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

Studios here in Johnston's proverb. Yes. And how?

Playing the role of Mike Foust. What do they say? What do they say? Say something. I don't know. Mike says. Oh, Nathaniel's the Mike Foust. Somebody. We together, we're teaming up to say irrelevant things. Oh. Oh.

Ouch. Oh, what's wrong? I got a boogie. Sounds like something Mike would say. Okay. You're listening live from the bat. Thanks for hanging out with us this evening. I

So the big big item on the docket, Nathaniel, what did you get in the mail? The time is here. The time has arrived. Biblical

Protein. This was circa a number of weeks ago. We found

company what was the company's name? Do you remember? It was called Biblical Protein. Oh, okay. Biblical Protein. Yep. And they were selling John the Baptist locusts and honey. Yeah. Well, they had the they they claimed that they had the bars, these protein bars where the protein source came from, locusts and the sweetness to the bar came from the honey. Okay. The one on the website, they were fresh out. They were all sold out of Israeli honey and locusts.

Oh, you couldn't buy the bar? Yeah. The bar was was all out. So but they did have the jars of, of just fresh locusts and, honey. So I picked up that,

and they sent it on over. And now, we're ready to do a little taste test here. Live taste test. Okay. And I don't I don't know. Don't know. Dan's not sure he's gonna do it. We'll see. Dan, what's the what's the most dicey thing you've ever eaten? I mean, in Zimbabwe, I've eaten things. And in China, I've eaten things I don't even know what they were. So I I, you know, I seem to have survived it. Right. But so I can't even tell you. I mean, I just know there were floaty things and men had fish things

in China. It can't be named, but I mean, I just don't know. I just yeah. I it was like in some very remote area and people just ate whatever was there. Okay.

And like in in Zimbabwe, it was actually kinda like a tourist place. So it was like exotic stuff, but it was all the animal animals that you think about that you think, oh, who would eat that? And it's like, well, they they serve it. Oh, yeah. And you get to pay for it and eat it. Like like a zebra. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. I don't know. Impressed you called it a zebra. That's authentic. It looks like Deborah, so I feel like zebra. That's how they really it. Real kids funny when we say zebra. I'm not I'm I'm I've nailed it. You were legitimately I thought I was just dumbing up my kids intentionally, but Oh, no. You're you're an African American. Okay. They're they're it. Oh my god. Okay. Did you eat anything dicey when you were in The Philippines? Yeah. Yeah. I had I feel like we we may have talked about this on the show before, but I had two things. They they tried to get me to eat that

the egg. What was it? Oh, with the chicken in it? Half a chicken? Yes. Yeah. The half a chicken egg. Half chick the blut. Blut. I think Buba did eat it. And so and but it they said you should try this. And I said, okay. I mean, I don't know. I'm probably not gonna try this. And they said, no. We'll go down to this gas station and and get it for you. I said, no. I'm out. Wow. I feel like if this is the equivalent of the roller dogs at the quick trip is this this un unmatured chicken egg, I'm not doing it. I'm not gonna do it. No. No. So they they gave me an alternative. I said, look. Give me something else. What's the next thing down on the list? And they said, seasick. And I said, okay. What's that? And they said, it's it's pig's

cheek. Like jowl? Yeah. Well, or like sausage.

Sure. It's effectively sausage, but they just said it's specifically from the cheek of the pig. I said, okay. Well, I mean, this yeah. I ate some stuff like that in Louisiana that were parts of pigs that have, like, they could retell me. Like, hey. Don't tell me what this is. Right. Right. Yeah. But just just just say sausage, and then we're fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, yeah, that's what I I had that, and that was delicious. It was in fact, I had I had a pig's I ate pig's face in a Korean karaoke bar at 07:00 in the morning in The Philippines. Oh. That was that's the combination of the story. Like, because the the we worked overnight with these folks. And so if they were gonna go, you know, hang out or something after work, it would be, like, six, seven in the morning. And they loved karaoke, but, like, it's not like the whole place,

like, you go to a bar and then everybody's in one room doing karaoke. You rent, like, your own individual room. Oh. And so it was just us. There's probably 12 of us, and we got our own room, and then you could cycle through the cycle through the tunes and there was a microphone in there so someone could get in get in on it. And then there was probably twelve, fifteen different rooms in this place that people would rent out and they would do kind of their individual karaoke. So that they're not as vain as we are here in America. We want everybody to hear our voice because I may be a star. That's right. You need to hear this. Only among your friend group or awkward office compatriots. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But they they were under the impression that, like, I loved Justin Bieber because I was from The United States. And so Well right. They I mean, they nailed it. And so they brought up like, multiple times, they tried to get me to do this, and they brought up this Justin Bieber medley with three songs of Justin Bieber's. And I eventually said yes. And somewhere on Filipino YouTube

is me singing the Justin Bieber medley. Oh, man. And yeah. There's gotta be a way to find that over here, isn't there? Yeah. I I kinda looked because I thought now I'm not even sure what they tagged it or maybe it's just a private private video. Who knows? But I know the guy was filming. I I know I saw him post it. Did did they did they pronounce your name correctly or did maybe they did they phonetically spell it wrong or something? I think they would have got it right because I think my name was on a bunch of I was I was teaching there and so I think they saw it. Or you're right. Might have said it wrong. That's true. But they would have spelled it right. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, Nathaniel, so prior to whatever's gonna happen today, what's the diciest thing you've ever eaten? I think maybe some sushi from a gas station. Like a like a Hy Vee fast and fresh? No. Like a, like a a break time.

