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

You're listening live for the Path. Coming from the Pathway Studios here at Johnston Proper. That's good stuff. I did it. I pulled off a technical feat of magnificence over here. Ben has been trying to unmute all of our mics at the same time in one swoop for weeks, he just did it flawlessly. I did. I did. I rocked it. Alright. Here's the deal. I'm in studio with John Buba the third, Mike Foust, Dan Hudson. My name is Ben Foust. And we got we got a… We got kind of a wild show for you tonight. Well, maybe not wild. I don't know. I'll think about will be epic. Here's the deal. We very rarely… We try to walk a really thin line of not, like, bringing up fellas or people specifically in the Christian community and, like, putting the dog to them. You know what I'm saying? Like, we try to walk a really thin line not to do that. It's not our job to to gossip about folks. Yeah. I mean, it's it's okay to have good fun at their expense.

But, like, I feel like this show is just littered with dudes that I I… Like, if I were to say something kind about them, I would be telling lies. And then I'm forced between two sins. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't wanna be this kind to somebody, but I don't wanna tell lies about them either. And so it makes it… I I feel like that might be the kind of show we're stepping into. We'll see. We'll see. Ben's got the Ben's got the master agenda. Yeah. Yeah. So here's what we got going on today. First of all, we have… It's it's just a lot a lot of lame behavior, I think, by Jesus oriented stuff.

But we're gonna talk a little bit about the new Noah movie. And so we talked about this a little bit. And… But but there was a guy who was, like, associated with the movie. Okay? Had been on the set and stuff, and he provided a list of reasons that that Christians should go see the Noah movie.

And and I I just kinda wanna talk through some of these reasonings and see if this seems like a thing where, like, it makes sense to say other Christians should go check out this movie based upon the reasoning he provided. Yeah. Yeah. Gonna I'm I'm gonna give it away and say, I think they're lame, like, way lame. But whatever. We'll give them a shot. Okay. Also,

there's there's an article floating around Facebook about… By a guy named Randy White. It was basically why I'm leaving the church growth movement. And I thought church growth movement? What what is that? Yeah. Like like movement, like bowel movement. Like, that's what I thought. Couldn't figure out, like, what what this thing is rooted in. So, anyway, I… We'll kinda read through this thing a little bit, and then Mike's got some feedback.

Mike's got some thoughts on Yeah. This Yeah. I got feedback. Okay. So we'll talk a little bit about that. Also, I came across a website called expastors.com. That's an interesting… It's an interesting website. Now

just because they're ex pastors doesn't mean they've left the faith. Like, some of them have just left the pastorate. They're selling insurance. Yeah. Yeah. They're doing something else. Some of them have left the faith. And so… And the… I don't know. The site itself is kinda cool. Like, it looks nice. The the articles are interesting. But I was reading through one of these articles, and so I just… I'd like to talk about how some of these guys got here

and and some of the factors that they contribute to so many pastors leaving the pastorate. Okay? Yeah. And so, like, I… We'll kinda walk through some of that stuff. Also, Dan's got some… We're we're gonna see what's trending in the world with Dan Hudson. Dan, tell me a little about what you got going Did you want it all? Yeah. Yeah. Hit me with it. Alright. We got three three little categories here. I'll bring up a trending topic and then give you three options to

potentially respond to this. For example, we got Matthew McConaughey. If you were watching… What was that? The Oscars? The Oscars last night, he recently won, an Oscar for his role in Dallas Ballard… Byers Club, which I I don't even know what that is. Is that a movie or a TV show? I'm not sure. I I don't… I have never heard of It's a movie. See. The Oscars do movies. See, I don't even know that. I only watched the Noah movie because the guy who was on the set told me it was great for Christians over the For a bunch of reasons. Anyway, in his acceptance speech, he said that there are three things he needs each day, something to look up to, something to look forward to, and someone to chase.

Matthew said, first off, I wanna thank God because that's who I look up to. He has graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or of any human hand. Kind of a cool statement. Got very little response from the Hollywood crowd there. They just kinda, like, looked at him like, you can't really talk like that around here. But since then, social media has been abuzz with Christians lifting up, Matthew as, like, this powerful spokesman for Christ. The nonbelievers are mocking his comments.

There's been quite a debate I've noticed, on Facebook back and forth and posting back and forth about almost, like, giving him a saint status now because he said, you know, mention to God. Saint McConaughey. Saint… Yes. Exactly. So here's my question for you. What do you think of public figures thanking god for their accomplishments? A, it's appropriate because any fame and fortune they have really does come from god. B, thanking God is too vague in today's world.

Quote unquote, God could mean anything. They should be more specific and thank Jesus. Or c, I like any excuse to get into a fight with unbelievers on social media. Man, that's a… That… Those are some rough choices. We live a rough life. I guess.

I… So I… Of the choices available, I would choose b. I do not like to get in fights with people on social media. No. And I don't even like to have reasonable conversations on social media. If there's gonna be more than one exchange… Like, I I I do pithy and quick. You know I'm saying? Blah blah blah. Pithy. Done. Right? But, like, it's… If it's like, hey. Here's a topic. Let's all think about it and discuss. I'm out. I won't do that on social media. It's always turns out to be a disaster. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. So, yeah, I'll go with… I I would go with me.

You need… If you're gonna say… Too big. Yeah. Yeah. Be more specific. Because God could be any god. Yeah. You gotta you gotta use one of the choices. Ah, okay. I'm I'm kinda torn between a and b, but I don't think a is a big deal. I I think I'm in with a. I don't think it's a huge deal to just say god. Wait. What was the a? Everybody gets like… It all comes from him?

Is that the thought? It's appropriate because, yeah, any fame and fortune they have comes from God. I don't know if that's true. No. That's not implicitly accurate. People steal all kinds of of glory from God and put it on themselves. Yeah. Well, I guess I Think about that second part. I was more along the lines of just thanking God for stuff. Oh, you're… Mean, God may or may not have delivered that to you. That's a valid… You may have got it by ill gotten gains. Hey. Just so that I'm not flip flopping. Yeah. It's not fair to correct him. Sorry. Just leave him be. It was an eloquent, talk. I was really, impressed with it, but I don't know that you suddenly say he's a Christ following man that everyone should look up to and now should write the next book on Jesus. We're so desperate. I I know. We're so desperate to be vindicate… Validated by the world Yeah. That you take someone who you has any influence at all. And the poor… I mean, here's the deal. If he's if he's a Jesus man, I… He ain't looking for it. He's like, you you know, don't don't put me up. I don't know. I've never met him. He could be, could not be. Yeah. Have met him. For heaven's sakes, like His statement was nice is what we did with it afterwards. It's embarrassing. Which was the whole deal. We we got in a giant we got in a giant discussion, probably like a four hour epic row with Roloff when he was in here. Yes. After we were done talking about his games and stuff, because we were talking about how people reacted

to, like, the Duck Dynasty stuff. And it was and it was it was way more about how how Christians react to things than what actually happened. Alright. Mike, what was your answer? No. No. I I agree. Like, I don't know that I fall directly into any of those categories, but I suppose I will have to go with b, and that's only because the option to… You know, I I… When when you say that we're looking for a… We're look… We're so desperate. We're looking for anything. Right? We're looking for anything in the world where we choose to be. You know I'm saying? Like, I can find good… I I can find, people that pump out the gospel and proclaim the name of Jesus Christ all day long, but I wanna do it at the Oscars. You know I'm saying? Like Everybody's watching it. Everybody's talking about it. Wanna do it, god. Here, and, like, I mean… And his statement was nice. Yeah. Yeah. But, I mean, what did it… It didn't say a ton. I mean, it just said As a believer, I do kinda wonder. So would you define God the way the Bible does, the way I understand God, or is it, you know,

the higher power coffee cup in front of you, or is it Allah? Yeah. I probably have to go with b. Who is it? Yeah. I I think b is the safe answer here, man. Alrighty. Points to everybody who said b. Okay. Brilliant. Alright. Second one. What's trending with Dan? Number two. Alright. Ellen shuts down Twitter. You hear about this Uh-huh. While hosting the Oscars. Another story from the Oscars. Ellen DeGeneres took a a selfie with several of the stars, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Angela Jolene… Angelina Jolene, excuse me, Kevin Spacey, Julia Roberts, but bunch of them. They posted it on Twitter.

The photo reached 1,000,000 retweets within fifteen minutes Uh-huh. Breaking the all time record for the most amount of retweets ever. During the night, by the by the next morning, it had retweet… Retweeted more than 2,500,000

times. It even crashed Twitter. Uh-huh. Everybody got excited about this photo. I saw it all over the place myself. It was trending. It was. Hence, trending. Trending with Ian. So what are your thoughts on the Ellen selfie? A, I think it's cool to see so many big name stars having innocent fun in one photo. B, this just shows how far society has fallen with all the serious problems in the world. How could get… This get so much attention? Or c, selfies are ridiculous and should never be taken by anyone. I'm going with a.

I'm also in with a. I think it's alright. Yeah. I'm in with a. I don't think alright. Don't have a reason to be upset with that. Yeah. That one gal who won won the the Oscar for the supporting actress, she was in that slavery movie. Uh-huh. That's her brother in there. He didn't even… He's not even… He just snuck his way in. I love that guy. He's cool. A hobo bomb of a selfie. Yeah. I know. That's awesome. He's a freshman in college. That's a sweet move, you know? He's logged in time with all those superstars, giving their big grin on himself. Yeah. I'm straight up with a. I think it's that solid. I thought of… I think I thought of it. I mean, I'm I'm not a big, like, fan of stars, whatever. Yeah. It it was fun. It was innocent. It was just them being silly. Yeah. From what I… The picture looks fun, and, there you go. You know, it's almost nice just to see people in the same industry getting along. You know I'm saying? Like, people who do the same job tend to spend their entire lives trashing the other guy to get work. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And, like, I I mean, granted, I I don't know. I mean, it's not like they're out there building roads or anything, but you know I'm saying? Like like, I mean, I feel like it's probably pretty cutthroat, and it's, like, almost a completely ego driven industry. The fact that you can get 10 of them in a room, you know, holding hands, smiling, that's cool. Yeah. Well, it's just kinda nice, thought, because it's kinda candid. You know? There's no… They're not posed. There's nobody airbrushing flaw. I mean, it's just… It's what it was. Yeah. So… Yeah. Okay. Everybody agrees with me, so you're good. No airbrushing. Like like, everyone just rolled out of the bed and went to the Oscars. Hell yeah. I have this gown on all the time.

