Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path. And you're listening to live with the Path. We're coming to you from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston proper. Welcome to the show. That's a strong start.

I was trying to think. I I I've I've ceased decided to make apologies for not broadcasting like we're supposed to. I thought like, we started the year and I thought, oh, yeah. We're gonna be on it. We're gonna be broadcasting. It's gonna be great. Yeah. We what are we? Two shows in? Two months in? A show a month? Yeah. That's we're consistent. That's it. Alright. The positives. Here's what we got going on the show tonight. So first of all, Mike's out, but Greg Hudson is here. Hey. You you remember him? He's the guy that tries to cheat at secular Solomon. So if you don't recall, that's that's the guy. This is his good old Greg cheater Hudson. Fun to do. So, anyway, Greg, thanks for for joining us tonight. It's good to be here. And so we've got we've got some articles. So this is what happens when we don't do a show. There's like we got articles flying around.

There was one in Christianity Today that says half a millennial Christian say it's wrong to evangelize. So we're gonna take a look at that. The Christian Post had an article, liberal Lutheran pastor melts purity rings into vagina sculpture, presents to Gloria Steinem. It sounds like a made up article. Doesn't it? Mhmm. It sounds like something you would find on some side of sort of satire site. Babylon bee. Like, here yeah. Here's here we took this thing and then Gloria Steinem just is there. But no. There's something ridiculous that could never happen. That's right. It's on the Christian post. And then Mike had something from Apple News that said, the rise of the star studded Instagram friendly evangelical church. Don't know. Let's we're gonna get to those, and then we've got some advice on Dear Life From The Path.

And we'll we'll see the I I did I took a a peruse of it. There's a a 65 year old woman that says she wants to be admired for more than her looks. Wants men to look at just a just a little bit deeper. So, I mean, I will see if we're capable of that. You must be a looker. Yeah. No. She self proclaimed. I mean, she's in her sixties. Yeah. 65. Still. Still. All I can think of is I can't think of you as anything other than an object. Yeah. So I I mean, I'd assume that that just that just follows a man to age. Right? Or

do you think it fades off? Your 65 year old man isn't doing that anymore? Hello. Have you ever seen a 65 year old Warren Harding? He's looking great. No. No. No. That's not what I mean. Does Phospherone kinda kinda depletes a little as you go? Yeah. I mean, does that does that deplete your ability to Oh, I see what you're saying. I mean, to see to see the next few steps through, but, like I mean, maybe the maybe it's just movies. The movies are fooling me, but they always got some kind of old guy looking down the road giving a whistle or something. Is that not is that not true? Is am I being fooled by the Hollywood elite? Well, you know you know, as a guy who's have has experience around old people in Kiwanis Yeah.

I remember a couple three years ago going to the Urbandale Golf and Country Club, and they were upstairs meeting and downstairs with a pool. When I walked in the room, all these much older than myself men were oogling out the window and making all kinds of comments. And I thought, what are they looking at? And then I realized it was a swim pool with young women with bikinis. This okay. I was embarrassed thinking, these are your great grandchildren's ages. Do you not have any morals? Well, that really feels awkward. Yeah. I I was like, guys, it's Kiwanis.

Yeah. Let's let's pull together, fellas. Let's ring the bell and say the pledge of allegiance. Wait. So so Greg Hudson, I feel like you were you had some doubts on this. You know, I had some thoughts and I was like, you know, I think if she has because this this woman well, we're gonna get to it with Dear Abby. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll get to it a little bit later here. Dang it. How embarrassing. How embarrassing.

Alright. Anyway, we'll pick that up on Dear Life from the path. I'm not sure that word that you used. Did it. Did it. So here we go. From Christianity Today, 0.5 millennial Christians say it's wrong to evangelize. Actually, after this story, remind me, I've got I have an interesting thought interaction with millennials and churches and workplaces. I'll I'll get to that after we talk about the story. So it says millennials used to be the group that churches and ministries were angling to evangelize. Now all grown up and poised to overtake baby boomers as the largest generation, they're the ones doing the evangelizing. At least they should be. But new research from the Barna Group and the creators of the Alpha course offer some disappointing news regarding the 20 and 30 now on deck to carry on the faith. Nearly half of practicing Christian millennials, churchgoers who consider religion an important part of their lives, believe that evangelism is wrong.

They're more than twice as likely as their parents and grandparents, boomers and elders respectively, to say that it's wrong to share one's personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. While this statistic could easily bolster stereotypes of a lazy, distracted, and increasingly unaffiliated generation, the minority of millennials who have stayed active in their churches also show higher markers of commitment in other areas, as well as savvier sense of the religious pluralism and diversity they were raised around. The recent Barner release found that despite the reticence around the practice, millennials consider themselves good evangelists and still see themselves as representatives for their faith. That's funny. Hey. We don't think this is a good idea, but we're pretty good at it. Nearly all practicing millennials, ninety six percent, said witnessing for Jesus is part of being a Christian and they were more likely than any other generation to say they were gifted at sharing their faith. What? What? How do they know? I'm pretty good. That's like the best parents are people who don't have children yet. Yeah. Right. I

I was an awesome parent before I had children. Mhmm. Yeah. I went downhill from there. Well, then, yeah. Yeah. I mean, theory theory is great. Okay. So hold on. Let's look at this. So they get genera generational differences on faith sharing. Here we go. Part of my faith means being a witness about Jesus. Millennials, 96% oh, it's it's a disagree. 96% millennials, 97% Gen X, 95% baby boomers, 95%

elders. You know what's interesting? That there's not a that these aren't a 100. There's 4%, 5% roughly of every Christian you meet that says, part of my faith means being a witness about Jesus. And they're like, yeah. I don't really agree with that. Yeah. That's weird. It's wild. I'm thinking that though the the you're putting it through a filter of people who actually really believe and follow Jesus and our disciples as opposed to someone who says, oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm a Christian.

Yeah. That's that's like, oh my goodness. 90% of people in congress are Christian. Yeah. There you go. Really? They sang God bless America that one time. They did that one time. I remember. But that's more of the colloquial Christian label versus

maybe practicing. I mean, you could at least fake it well and vote for the 100. Maybe. I it's like, you know, what's interesting is that I suppose, like, like, that that pred we've had kind of that discussion before about some of these surveys, but it it predicates on a person who says, I'm willing to represent my faith incorrectly, but otherwise be truthful in the survey. Like, it's kind of a weird dichotomy of a person Yeah. Who wants to be faithful to the responses.

So let's see. The best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to come to know Jesus. Dan, for baby boomers, what percentage do you think believe that? Agree. Baby boomers. Of Christian baby boomers. Yeah. I I would I'm gonna say 88%. Eighty eight? Ninety seven.

