And you're listening to Live From The Path. We're doing from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston Proper. That's how it's done. Do not do this any different. Everything else will lead you astray. And and I think that, like, on the whole because I was trying to come up with examples that work for me. Right? Like, I I do I I get my emotions stirred up for God when I listen to sermons while I'm driving. That's where I'm at. Maybe maybe it's the Sunday morning church that does it to for me sometimes. Maybe it's small group. But more often than not, that's not what it is. More often than not, it's me listening to somebody talk about Jesus while I'm driving. That's what does it for me.

The small groups and stuff don't do I just it doesn't work very well for me. One on one conversations, maybe a guy or two guys, that works a lot better for me. And that's where it is. And I thought, you know, sometimes we spend our wheels so much making it trying to look like, we all have to disciple in the same way and find Jesus in the same way. And man, it just I I just I don't find that working. And frankly, I'm tired of being angry that it doesn't. And so I think my pope style advice is is is find the way that God is connecting to you or what stirs up your emotions towards a heart and a mind towards Christ and just do that. Don't do a bunch of things. Just do the things that work for you. God created you as an individual being. You

gotta have some friends around you to keep yourself in check. Right? Like, you try to throw off a list of dancing with a broomstick naked in the middle of the night or something, you know, that is not one of those things. You can't just do whatever the heck you want here. But but you know what saying? My guessment, is that you? Are you dancing naked in the middle of the night on a broomstick? That is one of my disappointment. I'm fasting. I'm saying that because like if you give that too much freedom, people would just do whatever they want, miss God completely, and just end up with a bunch of rituals. And that we don't want that either. That's not what we're after. We're after the heart of God and we're after seeking, you know, what what the the father who created me, what he has for me. And

you can go too far one way where you're just trying to look like everybody else and you can go too far the other way where you've completely fallen off the rails with the broomstick thing. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's you have to have some type of community around you that you trust, some fences about you to make sure that you're heading in the general direction. But on the whole, I would say spend your time and energy on the things that stir you up. I know that like my Bible reading is really important to me, but it doesn't hit my wife like it hits me. You know what I'm saying? Like, she'll sit down and read that Bible and she'll grab the things and I'm like, it's every night and it's the last forty five minutes before I go to bed, this is what I do. And if I miss it, I'm like, I'm disconnected from the Lord. I feel that way and that's me. My wife does not feel that way. She will have a conversation with a couple good God loving ladies and she may pick that Bible up once or twice a week and it's fine. You know, it's not a deal. And then sometimes I'll look at her be like, you're not reading your Bible enough. You gotta do better. You gotta be more like me. And then I look in the mirror and go, shut up. What is the matter with you? That is not the deal. You know? And so, like, I'm just as guilty of impressing this on people as I am practicing it myself. And so, Pope style advice is is find the things that stir up your emotions towards God and look that direction and and and walk that path and do that. I'm not I'm not ready to get off the lawn yet. Dan's not leaving. I'm not I'm not leaving. Here

here here's here's some danger. I see what you're saying. Okay. Because you have this conversation about every eight months. Right? Sure. And you're like, man, I'm really feeling distant. Absolutely. And it always goes back to feeling. And you even just said stir up emotions. Yeah. You you man, you you base your faith on emotion, you're gonna be in trouble. Oh, Dan. You're taking that too out of context now. I'm pretty I'm pretty sure it was a direct quote. But here here's what I haven't said. I haven't said the Lord has abandoned me. I haven't said I don't have that faith anymore. But you feel distant. Do you know what but but tell me that there is not a distinct feeling when you are walking with the Lord opposed to not.

And tell me the Lord doesn't move. I'm the one that moved. He doesn't move. Sure. Sure. But but I I don't I don't my health of my spiritual walk has nothing to do with how I feel. I figure I'm feeling wrong, and I go on. Which is which is for what promotes the change. I'm just saying that I I think I think you need to I think you need to reassess. I've already assessed it. I feel like it's dead on. I think you need to do it again. Tell me tell me where the danger is.

The just the whole I mean, you are sometimes despondent on how how distant you feel from God. Sure. You know? Stop it.

I mean, you're basing it on your emotion. I don't I don't feel I'm not feeling Jesus at night. I don't care if you feel him. He's I still see that. I didn't say it like that. I didn't say I'm not feeling Jesus. I feel like I I'm saying I'm not close to him, and that's on me. Sure. Okay. I didn't say that was on him, nor have I have I degradated any amount of the faith that I have. Right. Right. Right. But but you you act like your your faith is maybe in a second level or, you know, a second citizen believer or something. Oh, yeah. You you know, but that's not true. That's a lie. I mean, just because you don't feel it doesn't mean you're you're like a second rate believer. I mean, don't you based upon that perspective, Dan, don't you just need to burn all the Psalms? I mean Well, I'm not saying there's no emotion involved. I'm I'm saying don't don't base it on it. Right. But but but I understand what you're saying. But, like, David's expression of most of that shows up in the Psalms, and that that made it into scripture. Your reaction is to invalidate it and shut your mouth. Well, yeah. I mean True. You looked at Goof through the Psalms, and some of of David's emotions weren't very good. Lord, smite him and make him die. I mean, that wasn't like a God honoring No. Emotion. I understand that. But, like, holy the Holy Spirit, as part of your collection of what passes through scripture, could have ignored that and said, this is not part of our human experience. Delete it completely. Right. No. No. No. Saying that. I'm I'm just saying don't put so much weight

on on how you feel because that is deceptive. My my my emotions change on if I have a bad taco or if, you know, someone looked at me wrong. Fault, you're flighty. I mine do not. Mine do not work that way. Here's the deal. I think I can accept what you're saying to to in a in a in a reasonable amount, but there has to be some truth to to the emotions and I don't even wanna say emotions because it's not it's not even that. Right? Like, not Here's the you can't act like emotions are not God given. Sure. He he didn't create a bunch of random stoics who say nothing at all and who don't feel life, who don't react in their relationship. And that's not what I'm saying. Who don't feel a separation, who don't communicate to other people. Like, that simply isn't the reality nor is it a biblical precedent. Yeah. I I would even say if there is no emotion, there's there's something wrong. There's an issue. I'm just saying don't base the health of your relationship on how you're feeling. Well, see, and I I use I I I would say to boy, I just I can't agree with that, Dan. Because here's the reason why is because I think how would you how would you base your relationship?

Just based on a fact, and then you and then you grow callous to the whole thing and do what you want. No. No. No. No. You don't do that. Never say, I'm I'm just fine. Some sometimes you just have to go back to faith and say, you know what? I'm a child of the king whether I feel like it or not. God loves me whether I feel like worthy of love or not. God's with me. He's walking with me. He's in me, and I'm in him. And and those are happening whether I feel it or not. Nothing's changed. Yeah. But those aren't happening. Right? Like, a tree tree bears fruit. And so if you're not a in Jesus, then that should produce an emotion. That should change. Correct? Yeah. I mean, get what both of you guys think. Like, I really get it. I get both of them. Because I feel like the human side will kick in and you will feel the emotion. But, like, what you're saying, like, basically, like, you don't have to act on your emotions so Right. Right. Right. Emotions can't control the situation.

