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

What's that? Why are people making that kind of noise? Here's the deal. We all knew Mike was gonna make a weird voice or noise at the beginning of the show like he always does. And so I don't think we should be surprised any longer. No. That's true. I should stop back. I feel like this is what a bison would say if he came to your door and knocked on the door and you opened it and he goes Is this some kind of weird evolutionary creature like the hippopotamus with wings and a machine? Hey. Did I tell you? Hold on. Did you tell you the idea that I had for a for a sketch comedy or even a comic strip? You know that you know that guy on the pedestrian sign? Yeah. Or the guy on the piece piece of Mihatos slip on the floor sign? Yeah. Yes. I thought it would be a great show to be, like, the life of that guy. So, like, every day, he's like, I'm going to work. And, like, this today, he's getting electrocuted for the transformer sticker or, like, he's got rocks. Like, they actually he actually does it in real life. He goes in and pose they could draw it. And every once in a while, his wife will come in and pose with him for, like, when everybody can cross here. Or he's got a bathroom sign gig today where he's gotta stand in the same place. That's funny. Like, he's crossing the road, he's holding his wife's hand, but they're, like, arguing. Yes. They're having a marital spat.

And, like, he and when he's tired, he there's, like, a sleeping sign. Well, like, there's gotta be a sign where someone sleeps. Know? Yeah. I mean, think of all the work he could have. He's like, I gotta do the seat belt sign in an Audi or something, you know, like Brings in his whole family for the work to be on the window decals of families that have six kids. Would he be like a like a quadruplet or something? So then he'd have multiple copies so then he could just, like, you go here, you go Now hold. I don't know about this quadruplet angle. I haven't thought about that. I mean, your premise is ridiculous enough. We can have the quadruple thing to it. You set up bison knocking on a door. Okay. So Alright. Here we go. You're listening live from the path. Here's what got going on the show this evening. I'm I'm telling you. This is this is gonna hit you. This is but you don't even know that this is the article that you've always wanted. Six things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes. When evil strikes? I'm sorry. Like, we're in a comic book? Like, yeah, when evil strikes. I don't Magneto takes over. The x men have to come together. Now listen listen here. There may be something helpful in here. I just the proposal of it. Like, the way that they've ordered it makes it seem like this has nothing to do with me ever. When evil strikes. Because it sounds like something you would never say to your wife. Like, woman, evil has struck. There's been a shooting. Evil has as Christians, we got a band together because evil has struck. Right. Like, that's the thing is, like, actually, so when there's a shooting, that's a great example because, really, you could look at it and go, there's evil here or something. Yeah. But you wouldn't say that. No. Yeah. Yeah. The principalities at work. Yeah. So, anyway, six things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes. We'll hit that up. There was an article. Is gazoinks one of them? The biblical meaning of a mark on your forehead. Do you want the mark of god or the mark of the beast on your forehead from our favorite contributor on beliefnet.com? Oh, yes. So we'll see how things are going. We can pick that one up. Actually, vein Yes. David Jeremiah is out with how Christians should prepare for the end times. He says ignore it at your own peril,

which you know what's so funny? Is is even a lot of modern theology comes out of Martin Luther, and Martin Luther's reaction to the end times was, if I thought the world was gonna end tomorrow, I'd plant a tree today. Basically, you go about your business doing the things that God asked you to do. It's it is something of which you should be there should always be an urgency of bringing people to Jesus and living in right relationship with him. But, like, this hyper urgency just is is an odd

it's an actually an odd thing that's come out. It's it's more recent than, I I think, in previous time. Was Martin Luther known for his ecological efforts? Like, did he plant a lot of trees? Yeah. Yeah. He was gardener. Okay. Was he a big rapture man? No. Not at all? No. No. He was saying nothing changes. I'm gonna do the same thing today. Exist then. Yeah. Right. Right. It was they did not exist at the time of the reformation. Back when they were still reading the bible. Yeah. Okay. And I I have I have opposed I oppose a question, and we'll probably get to it in the second half of the show. But, like, if you how much does theology really matter? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Oh. A whole lot. We'll pick that up. Okay. Yeah. And then, Bubba, you've got a you've got an an ask ask the pastor. I do have an ask the pastor. I was reading in in second Samuel this last week. It actually might have been the first Samuel at the very end, and I'm just remembering it weirdly. But there's, like, flat out necromancy, and it's freaking me out because, like, every time I found myself in a place where I'm like, yeah, the lord works in ways that I've never understood or seen, and so I'm fine with there being a big fish that swallows up dudes, or I'm fine with there being a giant flood. That's that's no problem. It doesn't break my brain. But, like, this doesn't seem to be like a and the lord called upon this dead person. Seems to be like just some lady who's a necromancer and then calls upon, like, the spirit of Samuel Yeah. At Saul's request. Which god permits. Yeah. We That's what I'm trying to figure out is, like, it feels like a weird thing where is god permitting this? Is this, like, there's some demonic stuff going on? Fake Samuel. Is it a fake Samuel? Yeah. That then but then here's the deal. The Samuel was right. Like, Samuel was correct about the demise of Saul literally happening immediately after. So what's going on there? As demons can be. Alright. We'll take it. Demons can be. Right. I wanna talk about it. I need to ask the pastor about this biblical necromancy. Okay. Alright. We'll pick it up. Plus, we got advice on Dear Life in the Path, and we're gonna catch up with your voice mails from the Life Path from the Path complaint line, which is roughly thirty seconds of silence.

So get it. Great. And the world collectively speaks sonic. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Six things that Dan needs to stop saying when evil strikes. Evil struck. Look how distraught the guy on the picture is. Oh, evil has struck. Okay.

Evil. Hold on. Hold on. Let me I gotta set the scene right. I I need to start saying this, though. That's true. We could bring it to life. I mean, since there's an article on what to do when it happens, we might as well start calling it out correctly. Yeah. Alright. Evil is a part of our world. Terrible and tragic events happen every day. As Christians, we hope to navigate evil events with grace and compassion. But when we attempt to make sense of evil events, we often end up saying something unbiblical.

We say things that hurt others we are trying to help. Here are some go to phrases that says that end up causing more harm than good. Here we go. Sounds about right. Number one, everything happens for a reason. I'll punch myself in the face if I ever say that. Now we do say this. Yes. And it is true. Dan says, you you you Dan, you stand by it. Okay. Everything happens in the world saying it. Everything has. Yeah. Sorry. Just because it's true doesn't mean you have to say it out loud. You gotta use timing is everything on that.

Yeah. But the problem is people use it as a comforting statement. Yeah. They say it in dumb times. Right. Yeah. Evil has struck in people's lives. Everything happens for a reason. Oh, well, then my depression and feelings must be invalid. Yeah. You're walking down the street, there's a knife sticking out of your heart because someone just robbed you, and you're like, well, you know, that happened for a reason. That's probably a bad time. A schmuck. Yeah. Go ahead and call the ambulance first. I mean Yeah. Did you just say ambulance? Out poorly. I'm sorry. Well, yeah. For a reason. I'm already calling the ambulance. Okay. So oh, actually, so that that's good point. It's actually you're not even saying anything. Right? It it does it doesn't say anything in particular. You're like,

something I don't know. A guy trips on the sidewalk and gets run over by a taxicab, and you go, well, the world's still spinning. It's as revealing as everything in the universe is a potato or not a potato. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. The world's still spinning. So is your vision from getting hit by a car. That's true. Indeed. A taxicab will do that. The phrase itself okay. The commentary is this phrase in itself is not biblical. The fact is that faith is not reasonable in definition. That's a weird weird thing to say. If it was easily verified by scientific evidence and facts, then it would not be faith. It would be a theory. What what are we even talking about? This is a poor justification. These people just say words I swear. Yeah. The closest bible verse oh, good.