That's just better. I'm happy. There yeah. If I was gonna go high, I thought, no. No. Again, though, I mean, I don't I don't wanna get greedy here. But I mean, I feel like this is a 100. I mean, yeah. Yeah. No. I don't think people should believe in the Jesus I believe in. No. That that probably be a mistake for some. You know what would have been super interesting is if they followed up with if if if you don't believe that the best thing that could ever happen to someone for them to come to know Jesus, like, what is the best thing that could happen to someone? Yeah. But what what's the better option? Like like the shakes from the Chick fil A or something. Like Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Doubt. God's blessed. Well, it's like those old elementary school true false questions here. You always hope for the true because sometimes they said, alright. Is this true or false? But if false, tell me why it's false. Yeah. But you were always hoping the true, you just say true and you move on. Yeah. I hope it's true. So if you say no, why? You gotta explain why. Tell us more. That'd be great to hear. But they did not do that. It does not appear. So here was the here was the crux thing. It is wrong to share one's personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. So I I let let's be clear on something here. The the title of the article was half a millennial Christian say it's wrong to evangelize,

But the the question was more specific than that. I don't know that it matters, frankly, what when the takeaway is, but they're specifically asking, do I approach someone of a different faith to believe something different? That's not when otherwise 9096% of them said or 97% of Gen X said that it's part of my faith to be a witness to Jesus or about Jesus and that they think they're pretty good at it. And so, there's a bit of a caveat here. The implication is still wrong. It says that, like, if you that may maybe there might be other ways, I guess, is kind of the implication here. But it's still wrong, but, like, I think the title's a bit misleading. What's the exact wording again of the survey question? It is it is wrong to share one's personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith.

Alright. Wrong. It's kind of evangelism, though. I mean, I guess the wording, though, might have turned some people off. Yeah. And and it it it but it depends on how they start to define faith. Right? So, like, do I look at are those denominational differences, or do they, like, literally mean it's like me and a Hindu? Yeah. Right?

True. Alright. So 47% of millennials said that it was wrong, 27% Gen x, 19% baby boomers, and 20% of the older generation. I think that's a good point on the on the is this under the umbrella of chrysandum? And I think that's that's a fine question only because, if if we're talking like Lutherans and Catholics and then Methodists, if you're thinking, oh, it's wrong to tell the Methodists

that they need to share my faith as a Baptist. So I think if they're thinking in that particular regard, then maybe it would be lower. But unless you're talking about Hindus, Sikhs, talking Jews, if we're talking Muslims, if we're talking about other religions outside

of Christianity. Well, I I think that's a good point because maybe people were thinking under the umbrella of Christianity. Yeah. Because it said it also says, like, in 2013, a different survey said that two thirds of millennials said they had presented the gospel to someone within the past year. I mean, that's that's pretty stiff. Yeah. That's good. That's that's pretty solid. Like, if if true

but I I think I think the title of the article does a disservice to the conversation, frankly. So they're only talking to people who they believe have no faith in anything, maybe. That's that's right. Yeah. Yeah. If you're already practicing whatever, I should leave you alone because all religions are equal. But if you don't believe anything, well, you might as well believe mine because I know you and you know me. I can help you. So I think so I think that's where I where I struggle with the vagueness of the question is, like, I wouldn't have any reason to try to again, within to Greg's point, within within Christendom. Right? Like, I'm not gonna I I don't necessarily feel like I have to convert a Methodist.

Right? So and so I I don't know if it's wrong. Like, again, like, if there's a moral wrongness to it. But that's different than, say, dealing with someone who, I mean, who fundamentally believes something different than what you believe. That would explain the generational difference, do believe. If if that is the context in which people were taking it, I think that would explain it much much more likely. I think the church wars per se, the denominational wars were much more prominent in previous decades Mhmm. Than they are today. I think when you look back in American history, we're talking the Lutherans versus Baptists versus Catholics versus Protestants versus Baptists versus

Episcopalians versus all these things were much more prominent in previous years and previous decades of American history. And yet where we've come now, I think I I think is I think that would speak to the fact that those older generations what does the oldest generation say? They're 20%. They're 20%. 20% says says wrong. So, yeah, 80% of people are like, no. It's not wrong because those Methodists need to be Baptist. It's said it's like things like that. But today, 50% kind of where we've come within the umbrella of Christianity is much more religiously religiously pluralistic.

And within that pluralism, I think it's more like, you're Methodist? Okay. I'm Baptist. That's okay too. We're we're all on the same Jesus team. And while we have different styles, those different stylistic differences within denominations, between denominations, I think they are less Substantive? Yeah. I imagine so. Or at least

on the surface. They assume. Yeah. Yeah. It it shows you they're somewhat ignorant of the differences because if you're actually reading the Bible, some of them you'd look at and go, ah, you really kinda maybe I'm speaking as an old guy here though, that, you know, some of them actually should open their Bible once in a while, some of the denominations. And and they would come up with different conclusions than what they're doing. No. So I don't disagree with that. So but I would say I would say they're missing out on they're they're missing out on the fullness of life following Jesus, but not missing out on Jesus. Mhmm. Like,

maybe that's just a generational thing that says, like, I I don't I don't think that's right. Is it something worth, you know, tossing seats over? I don't know. Yeah. Like, of all the things that we can agree on, if we can go there and, like, we get the of all the things, frankly, that people are prone to getting wrong, there's a little bit of hubris in, in fighting over some of that. But some of it is certainly worth fighting for. And I think that's the risk too is, if you have completely open doors, you don't recognize like, you there are things you have to draw distinctions on. Mhmm. And I think if you're not willing to do that, that's a disservice, I think, to the to the gospel itself. And I think you do have to continue to fight for what what is what is true. It's I think that there's a question as as to how deep you allow a schism to to exist for some of that stuff. Sure. Sure. And I wouldn't call that evangelism either. But No. Agreed. Again, that's probably my how I'm defining it and maybe

Yeah. Interesting. I 80 year old guy wouldn't think of it that way. Yeah. I I I that does seem like it like it would make sense. And, like, they were that's, like, such a significant difference, either 47% to say 19 or 20%. But this is the same group. Here was the other here's another question on the survey. If someone disagrees with you, it means that they are judging you. The baby boomers and elder generation, about 10%. Millennials,

40%. That's that's kind of embarrassing, fellas. Yeah. I think I think these relationships can be somewhat inverse here. Then what you said a little bit ago was tossing chairs. I think, Christian folks were much more willing to toss chairs thirty, forty, fifty years ago than they are today. I think the tossing chairs, within Christianity. But yet, I think the difference lies let's go with secular versus Christian. Okay? Yep. So fifty years ago,

secular folks not tossing chairs as much in regards to their passionate secular beliefs. But Christians over some disputes within Christianity, much more willing to toss chairs. I think the relationship is inverse. And I think in 2019, what you'll find is that Christians of different denominations are much less likely to toss chairs, and yet secular folks, they're much more willing to toss chairs, again, for their secular beliefs. That's what I was saying. So what was that, Dan? I said, yeah. I was disagreeing. And so what's what that thing that you just said was,

this generational idea that if someone disagrees with you, they're judging you. And I think that's a a secular attitude that has been much more much more prominent over the last couple of years. If someone disagrees with you either in any regard, then all of a sudden, it's an automatically it's an automatic judgment without even saying,

I'm judging you for believing this one thing. We see it in politics. We see it in spirituality. We see it on other every issue in society here, and that's kinda where we've gone. That is not a surprising statistic to me personally. Yeah. I I wonder, I don't question you're right. I I don't question the statistic. I squash I question the reality of it, to be honest. Right? So, like, I think one of those things, the thing that kinda causes that is that the simple nature of how, this is true for all generations at this point, I think, but, like, especially millennial and and, gen x generations is is how we take in information. I am more likely to be engaging with people who whose

reaction to disagreement is a form of judgment because a normal person wouldn't say anything. Like, I the truth is, like, the vast majority of people I know that I'm friends with, that I interact with on a normal basis do not interact do don't use social media. And even if they do, I I would rarely see an opinion from them because it's not helpful. It's not a valuable place to conduct the information, which means that that type of discourse is staying out of that platform because it doesn't find fruit. So what remains behind are people who were where disagreement equals judgment.