But don't you think that your emotions fuel a change? Yeah. Right. If a change needs to happen, how else would you know it if you had no emotion towards it either way? Kick in that. That's what God kick in that. That's when his plan kick in, you know. So through that change is to glorify him, like whether we see it or not. I mean, you know, he always working. I mean, stuff happen in different ways than what our brand expect, you know? Yeah. So

that's all I mean. I mean, I feel where both of you guys coming from is two good points. Yeah. But you think I'm more right though, right? And we and we our emotions do kick in and it can change the situation, but we not supposed to let our emotions control what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. So so let me ask you this. It's like so basically, what I feel like you're saying is like, you're avoiding an unhealthy

emotional reaction. So what does that look like opposed to what I'm thinking? Because I I see it as a healthy emotional reaction, not an off the rails, the Lord has abandoned me, given up on my faith, and and and skipping church for fifteen years. That's not what I'm I talking feeling get the sometimes, like, sometimes you can know you're doing the right things and then you slip up and then you feel bad about doing those things only because you know they wrong Yeah. And it's not really honoring God. It do change the emotion like, I feel bad, like, you know, I gotta change something and, you know, those are good things because, you know, you're getting closer to him. And what you what he how he look at you, you care about it. So, you know, I mean, it's a natural emotion. Well, mean and isn't that the source of how we wanna change things anyway? Like, I don't change things because I want to be better. I change things because I'm a child of the king and I want to change things. Right? Like, that is why that is why I seek for those changes to happen. And, like, when I say that when I say to stir up your emotion, I'm talking about the things that connect you to God in a way, that are effective towards you. And I I I just don't see that as an unhealthy emotional change.

Yeah. And then that's not really what I'm saying either. I'm just saying just be careful that you're not basing your faith on emotion. Well, I feel like I didn't say that at all, Dan. I could have interpreted that way. Well, because you wanted to yell at me. I've I I loved it. I loved to yell at you.

Wanna made me as the leading actress in a soap opera. I've been, like, asleep for the last year. I'm just kinda starting to wake up. So Okay. To Dan's point, actually and and the funny part is is, like, I tend to lean on Dan's point pretty solid most of the time. I don't generally bring an emotion to a lot of things. I feel like it clouds things up and makes things hard to do. Christ is Christ. I am his son. That's good enough. And that and that is true. But, like, I feel like there is a there's a there's there's a callousness to ignoring the the the connection of it. And, like, when I say people will come to me and say, look, I feel disconnected with God. And most often or not, people the the solutions that people give are, you gotta read your bible, you gotta go to a small group, you gotta do these things. And and some of those are true. Right? But, like, when the Lord found me, I wasn't doing any of those things. Right? And so, like, when the Lord found me, I I put my head in a Bible and I listened to a truckload of sermons while I was driving. And there's maybe there's a little nostalgia attached to it. Maybe there's a little do what you used to be doing attached to it.

But what I do know is, like, my heart gets stirred up in that way towards seeking, the the the direction of God and the thoughts of God, and those things in particular work for me. And so outside of and and there isn't there is an emotional, attachment to that where I or when I'm doing those things, I'm like, you know what? I I love this. I love Jesus. And and sometimes I forget when I try to force my cookie cutter existence in all these other places. But these are the places that stir up my heart, this is where I wanna be. And so maybe that maybe that is more of my point is is, like, there's not there's not a direct black and white discipleship road,

that gets you right in the bosom of the Lord. You're there already. You're just looking to to act like you belong in that kingdom because the king has invited you in. Yeah. I think that's a good point. Like I said, I like both of you guys' point, man. Like, you know, it really got me thinking because, you know, it reminded me when you said he just invited everybody to the feast.

Go and get anybody. I mean God come to you when you in your worst situation, so that's why you would come to him because I feel like he your only savior basically. Like he's the only one that can help you when nobody around can. So he always shine the light on you, so you know.

I just feel like he always working. And Dan says, you just march in, don't look at him, Look straight on. Yeah. I'll get off your rough yard now.

The pope walks off the stage head in hand. I've been depoped. That is that is difficult. I I don't think I don't think the Bible disassociates

emotion as a as an indicator of something. The risk the risk that Dan is pointing out are right risks that you that you invest as if your as if your emotions are at all times good barometers of truth. That's how you get people saying, I feel this, thus it must be true. And that's and that's not accurate. It's not the foundation of your faith faith. It's an enhancement to your faith.

What what do mean an enhancement to Emotion. It enhances. It it could put put some life and some some Yeah. How you feel doesn't ever change the truth of God. That that Right. Right. Right. So so I That's say it's not the foundation of it, but Yeah. I just don't know. I I I think we might have gone we might have overstepped our reaction to like, we backed so far away from emotionalism

or emotion tied to worship of God that we actually misunderstand worship of God a little. Right? Like, got so afraid of people that were acting outrageous because and false that we're a little bit afraid of,

I don't know, abandoned to a certain extent in the way that we love, in the way that we praise, in the way that we connect with God. And so, I mean, it's it's a it's a it's a bit it's a bit reformation stuff. It's a bit reaction to, I don't know, certain certain Pentecostalism.

Right? Like, there's just I I think we are we are concerned about overstepping, and I think the counter reaction is to make sure that we also don't we don't disassociate something that God created in us that that is good and call it bad because it can lead to bad.

So I so may maybe that's I think that's just the risk there is if we we've there there are certain circles that have written off emotion completely and said that that our inner our interaction with Jesus is simply a fact based transfer. And that that doesn't seem to be the the relationship, certainly, that the that David had, that the prophets had, and that Jesus had. And if that's our example, then I think we just we just need to make sure that we don't overreact to that or underreact to the type of connection that exists there. So react perfectly is what you're saying. That's what I'm saying. Here here hey. Here's the thing though. Isn't that isn't that the nature of a fallen world? Right? Something that God meant for good has the ability to be twisted for evil or for distraction

if used incorrectly or if if used to otherwise bolster to to make more of us and less of Jesus. Right? Yeah. That's really a risk. And so and maybe that's the that's the right distinction to say if your emotions are are otherwise leading you to make less of Jesus and more of yourself, such as I feel this thing is true because it it feels better for me to feel that even though Jesus says it's not, then your emotions are in a health unhealthy spot. Right? But if they are otherwise pointing to make more of Jesus and less of you, there's probably a right reaction or at least a safe one. Right on. So but but, I mean, that's that's a risk in everything is anything that God gave us good

can be twisted to attempt to be either create blindness or be used for evil, and it's just something I suppose we have to keep an eye on. Alright. Pope Sal. Anyway, any other reaction to that? Guestman, do do you have a do you have a certain activity or, I don't know, thing that that I don't know. It's kind of that same point that Mike has, listening to sermons in the car?

Beyond dancing naked with a broomstick? No. Yeah. Beyond that. Beyond that. There's nothing beyond that. That's the pinnacle. That's the list right there. No. Reading reading is a big one, but I always need something to spark that in me. Kinda like what you were saying, Mark. Mike.

Mark? Mike? Marcus? Pope Mark? You're the third name. I generally listen to sermons. That usually gets a sparks me to kinda keep searching and keep keep looking, keep digging. Yeah. Dan, is it do do you find that there's there's a thing that connects more than some of the others? Where it all rocks on all cylinders? Careful, Dan. I'm loading the gun. I I I go I go through phases. Kinda like you guys. Like, I I love it when I get in a construction project at home because I load up the sermons, and I sit there and listen to sermons all day long. And and then I I don't have enough

I have, like, really bad technology. You know, like, don't have anything to put in my car and listen to anything. And, you know, my track doesn't work anymore, that kind of thing. Have beat up stuff. So so I don't get to listen too much in the car to sermons. Don't you do have a tape deck? It doesn't work. Oh, that's a real bummer. No. It's actually, it was a CD player. Oh. But it it just it it holds the CDs. Right. Anyway, I could put them on my phone. I've done that before and play with them. My battery dies. But

the sermon thing, I like I like that. I I'll I'll go through periods where I'll do some fasting, and that kinda gets me going. Just kinda shaking things up. Like, we're doing a sermon series now. It's very different than the last one in in everything. Everything about it's different. And that kinda gets me going just because it's different. Is it I have to I have to, like, retrain my brain as a different discipline. And that's one reason I like to do things different once in a while because it it also retrains everybody else's brains. We're not, like, stuck in this rut. You know? So, yeah, I guess I just like to change things up a little bit, and that that's it.