A similar bible verse. To everything, there is a season. That would be a very crass thing to say to somebody. Hey. Got I Mike moving around. Yeah. What has he done? A guy gets hit by a taxi cab, and you go up and go, hey. To everything, there is a season. This is your season of This is your soon will come your season of healing. Yeah. It's the taxi season. Yeah. Right. First must come the season of taxiing. But but, you know, Hebrews isn't it Hebrews that that where where god does say is like, hey. Sometimes things happen because of discipline. Sometimes bad times come, and and there's good things that come from it. And, I mean, it's all that's a theme throughout scripture. I I think they're off there a little bit. I don't know that I don't know that I would say it's a themed throughout scripture that all that all everything is traced by a specific action of god. Well, sure. Right. Right. Right. Right. But people people jump to that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But but there are of which we will not know whether something was a specific action of god or whether it was a otherwise fallible action of humanity or something in sometimes. Well, but the context of the article is evil. So evil has happened. Mhmm. Is that evil? You can learn from it. Oh, yeah. You can. I mean Well, the question is is that, like Because

did god perseverance and, you know, Romans talks about that. But that may not be the reason that it happened. It may be something that can happen coming out of it. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Is it somebody's grandma dying evil struck? No. Okay. I'm just trying to, like, right size what's happening in this situation where they're saying that evil has struck. Yeah. I did they didn't provide any context. Okay. Yeah. Why do we always say when we say evil has struck, we say it in, a deep voice, like you're in a cinematic movie. Just sent you. Right? Evil has struck. Yeah. I think that's right. Should have some reverb on there too. Yeah. I'll see I'll see what I can do on there. It's foreboding. Yes. It says even if there is a weird what way to put this. Even if there is a great reason for the tragedy that happened. What's that?

What's the matter with this person? It does not Is this a human writing this article? Grandma got hit by a car. This AI. What a what a fantastic tragedy. If you had just lost a close friend unexpectedly and someone used this phrase, you would feel that your grief was being dismissed. Yes. Yes. Agreed. It also assumes that the event that happened had no influence by Satan, sin, and free will. The the three What? The three options of the apocalypse.

Is it Satan? No. Sin? No. Free will? Yeah. Yeah. Is it a bird? Is it a flayer? I got cabbed by freedom. Alright. Okay. Next. Number number two, six things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes. Number two, this is an opportunity for the church. Oh gosh. That's have you ever heard somebody say that? No. I think so. Okay. Okay. Maybe not. Okay. I'm gonna get back. An opportunity for the church? I mean, I've heard, like, a half of that statement where, like, we're, like, is a good period of revealing in their life. Like, the parents just got divorced. Come on, man.

Oh, gosh. Yeah. It'd be, a call to the church. Hey. Y'all need to step forward. Right. The tragedy has struck. Call to action then. Avengers assemble. Oh, good. There's evil. Look at look at that. Yeah. Right. People to church. This this frames it as, like, you see some sort of tragedy, and then you're like, this is our opportunity as opposed to, like, reasonably. So that in in that example, Grace, in your example, like, you should be praying at the time of something that something rough happens that, like, may it be a time of which they're open to hearing from Jesus in times that they normally wouldn't. Like, totally, but not like this is an opportunity for the share share. Revealing of, like, gotcha preaching. Right? Like, never waste a good tragedy.

Never waste a good news cycle. Never never waste an opportunity to play on the fears and insecurities of your of your population. Right? So, like, here's the situation that happened. This was because we weren't progressing the gospel. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Well yeah. Because, actually, I was gonna say, like, I we have to be cautious, I guess, in that, like, major tragedy. Like, what else should speak life into that except for the good news of Jesus Christ? So, like, I don't think you I I think we gotta be cautious so we're not saying, hey, man. The church the church should not take should not be there when rough thing happens, lest it feel like we're taking advantage. Like, this is the salve, man. And so we should be in on that. But if you're using it as some sort of if it feels like you're marketing or it's a shallow it's not actually community. It's it's just like shallow

look. Whenever there was tragedy, we got the church shirts on and we went out so the people would cc the churches out. Like, that's wrong. Yeah. The traffic thing thing is is is horrible. What a great opportunity for the church to look good. It's like Yeah. Right. And it's and also to not forget, like, God does not bless all these things, but he does allow them. Right? For sure. Like, they were allowed by God. And so, like, it's but because the way they're framing the article is evil has struck because the Lord is not watching or like it's it's on his watch that evil has struck and God goes, yeah, I know. I know that happened. Yeah. Absolutely. It says, can God redeem an evil act? Yes. He can. However, evil acts should not be seen as opportunities. They are dark and tragic events that we should not seek to gain from. Okay. To be fair, though, it's like let's put it in not a a mustache twisting. Right? Like, if let's say there is a natural disaster. Is that an opportunity for us to get out there and help people? Yeah. At a 100% is. Not like you wouldn't say it like that. You know, it'd be like because you would because you wouldn't talk like that. It's talking in like a verbose

us against them mentality. Right? Like, this is an opportunity for the church. Like, this is an opportunity for you. Let's go out. We're gonna go out. You guys wanna go out? We're gonna help people. We'll get a bunch of food made. We'll buy a bunch of water. We'll get some places for people to stay. Like, it doesn't sound like it's such a nonfamiliar aspect to going out and helping the community opposed to, like, our group, your group. I think I think what this is this person is saying out loud the stuff that's never said out loud. Oh, yeah. Sat at the table at the church conference with all these pastors, and they're talking about what your church is doing

and and like, okay. A tragedy happened. Let's go back to evil. An evil thing happened, and then it was like a call to to action and the church engaged, and it was it was very healthy for the church. Yeah. And and we're having that conversation, like but no one's going out into the public saying, man, that was great. Those people got shot because we could really do something. You you know? Mean, it it's they're they're they're saying stuff that's never said out loud Right. Other than inside conversation between pastors sometimes. Like, this was this was a terrible thing,

but some people, our church grew from it too. So it's like some good came from it. Yeah. This is where we belong in. I think it's okay to say apostles unite. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's okay to say, hey. Let's get hit on this thing, but you wouldn't go to the person who got hit by the cab and say, I'm glad this occurred. This was a great opportunity for us to get out here and evangelize. Like I mean, I think it's the fact that it was said in the first place and not acted. It's word like like, it's the whole, like, words, not actions. Like, if you're just saying this is a great opportunity for the church, you wouldn't say that. You just go out there and take the opportunity and do the thing because that's what you're supposed to be doing. Right. But, like, this is what I'm saying, like, in the churches, there's like, we've done things that I never had thought of doing before because someone said, hey. There's a tornado when we go out and do stuff. Yeah. And it like, hey. That's a great idea. Yes. So then there's a tornado and we say, hey. As a church, who wants to go? Yes. We've all been out there and done that because we heard somebody else did it. If they hadn't said that, like, in the inside inner circle conversations, we wouldn't have that like, that never would have occurred to me. Yeah. You you know? Or if I thought, well, I don't know. Other people are doing that. I don't know. But I said, no. I guess the church could do it. Yeah. We could. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So so that's good and healthy healthy in the right context, but no one goes around yeah. You you wouldn't say it's church's murder. Yeah. This is great. Yeah. Yeah. You just you frame it as a it's it's just who how you're framing it. Am I will we frame this as opportunity to help someone else? Or are we framing it like, hey. We can enrich ourselves. I don't know people who are doing that. So, like, I think people are going out to help. That's my experience. Yeah. Because you'd be like, I'll post pictures sometimes of things I think, this is kinda, like, not it kinda goes against my idea, but I do it because then other people jump on board. Yeah. We've shown some pictures of our our home listings, but now other people are jumping on board because they saw that, like, yeah, went apart. I wanna get part of it. That's that's really why I do that. It's so you can't tell the heart and the motivation, especially in in the article, but that's where

I think there's a difference. Six things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes. Number three, this is because of god's wrath. Oh. Says we live in a broken world because human nature is to sin. Weird. That's just wrong in so many ways. Heard that phrase. Okay. Well so I'd oh, I've I've I've I have heard that. I've said that. Mike has said it. Poorly. Like, I was wrong. Yeah.