Mhmm. And I think potentially misrepresents what reality is, at least where those things are playing out. So, like, if that's the only place, if you only hang out at the playground where the bullies are, your perception is that people are getting bullied everywhere. Yep. But the truth is the bully like, the the people who aren't starting fights aren't hanging out where bullies are at. And so it's like, I I wonder if if that perception comes from

just simply an overexposure to playgrounds that are that are filled with people who act like that. Yeah. And also and I think that that's point of social media is an important one because the world that we surround ourselves in social media and news wise is one that agrees with us. Also true. Yeah. So when we when we are constantly bombarded with the same thing, so whether you're watching this news channel or this news channel or another news channel, you're bombarded with what you already agree with. And so the second that someone disagrees with you, it becomes a lot more personal than it did thirty years ago when everybody was getting this news from the same source. That's right. You're not sharing an an op ed space in the back of the newspaper with, different groups of people. Like, you've you've catered what you hear. Like, here's and and even if it's not intentional, like, you may not have gone on and said, hey. I only wanna hear this type of news. But, like, the the thing's tracking you. It knows what you like. It knows the articles you choose, and so it gives you more of that. And so you do tend to get a narrow worldview,

on even if it's unintentional. And then when when something breaks into that, it it does run the risk of it sounding something that otherwise might have sparked a reasonable public discourse. Oh, yes. Now sounds like it's it's it's putting a spear on your side. Mhmm. Yeah. I agree. Yep. Alright. So I I I but based upon that reaction, I said I was disappointed that if someone disagrees with you, it means they're judging you. I mean, I suppose it's possible, but from a consequence, I like, I don't know. I'm not sure what it matters.

Like, that term's a little loaded anyway. Like, what does it mean to be judging? Obviously, if if you say something and I say, hey, that's wrong. I mean, yeah, I there's a judgment in there. You've said something and I've judged it incorrect. But, like, that's how people conversate. Right? So there's there seems to be a a load on people are judging me of which case, like, it's just a description of what is going on and of it's evaluation if you like that word better. But, yeah, that that is what they're doing, but that's how people take in the You know? I heard something. Do I agree with it? Do I not agree with it? And here's my reaction to such a thing. That's a normal human thing. That we shouldn't that shouldn't be a problem that someone would be judging us unless, like, unless we're saying that we're concerned that I say something and they say, well, you believe that? Then you're stupid.

And I suppose if that's the case, that says very little about me and way more about you. Mhmm. Alright. Good stuff. So here we go. Let's see. Barner president David Kinnaman points to the rising cultural expectation against judging personal choices. Practicing Christian millennials were twice as likely as Gen X and four times as likely as boomers and elders to agree with the statement. If someone disagrees with you, it means they're judging you. He says, cultivating deep, steady, resilient Christian conviction is difficult in a world of you do you and don't criticize anyone life choices and emotivism,

the feelings first priority that our culture makes a way of life. As much as ever, evangelism isn't just about saving the unsaved, but reminding ourselves that this stuff matters, that the bible is trustworthy, and that Jesus changes everything. Several evangelicals reactions to the Barna release pointed to the need for better Christian formation of younger churchgoers. I think they're overreacting to this Mhmm. To be honest with you. I feel like it's an overreaction to what's going on.

One of the things you gotta be super careful with is, and this is dangerous. It makes the world difficult to navigate, and I think we're we're we're this has been pretty pervasive over the last twenty years, is language changes. Language starts to shift on us. People start using, talking about concepts a little bit differently and and the words don't just quite have the same connotation as they did. And so you risk you risk reacting to a situation that I think maybe the the Gen X crowd and the millennials aren't reacting to. I

think they are worried about like, they're they're there's a there's a counter reaction to perhaps an overstep on behaviorism, Christianity that that that focuses primarily on you you walking through the steps and puppeting yourself in such a way that you you will be acceptable to Jesus, which no one intended to put through, but, like, that's how they saw it. And so I think there is there is a a higher focus. It's not a disregard for what people do,

but I think there's a higher focus on what is the state of your mind, of your heart, and and your intention of following Jesus and less about the exterior evaluation as an entry point. Now I so so I will say this. So I go to I visit quite a few coffee shops for various meetings with people. And I will tell you, those coffee shops are at at 06:00 in the morning, 06:30,

are filled with guys my age. Full of them. Mhmm. And I would say 80% of them are in are in doing a bible study of some sort or another. I mean, this isn't like a group of of elder statesmen in the church. This isn't a high school youth group. Like, these are guys raising kids. I got four kids and a full time job

who are up at six, 06:30 in the morning meeting guys doing bible studies. And so I I think it is it is it is not my experience that some of the headstones the the reticence, excuse me, in in in agreeing to the language that was proposed in the survey is not is expressing itself in ways that otherwise don't have people saying it matters what the bible says.

It is a true thing. It has an impact on my physical world and life, and I intend to follow it. That is not my experience dealing with people and being out in the in public interacting with folks my age, to be honest. Mhmm. And so I think it's I think it's just a risk that you take where where I think there there's generations that are reacting to certain language or implication, but you gotta be real careful. There's there's nuances to what they're actually reacting to. And so to to look at, say, a millennial generation and be like, they're lazy and they don't they don't they don't think evangelization. It's wrong to evangelize. Like, that's the wrong takeaway here. And so I think you just gotta be careful with how you react to that. There's a there was a few reactions here, from Billy Hollowell.

He says, I'm a millennial, and this is pure evidence of the failure of the church to prepare youth to understand faith or speak out. Interesting. So back to that two thirds thing. If that that's what I'm saying. I I think you gotta be careful on how you react to this data. Beyond that, it's also a result of a cultural crisis of secularism bombarding us at every turn. You can't pin the belief that evangelism is wrong on Facebook, distraction, disenchantment, or recession, wrote Samuel James, a writer at First Things on Twitter. The data here strongly suggests that Christian millennials are being catechized by their colleges,

not churches. I I I can't get there. I I think those are I think those are they they I think they do exist. I think the people are catechized by their by the nation the culture that surrounds them. I think you run the risk of not wanting to offend someone, like, no one wants to have to tell someone that, like, the way that they're living their life is is counter to what's good. That's a hard conversation regardless of your generation.