I called this my Sunday dress. Oscars, I had no idea this was happening. Okay. Speaking of Twitter, we have a third one here. Okay. According to recent study that analyzed 14,000,000 people over one month period, they found that one in every 13 tweets contains a swear word.

The f bomb being the most popular. They also found that Twitter users swear more frequently on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays,

and that men use more expletives than women. Mhmm. Research showed that people use foul language more often on Twitter than they would in normal conversation. And one person reported because of social media, people don't see each other so they can say things they wouldn't say in the physical world. Question. Why do you think people swear more online than they do in real life? A,

things in the cyber world are not real, so it doesn't count b, there's no such thing as a swear word. Vulgarity is defined by culture Or c, this certainly doesn't represent most Christ followers because people of faith would think twice before swearing in print even if they struggle with it verbally. All of the above. I choose every answer. You can't. That's not a that's not a… It is. Because you've not provided three answers that are incongruous.

I think vulgarity is defined largely by culture. I think people often will say something online that they otherwise wouldn't say in person because there's no natural consequence to doing that. No one will punch you in the face? That's correct. They're gonna say something. And yet not yet anyway. I was gonna say, it might happen. And c, I I think anybody that that loves Jesus should be mindful of their tongue and not be floating swearities out there

intentionally. Yeah. I… I'm in with all three. I don't like the one with that bingo first because I feel like I don't have any choice but to agree with him. He made pretty good sense there. I said swearities. Yeah. You did say swear it is. I'm on board with PIN sensor. All three. Yeah. Yeah. All three. Dan, I'm sorry. We're all three going against you Okay. With all three. Point goes to me because that's just a bad answer. Which one did you choose? It doesn't matter. I think it does. No. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

Okay. How do you tell who won the game? I won. Why don't we just change the name of the game to Dan Wins? I like it. I like that game. Alright. Favorite game. Well, you've just participated in what's trending with Dan. Apparently, Dan's trending. I hope you do it. By the way, I like me. By the way, did you hear that the Pope swore today? No. What did he say? In a tweet? I love this guy. No. So he unintentionally

used a used an Italian swear word. Oh. Well… The the word caso… Caso means example. Caso means a male male member.

And so he he may have he may have let his s slip a little. Did someone tell him, like, on the spot, or did he figure it out later? They said he just kept rocking on. Yeah. He acted like it didn't occur. That's what I do when I accidentally drop off some profanity. What is his native language? I can't remember who he's from. Argentina. But Polish. Remember, he's he's from South America. He's from South America. Polish. Yeah. So Spanish? Yeah. Polish. Not Polish. Yeah. So this isn't like Poland versus South America, my language. Polish Polish Polish Pope. Okay. So here we here we go. Let's…

So I was reading this article this week about why I'm recommending Christians see the movie Noah. Yeah. And so so it gives a basic introduction about about the movie, and the guy kinda complains and says there's a bunch of Christians who are upset about the movie who have never actually watched it. Agreed. I… I'm in agreement with that. There's no reason to protest in a movie you ain't never seen. If you don't wanna see it, that's fine. Also, generally speaking, I don't really have a problem with this movie. It's not scripture. As long as you don't walk into it thinking that it's scripture, you don't run into a problem. It's a movie.

But but some of the justifications that he provided on why I think Christians need to see the movie were very interesting to me. And I thought, like, coming from a perspective of this guy has written something purposely to tell other Christians and say, should see this movie because of these reasons. And I thought, as a pastor, do these seem like legitimate reasons to direct someone to a movie? Okay? Here we go. Number one reason to give. I've been on the set. I've talked to the chairman of the studio as well as the producer, director, set designer, and even Russell Crowe. Not once did I ever get the feeling they were anything but serious. They didn't mock the story. They went to great lengths to get the arc built to exact biblical measurements and did an amazing amount of research. In fact, the writer and director have been working on this script for sixteen years. I've been on the set, and they sure tried hard. Is that a good reason to tell a Christian to go see a movie? Assuming that there's something behind this that's saying, as a Christian, not just any man, I might take that as an any man.

But, like, as a Christian, is that a good reason for you to go see this I I think those are some good reasons just to go see a theatrical movie, but I don't think… Right. Leading into it that as a Christ follower, this is something that will enrich you as a Christ follower. Yeah. No. That seems like a ridiculous reason for that. I think it's pretty cool that they built that boat to scale. Agree. Here's the deal. Like, if you'd have shaved three foot off that boat, I wouldn't know the difference. Right. You know I'm saying? I would have been like, that's 10 cubits shy. No one fools me. You know I'm saying? That's not go for wood.

But, I mean, long story short, yeah, I mean I mean, what what is it, I mean, they took painstaking, you know, work into getting most historical films right. And so I I I don't know that that's any solid point on on the Jesus scale. Yeah. I mean, make… Makes makes you feel good. Like, okay. Good. He was there. Good. We we we get the heart. At least they weren't mocking it, like, doing a set and then, okay. Cut. I

don't believe this. I mean Yeah. At least he didn't see that. It doesn't compel me to see it necessarily. It's not a bolded, here's why I think Christians need to see the movie. That's what… That's the premise. Okay. So number two. This week, Doctor. Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, made an appeal to Paramount Studios to use a disclaimer on the film. He suggested that, like DreamWorks did in Prince of Egypt, they add a disclaimer to say that this was inspired by the Bible story rather than a film of the story itself. Paramount agreed with the idea without hesitation. I was on the phone calls. And they provided a joint announcement. While it was too late to add it to the film, they readily agreed to add the disclaimer to the movie posters, website, digital promotions, as well as all radio and TV commercials that haven't already been distributed. This tells me that Paramount values the Christian audience and wants to work with us. I don't even know what that means. I don't care. So they basically said, hey, we want a disclaimer. I I think they were getting feedback from Christians that were saying you didn't interpret it like this isn't what the Bible says. Yeah. Exactly. Stuff. Yeah. Yeah. And so they they said, well, you should say that it was inspired by the Bible story, not it it is the Bible story. I think that's important. That's a good idea too. Yeah.

But you don't want people to think, oh, this is what happened because we don't know. None of us were there. Right. And I I think it's more pro… Like, trying to protect it against the… Like, here's the deal. You should know that. If you love Jesus, you know that. Right? You know that they didn't make an hour and a half movie on five minutes of a Noah story. Like, you know this. Yeah. Yeah. And you… They still blow hearted. Like, I've seen some of these Christian responses. It's embarrassing. We're attacking a movie that was was… Obviously is not the Bible. It just isn't. Yeah. And so, like, just walk into it in the right manner. So, like, I get why they did it. I'm not sure I would say you need to see this movie because Paramount wants to work with Christian audiences.

I mean, I'm not saying that they don't. Like, you know, they've been cashing in on some Jesus movies lately. I'm sure Paramount just wanted a slice of the pie. Here's the deal. I mean, don't make this all too altruistic on their end. Right? If you look at the Christian demographic, they're generally, they… They're they're well funded. They're a decent section of the very middle of the economy, And, they they spend money, and they spend a lot of money. Right? Like, I mean, it's… I'm I'm glad they're putting out a Noah movie, I guess. But, like, it's… Don't be too too altruistic about that. Right? If no one would go see the Noah film, they wouldn't have made it. Yeah. Right? It's because we spend money to go see stuff. Well, even, like, surely the Harry Potter movies aren't exactly identical to the Harry Potter books. Correct. I haven't read the Harry Potter books. I saw the movies, but that's everybody who told me. Yeah. Can't do it. I mean Yeah. In that case, because there's too much text. Right. Then the movie, you take too long of a movie. But in this case, like you say, there's five minutes worth of test… Text. If you were to sit down and read it slowly, the entire story that we know from the Bible would take you five minutes. Yeah. Right. And and you gotta make a full theater production out of this, so you're gonna have a little leeway. So it's good. I'm glad that they're saying this isn't the story. Yeah. It's like we're taking some liberty, just so you know. Is it a reason to need to see the movie? No. No. No. There's a lot of people that produce things for Christians that don't make me need to go get them just because they did it for Christians.

No. That's true. That's a weird justification. I feel the same way about most Christian bookstores. That's what was… Actually, I was thinking of Christian bookstore. Like, I could walk in there, and there's probably two books out of the 2,000 that are in there that I would readily seek to purchase. Yeah. I don't look at those and go, I need to buy these other books because they produce them for me. No. Frankly, some… The only ones that jar me in are, like, extra sturdy notes in this bible. I'm like, no doubt. More sturdy notes. Big Yes. Bigger bible. Yeah. No doubt. Let's see. Number three, it's an epic film. I've always wondered about the places where the biblical account of Noah was silent. In this version, the filmmakers made Noah a complex character and helped me see possibilities I never considered for how details in the story could have happened. This isn't the Sunday school sanitized version of the story, and for that, I'm grateful. After the screening, I thought of novelist Flannery O'Connor, one of my favorite writers. Although she died in 1964, the movie's unabashed look at sinful, grotesque humanity and the extraordinary saving grace of God reminded me of how she might have looked at the story. So he's saying it's it's awesome because of the added possibilities.