It says we continue to see in each day and society gets worse because of it. Evil acts like terrorism or sexual assault and ideal examples for showing the inherent sinfulness of our world. No matter why these bad events happen, it is clear that god was not behind it. He was not trying to punish the innocent victims for not following his word. God's direct intervention and punishment as described throughout the Bible is the exception rather than the rule. This is due to his supreme patience, Psalms one zero three, motivated by his love for us and desire to reconcile us to himself for salvation. Okay. So I'm gonna be the unpopular guy in the room. I think this is I think you should probably never say this Yeah. Because you don't know that. But it but it happens. Is it possible that god is doing something? Sometimes fire hail falls on Egypt.

Sometimes. Now but well A lot of the time. I'm a think about that. Why? Because, like, he doesn't like, it just the context of which we attribute emotions to Yahweh is a tough go. Right? Because like our wrath looks different than his. Like, there's there's built in goodness and justice in his wrath. Right? Like, the word wrath to us sounds like evil,

uncontrolled, you know, maniacal anger. And, like, god's wrath is full of justice and and goodness. And, like, that's we don't know wrath that way. And it's it's interesting because, like, you read through the old testament. It's not the accept or it it's not the exception. I don't think. Like, as you look through it, there's a lot of wrath in the old temple. No. It is it it depends what you're measuring. But by time, it's most certainly is the exception. Like, you've got major events. Right. Yeah. Okay. Yes. But, like, you know, the the

to the land that they're coming into in the land of Canaanites, the Canaanites were allowed to persist in their evil for hundreds of years Right. Which ended up in a punishment of actually, and it was a the Israelites coming, and they're allowed to otherwise remove them from the land. Yeah. Because that's their land. Yes. And and that is a justice from god Right. From that. I think actually, I think in in our current societal context, I would generally say justice as opposed to wrath because I think people hear wrath wrong, although god is able to handle wrath in ways that we cannot. And so I think it's an okay word. I just think, societally, we may think of it incorrectly. That's fair. But yes. I yeah. So I I don't I don't know. You don't see Jesus talking about the same type of thing. You actually don't see outside of the Canaanites. You do not see continued actions of as outside of that part of god's promise. Oh, well, I guess when the Israelites are exiled, you see him similar types of things. But, like, I just I I it doesn't it doesn't persist after kind of that particular time period. So, like, I'm not I'm not willing to I think a human as a human, it is not your place, and I know that you don't know. But I I think it is too far for me to go. God is not taking a step into the world either on a micro macro scale injustice

for things people are petitioning and praying for. I there's no reason for me to take that out of his hand like he doesn't. Well and, also, what what are you trying to prove by saying that? Like, what what are what are you actually doing by commenting that it's God's wrath in some time of evil being struck upon someone's life? Like, it just doesn't I'm not certain what you anticipate that you're getting out of it or giving to them by calling out that it's god's wrath because I yeah. It's not certainly your place to do so. Like you said, you may not actually even know at all. You don't really have the the place to call upon that and say truthfully that it's that it is. And, like, it's an opportunity for you to to show love to these people in these moments. It feels weird to then go, well, this is just this is telling of god's wrath against whatever, either it's society or the world or your life or whatever. Just doesn't feel like a gospel furthering or kingdom enhancing thing to say. It's it's also like a non humble way of approaching the way that God interacts with the world. Right? Because, like, you can't say evil has struck and say also that's God's wrath because the guy God doesn't use evil to to produce his justice. Right? Now he will use

evil people. Like, he will use sinful humanity Mhmm. To do it. But, like, if you were to look at, like, the Israelites being carried off to Babylon, like, in their perspective, they're like, evil has struck upon us. I'm like, yeah. Yeah. God is a 100% allowing all of this to bring you to repentance. I mean, he sent them. My servant. Yes. My servant. Exactly. So like that's justice at work, not evil at work, you know? And so like and from a human perspective, because we have an arrogance to us. Right? We're like like being brought low will not bring me to repentance. So this is just another notch in the belt of things that have happened to Mike. Yeah. You know I'm saying? Like, that's the way humanity looks at evil. Harm and evil are not synonymous. That correct. And mostly not my fault. Right? Right. Because once again, humanity goes, I don't deserve any of this. I am fairly upstanding and there's no way god's justice would be visited upon me.

Everything is going to be fine. Right? And like humanity has has had to Israel had to been struck up against that multiple times of only so you could see it reflected in your own life that like, I hear what you're saying, god. I hear what you said to do. I did the exact opposite. I'm pretty sure there will be no consequence. Like, you really gotta realize the god that you're dealing with here. Right? Like, you are approaching him as if he is some kind of like librarian or nun. Right? That you can kinda bull over and win temporarily. You cannot. Any any temporary wins, he's allowed. Right? Anything that you think you've pulled on him, he is allowed. All within his power. Yeah. We're certainly missing that whole fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom situation.

Correct. Oh, interesting. So the word that translates wrath in the Old Testament, actually, the biblical usage usage is like the the root of it is actually like nostril nose or face. So, like, think flared flared nostrils. So anger. I don't know. Like The lord flared his nostrils against Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which which interestingly like, wrath is actually loaded in some ways different than I would think of

like, demonstrated his anger. I I actually I think I think I'm alright moving away from how you use wrath because that actually seems to be a a tilting of that. I mean, they use it. So for example, the the King James versions will go translates as anger a 172 times in the old testament, 42 times wrath, 22 times face. It's just it was used the word face.

The lord's face fell upon them. Yeah. In the sweat oh, interesting. So it's the same word where it said, oh, and the lord god formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his that word. His wrath. Wrath. Yeah. Or his nostrils into his face, the breath of life. Yeah. How do you flare your nostrils angrily? How do you do that? I think that's generally That's naturally what happens when you get angry. Yeah. Yeah. Like one of those rage micro micro You've not been righteously angry, El. That's the problem. You really need to get hosed off.

And and when it happens, it's an opportunity for the church. Yeah. Agreed. And it's and it's it's the it's the sign of the apocalypse, which is number four. Yeah. A nostril flare. This is a sign of the apocalypse. These are things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes, Give me another word. Armageddon. The Say Armageddon. It's wrong, but say Armageddon. The uprising.

Okay. The end times. Just say the end times. I kinda like the uprising. Yeah. Okay. Uprising. It's unbiblical. People who predict when doomsday is coming are carelessly reading scripture and making assumptions that god did not intend. Well, look at that. Which is bringing the eighties. Gold star. That this is all eighties preacher stuff. It is kinda. Yeah. Maybe that's what they've been they can listen to the old mix tapes. I mean, AIDS was coming out. They're like, oh, you see it? It's it's god's punishment. I mean I mean Right. All I mean On the monkeys. I'm hearing all kinds of eighties preachers. Additionally, we are told several times throughout the bible to never try and guess when Jesus would return. Okay. That's not really quite fair because although it's several times, it's the same conversation to multiple books. You might be overcooking a rabbit on that one. He said it all the time everywhere he went. Yeah. It does also does not make anyone feel better. Only that much more scared and stressed.

This Armageddon is stressing me out. I swear everything that comes out of BeliefNet could could actually be a comic book, and I would not know the difference. What what is this called? What's the beliefnet? No. No. No. No. Beliefnet.com. Oh, shit. Sorry. I

thought it was belief.net too, but it is beliefnet.com. Things on BuzzFeed or something. No. We aren't cool enough for the BuzzFeed. Okay. It's like Jesus BuzzFeed. Alright. BuzzFeed. Six things. We're rounding off this list. Six things Christians need to stop saying when evil strikes. Number five, god will never give you more than you can handle. Okay. We have approached this before. Often often, you'll be given that very thing. God gives his toughest battles to his hardest warriors. You don't know there's a wolf inside me. There's two wolves inside me. That's right. Guess which one wins? The one I feed.

It's the dumbest crap ever. I'm sorry. I believe that is a legitimate native American proverb, so I apologize if I am hurting one of Just insulting. I'm being culturally insensitive to Dan and all of his cultural sensitivity. I think that's just a skinwalker, an animal wearing people suit. Yep. If you are a member of the Chippewa or Navajo tribes, you can use the Life for the Pathway Blade line five one five five seven. 450, but whatever. No. Not can't list them all, Boova.

