Record Street. From the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path. And you're listening to live from the Path

Cody from the, Pathway Studios here in Johnston Proper. COVID clean for fourteen days. Hey, man. I checked everybody's temperature on the way in. Alright. That's not true. You didn't touch me. I did a mental scan. Like the night of the sentinels. Obscure sci fi reference. Do you grow up as a little boy in the nineties? Because then you'll get to

oh, yeah. Okay. Thanks for hanging out with us so far. So we did hear on we asked on the social media whether you wanted more or less bacon. It was a hundred percent one way. A 100% less bacon? Yeah. 100% less. Talk about bacon. Yeah. But but was that a surprise to you? I mean, a little kinda not because the content that people can expect from us, which is nothing. And then out of nowhere, we kinda come in slam it with two bacon posts. Oh, you think it's too like, it's too much. People can't take it. No. I think they saw it coming. I think they saw it was a cheesy social media grab,

and they thought, you know what? I'm not getting I'm not getting involved in this. Yeah. This is cheap living. Yeah. It's false. Was the was the person wearing a burka? Yeah. Less bacon? Less bacon. I don't know. You know what my daughter said to me? She was Less bacon? She was picking up her peas with her with her hand. Right? I'm like, what why are you acting like a caveman? And she goes, dad, the hand is the fork of the arm. Oh, that's great. I know. I just can't argue with that. That's a T shirt. That is deep. That's fairly solid reason to feel say the hand is the fork of the arm. This is the fork that the lord Oh, here's the deal. I did not think that it would be so soon in their life that they have bested me, but they have bested me. I am speechless. I had nothing to say. I mean, you did sharpen the stick, so it's kinda not surprising. Yeah. The the hand is the fork of the arm, dad. Well, either way then. I guess you're good. You win this round. Apparently, don't use utensils here as a family anymore. Yeah. Alright. Well, fine. Well, I will figure out more ways to post some stuff that isn't bacon.

Yeah. I feel like we've done a little bit of other stuff. Like, we've got we've gotten, like, 10 posts on that one. I I so I was listening back I was listening back on the not last week, but the week before. And, I mean, there were 50 quotes from that one. Yeah. That's hey. You remember I was talking I was talking about that I invested in in in marijuana? Yeah. Yeah. I do remember that. Hey. That stock is up 80%. No kidding. Yes, indeed. You asked me. You said, why would you do that? I said, because during the COVID, people will hoard it, and people will will take to it

because they either don't know what to do with themselves or they're getting wigged out. That's exactly what happened. So so it's gonna pan out? You're gonna buy it at the cheap price and make instant money? That's what I did. Oh, it's done? Yeah. Did you already sell? Yeah. I did. Yeah. Yeah. I was I was afraid it was gonna take a dive. But, however, the the economy as a whole went up Monday, and so all both rose. Had a good day. Had a good day, boys. I tell you what. I listened back to that conversation we had about corporate America probably 15 times this week. Of course did. Probably the favorite thing we've ever done in ten years. Yeah. I was very excited about it. Really? Interesting.

You you were really excited about it, and it was you arguing the entire time. It was mostly me rocking it. That that's the thing. Highlighted my strong suit of This stuff is gold. Of raging against the machine in the corporate America. Oh, raging against the machine. Yeah. Mike's on parade. Or that's Moova's nickname, the machine. He's basically part of the hierarchy. I'm the machine? Yeah. All you wanna do is kick out paper and rules. That's basically you. Oh, wow. Well, I mean, kinda. I can't deny that statement. Okay. So so here's the question. Because I saw this come up in a number of articles this week, and it has to do with the lasting effects of

the of kind of the the shutdown stuff and so, like and and specifically as it as it relates to to to people's mental state, feelings of and maybe this ties to that marijuana thing, like, feelings of of anxiousness, feelings of depression, maybe worry. And so the the the

I'm trying to figure out to how to normalize what I'm reading. And so I'm gonna ask whether, fellas, this this any of this feels familiar to you, not because in regards to the answer, saying it's it's good or or better or worse whether it does or it doesn't, but I just just to normalize it because, like, I saw a lot of articles this week and, like, I haven't really run into anybody that seems to be having this. So maybe my my question is to you is, are do or is is any of this hitting you in that way or or or people, anybody around you? And, like, what has been the like, in in what way and, like, how has it impacted you spiritually? You're

asking you're asking how the quarantine has affected. Yeah. Do you feel like it's hit you in any way? No. You say you feel like the same? Yeah. Same zies. Yeah. I thought well, I see all I can say is half positive things, and so it makes me feel guilty because I know it does not hit everybody that way. Like, but, like, it slowed the pace of life down a little bit, and I'm not so sure that that wasn't something that needed to happen anyway. Like, I think people are longing to go back to something that was crappy. You know what I'm saying? They're like, I wanna I wanna go back to, like, this fast paced, uber busy lifestyle where I didn't have time to be with my kids or talk to my wife or a thousand different things going on and, like, all these things that they were phony. Right? They weren't true. They they helped to make people feel like they were important and great, but, like, it's man, I tell you what, Ecclesiastes,

the preacher teacher says, here's all the things that that that humanity will will point to and say, this is what will make life great. And he stands at the end of his days and goes, it's all smoke, man. None of it was actually true. And I think that that some of the quarantine stuff has been a little bit of an equalizer for me that, like, prove some of that out. All the stuff that you thought you were involved in and was important and you had to do and not to say that, like, some of our community based stuff where we get together just as people enjoy enjoy good food and good people and good drink and and the job you've been given to do. And and that's the the the simple straightforward. Missing out on those things is not what god designed. Right? He designed those things to be good and to be helpful to us. Right? But like some of the other crap, it can certainly go. And I I don't know. I think there's a lot of folks that are feeling anxious about getting back to something that wasn't good for them in the first place. You know what I'm saying? That we're actually wasn't doing a net positive, to them overall.

So and and not to say there's not cases where people have been forced to be quarantined and not see their friends, not see their family. I'm not saying any of that stuff's any good. But, like, if you can look at more the holistic thing or the or us as a society thing and say individuals are going to take this hard, but as a society, I don't know that we couldn't have used to slow down a little bit and not find ourselves so important and go, hey. Maybe we can just ease a little bit. Try try try instead of having two hands full of toil, maybe maybe just one hand full of quietness. You know? So so I I guess impact number one for Mike, for you is

we may have learned to to stop double fists and toil. I did. We'll put it that way. I can't speak for everybody or whether it's good or bad or indifferent, but I know that, like, I'm generally two hands full of toil guy, and, I think that's a mistake. And so and and maybe I've been trying to look at things a little bit differently to make sure that I don't end up, as soon as this thing starts curving out or whatever it's gonna do, that I don't end up with two hands full of toil again, because I I I just I I don't think that's where I live in. Yeah. I don't know, Dan? Yeah. I I think I I have been mostly, like, disappointed

in how this has become so stinking political with people. Like, on whatever issue it is, like, they've drawn the line mask, no mask, stay home, don't stay home, work, you know, and and people are, like, angry at each other just in social media, which has been the case anyway Yeah. You know, with things. But it's like, really, even in this, we we we've allowed it to divide us politically. It should have nothing to do with politics. You know, it really and it should can't we just as Americans say, hey, we're trying to figure this out? And I suppose that that's where the politics comes is what do you do about it? But that that's been disappointing,

to me. Don't you feel like what they've asked of us? I feel like we're doing we're doing better than I thought we would. Right? I thought there would be a solid upstart rebellion of people that are like, I don't care what you say. I'm gonna go in the in the hobby store without my mask, and you're not gonna stop me. Right? Like, I thought there would be I think I think people, for what was asked of them, I think they tried, and I think they gave it an effort. Now some are gonna say that wasn't enough, and some are gonna say they're selfish anyway, but, like, to be honest, I just expected 20 to 30% of the population to be pistols and be like, you don't tell me what they are. They are in some areas. So we we live in a pretty open state compared to, like, the rest of the country. Yeah. Sure. A lot of my friends are in Kentucky and Ohio and and and out in that area where they're just like shut Michigan and, you know, they're having protests and stuff out there and and and the the it's becoming a big clash of will between people. Then then yeah. That's just disappointing me. I guess don't know if that's answering your question. I can't remember what the original question was, but it didn't affect me a whole lot. I went to Home Depot, like, every other day because we were doing a big three or four projects, you know,

here at the church and at home. Do you think that because I was I was reading an article earlier this week, actually, your point, Dan, that like, I can only see how this is affecting me from my social class. Yeah. Yeah. Right? So, like, there are there there are are portions of America that obviously are, you know, lower income bracket, have a certain amount of discrimination against them anyway,

and and, like, things that I'm not taking in. Right? And so I don't know that I that I'm that I can take that in wholly anyway from Mhmm. Sources. You know, tattoos are not important. Right. Right. Right. Right. Closing you down. Correct. I gotta feed my family. Correct. Yeah. Correct. And so, like, you know and, like, I mean, I know people that that that do tattoos and hair and and, like and I get it. And they're all, you know, and and struggles. I know low income wage workers that work at convenience stores, and, you know, they're getting their hours cut and, like, all this stuff. And so, like, if if if we're gonna talk about it straight, let's let's just make the point that, like, what I'm what I think Dan and I are saying is, like, the question was asked, how did it affect us? And we're talking from our social class My little circle. My little perspective. It is not a sweeping,

hey, man. I I'm glad this these guys are out of work or you know what I'm saying? I don't know. I'm glad they're suffering or what. And that's not what we're saying. I I I think we're just saying, like, from from our seat in this in this life of socioeconomic standing, this is what it's what it's like for us. Right? Not to say that there's not broad sweeping things that are causing people a a horrible depression and headache and anxiety about money and what they're gonna do and, like, I totally get that. But, like, I just and this goes to your point about the social media thing. Right? Like, I answer this simple question and all of a sudden, like, it can be easily painted that I just care nothing for how it's affecting other people and and, like, that is not the case at all. Right. But