But loving people enough to tell them is I still think a quality thing. And I just, I I think what is changing it what is changing is the willingness for those generations of people to interject behavioral, guidelines

against people with whom they do not agree on the basis of truth of the guidelines themselves. So are less likely to go up to a group group of people and say, hey. Look. You need to change your life because Jesus says you're not supposed to act that way, to groups of people who don't know Jesus. They're like, my experience is that they are primary concerned about introducing you to Jesus so that you agree on the authority of such a thing so that what you then what then Jesus speaks matters to you. Whereas, I think, it's it's potential that, we were trying to change people's lives with good Christian teaching to people who didn't care about the source of it. And so I I that probably is true. I I in fact, I I wouldn't I wouldn't doubt that. I think you of course, you run the risk of of of missing the point, either direction too far,

but I I don't I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. You mentioned the sexual, the cultural crisis of secularism bombarding us at every turn, says, Billy Hollowell there in your in your quote, in your article there. I don't know. I think, I think it's almost, we were talking about how the flow of generation moves. You know, the time moves along and then people change over time. But it's almost like young Christians are, like, twenty years behind the game here because, you know, in the nineteen nineties, secularism was much more, I'm okay. You're okay. Everyone's okay.

But that doesn't strike me as the attitude of secularism in 2019. The attitude of secularism feels more today to me like, I'm okay and you're not okay. Yes. And therefore, this, like, millennial Christians who were in their twenties and early thirties and things like that, this concept that they are kind of in a space where I'm okay. You're okay. And I'm not gonna be judging you about Christianity. Sure. I like Jesus. I love Jesus. And, eventually, I want you to have Jesus, but I'm not gonna push hard on Jesus' view because there's still this secularism for twenty, thirty years ago saying, I'm okay. You're okay. Everybody's okay. But that's not the secularism of 2019. So I'm I don't know if maybe twenty years from now, if we're really lagging behind

the culture, maybe we'll get to a place where we are pushy again. And then there'll be a lot of pushy people. I'm okay and you're not okay if we have a secular nature of a cyclical nature of this. So I don't know. Tough to say. I think that conversation will be forced, to be honest with you. Like, I think, to your point where secularism had continues to become emboldened Mhmm. It it'll push you to align. Like like, there's certain cultural things that are showing up. I mean, they've been they've been showing up forever. But, like, as the tide starts to turn, they start making

deeper distinctions. And and I and Christianity will, and followers of Jesus will have to answer for them. Our our generals so as an example, I think there has been some passivity about, abortion. I think you have I think you have groups of Christians who are very strong, Catholics especially, actually,

about the the protecting the sanctity of life. And then I think you've got you've got a bunch of middle ground folks who are like, you know, that's just a that's a pretty loud thing to weigh in on. I maybe I'm just not gonna maybe I won't speak to it. Like, we had the freedom of not speaking to it. And I'm not sure that we've, that was good. I'm not sure that's a positive. And I and frankly, I think the the the trend there will continue to press that, to to where we have to be able to call things at their core.

They will be what we what we believe or think will ultimately be forced to be laid bare. And I don't know that that's a bad thing. Like, we we don't need, we're not direct of of people who have a better way of marketing Christianity. We're we're direct Christians, Like, core people who love and follow Jesus, who are passionate about and who love other people. Like, that's that's largely been the been the gap there is,

we don't need people who are who are kinda just just trained to go out and sell the product. I need people who believe and live the thing, and that's compelling. It's a strong like, the the the thing that will draw people to Christ are people actually following Christ. And so, I think that I think that will continue to press itself. I'd be surprised if in within twenty to thirty years, you're not finding that it is it is even, like, explicitly culturally unacceptable to believe in the core tenets of Christianity.

And, frankly, I think that's the time of of when you see a positive momentum in people actually coming to meet Jesus when there's nothing left to hide behind but the good news and Jesus himself. Let's see here. Let's see if there's anything else good here. Younger folks are tempted to hold on. What's I'll read the last two paragraphs here. But evangelism remains a sticky point among a twenty first century crowd which sees tent revivals and tracks as a thing of the past. You see, that's your comparison, I feel like that's a risk. Like, hey. We're not doing we're not like, they don't wanna do it. Like, if if they say, it'd be wrong to say they don't wanna do tent revivals and pass and handing out tracks so they believe evangelism is dead.

It seems like a misdefinition of it anyway. Evangelism is often presented as an old school out of style idea with little value or relevance in our fast paced urban world, wrote Hannah Groenoski, the founder and director of Generation Distinct for the exchange last year. Younger folks are tempted to believe instead, if we just live good enough lives, we can forego the conversation entirely, people and around us will almost magically come to know Jesus through our good actions and selfless character. She said, this style of evangelism is becoming more and more prevalent in a culture constantly looking for the fast track and simple fix. So I don't again, I I I think that's it's a it's it's a bit of an unfair characterization because the truth is is that, like, if you live good enough lives, I I think that I think there is good news communicating through what you do. But if it's if it's focused completely on yourself,

then, yeah, they're not gonna catch it. Right? Like, I I like, there's an expression that the the the core even the even the core nature of resurrection is a physical existence. It's as we you live in some way or another and do things. It's not a mind it's not a a mind belief. It's not a heart thing. It is an expression. It's a holistic understanding of what it is to live and follow Jesus. Jesus as a as a physical being even. And so I think there's very much like, you you run the opposite risk that says, look. I don't I'll tell everyone about Jesus, but it's not reflected in my life versus someone who says, look. I'm gonna do everything Jesus asked me to do and be faithful in that and then people will come to know him. I actually do believe that, but it required like, part of being faithful to Jesus is actually loving people enough and telling him about and telling them about it. Yeah. Right. And so so, like, I I think it's it it it's not an either or distinction, but, like, I I I think you could live on a basic principle that says I'm gonna love and follow Jesus and do what he does, which includes,

serving and loving and telling people good news. It's all kind of bundled up in that kind of thing. And I don't think it's magic. I think the gospel will do its own work just like I think preaching the bible will do its own work. But I which is different than to say, hey. I did a focus thing by standing out on a street corner and saying these words. That actually turns the gospel into some sort of potion, or magic thing that that I can just abracadabra. If I say these things, it will grab somebody. We're actually losing that art form. People are not they're they're not even taking in casual conversation like that. And so this goes back to the thing I didn't wanna miss. So there's a there's a crisis in corporate America

similar to what I think is playing itself out in churches. So what they they did a they did a study and what they found that, like, millennials are not interested in corner offices. Like, they don't care. The the things that that that, corporations, that used to be seen as, like, this is what winning looks like. This is what achievement is. Millennials are entering the the the job market, they're going, I don't I don't really I don't really care about that. And and the the truth is is, like, they they look at it and the core things that they want is that they want to they want the work they do to matter, and they want it to feel like it makes a difference. And so

things that we used to do, so so churches can run the risk of trying to build, good habitual work. Hey. To to be to be a good Christian, you you should come here, and then you should join and do the classes that we offer. And here's a few things, other things that you can do. And can you get in good habits related to corporate function? And millennials are not, from a church perspective, aren't running away from

good habits. They're asking that they mean something. And and here's the cool thing is that a lot of church habits do mean something. It's good. They're good things. But, like, but they they're introduced to them in such a way that they feel like they're just going through motions. And the same thing is true in corporate America. So corporate America, especially if you look in in in kind of, like, white collar work, a lot of times you don't measure success correctly. They you you run the risk of saying, hey. We're gonna do a project. We're gonna launch a product. We're gonna improve efficiency. Like, pick three buckets of things that corporate America is always doing regards to the industry. And,

you cheer the fact that something was completed. Hey. We released updates to the software once a quarter. Hey. We our sales numbers went up by 10%, blah blah blah. And so the thing is is that, like, this was something that otherwise, made, a lot of corporate America, like, happy. Like, like, we were going through the motions. We were succeeding in doing the work we were given, and so that was sufficient. Millennials are entering the workspace and saying, no. The like, I I see that this is what you wanna accomplish, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't actually improve the world. It doesn't help anybody. We're not we don't wanna do it.

