a rhino tusk and make big money in Vietnam. Why are people drinking a rhino tusk? They think it has a it cures cancer. It doesn't.

They think it's good for antioxidants. It's not really. It's just a bone. It's got a lot of carrot in it. It's like eating fingernails. Oh. People are foolish. Hey, man. I got a ton of fingernails. Yeah. You know what? Save your clippings. We'll grind it up. I have been. I was I was trying to get it up You to make got that jar? I tried to get enough to make them a rocket, but I mean, I suppose I

That is that was the most horrifying thing I've ever heard today. Wait a You are more disgusted by the fingernail maraca than you are him grinding out but drinking it? What does that say about you? Fingernail maraca seems alright. I feel like no. I feel like grinding them up. You do whatever you want like that. That's that's a one time thing, but don't bring around your fingernail, Maraca. And the next time I see you with Maraca's, I'm gonna sit there and think about it just like, are those fingernails? I I've one fingernail, one toenail. The toenail's got the deep. That's the deep base shaker. He's legitimately disgusting.

This is a true story. On the day that I moved into my dorm this this year, I opened up the drawer to the desk, and there were there were toenails. Just like a they moved. What is so wrong? A bunch of them. A little gift from last year. Seriously.

And they were just sitting in there. To Nathaniel from Nice. Hold on. That's not a bad have you ever tried to contain your toenails when you're clipping them? I do it in the toilet. Because I feel like otherwise, they just they jump My wife does. Yeah. They jump across the room, man. Like, you ever tried to put it in a bowl? Never gonna happen. They don't ever fall in that bowl. They go wherever they want. So you get you gotta do it in the toilet. Yeah. You know, I I do it I do it up on the bathroom counter because it's taller, and I'm taller, and I just throw my leg up there.

Dan, you I cannot escape the fact that I'm more disgusting than I was before. Figured out Moroccan leg up on Dude down. Downer. Figured out. Doorknobs in the bathroom. While I'm up here, might as well stretch a little bit. I use the hedge clippers too.

Got a sander just kinda hanging out in the bathroom. Let's get back to Ed's problem before Yeah. Vomits. Let's figure out gold. Gold teeth, McGrath. Teeth,

sell them off. It. Thoughts. Do it. Yeah. Do it. Do it.