I don't think that's something that's that's… Makes it a need for a a Christ follower. Hey. This is stuff that God left out, obviously. We filled it in for you, though. It's a definite need for you to watch. No. That's ridiculous. It's rough. Okay. Yeah. Kinda goes against his previous one. Yep. Yep. Number four. For at least a decade, we've been asking Hollywood to produce movies based on the bible. Now that they're doing it, let's be more encouraging. So far, they've proven to be serious in the effort whether they miss the target or not. So let's support it, not stifle it. I'll I'll go with that. I would know if that's why you need to go, but I would I would be more inclined to know some that information. That's a big thumbs down for me. Yeah? I don't… Just because…

I don't understand that. I don't understand this. Hey. Hey. We're encouraging you to make by… Like, stories from the Bible. Hey. You produce something that doesn't actually reflect the Bible. We need to not stifle that. Right. Please encourage it by giving it more money. You to continue to ignore me and my ways. If you could make a slanderous version of what I'm after that entice more people to be wrongly justified on what happened in more of this out of context and making it much more theatrical? We think you're doing great. Yeah. Yeah. But we… I mean, we've met you halfway by making half of us, like, story that's mostly true, but not all the way. Don't stifle it. Here's… This is the thing. Okay. Who… What kind of Christian is encouraging movies to be made by Hollywood? I don't who you make movies. This is what I'm talking… Like, don't wanna be the serious Sam in here, but, like, who gives a crap? You know what I'm saying? Like, like, we we… Sometimes we go on benders on this show about about standing in the kingdom of God and honestly living, you know, the the life that God has set out for us. And then we get easily distracted by we've really been wanting Hollywood to produce a version of our… Of of the kingdom that we belong in. Right? Like, my house is great, but if I could just see it on a TV series,

that'd be the best. You know, like, instead of just living in it and rocking it, you're like, you know, I'd like to see it visually represented in a way that is impossible to do correctly by somebody else. Yeah. I'm just… Like, it's just weird. Yeah.

I've not spent a minute of any part of my life wishing that Hollywood would produce more Jesus movies. No. I just… It did not… Never have occurred to me to think I wish someone with generally a pagan background that's in it to make big loads of money would produce a film about Jesus. I'm just imagining some guy sitting on his couch reading his bible and looking through that. You know what would make this better? If Hollywood did a version of this. Because I know God did a great job. God, you did a great job. I think that I'm really getting a lot about Paul, but Your movie artist, Lord. Would be great. Yeah. Yeah. I need to a stimulation. You're a literary man. Come on. I could really use Russell Crowe as Paul of Tarsus just to go walk around and the only marriage between Hollywood and the bible I see is every once in a while, I'll be reading a story in the bible, and I'll think, I bet Sam Jackson could really rock that.

You know, I'm I'm a go to a movie on the book of acts. Well, okay. That's… I mean, hey. There's even a lot of detail there. You could you could have some fun with that. You could have a mini… A movie series. Dan, you're part of the people who keep telling Hollywood to make Christian movies. Now here's the deal. It's it's probably not fair to say I don't enjoy them, however. Right? Absolutely not. Like, I I like watching the I like watching the big the big Moses movie. Right? I like seeing the 10 commandments. It's epic. Yeah. Yeah. And I I watched… We we talked about it when it came up. I watched some of some of the Bible miniseries, and I liked it. It was it was good. It was it was alright. You know? Like, wasn't scripture. Okay. But it… Was it alright? Sure. Because there's people… Because here's the deal is they're familiar to you. They're characters you know. That's why people read the book and then also see the movie. Like, you already know the story, but you see the movie because they're people you know. It's interesting. Yeah. How did Dave play out my imagination? It was close. Yeah.

I've never found a Jesus in a movie that I could, like, go. That's how I pictured Jesus, though. Really? I thought Caviezel was alright from the passion of Christ. That bad. But but but then it got a little weird at times. You know? I mean, hugging the floor because he knew his mom was, you know, was like, come on. But but I… I've never… I don't know how I would direct, though. If I was a director, I don't know, you know, what… You know, the eyes are either mysterious or distant or weird or… Yeah. Be more son of god like. Yeah. Hey. Jesus was much more stoic than that. Stop smiling. You joker.

You're not even convincing as a deity. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how Jesus wasn't a comedian. Stop laughing. Get into character. I don't know. I mean Yeah. Yeah. No. I could… I can't imagine being the actor that's asked you. It's like, so what we're casting for today is we're casting for the role of Jesus. So go ahead and look like the Messiah. Yeah. You spoke everything into existence, and you're with a bunch of people that you shouldn't… You know, you could… Yeah. You know what I bring a replica sun and go, And then here you go. I'd armpit wind just to set the stage. You know I'm saying? Like, it can't be done, but I can do this. Yeah. Whoop. Let's be clear. I do what I want. I don't think Jesus did armpit fires. Alright. Number five, our expect… Our expectations may be unrealistic.

Paramount Pictures is a business. A secular film studio. Should we really expect every bible based film to be a 100% accurate? I'm thrilled that Mark Burnett, son of God, is much closer to the text, but to assume every movie out of the shoot will be as accurate is simply not realistic. So one of the reasons to go is that we should not expect perfection from these guys. You titled this wrong. Yeah. This is a weird list.

I've also found that Zondervan has taken the same Turns out the Bible's way more interesting if you move a couple things around. I don't really like that word, god. Do you mind if I use this one? Rahab is now the leader of the Ephesians. And a man.

That really twists the thing. Put some little nuance to it, don't you think? Name Ross Perot. Weird. Here's… Okay. Now I'm gonna hold it for my premise, but keep this one in in in tension in your mind, the last three. Okay? Here we go. Six. Whatever extra biblical elements there are in the film, that doesn't overcome the fact that Paramount Studios is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to produce and promote a bible story.

This will be a national conversation that millions will participate in and know it will be water cooler conversation for the next six months. What an opportunity for the Christian community. Instead of condemning it outright, let's join the conversation. Rarely does an event come along that begs us to present our side of the story. But if we don't see the movie, we'll be wasting the opportunity. This man sold his soul. Listen. I mean, I'm sure I'm sure he… In some capacity, he loves Jesus. But either he has sold his soul for to be a company shill or he's the most fooled man ever. Paramount does not invest a $100,000,000 in a film that is not gonna make them 200,000,000. Right? It's not altruistic.

It's… If if it was, then they would have just made the film, and everybody be getting free. You know what I'm saying? Learn the story of Noah. You know? Like, it's the it's the most foolish notion I've heard. They invested millions in RoboCop as everybody sitting around saying, hey. Robocop could be the messiah. Yeah. I mean Exactly. That'd be crazy. I don't get the bible wrong if Robocop is Jesus. We made Karate Kid because we had people's safety in mind, and the Chinese really know how to throw it down. Look at that. Rarely does an event come along that begs us to present our side of the story. Noah is not my personal testimony.

My opportunity in a daily life is what happens with my kids and what happens in my church family and, like, what goes on in my life that looks like something going on in their lives. That's my story in Jesus. I I it's not that I don't like the story of Noah, but like that's not the story. I've never told a non Christian the story of Noah. Yeah. Hey, Ben. How's it going? Yeah. Oh, I heard you're a pastor. Yeah. Anyway, there was a big flood. Yeah. Have you heard of Noah? Noah. Right? Anyway, that could be you. People were married and being given in marriage right up until it. You know what I'm saying? Up until it. God shut the thing, and that was it. Anyway, wanna come through. They got right on the boat in pairs. Who doesn't know the story of Noah? That's a part I'd like to know. I'm I'm I'm interested in seeing is who shuts the door in the ark. Cause I think it's significant in the scripture that God shuts. I agree. I mean, it's God's judgment, not Noah's. So I I don't know. I'm just speaking ignorantly. I don't know. I'm interested to see that. I'm gonna pay money to see that. From that standpoint, I'm I'm just thinking you're sending some guys walking up to one of us and saying, you know, I really need some Jesus in my life, and I don't really know the story of of Christ, and I don't know where God comes from. And then me going, well, there was a boat. Yeah. And a lot of animals. And me telling the story of Noah… You heard of Japheth? Yeah. Let me tell you about Absalom, and we'll really get to the thoughts of Jesus. No. That's just… There's stories

in the old testament are not how I would go straight into an evangelism. You guys are going about this all wrong. You say, I see you have a rainbow on the bumper sticker on your car. Let me tell you where rainbows came from. That's effective. Wow. That tends to be Absolutely, Dan. That's great. Here's what's trending. I don't know. Here's what's trending. Dance is a rainbow. Noah. Alright. Relevant promise. Number seven. Let's join the conversation. I'm sure water cooler talk. Hey. Did you see that Noah movie? I wonder if true. I feel like you don't work in the real world, Dan. You know what I'm saying? Your pastorship has removed you from being able to have conversations with people in a realistic type fashion. I don't know what you mean. Yeah. Okay. Number seven. This is a powerful opportunity to share our faith. If you felt awkward witnessing to a friend or coworker, then what could be easier than talking them to a move… Taking them to a movie? Then go out and discuss what the Bible really says about the story. You wanna go to a movie? What is it? Oh, you see. Yeah. Here's the deal. You wanna go see Robocop? No. He's he's pegged everybody. Everyone loves to go see a big theatrical picture and then be taken back to a coffee shop and read a historical text about it. What'd you think about this? Conversation now. Hold on. Let me put this white collar on. Hold on. Hold on. Hey. Let me break out my pocket new testament. What'd you think of that, Noah?

Alright. Anyway, all these seven… What what what… How many did I say? 10 reasons you need to see… Christians need to see this Noah movie. Eight, it's only a movie. You need to see it because it's only a movie. As pollster George Barner remarked after Mel Gibson's blockbuster… Okay. Check this out.

So if you don't… Barney's a a pretty big heavy… He's Christian stats guy. K? Less than one tenth of 1% of those who saw the film, this is the passion of the Christ, stated that they made a profession of faith or accepted Jesus Christ as their savior in reaction to the film's content. That was the big… Biggest religious film of all time, and yet it didn't spark a revival. Likewise, chances are a movie about Noah that deviates from the scripture won't drive Christians away from the faith. Is that the concern?

I'm not really concerned that people will leave the faith based upon the Noah movie. I might be concerned that they got a Sunday school story. Now he said it's not sanitized. I get that. Right? But, like, if there's parts of the movie that aren't scripturally based or gives you a false impression of of God's motives or Noah's motives, which I think is probably the real issue. Like, if I had to pick an issue that I might have with the movie, I feel like that's probably it. And that might be a problem because then, like, that's… To a certain extent, it speaks to the heart of God issue. But, like, I'm not sure that I was concerned that someone would walk in there and be like, you know what? I don't believe anymore based upon how they portrayed this flood. Who's… How shaky is your faith that your faith is completely removed from your life because of a paramount rendition of a story that's based on a a biblical story.