And so they're becoming dissatisfied with the work. And so I think the risk is is that you look at millennials and go, they're lazy. They don't wanna do the work. They're lazy. They don't wanna come to the thing that we set up. They don't wanna go through these motions. But, like, they're actually a lot of times, they're asking what is a hard but ultimately a right question, which is, are we a part of something that is actually doing something? Is it making a difference? Their sense of measurement is much different. The amount of measurements, ability that sits within a millennial generation is markedly more than what you were capable of measuring forty years ago. Like and they're used to seeing measurements and asking those types of questions. And so, yes, they could be a lazy generation. I think there are aspects of the that that are also true. They have high expectations about entering something and how they're treated. But, like, and I I've noticed that in corporate America as well. But I will say that, like, the motivation to come in and say, boy, we wanna be part of something that mattered. Does this really matter? Not just because someone said to do it, not because we've been doing it for thirty years, but, like, is does this actually make a difference, the things that we care about, and can we be a part of it? Those are good questions.

And I think it it is is it a mistake for both churches and corporate America alike to look at those things and say, look. We want to mold you into this into this thing, into the way that we've always done it, and try to convince you that the corner office really is the right gig. Whereas, like, the the the question of what is the core value that we're trying to obtain is a good question, and it and it it helps to refine work that's being done, and I think it's good. And so I think that's the risk, frankly, we run-in both areas of not accepting that and and and using that for the value that it could be. Mhmm. Yeah. It's just different priorities for different generations. For a baby boomer who was born in 1950 here, their parents would have gone through the Great Depression,

which means when they're thinking about what's important to them, they're still they still have a slice of survival within them. They just think because they grew up with parents who knew what survival was because they were living through World War two. Generation xers, they're a little further removed from it because now their grandparents were the ones who survived the Great Depression, so the slice is smaller. But now we're three generations in to a post 1945 prosperity in The United States Of America, which means if that little slice of I have to survive, I have to survive has been getting smaller and smaller and smaller as the years have gone by. Now we have millennials who'd be like, survival's not enough anymore. What else are we gonna do? We need more than just survival. And since we need more than survival,

what else what else has meaning if we're past survival? We're past, you know, in Maslow's Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we are well above the base stage of survival. And and that's when it opens up to so many more ideas about, well, what can we do about this? What can we do this? That's why among young Christians, I think social justice is, like, a bigger thing than it was a previous generation a previous generation a previous generation ago just because I mean, to put it bluntly, it's almost like they they have more time with

I was just paying bills the other night, I was realizing how hard was it Dan Hudson, how hard was it to pay bills in the nineteen eighties? You mean, like, to have the money or just the process? No. Think a lot of work. Process. Yeah. There was there was money in checks and doing envelopes and licking stamps. And It was a I feel like I wouldn't have paid anything. Yeah. I wouldn't do it. Maybe that's just us millennials, Ben Foust. But that you're lazy. Yeah. We yes. Here's the thing. So that that's what's it is though. Is it like I look at it like, boy, that's just un that's un unwieldy, all this all this check writing business. Yeah. And but but then again, so, like, now that you've dispensed with the basic things, you look around and say, what am I to do with myself? Something that matters. Whereas there's a sense of stability. That's the thing is that, like, there's a blindness to it too. There's a blindness because you're living,

my generation is living off the stability that was created in the generations before. And without actually owning some of it, we now grow weary of the stability. And we wish to we and we wish to use the freedom that we have in a good way. Now see here the thing is that's a positive thing. It says with the time and resources that we seem to have and the not worrying about basic stable things broadly as a generation, we say what else good can we do? There's a very positive thing about that. I don't think there's any reason to continue to to lament over the years gone by,

and to live in fear of that. But there's also a real, there's a risk of of losing it completely. This is why you have you have social justice warriors living in their parents' basement. And so, like, there's a, hey. I don't worry about stability. Someone else will provide it for me so that I may care about this thing. I think both are good. The the the the the concept of I get to go that goes back to the corporate America is if you think, the the corner office was a was a sense of stability. Like, you worked your way up. It was it was, it was evidence that you were consistent

and that you delivered. And the corner office was the one that didn't move. You you you stayed there, and you could be there for a long time. Most of the, people in in in in in my generation, like, they're job hoppers. They'll move every three to five years. And so if, like, if I step back from that and I say, hey, man. Why can't you just stay? Why aren't you just staying? That is a value that I place, probably oddly within my generation that, like, most of them don't. They're like, what is what is the sense of commitment? And the things that were that were drove stability

don't really exist anymore. The promise of a pension, of a company being around forever to provide you some sense of retirement. You know? Like, you're you're better off chasing benefits company to company. You're better off get by the way, the the the best way to get a raise is to move is to go to a different company. Like, you will almost never get the same pay bumps staying with the same company. It doesn't work that way. They'll continue to give you raises, but they'll be, measly relative to moving to a different job somewhere else even if it's the same position. Like, it'll always be more. And so that's what they do. And it's a different value system. And I think you gotta be careful with saying one's inherently right or wrong. I can actually value in in both of them. And I think there's something you can learn from both of the of the thought processes.

And I think the biggest risk we run is cutting one off and saying, like, that's completely misguided. It's not misguided to say, we've got time and resources. How then shall we do the most good in the world? Following in the footsteps of Jesus? We expect it to matter. Like, yeah. That's great. Could can you forsake that,

on the opposite side of saying of just relying on the stability of someone else? Like, that's not good either. But, like, I I think you just gotta be careful. I think I think there's, we run risk about closing off and thinking that whole, like, whole generations of people are thinking wrongly. They're reacting to something, and they're trying to point somewhere. And there's certainly things that the that the world can learn from it. And the church can learn from it Yeah. In in just how you deal with different ages of people, different groups of people here because as it turns out, people are different. Imagine. Right on. Here's the thing. One of the one of the the the probably the a big miss was as this generation started to come up, that we weren't ready for it. This is true in corporate America again and churches.

Like, if you had seen this coming, what an awesome springboard. You have groups of people who are like, I wanna be out doing something and I wanna do something that mattered. And if you've been prepared for that well, for things for them to do without them having to try to like, we like, we mock them. They go out and find it themselves and we're like, oh, look at you. We we wouldn't even know if you're solving legit problems. But, like, if you prepared people for that, you probably have, like like, one heck of an energized group of people focusing on the right types of things. And instead, like, lacking guidance, they they identify what they believe are their own problems, which may not be may not holistically be correct. Right? They're not getting a full picture to identify what problems they actually could be helping solve.

