Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path. And you're listening to Live From The Path. We're coming to you from the Pathway Studios

here in Johnston Proper. It's been a week, Ben. Yeah. Why do you say that? I don't know. I just thought maybe I would come alongside other people who've had a tough week and say, it's been a week. Now, okay. Alright. So I don't really mean to be gone for two weeks and then say something offensive. But but

I feel like every… I don't know how to say this and not be offensive. I'm trying to think maybe I should just let it go. I feel like every two or three days, I see I see something on social media and and from, like, not just people, their friends or whatever, but they're from, like, bands we follow or that I've seen and

and magazines or or celebrities or pseudo people to follow whatever. And it… And it's always like acting… I guess it's always a sympathy post that like the last… What I think COVID plus is just like a

crazy wait. And and I guess I guess the… I feel oddly about it. Let me put it that way. Because I think it's I think it's I think it's true,

but I I guess, is there a place is there a place for… I think we we learned lessons over time on saying, hey, man. I think we gotta call things as they are. So, like, you can't… And and I think Christianity struggle with this at times, like, people feeling like they have to paint a a a shiny path when it's not happening. But in the same regard, if if you're only ever painting dreary pictures,

won't that be then the makeup of your life is the painting of dreary pictures? So, like, I I I guess maybe the question is COVID… Ignore COVID as the context. But, like, how do you find the right balance between calling harsh realities harsh without focusing on those realities so much or having no optimism or hope that things can or should be better? Like… Because the reality is is although I don't believe just because you think something, it manifests.

How you go about thinking about something does actually drive your experience in those situations. Like your ability to have optimism or hope. And so how do you find the balance in that? Okay. So I think I'm trying to trying to put my metaphor together and it's gonna it's gonna it's gonna teeter totter. Is that the metaphor, a teeter totter? No. Stop. Stop it. You're bringing harsh reality. Is it a playground is it a playground metaphor? I I was trying to think because here… Here's how I I think it pans out is… Let's say, for example, someone goes out to run like an obstacle course, we'll say. And they get halfway through the obstacle course and you're like, look, this obstacle course is too tough and it's too long and we and we and we… I just can't do it anymore. Right? A reasonable expectation. You tried, you failed, you can't make it. Right? So when the guy walks off the course, one of two thoughts can happen. You either go, man,

this obstacle course is so tough. I don't know how anyone can bear it. Or your second question is, why am I unable to complete this obstacle course? Right? Like, why don't I have the capacity to complete this thing?

And so very much like what you were saying, like, the things that that have been said about the way the last year and a half, two years have gone. Always two thoughts hit my mind is is yes. Has it been an emotional burden along with a physical burden and certain elements of fear all mixed in? Yeah. I think all that's true. And then the other half of me goes,

why is our capacity so small to be able to to deal with this? Right? Like, if you if you back up and put it in perspective, and let's just say you're coming at it from a mental health aspect. Right? And let's say that you don't have any pre existing mental health conditions that are feeding into this. Because mostly what I hear people who are who who are not currently suffering with prescribed mental health issues, they're like, the last year has been or two years has been an emotional burden. I'm mentally exhausted.

You know, all these things are giant burdens and whatever. And I think I think that's true because it's different and it's not what you expected. You had an expectation of x happening and then it didn't. It… We went this route and it was horrible and not what you expected. So you're disappointed for sure. But like, to be to be completely knocked down by it, I think that you can a, say, yes, this was a heavy burden and yes, it wasn't what what we expected and it's led to all these other things, isolation and whatever. But on the other hand, do you feel like our capacity could be a little bit bigger and not be so blown down and not be so defeated or so easily? I don't know. Like, some of the times we read stories about the Bible, you know, of of of people in the Bible where they're like, they walk into the fire.

Daniel's buddies walk into the fire and they're like, well, here's the here's the long and short of it. Our God could totally show up and get us out of here, but if he doesn't, we're not gonna eat your food. And that's the end of it. Right? That's that's our resolve. And we're gonna be… And we're just gonna walk in there and it's gonna be what it's gonna be. And like, given our set of circumstances and the things that we've gone through over, say, the last year and a half with the pandemic and and the outpouring of that, I do feel like it should have some impact. I feel like we might be

front loading the impact to slightly heavy as if we have no capacity to carry any type of bad thing. Like, of of the bad things that happen, like, say people getting taken out by hurricanes, earthquake, natural disasters, that cause obvious and terrible destruction. I could see how that that could take a guy back for a while. This is all gonna sound really callous. And now that I… I know. I haven't had the same problem. I… And I'm I'm I'm gonna have to… Maybe I'm just gonna have to ask for some grace here because no one wants to hear when things are heavy and hard

that you need to strengthen up and come at it with a little bit more grit. Because it just sounds like I don't care about you and the thing… And the things that I'm saying don't take your perspective into account at all. And I'm I'm doing my best to try to say this the way that I would say it to someone I love who's

allowing something to beat them down that just… It it seems like you're you're letting something win over you and and and defeat your joy for one, and take you and and basically control and puppet your life because of the things that you are… You you feel are defeating you. And so it's gonna… It's… You're gonna take this so badly and I… I'm I'm apologizing and I'm asking for grace ahead of time, but on my heart… What my heart is trying to say is, do I think that we can take this all and say, yes, it has some impact? Yes, I do. Of course. Do I feel like we're letting it consume and own us?

Yeah. I think there's a little bit of truth to that too. Right? Where like the like, you know, you're you're dealing with all these stressors and all these anxiety that's in depression that's been put upon you and instead of going, what is this? I feel like I feel like I'm gonna fight back a little and not be taken over by these things. We just go, oh, well, that's the way of the world. We're being defeated right now. And like, it just seems like such an odd an odd standpoint, especially, from a Western American pull your pull yourself up by your bootstrap kind of deal. Right? Like, usually, we just come back fighting. And and now we're like, well, I didn't get to go to the office and I'm tired of being at my house and it's a really a terrible burden on me. Is it a change? Yeah. It is. It's a change. And your kids are there and, you know, you're… It's weird to be there when you're supposed to be doing work or whatever. But like,

I mean, honestly, is it an actual destroying burden to you? Is it… I mean, why is it causing you so much trouble? Isn't that worth a second a second glance to go, why is this having so much impact on me? Why am I allowing this to define the way that I do anything, you know? I'm… Okay. Now now you can be honest with me. Does that come off terribly? Terribly callous or… I I think it it that

this last couple years have hit different people differently, like in different types of occupations. Which I think is fair. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm like you mentioned like band members and stuff. Well, think about… Let's say you've worked your tail off for for years to build a band and you got songs you've written, you poured yourself into this, you got this ministry going, you're traveling around, and all of a sudden… And your whole your whole world is centered around that. That's how you pay your bills, that's how you eat, that's how you pay your house payment, it's how everything happens. And then an outside source says, oh, you can't gather anymore. You can't go to crowds. And and not only not only financially, but you also… That's where your ego, that's where your that's where your self worth comes reaction of the crowd. I'm not saying that's healthy or good. I'm just saying that's how it tends to be. You know? We're tied to our, occupation generally.

I I suppose that would be really difficult. And and that's true in the church too. Lot a lot of pastors have really struggled. You know, the crowds aren't there that they're used to or or whatever. The the finances aren't there. The budget's falling. You know, which may sometimes think, well, maybe God's saying do it differently. You know? I I don't know. That's easy for me to say. I don't have a megachurch with, you know, multiple million dollars in payments Right. That I do. So so I don't know. I guess I have a little extra grace for some people, who who are are are like, got their rug pulled out from them and they're Yeah. They're trying they're trying to redefine their life. I mean, how how do you at age, I don't know, 35 suddenly take a whole different career change when all you've done is like play guitar? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, all a sudden, it's like, I don't have computer skills. I mean, than toying around, you know. Right.

I mean, I I don't have marketable skills, I should say. I I don't know. It would be tough. Like like for me, if I were to suddenly do something else, I I I don't know what I would even do. You you know, I I have no idea. And I think I think it's probably that. And and then you… Like, you're in this big toilet with all these turds floating around. Pretty soon the water starts swirling. You think everything's going down. So so you're just… That's part… That's just the attitude you have right now. Yeah. Well, and maybe maybe that's… I I think you you probably summed it up better than I did. Right? Like, there's there's certainly weight that obviously I think people have felt and and rightfully so. Right? But you're in the toilet and the turds are swirling… They are swirling down.