Oh. They're they're like a side of the road, style joint Yeah. In Missouri. Well, that reminds me. Yeah. Side of the road reminds me of some stuff I had in China too that were like squid and and stuff that and other sea creatures. Yeah. And They're kinda like the king. Younger then. I don't know. Because they have cases in as

Missouri. But, like, it's a bit it's a pretty big chain. They're just not like a great gas station. They're like a come and go. There we go. That's more like it. I wouldn't buy sushi from a come and go. I'd get it from, like, the Hy Vee fast and fresh because, like, you get it at the Hy Vee, and I feel like it's probably the same food. No way. You wouldn't do it? Yeah. No. Well well, I did. I did it, and I regretted it. Okay. I mean, did it produce results that were evidence of regret? Yes. Oh my. Oh, yeah. Oh my. Okay. Okay. So that so that's the that's the worst. The question will then be, is this locust and honey hit up that Will it talk? At that level. Okay. So we're gonna hold. We're gonna do that second. Okay. We're gonna do that second. Alright. Keep it captive. I've never gotten sick for any of that stuff I've eaten. That was something I don't think I have either. Yeah. I just eat stuff and go, okay. Okay. Regrets.

No. Got really sick one time for being an egg normous burrito from Burger King. And,

I I don't think I've been back to a Burger King. No. That's not true. I had breakfast with you one time. But other than that Yeah. I have not I have not frequented a Burger King since then. Because of that situation? Yeah. It was it was bad. I I had the original chicken sandwich from the Burger King once and then I was on my way Mike and I were were in a car with our with our mom and younger brother, and we're on our way to, like, the I think it was the homecoming

game or so. Mike and I were playing in the band, and we got hit by, like, a guy driving a farmer driving a grain truck full of grain, flipped the car over and stuff. They had to do the lifelight and and the whole big deal. But, like, you know, when you get into some sort of accident like that, you throw up. And so I I threw up this original chicken sandwich and I I didn't go back to that chicken sandwich for a good ten to fifteen years. Yeah. I couldn't do it. Just this it's the smell, you know, it just isn't I I've gotten over it. Yeah. I'm back. Give me your original. Tell me when I was, like, 11. We we, like, boiled some hot dogs and then rolled them in butter and then rolled them in sugar. And, like, it sounds disgusting. Yeah. An 11 year old, we thought it was ingenious. You say butter and sugar?

What's that? You say butter and sugar Yes. On a hot dog. Very much so. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And I did get sick from that a few hours later, it took it was probably twenty years since I had a had before I had a hot dog. I mean, it's I I time I see a howls or hot Twenty years dog before I rolled another hot dog in sugar I I have not done it in sugar or butter, but I can eat a hot dog now. Was it on a bun or did you just have No. We just ate them. We just thought it was great. Man. We were smart. Wait. Now did anybody else have that problem or is it you only had the negative reaction? I don't remember. This is a buddy of mine that I did it. I don't remember if he did or not. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Everybody try that.

Okay. Dan says give it a shot. And then call the complaint line. And then then let us know. I mean, the effects have kicked in, I don't need to Yeah. Not during. Yeah. Yeah. You just wait. Let make sure to yeah. Give me a full report later on. Okay. I'm gonna read this because we've been talking about this recently. As a matter of fact, we were talking just before the show again. Someone posted an article that said, I went to church in the metaverse and this is what I found. Oh. The actual someone who attended. Nice. And so it says after investing more than $300 to purchase the Meta Quest two VR headset creating an avatar as close as possible to my likeness and dressing in my best virtual clothes, I went to church with just a few clicks. I visited the virtual campuses of several churches between Saturday and Sunday. The process was so easy. It was like picking a movie to watch on Netflix. Mhmm. I'm sharing my experience at three of these churches where I had some interaction or spent a meaningful amount of time. They are life dot church, Lakeland Community Church, and Faith Church. Yeah. I accessed the VR campuses, all the churches through okay. I don't care. I had of the three VR church campuses where I spent the most time, the Craig Groeschel led Life Church VR campus, which I visited on Sunday, had the most people at any one time. When I entered the Life. Church VR campus, there are already a handful of people having conversations in the lobby. I quickly made my way to the auditorium and found close to 10 or so people are listening to the church's worship service streaming on cinema like screens.

I observed for a while before taking a few virtual photos and heading to my seat. Other avatars, moved in and out of the auditorium. Groeschel would soon introduce guest pastor Herbert Cooper of the People's Church who delivered a prerecorded message on when you feel abandoned by god. A woman with a blonde avatar sat in the row behind me. She would say amen from time to time as Cooper preached. Like, I assume, like, you can hear people. Like, they're just talking normal. Okay. Yep. I sometimes lifted my own virtual hands in approval or when the pastor asked the church to pray. When the service was over, the VR campus pastor Steven Roberts introduced himself to the group, then he spoke with some people individually. We chatted briefly, and he invited me to return the following week.

Before I left the campus, I walked around the building a little and found that there were many rooms and spaces set up for perhaps an expansion of virtual activity at the church. So so they show the actual video, like, the live the real video. It's not an avatar doing the preaching. Right. I think they're just broadcasting. Yeah. Which is probably the same experience you're getting in the other Life dot Church campuses. Exactly. That's I was thinking. They're just plugging it into a different space. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Okay. As soon as she needs. So there's there's one. Yeah. There's there's Life Dutch Church. As soon as I entered the VR campus of Lakeland Community Church on Sunday, I was greeted by a staffer named Kim who told me where to go and what to look out for. That's Olsteen. Right? Or is that somebody else? Lakewood?

Lake He's Lakewood. This is Lakeland. Lake okay. Okay. Yeah. Lakeland. I was I was just trying to get context. Never mind. Yeah. It didn't say where it was. Yeah. It didn't say. There was a lot of information on the virtual walls of the building, and there was a nice waterfall that you could watch as you entered and exited the auditorium. The Waterfront Campus where Stuart McPherson serves as pastor seemed thoughtfully created. That name's familiar. When I entered the auditorium, senior pastor Josh live

service was streaming on the screen. At one point, I was the only one in the auditorium. You didn't need to be inside to hear EMS to speak due to the high volume setting on the livestream, so I spent more time exploring the VR Waterfront than listening to the message. And then for the Missouri headquartered Faith Church, which I visited on Sunday evening, their VR campus wasn't as creative as the campuses of Life. Church or Lakeland Community Church. It appeared to be a generic alt space VR auditorium with minor modifications. Pastor Obed Martinez preached a message about your condition not being your conclusion. A few people milled in and out of the virtual space until a sermon was over. I waited to see if anything would happen, but nothing spectacular did.