Alright. Dan will take the variety jelly bean pack. Variety. As long as it feels good and makes me happy. Alright. You're I'm emotionally connected to these beans. You're listening live from the path. That was Pope style. Thanks, Pope Marcus. You're free to go.

I am am am am am am. So alright. So here's the thing, Mike. This is where you have to keep me in line. So I I woke up this morning and I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, and Jen Hatmaker's a

she is she does a lot of speaking, a lot of, like, women of faith events. There's a lot of things that she does that's really encouraging. But I had I read some this morning and I was reading through some the comments that came after it, and it made me sad. So I I'm Comments are bad. Never read the comments. I'll read you a little bit of what she wrote, and then I'll kinda tell you what some of the comments were. So she said she had an event, I think, on April 23 and said, after our beautiful, beautiful event today, a woman walked up to me and said, I've been waiting my entire life for someone in the church to say the words you said today. It was so precious that even as I typed this, I'm crying. One things, one thing I said was that it's high time Christians opened wide their arms, wide their churches, wide their tables, wide their homes to the LGBT community.

So great has our condemnation and exclusion been that gay Christian teens are seven times more likely to commit suicide. Nope. No. No, ma'am. Not on my watch. More. This is so far outside the gospel of Jesus that I don't even recognize its reflection. I can't. I won't. I refuse. So whatever the cost and loss, this is where I am. Gay teens, gay adults, mamas and daddies of precious gaybies, friends and beloved neighbors of dear LGBT folks, here are my arms open wide. So wide that every last one of you can jump inside. You are so dear, so beloved, so precious and important. You matter so desperately, and your life is worthy and beautiful. There's nothing wrong with you, or in any case, more right or wrong than any of us, which is to say we are all hopelessly screwed up, but Jesus still loves us beyond all reason and lives to make us all new, restored, whole. Yay for Jesus. Thank God he loves us. He's not embarrassed or any of of any of us. I am not a scandal. You are not a scandal. We are not bringing down his brand.

Anyhow, my message to you is simp today is simple. LGBT gang and all those who love you, you are loved and special and wanted and needed. The end. So I I mean, this is not necessarily a surprise. Right? There's people that I I don't I don't wanna say feel this way, but, like, that's probably the clearest I've heard her talk about it.

So there's a there's a couple of things that I had a reaction to. If you read through the comments, like, it was full of, yes, I'm I'm gay. I needed someone to say this. Yes, I'm transgender. I need someone to say this.

That kind of thing. There was a woman that got in there who said I was a lesbian once. I said all the same things all of you were saying. Jesus rescued me. I don't that's not my life anymore. And that woman got beat up. I mean, fierce beat up

for bothering to say that. And and so my reaction was probably threefold. The first one was is it it presented it put something into relief that I guess I

I guess I've been trying to put my finger on, and it's one of the risks that goes with pastoring in a social media age or at least representing as as if you're in a pastor role. Because the truth is is that, like, you you can bail on certain levels of responsibility. And I want not that you care, but but, like,

I I like Jen Hatmaker. She's funny. She's a witty writer. There's there's things that I think Christianity as a whole, like kind of Western American Christianity, really jacked up in the late eighties and nineties, and that this is a reaction to that. And there are parts there are parts of what she's saying that I absolutely love.

There are progress on, some isolationism instead of we we wanted to beat people up with the bible as opposed to introducing them to Jesus and, like, this is that's a good reaction. However,

I've seen a number of folks that that are kind of this is it's got kind of in her circle of folks that that that have that, that that that are are trying to relook at how we react to people. And and it's a whole group of people that are just they're they're never really willing to say things clear.

And it's really frustrating me. It's really frustrating me to say, like, if you're going to if you're going to if you're gonna come out and say, look, I just don't believe I don't believe what scripture says on this or I disagree, that this is what it's saying, I'm I'm getting frustrated that people won't just say that. Know it like that you won't just have the conversation that is the right core.

Right? Like if I here here's the thing with this with this whole whole topic set is that my job is to react to what God has presented in front of me and have that change me. That's the deal. Okay? So if you're gonna look at and and I look and and we we did. We jacked a bunch of stuff up and her reaction to people that have felt like Christ's love is outside of something that's being offered to them, that was that's a mistake, and that is something that has to be rectified. It has to be rectified on how we deal with groups of people. And I say we, that puts me in a a place of, elevation that, fortunately just with with the way our society is, I'm already elevated. I can't do anything about that. But what I can do is try to react to the fact that we've some serious damage with some of the things that we've segmented people off and made it made it sound like Christ isn't bigger than that or bigger than the sin that they have or bigger than the choices that they've made for people who are willing to accept Jesus. However,

I I think the risk that runs associated with that is like, no one will actually deal with the base thing. They just won't say, hey, look, Paul says this, I completely disagree. I think scripture was wrong. I have to deal with how Jesus talks about what marriage is. Just say it. Can we just be honest with if you're going to disregard scripture or if you think I read scripture wrong, God bless you. I'd love to hear it. Right? Because scripture needs to change me. So if I got it wrong, I want you to explain it to me so that I can understand where I'm supposed to get it right, where scripture is. But what I'm what I'm getting very was becoming very difficult to me is is branding and messages in the name of Jesus Christ that sure sniffs a lot but completely doesn't engage in the scripture

that is penned by God himself. And so that it's frustrating me because you have the power of pointing people to a gospel message that changes everything. And that means all of it changes everything. If the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit and God is God, then whatever this is has to change me. And if I'm if I'm backing away from that or I won't engage in scripture in that way, that's becoming very very frustrating regardless of how much of the of the reaction that I think you might have right.

And so the the the reason it came as a warning to me is I looked through all these comments and like, she can't there's like 1,500 comments. She can't possibly respond to all of them. Alright? And I did not even like 10. Seems unreasonable to me. But like, it's a risk that you run on a from a Jesus perspective on a social media platform if you you how do you not take responsibility for those things? You know what I'm saying? Like, if I said that in a on a on a Sunday morning, if I said that on the radio show,

like, I feel like I would have a responsibility to clarify if we had a comment section full of people saying, yes, this is not this is not something that God condemns. Yes, this is behavior that Jesus finds perfectly acceptable if I know that's not the case. I feel like I have a responsibility that if I if I have the if I have the right to voice into the void, then I have a responsibility to pass through the void to the extent that I can. And I've seen a lot of and even some some of the bands that come in, some guys that like their heart for people, their heart for adoption, their heart for disenfranchised,

their heart for people that are marginalized, like, calls like, smells like Jesus and I and opens my eyes to good things. But they're not engaging in in the scriptural side of that stuff. And it's really starting to frustrate me because

as much as I wanna get on, I wanna I wanna hug someone who says, hey, look, if if if the way that we're talking about Jesus makes someone think that there's no hope, then we're not talking about Jesus right. Alright? I'm totally on board with that message, but like Mhmm. Let's at least honestly engage in scripture. Let's do that if that's where this is coming from. So that so that was one. Pastoring in a broad environment. I I and this is not her specifically. I've seen that a lot of different places. And like, I just it's just a risk that I feel like we've got to take into account that like you can't just you can't just bail. You half a message is still it's not a complete message here. And if if this people's reaction is the wrong reaction or they're perverting scripture based upon what you said and you have the ability to influence, I feel like you should. Yeah. Yeah. They're all jumping on board agreeing with what she didn't say. Yeah. But what they wanted her to say. What they what they What you're looking for. It. And here's the thing, it's like I don't even know what she's at. Like she's Yeah. Sufficiently vague. I