I I think social media is really lacking the ability for people to breathe. Right? And to say, here's how it affects me as long as you're asking. You know? That doesn't mean it's true for everybody or that I don't care about how it affects everybody else, but, like, I can honestly only talk from my perspective. That's the only one I with that I can talk with and be real. You know? And so, like, I can fight for the plight of people that I think are probably taking, the brunt of the way that this shutdown is working. And I think there is a good chunk of of our our blue collar every day, you know, working ten hours a day workers that can't go to work and they can't feed their family, and it's driving them nuts. Yeah. And, like, there's no way I can't see that that is a terrible thing to happen to them. I just can't speak to it because I'm not them. Right? And so, like, if if I'm gonna frame this just real quick before Dan and I turn into jerks in front of everybody. You know what saying? Like, I I think that's only fair. Well, that's the that's the things. I suppose one of the things that the that conversations lack is is the grace of context. Right? Right. So, like and I don't know I'm not sure what the motivation is for it, to be honest. Like,

if you give people if you if you start with some basic assumptions that this person is not like, is is speaking from their own perspective as opposed to claiming to have all perspectives, because, like, that's really what it is. A lot of times people will react to something that somebody says as if it is intended to represent all wisdom. Like, I'm limited to my own perspective. I cannot live in your body. I don't get to see with your eyes. And so I think the the only way we mutually benefit from each other's perspectives is to be able to share them and then sort them out and say adult conversation. That's right. It might it might take actually, there's a friend of mine who talked about this earlier today is that, like, one of the one of the hardest things I think in this in this particular situation

is trying to recognize how do you deal with real fear that is real even if the thing that is driving the fear may not be relatively,

may not warrant the amount of fear that exists. You understand what I'm saying? So, like, it's like I'm gonna give a a crude example or like a like a one that doesn't quite represent the situation, then we'll go from there. But it's like someone saying, look, I'm I'm like, who's scared to death that a car is gonna spin off their cul de sac and run into their house. Mhmm. And they're just freaked out about it all the time, and they're totally they're legit scared that it's gonna happen. Now the chances of it happening are super low. But they read an article in Michigan, it happened once. Yeah. And and then and they And see. They see the car come by, and they're and they're legit afraid. Now it's you can recognize that the fear is real. And it And not completely unfounded,

but just ballooned. Yeah. Right. It's it's it's yeah. I don't wanna use the word exaggerated because, again, I think you can pull that off wrong. But, like, the the the question is is, like, when we look at the situation we have, we simply don't have, one, enough enough information. And, like, even information can be misleading. Right? Like, go to three prime sources, reporting different things, and it's not the same. And there's it's it's it's not because humans aren't trying, and it's and frankly, I don't think in general that it's people trying to manipulate. I think it's just we we have a big thing, and we're trying to collect a lot of data, and people are trying to make decisions off it. And people have people like to have their narratives affirmed. And so, like, if you think this thing was gonna be the end of the world, you're gonna grapple on to the to the to the numbers that otherwise lead you to believe that and the graphs that represent it. If you think think this thing was a nothing burger and everyone's overreacted, then you're gonna you're gonna land, and and grab onto data that otherwise validates that. And that's the problem is, like, although I I really do think you have to rely on data, the the chance that you actually have a complete set of data and unbiased eyes looking and reporting on it is super low. Mhmm. And so and so what's a what's a fallible human supposed to do? What are we supposed to do? Right. And and so that's the thing. It's like almost everybody who is not themselves assumes everybody else is a jerk.

Right? That they're trying to spin it one way. And, like and and and I I I'm I'm guessing maybe that there's just a good almost everybody I've talked to anyway out and about in the lands, have said, I don't know what to make of this thing. Like, I'm I'm doing my best. I have an inkling that I think it's this or I think it's that. But, like, honestly, man, I just have no idea. I don't know how to process any of this. I don't know how to do what's best for people who need something, and I don't know how to how to get this other group of people that if we do what's best for these people, if we do what's best for the immunocompromised people, it puts everybody at work. So now what do we do? Like, I I and and and it's it's trying to set the struggle of society within one man or one individual and saying, pick a side now or you're terrible or you're just terrible. And and, like, it's it's hard to do. Right? If you actually care about people, which I think on the whole, most people probably do, nobody wants to see other people get sick. I don't wanna be responsible for that. I don't wanna contribute to it. I want everybody to be well, but I don't want people to be out of job and not be able to feed their kids. That feels bad too. And then and then everyone's like, pick a side. Pick a side. Pick a side. Otherwise, I hate you. Okay. I don't know what to do. I don't wanna be hated. That's somewhere in the middle. You know? I just don't know what to do. And so and and and I think that that that will irritate both sides who, like, who really want you to pick a side and say it's all this. And, like, once again, to be a 100% honest, I'm not sure 100% what it is. I've I I know the things I don't wanna be a part of. I don't wanna be I wanna be part of good things. And so, like, if if if there's a sweeping thing that shuts down governments and restaurants, I'll find a way to buy stuff from restaurants even if I probably shouldn't because I'm lucky enough to still be working. And so I'll figure something out. And if I don't have to if I can't see my immunocompromised

friend for a couple three weeks more, because that's what's right, then that's what's right. And we'll do that too. All things are up as an option to me. But I find it hard that, like, I can't barely even get through my my social media stuff without feeling like I'm being shamed for some reason Mhmm. Because I haven't picked one of the big two chess pieces on the board, you know? Yeah. I think that's the the that's the thing is that is is we're even to the point where and I think, Dan, this gets to your that what you were saying is that, like, you can't even you can't even ask a viable question anymore. Right? Like like, how would you like, there's a there's a premise that, like, how could you ever doubt that this thing was orchestrated by a shadow governor who's looking to cue you, your children, your dog? Or how could you possibly

doubt that that this thing is is is gonna destroy absolutely everybody and that you need to lock yourselves in your basements. Like like you like you don't even people have a it's just such a wild thing, the things that people have confidence in. The one thing we know that we have confidence in is the least tangible thing in this world. I cannot grab a hold of the robe of Jesus Christ right now, but I am the most confident in that. The thing that everyone else is grabbing onto that they're super confident in is data they don't own, is looking is is looking out your window and guessing how the rest of the world is. Every everybody. I I swear, like, there's there's there's a very small part of my social media population, but the people who are, so I don't go anywhere and this thing is just gonna go away, which has never been true about any disease ever, are the same people who have who have actually at least faithfully done that, except for they don't recognize that they're like to Mike's thing, like,

the stuff place were packed. Menards were packed. The only time I saw Menards is the the the crowds of Menards go down is when they went to Lowe's because they'd wanna wear the mask that Menards required. And I I've been walking into Menards three different times and had people turn around and leave and said, look. I'm going to Lowe's. Right? And whatever. Menards gets to do what they want. They're private company out there. Right. And people can go to Lowe's if they want to. But, like, this this this, like, when you when you've put yourself in the mindset of a doomsday, that's what it will look like to you because you actually didn't go out anywhere. Right? And you're getting, and you're getting news that, like, again, I don't I don't you're not getting a fair shake from the media, but I will tell you this, is, like, some of that's on you because as a as a culture, as a people, we want thirty second sound bites. Give me the news. Give me thirty seconds of news so that I know what's going on. I'm like, you can't tell this story in thirty seconds. Don't care. Hurry it up. This is a six hour story. That's that's right. This is a comb through kinda operation. You stopped reading. You stopped reading magazine subscriptions.

K? You stopped watching sixty minutes. You stopped listening to Dan Rather for extended news segments. What you wanted was, give me the hits. Play the hits. Text it to me. Tell me when it happened. And you're like, the media's misleading me. Whatever. I I'm sure there's some, there's there's media folks that bias their humans, but I will tell you this is that it's time. Time is the limiter of context.