So that one was not a video. That was him actually speaking from as a vap avatar? Am I reading that into it? Dear viewer. Let's see here. Preach the message. Virtual space until yeah. This one doesn't say, but it kinda they didn't make the same distinction. The other ones did. I'm guessing that it was like an avatar because that's what I'm looking at. I would feel stronger about that, I think,

to see someone do it kinda live. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna be alive. I wanna be able to interact and, like, somebody has a question. He's, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll stop. What you what do you got? Yeah. Yeah. Nathaniel, what are your thoughts? It seems weird that they would not like, if that was the case, that he would not mention that, and then also that it seemed like it was unspectacular to him when the other two were a broadcast. Yeah. Like, if if no one, like he didn't bring out and the other two, he brought up the people talk to him, you know, had a little chitchat. If there was, like, a dude there actually preaching it as the avatar, you would think after the his message was done, he'd he'd mojo it around instead of just hopping off the old VR and Right. Send it to the side AFK style. Yeah. That does feel a lot better. Like, otherwise, you are just turning a screen on and off, then you're kinda left in this auditorium.

Yeah. Whereas, like, even people who are doing that kind of thing at at campuses where you're streaming the video, someone's there. There's a campus pastor generally there to talk to you and whatever. So, like, that life.church thing seems bet better done at least. I don't know if I'm gonna watch the video though. I just get online and watch the video. Yeah. Right. You could just Yeah. Do Yeah. There's only so much time you wanna do the the the the headsets, you know, you wanna adjust your eyes every so often.

Yeah. They say, I mean, you'll dry them out. You don't blink as much. Oh, really? That's what I yeah. Well, I didn't know that. That's what I've heard. That's what I've read. I haven't experienced it, but I've heard I'm a different now. Now I'm a no. I'm on some quest, you know, groups and and people like, hey. I'm having this problem. The people like, well, you gotta You gotta blink, brother. So yeah. This is the problem I'm having. I don't know what happened to me. My eyes are dry.

In his let's see here. In his presentation at the recently held Metaverse Church Summit oh, there was a church summit. Some do noted that most of the people he has ministered to in the metaverse are particularly young adult males. That's not surprising, I guess. Yeah. While the majority of the small audience I observed in the churches were male, it didn't seem to me like the audience referenced in his presentation would be interested in experiencing traditional church engagement in VR because there are many questions about God and our increasingly pluralistic culture could still be left unanswered.

That's true. If people you have the ability to kinda go in and out of one of these places, like it's the same reason people don't get bound by cable TV. Like if it's a prescribed servant at which you can't really interact or you don't have any hope to do that, then like giving someone a full license to take up fifty minutes of your time uninterrupted and unengaging, you're right, Dan. You would just do it. You just go watch it online or something. Yeah. Because I like I like the idea. I I think mean, that's how I see Jesus doing ministry. Like, he's he a crowd comes and some people go and some people come and the pharisees walk up and he hopes to make a jab at the pharisees and then they're walking along with, look at the flowers. I'd I'd love to be able to, like, have that kind of conversation when someone comes up. Hey. Hey, Bart, the mole cop.

Why did you choose that avatar? You know? And you and you go into you know, you you can have more conversation Yeah. Give and take, they can ask questions. Like, wait. Wait. Wait. Like, that sounds stupid. That sounds ridiculous. Well, I'm glad you said that. It does sound ridiculous. Yeah. Well, and this is like, that that's the the Internet's full of this stuff already. Yeah. This is totally if you're gonna have a forum, it better be one where people can actually engage in those types of questions. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Okay. And and and you'd have to, like, guard yourself not to become a a fighter, a you know, like social media just but to engage the kind of that's an honest conversation, can we or question, can we have an honest conversation? Yeah. Right. Can we actually have some give or take here? I would like that. That sounds kind of fun. Yeah. That does seem kind of fun. And like you,

I I suppose this feels like maybe it's I don't know if it my impression is it feels like it's a better place to do that than say Facebook Facebook is totally like asynchronous. Like, you just put and then someone reacts and then almost immediately you're defensive. But like, when you've agreed to be in a conversation where you're facing at least a representation of someone,

you don't tend to act that way as much. Yeah. And maybe it's taken me twenty years to get here, but I don't care if I win. Yeah. Right. I mean, I'm just having the conversation and if, you go away and you feel like you won, I I hope at least I brought you forward a little bit in my understand at least your understanding of scripture. You still gotta choose if you're gonna follow him or not. Can't I'm not gonna convince you. I'm not gonna argue into that, you know, but I can tell you why I do. Right. And then you can go with, you know, do what you want with that. But it's not on me. I did my job. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. It seems like it would be more,

I would say authentic, easier, whatever in in in that setting because because Yeah. There's literally nothing they can do. They're not gonna punch you. They're not gonna pull out a gun and shoot you. I mean, it's they might they they'd just be like, they'll leave or they'll say bad words or something like, okay. We'll we'll mute you. I mean, you know. Right. I mean My eyes are dry. I'm gonna pull this up for a minute. What Nathaniel,

now have you have you had the experience have you gotten into, like, a a tiff online over an apologetics issue with somebody? No. That's not happened to you? You're not likely to engage in that way? Yeah. Yeah. I I knew a couple fellows who, would, like, get into like, on,

what do they call blogs and stuff like that. Yeah. Get into apologetics discussions, and it just seemed like a giant waste of time when to me, at least. Yeah. That like, everybody's walking away, with the same beliefs that they held beforehand.

Yeah. And they're all trying to get the last word. Yeah. Yeah. And it just it it it seemed like a big waste to me. Yeah. Of, like, effort. Now do you feel like this is something that you could you would try, this, these VR type of conversations, or is that that outside your league as well? I don't know. Maybe. The VR kinda made me dizzy, so I don't know how long I could actually, like, just be in there. Okay.