I don't I don't know. Yeah. I'm not speaking on her behalf. This is actually not even a criticism of hers except for it just pointed out me to risk that I for that I guess I didn't think of or hadn't put into to qualified terms, which is, like, you can't follow-up with these people. You can't actually check to make sure they didn't take you what you have and beat other people up with it. Now, that's you can't mitigate all of that. But, like, if I could read through this and, like, there's no reaction here at all,

that just seems like it's a risk to me. And so so the the second parts of it were, and this goes back to how we how we read scripture, is like we we've talked about this before. This shows up in like every one out of five, Christian articles anywhere, which is if you go to the bible looking for something, you'll find a way to justify it. Right? You'll find the thing that you want to find. And that is that means like if you're not approaching scripture and saying whatever is here, whatever God has, it is sufficient and right to change me, then you're out out actually following Jesus. And the more that you're dishonest about that, the harder it is to reconcile some of the things that are that are causing a bit of a of a chasm within Christianity. Here's here's the deal is,

who's it? Arian. What's the guy? Arianism. It was the, it was the belief that Jesus wasn't wasn't wasn't man. He was not a man. Or or no, excuse me. Is that that God Jesus was not a God, neither Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit were. They were created beings from God the Father. K? It's Arianism. It was a big fight with the church in like the third century, fourth century. Alright? So there was a there was a huge reaction to that. That is at least an honest discussion. That Arian was was trying to

what? Sorry. Just Who knows that? No. Wait. Just follow me. Okay? I have it's never even crossed my mind as a problem. I I think this is where you're supposed to step in by. No. No. Here's here's the point though. It's like that guy there's a his his theology was so off that it's named after him and people refer back to it as the guy that really jacked things up. But here's the thing. That that guy was at least being honest. He was trying to protect his understanding of a singularity of what scripture said and said God is one. It's great Shema. God is the Lord our God, God is one. K? So Jesus and the Holy Spirit can't be that. K? Trying to digest the trinity, he's fighting for the Holy Spirit and Jesus have to be created beings because God is one. I respect that guy. Total derided, caused great schisms, ended up passing to the Nicene Creed and stuff because of this dude more than I than I would appreciate some of the discussions that we're having in in modern day Christianity because we are not being scripturally honest. We're not saying, look, scripture is what it is. If you're gonna dismiss scripture, say that. Say, look, I don't trust it. I believe it's a book made by men. I I completely disregard this or I think Paul was lying or I think this is a cultural issue or whatever it is. So we can at least engage with things on a level playing field. But if you're simply going to disregard what scripture says and act like people who are trying to take it seriously and rightfully is the word of God are crazy, then, like, we don't even have a platform to discuss. Now see, the roots of this go back to the eighties probably before that, but I remember conversations,

articles that I had read or heard, whatever, that there were so many groups that that the church was a problem. Right? I mean Yeah. They wanna do a certain behavior, and the church was saying that behavior is sinful, and and and there was no budging there. And and so there was a a concerted effort to get theologians who would come in and redefine

scripture and repackage it and remarket it in such a way that it would sound biblical and sound spiritual, but they could still do what they want. And I think that's a lot of this is an offspring of that. Those people grew up in those churches that heard these things, and they weren't really scriptural. They were phrases and clever marketing and and and so forth, packaging.

And now you have people who they're not gonna they're not gonna tell you they don't that the scripture they don't believe it because they know they'll lose x amount of people. Because that that's just too harsh. But doesn't that seem like extremely dangerous? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Here's the deal. It's like, I I I don't disciple people the way that you're talking. Do you know what I'm saying? Hit me with it. Like, my general approach is you introduce people to Jesus. They follow Jesus. Jesus will take care of their sin. He will he will lead them into a way where they they recognize it as sin and they say this has gotta go if I'm gonna keep following this God. But they gotta know that they're loved first and they gotta know the God that they're submitting to. And so, like, I get what you're saying, but, like, if you have two minutes to explain the gospel from some from to somebody, I don't say, what's the biggest thing that you struggle with? Well, blah blah blah. Well, God hates that. So just so you know, you're loved, but that's terrible. What I'm saying. Yeah. But here's the thing, that is so wrapped up in their identity of who they are.

I I understand what you're saying. But but like she was vague probably for a reason. Right? Probably for a reason. Because the first the first encounter you have with someone that is mired in sin, you don't go, let's talk about how crappy you are and how much God loves you anyway. Right? Like, if they can just know that that that God loves them and that he's the king and start to follow him, he that's what he did for me. When I got introduced to Jesus Christ, I didn't have people throwing 15 sins in my face and saying, all that sucks. You suck. Because all that stuff was tied to my identity at the time. It was who I was. But but here's how this works though, is is as you are becoming more like Jesus and the Holy Spirit is working in your life, you're gonna go to that person who is further down the road than you and say, hey. God's really been telling me whatever. It doesn't matter. Ham ham and cheese maybe isn't biblical, I love ham and cheese. What do you think? And that's usually where that comes in. It's not that someone's holding out a sign saying ham and cheese is the devil. Or I'm I'm obviously, I'm that's a, you know, a bad example. But, you know, it you put in your sin, real sin. That's where it comes from. It's not like necessarily not that there aren't people doing that, but, like, you and I aren't running around throwing darts at people, yelling at them, calling them a of dummies, giving them a list of sins and stuff. But they'll come to me and say, hey, God's been working on me on this. What do what do you think? Well, isn't that the time to hit them with description? And that's you said. Here's what we're here. And that's good question. But that was the but that but I mean, that that was an introductory discussion. No. So so so think about it because, like, we're talking this is a platform of which people can respond and comment on. Right? So, Mike, let's say you do this. You you you go up to someone and you tell them that that Jesus loves them. Right? There's an opportunity to live in freedom and grace under the lord Jesus Christ. They say, great. Jesus supports that I beat my wife.

Okay. You're sitting there. Do you is it you're saying, well, now is not the time. I'm sorry. Jesus doesn't support you beating your wife. So So I try I try to follow here. So you're, you're more, concerned with the the role that that someone has taken under under a pastoral role and saying this and actually not being able to pastor any of them. Well,

it's not even able to. It's not I mean, you could. You have the ability to interact on that platform in that way. If you choose not to, that's what seems dangerous to me. If you say the if you say the this is the thing. If you say the true thing, Jesus loves you. Right? You have the opportunity to turn and follow Jesus. Don't care what you've done. I don't care where you are. I don't care who you are. You have value in the eyes of your creator. Right? Meet him. He is your king. Excellent. I agree completely. And then someone says, hey, you know what? He found me where I'm at. A wife beater. I beat my wife. And then I say, I'm I needed to hear this message today. God affirms my wife beating and loves me.

And then you say, this isn't really the platform of which I engage people. I said and you then you got a line of 300 wife beaters who say, yeah, I agree. And so, hey, I was a wife beater. God changed me from my beating of my wife. And they would say, oh. Oh. That's wrong. You shouldn't condemn people like that. And you as the guy who introduced the thing has the have the have the the realm to respond people and say, I I need you to hear God's full counsel is is love to you. I need you to understand that he actually is not okay with you being a wife beater.