Like, we're getting a lot more of, I guess I'm going down with the turds instead of Yeah. I'm getting the heck out of here. I'm out of this. I'm out. We're gonna we're gonna pedal and we're gonna we're gonna figure something out and like we're gonna fight back. We're gonna we're gonna get out of the toilet. I'm not going down with these tours. Right? Right. Right. And like, I I I… And maybe the existence of social media makes it way more prevalent where people's passing thoughts get more… Get just as much space as their resolve. Right? That is true of social media anyway. Like like the the three mini thoughts that people would have had and never would have told anybody and just had it and it fleeted away, now gets typed out and sent to everybody, you know. And like the final thing that you end up on that happens three days later gets buried in with all your little thoughts. Right? Like, I could be depressed about something, down about it and go, man, I'm being overwhelmed. I am going down with the turds. And by 10:00 that night, I'm like, forget this. I ain't going down with these turds. Like, we're gonna get out of But but… Because I think I've been in both of those places. Correct. Right. You know, and and like, no. No. And so maybe it's Yeah. Maybe it really is just more of a, a visibility thing. Right? Like, people… The the age of social media has brought that like every every passing thought deserves its own time to shine. And so maybe that is skewing, what the thing looks like. Right? Like, it perfectly acceptable to to to get down and overwhelmed by something and go, you know what? Whatever. I guess we're going down with the turds. My my dream is over. Yeah. Right. And maybe maybe this time for a career change. And is it okay to lament that? Yeah. Is it okay to be overwhelmed by that? Yeah. Yeah. These are all perfect things. And like you'd say that to a

guy or a gal you're talking to in passing conversation. Yep. And so it could be… I mean, that's a solid point. It could be a a misrepresentation just because thoughts that you would normally work through and then people are used to seeing the output or the action. Now the thought gets its own stage and, you know, people get to watch as you go through it. And so like, the massive amounts of folks are like, boy, this last two years has really been tough. Like, that is an accurate statement and it has been tough. But like, if it lingers there, it just starts to impress upon a while that like we're willing to go down with the turds. You know, and I'm like, I… You know, how can how do you how can you full of grace and full of understanding and and care about other people go,

look, man. Let's figure out how to get you out of the bowl. Yeah. We just don't wanna stay here. If this was a dear life in the past, my advice would be you are filled with emotion and passion, which is usually where really good music comes from. So go ahead and write some music. Put put something together and figure out a way without going on concert to to to sell it. Yeah. Right. I mean, how many people have you seen online? They're to rethink things. Yeah. Like this is their this is their gig or like were they live speakers or whatever and they're like, you know what? It wasn't gonna work. And I drowned in that for a couple months. I'm like, I gotta do something different. So I started live streaming seminars or I started writing material for other people like, you know, like, you got out of the bowl. And and and granted the time the time of the of the hurt here probably hasn't passed. We're not quite… We're not on the other side of this thing. It's not feeling that it's on its way back to normal. Like once you get a couple breathers in and take two steps outside, here it comes back again, you know, and putting everybody back on the bench I don't know. I I feel like I've… I'm I'm… Maybe I'm just edgy and harsh here, but like, I mean, we've been… This thing has been going on for eighteen months.

Like, isn't there a point of which, like, it's okay to say, hey, man, I I… There's rough things going on. Cry me a river, but don't swim in it. Cry me a river and then build a bridge across it. Like, it's okay to acknowledge the thing where you got… And like this is not just like… Take out of the bucket, like the the folks who are actually, like, had the thing or had relatives who have passed away the thing. That's not that, like… Grief is a different bucket. I'm talking about like the ways in which our society has had to shift and change or has been forced to shift and change in our ability to cope with it. Yeah. And like at at some point,

you you just… We have to be… Like, you can look at it as like how long does this… Like, this is like a Jack Bauer. Like, how long is this bad day gonna go? Yeah. Where we where we still call it the same bad day as opposed to going, okay, man. I think the lay of the land has been the lay of the land. And so it's time to do some shifting and moving around. I I just… Like, I I… I'm I'm struggling, I think. I think this is true for me in particular. I mean, maybe it's true for everybody, is is trying to to to… I get real edgy when I feel like there's an imbalance between acknowledging your reality and then figuring out the right way to deal with it. As opposed to acknowledging your reality and then letting it slowly crush you. Right. And… We've we've done this in in human history. Right? I mean, there used to be dudes who sat there and made brooms for a living and then a factory was built. Yeah. And and the industrial revolution happened, and like everything changed. Right. All the… They they could have sat there and thought, nope. I'm gonna… No. No. I'm the broom guy. Right. Or they had to reinvent themselves. That's right. And like that is the thing. Like that is a bit of a a part of the American

psyche and image, is that we are optimistic about remaking ourselves and and riding the wave of change as opposed to like Luddite style trying to fight it. And like, we think of those things in technological terms, but like, hey, man, when when when the world is changing around you from whatever the, the catalyst is for that change, I I just… Like, no one appreciates the guy who only goes build the bridge. Stop crying, build the bridge. Because it feels like you're not… We're not willing to… I think we've made mistakes on going too shallow and not acknowledging

our realities. Because frankly, you can't build better ones. You can't build new ones. You can't actually go and find and rebuild that that space for yourself if you don't acknowledge the reality that you're in. And so that's not what I'm saying at all. But like there is a point once you call it for what it is, and then you gotta go… Like I… To the earlier, picture, like at some point you go, hey, man, I I really wanna be in this toilet. And so, like, what is it? Can I get? Can I grab some guys and can, like, do we have to be? Or can can we take the turds out? Do they have to stay in here? I know they usually go down, but, like, can someone fish it out? Like, there… Are there options here? Are we looking at the world optimistically? Or if we kinda just it took… Just a certain extent, it feels like like we may have given up. And maybe it's momentary.

But but just where it lacks balance, it just it just… It brings a notion of caution to me. And I feel like I'd like… For as being as far away as we are from when the thing really started the disruption, and I get that like there's still a bunch of stuff happening that you have to sort out. I just… I may… Maybe I'm just feel like, can we be optimistic about it? I… Well, I I think actually some of the problem is people who aren't actually in the in the toilet are jumping in and and and going this applies to me too. My life is… Like they're stealing the toilet part. Yeah. Right. They're not in the toilet. Yeah. Right. And and like and like I I mean this is true.

There are there are a lot of families that I know were like, this is a deal. Right? It's it's a it's a legit deal and it impacts them heavily and they've have had to change the way they live their entire life in attempt to try to make a decision with so many different facts and figures coming from so many different areas. They can't sort out what is actually true, what is not. And so by the time you go, look, I would rather air on the side of of abundant caution because of the thing that I'm trying to protect to protect. This is what we're going to do. I know a lot of people like that. And Yes. And like, I can understand that and I can take that in and I can go, I get it. You… You're just in a rough spot and without an ultimate truth of the gospel coming through, we're just gonna have to take man made facts and figures and that people seem to crank out in whatever way they want to make it look like. And finding true information is just a tough slog. Right? But then, I know way more people that are not actually affected in this way at all. And they're swimming in the same pool. Right? Like, oh, it's been horrible. My… I've been forced to work from my house. Okay.

I mean, that sounds different and maybe not optimal. But is it really horrible? Is it horrible like these other people horrible? Is it horrible like a heart baby with bad immune system horrible? You know, that that that you're afraid to take to the store. Is it horrible like that? Because I don't think you're in the same toilet, friend. You know, then they're like, I… You know, it's just I haven't gotten the the… Not the opportunity to sit in a big room and talk amongst my peers. We have to do our our stuff through Zoom. Yeah. Is it irritating? Yes. Zoom calls are terrible. Everyone agrees. No one's fooled by that faux like window office background that you use to cover up your ugly place or whatever. Right? But it's not horrible. Right? Is this the thing that we can pull up our our our obstacle course and go, what… Can we just finish it and act like we're not gonna lament the fact that like we have to call you on a Skype call opposed to sitting in the same room with you. Yeah. Does it suck? Yeah. No one loves it. But like, is it really the same as the as the turd guy in the in the bowl? I don't think that's the same. And so I think the sheer number of folks that are like, you know, I could see how this could affect somebody badly. Actually, it has impacted me bit badly. I am also in the 12. I I I think that's probably where where more the thing that I I struggle with is like, I think we have we have legit

pockets of society that like are trying to navigate this the best that they can with situations where the impact is quite large if we're wrong. And so they they stay on the on caution and I think that rocks and I think that's fine. And then other folks that are literally jumping in the woe is me pool when actually they… They're surfing through this thing. Right? Is it different? Yeah. Is it not what you expected? Of course not. But like, are you are you still working? You're still getting paid? Your livelihood's still there? You're just having to do a Zoom call from your kitchen table. This sounds pretty good for the situation we're in, fellas. You know, like Yeah. On the whole, this doesn't seem that bad. And so I think maybe that's the thing, if if you can try to put my callous remarks in a bucket. That's maybe the more thing that that I think that that bothers me is just a large group of people that are either trying to take on the burdens of other people

as if it's their own and then joining in though, yeah, this this year has been just so terrible. I'm like, I I mean, honestly, has it? I mean, are you looking back at it honestly because for the situation we're in, I think you're doing alright. Right? Like overall, you're not having to struggle with these horrible decisions other people are trying to make, you know? Yeah. I mean, I think that's it's… That's the same bucket for me is that, where you have, like, someone say, hey, this is a tough season. I mean, yeah. Is it… It's this is a different season. But like, I mean, tough. Are we using the word right? Are we… When we say this is tough, because like, if you're still hanging out middle class, it may not… Like, just broad societal impacts, it probably wasn't that bad. Right. It was an impact. It's uncomfortable. Uncomfortable. But like tough… I mean, there's people living tough. And like, I… This is where this is where I'm trying to…

I I think they're they're they're… It's okay to honor the fact that, hey, this is this is different and there's stress related to it. I I just… I… Like, sometimes it feels like we're too willing to embrace embrace other people's reality as if ours is on par with it. And like, I I… This gets in a whole bucket of weirdness where, like, I think, again, it doesn't mean that, hey, just because you… You've got a decent amount of money that this isn't negatively impacting you. I'm not saying that. Or

hey, yeah, but you still got an office job, but now you're working from home and your kids are around you all the time and then, like… Yeah. I think it's like stress and your anxiousness about that or finding proper work life balance. These are considerations. But like, I just… The proverbial, there's probably people that are struggling a lot more. And like, maybe we just need to walk through it with some humility that says, like, you don't need to think less of yourself here, but you do need to think yourself less often. And how often you're telling the story about yourself, how long… How often you're evaluating the state of your world as opposed of the world,

and how other people are walking through it. Because like like the reality is is that through whatever means or mechanisms, I've got nothing to complain about over the last eighteen months. I mean, not a thing. There's parts of my life that have been shifted. And parts of my life of which like we're interacting with people whose lives have been shifted. But like, I just can't even think for a moment that I would ever submit to someone, hey, boy, we're really struggling through that. Like, I just… It's not me.