I just… I don't get how you can walk into that and then walk out saying, movie was awful. God can exist. There's like… No way this is…… Russell Crowe made a terrible Noah, so no way god could be involved because he wouldn't have allowed Noah to be depicted in such a way. That's ridiculous. The reality is there are tons of people who consider themselves wonderful Christian people who probably have never even picked up the book of Genesis and read the story of Noah and and and have no clue that it's unbiblical. Correct. You know? Because he's probably talking about them. Right. That's my biggest worry about this situation is the people that take this as as the bible. But to the people who do not have the discernment to go, okay. That was a fun movie. And, yeah, well, Noah, do you see what Russell Crowe did? He took a sword to that. Whatever. You know? And my concern is the people who see that and then take that as the bible. I don't think… But the the guy you're talking about who doesn't… Who hasn't read the story, why would his faith be shaken about the boo… Movie rendition?

Yeah. Mean, if he believed it before, but had never read it, but otherwise said, okay. Yeah. Believe in the probably be affirmed. Yeah. Yeah. Noah was a smoker. Definitely. Yeah. We gotta quit polluting because that's why we all die. Yeah. It's Yeah. A big mirror shot. I don't know. That never seemed like a risk. Here we go. Number nine. Do we as a Christian community really need to protect ourselves from a movie that isn't 100% biblically accurate? Interesting. Here we go. Would the apostle Paul have run from the challenge? Rather than withdrawing from the discussion, I suggest that we seize the moment, turn the tables, and use this to our advantage.

Pastors should be preaching messages on the Noah story. Let's use the film to share our faith with friends and coworkers. Like the Old Testament's Joseph, who rose to remarkable heights in alien and hostile culture, let's not shy away from these opportunities. Rather, let's use them to demonstrate the power of God's word. I… He has totally twisted the Joseph story. I hate what we've become.

It's this kind of drivel that I just… It makes me wonder. I don't know. Go to some village somewhere and just say, Jesus, let's talk about it. No. Hold on. Just to make sure we've walked through this correctly, like the Old Testament Joseph, who rose to remarkable heights in an alien and hostile culture, let's not shy away from these opportunities.

How did Joseph rise to remarkable heights in an alien and hostile culture? I believe it was through God giving him the ability to interpret dreams. Yes. That specifically is correct. Yes. He was he was sold into slavery by his brothers,

kicked out after being a faux adulterer, and spent much time in prison. Like, how does that how does that at all, like, coincide with me sharing my faith with a coworker after seeing the Noah movie?

I see it. It's movie. I'm like, that's the worst example. They teach us that connection in seminary. Let's deal with this age as Potiphar's wife. We'll deal with that. But here's the thing. Are are the people that he's talking to,

do they hear that, assume that they didn't read the Joseph story correctly, and they're like, he's probably right. Yeah. I'll be like Joseph. I don't remember too much about Joseph, but that sounds kinda right. Is is the guy right only in the fact that it's… He's the he's the symptom of the cause. Right? Like, is is our is our relationship… Is our standing in the kingdom of God on the whole so poor that he comes up with 10 reasons that don't prove anything and are more embarrassing than than most? And people are like, oh, man. That's true. It is a great witnessing technique,

you know, opposed to maybe you living out a life like you belong in the kingdom of God or you've been saved from your iniquities. But if you could just ask that guy that delivers the pizza to the Noah movie, everything's gonna straighten out. Hey, Jimmy. You doing anything later? It's not as important that he gets to know Jesus, but that he knows that you do. You know I And here was the here was the final summation. Finally, number 10, remember that there are hundreds of serious,

dedicated Christians working in the attainment… Entertainment industry every day. These are professionals who, like Joseph, are working from the inside. When we launch attacks, petition drives, or boycotts, we're damaging their ability to make change happen. As the Hollywood Prayer Network recommends, instead of making Hollywood the enemy, let's consider Hollywood a mission field. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves, when was the last time we prayed for a Christian professional, a media missionary trying to make a difference in Hollywood, the most influential place on earth? Maybe it's time to start.

Okay. Listen. This is gonna sound wrong. But there's a lot of missionaries in this world doing a lot of rough stuff.

The guy that raised his hand and said, I'm gonna go to Hollywood and live it up on the movie set for Jesus. Like, I'm not saying that you're less of a missionary than the guy that's living in Afghanistan underneath a two goat tent. But I feel like

maybe putting the whole sacrificial thing down on the line and be like, we're we're dying we're dying here. You gotta you gotta help me out. Like, I'm not saying we don't need a a Jesus presence in Hollywood. I'm sure… That's where we need to be. Right? But, like, you know, I feel like that's a god driven thing. Right? Like, you didn't see… Like, like, you didn't see god sending missionaries directly into the Baals. He just defeated the Baals and said, hey. There's sin happening in there. Don't go anywhere near there. Or the other places he directs to go and say… And and and do work here. Right? And so I'm not so sure that you haven't inserted yourself in a place that I I don't know. It just seems like as a mission field. It's just like when Christians build tennis courts and go, this is where we'll witness to other people that play tennis that might not know Jesus. You know what saying? I feel like you might be taking your duties, like, lightly. Yeah. Die to myself and go have a latte. I… Here's the deal. It's like, I I just don't see the strong drive to be an advocate for Christian anything.

Like, live your life, and as you go make disciples, and, like, in whatever it is that you're doing, use use your influence to to bring people to Christ. I'm totally with it. But, like, this broad Christian movement of advocating for a Christian sports complex or Christian themed movies or, like, Christian whatever. Like, we're we're not a we're not a segment of the population to be served

and try to generate… So so that we can feel better about where we send our money. Like, that's goofy. It's just goofy. I think his point is, though, that, we don't be an embarrassment to those that are there. You know, there are believers there that as they go and as they're running the camera, you know, they don't want all of Hollywood mocking us because we're doing boycotts and being all mad at the movie. They're saying just… He's saying just just go. Just just stop it. You know? He's saying don't boycott things because you're basically taking food off my table because I work in the Hollywood industry. That's what he's saying. Well… And and the problem is the undertone of a lot of what he was saying is that we should support this because we're Christians. That's right. Now I have to support a movie because he worked on it. That's right. That's that's not a good enough reason for me to give money to things. Generally speaking, I I hope I hope that by our behavior, we're not embarrassing Christians anywhere that are that are trying to live their life, whether they're making movies in Hollywood or whether they're working at the come and go. Like, no one wants to be like the guy that has to hide their head because there's some Christian out there boycotting the gas pump because it it was $6.66

that day. You know? Like Yeah. That's embarrassing. And so, like, I I do get that, but that really wasn't the undertone of what he was saying. He's recommending Christians specifically see Noah for a bunch of real goofy reasons. Because there may or may not be a Christian working on the film crew. Yeah. There could be a Christian working there. It has Christian kind of themes on it, and we should spend our But our money on Christian stuff. But now on the on the same flip of the coin, though, like, much as I'm not… I don't buy his 10 reasons advocating for you to go see it, I don't buy any reasons advocating for you to boycott it. No. You know what saying? That's… That's, like, the flip side of that coin. Just, you know, see it if you wanna see it. Don't see it if you don't wanna see it. I just don't… I don't see it as, like, being a bit… A flag and a group and an organization, and we're gonna do this. And and, like like, I don't know that we, as a Christian, as as as people in the bride of Christ, have to make a collective decision here. Right? Like, Dan wants to see it, see it. But he don't wanna go see it, don't go see it. I'll probably see it. I'll I'll just like to see it. Yeah. I would see This is not a hill to die on for for the Christian population. This is not something… Exactly what Mike said, we need to boycott as a whole as the bride of Christ. This is something that needs to be a base to base Yeah. Situation. If you wanna go see it, go see it. If you don't wanna go see it, don't go see it. I saw… I may not go see Robocop,

but I'm not gonna freak out because… And and tell everyone why I'm not gonna go see it. I'm just not going to go see it. I saw… The same needs to be said for Noah. I saw a list. Like, there's there's… In fact, there's a lot of people done this who've gone, like, basically through the whole movie and provided all the things that they they thought weren't theologically accurate or think they didn't, you know, represent or whatever. And then I thought, every song every song I've ever heard on Christian radio contains elements that are not entirely scripture. There are there are there are parts of amazing grace that I see it and go, that's not really accurate. Yeah. Yeah. I I

disagree. Actually, there was a song that we were doing at the… At a men's conference this week, that the band was playing. I thought, I don't I'm not sure I agree with the chorus. I I don't think it's theologically accurate. Right. You know? But but the thing is is, like, even stuff where, like, it could be accurate, but it's not necessarily scriptural. Right? Like, it's it's scripturally themed. And the thing is, can I get? Can you get enjoyment out of that? Is it causing you to sin in your life? You gotta cut off a finger because you listen to it? Like, no. And so, yeah, just just handle it appropriately. You don't have to boycott it. It's not scripture. We're not we're not debating the canon here. Go to it, and don't look at it as scripture. It just… It's… It looks a little bit like a story that you heard. In fact, treat it like the Gilgamesh epic. There you go. You can intertwine something that you… That people wanna bring up before the Noah story and say, boy, they did a weird rendition of Gilgamesh. Uh-huh. That's weird. Kinda looks like the Noah story.

Alright. Anyway, that's why Phil Cook is recommending the Christians see the movie Noah. And I will not be recommending specifically the Christians see the movie Noah, but I would probably recommend anybody go to it if you want to. There you go. Live your life. Done. Alright. So there was a there was a article going around on Facebook called why I'm leaving the church growth movement. Mike, how much of this do you want me to read? I don't I don't know if I'd go crazy with it. You may… Maybe just hit the hit the the, like, opening paragraph or two and then the… His four points. And then his bullets. Okay. So here we go. This is by a guy named Randy White. It says, church growth is all the rage.