Yeah. I pretty much feel like, yeah, that's correct. That's that's all the way correct. But I feel like no sin is different from the other. So, you know, at the end of the day, he adjusts us accordingly. Like, we can't hold different people that's not really under his protection all the way. You know, everybody's under his protection, like, but us as Christians, like, you can't hold them accountable as being non Christians and living they life how they gonna live it. Right. That that's not really these people. Right? This is these are people who are saying, yes, I accept and want to love and follow Jesus. He affirms me as the guy that beats my wife. Oh, yeah. Oh. I chose I chose an outrageous item. I I know that. Yeah. That is but But wanna ham and cheese, right? Real life situation though. You know, like some people go by different laws, but I mean it's only one. So at the end of the day I feel like,

let's say the guy was beating his wife, like if somehow Jesus don't just come to people, you where Jesus comes to people, you just can't go to them. So if he calling you, maybe the guy's telling the truth. I mean, there gotta be something to activate in the guy, even if he was being his wife. Like, as you get closer to Jesus, I mean, it'll seem like you know it's wrong now, even though you knew it was wrong. But, I mean, not just taking up for the guy to beat his wife, but I mean Well, I I mean, here's the thing, is like, I'm only trying to look at this in this perspective is if is if when I met when I met Christ, and when I really met him, not just showed up in church, but when I met Jesus, if if the first the first day I understood the power that the Holy Spirit had, and instead of that day being what that day was, you took every sin that I am currently engaged in and threw it at me, that would Yeah. That would be a much different conversation. Example, Dan, based upon something I did not say. Well, but I'm not saying that's what you're saying. But I'm saying that the sin that you're the sin that you're picking is so completely tied to their identity, it's one and the same. They don't take it as a condemnation of their action. They take it as a condemnation of them as a person. I understand. So And that's and granted, I understand that that is a misrepresentation

of how God looks at us, but they don't see it that way. I I get that. So and that's the point. And is that is so what you seem to be prescribing though is a later. As I sell as I celebrate something that I know is not true and I say, well, later. Is it are we saying it's not like God doesn't use his community in that way? That's my It's like, isn't that is that not what the pastoral role is for? Is that not what the Christ community around is for? This is the same pastoral role and community that introduced the love of Jesus.

Are you saying it can't be later? Like you can provide the full counsel of of Christ every time you talk to someone. No. That's not what I'm saying. But like, it's I'm trying to understand what you're saying, which is if someone if someone responding to what I tell them about the love of Jesus Christ proclaims something associated with Jesus is patently false, and I and and my job is to sit back and leave it because I don't have to defend that. I don't defend truth in that way. Oh, no. You you doing the right thing. I mean, but you know, just don't stress yourself out like you told me. You know, like, like, know, people God needed these people from the womb, all of us. I mean, at the end of the day, everything that a person goes through is they own relationship with God, whether they know it or not. You know? So I I just feel like you gotta let people just live their life, but at the same time, we supposed to shed light to them. You know, like, it's our job to let them know, like, you know, this is what you should do because it's a manual to light rather than just instructions on You know, like it's a manual that you can either

take or not take. You know, but most people don't understand the bible. Like when they just read it, they see words. I mean, you gotta apply this in your life in order for you to understand like, this is the thing to do. Like, any situation that I wanna get through is in here, rather than just, this book was made by man and, you know, like, anything that the media, you know, like, we not from this world, so at the end of the day, they're going to slander his name,

make the church look bad, make it seem like he's not real and you can just have your own choice to do what you want to do. Really, we have free will but it's only God willing. You know, like we put here, like, sort of like a simulation. Like, to be here and this is the test. Like, either you're listen to it or not. So at the end of the day, God puts you through them obstacles obstacles that

you will either be doing wrong, living wrong, and he's so patient with us that he gives us extra time sometimes even when we're not doing the right thing. So, I mean, other than that, you gotta let god work because he's the most patient. Like, he has more patient than any one of us, you know. See, I think this is I I think this he's he's explained this more eloquently than I have. And and and you could stop me if I'm wrong here, but what it seems to me is that is that your job is to communicate the gospel in a in a in a clear and honest way and show Jesus for who he is. Yeah. And as far as I've ever experienced with with my relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit handles my conviction.

True. Now granted, if you're patently telling people that things are okay that they're not, then you're the source of the derision. What's what is the difference, Mike? You you say whether if I say it out loud or I just stand in a company of folks who are saying things that I know are not true. Yeah. But I'm asking My silence is alright? Well, I'm asking you how much of that is your is your responsibility and how much is the time is there time involved for the Holy Spirit to make those changes? It's not a switch like that. No. No. I I get that. I I and he that's that's why I'm that's why I'm struggling with this a little bit. No. That's why you're arguing with me. Telling me that I'm struggling with No. No. I don't.

It's it's just that like I I'm having trouble figuring out how how how I am like, if you were the person like, I said, I'm gonna tell it it puts the it puts the calls that Christ has on our life as less than the grace that he offers through it. You understand what I'm saying? No. Miss it miss balances those things and it says, God is good because he has grace and love for you. God is less good because he has these things that he wants,

these behaviors, his calls to righteousness. I'm gonna hold off on that until you really understand how good he is in the first one until I introduce the less good. When they're equally good. No. His call is the righteous is is equally good as his grace. I I guess maybe it's it it comes from of of a I don't even know what to say there. Like, it comes from a heart of why you're doing it. Like, if I purposely deceiving you cause I know you love to wife beat and I'm not willing to drop it on you right now because I so want you to know Jesus bad enough that I will allow you to think that wife beating is okay just to string you on the hook longer,

I'm not the right that that's that feels like to me. Well That's what I'm saying. Telling you that I feel like you're feeding some of that in there. Like like whether that's a that's the source that it came from, you you don't know. You're just saying that's what it feels like to you. What no. So so but that was what I'm saying. One comment. See, thousand shares,

thousands of fourteen, fifteen thousand comments, 34,000 likes, loves, thumbs up. The most vast majority, like 909095% of these comments are, yes, this is not a the thing that you're talking about is not a sin. It's about time that we talk about and and not act like God has a problem with this. But that's not what she said.

I understand that. But like that's what that's what I'm saying. Are you saying we don't have any responsibility conversation like that? No. I'm saying that I that I think the the words that that she wrote on that page, I don't have an issue with. The platform in which she wrote it, I do. I agree with that. I don't think that's the right platform for that. Because because of the issue that it is. Right? Like, if you had that a one on one conversation with somebody who struggles with that sin in particular, I have no problem with that point of view because all of that is correct. That is all true about how God feels about his kids. And it is and you could put any sin in that category and say all of that is true. Right? Now the fact that it's the the fact that that that she didn't label it as a sin, you know, that would have come up in a one on one conversation. That would have shown up. So the platform, I don't agree with. The thought process of God's heart on those people, I completely agree That that's what I'm saying. That's where I'm that's where I'm

that that's maybe where I'm struggling is like, I feel like that it's it's it's not part of a complete story. Like if I were to say something like like what was said there and then they completely took what I said and then bake their own stuff in it and most it was most of it. Am I saying, I don't really have a responsibility to to set that straight. My influence is good for this, but I won't use it for this. But you know, we living in a world where people do what they see. You know, depending on the situation, how they grew up, what happened. Like, everything count when you were kids, so we all go through different situations and whatnot. So I feel like

like the things that you go through, it happens for a reason, I guess. And, like, people like us, we gotta be the light, the shared truth. You know, like, we can let people know, but that's only to a certain extent. And it go back to when you gotta put your life in it. You know, like, people gotta understand it is not just words. It lives. So, I mean, you know, like, that's how we can make people change and, you know, the closer you feel like God, like you said, you can feel disconnected

if you miss one day without reading scripture. Like like, that's what I do. I set my day around things that are reminding me of them. You know? So because, you know, like, in the busy world we live in, it's easy to forget. So you gotta always set up little traps that you will remember, you know, when everything's going crazy within a day. But, I mean, it's like more temptation right now. You got the Internet, all type of websites and iPhones and, you know, like, anything that's easy to have access to things that you're really not supposed to give in to. Yeah. So I just I mean, we do we dealing with a different level of

technology and things that's going on. So, you know, people it has more of an influence. Like, we're not from this world, so we can't really too much stress about the influence people have because God will work with them on their own time. Well, may may then maybe that's my question. Is that is ultimately if you've decided to use that platform and you have that level of influence, is there a level of irresponsibility

if you're only willing engage it in such a way when you know people have taken that message and completely jacked the gospel with it and you say, my only job is to throw out the one thing, I don't do the other. No. You're supposed to have a bland attitude. I mean, you just bring it to the attention or whatnot. You know, like, really just show them through you the things that you do. You know, like, as I get closer with God, I understand, like, you have to find the kingdom first. And then whatever your tainted heart wants, it don't want anymore, and you can really find yourself. You know. Like, we had one of well, like, in Revelations, like, we'd