Right? And so what are they gonna go for? What happened? Who died? Who reacted? Probably gonna ask the president, you're gonna hate or not hate what he said. Great. Even on social media, it seems like a lot of people don't even actually read the articles they're sharing. They just like the headline. Yeah. Look at this. Like, I don't have time to read the article, but look at this headline. Write the word this and an exclamation point and go, this. Yeah. This is the thing. Yeah. I didn't actually read it, to honest with you, but it seemed like it was pretty in my corner. Yeah. So, like, so that that's the thing is that, like, it's it's it's just so odd. I don't ever write anything on social media with an exclamation point that has anything to do with anything outside my family. That's the thing. There you There's a start number one. But but, like, for all the complaints you have about the about the world around you, just recognize that you are a contributor. You are not innocent of this. I'd actually don't take my news in that way. I don't get I don't allow news to be texted to me. I don't I don't tend to con like, I don't have any opinion on on something unless I've read the full article. And I might scan headlines, but, like, I don't I don't form an opinion until I've read something. And, like, even then, I know I got a short form. Somebody online at the editor's desk goes, look. Too long. Mhmm. They're not telling me a whole story, and they can't reasonably tell you everything. I get that too. I read three articles on the same topic, probably the most liberal side I can find, the most conservative side I can find, and something that seems like it might sniff in the middle, and then I then I try to sort it out. I'm sorry that that that the world doesn't come to you on a silver platter where truth is readily available, but it's dodgy. And here's the thing, it never has. There's no history books that says that's promised to you. The lord god had written a a a book of how his humanity is gonna work and the way his creation is gonna go down. Not once did he say, it's gonna be honest all the time. You're never gonna get bamboozled by anybody. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was pretty straightforward that the way this life is set out, like, you're expecting something that's never gonna happen. Right. We we look out at the news sources of a fallen world and go, where's the truth? Where's the integrity? Where's

the integrity? Tell me more about the smoke. So so he so so the hardest thing, this and is true in our current culture. This has been this way for ten years, maybe longer, is that, like, we're not we're talking about conversations that we can't even have. Not just what do I believe, but conversations that you're not even allowed to have. Do I think it's totally acceptable for someone to go, look. Something doesn't doesn't seem like it's adding up here. Okay. Why do you think that? Certainly, there's questions where someone can and if they can answer them, great. Hey. This has a like, the the same

yeah. Sorry. I I'll I'll spend too much time on that. But, like, the the point is to say is that, like, there is pressure. There is pressure to give in to false narratives. There's pressure to give in to shallow narratives. There's a pressure to make up your mind on something that is not of kingdom consequence that people will want to tag you with, and I'm asking you to resist

the pressure. Yeah. Stop it. You there is there is nothing to gain but the appreciation of a fickle one third of the world on either side of that equation. Yeah. And, like and now here's the deal. They might be upset with you for not taking taking a taking a side. Fickle one third of the world or now two thirds of world because you didn't pick either one. You're okay with that. You're we're on the side of the kingdom stuff. There's things I know for certain. There's things I'm gonna hold very loosely in in my left hand as a human and know that every other human doesn't know it either. And so, like, if you can't live in that paradigm, I'm gonna beg you. I'm gonna beg you to shut off the TV for a while, only read scripture for thirty days for at least two hours a day, and then now you refocus your life and say, what do I actually care to take in here? And who am I letting feed my head with how I need to make decisions about it? Because you can't stand up to that worldly pressure to to fire a gun that you don't know anything about, then you've gotta shut it off. You gotta take yourself out of it completely. Now I'm not sure that's making me anxious because I think that's always been true. I think this is frankly this is just a different arrow. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Yeah. But, like so so I think here's the thing, is if I look in the room well, Buva, let's finish it out. Related to COVID, how are you feeling?

Oh, man. This this is gonna be rough. Has that not done your hygiene any favors? Apparently not. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate that. But you're looking fine. Alright. Thanks, Dan. That's exactly the opposite of what I was getting Super his eyebrows are out of control. Juxtaposition of beauty. I'm the third that says you're looking fine. I mean, I just got I smell bad, and I look fine at the same Okay. I'll fix this, Buva. Here's here's what they're trying Here's to get what they're trying to get at. If you were at a Renaissance Faire Yes. And they were casting the role of Little John Uh-huh. And you had a turkey leg. Yes. No. No. They were they were casting the role of of Little John I follow. That would be you. Interesting.

Okay. Thank you. I find that to be a neutral comment. You take that how you wish. Yeah. That is a fairly specific and neutral comment. You're correct. There you go. So, oh, man. It's been rough. It's actually been super rough on me in comparison to the two of you guys that are just sitting over there. Yeah. Living it up waterslide style. Living it up waterslide style. So

I've had to stay away from a lot of my support network because this, which kind of sucks because I rely on that a lot actually for for just daily stuff that I battle. My

My brain doesn't really do good in places of high anxiety or high stimulus of like of craziness, and that's kind of been the exact climate that we're living in the last two months now. I've had to I've had to really focus on my relationship with Christ more than ever in the last couple of months because I recognized, like, the the stimulus that I was taking in was social media, news outlets, was what other people were saying, was, you know, announcements from governors and presidents and all kinds of stuff, and then things that I would hear that would kinda trickle in internationally from my friends kind of all over the world.

And so it's it's it was just crazy to have this constant flow of content that was alarming. And I've heard a lot of people stating that this is a worldwide traumatic event,

has been some of the verbiage that I've seen used. Worldwide traumatic event. And I partially agree with that to an extent. That doesn't mean that everyone is experiencing trauma from it, and it doesn't mean that everyone's in a bad place because of it, but it's it's a stimulus that all of us are feeling, whether good or bad, that has the potential to manifest as trauma eventually. Right? And so I'm that's been hitting me hard. And as someone who's had traumatic events in his life over and over again,

it it's just been something that when that high alarm hits me, all that does for my brain is put me back into a state where I'm in, you know, inflamed mode if you will. My brain is kind of like trapping itself. Right? And so that that's the reality of where I'm at is it's a it's constant barrage of of alarming content. And and and and so in general, this it's happening not only because of kind of the uncertainty of the news Mhmm. The impact,

either empathetic impact on people around you. Right. Your job was impacted. Yep. And you also have isolation related to you just can't be around some of the because of health issues. Exactly. You can't be around them. And then whatever you've got, then there's there's just things you're working on anyway. Yeah. Like, was supposed to have seen my fiance by now, and we had to cancel that because, of this stuff. So it's been months since I've seen her when I had plans to see her a month and a half ago. And I haven't been able to see my family because there is a lot of immunocompromisation compensation in that family. And so I've been quarantined from them. Specifically, I can't go to their house. So, like, I wasn't able to see my mom on Mother's Day other than, like, I stood at her gate while they were all on the walkway, you know, 10 feet away from me. And it was I I I liked the fact that I was able to go and say hi and,

but it broke my heart because, like, I'm a physical guy. I like hugs. I like physical affection. That's kind of what I do. And this is gonna be my last Mother's Day in town for quite a while. And so, I was I was worried about missing out that opportunity. Right? Like, it's small things like that that just kinda keep going over and over again. Now what

I can tell you though is this has been one of the best times for me to reaffirm what my identity is and who I am in Christ. And that's what I meant by changing the content that I was, you know, focusing on. I'm listening to podcasts more than I ever have. Staying away from as much TV as I can and reading my bible every single day for almost a month now. That's the longest period of time that I've gone without missing a single day of jumping into the word and it's been phenomenal.

Prayer every single day, multiple times a day. It's been crazy. And so I had to react in that way or I feel like I would have fallen fairly far into some bad stuff because I've had to to keep fighting daily of just like, no. No. No. I I need to go to to where I know my rock is, and my my rock is Yahweh, and I recognize that.

And I've had to stand on that. That that's been my level ground. And so it's been it's been crazy from a mental trauma place, but it's been constantly battled with my my

strength through God and and my relationship with him. And so it's been it's been nuts. And so there's a lot of people around me that have feeling this kind of stuff too. And, I've been able to be I've been able to be a witness to people that are close to me in random ways that I've never been able to because they all know my story. They know who I am and they go, why are you calm? Like, don't understand why you're okay for the general part. Like, I still have my times of like, oh, no. The world's on fire.

But like every once in a while, I read a psalm and then my brain calms down. Right? And I've been able to look at them just be like, hey. Here's the deal. You know, the the the world is chaos. It is absolute chaos. Whether that is from a virus, whether that is from, global panic, whether that is from media driven

fear mongering, whether that's from government led led fear mongering. The world is chaos. God isn't. He's 100%

peace, and joy, and love. That does not change. He has not moved. He's not fearful of any of this. His identity wasn't threatened by a virus, and it wasn't threatened by a pandemic. He has stood eternal and

completely in charge. His his sovereignty has not been threatened in any way shape or form, and so I have I have a rock that I can stand on that cannot be shaken and cannot be moved. And so it was it's been an amazing experience for me to be able to stand on that and when everyone else is in turbulent water, they could look at me and go where where's that coming from? And it gives me an opportunity to tell them dude it's Jesus. It is Jesus as my king and as my God and is the one who came to earth and was killed for my sin that I can stand upon and be held by

and I don't have to worry. He's alpha and omega. He's beginning and end. He is, immovable. He is unshakable. He is completely sovereign and reigns supreme. And that's been something that has been crazy to be reaffirmed over and over and over again in the last couple of months, and it's been such an awesome experience,

for my relationship with him because it's been it's been a trusting moment for me to where, you know, it's one thing to trust God with small stuff, it's another to trust him with, Lord, I don't know if I can get out of bed today. I I don't know if I can stand up today. I don't know if I can talk to people today because I'm so scared. I don't know how to move, but I'll move because you allow me to and and give me the strength to do so. I had an epiphany, like, two weeks ago, which in in scripture, which

is kinda embarrassing. I don't have them very often anymore because, you know, you've read it so many times. Right. It's like, yeah. I know this story. And I don't even know why I was reading Ezekiel. But I went to Ezekiel and mostly because I was like, I blew up my my sermon calendar. I thought, I need something. Y'all randomly picked Ezekiel. Right. And and so I'm just doing the the study, the background study. It's been a while since I've studied what was going on, the context, and I'm looking at this this guy who is taken out from Babylon in the first captivity. You know? He's with people like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Ezekiel. Ezekiel's probably about 25 when when when they invade,