That's not capitalized church growth. It's just churches growing. People inviting people into the kingdom of God. Churches growing are all the rage. For pastors, the focus is on leadership. For laymen, on reaching people. In the church world, church growth is the standard of success. If a church reaches people and the pastor is a visionary leader, then the church will be considered a success. If a church makes it into somebody's bogus, fastest growing church list, then the growth frenzy continues with the sheep flocking to check out what innovation has been initiated to reach the masses for Christ. Personally, I think the emperor has no clothes. For at least four reasons, I reject the church growth and church health principles taught at almost every pastor's conference and expressed in almost every church. Our church will be different because I reject these principles. Although different will likely mean odd, behind the times and shrinking in size, I go there anyway. Here are his list. One, I refuse to believe that a Christian community will save anyone. Actually, I'll give you a little bit of a touch of this one. Community is the big word today along with missional. And if you claim to be a missional community, you are really on the cutting edge. Churches work hard to design community. They do it through small groups centered around felt needs and gathered in living rooms across the country. These community groups gather for the bigger community in a weekly celebration of magnificence. This weekly celebration has been carefully scripted from the ridiculously silly and manipulative countdown screen to the…

Sorry, to the last triumphant note of victory at which the community members are sent out to create a Christian society by building community within their neighborhoods. I don't know what he's even battling there. He's battling random things that have nothing to do with community. I've been to some small groups from our own church, frankly, and I would not use the word magnificence. You know I'm saying? Like, it was alright, but I don't know if it was magnificent. He's like, I don't like the countdown on the screen. Does What that have to do with anything we do with community? It's manipulative? Like, get into your seat or else? I think that that one of the What is that? One of the big things he talked about, with that timer was the fact that, it's presenting it as a show that's about to begin. So the timer up on the screen is basically saying, hey. Everyone heard in. The show is about to start. And maybe it's about trying to say that church shouldn't be a show. The gathering of Christ followers are about to worship.

I'm not saying I agree with the gathering. Oh, yeah. I know what he saying. It's like, he's just, like, taking something and twisting it. Well, what… It's a clock. Yeah. Exactly. Hey. Hey. I read that. Let's meet at 9AM at the cafe, and I stroll in at 10:30. He's like, well, I didn't wanna… This ain't no show. I don't do watches. I don't know when things start. Oh, that's true. Like, I don't need on the board. Is there really an error? To be there no matter what. Is there a difference between you looking at a standard issue analog watch and going, it's 08:59 or someone putting a digital countdown of one minute? I act the same either way. Maybe he was a little sand, you know An an hourglass? Yeah. An hourglass. Yeah. He he did talk about going old school a sundial and having people leave his church. Maybe it's just because of his utter stubbornness. Cut a huge slit in the top of your building so you can read where the sun's at. Okay. Maybe I'm a very shallow guy, but I've never walked into a church and seen a count doing it and thought, this is ridiculously silly and manipulative. This is unbiblical. You don't tell me where God is and when God is. Read it. He does… He has it in the next paragraph. I think he talks about a little bit about what actually happens the small groups. Okay. These community groups gather for bible study in quotes, which is almost always a double misnomer. The only scripture used will be out of context references that came from the latest book by the latest Hollywood looks celebrity pastor, because he's been to them all, who gathered his thoughts from the Internet and allowed a nameless editor to work them into something profitable. Have you ever been to a small group like that? I've never. No. Yeah. I've been to one. I mean… But then we were like, we added biblical… Bible to it then. Was like, well, this is really stupid. Yeah. And then we're like, how about see what the bible says? This guy just took a whiz on everyone doing a legitimate bible study Yeah. And Christian growth because he's pissed at something. Yeah. Whatever he's pissed at Yeah. This is I I just can't figure out where his angle is coming from, like, why he's so mad at that. And, like, and how… What he just explained with the way that, community small groups, how that ties into the growth movement, like getting people into the kingdom of God. Right? Like, you talk to people about Jesus. You talk to him about how he changed your life. You talk to him about how he's forgiven sin, and then you see if they wanna talk to talk to you about accepting Jesus. Maybe blogging is the only way to acceptably do it.

Apparently, making negative comments about the way other people mission the gospel is how you bring them in. Here it goes. Following bible study, the groups engage in fellowship time, then go on their way as biblically empty as when they arrived. Soon they will gather for a mission project, end quote, in which they repair a home, painted the door red so all the town will know that this is one of the homes repaired by that missional community, and will rise up and call the missional community wonderful. Somebody slap this guy. He just feels so jaded. What happened to him? Hey. Look. There's a group of people that are doing some good for somebody. We might as well take a whiz on that too. Yeah. Here's the selfish. How is how is it possible to get, say, fifteen, twenty, e, 30, whatever people thought to do something without organizing. And he seems to be more upset than with the structure of getting people together. It's like, it's basically impossible to get 30 people to do one thing unless you organize it and tell them what to do. I don't… Yeah. I… As I was reading this and I was reading his bashing specifically on this, the the outreach programs when I don't get where his anger comes from. I'm sick and tired of churches and small groups going out and helping people. Yes. I'm really sick For their own self game. Rebuild

someone's house. That's what we are called to to take care of the people who can't take care of themselves. Now see, would tend to agree with him if if his point was slightly to the left of what he's saying. But, like, I tend to have more of an issue of church organized stuff like that. You know I'm saying? Like like, they're like they're like… People show up at the church and say, we need to help do this. You know, organize a thing, put some money behind it, then we'll go do it. Right? Like, I I generally like to… Would rather see… Say, hey. Like, you know, Nancy always does that. You can't stop her. You know? Like, maybe we should help. You know? Like, people see a need in the community, and they don't run it through, like, the administration

of the building they happen to attend. Right? Like, if they say, hey. Look. There's a a more specific need this week. This is what I normally do, but it's just out of my reach. Can you help? Can you ask them folks or I'll ask folks or whatever? That's that's more genuine. You know? But, like, I mean, if the youth group goes out and builds a habitat for humanity house, I don't care. Yeah. Mike and I have talked about this before, and and I I tend to agree with him a lot in the situation of publicizing the outreach that people do. So everybody wears their church shirt and everybody goes out and make sure that the community knows exactly what the church is doing just so the focus is not on the fact that we're helping people, the focus is on the fact that hey guess what we're a church that does stuff. No.

The expectation in the heart should be there's a need. We need to fill it. That is what Christ is called to do. Yeah. Let's go love on somebody. Let's not go make a thousand t shirts because we're about to go over to Nancy's house and rebuild a room. Yeah. By the time we did that, we could have just helped. Right. Exactly. Let's just call a couple dudes, send out a Facebook message to 15 people and say, hey. There's a need. We have the the the ability to do this. Let's go fill this need and take care of this person. We love on these people as Christ loved the church, and that's exactly what we're gonna do. True. He says, even if I believe that these missions projects were as successful as the church websites claim, we had an awesome god thing happened at our last gathering. Hi. We were following through with what we're supposed to do in the kingdom, quote. I don't think it has any lasting impact. Good. The word of god returns void.

As I see it, the Christian is not so much to engage his society but to come out from it. The church today is filled with those who are both in the world and of the world and who are organized to change the world into a kinder, gentler place to be. Agreed that's a fail, I suppose, if that's what… If that was your only intent. The success rate of the megachurch missional church movement, that's a weird dichotomy of folk, has been an utter failure. Society is more liberal and godless than ever before with no end to its decline in sight. That's true. The Mega Missional Church will gather in their multi campus celebrations this weekend and slobber over themselves for their victories, even while these same churches have been totally impotent to bring about societal change. You know who's I running like this guy. That's right. You know who's running the masses? Old Randy. Look at me. He's standing Hey. We can't fix society, so we might as well not even celebrate anything. This is… You know what this reminds me of? Early, like, in… Early in my ministry, my wife and I went to a couple's house and the Olympics were on. And they were… I think it was gymnastics was going on. And, you know, at the end of the gymnastics, they they stop and they put their arms up. You know, that kinda, like, ends their routine, you know, and it's just, like, part of their stance. And this woman was so upset that every time these gymnasts… Gymnasts stopped, they threw their arms out and then she was saying, look at me. Look at me. It's like they're all saying, look at me. And my wife and I are looking at each other going… That's just You're how missing the entire point of… The routine is. It's

like, what? What do you want? Just start walking off? I'm done. Hey. You judge me. Are you impressed yet? What did do? That's what this guy is doing. He's looking at at some beautiful things that the churches are doing and saying, I don't like it. I'm joking. Doesn't make sense. They're all just saying, look at me. It's like, maybe they're serving people. Yeah. Through reading this whole thing, I I seriously wanted to figure out where the heart is coming from. I wanted something… Yeah. Exactly. Something has angered this guy and made him just legitimately hate the con Legalist. Legalist, they do is they draw circles,

and and everybody outside of the circle is unacceptable. But what they do is they keep drawing smaller and smaller circles. Every legalist does this. It gets to the point where where even, like, their their spouse isn't acceptable. It's like they get this little circle of them, and that's how they all are. They're so angry that no one meets their measurements. Matter of fact, they kick themselves out of the circle. They're just crazy. I just don't… I I I… That's that's… I'm where Boob is at. Right? Like, I'm a fairly negative dude. Right? Don't see near this negative. I like… I mean, I can… It's pretty easy to look at the bride of Christ and go, man, there's some weird stuff happening. But, like, I mean, everything he's saying is, like, people are getting together as a community. That's terrible. I'm not sure that's terrible. People are getting together with multi church sites talking everywhere about the gospel of Christ. I'm not sure that's so bad. Now there are bad examples. Right. Sure. They're all true. But he's saying they all are. No. So let's let's let's take a step back. Even if even if this guy is completely right on every single portion of this, and he's completely right on on the churches getting away from the heart of God and not doing exactly what the bride of Christ is called to do. The way to fix it is not to put this huge negative hating press release on why everyone else is doing something wrong. Yeah. What you do is you control what you can control. Don't go out and poke at every single other thing that everyone else is doing. Fix what you can fix. Live the way that you wanna live, and don't go out and be this negative just blob

and and throw out on everything else. Okay. No. Hold on. I disagree with you there, though. Like, if he's right, let's say he's right and everyone else is wrong, he's a he's a stalwart Moses, man. Torch it. Yep. He's coming back looking at the calf going, come on, boys. So even… Okay. Fine. Let's say he's right. What's it gonna help? What is this article going to fix? What did Moses think he was gonna fix? He's standing up against the crowd of everybody. In relation with the people that he was yell… When he was talking to. We're all brothers in Christ according to We are all brothers in Christ according the Hold on. He came down from the mountain and perpetrated a murder of half of them. Did he not? He he came down, declared there… That there were sides on this thing, and then executed half of the people there. Is that what this guy is doing? But… Verbally? Even…