And I I would never presume that. And like, I don't wanna take that away from people who are actually struggling. And I guess maybe my fear or point here isn't to take away from people who are, but, like, maybe it's just if… Just assess yourself and make sure you're actually claiming something that's worth claiming here. That… Are you actually having a problem? Is it actually super tough? Or or or can… And maybe just stop thinking about you for a moment. And maybe that's hard. It feels hard coming from somebody who says I haven't had the impact. But like, I'm telling you, just grand scheme of things, it just… I know a lot of people, A lot. And I'm just not finding that everyone's having the world turned upside down. It could just be that I only know the very small amount of people who aren't getting blown up, or there's a lot more of us who aren't getting blown up.

And and and maybe we're just… We're acting like it. And we just I don't I don't know why this even matters to me, but it just feels like it's… It it pulls away. Actually, know why it matters to me. Remember we were talking about the… Some of the protests and stuff that were happening after the death of George Floyd, and we saw some other things going on where I thought like, hey, man. There's some some really core things as a nation that we need to talk about. And it felt like we were missing an opportunity because there were events and things going on that kind of co opted what felt like a really important conversation that needed a voice given to it. And then it felt like we were talking about something else. And that we didn't have the chance to talk about the thing

well and deal with the thing in front of us that needed to be dealt with because we started having to focus on, hey, is this this group of folk gonna show up down my street and and take the mailbox? And like, I… It it was such a shame. It felt like a shame to me because there was a… There were a lot of people

doing things in, what what felt like an effective way, and and we didn't have to get to have the conversations. And it felt like it it was in the way. And, like, maybe maybe that's what I'm feeling here just a little bit is that in a… In sympathizing with how how some folks are are are having to deal with this, does it feel… Are you taking some of it… Something away from them?

And maybe even like pulling your own optimism off the shelf when it doesn't need to be. May just maybe just maybe… Let me roll it up. Maybe just spend just a little bit of time self reflecting, and then in proportion a lot more time preying on and thinking about how other people are doing. And then maybe this balances itself out. Yeah. I I think that… I I think the

point of why why it matters is is like if you feel stressed out and maxed out, then your ability to pour out is seriously in in infringed upon. That's right. And we need more pour out. We need It's a time where pour out is totally necessary. Right. And so and so, you know… And and maybe we're primarily talking to you Jesus folks, but other folks as well. Like, if you're taking on perceived stress, you're doing nothing but hurting yourself and others. Right? Like like literally. So just just look at it honestly. Right? Like if if if you're not tanked to to to full capacity and you got room to pour out especially for those that are tanked to full capacity like honestly in the toilet, can't figure out how to keep the swirling down. Yeah. We need you to pour out. We need you to band together here and do what God designed us to do and pour out. And if you're taking on perceived

stress that is making a perception that you are maxed out, you won't do that. You won't do that. And so, yeah, it is a detriment. Like you like you act like it's a harsh thing or, you know, it doesn't really have impact. It has huge impact. We can't pour out if we feel like we got nothing to pour. And so just make sure that like your your your potted plant is actually full of dirt and not like halfway filled with crunched up cans cause you didn't wanna dig more dirt up. You know I'm saying? Like Yeah. If you're if you're using up all of your capacity on on stuff that that doesn't actually apply to you, yeah, it is hurting you unnecessarily and it's it's reducing your ability to pour out and and be with those who are really actually full at the at the moment. So maybe that's… That is the broad point. It's like, we're not doing ourselves any favors by everybody jumping in the woe is me pool.

Well, and I think it it also does like this this should be a reminder. Actually, family and I were talking about this, over the last week or so, is that how often you just… You forget to be thankful. And like, it it it causes you to imbalance. It's normal actually for like the the perceived slights or misses or

inconveniences or restrictions upon your life tend… It just tend to hang on just like negative criticism tends to hang on even if you've got five people that told you you did a really great job at something. And even if you are surrounded by blessings of children and you got a place to live and your food's pretty decent and your spouse actually thinks you're quite alright, and like you

have a job regardless of of the the economy or the state of the viruses and and state of buildings being open and things of this nature. And so like, I just… It's just take a stock and and make sure that you're… What… That you're taking in the world is… I don't even have to say optimistically. I think just fairly that, like, we don't…

Just with the the… What we're surrounded with by news and information, like, has an overwhelmingly negative bent to it. And so we're… If we don't take time to take stock and be thankful for the things that we have,

the things that we are not going through, and be and and be… And that have that balance our lives correctly, then we have the ability to then pour out and recognize that what we're thankful for, we see when it's missing in other folks, and then we have the ability to help. And so, like, again, it just shackles us if we don't have a right… A a proper view of the world. And it just seems it just seems like a lot of what I hear people talk about is a lament over something where I'm like, I mean, this is this is this is beans in the garbage pile, man. Like, this is…

I'm sorry that that the… This that particular thing is true, but like, I only got about thirty seconds worth of bum bummer for you. Because otherwise, you should be super thankful for the life that you have, and you're not taking in the world correctly if this thing is like over cranking on you. Okay. Maybe that the whole thing upset you. I'm very sorry. I would recommend, that you pray on that and to take an assessment of your life and make sure that that, actually, I I… Let me take that back. If that if that particular thing, offended you and affected you in some way, I promise you, you're giving us too much weight in your life and you need to let that go. That's just silly.

You got plenty of other big things going on, I'm sure. And, Life From The Path's opinion on this matter, If not an encouragement for you, dump it. Chuck it out and don't think anything else of it, unless it's true. And then you really should just apply it to your life and move on from it. But, either way, maybe feel like you gotta say something out loud. Call the complaint line. Call or text (515) 517-0085. That's the Life and the Path complaint line. (515) 517-0085.

And maybe it's just a stock of your blessings. I'd listen to that. You wanna call that in and say, hey, man. Thanks. I just was reminded that I'm super blessed. Here's the top five that are on my mind right now. I love to hear that. So you wanna give us a call or text, we'd like to take that in. Thanks for hanging out with us on live from the Path. A quick update. I'm I'm still… Just because this comes up every once in a while for people asking, I'm still working on that backlog of the Life From the Path podcast. I know you guys are going back and listening to older shows. I saw that in some of the numbers I was looking at this week, and so thank you for doing that. We appreciate it. Hopefully, the content and context of the shows is a little bit easier to find now that I'm making those updated. I got four or five more of the older shows done today. I think we're one away from one or two away from being caught up within the twenty twenty shows, and then I'll start working my my way back through 2019. So thank you for your patience, man. Only ten more years to go? Only ten more years to go. Yeah. I mean, we've… It's twelve years, man. Twelve now? Are we… I… Yeah. We had to have miscalculated because like I I remember I remember coming home from a show late at night while my second daughter Ella was being… Was was on the way to the hospital. Oh, wow. And we had to turn around and it it was… Now we were downtown,

but but I got home at, like, 12:30 or 01:00 at night, and and my wife was in labor, and we had to tuck tail and run to the run to the hospital Wow. And have a kid. And she… She's, you know… Yeah. She's 12? Well, she'll be 12 in April. Okay. So we're definitely in year 11 at the very least. Okay. Anyway, I got some work to do. I'll make my way through it. Like I said, if you… Anybody is super interested and wants to look to that backlog and help rename them, I'm like, I'll I'll hand over the keys to the kingdom. I do not care about that. Alright. Let's do a quick article. Hey, just to just to sum up, like, I was I was at a I was at a concert. Right? And like, they opened with this. Actually, I've been to a couple concerts, post or during COVID or whatever. Anyway, when they started having concerts again, so we wouldn't have to one in there. Like every every band has lamented. They're like, oh, it's been a tough year and we just haven't been able to get together. And they, you know, they wanted to lament over it. And I thought, you know, I found I found it completely reasonable that we weren't gathering. And so like it never occurred to me to be upset about it because I'm like, it does kinda make sense in the current environment that we will probably not gather in a a 10,000 people group and get together. And so like, maybe I was sad about it. They were probably more sad about it because once again, like Dan says, their livelihood and what they do, you know. But like like the whole crowd's like, yeah, you know, I'm like, I just… I haven't put a second thought in about this because it just makes sense to me. It's a reasonable

approach during, say, a pandemic of sorts that you would not put a bunch of people in the same space. And so I just had literally not put any thought into it at all. And then now they keep bringing it up all the time. I'm like, yeah, you guys are starting to sound like old hat here. You gotta let it go. Yeah. You know? We've been there. I get it. I get it. It's been big disappointment. Bobby Bobby. Play the tunes. Yeah. Alright. So here's the question.

You guys open for a new, social media? Looking to jump on a different platform? I gotta be honest. I I have exhausted my proficiency of all other social medias. Other than what? I've… All of them. Everything. Don't know anything. Name name a social media. The Twitter. Got it. Do you use it? No. Okay. Instagram?

Got it. You use that one? No. Dan, what do you do? Do you use one prominently anymore? Mostly just Facebook because that's… The church stuff's all connected there still. So I'd love to be disconnected from that, though. Yeah. That'd be nice. Well, maybe you'd be interested in Faithbeat, a new Christian social networking platform slated for launch in 2022 and will allow users worldwide to connect with faith faith based Christian content in just a few clicks.