No. I would love to see you try. No. Yeah. That sounds like a fun extra of the show. Listen here. If you wanna see that, let us know on the live for the Path complaint line. I don't have a clip of Ben trying to remember all of the Native American tribes that have existed. Oh, I remember. But I do not have the braggadocio to share it with everyone. Braggadocio. Alright. Oh. This phrase seems rather logical and may even help calm you if you forget your lunch at home or have a following following out with a friend. I'm sorry. What? If you forget your I forgot your lunch. I forgot my lunch at home. I'm

the lord's smallest soldier. Lord, why have you put this burden upon me? I forgot my baloney and cheese. It's the Lord's wrath. Okay. I feel like a lot of these are for the church. An unintentional joke. It's not of the apocalypse. But this Yeah. That's ridiculous. That's yeah. Right. Some of it seems like if you were if you were three miles out of your mind, it would make sense. Yeah. This one just seems insane.

If you forgot your lunch at home. The lord just does not give me more than I can handle. Help me find a mobile hoagie. Yeah. Yeah. The lord didn't give me more than I could handle today. He gave me Casey's. Alright. Saying it to others when evil strikes, though, really does not provide any comfort to the receiver. It can sound dismissive of the problem they are going through and can make them feel angry at the lord. Yeah. I mean, agreed. You should not yeah. Yeah. If you say this, stop. This is the one that How about you say, yeah. God sometimes gives you more than you can handle. How about you reach out to him so he can handle it for you? Let's let let me show you how to do that. Very very specifically, god all the time will give you things that you cannot handle Yeah. Yeah. Because it's not your job to handle it. Yeah. He's trying to go, hey. Guess what? I'm your king and your god. You can come to me with this. I've got you. I'll do the heavy. Yeah. Bench press this, Jesus. Yeah. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Oh gosh.

Additionally lunch through Christ who strengthens me. I got an inject. Sorry, Ben. Someone's gotta crochet something. I forgot my lunch, and god will give never give me more than I can handle. Additionally, the phrase is not a direct verse from the bible like many people think. I'm not surprised that a lot of people probably think it's from the bible. Yeah. I could see that. Okay. God don't bless no mess.

The Lord will help never give more than you can handle. I'm a tell you this. I say that all the time. I know you do. I know it's not. It has no biblical sound. I just like it. God don't bless no man. I I just like it. I don't use it in the context of which it was intended. It's just a I'll I reach for it. It's a fun phrase for me. We need to do a compilation like game show where we have all of these nonbiblical phrases to see if if we think they're in the bible or if we're not. Yeah. Should play Jeopardy with, like, things you guys have said. That sounds great too. Wheel of Fortune. That's what I'm thinking. Four also sounds great. Things not in the bible for 400. God don't bless no mess. Ben isms for 800. Business. That cuts deep. Okay. Last one. Number six. Things not to say when evil strikes.

Did you hear that dot dot dot. What? Oh, it's just did you hear. Did you hear about this? It's like gossiping. Did you hear that? No. Hold on. When evil happens, believers and nonbelievers alike are quick to try and figure out the why. Our desire to understand the bigger reason makes us easily susceptible to rumors and conspiracy theories. We feel an urge to pass along the news that might not be vetted by credible sources because it gives us a sense of peace and understanding. There's already so much misinformation out there that Christians should not participate in spreading.

Followers of Jesus should always speak the truth. When tragedy and evil strikes, Christianity may not know how to best respond. What? I think this could have been a list of five and then a sixth add on that goes, and also don't gossip. Don't share don't share stuff on social media that hasn't been verified or something. That Brenda lost her lunch and the lord ordained it? Some evil person took her lunch. She The uprising is coming. That's what I heard. Perseverance led to hope.

Hope to whatever get sad when I don't get lunch, but I've never thought it like apocalypse style. Yeah. Okay. Okay. This one's weird. Okay. Anyway, to round it all out, when tragedy and evil strikes, Christians may not know how to best respond. We rely on quick inspirational messages or cliches to diffuse the situation. However, these phrases rarely make anyone feel better. God wants us to respond to these dark events by praying, joining with other Christians, and finding strength in him. Through God, we can heal and deal with negative emotions in an effective way. Yeah. I mean yeah. Yeah. So okay. Yeah. So so maybe one of the what so what in the column column of what you should do, don't reach for a quippy phrase. No. Because to to to that point, like, people's situations

aren't tailor made for whatever quip you have at you. They're dealing with real tragedy, real could be the presence of real and tangible evil in front of them. And, like, the the word of the lord will help here. Your your quick psycho psychology from a phrase that you remember from a movie or something is just simply not gonna do it. One of the most impactful things that ever hit me when evil struck was somebody that that showed up at my place and was like, I don't know what to say. And I'm like, yeah. And he goes, but I'm here. And I go, I appreciate that, man. And we just went and sat on the couch, and I freaking bawled like a baby. Mhmm. And we didn't make it weird. It was just like, I can't yeah. Okay. You gotta do that. You do that. And I'm like, alright. And that's what we did. Like, it was just flat out someone being willing to be there and knowing that whatever. It might be awkward. It might be the monster crying in the corner. I don't care. It was just flat out just like, alright. I'm here. I I, like I I recognize that you're going through stuff that I may never ever have any understanding or words to say, but my presence to show you that you are not alone

is is huge Yeah. And incredibly impactful. Yeah. I would say and and, Dana, I'd be interested in kind of in your experience, but, like, you know, doing doing funerals or being around people when they're mourning or whatever, like, I can't think of a situation where I felt like I've given advice outside of things that are along the lines of, hey, man. Like, the thing that you're feeling, it's okay. Like like, helping normalize so that people because we people get oddly self conscious in weird sit in situations like that where, like, am I reacting the right way? And so making sure to normalize some of the stuff that they're feeling or thinking or they're fellows who can't stop crying, you're like, dude, it's fine, and making sure they know that, but past that, I you know?

I think the problem is and it's not necessarily a Christian thing. It's a people thing. Right. We feel like we have to say something, and if I have to say something, I might as well make something that'll make you feel better, maybe. I did a funeral for a baby once, and someone came up to the mother and said, Well, know your baby's in hell because you didn't have them baptized. Oh, classic. I don't think that really made them I know, as a matter of fact, know that did not help the mom feel any better. Right. Now that's what you should put in the article. Don't don't tell people that they went to hell, know, the funeral. That that's a Yeah. You wait until the week after. Yeah. Yeah. Do it the next week. Yeah. Or or maybe it's when you're doing a potato salad later, but yeah. Mean, people do say inappropriate things

for sure, and I think it's mostly because they're forcing something. And I don't think she meant that evil. That person did not mean that to be evil. Right. It was evil. Yes. But but they felt like, well, I have to say something, So therefore I'll force something really dumb out. They could have just said the Lord called them home. I mean, I've heard all kinds of like, well, you'll have another. And people say things with the best intentions. But their intentions are so angels. It's like, that's not an angel. No. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It was like Don't know where They grew wings. Yeah. Yeah. He's not a canary. Actually, that that baptized him. They went to hell. That's a good that's a good that is a good reminder. Is that, like, in the presence of situations that you're not sure what to say, then don't say anything. Yeah.