It's a verbal execution. What's gonna happen with this article? People are gonna get upset, people are gonna get angry about him. They're probably gonna they're gonna either laugh at him or gonna fight him. This got passed around to me. It's all truth. That's how I got it. He he finds a slice there… Are there bad bible studies in in Christian bookstores? Yes. Sure. Yeah. Okay. So he says that… Therefore they all are. They are like that. Are there some churches that are only in the social gospel? They do nothing Jesus. They just cook meals and and make people happy. Yes. He says they're all like that. Some are actually leading people to Jesus. That's his problem. He's taking a little slice and saying the whole… You're throwing the whole dish or bath water out with the baby saying it's all terrible. Just blog like me. Yeah. So fine. So let's say he pinpoints… So let's say he does it correctly. And he pinpoints the slivers that are wrong, not just the whole pie. Yeah. Is this the right mode to do it? Because all this does That's how I'd do it if I thought I was wrong. This does is this points a light at it, but you're not actually going to change anything by putting something out on Twitter or Facebook. That you don't you don't attempt to talk to somebody about whether they're wrong. Yes. You do attempt to talk somebody on whether they're right or wrong. You don't put a press release out that they may or may not read, and then it starts to sway people where they didn't need to be swayed. This is a blog he did in his mom's basement. Yeah.

No. He doesn't look like a guy that… Yeah. We go to randywhiteministries.org. I mean, looks pretty. He looks alright. Oh, they are. He's too old to be living with his They all look like this. Hold on. Let me… He's got a suit and a tie on. That's all I need to say. What do I Yeah. I was gonna say I could get professional pictures done. I just find your points. You point a weird finger at him, Buva. Like, like, I I agree he's strongly wording it, and I don't agree with anything he says. But, like, if I thought the rest of the church community was falling off the wagon, I'd probably have a strongly worded letter. Don't think that this is the right way to do it. Well, you wouldn't because you're on the outside of his fear. Right? Like, you're the guy that's impacted by his by his description. The people that would agree with him, they become insular. Right? They agree. They band together. They're the guys on Facebook because I agree. They're the guys that got it right. That's the point of something like this. You release information, and people react to it. Some people fall on the outside. Some people fall on the inside. It helps to to cohesively bring people together. Now you're on the outside, so you call it ineffective. The guy that's on the inside, he said, yes. Someone finally said it. Now I can find out other people that agree with me. So it's effective in what he wants. It's not doing what you want it to do, but that's because you're on the outside of it. That's how things work. He's throwing a flare gun out.

People are… People people will row ashore. Let's see. Hold on. Wait. Some more of these are kinda funny. I recently attended a relatively small bible believing, bible teaching church as a guest. I was refreshed to see that almost every participant had their bible and opened during the sermon. This told me that the pastor regularly delivers enough verse by verse content that looking up one verse on an iPad just wouldn't suffice because an iPad can't contain a whole bible. Nope. That's right. One verse at a time. Probably not the King James either. They don't have that type of capacity in those electronic devices. Bibles for this rare congregation were a necessity. I was almost impressed… I was also impressed by the music. It was bad. And that impressed me. It wasn't polished.

There wasn't a carefully selected praise team who passed the Sunday morning test of looks and sound, dressed in color coordinated clothing, closing their eyes, and looking to heaven as if there were an egg tastic moment. I've often seen these… Oh, sorry, ecstatic moments turn on and off like a light switch. In fact, the song leader was clearly not a professional, and his tone was often off just a bit. But the people sang with joy. I was impressed with their prayers. They prayed for real and legitimate needs during a Sunday morning service. They weren't talking to you. Oh, sorry. I like the I like the… There wasn't a carefully selected praise team. Because when God built the temple or had the original

stuff done for him, right, when they're wandering around the wilderness, he didn't say, I want so and so who knows what they're doing to handle the cloth work. Right. He just said, give me any Joe. Give me a guy. Randy. Yeah. You exist. Come here. Yeah. Can you string some stuff together from a tabernacle? I gave you guys that little bit good. They need to look real good. Can you make them good? I gave you skills, but I don't really care. Because, yeah, that… That's how God is. Oh. Let's see. They prayed I for know. Oh, it would never pass the church growth test because it wasn't seeker friendly at all, with random people from the congregation praying at will over the needs of the members. As a first time visitor, I felt out of place during that prayer, and I thought that was wonderful. After all, if I was looking for a church, I'd want one that really cared about the hurting people they knew, the flesh and blood people who sat in the pews each Sunday. You couldn't care, but you can't do anything for them because that's selfish.

Don't paint their door red. You can't really help them. And I… And and here's the deal. Like, I I I probably side with him on seeker friendly churches. I feel like the Grove Church is not… Like, I feel like that was a a section of past of church history that's kinda floating its way out. Yep. We're gonna have to continue this discussion after the break. You're listening to Life in the Path brought to you by the Eisenhower team and Westfield Veterinary Hospital. Check both those wonderful sponsor of the show out. We do love them. And we will see you right after the break. If you listen to podcast, if you're on 99.3 k t a, go to lifeforthepath.org to hear the rest of the show, or we will see you next week. I wrote that music.

I played it. Oh, there… Okay. There's the there's there's the additional information. Rejecting manipulation. I won't do a countdown video before the service. It simply enhances the idea of a show that is about to begin. Amen. I refuse to only allow the a team to perform. I don't want soft music playing while I pray or preach or give an invitation. I don't want smart lights that set the mood changeable at the push of a button to fit the tone of the selected song. Hallelujah. I don't want to manipulate my audience into a certain feeling which will evoke a certain action. If you're getting there disingenuously, I I don't think I'm disagreeing with him on premise. But, I mean, what does he wear?

Does he wear a suit? I got $20 he wears a suit. Oh, yeah. That he's got a suit on. Now why do you wear a suit? Because you're the guy that's speaking. Because you do your best. You're the you're the authority. You wear your best. Exactly. You don't show up there at anything because it matters what the guy speaking wears. Yeah. Yeah. He's inconsistent. You wear your best, but don't sing your best. Yeah. Do what I'm saying. It better look good, but the singer's better. Harm to get somebody that can carry a tune. You know I'm saying? I mean, I went to a church growing up that… I mean, I love the worship leader, but he's terrible. I mean, awful.

That's… I mean, only… He… He's… He only knew power in the blood. That was it. So here's the deal. If I came to you guys and I said, hey. I really wanna sing on the worship team. I would be concerned about your discernment and judgment overall if you said, yeah. Get up there and belt out. Yeah. No. I'm the dude that lifts stuff or or does something different. I don't sing. Yeah. I don't There's a reason for that. That that would be me saying, hey. I know you, but I don't care what God has given you or where God has placed you to do work. I'm gonna ignore all that and just let you do what you want and serve God poorly in this area. Yeah. You can kinda somewhat hold a tune. Yeah. Cool. Get up there. Sing for everybody. You know what? Actually microphone? I'd love to have you sing during the service in your chair. Yeah. Exactly. I won't give you a microphone, but sing your sing your bones out. And I I wanted to play the egg shaker real quick because I I found the better the praise team is, the louder I will sing because they will cover me up. You know what I'm saying? You get a dude that, like, oh, you know, that that sings poorly or it's just one dude, I won't sing a lick because then other people will know that I can't sing. Random sidebar. I want you… So the conference we went to this this past weekend, Yeah. I was in the back row and I realized how loud I was singing because no one else around me was singing. It was really bad. I wish you guys would have played louder so no one would have heard me without Yeah. Belting That happens.

It was bad. Weird. Yeah. Guy just… I just… I really would like to ask him where is this coming from? I really wanna know what has happened in this guy's life that that he's being

pushed to the level of, you know, whether whether we've debated on if it's right or not, the right mode of communication or not, whatever. What brought this about? Something happened that triggered an emotion that made you so enraged that you sat out and typed this out, had it edited, and then decided to put it out there for thousands of people to see. I mean, I think with the stuff that he's saying, similar to the first examples, like Dan was talking about, like, are there issues with people

where where a lot of their time and effort is spent on creating a sweet worship band and not not actually worshiping Christ or creating an environment in which people are, like, truly, you know, worshiping God. Yeah. That's a risk, but it's not every church. And, like, he's he's taken the worst things that happen in churches and painted everybody with a very broad brush. Yeah. What else… Hold on. Well, let's get through the last couple of these. Here we go. I refuse to let my congregation be deceived by good feelings. I reject the missional community church growth movement because it is deceptive. Participants in these churches feel like they are stalwart conservatives in a Bible believing, gospel proclaiming,

hell reducing, kingdom expanding church. They consist… Excuse me, consistently proclaim, my preacher really preaches the Bible. True. Their preacher does hold up a Bible and talk about how true and authoritative it is. He even quotes from the Bible fairly consistently consistently. I know the plans I have for you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am come that you might have life more abundantly and, of course, bring you all the tithes into the storehouse.

What these church members do not know is that they have adopted the leftist agenda socialism or neocon agenda reconstructing Christian society, which is as empty as it always has been. I don't even know what that's…

I mean, granted, there's guys that pay to be on TV that have that problem. I'm with you. Yeah. But, like, again, you just took a whiz on every hardworking dude running a church somewhere, fighting for the 30 believers that have been in there for fifty years, and he cares about their lives and their salvation and their theology. And you just went and took a whiz on them because of what some… How you just wanna paint them with a broad brush just because some other joker does it stupid. Even the apostle Paul said, hey. I'm just glad Christ is being preached. Yeah. I'll take apostle Paul over this dude.