The creator and founder of Faithmeet platform, Godwin Rose Samuel, told the Christian post that although platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter provide some Christian content, it's often not enough. He created Faith Meet in 2021 as a way to give Christians access to a virtual space for only faith based Christian content without any secular distractions. Okay. Two things. One, this sounds like a this sounds like a Christian Tinder, doesn't it? Absolutely. Feels like a dating fake… I mean, he's gotta call that something else. Yep. It feels like I'm looking to meet Christian ladies. Secondly, I mean, is no way that as soon as this open it up, some wise wise acre doesn't start posting posting stuff that you shouldn't be. No. Like, I I hope this man is ready with, like, teams of people to to manage content. No. Here's the thing. Like, you're gonna outgun it? Like like the… It it is to the giant social media companies benefit in this world to do their best to try to mitigate, content, and they can't even come close to touching it right now. Oh, yeah. And they have teams of highly paid professionals

that are on the cutting edge of technology in attempt to try to skew things in a way or another or guard things or keep track of things. This faith beat man, he's outgunned right now. Yeah. He says Christians have to spend long amounts of time sifting through other non Christian and secular content to find the Christian content on these other apps. I don't hate that. Yeah. I mean, we have to live in the world. I just… Like, I get it. It's like, maybe the theme today is…

I like the teeter totter thing. It's a fact, there's a balance here. Is that like… I mean, what counts as secular content? Right? Like my my aunt who doesn't love Jesus took a couple kids out to a park and gave him ice cream and I'm like, this isn't this isn't Christian… Right? I don't I don't…… Soccer game? Like… Right. I don't wanna know that. That's that's dumb. No. I mean, could be news and stuff, but like, I guess, we gotta be super careful. Like, I've met people who, like, only consume,

like, at this point, it would be Christian magazines and books that they were reading. And like, they're very difficult to deal with. Yeah. They don't know anything about the world around them. I mean, I gotta be real honest. Right? Like, you boil down a Christian newscast, and if we're really trying to get to the meat and potatoes, really, it's, hi. Welcome to blah blah blah newscast. It's 07:00. The Lord is still on the throne. Back to your regular programming. Yeah. Mister Cowan. You're sitting. The Lord is still good. Yeah. Next, what do you got to say about Dave? Yeah. I'm in the sin bucket. Thanks, Dave. You better go to another platform. Yeah. Well, you… Like,

I'd be… Maybe we should talk to the guy. I guess I'm kind of interested in what was doing. He says, the Christian content is often not even God centered because it distracts from the focus of the Jesus focused gospels. Whenever I would search social media apps for Christian content, it was always a struggle to find quality content. Stop saying content. So I created my app that will contain mostly everything that these other apps have, but it will be diluted in faith. It's not the right use of that word, which I think will help Christians to focus on God more. I like… I mean, I appreciate what he's trying to do here. I just… I know he knows he's gonna use this. I'm just disappointed he didn't call it faith book. Yeah. That seems better. Because then, you know, it could be just someone with a lisp.

That went differently than I had imagined. I got the Facebook. Wait. Look what he says here. Samuel said that although he made the platform of the Christians in mind, he hopes it will be a platform for non Christians to be introduced to Christianity. Yeah. Why? Yeah. Why did he go to every pamphlet maker from here to Tacoma and go, what works for you guys? Do you think this will get people in? Your door rider will. You know, okay. I wanna just be real be real candid with you. So this happens every year in the company that I'm in is people wanna do something, and then they always want… They want people to agree to spend money to make these changes or whatever. And it's always the sales folk, and they're like, we think this is gonna be the thing Yeah. That, like, really grabs in this bucket of customers. And my first reaction is always, why in the flying chicken do you think that it would do that? Yeah. What makes you think that at all? I don't know. We're optimistic. I mean, that's noted. But no. That is not… Nothing about this screams,

yes, they're gonna love it. Yeah. Just like this poor fella, like Joe Q, man on the street, agnostic goes, you know what I think I'll do? I think I'll download that Faith Meet app. Yeah. Introduce myself as some Christian content. You know how this worked? This was a bunch of Christian guys around the table brainstorming this thing. And we we just had a strategic planning meeting like a few hours ago. And we were coming up these words, buzzwords, and the flow and how, you know, how people's next step and all this stuff. Yeah. And we're throwing these words out, and and they were trying to make the words all work together or rhyme or do do an acronym, what… Whatever. And and they they spent so much time explaining what a word meant. I said, wait a minute, guys. If Joe Blow comes in here and sees that word,

if you have to explain it to him, you've already lost it. That's where he's gone. Make it simple. Like, connect. Yeah. I know what that means. Know? That's kind of what these guys are doing here, like, oh, we know it. Yeah. Yeah. They're they're all gonna come here looking for Jesus. Yeah. Because they're looking for Jesus everywhere They can't have been the first guys to try this. Right? Yeah. What was the what was the… What? The Faith Life? Is that what it was called? So that one… Yeah. So you could do it through… Oh, Logos Yes. File software. That's right. That's never looked at any of it. Well, they had they had this thing that was supposed to kind of… You could set up what what effectively felt like a Facebook group

through their Faithlife app. And like, I actually tried it because we as a… You know, as a house church, which we didn't have it. We didn't have a website and I don't practice… I don't really need one. Uh-huh. But like, you know, Facebook is effective for being able to communicate with folks or like be able to post something, have it sit there so people can refer to it. Yeah. And so I tried it and it was crappy. Yeah. Like it was laggy and it didn't do, you know, like it had 15 emojis for your reaction, you know, amen or in lament or whatever.

I'll toss my cloth. In lament. Like… Throwing the fleece out emoji. Oh, man. Yeah. I was getting notifications about that. I thought, don't know who you people are. Why am I getting notifications? Yeah. Like I had never looked at it. Well, and like… And here's the thing, is like, it's not a normal rhythm of someone's life. They're going on Facebook anyway. Yeah. And so again, it's a balance. If it's where people are gonna be, the church doesn't need to bow out of it. Like, sometimes you gotta be the guys working for the Babylonian king. Yeah. And like, that's okay too. I mean, I I understand there's a level of separation and I think there is. But like, it has to be something people will use. It could be the coolest thing ever, but if they don't use it, you're just gonna go to waste, obviously. Yeah. Well, I I… It's it's also a mindset that that I I think it's the biggest trap not only for for the church, but actually our society in general is like, tune this thing to me so I will use it. Right? Instead of saying, look, can I navigate social media well, or do I demand that social media changes to be exactly to fit my needs and what I want and what I can tolerate? I mean, let's be real honest. The second one is not gonna happen.

Right? But like, it's our it's our current societal structure. Right? Whatever's going on, whatever it is, it needs to be tuned completely to me instead of me figuring out how to navigate it well as it pertains to me. Right? And so like, the the… This is the problem with Faith Meet. Right? For the for the for the explicit reason that people currently… Facebook is popular for a reason. Right? That's why Instagram and Twitter are popular because people wanna get on there and see what other people are talking about. Right? They wanna they wanna be in on it, know what know what's happening. Yeah. Right. Like it's… Like Facebook isn't full of Christians going, oh, I just can't take this anymore. I gotta get out of here. Like, you're still there. Yes. You're obviously still going there. Yeah. And so like, you know, at some point you gotta take responsibility for the choices you're making. Yeah. And like if there… I I mean, we've had this social media talk before. Right? If there's friends you shouldn't have, just get rid of them. Right? If there's content you don't wanna see, then block it. You know, like take responsibility for yourself. If your job is one block away from the strip club, you don't quit. You just don't go in the strip club on your way to or from work. Right? That's on you. It's not for them to shut it down, and it's not for them to hide it from you, or like you call them ahead of time and go, I'm passing by, I'd like a big black cloth that covers the whole building. Right? You just don't go in there, and that's it. That… That's personal responsibility, friend. It's actually very important in the way that you follow Jesus Christ to take some personal responsibility for yourself and not go tune this world to my exact liking. It's it's never going to happen. And it's it's frankly the height of arrogance.

He also said, let's see. If on faith, meet Christians and people of all faith backgrounds, I'm sure we'll be able to post about Christianity. I'm sure… We're gonna hit with all faith backgrounds that have to do with Christianity. We… We'll have access to Christian based post, pictures, videos, music, and worship content. Who could… Christians will also have the ability to give donations,

offerings, tithes to ministries in various churches of their choice. There'll also be a chatting feature to allow people to communicate with one on the platform and spread the word of God. I'm sure. I'm sure. This… I love the optimism of this man. This is going to fail awfully. I mean, very badly. Yeah. It's just gonna be so bad, sir. Yeah. But I do like your optimism. Agreed. I wanted to live out the faith by creating this social networking platform. I wanted to inspire those who don't know the Lord. Why would they go on there? While even helping those who are already Christians to keep their eyes on the Lord and not on lusting and coveting other secular content. You think they'll even let, like, life in the path on there? I don't know. I was just thinking that. Actually, I was I was filling out some of these…

Some of the some of the back show content, and like we spent the first twelve minutes of the third show of 2020 talking about the best gas stations. And I'm like, we may not pass this sniff test. Yeah. We not… May not be allowed. And we have referred the turds today. Yeah. That's right. But you said toilet eight times, fellas. It makes you wonder, like… And and maybe this is the symptom of its own cause. Right? But, like, can you be so detached from the world to think that this would make an impact? Now granted, I've said the same thing about pamphlets. And Rice Lee was in here telling me pamphlets are rocking and they do they do good work. And like you couldn't have convinced me for nothing that pamphlets do anything. I'm still not buying that. And so I… Here's the thing. Like, I'm I'm open to being wrong here. Right? But all I see,

like the main target audience for this particular app, I would say is 50 and above. And I would more likely say way above. Where where like you basically… You own… You already have a subscription to TBN. That's where I'm at. Those are the dudes that I think… Or you buy Angel Eyes. What is that video service that cuts out all the salty language? You know what I'm saying? And like,

once again, I think it's just a level of personal responsibility. If you want to watch The Walking Dead, you're gonna see some violence. And and if it affects you negatively, you need to stop watching it and just be gone with it. Right? You don't call Walking Dead and go, I realize your premise is about killing zombies that have taken over the whole world, but I need you to cut out somebody's death. I mean, it's unreasonable. Right? Like like figure out where you can be, where your boundaries are, what's good and healthy for you and your family, and enforce the freaking thing. You know I'm saying? And live with intention for heaven's sakes and stop acting like whatever comes your way

is now a personal offense to you, or what… Or can't believe that no one thought ahead of time how you would instantly feel right now and have been able to program it out. It just seems so arrogant and selfish. Yeah. Like self centered on the way that you think things should run. That's kinda like, I can't control my thoughts, so I want you to cover your body with cloth so I can't see you. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. Correct. Like, well, I can't. I'm sorry. You don't like to look at my hair? Yeah.