Okay. She had a a few other observations that I think were kind of interesting. Superstitioner Christian? What's that? Yes. Okay. Yes. They're coming from a a faith. Background. Okay. That's right. That's right. She said a day before attending the VR church services, she found herself in a general faith forum in the metaverse where people from many faiths had open discussion. I stumbled upon a large group listening to a debate between a Christian man and a Muslim woman who used to be a Christian. I soon discovered oh, that's an interesting move. I soon discovered there were many former Christians in the room, including those who had converted to other faiths or no belief in God at all. Soon, I was getting all kinds of questions from different people asking me why I believed in Jesus after I declared my faith. I shared that I believed because I had a personal encounter with God that lines up with the Bible. I also explained that I have proven from my life lived experience that the spiritual principles contained in the Bible are true. Two men who identified themselves to be in their mid to late twenties told me that they have been trying to hear from God for a long time, but all they have heard back is silence.

A Muslim man offered to use logic to prove to them that God exists. I listened and waited as he struggled and ultimately failed to convince them. I told them I wouldn't try to use logic to prove that God exists because God is beyond human logic. I told them all I could do is be witness to how God has moved in my life and trust that they will seek after him and find answers themselves. They listened, but said they were frustrated that God never answers them. I urged them to keep seeking and praying and to be patient. I told them about the holy spirit. We talked about Nicodemus. Okay. Despite all the testimony, one of the two young men said he still had not been convinced that God exist. I told him it was okay, then asked him if I could pray with him. He said yes, and I prayed for about two minutes. I like it that he comes coming back to this question. I think it's appropriate. He asked me again why God doesn't speak to him the way he speaks to me. I asked him how does he know that God hasn't been trying to talk to him through our conversation. He said he wanted a personal visitation from God. Ah, there it is. There's an error. Now they wouldn't say it this way, but there's an arrogance in there. I want God to Yeah.

Although I'll even though I think God very well could do this, I think your positioning puts God in a measure of servitude that's probably false. Yeah. In the end, both non believers sent me friend requests. I accepted fully realizing that it'd been a very long time since I was asked so many questions about what I believed and why. Even And though the young men said they weren't yet convinced that god exists, I know that god made a connection with them through our conversation because they opened the door to keep listening.

I feel like if I was gonna do that, I would have to, like, brush up on an apologetics book. You think you're not ready? Yeah. And I I I and I've read several, and I just feel like I would need to I needed to do a little dust off. Yeah. Well, I think I think if you go in there with prayer and and and invite the holy spirit to to guide you, you you have the knowledge. He can he can access that for you. I mean, he can he can unlock those

memories and give you words. I would hope like this person, a Christian, I would think he would be unsatisfied if that was like your church.

I think you'd have to approach it more as a mission. You need to have a group of people who several missionaries in the VR world because it it it is lacking. I mean, you know, it's lacking the physical world, obviously, the fellowship, the koinonia, the whole the whole living in community thing. You can only do so much in VR Yep. That you can't do in real life. So I would hope you would find that unsatisfying

as someone who's mature in the faith. So that's how was trying to gauge this person coming from. So it's like an experience. Yeah, it's super interesting and

I think maybe one of the things to take away is that when separated from maybe some of the boundaries that society people feel they have to adhere to is like, what is appropriate to say? What questions are appropriate to have? Like,

if anonymity can bring out the worst in people, but can also bring out their curiosity where there isn't a load for going, yeah, but tell me why you believe in God. But because you're genuinely curious,

because in the back of your mind that like these folks are actually open to something that, you know, maybe it's weird to think that the peer pressure on is is is not towards it's away from Jesus. Right? Yeah. And so, you know, there is a the freedom that that causes people to to act poorly can also open them up to be willing to hear things that they otherwise wouldn't entertain for lack of the for fear of the consequences. So it's interesting.

Have any either may heard of the artist MIA? MIA. I feel like Buva would know. I just talked with him today, and I didn't ask him. Oh, you should've. You should've wrote it off for mama? Mamma Mia?

You know what it doesn't say? Oh, I It acts like it's a like it's a acronym, m.i.a. But it's a missed opportunity to not have said mama. Yeah. I I thought I I jumped at that. I mean, I I couldn't really say abba, but I could say.

I I say this because, popular mainstream artist, MIA, says she became a born again Christian after having a vision of Jesus Christ, and it's something she's proud of even if it may cost her career. In a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, she revealed that a vision of Jesus Christ in 2017 turned her world upside down. The vision of Jesus convinced the paper plane singer to become a Christian despite years of pushing back against tradition. Since then, my head has been in a totally different place. Being a Tamil and being a Hindu, I was very comfortable that I'd arrived finding myself, which is I think going to be weird for America to process, but I had a vision and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ. It was very creatively a crazy thing because it turned my world upside down because everything I thought and believe was no longer the case. And I think that was maybe a sign that something major was going to happen in the world and that people were needing to be introduced to this concept.

She revealed on the Apple podcast that before her vision, she found the concept of Christianity to be basic. Lo then interjected asking her if she is a born again Christian now and she yes. Yes. I am. Let's see here. It's just like a rapper? Yeah. I think so. I am listening to that action thing. I was reading the lyrics to to that song that they mentioned. I assume it's their

Pre pre Jesus effort? Well, I don't know. I was just trying to see if I I knew the song, and I do not. So Okay. Still still no. Okay. She says, but I think the message was just to get to a peaceful place, watch the space. The history is even if it cost me my career, I won't lie. I will tell the truth and I will tell you what's on my mind and my heart. If I'm coming back now saying Jesus is real, there's a point. Basically, all my fans might turn against me because they are all progressives who hate people that believe in Jesus Christ in this country. And that's the end of the article.