I will lose church growth potential because I won't allow a good feeling production to trump reality. Do my church members know their Bible? Can they give a defense to the attacks against it? Can they rightly divide in the word of truth? Do they have a biblical worldview that understands creation, young earth, eschatology, pre trib, salvation,

Jesus' propitiary sacrifice, grace free from the law, and so much more. Have I developed a congregation that could and would stick with it through a months long study of the book of Numbers? That's a good question, though. Yeah?

A lot of people wouldn't. I would like to do that. I think it'd be interesting to see… Like, I mean, they'll stick… Well, I don't care whether they stick it out. That's the wrong thought of the book of Numbers. Would they pursue scripture portly within the book of Numbers?

If I have not developed this kind of biblical hunger, then I've just allowed them to be deceived by thinking they've had Bible study, experienced worship, and come away a better, more Christ like person. Alright. Final one. I reject the church as a program organization over which I am the CEO. Finally, the CEO model of pastor has to go. I know that almost every missional community church growth model pastors conference says the same thing, continually reminding pastors that they are not CEOs. Then having given the obligatory rejection of CEO style leadership, they tell the pastor that he should be known as the lead pastor.

Lead, short for leadership, as a key CEO trait. They instruct him in the best means of vision development and vision casting. They Peter Drucker him to spiritual death. They study the Bible not looking for biblical truth, but looking for leadership traits of Moses, one of the worst leaders of all time. Gideon, zero leadership capability,

Nehemiah, who was not a priest nor a pastor but a government official, Jesus, who did nothing but follow his father, or Paul, who said pastor should preach the word. Going further, these pastors conferences or books talk about all the programs and paradigms the church should implement to develop its missional community. Of course, as soon as you create any kind of ministry program in the church, it requires some oversight, which requires the pastor to leave his pastoral function and begin acting like the conference book instructing him to act like a leader. Don't call me lead pastor. Don't call me senior pastor. Don't call me teaching pastor. Just call me pastor. That's folksy. Just call me pastor. Okay. And let me devote my life to prayer and the ministry of the word, ministering to the flock under my care. I happen to believe that if a person attends a church where they cannot call the pastor and talk to him, they don't really have a pastor. Conclusion.

I've just rejected everything that's become the favorite methods of the missional community church, which it uses as it bows down to its idol called church growth. I'm sure some have said amen all the way through. If that was you, you've probably struggled to find a place to worship. Call your church home. Others have come to the end with a righteous rage, wondering how I could so not get it. Whichever side you are on, I encourage you to run to the Bible and use it as your only source of revelation about the will of God in church, society, and your own personal life. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That sums it up pretty well. Jesus said make disciples. As you go, make disciples. I mean,

he… I don't think he's saying not to do that. He just doesn't like the way that they go about it? Yeah. Well, I mean, you you see this. I I feel like he's advocating for, like, a nineteen thirties to nineteen fifties type Like, of what was going on when he was young, which I get. Yeah.

But, like, we're not doing… He's not advocating for a first century church. Right? Which actually looks more like a missional missional church. He's more concerned about method than he is substance. Yeah. Yeah. He wants to have all the wrong battles. Yeah. He… And in the words of my

theological mentor, Michael Jackson, one bad apple doesn't make the whole bunch bad.

You go. Throwing it in. Bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, bro? I don't know. I didn't listen to him. Pretty close, though. Pretty close, though. Alright. The point is, he's right… Like we said before, he's right in some areas. How do I know that? But he's throwing it all out. Yeah. But, boy, you're listening to Life From The Path. Hey. Here's the deal. I hope I hope you haven't been… If you've been burned by a guy like that. I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He's… I… He's raging against the culture, and he's raging against a a system that that, like, I don't know, isn't worth the rage, I guess. Just because somebody did it wrong doesn't mean everybody's doing it wrong. Yeah. Here… I mean, here's the deal. The people in his church are are… Can love on Jesus just like the people that go to ours or yours.

You know, like, I don't have a problem with the way he's doing things. I I I… I'm slightly irritated that he tried to, know, bring his heavy hand in his… In the back door of my place, but, you know, whatever. I I mean, I feel like he… He's right. Sounds like he's teaching the bible at his place. He's the perfect candidate for a curmudgeonly elder. Yeah. That's why… That's the one wants to fight like, the real small stuff and cause fights about things that are… Yeah. Just call me pastor. You know what, dude? I feel like you were designed to be a deacon or an elder. A guy that causes problems at the budgetary votes. We're paying the power bills. No. We paid it last month. It's going up. You know why Loreen keeps leaving the bathroom right now? We should just get it straight from her this time.

Okay, Randy. Okay. Alright. Alright. You're listening to live from the path. You can catch us during the week at livefromthepath.org. You can find clips from the show, past performances, musical performances, or sign up for the podcast,

which you're actually are listening to right now. So maybe you already have it. You know you know how it goes. Tell your friends. Shoot. There's still a couple things we didn't get to, but we're not gonna have time for them. Let's do… I wanna… Let's save the ex pastor's discussion for next week. And I still… We still didn't talk about what what to do with the Old Testament. Yeah. And I wanna talk… We'll we'll hit that next week too. Let's do some advice. You got some dear life from the path, Mike? K. Dear life from the path. My nephew is getting married next year. I was very excited because I love him, and I'm a baker. I had planned on making the groom's cake as I did for his brother's and sister's wedding. The problem is they have decided on a hunting theme for their wedding, including a camouflage wedding dress for the bride.

Live from the Path, I'm an animal rights activist. I'm against any form of hunting. I'm also involved with several animal protection groups. My nephew and his fiance know how hard I work for animal rights. Just the thought of a hunting theme for a wedding makes me ill. I don't even want to attend, let alone make a cake. What can I do so there'll be no hurt feelings if I don't want to attend or participate? Baker in the Midwest. You wanna hear my first piece of advice? Change your ways. Don't be an animal activist. People don't like those people, and it would clear up everything.

All your problems. So we're gonna give you the advice of, yeah, you're awful. Change it. Yeah. You as a person to your core, Randy, you're not right. Maybe I'm I'm not reading enough into the the tradition of of this baker making the cakes or anything like that, but I don't think that the groom is gonna be completely hurt by you saying, hey. You know, you fully understand the fact that I'm an animal rights activist. You fully understand the fact that I just… I don't condone this. And because that, I just… I can't do that. It goes completely against what I believe in, and I do believe in that. I hope you fully understand. I I know that I I love you, and I hope that you still love me, but that's just something I can't be involved in. But you I think this person's putting way too much stake in the fact that the groom's gonna go, no. There's no way that we can have this wedding without you being there or having made the cake.

No. That's ridiculous. I I believe the reason these things cause problems is because you believe in a house of cards. Animal rights activism is stupid, and my wedding is important.

And I feel like you're saying you're not gonna make a cake for my wedding because of something stupid and it irritates me. I could see that. I see that as a perfectly reasonable response. Mike, I feel like you don't like animal rights activists. I don't like activists in general. And the camouflage cake is not exactly you shooting a raccoon. You've just taken colors and put them in a shape and put them on the cake. It's… I don't think it's a deal. Yeah. They think they're they're making a big deal out of nothing as well. I think though… I think you're… I I would go with Troy on this one. That That's a first.

You have a good conversation and say, you know what? I I I just can't support this. I I love you guys. I support your marriage. I'd love to be part of it, but I just can't I just can't do this. I just love animals in an unhealthy way. Exactly. I mean Putting it in front of other relationships. Yep. I like animals too. They're delicious. And that's why I like them. I I hope this bakery doesn't use eggs in the cake because That's hysterical. They give those to us out of love and respect for us not killing them. And soon they will withhold if we continue our ways. Ben? Yeah. Whatever. Just tell them you're not gonna make the cake. Hey. I I I would be glad to do it, but I just… I don't support the theme. Sorry. Yeah. They… And she said, they know I'm an activist. Okay. Then this shouldn't be a surprise. Yeah. There you go.

Fixed. Dear baker, the theme for your nephew's wedding is certainly unique. The concept of a camouflage wedding dress is practical because the dress can be worn after the nuptials, which isn't the case with many bridal gowns. That's totally the point here. Feeling as strongly as you do about not attending, write the happy couple a warm letter wishing them a lifetime of happiness together and include a nice wedding gift. I'm sure there will be no hurt feelings. Send them an animal rights activist pamphlet. Yeah. Stay at home under your synthetic blanket.

Okay. Here we go. Was great. Cotton. Dear life from the past, my elderly in laws are wonderful, but even with hearing aids, they have trouble hearing. They enjoy dining out often. In order for them to hear us, family and friends must speak louder than normal. In a restaurant, this can be uncomfortable, not only for those of us dining with them, but also for any other people seated nearby.

My in laws like to ask about and discuss personal and medical matters, and very loudly. If we try to keep our conversation at a reasonable polite level, they get upset for not being included in the conversation or constantly ask, what did he say? I feel bad for other diners sitting near us who are trying to have a nice meal. What to do? I love this question.

I switched to the three mil colostomy bag. What did he say? I love it. So wait. Is it What's the question? What do we do about this? Stop going out. Yeah. Stop going out with them. Hey. Look. I mean… Propose that you make family dinners at home. Grandma, you've been cooking for forty years. I bet you can make a mean chicken fried steak. Let's do it. Everything boils down to a pride issue. That's the truth. You know, just take the old people out. Talk about the, you know, your your BMs and and whatever. Just… What do they care? Like, Frank's out talking to old people.