I… It's it's just it's just a way… I I don't know. I I I can't… It's probably the thing that gets to me the the the most is like, especially when the Christian community acts this way. They walk into, you know, other people and and they try to they try to force values on them that they don't understand because they're… They don't know Jesus. Yeah. Right? And they're like, look, you have to stop using this bad language. They're like, why?

And their and their retort probably had bad language in it when they said, why? You know, because like, you have no reason except for that you don't wanna take it in. But like, we're more worried about the people and the soul that's that's spewing filth and go, I know why you think this way, why you feel this way, why you're mad at this, and why… It's because you don't know Jesus. So can we look at the world correctly and go, I don't need the whole world made comfortable for me. I need the whole world to make… To be made to know Jesus, and I will walk through whatever uncomfortability exists to make that happen. That's our stance. We will walk through whatever filth and gross bucket to get people to hear the good news. That's what we do, and we we don't get offended by salty language and inappropriate content if we have to walk through it on the way there, if that's what we're doing. He did say Faith Media will have a set of community standards and guidelines that aim to keep all content appropriate and god centered according to Samuel. A team will monitor content and remove any post deem inappropriate or non Christian.

I mean, yeah, there's no way that it doesn't get blown up in the first week. Oh, man. Yeah. Samuel said that through Faith Media, he hopes to help Christians form an online community. They can meet each other and glorify God through the app. It's a very shallow… Just a weirdly shallow thing to say. That's a very small vision. Yeah. We're gonna have so few people that we can just kinda read everything. Yeah. Well, yeah. There's no way. There's no way. Like too much… Actually, I was I was listening to a story on, NPR, I think it was earlier this week or last week. And they were talking about some of the Facebook's failures to actually monitor content. And like, they've got wide parts of the world where like, they don't even have content moderators who speak the language.

But then you thought… And they they were like, they were real harsh with Facebook about it. And I thought, I mean, that seems like a hard thing to do. Yeah. Is to have enough content moderators that speak all the languages in the world to figure out whether some guy's being an anarchist somewhere in The Maldives. Yeah. Like, how how would you possibly know? I mean, how many times have you seen something on social media that you're like, this is great. And then the first thing I look for is how many people thumbs down it. And I wanna find the guy and go, who could have possibly found something wrong with this? Right? Like it's a story about a kid finding a puppy, you know, or something. And there's always like ten percent of the population that's like, that find is offensive. Did you see the way that he pet the dog? He didn't even ask the dog for permission before he pet it. I'm like, holy cow. Like do you want Facebook's job of moderating

the ever changing opinions of valuable people who instantly can decide they hate this right now? Whatever it is, even if it's perfectly wholesome, and there's no one in the free world with any two types of brain cells could be offended by this thing, and here we are. And we're like, yeah, this is this is unsuitable. We should take this. This should be banned. This should get that blurred with the eye thing on it. Right? Obviously, no one should be able to take in the way that this three year old pet the dog. It's horrible. And you're like, you gotta be kidding me. Yeah. Right? Like… And that's that's the thing. It's like as much as as as we feel like maybe their algorithms are coming after Christianity or or whatever political party you represent, you realize what you're asking them to do here. Right? You're asking them to look at everybody's Picadillo and go, yes, we'll filter that. Yes, we'll keep an eye out for that. Yes, we will make sure that doesn't cross your eyes anymore. Right? Like, they couldn't have put more safeguards in here that says, I don't wanna see content like this anymore. Right? You could tune this thing however you wanna tune it. Now granted, I think there's some other stuff going on back there. But like, honestly,

like people's personal opinion changes on what is offensive and not offensive. When I was growing up, I I was able to watch Planet of the Apes. My neighbor was not allowed to watch awful shows like that because it was ungodly. Planet of the Apes. Planet of the Apes. I'm like…

Yeah. Yeah. How do… Who who decides? Which which… What's offensive and what's not? Yeah. Talking apes offensive. Right. That's not what God intended. Well, did use the word damn once. Yeah. And that is the worst. The worst of them all. That's pure salt. At the time. Alright. If you… Maybe you love this Faith Beat, you could back this. It's on Kickstarter. Go to kickstarter.com. You wanna look for

just search for Faith Beat or the original name which is Rovinsala. Yeah. A… Sorry. Rovina. Is that a biblical term that I have no I have no idea. Okay. So far, there's 28 backers.

28? For a total of $3,500. You know, they can get a team of people to comb through that. They'll know… Yeah, boy. Oh, that poor guy. Here's the deal. Think of think of all the… No. They got mostly international folk going through all the Facebook, like searching through all the pornography and violence and stuff and suicides and stuff people keep trying to post to Facebook.

I mean, can't imagine the group of of white overall Christian folk they're gonna have in here looking at this content. Here's the deal. Like, you're gonna poison those guys. You're you're… This thing is not even worth it for that. When I was in the the federal grand jury, this guy every month came with reports and testimony of child pornography. And I told him one day, said, dude, you have the hardest job on the planet because he's he's viewed it all. Yeah. You know, they had 750 images of blah blah blah, you know, and this video of that, I'm going like, we got the description which was horrid on our end. Yeah. He's watched it. Yeah. And like, how… Yeah. You you don't erase that. You can't erase that. Yeah. There's no separating that from the rest of your life. But I mean, plus, I mean, can you imagine the content moderator on a Christian website where you have to try to convince where we are at an all time high of where your politics are weaved into your faith. Right? So now you're gonna have to try to separate

what is God honoring content and what is really just a political smack. Right? That's what happened to the… What was that what's that website that had real good promise? They were funny. They were like a satire Jesus. Babylon b? Yeah. Babylon b. Oh, they're still around? Yeah. So here's the thing is like the first year I think they were in, I thought they were pretty… They they were pretty good. Like, they're pretty… And then all of a sudden, like somewhere around year one and a half, it's all political. All of it. Like, they can't even… What keeps them in business. It it is what keeps them in business. And so, like, once again, how are you possibly going to sustain a social media that is supposed to be Christian based? And and actually, if you had non Christians show up there, I feel like you're gonna accidentally paint us in the worst possible light. Like disgusting things. Some of the Christian groups I'm a part of have have split over the past year and a half because of politics.

Some some edge one way and some edge the other way and they… There's no… There's like, what do you do with the mask? What do do with the vaccine? What do you do? You know, who are you voting for? And That's it. You know, it's it… I'm just like, yeah. Those are… Then those are all pastors Right. Of the same denominational background. It make it makes you yearn. And like, I'm I'm not really a, like, come Lord Jesus guy, right, where I'm like, Lord, in this, you know… But like, I'm excited for the throne room that is the great moderator. Yeah. Right? Where everybody's mouth is agape and everybody's on their knees and go, okay. Here's my crown. Yeah. I think I'm I'm done with my petty stuff now. Yeah. I see what's going on here. Right? Like, just to have the overwhelming

power of God be felt to where whatever small thing we thought we were gonna blow up and call the new thing, like, has to be so embarrassing. And where I think God will wash away that embarrassment in his presence and go, you won't even remember. But like, you kinda want him to. You kinda want him to go, look fellas, you… Can you see what you did here though? I mean, can you see what you blew up and worshiped? Because it's embarrassing, you know. Okay. That takes care of FaithMeet. I'm a sign up for it just to… It's FaithMeet, m e e t? Yeah. Yeah. Now, primarily, it sounds like they're… He's trying to keep it funded, like it's free for users, but he's trying to charge churches. I think I'm… Like, there's basically a subscription fee for the church.

Oh, boy. Again, hey, can I go somewhere where nobody's at and pay money for the privilege? Thanks, bro. Yeah. You have Facebook free. I mean, straight free. Yeah. You might pay for it in social capital. And the yield's already there. And exhaustion. Yeah. But free. Free. Okay. You listen live from The Path. Michael, let's give out some advice. Okay. Feels like a relationship kind of day. You ready? Mercy. Yep. Okay. Here we go. Dear…

Oh, I gotta put my old man's on. Dang it, Dan. Why are you mad at Dan? It's because the slow Internet's causing me the roast. Oh. Dear life… Frank Faster. My husband and I have been married for more than thirty years. We have a problem I cannot seem to get past. We didn't have a church wedding because he threatened not to marry me if I demanded one.