Wow. Well then. Okay. Anyway, I found that interesting. Okay. I tell you what. Let's do this. Let's do this, Nathaniel. How do we how do we try this, how do we try this locust? I figured we'd give it a dunk in the honey and and take a chomp out of her. They're individual locusts. Yes. You take it out of the thing, you dip it in, and then you Oh, it's an actual locust. It's not like ground locust.

No. No, Dan. It's Oh, dude. Dude. Yeah. I I'm pretty sure Dan, it smells like a vitamin. It's it can't be that bad. I'm pretty sure I'll be okay over here alone. Let me let me smell it. Let me well You didn't smell it. It looks locked up. Yeah. But, like, I figured some of the scent got through. A locust that was killed in Israel and sent here. It looks to be dried. It's been dried out. Dehydrated locust. Smells like a like a vitamin.

Yeah. I took my vitamins already. Yeah. Spanish black radish is what it smells like. Yeah. It's not good. Or or maybe

a little bit like fish food. Take another whiff of it. Yeah. It does have kinda like a turtle turtle food fish food. Oh, look. I I I hear my mom calling.

Come on, Dan. My my five year old and four year old both asked for me to save them some. They thought we were gonna gobble them up tonight. Don't you boys eat them all? Okay. I'm ready. I'm ready to do this thing.

You just gotta not think about it, Dan. I I I I have zero interest in this. Dan is Dan is not gonna do it. He says I'm I'm abstaining. Okay. I am fasting locusts. What oh, but they're kind of

oh, man. They're real light. That looks disgusting. Oh, man. John John the Baptist is a real party animal. You you just basically dipping a cock You went, like, with tin dips. Is that honey from Israel as well? It is. Just got biblical Solomon could have eaten that. It's very honey. Yeah. This this look at there's a there's a Jesus with his arms wide open on this thing, Dan. Oh.

Oh, you can see the eyeballs and everything. Oh. I got a hefty dunk. Did you just go all the way in? I'm just gonna eat the whole thing. I feel like you just gotta You gotta go oh, you gotta go all the way. I feel like you gotta get some sticky fingers. Was that a wait? Am I supposed be waiting? I got it. I got a picture of this. Okay. Alright. Here we go.

Oh, there's nothing to it. Yeah. Yeah. It's like eating a it's like eating a breeze. Yeah. Eating a little potato chip. A piece of skin. Yeah. That makes it sound more yucky. Okay. You're right. That's the wrong that's the wrong vision.

Like like like a pig cheek. The the the Internet said they had a mild neutral flavor, which I would agree with, but I also doused it in honey. Like, it was completely covered. So I'm a tell you this, though. It you have to keep chewing. Like, it doesn't Yeah. It doesn't disintegrate very easy. It doesn't go down easy. Which means that the the honey is worn off, and now you're just kinda raw and all and on leftover locust.

Oh, man. I'm glad I had that water. I'm really sorry I missed out on that. No. I'm not. Yeah. Okay. I don't regret it.

I think that's alright. Yep. Emma, do you wanna try one? Okay. Emma's gonna do it. Oh, this is this is just not right. Okay. Alright.

Emma, here. Take hold on. Tap that microphone. Yeah. Okay. Okay. It's live. So you can tell us you can tell us what you think. Honest review. K. There's a dip. There's a Emma's dipping in the honey. She ate it ate one. Emma took a a way lighter dip of honey than Ben and I did. Yeah. We expected trouble. We went with a full

I wouldn't say I'm gonna eat more of that. Oh, you're not gonna take another cut of it? Do you feel like you just didn't get enough get enough honey, or or do you No. It kinda tastes like a bug. Okay. That's to be expected. That that is a great review right there. Okay. Alright. Well, thanks, Emma. I will be having popcorn later tonight, and I'll be happy. It is kinda popcorn ish. Then it's the same. It's roughly the same. You could take a few and mix it in and make like a make like a trail mix, literally, with with the trail in it. Okay. Alright. Last chance, Dan. No. I'm fine. I'm I I gotta edit the pictures.

I got a lot to do. I'm busy planning my VR universe. That's right. I can't have it going around. Hey. Gotta wash my hair. Speaking of embarrassment that you don't want digitally Uh-oh. I got this is the second time this has happened. I got a request today from someone who had been on the show in the past and goes, hey. Can you remove my name from association with this episode? I said, sure.

I'm in the real world now. Was thinking I didn't take the episode down, but I had their name kinda tagged to it. And I said, well, I mean, okay. Think I can probably do that. Wowie. There was a dude who had The FBI or something? He what no. No. I think here's my guess as I was a lady, and I think she was she's starting into, like, her professional career.

And, you know, they they oftentimes will tell you to go Google your name. And if you Google this person, we're like the third or fourth result. And I think she just didn't want anybody going down and listen to a show that was nine years old and and checking it out as a reference. I mean, I could totally see that if you're trying to get a job. I don't know if I'd say, hey. Check out my appearance on live from the path. I mean, I don't think we did anything unusual that day because I don't remember specifically, but I remember with with we were pretty calm with her. Yeah. I would imagine. Yeah. I mean, it was, like, prayer and stuff. And Yeah. I did yeah. I don't think it was odd or anything. Yeah. Anyway, I thought, well, you know what? I don't know what I care. As long as it's relatively easy to do, and it was, I just I just fixed it. But that is did you take did you tackle another one? I I still got some in my teeth.

You Do you want some floss? Jump jump down at me. I think I got a wing in my incisors. Oh, man. Are you still still in there? Okay. Alright. Let's do this. Let's do some let's do some advice, and then we'll we'll call this a day here. Dear let's see. Mike usually does this. Oh, nice.