And so that's probably something that we can we can continue to kinda do better at. Alright. Good. We're done with that one. Let's go to this one. This is for the Christian Post. Liberal Lutheran pastor melts purity rings into vagina sculpture, presents it to Gloria Steinem. Finally. Liberal Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolts Weber unveiled a sculpture of a vivulva,

made entirely of old purity rings to protest evangelical purity culture, and presented to a pro abortion second wave feminist, Gloria Steinem. Boltz Weber, the founding pastor of Denver's House for All Sinners and Saints, showed off the sculpture, which was made by melting down the old jewelry during the two thousand nineteen Makers Conference last week. Every single thing and person that seems so powerful and inescapable, I name them, and then I just go footnote,

Boltz Weber told conference attendees. I mean, seriously, Pontius Pilate, he's a footnote. You're a bully from middle school, footnote. Your depression, footnote. Your let's all say stupid. She said the s word. Boss, footnote. All those things are very real and the harm that they have on us in the world is also real. But to me, the whole point of having faith is it allows us to believe in a bigger story than the one we tell ourselves. Those purity rings are a footnote, she declared unveiling the sculpture. The rings we couldn't melt down spell out the word freedom and were woven into this heart. Isn't it amazing? She said while presenting the sculpture to Steinem amid audience applause. In some evangelical circles, purity rings, also known as promise or chastity rings, were given to young girls as symbols of a promise they made to abstain from sexual activity until marriage.

The contro controversial pastor who has defended the use of so called ethically sourced porn first announced her art project at two thousand eighteen Makers Conference, where she explained she wants to take down the church's teaching around sex and evangelical purity culture. Just think about women that the church has tried to hide and control, and that is a canvas on which other people can write their own righteousness. It's actually ours, she told the Huffington Post. This part of me is mine, and I get to determine what is good for it and it's and if it's beautiful and how I use it in the world. He then put out a call on Twitter asking any woman who no longer used their purity rings to donate them to her for use in the scope in the sculpture. In exchange for donating the ring, the pastor said she would give each person a copy of her new book, Shameless, a sexual reformation, in which she argues the church teaching on sexuality has caused harm to many people. According to a video posted on Maker's Conference website, the response was overwhelming with hundreds of women sending in their rings. One female welder agreed to make the sculpture after five men refused, claims the video. Oh, that'd be kind of difficult.

Hey. We need you to make a vulva out of this thing. Why not? I I don't know, Dan. This stood out for you. What stood out what caught your eye here?

Well, to me, I I guess it's just the how well, what we were talking about earlier. The the you know, how about opening up your Bible? You know, here here's a church that needs here's a I guess she's calling herself a pastor of a church

that is just teaching falsely. Now, you can argue on the different, you know, aspects of of how far you go with purity and stuff like that, I guess, but but not too far. I mean, the scripture's pretty plain on it, you know? And and she always tries to push the envelope, and it's my understanding of this gal. She's she's pretty

off with with a lot of doctrinal stances. So it just it it it was sad. It breaks my heart as a father of two daughters with purity rings who took them very seriously that that she's celebrating sexual immorality,

really. Yeah. It's it's too bad. Like, she had said in the in the article, she the the the interview, she said, this part of me is mine, and I get to determine what is good for it and if it's beautiful and how I use it in the world. And here's the thing, that's that's that's not just not true. Right. And and not even related, in a in a grand like, that's not even true about me as an individual.

I am I don't get to determine what is good for it. Mhmm. I'm not trustworthy to do that. My sense of what is good and not good is is suspicious. And I don't I think I think I think that's just a I think anybody that can't admit that is is is just not living in reality. Like, just the the the very nature of the choices you've made, like, unless you've lived a perfect life or you've never made a choice that you regret, like, you you have to at least at least cop to the fact that, like, there's something in you that is not always capable of of identifying what is good. That's how we learn lessons. Right? Like, something you do something wrong and then you recognize that that it was good. And so

the subject or the standard then of what is good or is not good has to if it if it's up to if it's up to individuals, then fine. This is this is true. But if in the presence of a holy god who has actually gone through the process of saying this is what is actually good, and to the extent that you do not fall in line with that, like, you run the risk of of doing something that god said wasn't good. And, like, he wouldn't tell you to do it if it wasn't good. Like, that's kind of the nature of him knowing the difference. And so, like, I I I get the

I you know, I'm trying to see if there's something I can sympathize with here. Like, it's too bad that this is that, frankly, this movement was focused primarily on ladies, to be honest. Like, I don't know. Unless I'm missing it, Dan. Would it was there a was there a dude element to this? I don't believe so. No. No. No. And that's too bad. Mhmm. I I think that's that's a significant miss to to in in fact, any any thought that says the lady's on defense here and and that this is not a guy's responsibility

to not only maintain and protect his honor, but the honor of any woman he intends to deal with, That's a significant miss. And here's but here's here's the thing. It's that, like, it's very possible that the church has attempted to do this, and men just ain't grabbing it. But ladies will be like, yes. I I actually wanna be faithful to this thing, and so they're more willing to grab onto a movement like this. That wouldn't surprise me one bit. Mhmm. But but the the thing is is yeah. I I guess if I roll if I roll it all up, do I believe that what god says is good in the world is intended to be a shackle or an elevation. And it would be the second. Like, if I believe it is a shackle, then that's then that's what you you're gonna end up with a vulva sculpture.

Hand it to another lady. But I I look at the laws of God and say these are good. These are good because he says they're good, and he's created them for our good. And it is in my best interest to adhere to them. And to the that extent, like, I here's here's what you know. So has anybody been to Grand Canyon? Yep. No.

Wait. Who said yeah? Yes. I have. Okay. Greg's been there. Okay. Great. On. Do they have do they let you just there's, viewing areas. Right? Yeah. With rails? I mean, the official viewing areas, of course, have rails. It's got guard rails on it. In fact, they build something at the at the Grand Canyon that, like, extends over the canyon that you can kind of walk. The glass bottom Yeah. Thing that's yeah. So there's rails on it. Right? On, yeah, on that part especially, yes. Yeah. So so right. Like, so with good intention, they said, look. Here's here's how you can enjoy life, but stay within the rails. Yeah. And no one looks at the rail standing over the Grand Canyon and walks against it and goes, what is this crap? What is this shackle that doesn't allow me to live how I wanna live? I should be able to do what I want, including walking off this this platform. Mhmm. Like, no one thinks of it that way because they believe that it is protecting them, that it was put there with wise thought, and that it ultimately is right. And they can look at the wisdom of it and say, yep. You know what? Pretty good idea that they put that there. Otherwise, I might accidentally harm myself. And god's laws are that. They're that thing right there. And so

the the it says, hey. Yeah. It's it's your body, and it was created to do really cool and good things and to feel good and to do good and to produce miracles. And this is how you take care of it. This is how you treat it. This is how other people are to treat it. In fact, you you can only engage it with one person. And if you do it in this context, it will do all those things for you and you'll it will be the right experience. That's what it's intended. That's not a I don't look at that as a shackle. It's a guardrail that says, look. There's these are good and beautiful things. Let me here's how you use them well. Here's how you're part of that thing. And so is it is it true

that people have taken that proper concept and and probably used it in a restrictive way. Yeah. I I don't doubt that people are sinful and wrong. I but it doesn't stop. It doesn't mean that the core thing that says god laws god's laws are good. God's intention for humanity is good. And if he puts restrictions or direction on us, it is for our good. That simply is not a shackle. And so, like, I fundamentally would disagree, with those things. So the extent that you found something of which people are are teaching or restricting outside of the bible, well, great. Then you have a pharisee problem. Jesus called the same thing out.