I went along with him because of my low self esteem, and I'm still sad and angry about it. He also refuses to take vacations with me because he quotes traveled too much during his career. What can I do? Oh. Holy buckets. That's a real wide ranging question. So she wants a a church wedding now still? After after thirty years, yes. Okay. And he said no still? It sounds like he's still saying no, but she didn't come around and re answer that question. Because you did know, like, renew the vows and just do it again? Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't sound like he's interested, but once again, didn't answer it. But she said in… Almost in lieu of that, she'd be willing to take vacations. And he says, no, I don't want to. I had to travel enough during my job, my career time. These are tough situations. And we've talked about these before, like where you have a lasting marriage and it's… And and you've been married a while. And like, there's not

there's not cheating going on. There's not a large lies, you know, like complete mistrust. It's just somebody in there that goes, I don't care about what you want actually anymore. I don't want to move and support you or move towards you. I'm fine being me and I'm fine with you being you. Now let's just coast this thing People live in their separate lives in the same house. Yes.

Yeah. That's what it sounds like. And what's the question? What do I do? That was it? Yeah. Boy. Do you think it's time to let the church wedding thing go after thirty years? Yeah. I mean, don't know what it matters.

Like, I I guess, does it even feel good? Like, if you know he really doesn't wanna do it and you kind of twist his arm about it. What's what's the point? Yeah. Yeah. What's that thing you were saying earlier about where you… Something about reality. It is what it it… This reality is what it is. Like, it's already come and gone and are… Like, is there any any gain to continue to lament the missed opportunity or missed reality that did not happen? Yeah. I'd I'd just let this one go. Because like either either I mean, if he… If you said, hey, I'd like to do this and he goes, you know what? Because I love you, I'll do it. Then that's that's the great outcome. But like anything shy of that, like, it's just gonna feel shallow. It it cannot feel as good, especially if you've been in a marriage for a long time. Like, you can tell when when your partner's not excited about something. And it it it someday… At some point, it doesn't even become…

You don't even want it. If they're like, hey, yeah. Do you wanna you wanna… I'm gonna go do this. You wanna go? Yeah. You know, I guess I'll go. It's like, you know what? Don't even come. Yeah. Just stay home. Yeah. I don't I don't need this from you. Like, it's alright. And I'm not mad, but like, we don't have to do this. If you don't wanna go, don't go. It's not a big deal to me. And so like, I I think if that feels like a real victory if you twist his arm to get to do it, like, think that's just represents kind of the shallowness of the relationship and that… That's not necessarily your fault, but that is where you're at. And so I would drop the wedding thing. And frankly, I might even drop… I dropped the vacation thing too. Feel free to go on vacation on your own if he doesn't wanna go. Yeah. Take a I think that's fine. But like,

I think it's maybe you're asking the wrong questions. If those are the only two things on your mind, like, it's it's maybe maybe you've already tried to kinda rekindle this relationship, but it may be maybe time to rethink about, yeah, that that rekindle in action. Think you can start to get to know each other again or something. It's hard without without taking in a full story here. Because, like, to be honest, sometimes people get a

glorified thought in their head about marriage or what it looks like or what your time with your spouse is gonna look like. So, I mean, if if I can fill in some gaps, you can fill in them in one way or the other. Right? And I'm gonna say, look. This man is overall… He loves you, and he shows you that daily. And you get along on multiple accounts. You've raised beautiful children. He don't wanna go on vacation. He just don't dig it. And he didn't do the marriage thing, and you wish he would have. So are you are you at least taking a balanced approach? Right? Now, could be completely the other way. Right? Maybe the guy's an overall turd, and the only small bit of happiness you wanna ring out of this lazy bum is just for him to go on vacation. That's how I took it. Yeah. Right? And he's and he still refuses. Right? Yeah. Like, there's just there's just two very different situations here. Right? So I I… First of all, make sure you're not over romanticizing and taking a guy that is a human flawed dude. And there's a couple things that you wish were different. Right? I think everybody can have a a a look at their husband and go, I wish parts of this pen were not the same Yeah. The way that they are. I wish that he did this differently or I wish he acted this way different or he had paid more attention to this and like,

sometimes you're just over picking. You know, like, that's just tough. Nobody can measure up to this thing that you've come up with. I I'd say the description that you've given to this man, I don't think he probably gets that much grace here, but I'm just asking to take a quick fresh relook and make sure you're not painting him with the worst possible brush. Secondly, to Ben's point, I'd let the marriage thing go that didn't happen.

And you don't wanna go on vacation with a guy that don't wanna go on vacation with you. Right? That's not fun at all. So it's like taking your kids to Mount Rushmore and you get all the way there and they look at it and go, yep. There it is. You know, Yeah. I see the face. Where are the butts? Yeah. You're like, you know what? You didn't have to come. Yeah. There's no butts, you know. I wanna take this in a little bit longer. Now, can we go and popcorn? I wanna get popcorn. We're looking at the faces. You know, you're… And and like it it lets the wind out of your sails a little bit. You're like… Because you knew all the planning and whatever that had to go into it and your kid don't wanna be there. He thinks it's dumb. You know, it's… It kinda stinks. So that's what your husband would be like traveling. You just… Don't wanna do it. When she wants to know what to do, I would say what she needs to do is is figure out if she has it. Relationships

relationships take work. And maybe they've gotten lazy. Sounds like a lazy relationship. Sounds like he's never been fully engaged. So, maybe that's just what it is. Or maybe there's something she can do to engage him more, like in in an attractive way, not in a, you know, guilting way. Right. And so I would encourage her to fig… Figure out what it is he really wants out of life and go after it and and make him the happiest guy on the planet. And hopefully, that will turn around to like, hey, wanna make you happy too. That'd be something to try anyway. I mean, rather than just saying, well, I guess I'm stuck here for the rest of my life. Yeah. Because I I think it is true that like sometimes

spouses get in in ruts in relationships. And like, I think the hardest thing is getting over the feeling of either either guilt or like irritation Mhmm. With your spouse for having got that way.

Like, well, what does that mean about me? It must mean I'm not a good spouse or like, how could how could this this… How could my spouse act this way for all all that we've done and been together and blah blah blah? Like, it's hard to get over that. But like, whatever it is or however if someone ends up that way, I think trying to put… To to to double down on on some efforts to shake them out of it a bit. Yeah. Yeah. And and I mean, that doesn't doesn't mean you're to blame at all. It just means you're the person who's gonna give it a shot. Mhmm. And that speaks well of you. And so…

Yeah. Yeah. I think people take that. It's hard to take in. Right? Like when you're the offended party, you know, the one that has been treated poorly and you're like, now I have to double down and try to, like, bolster this dude up where he's he's the one that's mistreating me. And like, it does seem very unfair. But like, if you break it down to to to straight logic. Right? You want this. And you know that he's not gonna put the effort in to get it. And so you go, if this is what I want, this is what I will do to try to help it along. Right? Fair or unfair? At some

point, some things that you want to get done, fair or unfair doesn't matter. Right? If you want your shed built and your grandpa promised to do it and he just doesn't keep doing it and for… It goes on for months, is it unfair that you have to go out and finish it because he didn't keep his promise? Yeah. Probably. But you want the shed up. That's the point. Yeah. Right? The point is building the shed. And so like, I I I agree it's hard to take in, but like sometimes you just have to swallow that stuff and go, what do I really want? If I take all my feelings out of it and all my sense of of pride and what I'm owed and how I've been treated, and I just move it off to the side and go, what do I want? And how do I get there? Yeah. And then do it. And then and then at least you can move on and say this is this is what I… This is where we're at. You know? And so like, I know that advice is really hard to hear. Right? Double down and put a bunch of effort into this doofus who's not putting any any effort into you. But like, I I think if if if you really mean what you what you are saying, then you you make the effort and and then see how it turns out. Okay. Segular says,

I can't do anything about the church wedding you were denied, but I do have a suggestion. Quit pouting over what you can't change and assume some control over your life. Except that because you had low self esteem, you were willing to marry someone this self centered and controlling. Because you have a desire to travel and I assume can afford to, ask some of your woman friends to join you. If you do, I'll bet you have a great time sending photos back to your home body hubby. Wow. She was more strict than I was. Yeah. I mean, so interestingly, I'd be… I wonder if someone were to ask the question that I asked at the start of the show of secular,

whether she would respond that same way. Because that's closer in line to, I think, ultimately what I was trying to get at. Right. Stop pounding over things you can't control and get to… Take some responsibility for your life. Yeah. Dear life from the path. I've been divorced from my ex for thirty six years. Our son is now 44. My ex and I haven't spoken since the divorce because it was ugly. Now that we are older, for the benefit of our son, I would like for my ex and I to be civil to each other. I'm tired of hating and I don't want him to hate me. I wonder if it would make my son happy if his father and I were on better terms. So I've been thinking of writing to my ex and asking if we could talk sometime. What do you think? I find a four year old son? Did you find this weird? Yeah. I don't think the son cares. He's probably been divorced twice.

Yeah. I mean, are you telling me that they… He was eight years old when you got divorced, and you didn't speak to the dad? That's a long time. Through all the childhood? Yeah. And you're like, I wonder if he'd like this. Well, yeah. Yeah. You're like way late. Yeah. I mean… I say was he engaged with his dad? I mean, that's… I wanna know that.