and he's he's in the priestly family. Right? So his whole entire life, he's planning to be a priest. Mean, I he just knows it. He's from a boy. Someday, he's gonna be a priest. Who knows? Maybe he'll be the big priest. You know mean? You know, all that stuff that goes through your mind as a boy growing up, but I wanna be a priest. But now he's taken into Babylon. And in Ezekiel chapter one, some believe it could be his birthday or or at least he's 30. He's 30 years old, which is the year you officially become a priest. Right? So he spent his whole life waiting to be a priest. It's now he's 30. He's sitting on the bank of, like, a irrigation channel,

and he's just like, who knows? Maybe he's contemplating like, crap. I mean, look at my life. It just blew up. I can't be a priest. I'm not in Jerusalem anymore. Right. You know? I mean, I've been we're in captive. I'll probably never see Jerusalem again. Everything's horrible. Life is terrible. The world's crashing. And then he sees the big vision of Ezekiel one, you know, with the the the the creatures and and the the throne and and and, you know, this this just fantastic

picture of god and brilliance and lightning and all this stuff, and and it takes him to his knees. And and and the epiphany I had was somewhere in there, it hit me that the big revelation, I have, I think, to Ezekiel that moment was, wait. Holy crap. This can't be happening because this isn't Jerusalem. God lives in the temple. What's he doing in Babylon? You know? And, like, it it it changed his life. Like, no. I could be in Babylon Mhmm. And serve the living god of the universe. He's alive, and he's right in front of me, and he's addressing me.

And that was just, like, this big moment of life gets ups and downs and crazy and and and all kinds of you know, god moves in this stuff, and he's alive and he's active when you least expect it. And and even in a pandemic, when we're laying around going, you know, this isn't what I expected. You know? Wanna see my fiancee. I wanna you know, my my my business is crashing. My things are are terrible. God's still in the middle of it, and and he he he's very much alive. We may or may not see him, but he's there and riding

that same crazy chariot god thing that he is on, he's still alive. And and I don't know. That was just so cool for me to, like it just kinda like this light bulb came on. It's like, we're we're good. We're good. Yeah. You know, we're not we're not doing church in a building right now because we're all in homes on the Internet. God can't move there. He's like, oh, yeah? I mean, you know Yep. Life as I know is so much different right now. He's like, I got it.

You know? Right. I'm good. I'm still on the throne. Wanna see my throne? Hang up by the channel there, buddy. I'm coming. It's interesting because that's that's kind of the same thing that that we were talking about last week in Revelation was, know, that that's the concept there. This is a book of Revelation from God to his people saying even though everything is crazy right now, you've lost your leaders.

Jesus has has ascended sixty years prior or whatever. Right? Like, these people are being persecuted all around you. The the the the followers of the way are being persecuted through every institution that they are a part of, and and you feel like you're losing your your faith. And I can't be here anymore because the fact that, like, all the leaders that that went into developing these churches in Asia Minor are dying. They're all being murdered or all kinds of stuff. Right? And you've got this revelation that's like, no. No. No. I'm still here. I never left. I'm not out of power. The conqueror. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Like, realize that that I I won't lose.

This will end with me victorious. And if you are on my side, you are victorious as well. You call yourself one of my children and work within my kingdom, and you call me your king and your god and you fly my flag daily, and you you take on my identity and your identity and who you are because of who I called you to be, you are victorious through these circumstances.

It doesn't matter who's being killed. It doesn't matter who's dying. It doesn't matter if you don't see me, or you see the effects of of of all kinds of things persecuting and coming down on what you think I've created. It's not it's not at risk and nor are you. Hold fast in who I am and who you are because of what I tell you, and realize that I'm Yahweh, am I king. I will not move, and I will not fail. I'm undefeated, and so are you. I think we have I think we struggle with like, because we always say, you you know, king Jesus. Right? And, like, our our modern thought process of a king is sovereign over a land. Right? And so, if if if you don't pay attention, you'll miss it that, like, god is always on his throne. And, like, half your brain will go, well, then he can't be anywhere else because but, like, king Yahweh, wherever he goes, the throne goes with him. Right? You know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, it's almost ridiculous to think that there's a permanent throne wheels. Attached to his butt. You wanna know what? Yeah. Yeah. It's a flying carpet thing. Like, as as Yahweh goes, so goes the kingdom. He goes it goes wherever he goes. And so, like, the thought that that that that

god is always on his throne, lends itself to think that god doesn't move. And, like, that's the exact opposite of what happens. Right. Everywhere god goes, the throne goes to. Yeah. Everywhere Yahweh goes is where the kingdom is. Yeah. And so, like, we miss that a little bit. I I think I just I I lose thought of that. Like, as soon as I think of king Yahweh, I think he sits on his throne, and it's big and it's huge. Way out there. And people come to him, and then that's it. You know? But, like, it's a shallow thought because, like, if if if Yahweh decides to get up out of the glass throne room and go walking in Spain, the throne goes. The angels go with him. Everything goes with him. It goes with him wherever he goes. Right? And so, like, he can't escape it. And he and and and it's always it's always omniscient and following him, and it's it's a permanent of of wherever he is and wherever he's at, and he's all places. And yeah. I actually, I think you should when you see the word heaven, about half the time in scripture, I think you should think of it that same way, Yeah. Like, it's it's where god resides, and it goes where he goes. It's god's space. So when heaven becomes yeah. Right. When when when heaven and and earth are the same, it's it's because god's space has become our space. Yeah. We are in the same space. Yeah. Your kingdom come is a movement. Yeah. Yeah. He Ezekiel says, I've seen the glory of the lord, the presence of the glory of the lord. And and that that Hebrew word, it means a weight. It's a heaviness to it. It's like Yeah. It was a felt thing. It wasn't a, well, that's cool. I mean, well, they'll talk about UFOs someday. It was like, there was a weight to it. That's right. Same weight that's described over the covenant, ark of the Yep. You know, on Mount

Zion? Or where where where did the same commandments? I just threw them out there. I just went blank. Oh, Sinai. Sinai. There we go. I was gonna say it. Sinai. Yeah. It's like an easy one. It's like a good behold. Freshman class. Anyway, we're Not for him. We're yelling at all the others now. Horrible. Rushmore. It's like anyway, I mean, it's the same idea. You know? His his weight is there, and and he's here. He's here right now in his room. He's here. Yep. We don't always feel that weight, but it's there. You know? And and,

yeah, we we get lost on all the things. Here's the thing is alright. Put this in the butt of a guy who's who's largely not impacted by this. Like, this is the time generally where you tell the guys like me to shut up. You don't know. So, Booboo, you tell me whether this hits on Ben, shut up type of territory. But, one of the things that I think runs in for for situations like this is that the stuff we we are anxious of tend to be the wrong markers. Mhmm.

And that's the truth of it. Right? Like, no one wants to feel like their income is at risk. No one wants to feel like they they're they don't have control of their own full destiny. We would much prefer to not believe that there will be a circumstance that we're not prepared for down the pipe. America. I I yeah. I get it. And foundationally, like, this is lot of what our country is built upon. Like, can I control enough of my stuff that I can keep danger at bay? Right. Right? And so but, like, what what's at risk and the things that we get anxious of

are the wrong things. And, like, I'm I'm not sure there's not a I'm not sure there's not a goodness to the to a purification of the things that we're actually worried about. So, like, if we take what we're saying and say, look, I know my breath is not guaranteed, my money is not guaranteed, my job is not guaranteed, that people like me, that the world things that are way out of my control like tornadoes and floods and viruses, whatever,

that that that are beyond me could otherwise come for me and my family. I can't control any of that stuff and I'm worried about it. But, like, my worry didn't add an ounce to it, but it also didn't take God off the throne. He was still good. He is still faithful. I am still faithful to him. And so the other markers, although relevant to your human experience, and frankly things of which other humans, especially ones who aren't impacted by the experience the same way, have have very much the opportunity to step in,

which I think, as far as I know, the fellows in this room have, recognized that we're not impacted and haven't been impacted the same way that other people that are close to us have. But, like, it's it's I think refinement is okay. So do you I I mean, think about it this way. Like,

some of the things, like, especially when it comes to anxiety. Anxiety is generally a thought process where you, like, you are feeling nervous about things that you can't control. Right? Or or what's what what do we always talk about where, like, things wouldn't be disappointing to you if you hadn't already assumed that they were gonna go the opposite way. But you had an expectation. Right. You had an expectation. Yeah. Right? And so, like, there's it's almost a two pronged attack because, like, if you hit this with too big of a bat, you miss the nuance here. But, like, some of the things like anxiety and depression and stuff, some of them are chemical imbalances. They're they're they're a brain issue. They're a body functioning issue, and they certainly need guidance and adjustment in that area. Some of that,