be doing a bible study and and it but, you know, we working on something else. But, I mean, it it just go back to like, the end of it is so crazy. It's like it is is like a Harry Potter movie, but real. You know, like, it's you know, like, you can't there's nothing that can compare to it. So, I mean,

it's real deep, like Yeah. I Okay. I'm still I'm Here's the I'm not struggling, I guess. It's just I felt I felt sad this morning and maybe it was because So I think that's the right reaction. I did. Yeah. So, mean, we was I was talking to my wife a little bit about it. I was sad this morning because I saw

so many people treat what is a word of parts of God's word that are gracious

and loving in their intent and turn them and and treat them like they are they are not those things. And

maybe I felt like that was that was my Jesus they were talking about there. Right? That's that's my Jesus whose whose whose words they said, know that like I deny the truth of what of what scripture is inspired or I don't think this is gracious and good. So I'll take the things that I want from it and I'll reject those other things. And maybe it's because I think the whole of God's relation with his people, the whole of scripture that he has produced is like his his his law and his grace and his righteousness are all positive things. But think Paul. Paul never rejected the law. Paul loved the law. Right? We have we have this adverse reaction to way God interacts with his people. And I guess I thought I I I love both.

You know? And so so I thought I there was just a lot of conversation that I feel like if you have a level of influence and here, don't wield that. I don't I don't even know how to carry it. Maybe I would use it wrongly. Maybe that's why I talked to nine people. And there's so much of those types of conversations that I agree with that my that I I feel like we have misrepresented

how Jesus deals with people from social structures, from choosing one sin over another, which one which one is worse. Like those are all problems that the church has created in how we talk about certain things or how we deal with certain people. We've made we've made our greed

like a real less of a problem than someone else's sexual proclivities the biggest deal in the world. And so like I I get all of that. It just seems like it points there's a separation from from some clarity within scripture or at least in the tempted view, we'll say, this is God's word and God's word is always good, then how where you at? Where you at with this? And like, if if people are if you say one thing and people take a complete different thing from it, are we saying it's it's we just leave that stuff up to time. Like, it's just not the right time that we shouldn't say anything about that when you've when people missed it. When I feel like, if if God's word is the purifier,

how could I withhold it? But you know, like we living in a world where we not from this world, you know. So the things of this world that happened, you know, like you could just go back in time where where people just is not from we not from this world. Look how they did Jesus.

After he did the miracle with the fish and the and the bread, they looked for him and everything on boats and everything, and then they found him, and they was wanting him to do another miracle. Like, people don't like, people from this world, they have to see things, you know, like so it's like, I don't even Jesus Jesus couldn't change people. So No. I I didn't hear you. And like He did. He can, but he can he can only show his miracles to people

that have the the ear to listen and the odyssey. You know? So, I mean, I feel like everybody that he comes to, he comes to. You know, like and he's and certain people that do certain things, like it's like we can just pick a scene out out of the box and just live with that. But at the end of the day, I feel like he go about what's in your heart. I feel like that's what changed when he died on the cross, basically, you know. But at the same time, we're not supposed to promote it. That's what that's what happens when we from this world. It it propaganda

and, you know, it bring down everything that Jesus worked for, you know. But I'm not gonna say that's not real. But that's I I feel like that's that's why, I mean, he's left a community of believers and a scripture to otherwise to otherwise bring good news to the rest of the world. And and I I mean yeah. I I maybe it was just something I I still struggle with is I feel like it's hard for me when we when when people you've said something that otherwise I can get on board with. People take it the exact wrong way and our reaction is to not

is to not clarify. And maybe, Mike, what you're saying is that time will clarify, the holy spirit will handle that thing, Community is not that's not their responsibility. Is that what's what's the right way to to characterize what is it you're saying? I I I I think it's a lot more I think it's a lot more great than that. I mean, here's the deal. Like, on the long sweeping, I I think that the issue that it is, it is probably foolish to speak

on mass like that on any take of the matter. It's just foolish. There's no way you're gonna have an actual impact in a meaningful, truthful, integrity driven conversation when you try to have it with 30,000 people. It's It's just not gonna happen. No. And I agree with that. And that's the truth is like, I was even thinking this on the way in here. I don't ever talk about this publicly. Like, it's just not a it's not a valuable conversation. It doesn't change people's minds. People think what they wanna think

and that they'll build a bunch of stuff into whatever you're saying because of what it is that they think already. And so I I just I I've never had a productive public discussion about this particular topic anyway. And here's the deal. It's like I agree with you. Like you can't I mean, Jesus does not hold back on bringing up sin upon initial meetings. Right? He says, you got five husbands. Okay. Well, you just got here a minute ago. You know? Like, it's not like he said, hey, let's talk about the living water and that's it. He said, you got five husbands and I know that. And so, like, he he did hit upon the sin. It's not like it's completely avoidable and you just hit them with the sugary donut and then hope they don't find the bitter in the middle. But, like, I I I think there is an actual that conversation between him and the woman at the well was between Yeah. Him and the woman at the well. Yeah. I know. And so, like, the platform, I disagree with. The topic itself is moot. That could have been any sin of any kind. Agreed. And so, like, it was just it was just a it was a poor platform to do it because it breeds exactly what you wouldn't want to. Well, I wish I could communicate that same message to people because I do. I do wanna cut white to communicate God's heart on when people feel like they are so connected and buried with their sin that it identifies who they are and like they don't know what life looks without that sin and they'll say they say, that's it. I'm this sin. That's it. This is me. I I can't be without it.

To communicate that to them is a struggle because they don't believe that it's true. And I believe the Holy Spirit will separate them from that sin like He did for me and just just like He did for everybody that I know. The Holy Spirit will will take care of those things. But you certainly can't do that for 30,000 people at the same time. The platform is was was a foolish move if you were it was an integrity driven reason that you wanted to get that point across. You can do that in a relationship. You can do that even in a small setting, but like you can't do it to 7,000 people and expect them not not to take it and run off the rails on what they wanted it to be in the first place. People do that with scripture all the time. Why would they do it any different with Facebook? Yeah. It was just it was just a a mistake and and hopefully, you know, you could stand back from that a mile or so and go, I shouldn't have done that. My heart was that I wanted people to know God's heart and that was the intention. And what has happened is it's gone completely off the rails. And any attempt for me to rescue this thing is only gonna turn out to be a bickering,

fighting, ugly war. And that's probably what you I mean, I didn't have direct fight because I thought it would be a negative ugly war. Which is exactly what would happen if she would've tried to do it. Not saying I don't know her I don't know her motivation in any regard. I agree. So but I I guess the only difference was that she was the leading voice that otherwise introduced the conversation. She was the one that made the mistake. I'm not sure they would see it that way, but I don't know. But you don't know that. I don't know. I don't You can delete stuff.

I you know what mean? Hey. I made her say probably more inditing. I pulled it. Is it not? Alright. Alright. That's it. Ready? Yep. Dear life from the path. My husband and I have a disagreement that has been ongoing for a few years now. Sometimes, I need to make a quick run into a store while he's driving. When I ask him to drop me off at the front door, he insists on parking first and making me walk the distance. Whatever that may be. I say it is thoughtful and courteous to be dropped off as close as possible and he should park afterward. I'll walk to wherever he is when I come out. Please give your take on this. Yes.

I agree. He should drop her off at the front of the store. That's ridiculous. Yeah. Why? Why wouldn't he? I don't know. Why would you park first? That's the whole point of a quick in and out. Yeah. I dropped the lady off at the front door and then I parked getaway style at the end of the parking lot with my headlights facing the door. So as soon as I see her come out, I'm in. I don't even bother parking. I'll just circle around until she's done. That's how they'll drive around, just drive real slow so I'm not in anybody's way. You know? Yeah. I don't understand what your husband's holding on to. No. I got you as a doofus. Is anybody on board with this man for parking the car first and making your lady walk?