What a jerk. You know? I mean, how bad are you really gonna look? I mean, it's the it's the old man that's spilling all his beans. He don't care. He's 80 into this life. He's on his way to see Jesus. If you find out he poops, I can't believe he's gonna be upset. I love the society we live in that this is even a a situation with someone. I'm embarrassed because I have older relatives, and they have hearing problems because they're old. Well, but it sounds like they're yelling in restaurant. I mean, there is this what? If I heard that, I would be laughing my butt off. Like, seriously, I'd be the patron that's in the in the diner sitting closer to Frank because he's a suspect. Hold on. So let me swap the old guy out for a crying baby. Do you not take your kid out of the out of the thing? If your kid's crying around, do you not remove the child because he's disrupting other people? Yeah. Okay. Now put your grandpa back in there. I'd leave not crying. He's making wind noises and, like, yelling at his grandma. Listen. He's earned the right

because he's made it this far to let him just spout off at the mouth. I I think I let him do it. I I I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't be embarrassed on occasion, but, I mean, is it really worth, you know, dragging him out of society? What's he got? Three years left in him? But that's fine. What is… What does he care? What does he need to be out? Premise. He's not gonna be here much longer. Don't mind him. That is an awful thing you're You wanna I know you want. Shelter him, put him in a house, and never let him out, put up with a couple years of embarrassment, let Earl go out there and do what he wants, or stop caring enough about what other people think about you even to be embarrassed. I don't know. He's saying some pretty rough stuff. I don't think I'd be I don't think I'd be embarrassed. I don't think that's the capability that I I think this person is. Well, but, like, I would be… I think I would feel responsible for interrupting other people's dinner. Right? Like, he's yelling in the restaurant and and, like, enter… They came out there, you know,

to have a nice meal or whatever, and some old guy's yelling about his bowel movements, like, I feel responsible for that. They're paying good money too. You know? They they need to Yeah. Also not old. Yeah. Suck it up, couple. Yeah. My grandpa's old. Yeah. And he wants to talk about his butt. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, life would be so much funner if that's the way it went now. This this… Okay. So this seriously makes me miss my dad because I I am… I think this would totally be my dad at 80 years old. Just scream at the top of his lungs, switch to the three mil colostomy bag yesterday.

Dad, we're in a restaurant. Shut up. No. It's great. That was him at 40. So Yeah. That's true. My dad's just like, whatever. Don't care. I'm like, oh, man. That's fun. Yeah. I I would I would. I'm… Okay. So I'm interested to hear Secular's advice. Yeah. Secular says, with some of the commercials that air on the television these days, from overactive bladder to hemorrhoids to ED and adult diapers, it's hard to believe anyone would be shocked by what's discussed at your table. See, man. Sauce also slightly off topic, but, you know why? You just stop taking questions and just say whatever you want. However, if possible, ask that your party be seated in a section of the restaurant away from other people. If it's not, turn to diners who are overhearing the organ recital and say, they're actually whispering even though it doesn't sound like it.

Good one. Yeah. That's a real seller. Okay. You guys wanna do one more here? Yeah. Let's do one more. Oh, I gotta wait for it. Oh, that's great. Oh, here we go. Dear life in the path. I've been single for five years. I recently reconnected with a man I lost contact with thirteen years ago. We went out a few times, and it was wonderful. Out of curiosity, I began checking him out online Mhmm. Starting with his mom who had mentioned, who he had mentioned was a surgeon. When I could find no information on her, I started looking up other things. Life from the Path, I could find nothing about him or his family. His mother does not have a medical license, and there are no property records or any record of a marriage license to his second wife. When I confronted him, he was furious and accused me of not trusting him. Now he doesn't want anything to do with me. I'm heartbroken.

I loved him for years and ago… And and and a long time ago and thought this was for real. I feel guilty for not trusting him even though I knew he wasn't being honest with me. Is it wrong to do a background check on people you date? No. No. It's not necessarily wrong. That's just weird. However,

how do you know that you're any good at it? Yeah. Maybe you stink at doing a background check. I think he rightfully broke up with you. I think you were very mistrustful, and you probably deserve what you got. That's right. She's probably… I mean, she's probably in there googling Frank's mom medical license. Yeah. What's Frank's… What's Frank's last name again? I've been lied to. Yeah. I mean she present that? Like, I'm I'm envisioning the conversation where she just sits down. Oh, hey, Frank. I'm really excited about the edamame we're about to order. Oh, hey. By the way, I did some research, and I can't find a medical license for your mother and no property taxes for anything. And… Yeah. How about you tell me about how I just went Magnum PI on your entire life for the past two weeks? I just can't imagine that conversation going down and that person feeling comfortable having that conversation.

I… That makes sense. Yeah. You're weird. I I think I'd probably do a lot of the same stuff, though. If if I was in that situation, I was I was… I would wanna know what's been going on in that person's life. And like you like you say though, you know, I think I'd wanna be more… Like, make sure you got some reliable be good at it. Yeah. Yeah. Pay pay the $19.95 for courtdocuments.com or whatever. I don't know whatever. Yeah. That's He takes out of his pocket. Well, here. I have my mother's surgical license on file.

Take it. Call his mom. I mean, hey. Yeah. You've been… You've known him for years. Say, hey. I'd like to meet your mom. What hospital does she work at? Let's go… I'll send her flowers. Yeah. I… Here's the deal. I was trying to find a picture of a Chinese girl smashing an iPad. Done. You know I'm saying? Yeah. I type in Chinese girl smash iPad. People don't even got pictures of it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And so, like, I can find whatever it is that I wanna find on the Internet in any way that I wanna find it.

Here we go. Live from the… Here… Here's what Segler says. It isn't wrong to do some checking. In fact, these days, it's very common. But I wonder, having known this man years ago, what made you curious enough to double check? Also, how good are you at research? And when you and when you confronted him, were you hostile, which would have made him react defensively? Please not waste another minute feeling guilty about this. What? If he isn't the person he portrayed himself to be, you may have just dodged a bullet. You're probably wrong. You're probably wrong.

Confronted… White… Confronted him about it. The the word even betrays it. Just say, hey, man. I I feel like I don't know a lot about you. Where did you live before this? Where does your mom work? We better hit this one. We got one more. Okay. Is real fast. It's a fast one. Dear life in the past. My seven year old son is a great winner when we play games, but he's a terrible loser. When he loses a game, he loses control. He screams, yells, hits, and sometimes bites. Is there a way to stop this behavior, or am I stuck with a son who hates to lose? Yeah. No. No. That's a permanent deal. There's no way to alter behavior. Nope. In fact, I saw an Olympian hurdle, and then he he hit one of the hurdles and then bit the guy next to him. Once people get upset about losing, stuck with him. What the heck ever? Can can anything be done Yeah. About my kid that bites?

I purposely beat the pants off my girls in board games so they don't get a big head on them. They win other things. You know what I'm saying? But when it comes to… Like, I I mean, I… And I don't just be like, oh, hon. You tried hard. I'm like, you are across the board terrible in this game. You had no strategy. You didn't take it up. Like, you lost. Not even by luck. You lost because of your intelligence is low. Yeah. Your game playing abilities are poor. You are awful at risk. Go for nine years. And spank yourself. Go to bed. Do a good job too. What… So so what do you do about that? What? About the kid in the tamper? Yeah. They can't play anymore. I wouldn't let him play, and then I would I would go through a series of every night, beat him at something until he could straighten it up.

He's he's gotta he's gotta get used to it. The kid got caught around. You know I'm saying? He started t ball when he was three. They gave him a trophy every year. And now when he plays mini golf, he thinks the clown screwed him. You know I'm saying? You missed the clown, dude. The clown moved. He didn't move. You're terrible at golf. You know, I I I think really, I'd take him out of whatever game he's in. And then as his father or his mother, I would beat him at something every single night until he gets used to it. Maybe wear a… Maybe wear some extra layers. Yeah. He's a biter. Yeah. I'd probably defeat him in that too.

You want a biting contest? On the floor, Derek. I don't know, Dan. What are your thoughts? Yeah. Then then he needs he needs boundaries. That's for sure. And consequences. And he knows… Needs to know ahead of time what the consequences are,

and and you gotta stick to your guns. And I I like that. Give give him opportunity to lose until he learns how to lose lose gracefully. But he needs to learn how to lose gracefully because this will follow him the rest of his life. He'll be fired from jobs. He'll be he'll be… It's just gonna… It's not gonna get better. I I I… In all seriousness, though, like, I… It is worth the time to look back up to this seven years you've raised this kid and and and make sure that you've not instilled a a certain amount of self confidence

in the kid that he's bulletproof or that if he lost, then someone did something wrong. You know what saying? That someone else has done something in error because it's not possible that he could lose. You know I'm saying? Like, you've you've built no humility into this man. Now you have to tone your parenting down because you can't discipline him for the way that you've raised him. You gotta figure out how to reteach him. Yeah. You need to apologize and then say, look. I'm sorry. I did this to you, but I also have responsibility to take you through it. That's what I'm gonna do. I'd still beat him a battles ship. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You gotta start it somewhere. But, I mean, seriously, if it's your fault, be honest about it. If it's your fault, you need to you need to reteach. You can't just start disciplining out of nowhere. Yeah. Yeah. At the end of that stuff, like, I I want my I… If I had to have my kid either agree to one… To the phrase, I'm awesome or my dad will always love me. I want my dad will always love me because my kid's just not awesome and everything. And, like, you need to instill that healthily in them that, like, regardless, I will always love you. However, you're not awesome. You won't always be awesome. In fact, you stink at this thing. Yeah. Hey, man. There's no losers. Yeah.

They say that to you in the special room trophy. Actually, it drove me nuts. Now that I look back on it, when I was growing up, I was totally given a medal for losing. I totally was. I was the generation that got a trophy no matter what you did. And I'm thinking to myself, I just sucked. Like, I was awful. I got pinned in like two and a half seconds. Why do I have this? I didn't beat anyone. They're just like, well Troy, you did a great job out there. I'm like, tell me what I did right. One thing. Hey. One. Reinforce

my negative behavior. Great job. They're just like Troy, your team lost every single game. You didn't score a single point, but here's a trophy. I'm like, no. Shut it. You're listening to Live From The Path. Next week, we're gonna talk about

people that leave the pastorate. I don't know. Maybe that's not a broad population conversation. I'm I'm interested to see why some of these guys bailed. I think everybody knows somebody. Yeah. And you might have caused it. So think about that for a while. Exactly. Also, what to do with the old testament? We're gonna get around to that stuff. And you're less alive from the path. Have a good week.