you can retrain your brain to look at life how god designed it to be. Right? If you didn't expect that you were gonna have a pillow in your bed, you wouldn't be mad when there was not one. You would not think it to be the worst thing ever. If you didn't like, I am owed this pillow. I am owed a 70 degree house. I am owed a car that runs. I am owed a shirt that fits. Ugh. You know what I'm saying? I've and and here's the thing. I don't know that the bible's not it's not the bible's not written to give you the perspective that we currently have, that you are owed all these things. Right. God speaks to all this stuff. Right? The truths of what of what is guaranteed to you, and what is guaranteed to you is is grace and love and acceptance in the kingdom through no merit of your own. That is what's guaranteed to you. Everything else is an expectation that you're setting up. And so, like, sometimes, it's very hard to meet people that have,

legit, brain chemical issues and not shove them in with people who have ridiculous expectations of things that they're not promised. Right? And they could you could literally flush your entire life down the toilet being disappointed in the things that you thought you were owed. Right? And you missed out on complete joy if you would let go of some of those things that that you wrote, that you believed to be owed. I was gonna give you just an example that popped in my head, and this is so shallow and dumb, I'm embarrassed to say it out loud. But to this today so I work I work from home, and so I I went out at, like, 11:00. I've been on meetings all morning, and I thought, I'm gonna go make me, like, a thing of coffee. I got a, like, a French press. I make one coffee cup at a time. So I go out and, like, the dishes are I mean, the sink is full, full of dishes, and I can't rinse my the French press thing out to make more coffee. Yeah. And I was incensed, embarrassingly so. What's wrong with these people? I walked out and, like, and, like, I looked at it and I go, I can't make my coffee because I can't rinse this out because the stupid sink is full of dishes. And, like, immediately, my brain I thought to myself, this is dumb. Like, my wife might we still do we're doing school. We always do school. Kids school all the time, and so they're busy. And so I thought to myself, I'm just gonna I'm gonna wash these dishes,

so that it'll clean the sink out. It'll get the dishes in the dishwasher. Great. And so I I I recognized it was dumb, and I changed my attitude, and I started to do it. And then I was making a lot of noise, and my wife goes, hey. We're trying to watch a a a video for school. Trying to watch a video for school. You're making a lot of noise in there, and my goodwill went out the window. I acted like a gorilla. I go, sorry. I know you wish to watch your video. I wish I was doing my work like I was supposed to, but I'm having to put these dishes away. And I knew it. Right in my brain is going, why? Why are you doing Shut up, Ben. Yeah. You should shut your stupid mouth. But but but but what it made me think of is what you're saying, like, it was a ridiculous expectation that, like, oh, I am owed to be able to make my coffee hot right on the French press. Yeah. There should be an open space in the sink because it presumes that someone else has otherwise paved the way and made it for me. But and, like, it seems so shallow, but even even at a macro level and even on important things, guys, that is actually what we do. We go, this thing should be for me.

I expect them to forgive all student loans because it would benefit me. Forget the fact that there's literally a 100 of thousands of people who do certain student loan servicing who are out of work because you just got all your loans forgiven. You understand I'm saying? Forget those people. Yeah. Right. Right. You're done. I don't care about you. I don't care about your lawyers, your marketing, or the people, the real estate companies who receive rent from those guys. The fact that they let me stay at this school for four years and didn't kick me out when I wasn't paying. Right. Right. I and I I look. I get it. I get it. I'm still carrying the same exact student loan debt I was ten years ago because I handled myself irresponsibly. I'm just now making progress. Right? But I vote the same dollar amount for a long time. This would be a great boon to me, but I'm not asking for it.

I'm not sure I wouldn't take it. Just don't don't put put it on the notes. Woo. I'm just not expecting it. I'm just So we should be fine. But that's the thing. It's like if you look at the world and your expectations are, one, entirely focused on yourself, I expect, oh, I expect my job to be here tomorrow. Now I'm planning for it. I'm living as if it will be, but, like, I'm not sure that I have any grounds, like, to be to expect that my job will be there tomorrow. Like, they could my company could reasonably go, you know what? We don't need this service anymore. I find this discussion very convicting.

I I feel like I do this on multiple levels multiple times a day. And I'd like to think I'm a better man than I am, but I'm not. No. But we're all selfish. Terrible. And we just are. I mean, and here's the thing. He's mostly selfish. I I was gonna say, especially especially opinions. But I mean, at the end of the day, if you were to look back these are the things that the lord has listened to me whine for years Right. Of the things at night as I pray, and he goes, boy, I can't wait till you're about 38, and then you review your day and realize how much of a self centered boobathon you are. And then and like, and Hold up. Did that was that boobathon? No. No. It was boobathon. But boobathon is fitting as well. Yeah. That works. I like that better. Yeah. A three tier booba? Sure. Whatever. Whatever floats your boat. Thank you, Moses. Anyway,

I it it it's hard to take in to realize that you are so that you're so self centered. Like, where you think like, especially, you'll get times in your life where you're making you think you're making progress. I'm not sitting a ton. I maybe not I might be not I'm not as bad as I used to be. Right? I feel like I'm not down on my knees decrying every decision I ever made. I can get through most days without committing any major, you know, infractions. I still will do an occasional thing that I'm embarrassed of. Me and God are working on that. We're in our working stage where we're we'll progress through things. I don't hide from them anymore, but we're just working on it. You know? And only to realize that, like, you've completely blinded yourself to the log of crappiness that you like, it's a completely self centered if if I was to be in the same situation as Bu Bu, I would be a wreck. I would be an absolute wreck. Right? Like, I have a I I have I have a household that I run, and if my job was to the point where where I couldn't work because I wasn't listed as an essential dude or whatever,

I would be absolutely a mess. So but you've been there though. Like, remember, like, didn't you got there was like a a big string of layoffs in the construction industry. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It happened. Like, yeah, you've been there. Well, I yeah. I suppose I wasn't that big of a mess. But, like, I I didn't have any kids at the time. Well, I did have kids. Yeah. No. I had both kids. Holy cow. Okay. I'm saying you had you had both kids Yeah. And figured it out. Yeah. It was fine. It was fine. I wanted out of it. I wasn't I wasn't I I didn't think it was the best. Like, that's the thing. And, like, that's a reasonable perspective. Right? This isn't the best. I this is not what I would choose. I mean, it's not like I put a sword on the wall and see how many times I can run into it. You know what I'm saying? Don't love it here. Glad you didn't do that. But at the end of the day, I my perspective was I this I knew this was a possibility. I've taken a bunch of steps to make sure it never happens again. Mhmm. And if it happens again, I then that's I think maybe that's the thing, because I knew it was possible when it happened to me, say, circa ten years ago.

I knew it was in the cards. If if it were to happen to me because of an an a thing that I can't control, say, a pandemic slash everybody nobody can go go to work deal, and my and I had to start watching my house payment be in trouble and us not have food, yeah, I'd be in the same straights as everybody else. I don't know that I would take it in as as much, you know, humor humor and comedy as I am right now. I'd probably it'd probably be weighing a little bit heavier on me. It's it's not, and so I'm I can't faint it. I'm not gonna fake it like it is, but, like, I I could definitely see perspectives coming from that way. But but they would all be expectations that were unrealistic. Well, right. I mean, I think that goes to Buva's point. Right? Is that, like, it's

it's it's a it's a refining. Right? Like, that we should that we should at least our best to fight for the right balance and I do mean it's a fight. It's this is not just something that you're gonna like, there's a reason that the that the Psalms are what they are, that the that the Bible needs to remind you of these things, right, because it's a you you are fighting a very human perspective but, like, when when the when the sun sets, what we expect from life should align with what otherwise Yahweh promises from life. Everything outside of that point, like, I just if if our bundle of worry is on things that otherwise aren't part of that package,

like, it it might be it might be alright to let him go. It it might be alright to say, look, I I I this is too big for me. Like, that's actually one of the things that continues god continues to work in my life is is the the bucket of things that I think are my responsibility as opposed to saying, god, this is too big. This is too big. We talked talked recently about the, the feeding of the 5,000. Right? Like, the the the disciples had just come back, at least in in in the way the way that Luke tells this, the disciples had just come back from having healed and brought the message of the kingdom, k, in Luke nine. So they're they're out and they share the message, they've been able to heal people. Jesus said, go out and do this, and they did it. And they come back, and so they know that God will support them with the work that he's that he's told them to do. So they they they go out and 5,000,

at least men, maybe more, women and children, follow them out there. And Jesus goes and talks to him, and they stay out late. The sepulch goes, hey, man. You gotta let them out of here because they're gonna get hungry and they need a place to stay. And Jesus looks at them and goes, you feed them. Right? A task that they have been given, and their first reaction was, we can't. We got five loaves, two fish. We can't do it.

What was their first reaction supposed to be? Yes, lord. God, you what are we gonna do to feed him? Ah, yes. Right. Like, the punt is to say when you're faced with a problem that is of that only god can solve, the first thing you do is to enact god, is to reach out to him. Like, the worst thing you can possibly do is go is go, boy, 5,000 people need fed. All we got is five loaves and two fish. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?