Come on, man. You gotta take the cheap wins when they're available. You know I'm saying? Like, there's be enough times when you drop the the chivalry act because you're just an idiot. Right? But when the opportunity arises for you to drop your lady off at the front door, you take it. Drop that woman off at the front door, tell her you love her and drive around getting that at all. What's here here, Connie. You go walk in and then carry the groceries out. I'll be waiting right here. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. I don't get it at all. This is a big mistake all the way around, dude. Yeah. No support in this room. He's dead wrong. He said let's see. Secular's advice says, your husband may actually have a good reason for doing it. If you are with him when he parks the car, you will automatically know where to find him when you come out of the store. That's ridiculous. You know why my wife doesn't have to worry about that? Because I'm at the front door when she come out. I see her walking out of there with groceries, man, the car is right there. I'm like, get in, woman. We got the stuff. We're gonna go. No walking necessary. I did a bad one last week. I dropped her off at the front door, then I went off. And I ended up parking, like, off by a car wash. It was closed. It was after hours.

And I started playing solitaire on my phone. Yeah. And I and then I forgot. You left her out there? I left. And then she came she walked all the way across the whole parking lot and found me. Oh, no. I'm like, oh, hi. Hey. Let me I won. Just so you know, things are going well for me in here.

Yeah. That was that was poor. That was poor. There we go. Dear life from the Wait, path that was it? What? She had no not even like a semblance of derision at this man? No. No. She agrees with him. You should park first so she can find the car That's preposterous. Okay. Sorry. Go ahead. Dear life from the path, my husband Ed and I are in our forties. We both work and Ed often puts in more than sixty hours a week. My in laws in their sixties are both in good health, retired and well off financially. They expect weekly gatherings unless they have other plans. In warmer weather, my mother-in-law guilt trips Ed into performing weekly chores such as painting, gardening, window washing, etcetera. These take more than six hours on Sundays in addition to dinner. My in laws also insist on yearly family vacations.

Because of this, we have little time alone with our teens or each other. I don't think all these gatherings should be mandatory. Please help. This is hurting our marriage. Yeah. Tell Ed to grow up and deal with his parents in a a per you're not supposed to cleave to the man. Yeah. It was cleaved to your wife, not to your parents, Ed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's here's the deal. It's like the this is not she's pointing the she's pointing the problem in the wrong area.

Your mom and dad cannot force grown Ed in his forties to do chores at their house. He has to agree to it. This is his problem. He needs to stop agreeing to it or or just put a restriction on it. Say, look, I love to help. I I got between two and four. Whatever you can whatever you want done, you can do. And don't force me to go on a vacation once a year. Once a year family vacations is too much for you? Yeah. I mean I think she's That might be a bit much. She's piling on. She's got a problem with their weekly schedule. They both work too much. She doesn't wanna have him invested so much on a Sunday, and so then she grabbed two or three other not fair examples and dumped them onto the plate

to try to pile up the circumstance. Ed's not Ed's not protecting what he needs to protect. He needs to change that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you wanna look at this situation, honestly, you know, Ed actually takes most of the brunt here. Why don't you stop working sixty hours a week, Ed? Yeah. Maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal if you didn't marry your job so much. You know what I'm saying? I never get to see my kids. Well, then change your ways. Yeah. And hey, and and and the mom and dad, hey, if you can't keep up on the chores in this place, you should consider moving to an apartment. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's no reason think of the gain at the end of your life of living at a house that was too big for you to take care of. Right? Not only did you waste money time, and effort, but you took time and effort away from your son which he'll never get back. Those eight hours a day he spends on a Sunday for the last ten years you decided to not move to an apartment and live in a grandiose place you couldn't take care of anymore, he lost a thousand hours, and he will never gain the Mac. For what? Because he wanted the grass shorter? At the end of your days, you'll walk up to Christ the king, and he'll say, how'd you spend your life, Mike? And I'll say, that grass was short most of the time.

Bizow. Yeah. Three inches, root to tip. He will be embarrassed of me. I gave you a whole life of people to love and things to do and and and and and a world to enjoy. And you spent a thousand hours from 1987 to 1989 making sure the grass was two and a half inches. You're a fool. And that would hurt coming from the fertilizer I just bought tonight. Here's

the thing. It's like I'm not saying you can't take care of your stuff. Right? But when when the fertilizer when you can't afford the fertilizer or you don't have time to put it down, you're gonna have someone else do it, you sir are causing a problem. Yeah. Let's see. Secular. Yeah.

Right on. Secular says, during one of those mandatory family visits, you and your husband should tell his parents what you have told me. Unless you explain to them that they have you on a schedule that doesn't permit you to spend alone time with your children or each other, they won't get it. Family get togethers are supposed to be pleasant for all, not mandatory. And if your in laws can afford the expense, they should hire a handyman to help them and not impose on their son. That's like me going to my job and saying,

hey, I you it's my family life is really suffering because I've been working here forty hours this week. And I say, hey, that's the job. And then I have to say, hey, I won't work that often or I will quit.

Like, that's my choice. Like, I don't I don't go like, the the the mom says the mother-in-law says, hey, I got some stuff for you to do. She didn't shackle you. She didn't tase you. No. Like, that's not and it's certainly not for the wife to handle. If if if Ed is the guy doing the work,

Ed needs to tell his mom and dad that he's not gonna be spending that much time over there, and he's considering quitting his job and moving into a hive. Yeah. But, Ed, the weeds will grow tall. Maybe you should move, ma. What do want me to do here? Make all your decisions for you? If the weeds are too tall, either cut them, hire a guy, or don't live here. Those are the three options. Having your son come over and cut them, one one of them. Here we go. They're alive from the path. I have been single for almost six years and have had no luck with the dating scene. Every time I go on a date, I perceive it as a date that went extremely well. But when I go to contact the guy the next day, I get no response in return.

I have major trust issues to begin with from past relationships and it's hard for me to let my guard down. Although I try to be as open and honest with guys as possible, it just doesn't work. I know the whole cliche of the right one is out there somewhere, but what can someone do when she just feels like giving up completely on dating? What what what was the introductory sentence? I have been single for almost six years and have had no luck with the dating scene. Is she representing that every date she's gone on, she calls to doom bothers to return the phone call? And she's been open and honest, which could be the link that may is a problem. Little too open, too honest, the first date? This is gonna sting a bit, but she might she might have the general appearance of a woolly mammoth. You think she's a said the first date, though. I said woolly mammoth. Like

she has a beard. Think she sounds needy when she gets with this guy. With very long eyebrows. I I'm hesitant that like nobody ever returns a phone call unless you pick wrong guys.

Note past relationships. Have if you find a friend you trust and have them pick somebody up. That's my recommendation. You can't pick them. She already has trust issues.

Yeah. Yeah. That's a reaction to you picking bad guys. I don't know, man. Planning someone to people date is rough. You know, a guy that you meet at the copier at the work, he's like, yeah. He seems pretty funny and cool, then you take him out, and all of sudden, he's wearing a bozo of the clown wig, and we're like, what what happened? Yeah. But He was just regular when I met him earlier. Call you back, hey. I think we should go on another date, and he dials back, honk honk, no, we're not gonna do this. Right? But like someone who doesn't return the phone call, you're picking the wrong guys. Have a have a find a trusted friend. But there there there's something that she she's doing though. She needs a little coaching in her dating life, I think. If she's having all these dates, she's having first dates and not second dates. She's turning them off somehow. It's the long eyebrows. Locking eyebrows over six inches start to get creepy. I still think it's connected to that open and honest thing. How open and honest can you be on a first date? I don't wanna know about all your past experiences and past relationships, and I'm just seeing, do I want a second date right now? That's that's that's that's the whole purpose of date one. Will there be a date two? And I think she's she's pushing it too far. That's my guess.