The response is not to fill that air. Yeah. Shut up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Where you lack wisdom and experience, like, that's not the time to try to assert wisdom and experience. This is why you should always be praying for the lord's wisdom, not your own. Oh, yeah. Because your intelligence and wisdom sucks. I still have hours of silence with people. I mean, yeah. I got nothing. Yeah. I led I led a candlelight service once where it was a

friend's dad shot her. It was an accident. He was drunk, and they were playing around with a weapon, and he killed his daughter. And I got called out by the family to, like, lead this candlelight, and I'm sitting there and I'm praying and, like, maybe did five, ten minutes of prayer. We lit our candles up, and, like, the amount of people that came up to me and just started asking, like, super dumb stuff and, like, were, like, I wanna talk to the fan like, friends that were just like, I don't know what to say. I'm like, then don't don't Nothing. Say you have no idea. Sorry. Like, we I think we were like, me and my friend group were maybe twenty, twenty one at the time, and so I'm like, we're not the wise people in this room that are gonna offer, like, serious things that are gonna change perspectives and stuff like that. Just shut up. Show up, but shut up. Yeah. Like, that's the best thing you could do. Maybe I'm I'm a put that on a shirt for myself. It's show up, but shut up. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Let's see here. What do we have? Let's would we oh, let's actually do Muba, let's do let's do your ask the pastor. Okay. Alright. Sounds good. Hit us with the context. So context here, some it is Saul and David are at odds. Saul is the the chosen king

by god at this point in time, well on into his his kingship, and he's being pursued. I I I think it was after he had pursued David multiple times, and David just flat out, like, completely didn't kill him when he could have multiple times. It's finally a situation where he's not even fighting David. I think he was fighting Philistines, if I remember correctly. But it's this weird situation where

Saul, after Samuel died, is trying to then get counsel from Samuel who had given him counsel all throughout Samuel's life, spoken to Saul, told him all these different things. And, a chapter prior, it talks about that Saul had to, like, abolish necromancy

and, like, sorcery and stuff like that and, like, had killed a bunch of these people that were practitioners. Mhmm. And then the next chapter, it is it is Saul essentially in in, like, terror and peril of the coming doom that he feels. He's like, I need to speak to Samuel, so, like, bring me a necromancer, essentially. Bring me a sorceress. Yep. And so they get somebody says, I know of this gal, and they they said her name of this town nearby probably, And they go, and they basically go, hey. I need to speak to Samuel who's dead, and she goes, well, no. Like, you you just killed a bunch of them. I'm not gonna then do it for you. You're probably just trying to set me up and, like, kill me too. And he goes, no. I need you to do it right now. So it says that she essentially, like, calls upon Samuel, who was fully dead at this point in time,

to, like, speak to Saul and give him some wise counsel. Mhmm. And it happens. Yep. And Samuel comes back, and Samuel gives a pretty foreboding message that's like, you, Saul, and your son, Jonathan, and his children and all of them are going to die in battle. You will lose this battle and are going to be killed and trampled and taken over. Bye bye. Right? Yep. And, like, I'm it was this weird thing that hit me because, like, I have no qualms with believing in the in the supernatural, if you wanna call it that. Yep. That happens in the bible. There's plenty straight

up, you know, 15 chapters in a book book before, somebody's talked to by a donkey, and the donkey is, like, flat out speaking to the dude saying, have I not been good to you this whole time? The angel of the lord is in front of me. Right? I'm a good donkey. Have I always problems that you're okay. I'm a good donkey. I've always been. Why are you beating me? And he goes, I don't know. I believe that this stuff is true, but then, like, it's this weird thing that, like, this isn't a situation where it says, and then the lord brought a word from Samuel or something like that. It's just flat out this chick calls upon Samuel who was dead, grabs Samuel back. Samuel gives a weird message and goes, bye bye. You're you're out of it tomorrow, and then just is done. Yep. And then it moves on. And so I'm super weirded about that because I don't know I don't know how to take that. Like, I I I believe that it's a truthful thing. I don't think it's a history book that's trying to, like, pepper in some weird mysticism.

I believe that it did happen. It did tell a true thing. Like, if Samuel was brought back, it wasn't just somebody pretending to be Samuel and then just saying a harebrained thing and then maybe being right. Mhmm. It flat out all the way of what was said happens. Yep. And so what? Wait. Wait. Is is there demonic necromancy that's happening, but it's it's it's going down where Samuel is able to then give a word from the lord? Is Samuel as a dead person able to see the plans of the universe that is gonna happen the next day, or is the lord then taking advantage of this opportunity to give a message to Saul from a deceased Samuel? Like, there's just a lot of ways that that this is has been kinda racking my brain, and I wanted to ask the pastors about that. Like, what is that what have you thought about those those passages? Like, what does that mean to you? Am I missing something cultural maybe, or am I hearing it or reading it wrong? Like, what's happening? I don't know. Dan, do you have initial thoughts?

I've always kind of looked at that. Basically, yes. Right. Alright. I kind of expected that answer. Right? I I mean, was it was it really him? Yeah. Maybe. Was it a demon instead? Maybe. I I mean, we we really don't know.

He was wearing a robe, and and and he he says, why why are you disturbing me? Like, I'm kind of past this. Why are you bringing me back? It

could have been a demon doing that. I mean Right. Yeah. But I think for us, the important lesson is don't mess with that. Like, I don't even go with horoscopes, any of that stuff because there's too much truth in the spiritual dark world that why even go there? Why play with it? If if if the old testament was so clear on it, then, yes, just just stay away from it. Well, you know, Saul was desperate, and he was trying to get some know, like, they didn't change anything. Right. So

why did you do it? You know you know? Just stay out it. Doesn't the chasm thing that Jesus talks about take the fact that it could be Samuel out of it? Is that not a universal truth? Well, no. No. I don't the reason only reason I don't think so is because I it is the I don't think this depends at all on the power of the witch of Endor. Mhmm. I think it's not relevant to her at all. Like, whether and I think Dan's right. I think there are I think there's two options. I like, I God could have Yeah. Used

allowed Samuel or a vision of Samuel or something to respond to Saul. He breaks his own rules once in a while. He totally could. Right. Because As he has ever read to do. The the chasm you would say is that, like, a human cannot choose to do this. They do not have the freedom to otherwise interact with the world. Right. Nor does another human have the ability to call another human back from wherever their final destinations are at? However, could god do something like that? Yeah. Totally. I think he totally could. And for context, I I was trying to find it. It's in first Samuel 28 Okay. By the way. So if anybody wants to follow along or find that, it's it's the Saul in the median of medium of n. Yeah. The witch of Endor is great, though. I like it's not that is is that how I grew up learning it? I feel it. Endor is the moon where the or the Ewoks live in Star Wars. It's not. It was witch of Endor in our bible back in the day. Hold on. Now I have to check. Wait. The red? N oh, n dash door. You're right. Sorry. I'm not seeing it. I have to track my screen. You're right. Heck yeah. Okay. I see it. You see which. I see medium. That's that's the only difference. So okay. So so maybe a couple That's where George Lucas got Endor for Lee walks. Very possible. So in reaction to that, I would say a a couple things. Is it like I said, Dan's right. I I'm I'm kind of open that it could be either

either one of those things. Mhmm. I think the the things to be clear about at the story, one, it's not at the power of the medium. Right. She did she did she has no power to do any of those types of things. It's super interesting. Like, I think part of the point is watching Saul's separation from god, and in desperation, he's willing to reach for anything. Uh-huh. Like, in absence of god, he will try to reach for what like, a calling of Samuel, but he knew it's through evil means. Right. He's the one who banned it. Yeah. Literally, and then the end of, like, verse four of that chapter, it says that Saul had just driven out all the mediums

and the necromancers from the land. Yes. That's right. And so in pursuit of his own thing Yep. Right, would worry about his own skin. He's willing to otherwise defy something that he had done positively in certain, like in recognition of what God said is good to go serve himself. And so I like part of part of this is, is they're not trying to tell us, it's not trying to set a biblical standard of how you think about necromancy. Right? Right. We're watching Saul's decline. Yes. Right. That's that's how I try to take it in as well is because, like, this is this is not some kind of pocket universe situation where this is the only time that someone has done anything like this. Obviously, necromancy and or medium work or spirit work or whatever you wanna call it is existing at the time. It's happening all over the place. It's happened throughout the old testament up to this point also. And so, like, it's not this weird microcosm where it's out of nowhere. It's like, woah. I've never even heard of that before, but it just seemed interesting that, like, that Samuel was there and answered. And then there's an actual portion of and this is the message

that came from Samuel that kinda threw me off a little bit as I'm just like, yeah. And you're absolutely right. Like, this is at this point in time, Saul was the appointed one of of the king or of god to be the king over the people. Like, he was the super tall, good looking fellow that god called upon to do the thing and then has declined since then. Yeah. And now towards the very end of it after, like, years upon years of debauchery and running away from his god, like, this is the end for him. It's like, yeah. You are absolute he's he's I think he he messed over Samuel right before Samuel died too. You got pissed. So, like yes. Right. Exactly. And so, like, this is just it was an interesting thing for me to see