Yeah. That's true. There there needs to be more information here. I don't think this is a good reason for you to to get ahold of your ex, by the way. Like, if worried about your son's benefit. I think that that Yeah. Think…… The ramp a long time ago. Something feels like… I mean, I'm generally for finding paths of reconciliation and peace where it doesn't belong. But this seems like a weird motivator, like… She's got some romantic feelings. You think she's… She's sticking to the past going, you know, maybe. Yeah. He was alright. Still a campfire with smoking. I I think I can speak with almost a 100% confidence your 44 year old son does not give a rip.

I mean, I I just I just I just can't imagine it. If he… Especially if has any life… Unless he's living in your basement or something. But, like, if he has gone off and and gotten married or had kids or has a career of of… If he has anything going, he's already grown his life accustomed to the situation that he was born and raised in. I just don't think he's hanging a lot of stuff on the balance So… Here. So I think, like, I think all three of us, we came from homes where… That ended up being broken in some way or another with parents separated. I guess, do you either of you remember a time when you're like, boy, wish my mom and dad would just

get back together. No. No. It didn't happen to me. Okay. So either we're three callous boobs here or after a while you figure out how to do life. Right? Like you just figure it out and and and once again… And and and maybe by our our advice we've shown our cards here, but we're fairly pragmatic.

Right? Like once once the world is the shape that it's in or events have gone down, you go, well, there's not a whole lot of point sitting here going down with the turds. I guess we're gonna… Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna get out of here. Right? Because like, I mean, do you really want… Do you want the opposite to be true? Right? Do you want to have your kid have lamented the divorce and the situation have been a burden to him for the last thirty six years and really weighed him down to the point that this would make any difference? Because I wouldn't want that reality to be true. Yeah. I'd rather they move on. I would rather that they they they shelved it, they compartmentalized it, and said, okay, this is too bad and I wish it wasn't this, but it kinda is what it is. And crying about it and worrying about it and and front loading a bunch of of thoughts in here. It's not helping me or anybody else. So I'm gonna go ahead and act like my parents don't talk and it is what it is and we're gonna move on. Yeah.

So I… It… It's almost… I… It really sounds like you just need an… You want an odd excuse to get a hold of your ex. I think you should just do it. I think you should write them and say, hey, I'd really like to sit down and talk sometime if you have a couple free minutes and and whatever. It'd just be nice to talk to Let's say what needs to be said. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But when my dad was dying of cancer, I offered to take my mom. Say, do you have anything you wanna just say to him? You know, I mean Yeah. She's like, no. Like, I mean, this is your last chance. Are you sure? Nope. She's good. Alright. I mean Yeah. Wanted I wanted to at least give the opportunity. Right. And as a sudden, you pause a minute and you go, dang. Alright. Well, you know, and then you shelve it off and go, I mean it is what it is. Ain't much I'm gonna do.

Yeah. Okay. Secular says, here's Secular's advice. I see no harm in writing a letter to your ex. However, do not expect a miracle. Because the divorce was, quotes, ugly, do not expect him to react positively after more than three decades of icy silence. As to your son, whatever the situation has been for most of his life, he is accustomed to it. Yeah. I agree. It should be weird. Yeah. Oh oh, no. Yeah. Wait. You wanna do one more? Yeah. We… Yeah. We can do one more. Okay. Hold on. Let me find one more.

No. More marriage ending. Blah. Why don't wanna do no more of that? It's going around. I think it's because of COVID. Hey. I read I read a study today that said that

deaths in The United Kingdom were up substantially year over year, but they… Like, a a good chunk of them weren't related to COVID. It's heart disease. These are the people who sitting around. Like, they can't… They're not going out anywhere, and they feel like they can't do anything. And so they're like, they're pounding down the potato skins. Yeah. Yeah. In their chair. I mean, I I think we don't like to admit it, especially in our culture, but like, I think mental health and

physical health have a lot to do with each other. Yeah. And I think you know that's true if you've had any experience, even if you suck at diets or exercise or something, for the three weeks you did it, you loved it. You felt good. You felt different. You felt like you were living intentionally and taking ownership responsibility of what you were eating or what you were doing or how you were exercising and whatever. And and you'd have to be telling yourself lies to not agree that having a good control, at least control of your physical health, you liked. You liked that. You liked how it made you feel. And so I think we we push that off to the side as if it's not a big deal, not a large contributing factor to some of the mental health issues we're taking on, but I really think it I really think it does. Yeah. I I agree. I think that's actually usually my first question for people who are having

rounds of depression or anxiety. I'm like, are you do you getting up? Are you doing anything? You walking? You eat… Are you eating at all? Are you sleeping well? Because like, your brain is still part of your body and your whole your whole system is supposed to kinda work together. And if you shut off the lights somewhere, you're gonna notice it's dark in hallway. Okay. Here we go. Last one. Oh, it's got to salty. K. Your life from the path. My oldest daughter, quotes Heather, has started her senior year of high school. She's often angry and confrontational with my husband and me. We've learned to remain neutral and not to react to her attempts to pick fights. However, we have two younger daughters, 15 and nine. We found out that Heather often swears at them and calls them the b word and sometimes worse.

Unfortunately, it's something I hear about long after it's happened. My younger girls have witnessed her swear at us too. Heather will be 18 in a couple of weeks and frankly, we're ready for her to move out once she gets her diploma. Until then, how would you handle this situation? I mean, that's that's that's just how it works. She's a senior. She's getting out. She's getting independent. She's making it healthy and and happy for her to move, and you're healthy and happy for her to move. It happens on every single home. Maybe not, you know, all language and stuff. But the attitude definitely is in every single senior home to the point where you're just like, hey, aren't you going like to college or to get a job or something? Yeah. And it's…

Mean… It's blood time. Yeah. It happens with bear cubs. Get out of the den. Yeah. Something tells me that, like, you've created a home environment that may or may not have bred some of this. Right? Like,

even when I was a senior in high school, my respect level was low for most authority figures, and I had a pretty salty tongue. Never would've never would've talked to my mom like that. Right? Like, I certainly would've fought back. I certainly would've been argumentative. I certainly would've been like, don't care what you say. I'm pretty much gonna do what I want. And every bit of jerk teenager that you would expect. But that

seems oddly over the line. And so I would say if you don't… If you could look back honestly and say that I didn't allow or or cultivate

this type of behavior, I would, one, maybe just do a little bit of digging and just make sure that that she's not into some stuff that she don't need to be into or that is is harming to her. Past that, if it is literally just an attitude problem… I can't say this from personal experience because my kids quite aren't aren't quite old enough yet, but I feel like to a certain extent,

all of my kids in my house are well aware of the way that this house runs and the type of behavior that we expect. And you are more than welcome to stay here as you follow

the way that this house runs. And I think a pretty bold, arrogant 18 year old might say, well, deuces, I'm out. Okay. I I mean, I I think I think there's a lot of room for grace in there and a lot of room for people trying to figure out who they are as they get older. 18 years old actually seems a little old to me for this type of behavior.

I would expect it around the 15, 16 year old age, and we worked through it. And now it is still time for you to leave, but we're not having you call your sisters the b word. Yeah. But like, I just don't know… Don't know. It's… As a dad, Dan, do you feel like… Is there a certain point where you go, look, I just I just cannot tolerate Yeah. What you're doing? I'm not telling you… I'm not kicking you out, but I'm telling you that behavior won't continue here. So you can make a choice. Well, we didn't have anything that extreme. So I can't compare that way. Maybe it's because of our home environment. We had a great great family life. But there was definitely the senior thing going on. What we did, we just gave ourselves extra space, you know, and and extra grace. But we didn't, like, even tell her both of them were hers.

It was just like, you know what? We're gonna just be busy more often and they're gonna… They're busy. They're doing stuff. And we'll give each other space. We all… We pick our fights more carefully. Right. And they're gonna be gone in a few months. Let's make it happy. Yeah. And we didn't have like outright rebellion going on. So I I, you know, maybe that's a different situation. But… I… It just… There's a separation thing though. I mean, I I spend a good chunk of my time around teenagers. Right? And like and like, I… To a certain extent, I get it. As as you go through your teenage years, you're you're literally trying to figure out who you are and who you wanna be. And in the process, you're gonna try on

some different skins. And some of them are gonna be awesome and your parents are gonna love it, and some of them are gonna be pretty rough for your parents to watch. And then you're like, no no no no. Right? And and like that, you have to give freedom and grace to be able to try on the skin and then put it back. Right? And go, oh, I tried it. It's not for me. I'm gonna I'm gonna move on here. You know? And so, like, it's tough as a parent of a teenager to be able to watch that because you feel personally responsible for every skin that they try on as if it's a direct reflection of you. And, like, you know you didn't do that when you were a teenager. I was hanging around people I should not have been hanging around when I was a teenager. I took away philosophies of life and attitudes that I wish I never would have taken on. It's taken me years to to to shelve off to the side, you know. And so it's really hard as a parent of a teenager to do that. All that being said, there… You get to try on skins as a as a teenager,

but there's certain lines that I feel like I'm not gonna move. I'm not gonna move or change the way that God has designed this house to run or God has impressed upon me on how our house is going to run to facilitate you bringing that nasty in here. Yeah. Right? And so like, I I know it's harsh and you're like, I can't believe that you'd kick out your own kid. I totally wouldn't. I totally wouldn't. But I certainly would have a conversation and say that. They have smallest conversations. This is the way the place runs. This is the thing that I'm gonna Yeah.