Yes. You've just taken on a bucket worry that will never resolve itself because it is a situation that is bigger than you. I will submit to you this pandemic is bigger than you. I I will probably submit to some of some situations that your ability to find a job might be bigger than you. Mhmm. Not all of you. Some of you might like, I remember, like, again, it's a slightly different situation, but Mike got laid off. Like, I remember you were you were, like, hust knocking on doors trying to find people who you can do electrical work for. I took on three jobs. Yeah. I wasn't qualified for none of them. Yeah. So, I mean, like, I mean, sometimes there's options. For a lot of them, there aren't. Like, the where you can only pick up jobs at restaurants and car washes and stuff, like, it ain't it ain't there. So, some of that's bigger than you. You then then it's not yours to carry. Like, you got we gotta recognize gods are the human level stuff, our faithfulness is only faithfulness to what god has called us to do. Most of the time, they're god level problems. If I want someone to know Jesus, I have to stop thinking, Lord, how will I do it? How will I talk to them? What will I say? How how will I set this thing up so that they will be convinced? What video should I send them? Right? What a sweet invitation with God, though. What are we gonna do? Yeah. That's the right reaction. We're in this together. I'm I'm waiting for your lead on this one. Yeah. But, like, what what are we gonna do? Tell me. Help me. Help me understand what we're gonna do.

So I think that it's it's important for us to recognize that the and you guys already kinda said this. There's absolutely people that the anxiety and the and the the the fear of stuff comes from either chemical imbalances or just straight trauma, like people that that did not have the up opportunity to develop that kind of self actualization in any of this and, you know, their their upbringing, their childhood, their their past, things that have happened to them kind of make it impossible for them to work through that stuff.

We recognize that and that's a whole different story. But I think to a takeaway from this is, especially if you're someone that that that calls Christ your king is is recognize that anxiety

and these worries and things like that are not for you. They're just not. We recognize that that the worries that we have, the anxiety that exists, these debilitating thought processes

that make it seem like this is an unimaginable amount of things that we can't get through. Right? Those are all completely dissolved in in a trusting and faithful relationship with your god. Understanding that that that god is in control and strong enough to fix all of this and loves you enough to do so. Now, again, about expectations,

it may not be the way that you anticipate that it's gonna work. Almost never is. It almost yeah. Exactly. It almost never is. If if you're hearing what I'm saying right now and you're thinking, oh, yes. Yes. I'm emboldened because God's gonna give me this amazing job, and I'm gonna keep my house, or I'm gonna I'm gonna keep all this stuff. Nothing's gonna change, and he's gonna he's gonna save me and keep me comfortable. You are hearing me incorrectly. God does not promise you any of that. What he does though is he will he will take care of you how he sees fit,

and your job is to follow after him and strive to be in in step with him, understanding that his will is the best that it could possibly be for you. And so if he's going to take care of you, allow him to do it the way that he is going to, destroy your expectations, destroy your thought processes of what is good, what is just, what is right because you are none of those things and therefore can't have that correctly in scope. Trust him to cover you and to take care of you. You may lose things in the process.

Okay. All you need is him. That's what you hold on to. You recognize that you can only be identified in your relationship with him and doing his will for his kingdom that you are blessed enough to be a part of. You know, and I think that I think that thought process ties into what we were talking about just a little bit earlier, is outside influences. Even if you can get that right in your head, there will be a constant pressure for people trying to get you to worry about stuff. Absolutely. Right? And so, like, I mean,

just find a simple praise for, like like, hey. The the the news says, hey. You should worry. And you're like, I don't wanna. I don't wanna. I'm not gonna I don't wanna do that. Hey. I'll stop spraying hairspray into the air, but, like, other than that, I'm not going down every night worrying about global warming. Right. That that's the thing is that, like, there's there's just a constant and this isn't blindness. It's not ignorance into the world. It just says, hey. Hey. I'm an outside influence. I want you to take on a weight that you know it doesn't belong to you. And you got and, like, it's the hardest. It gets easier. It gets easier over time. You just gotta practice it. Hey. You should worry about this. I don't wanna. Hey. But this thing's going on, and, like, maybe this thing is maybe this hey. We think the stock market's gonna crash in in thirty days. I don't wanna worry about that. Okay. Yeah. I'm not gonna

Tell me what happened in thirty days, and I'll say whether you're right or not. Seems like a saddle of my It'll be a great day. Know? Like so, like, actually, it's weird. It happened in micro ways as I've been doing kind of that small amount investing. Like like, I'll read I'll read an article and like, hey. This this dude thinks the stock market's gonna crash, and I thought, I don't know if I think that. And some guy say, hey. It's gonna go up this much. I'm like, I don't know if I think that either. But, like, it's just like I don't have to be think of who we're we've talked about this a lot, but, like, think about who you're in who you're giving access to change your life. Right. Who are you giving permission to say, you should start worrying about this? I've I remember they made me think of some explanations Booba's given him about people giving him relationship advice in his life. And you're like, boy, I've just you know? Hey. I wanna give you advice. No. I don't wanna. Yeah. No. I don't think I'm gonna listen to I don't think I'm gonna take that. There's literally nothing that shows your life as a good example to go off of for me to listen to your relationship advice. So I'm I'm I'm good. I'm a skip. And so and that's that's the thing. It's okay. I'm I'm good, bro. I I I need it. I'm not gonna take that in, and and think of the news as a friendly guy you saw on the street. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. You should pay attention to this. No. No. Not gonna do it. Here's the deal. Put your worry put your worry through the filter of what would God's reaction to that be. Just

just seriously, I know that seems ridiculous at at at a certain level, but, like, that's awesome. Somebody tells me, hey, man. Do you realize what's going on, like, right now? Like, there's, like, fifteen new cases in Iowa. You should be worried.

Hey, god. Creator of the entire universe that has not left control in any situation ever I hold blue chips. I'm not worried about you. I'm really worried about my sense of security within my income. Is that something I should worry about? Hey. You know I have control of all money and things ever. Right? Yeah. Hey. You know how I love you, and I'm your father, and I'm going to take care of you? Yeah. I remember that. Yeah. You don't need to worry about that. Yeah. Remember how I said the mountains come down to flat land and the curvy the curvy road gets straight on? Right? This is what I do. These are the things I'm consuming. You still have to walk the path, but I'm certainly not gonna add mountains in. Right. That's exactly what we're talking about. People trying to get you all fired up about things that you can't do nothing about. Yep. Hey. Why don't you put another mountain in your way? That way you can walk over the top of it and be worried about it the whole time. No. I Well, like, just read the end of Job every time you wanna figure this out. Just be reminded of who God is as he calls himself just straight up chastising Job. So I was just thinking about Job while we were talking about this. And if if he had the reactions that we are prescribing, it would be super weird. Like, Job, all your animals have been killed. Good. One less animal to feed. Good. This is fine. Alright. Hey, Job. All your children have died. Well, that's kinda disappointing, but, you know, I expected them to live, so that's my fault. Right? That seems odd. And so, like, the things that you're saying, like, you can't be taken with black and white context. Right? Right. Right. Because that's not what we're talking about. But I I think if you if you use Job as the example, right, like, when when Job is breaking down, it's like, I don't wanna be here anymore. Mhmm. I don't wanna be on this planet and have to deal with the boils and the everything that I've lost, whatever. And, like, used to think, Job, you're you're breaking. You're cracking, buddy. You know, you were so soft. And I'm like, who do I think I am? Right. Exactly. Broke after the animals died. Right. I would have been done. I would have lost crazy lightning coming from. I would have lost one camel and been like, man, this is awful. This is just I I cannot take anymore. You know? And so, like, I I I think at the end of the day, like, there is so much legit stuff, heartbreaking,

weighty things to worry about, stuff that is well worth your time to worry about. That's right. People, your relationship with families, your relationship with their relationship with God. And when I'm talking about you worried about it, I'm talking about you praying about it. Right. Not talking about you sitting in a room fetal rocking, crying, trying to scheme up a plan on how you're gonna pamphlet them to Jesus or, like, browbeat them or yell at them or encourage them into like, that's not if if the if God has that design that way, then great. Then you and him will do that together. If he does not, then it is not meant for you to wallow and sit in your despair. That is that is not what you're built for. And and and you are doing two things there at once. You are wasting the time that God's given you, and you're also trying to take his throne away from him. It's his to handle, and you're stealing it and trying to put one cheek on the throne while he's turning the other direction. Be like, I will handle the salvation of other people. You won't. You will do what god asks you to do. Mhmm. God has a god has a a heart and a desire for the people around you, the people around him, the people that aren't around him to know him. And if you submit yourself to the things that he's doing, man, you are gonna get involved in some cool stuff. If you try to submit god to the things that you're doing, you are gonna be mightily disappointed.