not only did he call upon this this medium witch of Emdoor, whatever you call her, Samuel responds. And there's there's this interesting thing of, like, there's a correct response from Samuel. Well, and so here's here's the I think also the right contextual way to think of it. God responds. Okay. And allows and uses allows Samuel or uses Samuel's image to do it. And one of the things stuck with me that with that an uncle of mine told me one time is we were talking about faith healing and

he said, I think I was talking about when I was younger, like a real joking manner, how these bunch of charlatans and stuff. Then he said, you do realize that people actually get healed sometimes in those situations. I'm like, but, like, they're charlatans. He's like, yeah. But God isn't. Like, even if the environment of fools

and people trying to manipulate things for their own wisdom or whatever, like, does it happen that sometimes people who actively believe that God can do something, God does do something that had nothing to do with the the carnival that was going on around them? I think most of the stuff is fake. But, like, are there people who have legitimately been healed in places where the humans involved were deceitful and self serving? Yes. Because God is still good. And so the witch of indoors are almost irrelevant to this part of the story. It is the it is a, ironically, a medium of which Yeah. God responds and two things happen. Like, one, God decides to interact

in a place that is obvious that it's him because we recognize the evilness and frankly, the charlatanism around necromancers based upon Saul's previous behavior. Right? Right. Secondly, it's so important to recognize that trajectory of the narrative because now you know that when Saul dies,

it happened because God knew it eyes wide open. It's not just, oh, human human battle happened and Jonathan died and Saul died. That's true. Know it. God didn't just lose his king. Like, knew it was going down. Yes. It's almost I hadn't thought of it in this context before, but it's almost like god is just giving one final dig to Saul. Kinda. It's like, dude, I've been telling you. I've telling you. Yep. Yeah. You've run away from you came from a dead guy. I mean, he's like, you're not listening, and here's he's going down. Yeah. The dead guy that you peeved off right before he died, you're gonna call upon him in his death Yeah. And then go, hey, Samuel. Like, I know we didn't end on a good note, but any chance you can help me figure out how to get away from this Philistine thing? And then God through saying was like, nope. You're dead. Your sons are dead. Their house is dead. Everything from under you is gone. Just a heads up. Yeah. And this is just And David will reign. I will call upon the one that you have been run who you have been pursuing for years who has, like, not killed you because he's faithful to me,

and he has said, how am I to who am I to kill the lord's anointed? Right. Then he says to Saul over and over again. Right? And then God's like, he doesn't have to do it. I'll take care of it. It's it's checkmate from God. Right. Yes. This little game of chess they've been playing. And it also is a clear it's a clear break. Right? So, like, otherwise, you might say, well, it it follows Saul's lineage. Right? Because Saul dies, Jonathan dies, or whatever. This is a very clear judgment and representation of god that said, no. No. I anointed somebody else. We're moving on from the Saul dynasty. Your law yeah. Your dynasty is gone. And you had and there's a chance to explicitly talk about it in what is a very memorable Right. Piece of narrative. So, like, I think line is serves multiple functions there. Yeah.

Okay. I have a quick question. Okay. So I just read it on Choice phone. I read the verse and, like Luva. What? Sorry. Luva. Sorry. I'm supposed to go ahead. But and it said, like, the lady or Saul, the lady was like, who do you want me to bring up? And Saul's like, you know, he's so Sammy. Samuel. Samuel. Sorry. Mhmm. But, like, does that imply that the lady can, like, bring up whoever? Because she kinda asked, like, who do you want me to do? It's be like Yeah. That's a great question. That is a great question. It's because she's a charlatan. Right? Like, if you're a person putting on fraudulent things Right. Let me speak to Abraham. You're not bound by anything. Right? You know what I'm saying? So, like, there's a way for you to conjure up and fool people in such a way that, like, they could say you wouldn't go, oh, I can't talk to that guy. Or you might. You might go, hey. Let me talk to Abraham, and you can't produce it. So you're like, oh, Abraham is unavailable. Abraham was on the john. He's in the

Busy. The trenches of. But yeah. Doesn't she hold? That's why, Leila, because she's a fraud. Interesting. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Fair enough. Like I said, I was that that kinda hit me weird as I was trying to understand it, but, like, it taking it in the context of of the story of Saul up to this point does make a little bit more sense, and you're absolutely right. God has the absolute power to use charlatans like that and go, yeah, you're kind of in a weird place and are messing this up, but, like, guess what? I'm still God, and I still reign here, and I still have power over this, and we'll write this or redeem it or correct it or set it on the course that I want to. Yep. And, you know, you know what's funny?

Is we've I've had this in our family where, like, people have died under kind of mysterious circumstances or whatever and, like, they just went a little bit bonko and, like, sought out something like this. Like Yeah. Like, it it's it's interesting when some of the things that happen in your human life just start to jack with you and you lose your you lose your frame of reference for good. And, like, you start grabbing at some because it's a really weird thing to be like, I'm not gonna reach for this spiritual being god that's been with me my whole life. Yep. But I'm not bailing on spiritual beings. I'm just gonna choose a different one to maybe contact some human spirit somewhere. Like, it's an odd I get I I more understand people bailing from faith in the sense in the presence of tragedies and evil than I am them seeking out evil to help them understand evil. Yeah. It's like I know God is completely in control and has been ordaining my entire life from step to step to step. I've had multiple conversations with him and countless prophets that have shown up to me and given me his word.

I kinda miffed that, though, so I'm just gonna try and speak to the other extra dimensional beings that I might exist that that I think can call upon and then go, you got anything for me? Like, really stretching here, trying to grab ahold of something. Yeah. Yeah. So I to to round this out too, like, this is not a good place to go, oh, well, I think necromancy is real. Right. It's God, like there's a, there's an irony to the story that if you don't read the initial verses, you don't recognize that after the kicking out of the necromancers and mediums, God even then shows up when Saul tries to circumvent his own path to do, to seek out what is not through God but through another means. Right? That's God stepping in to go, no. Nope. Not a, oh, see the necromancer could find Samuel. That's the wrong place to try to justify that. And frankly, it happens nowhere else. This is the only example. Yeah. Right. Okay. Fair enough. Well, thank you. I appreciate the answers. I just wanted to bring that up because that was something I've read in the last week. So Yep. Also, in that entire thing, the word necromancy and I don't know how to say it. That kept flying around. I don't know what that that means. What does that mean? It's like well, necromancy is bringing someone from the dead to either speak or actually trying to resurrect them to life. Oh, that makes more sense now. Thank you. So is technically Jesus a necromancer?

I one, I don't think someone can perform necromancy on themself. No. No. He Lazarus and the the Gentiles

daughter. In the word, yes. Technically then. I can't believe you said that. Mean But, like, here's the well, okay. If if we're following it, it's it's from the right power source, though. Like, it's from the correct power source that he's performing. Necromancer. Yeah. Like, he's not he's not performing necromancy for evil means. Like, he's take he has power over death and the keys to Hades. It's just like he pulls up and goes, I will now perform necromancy.

Like, it sounds so ridiculous. So if it's righteous necromancy, then it's good? It's fine? Mean, I think Jesus Go get your CLAD from local school. Yeah. Well, I mean yeah. I think seven. Righteous necromancy. Righteous righteous necromancy sounds like an awesome band name, first off.

Yeah. No. I yeah. Think of one of the of one of one of those beliefnet.com comic book characters. He knows Righteous necromancy. That's his whole thing. Okay. So this leads then into Mike's He's got lunchromancy too. Lunch question. Bunch of fish and loaves. Which is what like, I'm not gonna word it right, which is is theology important? Is that the question? Well, kind of. Right? Like because because, like, your instant answer is gonna be, of course, it is. Right? But, like so there's a friend of mine sent me a video. We're going through a study. Right? And he's like, part of the study is watching this video. So watch this video. So I pull up the video and ten minutes in, I'm like, dude's a Calvinist. Like, I just I just tell by the way he's talking. He's a Calvinist. I'm like, yep. Dang it. You know? And then, like, I started I I told him that. You know what I mean? He goes, I I gotta be honest. I don't understand a whole lot about Calvinism.