I didn't make a vulva statue out of it. That's that's I'm confused at how things ended up over there. But, like We all are. If you're rebelling if there's a rebellion against man made restrictions that God did not put in place, great. You're joining Jesus' revolution. Congratulations. You you have a friend in the Lord. And, like, I'm in. I'm in with that. I'm in I'm totally in with it. But, like, anytime that you're then you change that and then rebel

against the lord and somehow prescribe that your view of the world is better than his, I it's an obvious it's a clear and obvious miss. Mhmm. There's a lot there's a lot of things that you were just saying. Number one. A lot of thing. Number one,

the idea that this in the nineties or whatever, that the purity ring or the purity movement was focused on ladies alone, that's that's not good. That's not good at all. Yeah. Because I have I have daughters and sons. Yep. And so do you. Dan, you only had daughters. So That's all I care about. There you go. That's all I care That's not true because I I want them to Yeah. To date Right. Men who are pure. Right. Yeah. But this concept that, oh, no. This is the ladies' responsibility is really, really off base. Yeah. And it's just it's just not good. The the article you mentioned, Joshua Harris book, I Kiss Dating. Hi. Kissed Dating. Goodbye. Yep.

This past year, Joshua Harris has come out and apologized and said Mhmm. Yeah. I made a mistake. Yep. There's a lot of and I think what you described Ben was people are going taking this way, way, way, way, way too far. I think there's some guidelines set for the Bible that are pretty simple, that that are pretty straightforward. And yet the idea that people have taken a pharisaical turn and and really, really emphasized this, this, like, above and beyond extreme kind of nature of this of this purity rule.

I I think it's been taken too far, and and in many ways, it's probably been kind of harmful. And but isn't that what we've seen over the last twenty years, thirty years? Just this idea of the sex obsessed society, sexual obsession, sexual everyone's obsessed with sex. Everyone's obsessed with everything dealing with sex and sex and sex and sex and sex. Right? And it shouldn't be too surprising that on maybe the pro sex and the antisex side of things, there are extremes, and there are extremes.

And what used to be like, hey. Oh, you you wanna you wanna wait till marriage? I respect that. That's fine. That that's fine. It seems like this lady is going on the opposite side. Like, no. That's not fine. It's not only not only is it not fine, we need to actually mold something fairly I don't know. I don't necessarily call it an idol, but the idea that you are crafting something out of metal and then presenting to someone, I don't know. I'm not a big fan part's weird to me. I'm not a big fan of crafting things,

symbols out of metal and then handing this symbolic thing to someone else who is symbolic and making a big statement out of it here. It seems like this pastor lady, she also apparently is obsessed with sex. Yeah. In in the counter version, but she's very obsessed with sex, and I don't think any sort of obsession with sex is healthy for our society. It's not good. If we're talking about a sexually obsessed society as a whole, that's gonna lead to bad places. Gonna lead to bad places on so many regards. And yet this lady, in almost being so anti anti sex,

she's becoming even more obsessed with maybe the people who she's fighting against. And and then it just seems to me like she just wants to be on the news. Mhmm. That's it seems very attention getting. Yeah. Like, to to to put forth her message

of that that this purity move was wrong. Okay. I see where she's coming for that. But that's not what she's doing. She's she's doing that, but then she's going above and beyond. And it feels like that above and beyond is totally for attention. And so what I see is is someone who is, despite what she says, also very obsessed with sex and sex in the culture, but also really, really wants to be well known.

That's what it seems like to me. Yeah. I agree. I can't I mean, I'm I'm trying to think sorry. This is what's going through my mind. I'm trying to think in what in what way I would feel honored if someone gave me a statue with two testicles on it. Like, I can't I I

just I can't I can't figure it out. It'd be tougher, though, with that, though, only because, the specific situation at hand, I think what she's trying to say is that this purity movement has actually oppressed women more than it's oppressed men. And so, therefore, the same thing for men probably wouldn't apply as much. I understand that. I'm just thinking, like, in general, of all the things you could make the statue of Mhmm. Like, I can't think of a circumstance in which it would feel appropriate, and I would be proudly proud to receive a set of testicles. Here you go, Ben. Here's two golf balls. What do you think?

I don't feel like I I I I think maybe this emphasizes your point. Right? Like, you could have done you you could have done this with just about anything. There's lots of things that represent it almost feels diminishing to say, like, this is the thing we decided to craft. Because there's four aspects. Number one, I wanna collect a lot of purity rings. Okay. Actually, no.

There's, there's five aspects. Number one, I wanna collect a lot of purity rings. Yep. Number two, I'm gonna sell you or give you a copy of my book. I think that's a big part of it too. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Number three, we're going to melt these down. Okay? Number four, we are going to craft a part of the female reproductive system. Yep. And then number five, we are going to present this to a woman who, as far as I know, is not a part of any Christian community. I'm not sure about that. But and and so that's that's five

big things that tell me this is not just about, this purity movement wasn't the way to go. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. Man. Lot of stuff. Okay. Well, hey. Maybe you got some thoughts on that. Maybe we've said wrong things and you would like to enlighten us or you agree completely.

Either way, let's call the appropriately named complaint line. That's (515) 517-0085. That's call or text (515) 517-0085. That is the live from the past complaint line. I check that thing faithfully whenever I show up to the show. So just so you know, I will almost always respond back to you, but I only I only check it right before we come on the air here. So, you know, just don't feel bad. But shoot us something. Let us know. Sure. Alright. Real quick. Let's do a Dear Life from Dear Life from the Path. Dear life from the path, I've been reading your advice

and for for a very long time. I'm an attractive 65 year old woman. I have no problem meeting men. I have been told numerous times I look twenty years younger than my age. The problem is if I hear another man tell me how beautiful I am, I may go ballistic. I want a man to appreciate me for my intellect and my personality. I thought when I was past 50, would no longer have to hear about my looks. I want a man to appreciate the person I am inside, not outside. I don't wear makeup, and I don't dress up. What does an old lady do to get a man to appreciate her for her brain and not her looks? Sincerely, Jane Mansfield. Wait. Wait. Now, what was the opening sentence? I've been reading let's see. I've been reading your advice for decades. Well, okay. The second one. I am an attractive 60 five year old mean, she's

talking about it. She doesn't seem to be focused on it. I love the confidence. Strong, confident woman of 65 who is really just attractive according to her. Confident. Yeah. So I mean, what she she says, I I wanna move to something I want deeper reactions from fellas. What do I do?

I guess I'd like to know the context where she's meeting these fellas. Let's play this out, shall we, gentlemen? Yeah. Yeah. Alright. So a gentleman meets her. Finds her attractive. Where they at? Hey. They are at an outdoor mall in Florida. Okay. I'm gonna say I'm gonna guess it's in Florida. There's not an address of this place. And they're both there individually?

Both there, and then he sees her across the crowded outdoor mall and says, hey. Is she eating yogurt? Low fat. After all, she's trying to keep her Yeah. No. She's not. She does not care. Oh, she doesn't care at all. You're right. She can't help. She's beautiful. Full fat. So at this point, they engaged in a date, and I would say to what is her name again? What is what are we looking at here? Let's call her Jane Mansfield. Jane Mansfield. That's right. So we're looking at Jane Mansfield. I would say to Jane, look. You got a fellow on the date? This is the opportunity. So you wanna prove that you're not vapid?