Yeah. You figure some guy would just man up and tell her that and was like, listen. Things were going alright, and then you completely spilled every bean you owned. And I was like, that's just too much. You're lazy now. They just got us in, and they're like, yeah. I'll just ride this thing out, then we'll talk to her tomorrow. Yeah. I mean, there ain't no there ain't no shame in going on a date and going, ass ain't gonna work, you know. You seem alright. I've been there. Not you're not with me. So that's with me? Yeah. But I mean, like, the people you pick is a reflection of yourself. So, I mean, at the end of the day, I think, like, you should take the time before you let a guy know the things that that you know other people don't. Like you said, like, maybe you can't be too open with people, like, when you first meet them dating wise, you know, so, like I mean Can religious. A little bit as time goes on? Yeah. A couple of weeks? It's okay for people to know about you, they just, I mean, they don't need to know you, they just need to know about you. Right. Yeah. You can change yourself and then it'll change the people that you want. So it starts with self, you know, like, can't just blame the next person because it's the people that you pick yourself.

You let these people into your life. So, I mean, they don't have to be there. So once you change yourself first, then the right person will come along, I think. Maybe you should pick another woolly mammoth to date. Maybe you can you can touch eyebrows at the of the night. Saying that she's not a woolly mammoth. I'm almost certain that's the deal. There's no other explanation for this dry spell. Here we go. Secular says, the one thing you shouldn't do is give up and stop trying. Not knowing what you are doing on these first dates, I can only surmise that while being as open and honest with guys as possible, you may be giving them so much negative information that you're scaring them off. Yeah. Right? In a way, dating is like sales. This is good. It's important to communicate positive information about the product you are selling, you, and downplay the negative.

I e, I have trust issues because someone done me wrong. Like Mike's Facebook evangelism. Go ahead. Yeah. Just go ahead and sell them the sell them the shiny side and wait till later to whap them. Amen. It might also be helpful to have an honest talk with some of your friends and ask them what you may be doing wrong. You know, apart from the the lie to people about who you really are part, I mean, we pretty much agreed with most of that advice.

May just tell positive sides. Just don't tell everything, not the first night. That should be indicting to you, Mike. What? That's that's the that's You were over this. You had humbled No. I've had humbled your crazy No. I've come back opinion from half hour ago I'll come back to a more realistic perspective

on life. And here you are revved up about it again. Hey. I'm just gonna tell you the positive thing and the thing that you don't really wanna hear. I'm gonna wait and hide until later. Springing on you. Yeah. Community. Go ahead, Mike. One more. Passover begins at sundown. Happy Passover, everybody. That's it.

Thank thank you. Let find it. Let me find another one. And to you. Shalom. Oh, okay. Here we go. Last one. Dear life from the past, when my friend became pregnant, her boyfriend didn't stick around to be in that baby's life. The three of us had gone to school together and they started dating years later. When she asked me to be the child's grandmother godmother,

I said yes. The baby is five months old now. While I was out at a bar recently, sweet, I ran into the boyfriend. My friend is now mad at me because I said hello to him. She thinks I should have ignored him, given him a dirty look, or had words with him in public. But that's not me. She's now saying she never wants to talk to me or see me again. She told me to have a good life. I know she's bitter, but I feel that was a little extreme. What should I do? How old's the baby? Five months? Yeah. What? This is a weird deal. She's got some postpartum stuff going on. I'm not following. I saw Frank at the bar. Did you give him a dirty look? No?

You're not dirty. I will talk to you at moment. Yeah. That's it. We're doing that, my friend. Can you at least take a picture of me on your phone with me giving him a dirty look and just show it to him? This is weird this is weird happenings here. How how long does the the postpartum thing go usually? Well, I here I mean, to be fair, I mean, this dude impregnated

this gal and then bailed. Of course, she she was involved. She didn't bail. No. He bailed. Right. I'm not I'm not I'm certainly not on his side here. He bailed.

She meets the godmother meets him at a bar five months after the kid's born. Still no contact from from pop off splits Splitsville,

and then she's upset. That's reasonable. Her reaction is way too far off the rails. Dirty look has not hurt me since I was, like, in third grade, and so I don't know if that's any real punishment. But, just saying hello to the guy, I don't know if that's enough to defriend somebody forever.

What what does she want from us? Advice on oh, was was the other gal too harsh or something? Or This is coming from the godmother that's been dethroned as godmother. She asked, what should I do? Go scowl at the man in recompense. Yeah. Knock on his door, scowl at him fierce, and then go tell that you've made amends. I I say count your blessings to get on with your life. This woman's damaged goods. Damn. Why are you so hard on this gal? She she didn't like anybody.

She's alone. She's a single mother with a five month old baby. Well, she made some poor choices and liked someone too much, and now now she's getting everybody out of her lives. She'll be able to handle it. It's not the first time this has happened to her. Yeah. I'm just saying. I'm not I'm not you know, I'm not It happened. It's it's what it is. But that that that's I mean Hey, man. Isn't it you that always says hurting people hurt people? They do. She's hurt. She doesn't know how to how to express it correctly. She's expressing it incorrectly,

and you're suggesting, well, while she's down and out, you must as well get out of here because she's a disease. Count your blessings. She's hurting. She's gonna hurt you some more. Run. Jeez. I'd say overall, if Dan wasn't in the room, I would say, look. You know where this is coming from. You know why your friend is hurting. You know she's not making any sense right now. Have a little grace for her. Give a little bit of time. For heaven's sakes, don't

go anywhere. She's she's spewing from an ugly bucket at the moment. Just let her clean some of it out. Love her until the bucket's empty and clean things are starting to come back in, and it'll be fine. Secular says, frankly, I think you should take this vindictive individual at her word until she apologizes. If you do as I suggest Secular. Oh, no. There will be far less turmoil and drama in your life. Yeah. As long as your way is easy and clear, that's what the Lord commanded. Right? Get yourself a comfortable way through life. Don't worry about anybody else. Repent.

What was this sermon on last week? Compassion of some sorts? I don't remember what exactly it was. It had to do with loving other people because it costs something and because it takes time. And Dan goes, take your time and your money and take it with you. Get out of there. Now wait a minute. See, I'm going through the filter. I'm assuming this woman is probably not a a Christ follower. I'm I'm not sure what she's been mixed up in this whole

thing and and where where she's seeing this guy. So I I could be making a wrong assumption. Are you suggesting that would Jesus have treated that situation differently than you just prescribed? I'm pretty sure he'd treat it. So when things get bored, Jesus goes, thank you, father. I'm out of here. I was gonna show compassion on you, but I heard you're not a Christ father. This looks like a real mess. I I I'm just saying I don't I don't believe that this woman's gonna give, like, Jesus advice That's my point.

I don't know where the Jesus is coming from in this relationship. I I'll go spend some time with her. Sweet Moses, Dan. I hope you don't counsel people. Yeah. You know what it sounds to me, sounds like you just dropped a heavy load. They only had two boys.

Time to time to split. Just one time and it's solved. Check out, buddy. You're listening to Live For The Path. I don't know why. Repent.

Broadcasting every Monday nights at livefromthepath.org. Check out all the past the past shows. We got musical art. I thought we got musical guests coming in here in the next month. Ben? Yeah. I think Mending Hope's coming coming in. Yeah. Silverside, I think, is still gonna be able to make it if there are two or doesn't take them off off message. So Absolutely. Yeah. I think I think we'll try to up the musical action going on in here. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Harris, thanks for stopping by, buddy. Oh, yeah. Anytime, man. Appreciate your 2¢. I would call it 5¢ to be complimentary, and that's what I will do. But you've been listening to Live From The Path. Dig dig on the podcast and we'll see you all next week.