And so I geared I get geared up. Like, I don't understand very much either like Ben does. And so, like, every once in while, you guys will talk about it. And I'm like, I think there's five points of Calvinism. I understand like two of them. The other three I'm like, but those are the majors, the ones that I said, you know? So but like his response was, he goes, you know, I don't know. Like when I'm having conversations with people who don't know Jesus, I you know, Like, we it just doesn't come up a ton. Like, I'm I'm good with with God's grace and, like, his dying on the cross and our sins for gone for our freedom. And and and he goes, I just I guess I never got really too delved into, like, the difference between the denominations and and, you know, some of the theology we believe. And, like, part of me was like, but some of that stuff really matters. And then I thought about it for a couple more minutes. I'm like, it only matters when I'm fighting with other Christians. Now that I think about it. Right? Like, all this only seems to come up when other people who also claim to to follow Jesus, like, have picked a weird

place to, like, cause cause trouble. You know, like, whatever. Once saved, always saved. Or like, I don't know. You didn't get baptized and you're on your way to get baptized and you got hit by a bus and now you're out. You know what I'm saying? Stuff like that. And so, like, I was I was thinking about it and and, like, I if I'm gonna attempt to answer my own question, I think God has, like, obviously gifted teachers and people who preach the word. And I think that, like, making distinctions on people trying to pervert the word of god, I think, do matter. Right? Like, on some of the finer points, like like, there's denominations and theological thinking that'll go, well, what did Jesus do for the three days after he got after he was crucified and then he rose again? And, like, people will die

on this hill, like, as if it really matters to our entire faith what exactly happened. Right? And they're like, but but it has to do with this and that's why it ties into this verse in the bible and you can't say that that's not true. Like, they're trying to protect the inerrancy of god's word. Right? And and so, like, I get how it gets there. But part of me was thinking, like, I you're right. I don't know. Like, would I much rather, like, spend a good portion of my time talking with people who don't know Jesus and introducing him to the things that I know opposed to, like, arguing the finer points of theology in a heated matter with, like, other Christians? You know what I'm saying? So, like, that was the question. And maybe it's it has to do with, like, where God has you personally or what God has tasked you with or, you know, the things that God has put on your heart. But, like, seems like that just as as as much as you're passionate about where Jesus went for three days in this area, this other dude over here is equally as passionate about it. And then, like, we've not come together as as one mind and in one faith. We've decided to, like, argue over this this thing. You know what I'm saying? So, like, that's the question. What is Calvinism?

What is theology? Almost gonna ask the same exact thing that Grace said. Unrighteous necromancy. So no one has Nerd Tigers then? And that is a better joke than you think. Theology is the is the study of god or god's nature. Oh, I thought it was plants. Okay. Yep. Yep. That's nope. Way different. Biology.

Oh. Life from the pathology. Oh. And so and then Calvinism, just rough run of it, it was comes from a man named John Calvin,

and he was he was articulating five five principles. He didn't call it Calvinism when he was alive, did he? He did not. That would've been awesome. These are the five points of my isms. Generally speaking,

position was is that basically you do not have free will. Free will he didn't believe in free will. He said that God basically controls. He chooses When it comes to salvation, he didn't believe in free will. Even beyond that, like, I think it's implied. It's a it the implication actually extends beyond, like, you can't control anything. I don't wanna argue theology with you, Ben. Yeah. So we're saying no imaginary tigers then. No. Yeah. If you wanna core thing would be is that God chooses you. You don't choose God. And so if he pre chooses before you're even created

that you will not receive his rescue and blessing, then you will not. And there's nothing you can do about it. I don't like this. Yep. Wait. So Calvinism is basically like a small religion? Just a little like, not a religion, but like a break out It's a denomination. Yeah. We we split. There's a lot of denominations that split over this very thing. Yes. Now, again, if you're if I'm being kind to the thought, it it it thinks very highly of God. It says,

the things are God's prerogative. And as humans, who are we to contend if God chooses some people and does not choose others? Isn't that his prerogative to do? And the answer would be yes if I believe that to be true. I don't think scripture bears that out. Although, I mean, the Calvinist would certainly knife me in the parking lot in contention with that. But like I hope you're predestined. Or you wanna be elect? Or do you do you know a righteousness? Guess we'll find out. Yeah. Yeah. This is an opportunity for the church. Yes. Is your name in the book of life?

So and I mean, there's another thing, like like, humans are are born sinful and they have no rescue out of that. Like, would act there's parts of this where we're like, well, maybe that seems kinda like but, anyway, that's that's Calvinism. And so you tend to split between Christian denominations who believe that God has given humans the choice to respond to his rescue that could apply to all versus humans do not have a choice. God gives you a new heart, and so it's completely God's prerogative to choose, and you have no particular control over that, over whether he changes your heart or not. That's Calvinism. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. So to answer I don't know. Dan, did you have a thought on the importance of theology? Okay. Here. I've been I've been trying to formulate this so it could come out, you know, not making sense, but in my head, it's it's beautiful.

My mirror works the same way. It always is, Dan. Think of systematic theology like you got an automobile, right? There's your Chevy, there's your Ford, there's your Volkswagen, whatever. Each vehicle

has engineers and it's all engineered to work together, from start to finish, everything about it works together, they're different. Volkswagen may or may not work in a Ford, pieces, parts, carburetor or whatever.

Do they even make carburetors anymore? So what we tend to do, the average Joe, we just kind of pick and choose these pieces of theologies, I like this and I like that one, without understanding the full concept of each Calvinism, Arminianism,

all these different views, they determine where you're gonna go with eschatology, the end times, where you're gonna go with sin, how do you recover from sin. I mean, everything is all one little piece

that's all together, and that's probably one of the downfalls of our modern society is we haven't taught theology very well, so we don't know. I don't know if I'm driving a Ford or Chevy or whatever, we're just kind of jumping in the car and going, and I'm part of that too.

Anyway, that kind of halfway helps, so I would say theology does work because you want it to work correctly. So I and if I yeah. If I can take your point, like, the people that are like, I'm not big on theology, you are teaching Yeah. Like, you just didn't feel the need to call it something or, like, have it fall under, like, a man made flag, but you do believe that sin is reckoned with by x. Yeah. You may not identify it, but you're part of the theology. Yeah. That's right. It's you you just haven't studied it and, like, maybe you haven't gotten an argument with a guy that believes different than you. Mhmm. Right? But overall, you are teaching a theology. It's just not like a a a mass produced consumer theology.

Yeah. And I would contend so when Satan goes to tempt Jesus and he's quoting the scripture at Jesus, why is he not successful? Because Jesus Jesus has good theology. Right? Jesus recognizes

like, is where understanding theology I'm not so much worried like the like the it's very possible that most people who don't know God have to be introduced to core concepts of god, and it's going to feel fairly rudimentary because it should. These are real basic tenants of how do I introduce a creator god to somebody. Yeah. That totally makes sense. I'm I'm less worried of, like, do I need more than Christ crucified? Well, I mean, Paul highlights it for a reason, but the risk comes when evil shows up, when evil strikes. When when church. When, hey. I believe I believe this thing about god and then some event, some situation, some somebody contesting like, everybody on the show is Facebook friends with a guy who's going off the dang rails right now with a bunch of wild crap.