Then I think this is a great opportunity to prove how deep you are. And if, for lack of a better term, your attractiveness got, the butts in the seats, now that they're in there, go ahead and make the most of your opportunity and demonstrate that you are indeed deep, that you are indeed intelligent, that you are indeed, as far as I can tell, the entire package. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. So so may perhaps to expand upon Greg's point here. Sure.

In your example, how does he notice her? He doesn't look across the mall and go, what a personality. Can't tell. Right. Right. Like, he can't. Yep. So, reasonably, like, anytime you engage with like, when the man comes up to you, he's doing so because he found you attractive in some way or another. If it's if it's a stranger. Okay? And so if you say, want a man to appreciate me for my intellect and my personality, it costs time. And, like, that's totally reasonable.

But, like, it's unreasonable to think that you're gonna find some sort of engagement with someone that you don't already know that isn't at least initially kicked off, by a reaction to your physical appearance. It's, it's not your physical appearance isn't separated from your intellect and personality. It's a part of your it's a part of you. And so, like, yes, that that is what what what might draw him, or draw his attention. It doesn't mean he's not capable of of appreciating your intellect and personality, but, like, he has not witnessed it yet. So everything that he's taken in so far, he likes. He probably is game for more, but that will take time. And so without you've not provided enough details here, I suppose, to say, like, are you dating a man for six months? And he's like, I

still just love how you look. I mean, okay, then stop going out with him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's the one who's vapid. Yeah. Yeah. But, like, I mean, you gotta give a guy a chance here. And maybe he's just being nice and he doesn't know how to compliment you because he doesn't know you at all yet, so he says what he knows. Yeah. Like, how creepy would it be? He's like, hey. I I saw you from across the way here at the mall, and I love your mind. Like Yeah. Weird. I see the way you do those crossword puzzles. See, you have Sudoku. Yeah. Yeah. I think I I think there's another solution, I think, at hand, gentlemen. I think that solution is blind dates. Yeah. Or pen pal dates. We start a relationship in that way. Go on online dating website.

Don't put a picture. There's options out there for pictureless online dating. I don't trust that. Well, she clearly believes that this might be the thing to do, and so online pictureless dating. And then what happens is you begin a verbal relationship.

Not a verbal, a written relationship because you're almost like pen pals, exchanging, exchanging, exchanging, and then eventually, they meet up. But you've already established a relationship based on intellectual capabilities and whatnot. So Alright. This isn't gonna play well, but, like, could you just try to date a blind guy? Is that wrong? I Is that wrong to say looking for a blind fella? I believe all people deserve the chance for love. I mean, I I feel like that's the solution. Yeah. If this is a big enough problem for you, I'm sure there's some singles

who have that affliction or empowerment, however you wanna think about it. Anything's possible. Okay. Alright. Alright. So our advice is to cut the cut the guy some slack, give him a chance to know your intellect and personality, or go you can switch to online dating and take the physical out of it or Yep. Date a blind guy. These all seem reasonable to me.

Secular says, please cut these poor would be suitors some slack until they get to know the person you are inside. What else would you expect them to say to ingratiate themselves? Alright. You've been blessed with good looks and asked that most women would welcome. Stop complaining and appreciate what you have. If you do, you will be an even more beautiful woman inside. Well, alright. Alright. Here we go. Last one. Dear, life from the path. My wife and I are having a debate. A married woman is out of town by herself and meets a man two nights in a row for drinks. Over the next few months, she talks to him several times on the phone, and then one night, he calls her at 09:30 after she is already in bed and tells her he's in town. So she gets up, gets dressed, drop dead gorgeous, takes off, and meets him. She sits in his truck for an hour, kissing and hugging, no sex or intimate touching. All of this is without her husband's knowledge. Did this woman have an affair? Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Like, you wouldn't believe. Yeah. Yep. Across the board. I think it's, besides saying that's that's just one of those things where it's like, oh, well, we only kiss. No. No. No. No. No. That's kind of a big deal. So not only is there physical, there's an emotional element. This is an emotional affair as well. Yeah. I think that's I think that's incredibly important too. So yes. Yeah. Most definitely. Yes. Yes. I wonder who's I wonder who's on the debate side here.

My wife and I are having a debate. Is this no. No. Never mind. I I I was wondering if it's Bill and Hillary, but it seems like It'd be the opposite. Right. Right? Yeah. It is just curious in Georgia.

Alright. So any other no. Yeah. I think that's a clear cut. Yeah. You're crossing all kinds of lines. Yeah. Yeah. No. You can't do that. The the things yeah. If it helps to to more easily define affairs, like, are things that you are permitted or that belong actions and behavior that belongs to your spouse to the extent that you share those with someone else, you are having an affair. Yeah. The

I think I think what people might question of is the is the meeting a man two nights in a row for drinks? I don't know. People people might argue about that point a little bit more, but even still, that seems like a couple of dates with this random fella. Yeah. Here's the deal is that you go out on two drinks two nights with one guy, and you didn't and your husband does not know. That's an affair. There it is. You're cheating. Wasn't a business meeting. It was a No. Yeah. This is not business. That's that it does not say that it was business here. And I think that's what people argue about because what I think about with that, I think of the Pence rule that has been that has been talked about quite a bit where vice president Mike Pence refuses to meet a woman for drinks Mhmm. Or something like that. I can't remember what it is exactly. And I was like and people argue about that. Oh, well, you're just limiting career options of women. It's like and so I can't remember if alcohol has to be involved, but, anyway, that's probably a different debate. We'll leave it alone. Alright. We're across the board.

Let's see. Secular says, yep. And it may have started when she met him when she was out of town. Even if there was no sex act, plenty of intimate physical contact was happening, and that's what I'd classify as infidelity. Yep. There we go. Hey, man. That's weird, though. We're we're usually not in line with secular twice in a row. I figured secular would say, how about we take these purity rings, melt them, and make a statue? Set up a let's let's let's do a seventh grade anatomy class and then move on with our lives. A hood order for the truck in which business was going on. Holy cats. A hood order for the truck?

What are you are you talk are you just talking about putting a Volvo on the truck? I was saying any hood ornament, but I suppose that would be odd. Well Yeah. Yeah. That would be odd. I've seen other things off the back of a truck. No. That's true. Yeah. That's true. So I don't understand that either. No. Dan, did you do that on your truck? No. No. No. Did I mean, did it go go through your mind? Never. No. I didn't. Yeah. No. It's not yeah. Okay.

I think that's it. Yes. I think what a great ending here. I think that's here's the I would not put him on my minivan. This is a rough this is a rough couple of shows. So the last show we were talking about Hebrew breast poetry. We ended up on voles and testicles. I don't hey. If this isn't your flavor or whatever, just hold hold tight. We'll we'll get back around to something probably. But here's the deal. I I can't this this thing that does my music and all the fun stuff that it's supposed to do is just not working right today. So I'm gonna we're gonna cut you off. You've listening to live from the past. We do really do appreciate you hanging out. Give us a call or or shoot us a text at (515) 517-0085.

We will be out of the booth again at least next week, and then hopefully we can settle in something a little bit more regular, but we'll see how life goes. In the meantime, be faithful to means. God will handle the ends. You've been listening to Live From The Path.