Dear, live from the path. When my boyfriend found out I have the money to do it, he asked me to pay off his car. Oh, that's bold. So this is why Mike does this. I can't help but comment on the way through. Let me let me try it again straight laced. Dear, live from the path. Dear, dear,

live from the path. Is it how does he do it? Is that close? That's a that's that's funny. You sound just like him. Yeah. He has a way. He has a way. He does have a specific way going about it. Yes. He's he's a professional. Okay. Live from the path. Well, that's what it is. That's what is. Live from the path. Live from the path. When my boyfriend found out I have no money to have the money to do it, he asked me to pay off his car. Now because I said no, he won't answer the phone or talk to me. I've helped him in the past, but he continues to ask me for money. I think he's using me. He tries to make me feel guilty by accusing me of not caring about him because if I did, I would pay off his car. Holy cow. 58 years old. Oh, I was thinking she's, like, 21. And the money I have is for me to live comfortably, not to spend on him. I told him as much, and he still insists I should help him with his bills. We live separately, and I suspect he's really just interested in the money, but I'm afraid of being lonely. What should I do?

Drop them like a hot hot potato. Yeah. There's Move on. There? There's other there's other fellows out there. Join my VR church. Yeah. We'll have lots of community together. There will be lots of younger fellows there. Go play the bingo. Take offering. Yeah. This is Would you favor my BR church? Yeah. Okay. Let's let's put it That went bad. Let's try it this way.

You know? Sorry. I think we can think of roughly 10 to 15,000,000 other options that you could have in life, of which might be a good good selection after this man. All of which rolls up to the final point being, you need to just get out of this directly. Definitely. This man does not love you. No. He does not care about you.

Yes. He is indeed using you, and it is not the only option to either be lonely or be with this freeloader. There are plenty of other options that aren't that are not being lonely. That yeah. That's a false dichotomy, isn't it? Yes. Yes. It is. Yeah. What were you gonna say, Nathaniel? Oh, sorry. Well, Dan's or Dan said about, funding the the VR church, and it occurred to me that they talked about having auditoriums

and all these VR things, and it seems like a real money saver not to have to build an actual auditorium. There's no HVAC? Yeah. I mean, there's I mean, there's lots of yeah. There's lots of saved money there. That just occurred to me. Okay. So Dane does not need to shake this woman down for you.

Don't be you entered into VR is cheap. Pay off my truck. Okay. So flat out, yes. You get away. You need to be done with this Go away from him. No hesitation. Okay. Secular says, there are worse things than being lonely for a while. Chief among them is knowing you are being used by someone who cares nothing about you beyond what he can extract from you. What you should do is kick him to the curve and not look back. There are better days ahead for you if you do. He doesn't deserve your yeah. He doesn't deserve her time. I mean, if he's not even returning calls now because she said it wouldn't she wouldn't pay off his vehicle, that that's He's a child. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's a selfish,

freeloading child. None of these qualities are good for you. You just cut it off right now Yep. And say, I'm better off. Yep. A matter of fact, I'll I'll be a friend for half that price. Yeah. Dan's in. Yeah. If she wants to pay for a friend. You should pay off my gumball sheet. Comes at a much cheaper rate. Dear, line from the path. My husband and I are having a hard time navigating a recurring situation in our marriage. My husband is friendly with three brothers.

They hang out often and sometimes drink. Their sister sometimes hangs out with them too. I'm uncomfortable with my husband getting drunk when she's around. He continues to do it though in spite of my concerns. Last night, he was at his friend's house from 11PM until 6AM. She was there for part of the drinking and partying. I really have a hard time with this. What should we do? Wait. It's his sister? No. He's a friend to three brothers and their sister. Oh, I was thinking his three brothers. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

So I'd like some additional details here, I guess. Like, she says, I'm uncomfortable with my husband getting drunk when she's around. Why? I mean, that's fair. You make poor choices. Yes. I mean I agree. Yeah.

But, like, wouldn't isn't there something about just your cousin going out and getting drunk from 11PM to 6AM without you around or being, like Whether there's a woman there or not? Yeah. Doesn't he have stuff to do the next day? Yeah. What does this what does this fellow do? Like, that like, I I mean, there's no way. There's no way that would be acceptable. I don't know how you guys married lives are going. But, like, hey. I'm gonna be gone from 11PM to 6AM. I'm gonna be drunk. Whether there's ladies there or not are kind of irrelevant. What do you think, babe? I can feel like this is not gonna fly as it should not. Yeah. I'm sure he doesn't plan on it, though. I mean, I think he just gets carried away and the time flies by,

and all of a sudden it's 6AM. Yeah. And then it just then it just happens. And I and I only say that because this possibility that recently as I've been playing around with my virtual reality headset, I thought my wife went to bed. I said, I'll be to bed soon. I'm just gonna kill a few zombies. And then I heard her alarm go off.

I'm like, I played this literally all night. You were up all night? The entire it was my night. Mean, was, like, the next day was my day outside. Think I didn't care. I was like, whatever. I was gonna lay around anyway. But, like, I could not have told you. There was no way I could have told you that was hours. Right. So I'm and Joel, I'm saying this. So maybe he goes gets a little Hassel fun, got his buddies. Yep. And one of their sisters? No. So just some girl. Yeah. One of their sisters. She's attached? She's a sister to one of the three dudes or to the three dudes. So they're all family. Hanging out with some other At their family. Yeah. That is so weird. Yeah. Don't do it. Yeah. I yeah. I mean, it feels like he should stop doing it. I'd be kind of interested though as why you don't go. She has to work. Wait. Maybe. I'm a little bit responsible.

Because, I mean, then you could drive him home. You could leave whenever you wanted. You would know he nothing's going on. Yeah. How does this how often does this happen? Is it like, did it happen once, or is it, like, every week? She says they hang out often and sometimes drink. Some And sometimes all night? Or just Yeah. Or is she just clinging on to that one time? Last night. You're right. This may yeah. It's unclear whether this is an exception or not. Because, like, I haven't even touched a a zombie for for days. It's not like I have a zombie problem, but that one day I did. So maybe they just he's not a drinker, but he just one night went all night. Yeah.