It's it's even with you, we were talking about that example about people not putting mountains in your way. Like, it's it's even that, like, you have the I think, back to expectations, I expected there to be no mountains. Like, I'm I'm not I'm not confident that god like, I'm I'm pretty confident that, like, you you show up and, like, you find this unexpected thing and Yahweh goes, yeah. Yeah, man. I I knew that was gonna be there. Go ahead. Like like, yeah, but there's a mountain. I'm I'm aware. I I scaled a lot of them and gave out law. Like, wait. I mean Tell me that's not something you would like to fit. Like like, a a cooler version of yourself that walks up out of the car, and all of sudden, there's a giant mountain in front of you. And without any shock or surprise, you go, looks like a mountain climber today. Yeah. And here we go. Right? You're not you're not shaken or stirred. You're not downtrodden or defeated. You're like, well, alright. Here we go. Yeah. We're we're hey. I got up this morning like, oh, we're at oats, man. I was planning on breakfast. No oats. Well, I mean, what am I gonna do? Looks like omelet day. Look. Yeah. Or nothing. Or nothing. I'm good. I get that that's the thing because, like, again, I what did I my core didn't change. The core of who I am, what I believe, what I'm capable of doing didn't alter. And so the thing I couldn't control was that there's a mountain right in front of me. Right? Like, I can't do anything about that. That's out of my realm. So it's like, can pray it. I can say, god, move the mountain if you will,

or give me the strength to climb it. Yep. Or mountain stays. Yeah. Okay. Good. God, can I have the strength to climate? Yes. Okay. Great. Head up. Great. Right. Good. Because, like, that's the thing is that, like, for all the for all the accepting of the world, it's so weird. We we we are easily sheeped into things where we just accept the world around us and we go. Except for we there's a whole bucket of reactions that refuses to accept the world around us and wants to fight it in our own mind. Like, we're gonna battle it in there. Like, we're gonna say, look. If I just hold tight and worry about it, it will be different as opposed to saying, well, I mean, what am I gonna like, I can't if I need to go in the Menards and they require the mask, like, I mean, I can stomp and throw a fit and go to Lowe's, but I I don't know if I wanna go to Lowe's. I'll just give them the dollar, dude. Alright. And so in that that wrong rambling conversation, Bubba, you had something. Did we touch on it or, like Oh, no. Okay. Alright. Hit me hit me up with it. Of course not. So I suppose, I'm I'm gonna say this story with as much anonymity as I can because it's not meant to be, hurtful to anybody. It's just it's just where I'm at. Right? And so last week, I kinda talked about,

the Lord had kept bringing up opportunities for me to pray for my enemies. Right? And, I'd prayed for a couple people, and it was weird that, like, I'd never really had that before. And then randomly, it starts ramping up over a couple weeks that I need to start really praying for enemies. And, like, things keep getting brought up in my life that are people that are hurting people. And, like, my my pre Jesus booba thought process, and it's it's it's more psychological than anything is, oh, man. I wanna beat up people that hurt other people. I get all big machismo about it. Right? But like in the last couple of weeks, I've I've thought through that and kind of eliminated my pride in those moments and eliminated my my brain in that and and just thought to myself, I really need to take a step back and recognize

that there's nothing I can do against this person nor should I want to. And what I really should be doing is praying for them to find Christ, because that is the ultimate retribution in this story. That is the ultimate fix in this story, is if these people that are hurting people are hurting themselves, whatever kind of situation you're talking about, finding Christ for them is an amazing end to that story. And it's something that he can take and and make so powerful hit for his kingdom, and I love that thought process. And so that happened a couple times in the last couple weeks where I'm just like, I gotta take a step back because I'm hearing these stories about awful things.

Let's just pray. Let's pray about this. And my fiance is usually the one who I'm doing this with. We'll we'll be on the phone and we'll just be like, hey, this this crappy crazy thing is happening. Let's take a step back and let's pray for that person. Let's pray for them to find Jesus truthfully and and realistically in their life in a way that the holy spirit comes and takes a hold hold of their heart and changes them. Sanctification completely,

all kinds of stuff. Right? And so that was that was interesting, and I and I commented last week and I said it's it's gearing up for something. Because, like, I feel like when God gives me these kind of things that are are are opportunities for me to grow, it's usually like a a training ground or a proving ground that's like, hey, take the time now to get good at this because something big's about to hit. Something big's about to hurt. Right? And so, praying for enemies last couple weeks, trying to figure out where that was gonna end. And this weekend hit like like a a train.

I had a family member that, hurt me pretty bad. I I'd probably say the worst that's ever happened to me in my life. I'm not gonna go super far into detail because the the the the the kingdom stuff is not really in the detail of the hurt, but just for a little context,

I was told that I was the reason my parents are dead, that because I was fat and lazy and, was worrisome, I'm the reason that my mom and dad died because they didn't either want to stay around for me because I wasn't worth it, or I caused them so much stress that they ended up dying. Okay? So that was one the big things. I was also told to go kill myself, in a couple different violent ways, and that the world would be better off without me,

and that people would be better off without me. Whatever. Right? And so that hurt quite a bit, actually. I told you guys earlier that, like, this has been a super traumatic experience for me over the last couple months because, like, my network has been kind of shut down. And, like, my my way of of communicating with people, has been kind of halted and so it it hit hard. It hit really hard. And I'm sitting there and I I'm in tears. I'm like hyperventilating crying so hard because I get to hurt my feelings. I get hurt my heart. And then I get in my car and I drive away and I'm I'm thinking stupid stuff, but I didn't what I end up doing was I called my fiancee.

It's like 01:00 in the morning for her, and I called her crying my eyes out barely able to get a sentence out. And I just said I told her the whole story and and said I I just I think it's a good idea if we pray. And she goes absolutely. And I'm like, can I pray? And she goes, yeah, and I'll pray too. And I said, great. Sounds good baby. Awesome. And my my brain immediately goes to, okay, I'm a pray for peace for me in this situation, all this stupid stuff, and I'm a pray for for God to kind of just comfort my heart and blah blah blah. And I'm like but then it hits me, I'm just like, I need to pray for my family member because

what just happened was evil. Like it just straight up was. Whether that's manifested through trauma, or through hurt, or through anxiety, or through drugs, or through alcohol, or whatever, there is just there is evil present

that cannot stand, and and it has to go. And so instead of this this lord comfort me prayer, I I went on the offensive. Like, I went straight on the offensive for the kingdom. And it was so weird for me because, like,

the first couple of minutes didn't even feel like my words, if you've ever felt that way in a prayer. But, like, it was just kinda just pouring out of me. And I was just sitting there. I'm just like, what does this life look like transformed in Christ? What does what does what does it look like for this person if God can take this hurt, and this pain, and this trauma, and all these things and flip it around,

and heal it. Take care of it and flip it for his glory. 100% for his glory. And that's what I started praying. I'm like, God, I just want you to be glorified through this situation, through this pain, through healing of that. There is joy on the other side of this when we recognize that even this, even all this junk and all this sin and all this hurt and pain and stabbing feelings, all of this can be flipped to be for your good because you can heal it. You are strong enough to cover it. This is not scary to you. You are not intimidated by the amount of pain here. This is the kind of situation that only you can heal. Only you have the power to to hold and to to break this. And like,

I mean I'm praying for thirty minutes straight that I'm just like, I'm I'm pouring my heart under this and I'm balling my eyes out, and I can barely see, barely speak. I'm like hyperventilating through this, and it was crazy. But, like, by the end of it, my identity wasn't hurt. It just wasn't. Like I didn't need this this these long prayers of God cover my heart, God cover,

you know you know, my peace and and and comfort me. I didn't need that in that moment because my identity was rooted well enough to where instead of having to do this wallowing thing where I was like, oh lord, please just cover me and help me. This is hurtful blah blah blah. I went on the offensive and I was like, no. No. No. I need to pray for that person and recognize that they're hurting, and they're in pain, and and you are the only one that fixes this. And it was such a weird thing for me because six months ago, I couldn't have done that.

I could not have a month ago, I probably would have had difficulty doing that. A month ago, I would have been in a rough spot, and I probably wouldn't have called my fiance. A year ago, I probably wouldn't have talked to anyone for three weeks, And that's just truth and honesty. I would have shut down and run away from that and tried to fix it myself. And instead,

I was able to remind myself I mean, there's a couple minutes where it was rough, but like pretty quickly, I was able to remind myself of what my identity is and the fact that I don't have to worry about what other people say because God's got me. He calls me his son, and he calls me worthy through the sacrifice that his son made on the cross. I'm covered through sin and through the sacrifice of the lamb. I've covered completely through his love for me. How dare anyone else try to come to me and try and berate and belittle me and for who I am when God, the creator of this entire universe and and and our rock, Lord Almighty looks at me and goes, I love you and and you're my son and you have identity in that. You you identified the correct victim. Yes. Right. Oh, absolutely. And I'm so thankful that I was able to look at that and go, alright. God, you got me. I'm not worried about me. I need to think about this person. And while it's fresh, I'm going on the offensive. I'm attacking. I'm using what I know that that God gives me power through him be able to do so. And I'm I'm straight up rebuking this stuff. Like, you know what? If this is I try not to call upon this, especially on the show too much, but I'm like, this is demon stuff, in the name of Jesus, you're gone. You do not have power here. You do not have control here. You tremble at that name because you cannot stand in the glory of my king. K? And if it's just people being people and there's some evil in that,

even so, you do not stand in the power and glory of my God. You are gone. You are out of here, and I I I call you out and I say you gotta leave. And I I'm just praying for for my family member. And, like, it was such a weird experience, and it it just made me afterwards, it was it was a rough night still. Like, it didn't fix it, and I'm I'm not trying to advocate that, like, just pray about it and then everything will go away because I think that's kinda cheap and disingenuous. It still hurt and it still sucked, but, like, I'm okay. It's it's a day and a half later, and I'm sitting here at the show laughing. And, I mean, I think the guys that have been doing this show for a long time can remember if I got hurt like that before, I was gone for a year. Like, I wouldn't I wouldn't show up again, and I'd show back up a 100 pounds heavier and,

and not having talked to anybody for months because I hated myself and all this stupid stuff. But I'm good. I'm okay. I spent the day today praying for him. And, I talked to my fiancee. We're gonna continue to pray for that. And And we're trying to figure out ways to fix this kind of thing because I recognize that there's hurt there, and there's pain there, and there's an opportunity for God to show who he is through that situation. And I told Gian on the phone, I was like, what an amazing

testimony this will be when God redeems him. What what an amazing story this will be in his life when God grabs all of this,

tramples the sin, tramples the pain and the hurt, and wraps him in nothing but comfort, and joy, and truth. Because that's what this stems from is untrue things and lies. It is lies about who he is. It is lies about his worth. It is lies about who cares about him and who's abandoned him. It's all lies. God is truth incarnate.