That's correct. Yeah. And so like, you're more than welcome to be here. I love you and you know I love you. There's But certain things that I obviously I'm just not gonna allow. And so if you can't live with that or you can't find a way to to try to try to meet us halfway on this thing that I… We're kind of stuck because I… That has to stop. So what what would you like to do now? You know, and then I suppose you go from there based on an answer, you know, and figure out where you're at. It's it's it's not a great situation and no parent wants to have that conversation but I I… That's part of becoming the adult relationship though. Correct. Correct. I like… And because you're moving on from being involved in every decision they make, what they eat, where they go, and how much gas they have in their car to shared experiences as adults. Like, you're bringing common wisdom and like even even as they grow older into their their early twenties, they're gonna make some calls you don't agree with. Like just flat out. They just… And and there's nothing you can do about it. Right? You're just gonna have to watch them do it. They're gonna take a job that you think was probably a bad idea. They might date a person that you're like, oh, man. I just don't think this is gonna work on the long term. You know, like they're gonna buy a car or for heaven's sakes, lease a car. And you're like, oh, no. Don't ever lease a car. You know, like, things that you're just not gonna dig on. And you got you gotta figure out how to start shelving that stuff back and let them be

and let them work through some of the mistakes that… You're never gonna stop them from making them mistakes. You're just gonna have to watch them do it and support them as they do it. But you're also… I don't think I don't think they get to take over the lives of four other people with them. Right? Like if it's you and your wife and your two two other kids, their erratic driving doesn't mean you have to sit in the van, you know, and watch it hit a barrier. Well, yeah. I think there's there's a risk to that like what sounded like passivity on on the parents' end. I think I think there's a reality, Mike, to what you're saying is that you're gonna have to…

The kids are just gonna go through some of these things and you can't you can't keep them from it. They're gonna do it anyway. They're going to assert themselves into these situations and it probably isn't yours to stop. But like, it's just like there there's still kids, there's still humans who as they're trying out these various things, like they don't know where the boundaries are. And like the way that you know the boundaries in any given room are is you run into the wall. And so like, if you if you don't engage in situations like this and make it clear that, hey, I heard what you said to your sisters or I hear how you're talking to me. Like, these these things are not acceptable. You're you're the wall. You're how they understand that they ran into the barrier. And so by, like, trying to to avoid it or not engaging in the conversation, you don't help them form the right sense of where the barriers are. And so they they do still need your help with that. And I think that's true even moving on into young adulthood, like, it's okay to be the wall. Now, you're not the jailer. You you you're you're not the moral police. You're not… You don't have the ability to run their lives. They have the freedom to bounce up against the walls if they want to. But you you do still get to be the wall, and like, that's generally where people… Like, every time I I realize that I've I've made a wrong behavioral decision, it's because something that I've decided to say or do runs up against someone who goes, hey, man. I don't like that. That hurt me or

that is out of character and I don't appreciate it. And like, I ran into a wall and like, I can either decide to go Kool Aid man on it and bust right through and keep running, or I respect the boundary. But like, I… The only way I know I hit a boundary is because someone said something. Someone mentioned it to me that I ran into it. And so as a parent, I think your, you know, your relationship with that does change. In some ways, you can try to actually

mold the type of behavior or way people are talking because like you have an authority over them to do that. But it will become, I think, as you age, it's still okay to be the boundary. It's still okay to tell them and have them rec… Help them recognize where they're crossing boundaries. Your just ability to force them to stop doing that starts to diminish, and you're gonna have to accept that. Don't try to extend your reach farther than what you're capable of actually doing. Yeah. I suppose your position is never neutral. I I can't imagine ever being neutral on my kids like, do whatever you want. I don't feel that way. I can't imagine ever feeling that way. Yeah. I I do have an opinion. Yeah. Well, and I guess that's the thing is that like, it's not even okay.

Hey, man. So we we don't like… We just don't engage with her. I think there's some prudence to like, you don't have to climb up every tree they're willing to start a fight on. I totally agree. But like, I think there is a notion though too that like just don't disengage fully, because you already got trouble. Now you're just avoiding it. And now you're you're helping someone who doesn't know how to be an adult by bailing and not showing them where the boundaries are of even a reasonable adult. And so I think I think Dan's path is a real prudent one. Right? Like, don't… You you give space because you know people need it. You know, like, your kids are trying to transition to something. But it's it's not… You're not gone either. You're still a parent. You're still providing boundaries. You still help them recognize. And like, that's probably gonna be a fight.

When they're kids, when they hit a boundary, like they feel some level of responsibility for it. As they grow up and they… Like, you're in their early… Your late teenage and early adult years, like, they just start questioning whether you're even the right boundary, whether your walls are even good. I'm like, well, okay. They're gonna have to do that. But I mean, they still are what they are and you still help them by at least establishing this is where I believe the boundary to be. Mhmm. Alright. Secular says, talk to your daughter, exclamation point. Why is she angry and disrespectful to you and your husband? Does Heather have emotional issues? If so, what has caused them? Once you have some answers, you and your husband can get your daughter professional help if she needs it. In the meantime, tell Heather you don't like the attitude she's been displaying and you want it stopped immediately. Make plain that if her bad behavior continues, there will be quotes, consequences, and then if it does, follow through.

Yeah. I just be careful on what you think those consequences are. I mean, they're gonna laugh in your face. You're like, I'm gonna take your… Even even something you think is big. Hey. I'm gonna take your car for a week. Okay. I'll call Jill. Oh, you're not gonna call Jill. I own… I got the phone. What are you gonna do? Can you chase me around and take the phone from my pocket? Like, there is a place where, like, your attempt to enforce physical behavioral modification starts to be… Feel real silly. Yeah. Oh, and and even emotional

emotional blackmail. Right? It just doesn't do it like a kid would do it. Like, like, you know, like, you you over show it when a three year old bites you and and, like, you show this, it hurts me. See? Cry. Cry. Cry. Right. Like, you keep trying to pull that off as kids… As teenagers get older, they're gonna see right through you and they ain't gonna put up with it. Right? They're like, you're not gonna blackmail me. Right? And and, like, if if I could give any advice and, like I said, my kids are not old enough, but maybe I've hopefully gained a little bit of wisdom in in youth groups throughout the years. But, like, I'm begging you to talk to your kids like you respect them. Just talk to them like they are they are created in God's image, getting older human beings, and don't talk down to them. Don't talk around them. Don't act like things don't don't matter to them or they're not old enough to understand. Even if they're not old enough to understand, tell it to them like you would tell your buddy, and and and they will ask questions to the phone when they do understand. If you can do that, your kids will have a much better dialogue as they get older and as things progress, and then you're not gonna be worried that you're gonna try to make less of them. Because that's kinda what it feels like. When they get to the age where they can tell that you're talking down to them, that's the age that you need to stop doing that. You just you just have to stop them. Talk to them like regular human beings. You don't need… You can give up on the buck stops here thing, explain

why you would do something, why the thing is where it is, why the boundaries are set where they're at, and you don't agree with them, then I completely understand. You just have to have some grace for me as a parent. I'm trying to figure this out just as much as you are, but you know me well enough to know that I love you, and that's where I got the boundary. And I'm just asking you to to get on hold with it. I think if you can try to deal with your kids in that way, you have a much easier time on some of the the rougher conversations there. Yeah. I think we've had that conversation multiple times with our oldest around technology stuff. Like like, I know I know that, like, there are there are different families around us and there are different situations around us where, like, it feels like they're doing more. And, like, I don't wanna assume that I know anything about where their decisions are at. Here's the things I'm concerned about. This is the reason that we're making the decision we are. I don't even I can't tell you to certain that it's right, but I'm telling you, like, this is the best we got. This is what we come up with. This is what we think is reasonable based upon what we care about and what we're protecting. I I hope it's right, but that's why we are where are, and that's why the rule is what it is. And, like, it's the best I can offer. The… There's no reason to act like I know universally that this is absolutely the best or something is detrimental or positive. It's just we're… This is the best we got, and, like, I I need you to to submit to that.

But I can at least… I'm I'm treating you like an adult, and that we can at least explain to you that this is the limitation of my reason. Yeah. Hey. You've been listening to Live in the past. Thanks for hanging out with us so far tonight. We do very much appreciate it. If you wouldn't mind leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app. This show's not very funny. I know. We used to be funny. Remember? We used to have a good time. Sometimes. We had laughed at sometimes. Now all we do is talk about heavy hearted.

It's not my post. So people post on the on the the faith faith line. What was it? Faith. Faith Beast. I thought when you first said it, it was Faith, m e a t, and I go, no. No. This ain't gonna work, fellas. Face me. I don't understand. Actually, you know what? Just just real quick on the on the the… It's… I think part of the reason the Philistines is less funny is because I'm not laughing at stuff that I used to laugh at. Like, there was a… There was an article on the Christian Post on Jesse Duplantis saying, hey, give more money and it will speed up the second return of Jesus. And I'm confident that five years ago, I'm like, look at this bonobo. And then now I look at it, I'm like, this freaking loser? And I'm mad. I get I get… I mean, not overly angry, but like, I'm not laughing anymore because this irritates. Because people are gonna do it. That's right.

And so, like, I don't… Like, I'm losing a little bit of a joy in some of this stuff because, like, there's a person on the other end of that infomercial or that pseudo good news message who's gonna send money because it's gonna cause the Lord to return earlier. Yeah. That's probably true. I'll go back and listen to some past shows, and I will come up with the top 10 things that we thought were funny, and then see if we still think that Yeah.

That's a good idea. Alright. Anyway, thanks for hanging out with us. Give us a call or a text on Life From The Path. Bye bye is on our complaint line. (515) 517-0085. Well, I'm getting just old enough. I can't see this. It's too close to me. (515) 517-0085. We do hope to see you next week. In the meantime, be faithful in means God will handle the ends. You've been listening to Live From The Pack.