Not that that's okay, but it means Some yeah. Is it a habit or not? That's what I wanna know. Yeah. It I mean, it sounds like the hanging out is a habit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The drinking is less than habit, and then the out all night may or may not be a habit. May or may not happen. What did I say? Nothing good happens after midnight or something like that? Yeah. She's he's with a strange woman that's not his wife. Even and with other dudes, he needs to not. He needs stop. Yeah. My official. Yeah. I mean, I might suggest to do I mean, depends on what kind of brother these are, but, like, I you know, you might be safe simply because the brothers would not permit anything funky to happen.

Depends if you trust the brothers or not. Either way, there's no reason to put yourself in this situation. Like, I you could probably find some sort of, like, real perverse way to navigate this to not be upset about it, but, like, as a whole, I don't know why this is worth it. Yeah. If my wife was doing it, it was all the opposite. I'd be like, no. Yeah. No. I don't appreciate that. Think that's good. Yeah. That's a bad idea. Yeah. It's just not good. It's not it's not every every good idea to lose your faculties Yeah. In the presence of of of a temptation. But you thought you're obviously enjoying time with it. You wouldn't be doing that often. Yeah. That's right. So so there's some enjoyment.

Yeah. A bonding of relationship. Yeah. And defenses are down. Yeah. I don't think I don't think this this doesn't imply anything nefarious about the the the lady or the brothers or anything. It's just unnecessary. There's just no it's not necessary. And, obviously, your wife's uncomfortable with it, and that should be enough. We all know who how humans work. Yes. Yes. That's right. Nathaniel? Yeah. I'm I think I think I'm in agreement with you that it seems weird that he like,

this happens at all, that he's going out and and spending the night out, especially if she doesn't appreciate it in the first place. Like, I mean, every Monday night, I say, hey. You care if I go hang out with the fellas Yeah. To come here? It just it seems weird that that he is just like, hey. It's

Tuesday. You know how I drink with the boys. Yeah. Right. And then he's out all night. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, generally, she says, what should we do? The first suggestion and the cleanest one is to say, look. You should really stop going.

If you're gonna go hang out with those folks, then you should I I would recommend actually that you go with them. Yeah. Do as a couple. Yeah. Yeah. Stay for just a little you don't have to stay so long. It'll make it'll control the night so that you he's not out as late and he probably doesn't drink as much because his wife's around. And that seems like the best option. I suppose, you know, if you wanna hang out when the lady's not there and and that's fine. If you're no one's drinking, then like, I that's probably better.

I I don't still feels like it shouldn't be happening all the time without your wife around. But then but but I think this particular situation is is a is a hard no. Okay. Now just devil's advocate as I'm sitting here thinking to myself as a hypocrite, my my wife has seen me for over ten years on Monday nights, off and hang out with some guys that are brothers,

and sometimes I eat locusts. Sometimes they're up to all hours of night. True. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. There's never been alcohol that I'm aware of. Yeah. There I mean, are the are the locusts

they weren't made with the alcohol. Right? I didn't read the label. Got they got wild honey. They've been fermented. Fermented honey. Fermented locusts. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's true, Dan. I think Sometimes there's mixed company. You're yeah. That's true. You're you're ticking some of the boxes. I mean,

of course, we're talking Jesus and and they're drinking. So, you know, it's different. Yes. Maybe. I think that's diff that's why I said it kinda depends whether you trust the brothers. Yeah. Like, it depends what the situation is that you're going into. There's plenty of places where, like, I know I would know the sister or if my wife was over there and I would know the brother and I I mean, I don't have any particular concerns about it, but no one's drinking. No one's no one's faculties are impaired. Right. That's really where, like, people don't intend to cause problems but end up causing problems and, like, you should not put your place in the position to have to regret it. Because here's the thing, when something something like that that were to happen, the person who has been drinking,

like, they were impaired. And I I think they're still responsible, but, like, it's not it's not the same thing as them walking willingly willingly into it but like they're gonna have to live forever with the notion that they hurt you by their stupid and foolish behavior. Yeah. And so like,

you know, it's it's just it's just not something you can take back Even if you there's some level of, hey, we've been drinking that might explain why you would do something you would never do. But like the damage has been done. The the wrong is out into the world and you can't pull it back. And that's just very difficult to move on from regardless of the explanation. And so I just I just it's not worth it. Yeah. True. Okay.

Secular says, although coming home at 6AM is awfully late, it may have happened because he was too drunk to drive home earlier. I have trouble believing anything untoward would happen with the sister in the presence of her three brothers. Has your husband done anything to cause your insecurity? If not, you need to work on your jealousy and trust issues. If, however, he has, then you need to work together to get the root of what is going wrong in your marriage. She's a lot looser. Says we're overreacting, being a butcher of prudish boys. I just say it's not I just don't think it's worth the risk. Yeah.

I mean, even if your wife just doesn't, like, like it, it it seems kinda weird that, like, you're gonna be out drinking till 6AM. Like, it seems like a big thing that that you would be like, yeah. I'm gonna do that anyways. Like, even if it if it is like, hey. I feel like, there's a trust issue going on Yeah. Then,

you know, maybe talk that through. Yeah. Instead of saying, hey. You need to work on you, and I'm gonna go out with the boys. Right. Right. Right. That's the root problem in your marriage is that your wife said, hey. I don't like this, and you said, I'll do what I want. Yeah. And, like, on something that is that it is not outlandish. Again, like, if it's just the fellows, I think you're okay. If there's no drinking, I don't care who the company is. And if you're not staying out late all the time, then maybe she's overreacting. But, like, the combination of

those things and the drinking and the late night, like and and you ignoring what your wife cares about. Yeah. I think that's fun. You got a fundamental problem. And I think it's not I don't think she should just pass it off as saying, yeah. You need to work on your trust. Even if he hadn't done anything.

You don't wanna see him put himself at risk. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I was saying even even like us, the example I said, like, if any one of our wives at any point in the last ten years said, man, I I'm really uncomfortable with this. Yeah. We would have changed what we did. We've, yeah, done something different. I'm someone's done something. That's right. Moved it. Whatever. Yeah.