He brings that in entirety because that battles that kind of stuff, And I've been praying for nothing but truth to be abounding in his life because that's where God shines, and I think it's gonna be such an amazing story. When God grabs his heart, pulls him towards the kingdom, and then he can turn around and go to other people that are are festering with lies and festering with pain. And he could look at them and go, I was exactly where you were. I have been destructive. I have been hurt. I have hurt people. And God grabbed me, completely reformed my heart, pulled me towards him, and now I follow the one true king and I will constantly speak of his name and his glory forever. And I'm so excited to see that day where I get to walk with him in that. And it's been crazy. And it's been a freaking amazing couple of days because

of the fact that I have hope in that. And there's there's hope in that grace, and there's hope in that mercy, and there's hope in that truth that I recognize that God is a God of peace, and it is perfectly it is perfectly able to be taken care of, and God is strong enough to do it. Boy. I mean, here's the here's the thing. It's like, it's it's it's crazy to watch God prepare you for something

and to watch it pay off. And, like, it seems like when we talk about it with the risk free runs, it seems like an easy road. Oh, God will God won't give you more than you can handle or if he does, he will be there to help you. And even if that's true, right, that he will be and let me we just we talked about that earlier. Right? God sized things. You gotta kick them up to God. They're gods to handle. They can't be yours. It doesn't mean that that, like, there isn't a human interaction with with a with a fallen world, with painful circumstances,

with with the notion of evil, and that god wants that confronted. And he wants you as his representative on Earth to confront it and to be but to do that in a way that otherwise, like, calls back to where the true power is and, like,

it's cool to see it and it's a real blessing to recognize it. Right? Because, like, you could easily have gone through that situation and not in fact, people probably have gone through situations like that and, like, they didn't recognize the real power in being able to turn and pray that your enemies would be blessed Mhmm. And to and to pray that god's mercy and forgiveness would be a gift that they would recognize and accept holy.

And so it's it's it's a real it's hard to see it at the in the moment. But to even have even have people, who who would treat someone that way, to recognize recognize the blessing

that exists for their redemption is it's a changed heart. It takes a changed heart to see it. It takes a changed heart to recognize it for blessing, and it's very human to miss it, and it's very gracious of God to provide it so that you don't miss it. And so I think that's, it's it's there's kind of a triple blessing in there from a situation of which there is no sense of joy in at all. Right? And which which seems very dark, and had the impact of being very rough. There's actually a lot of of of good in there, and God has has allowed you to see it. And I think that's great. That's very cool.

Alright. Hey. Maybe, you know, we don't, we generally have used the the complaint line to vote on bacon and stuff. But, like, if you've had a story like that, like, it'd be so cool. Like, we've talked about it. It's just just god's people can be encouraged by hearing what god is doing in his people. So if maybe that's something you'd be willing to share, we would love to be able to hear it. The life from path, Bob Eisenhower, Life From Path complete line is 5155170085, and you can call and leave a message or let's we can accept text. So either +1 (515) 517-0085. Hey. Also, I mean, if it's if this is more your style and you wanna hit us with a DM on Instagram or something, you know, we we can at least be be praying with you,

praying for that person that you're that you're praying for. We'd love to be able to join you in that. You can also get us on Venmo at mike foost l f t p, venmo.com, or

any other ways. I accept PayPal directly. We'll actually be holding our first annual boovathon here soon also. If you wanna call in, Mike will be answering those calls exclusively. You know? Yeah. I'm gonna put a that's a great idea. I'm gonna put a donate now button on the website. How do you a Venmo handle. You well, you just have for Venmo. Yeah. You think Mike Foose is already taken? Yeah. Every time I've tried to get an email that that Mike Foose from Wisconsin that works at the at the dump has taken everything. That's why I love my name. I've never run into any situation where my name was already taken. Hey. This is my favorite thing we ever did in youth group. We gotta wrap this show up. This is barn burner. But, like, favorite thing I ever did, was trying to say, like, the like, what makes defines a person is not is not what they look like or their name even, but, like, what their story is. Right? When Yahweh is trying to introduce himself as as god to the people of Israel, it's like, I'm that's why he said, I'm I'm the god of Israel. Like, when he when he introduced himself, he said, I'm the god of your fathers. I'm the whatever. Like, because the name doesn't matter as much as the story that comes with it. And so, like, I I found three Mike on social media. There was me, German Mike Foust, who, man, he was just mad at the world. He hated everybody. And then the Wisconsin Mike Foust, who's taken all my email addresses. And, like, man, the kids just thought they they they took the picture of German Mike Foust and carried it around with them for a year and a half. Every time I'd come to youth group, they'd bust out German Mike Fuss, and they would use him to disapprove of something I've said. German Mike Fuss hates that. And then they show this picture of this angry Mike Fuss from Germany. That's amazing. It's the last time I did interactive stuff at youth group because they turned it against me real fast. Yeah. My so there was I got added to a Facebook group once. So my my real last name is Engeldinger, not Buva. And I got added to Who call you Buva Buva? What?

Did you say your real last name is Engeldinger not Buva? Yes. What's your first name? John. Oh, yeah. Okay. Right. Okay. Go ahead. That's right. Yes. Continue. And so I got added to a Facebook group probably, I mean, ten years ago. There was a bunch of German people with the last name Engeldinger,

and it was it was hosted by this gal named Natalie. She was Natalie Engeldinger, and she was a German fashion designer. And so I'm like, oh, that's kinda cool. Whatever. And so she invited me to a show once. Like, she was like, you should come out to to Berlin to one of my shows. And I'm just like, cool. I'm 19 and broke, but whatever. We'll figure it out. I'll fly to Germany and make this work. And so she sent me this this link to go and and, like, buy tickets to it. Right? And it turns out that she was a she was a fashion designer for like S and M.

Oh. Oh. Oh. And I was I was way too young to have any idea what that stuff was. And so, like, I'm like, cool. What's this? And I start scrolling through, like, the collection that she was, like, putting out, and I'm like, immediately, nope. This is this is not for me, Natalie. I don't think I'm in the right place. And I I exit out of it. I never talk to her again because I'm just like, I don't really know how to how to go from here, and I don't know if I want to. So I'm just gonna leave the are a salty bunch. Yeah. Apparently so. In in in Berlin, it's just a crazy bunch. That's how it happens. It cracked me up. And I we we had had probably, like, four inter interactions and conversation to where, like, she had messaged me something all in German. I took it and translated through Google Translate, and then I said did the same thing in English and sent it to her, and she did it too. And it was, four blurbs of communication, and then it was the invite. And then after that, I'm just like, I don't think I'm gonna continue this this online relationship with my long lost Yeah. Seventh cousin twice removed, Natalie. Nope. Gotta go. Gotta go. Alright, Mike. We got a bucket of advice. We got time for one. No. No. You don't have one. No. You gotta wrap this. I'm telling you, Ben. It's a barn burner. You gotta wrap this thing up. Does that mean it's long? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Barns have burned for a long time. I wasn't I wasn't ready. Thought that might be what it was, but I wasn't a 100% certain. Yeah. That's what you said. I thought you were saying, like, it's really good. No. I also thought my maybe it's the connotation of it's a good show. I'm getting itchy sitting over here. I feel like I've lived here I've been here, like, six hours. I'm sorry. You were the one who was yelling at me about hygiene an hour ago, and now you're getting the itchy sitting in the stool? Yeah. I've I've just to tell you, I'm getting full of the wiggles. I just I can't sit in this chair no more. I don't know. It's we gotta go. Opinion, what do you think? You're fine. Time to go. Yeah. He says time to go. He's tired of this. Fucking ridiculous. Penny Penny, are any closer to being ready? No. No. I thought I had a full advice then. Do you look at the clock? Look at that, Ben. What's that say? Time means nothing to me. An hour and a half when I speak of the word. Half, we talked about COVID for an hour and a half. I picked up a mask today. Now here's the deal. See, Booma's gonna get on a tear again, and we're gonna be here for now forty five minutes. You have been in you have been a part of me doing sermons and stuff. You know time means nothing to me when the Lord is on the table. That's true. Alright. Fine. Hey. Hey. Thanks for hanging out with us. That's you've been listening live from the past. You

hit us up on the the Bob Eisenhower complaint line. What are moobs? Hit us up on the. You don't know how much I use that time of advice to try to prepare my mind for leaving the show. The Bob Eisenhower live from the Path complaint line is (515) 517-0085. That's right. That's right. Hey. And also feel free to leave a review of the show. I mean, just be honest. I can't make you give it the five stars. Be give give it a two or whatever you like. (515) 517-0085

for the complete line, and leave a review on your favorite podcasting app as a warning to those who might otherwise click on the link. Hit us up on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. Do that. Alright. In the meantime, be faithful means God will handle the ends. You've been listening to live from the path.