I mean, I remember my wife once saying, hey. Those Fooseboys make fun of your shirts. You probably shouldn't hang out with them. But then she decided she didn't care. Now she just doesn't listen. Oh. So Okay. Fair enough. That's more hurtful for me. Oh. Oh. That was enough. Yeah. I can't stand to have my Dan talked about in this way. Love you. I wanna protect you.

Okay. Wait. Wait. Okay. Last one. Dear life from the path. My son's fiance has just informed me that I need to send her my guest list for the wedding, and she will let me know to whom she will send invitations. When I asked if she meant that there was a limited number of guests, she said no, but she didn't want people there who didn't mean anything to her. She's from the East Coast, and my son met her in college in another state, so she doesn't know many of our family members or friends. How do I respond to this? I mean, if there's no limit, you just say, guess what? These are important to our side of the family. Yeah. Boy.

Like You get more gifts. You you think she's trying to you think her dad has to pay and she's trying to cut down on the cost? Feel like that would go under, is there a limit? Oh, right. It'd be it'd be easily handled by saying, hey. There's a limit. Yeah. If you get 200 people, that's it. Yeah. Like, that didn't that didn't appear to be the issue. You're right. She's she's chosen the most offensive possible route. Yeah. I'm not sure if I like these people. They're not welcome. Well, that's his grandmother. Uncle Herb? I don't know him. He's

creepy. That's right. He don't know me. I don't know him. Yeah. How do you respond to this? Okay. This is a son this is son's problem. True. This is not listen. Yeah. He's gotta yeah. Yeah. Quit being a ninny, fella.

Don't leave it between your wife and your mom to have to hash this out. Go to bat for Herb. Mhmm. And whatever friends of the family are look. Blood always argues blood. Yeah. I mean Yeah. That's right. You you have to go you have to go take care of this. Yeah. And you should like, at the very best, you could coach your wife to say, look. Just say there's a limit

and start and then go from there. But, like, secondly, you should just let mom invite whoever she wants unless she's going nuts. She's she's she's like, yes, your wedding is about you. It's also about everybody else. Like, it's about your family who wants to celebrate you. Like Yeah. It's something that means something to them. Is she just afraid maybe his side's gonna be bigger and she'll look bad? I mean I don't know. That seems real. Like, what the justification she said was who didn't mean anything to her. Yeah. It's like mean, aren't her spouse? Are weddings full of that crap? People showing up here like, boy, haven't seen you forever. Yeah. Like, you could have been in a car accident and I would have wept, but not two days in a row.

Like, I Oh my god. What? Not two not two days in a row? Yeah. I already just said it. Like Dan said, it's, you know, more gifts.

What do you care if Uncle Harb gives you a toaster? I'm so mad at this lady. Yeah. It seems like so let me ask this question. Are there justifiable reasons outside of limit, hard limit on number of guests where it would have been would be acceptable to say, no. I need to control that.

If your family's a drunkard. If your family like, if they It's not like real troublemakers. Yeah. Yeah. They always argue at every wedding and whatever. It's like yeah. Yeah. But she wouldn't know that. She's her one reason is that it it that she doesn't know him. And, of course, she's not gonna know him like a second uncle. Yeah. This is the time to get to know them. Yeah. Or not. I mean, she's gonna be busy with other things. You know, it's gonna it should be dancing or whatever, cutting a rug. But, like, you the I feel like the more people at a wedding, the more fun it is. Yeah. You know, ever you got more likelihood that uncle Herb's gonna get out on the dance floor and start cutting it up. And then now the people will like, oh, look at uncle Herb. I'm a get out there too. Yeah. And then we you know? Then then the party started. Yeah. Herb starts the party. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is really cut him out. This is shortsighted.

This is real shortsighted. Okay. How old is this girl? It doesn't it does not say. I mean, it could be a warning sign too for the groom to go like, hey. Is this I mean, if this is how your life's gonna be? I mean Yeah. Is she cutting off your family? Is she cutting off anything that's important to you? You you you better have that conversation. Yeah. Maybe it's just a wedding thing. Wedding people get weird for weddings, but but you better figure out if this is bigger than that too. Agreed. Either way, this is the thing the the son needs to deal with this. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Seikler says, it appears your son's fiance has forgotten that after marriage, there are two sides to the family. Respond by bringing your son into the conversation. He's in the perfect position to explain to his bride to be who the people on the guest list are, so she'll have some insight about whom to invite. Include those details on the proposed guest list you send to them. That information will be important to her during the wedding celebrations and also, fingers crossed, during their long, happy life together. Okay. You're starting to get a a belly rumble from that locust? No. I'm feeling alright. Feeling good? Okay. Don't you vomit over there. That's not as good. It's not acceptable. I was just feeling maybe a little belly rumble. I don't in here already. I'm feeling fine.

Well, good. Hey. Someone Dan, you're the botch botulism medic. Looks like I'll be driving everyone home. You should just drop a knock on the door. Look. He's been he's been eating locusts. I tried to talk him out of it. They wanted to stay till six. I said no.

Don't let your kids have any. Okay. Anyway, hey. Thanks for hanging out with us on Life From The Path. We, we appreciate it. If you got any thoughts for us, comments on the show, give us a call or a text on the Life From The Path. Bob Eisenhower complaint line. That's 51551700855155170085. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how the show is going. What's the grossest thing you've ever eaten? I'd be willing to take that in, and and see how things are going for you in that category. But you gotta I mean, I need a little bit more detail like, hey. I ate a dolphin. If you say that, I need you to give me I need to know how you came across the dolphin. Was it alive when you ate it? Did the did the authorities know? Things of this nature. So don't don't just drop one. Like, give me enough details so I can enjoy the story. That's a live, live from the Path of Complete Line. (515) 517-0085. Alright. We are working through some technical things. Mike's gonna be out of town, I think, for the next show as well, but we're gonna see if we can pull him in and, via the the miracles

of, the digital age. In in the meantime, be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends. You've been listening to live from the path.