And, like, I read it. Like, you talk about just it's a it's a wrong interpretation of the Old Testament and the an uprising the book of Enoch. Okay? But here's the thing, because my theology is sound, I know the things that he's saying are not true, so I'm not thrown off by them. I know how to explain to people why this is not true so that they're not thrown off by them. Right. So so like as a great example, good theology would get it so you're not falling behind the doomsday prepper who says, we're already in the seventh seal of revelation. Right? Good theology would keep you going from from the next guy that shows up and says, I'm the antichrist. You're not. Right? And so like, good theology does protect you or like you're even right. Like like when in a tragedy,

you know, or when something really deep has happened or something very sad has happened and you're like, you know, God had every bit to control this and and save this and he absolutely chose not to. And like, how do I understand that? Well, good theology bears out, right, that God is good and people are broken. Yeah. And there's effects of sin in life, you know, but it it will be redeemed and it will be brought to justice and it will be brought to mercy and grace. And like all these things are based out of good theology, but like, if you skip all that, pick the couple verses you like out of Deuteronomy and the Maccabees and then decide this is how we're gonna live life from here on out. Yeah. It can be dangerous. Because like after a while, especially if you're leading a church like you guys know, right, like you like you talk about the basics, but we are gonna talk about everything that's in that bible and there is theology attached to that. You can't just be like, so grace abounds. How was your week? Alright. See you next week. Grace abounds. Right. And and a lot of the ways that we when we talk about having and this is to Dan's point of a systematic theology.

Like, if you you start believing one thing, the the next reasonable question as you read on is to go, okay, how do these things fit together? That's the system. When they say systematic theology, you're trying to represent a situation which, well, if I believe this about God's heart for the world, I believe this about whether you're born with in in the ability, like full of sin or you just sinned later. Like, the question is all these things have to start to fit fit together and become the Volvo of the systematic theology, which is different than John Calvin's Chrysler. And so and but we all have to reckon with the question of, okay. Based upon believing this, that starts to mess with what my understanding was of this, how do they fit together

systematic theology? And that's how it comes. I I I think we gotta be cautious that it doesn't feel like so academic. It's it's a series of questions about the nature of God framed up by different circumstances that cause us to go, okay. How would that how does this work then if I don't if I don't if this part isn't if this thing is not true that someone told me, how should I understand it? Well and actually think of the think of the inherent goodness. Like, it has produced a lot of trouble in the world, no doubt. Right? But, like, the fact that people will go,

I need to think about this. I want to ponder on the god that made me. I want to understand, like, was I terrible right when I was born? Because, like, if I was, what if I died when I was two? I'm inherently sinful. I didn't ask god in my life. Adam sin or is it my own sin? Yeah. Did Adam do it? Did I do it? Right? And you're like, you know, like, on its on its face when I'm talking to a guy that's like that that's like slammed out on meth, Like, maybe we don't need to be going to this exact conversation. Like, let's talk about what grace looks like. Yeah. And that that redemption is coming as soon as you want it, friend. Right? But, like, you should want to know, like, when you if your if your kid dies at two, like, you're gonna be broken and, like, the loss of that life is hard. But to think that that, like, god's character is to punish this kid and throw him into separation from him for all eternity, that's unbearable for a for a parent. Yeah. Right? You wanna wanna be taking that in. Right? And so, like, you're, like, how does that fit in with a god that is good and full of grace? Like, it's these are questions that, like, they should come up as people experience life and go, yeah. Yeah. Does that make any sense? Like, they're you're asking good questions and and god is zero. Zero amounts stressed out or anxious by the fact you're asking him. Right? Like, he's not worried that you're gonna find some kind of closet where he keeps all the bad things. Right? Like, he is good and he is just and he is mercy. And he's like, explore away. I want you to know me and I sure wanna know you. Yeah. And here's the one of the risks I would say when it comes to systematic theology are they are again a human's attempt to try to tie a bunch of things together.

When your fealty starts to be to the system and not to the question or to God's ability to respond outside of the system because when you start creating a systematic theology, you start feeling like you have to answer all questions. But there are places where, hey, did I choose or does God not does God allow me to choose?

At the moment, in our tangible situation, I'm not sure why I give a crap. Because if I either I can't do anything about it or if I can respond, then praise be to God that I'm able to, I should. Now I think it impacts other things, so it depends on the situation that you're dealing with. But, like, we run a risk. There are people who believe in the cessation of, say, certain spiritual, spiritual gifts, miracles specifically, right? Because their systematic theology has other limit For the most part, they're afraid that to the extent that those things still exist, it kind of unleashes the wildness of the Holy Spirit and then open up things like personal revelation and they can't deal with it. There's such a risk in personal revelation and such a perversion by some humans by some of that. The theology

says, look, it can't be that God would be that reckless with his personal interactions with people, and so we have to lose that, which means we have to lose miracles. That's a systematic theology that is actually, I think, cut off something that God still does and intends for good because our human thing bound up some of the other things that they believe and now their systematic theology cuts it off. And so it doesn't mean that these are good hearted people trying to be faithful to the word of God, but they are human ways to try to tie things together. And so I would always It's okay to have a systematic theology, to read multiple and to take them in. My I would say, let god speak first. Let these point you to right questions and be okay if it doesn't fit. Okay.

Sorry. Was that the voice mail? No. No. The the microphone moved. I thought Grace was gonna say something. No. It just got put over here. Okay. Nice. I love it. Alright. Anyway, hey. Maybe you have a systematic theology that you think is awesome and better than everyone else's. You should portray your lack of humility on the complaint line. (515) 517-0085. Maybe you do wanna knife me in the parking lot because I didn't say the Calvinism thing right. I'll give you boovah's address. I was gonna say if you do, I kinda like Ben, so you might have to fight me too. Yeah. Yeah. There any time I'll say something nice on the show? I also enjoy him. Thanks, Leila. I like fighting. I mean, I never said I enjoy him. No. That's that's too far. I said I said I like him, and you said I also implying that I had said I enjoy him. Move what Movement is that the reality of the situation is is I'm a stone cold smoke show,

and the world needs me. There I have a picture of Ben up in my bathroom, and it says stone cold smoke show. Yes. That is what's happening. And I did just say that aloud so that that could then be sampled just as those words and could put onto the Internet. That and that's I'm excited. So this is the time. This is the time to introduce it. Oh, no. Okay. It's gonna take me a little bit of effort, but I'm gonna get to it. But we are officially launching a second live from the path podcast. What? K. And it's it's gonna be live from the path, the boovah cut.

And I'm going to simply release every week's show without anybody else's voice. It's my isolated audio. Except Boova's track, which means there may be long periods of silence and or eerie holy spirit ish music from the Elevation Worship floating around in the background. And every twelve minutes. My yeah. That's that's good. Yeah. So I mean okay. Yeah. I've just no no firm date of release, but if if if you're excited for the boovah cut of live from the path, that is that is on the radar. It's gonna happen. And let us know that you're excited. Okay? 51551770085. Call or text. Say, I'm in on the buva cut. I can't wait. And if you get a bunch of text messages this week that are from one specific number saying I'm not in for the buva cut, it's definitely not me.

Okay. I wonder. He will have stroke. No. I'm suspicious. I've called attention. You're deceitful from your mother's womb. The uproar. The the uproar. That's I have a systematic theology. It covers buva. That's how I know I'm never gonna be like the the person who causes a movement in the church because there's no way anyone is ever gonna call themselves an ingledingerist someday.

Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't work for Lutheran like Martin Luther or Calvinism. It's like Yeah. He here's the deal. He Sounds like an elf. He was plotting to launch one of a movement, like, three years ago, and he said, I'm just it's gonna start from the ground up. It's gonna come from the bowels. I'm gonna call it the and I said, nope. Nope. Stop right there. He stopped me. Stop right there. Alright. You cannot call it the bowel movement,

and it ended. Yeah. It it really didn't have any legs. It is. That's the move a cut. It's a move a cut 5155170085. Alright. You're listening to life from the path. Mike, we should give out some advice. Probably. Okay. Grace is in. Go ahead, Grace. I'm Mike. Yep. Right.

Dear life from the path. For many years, Adam one sorry. Sorry. A friend of many years, Adam, no longer speaks to me. We met in high school and were involved in band, debate club, and other activities together. Uh-huh. He recently discovered through a genealogy site that he was adopted and neither of his parents were his birth parents. The site led him to clues about other biological relatives, and he eventually reached his birth mother, who rejected his efforts to talk to her. I recently learned about this from another high school friend. When I contacted Adam, he responded with hostility, stating that I am no longer his friend because I didn't reach out when he was going through all this, but I didn't know at the time. I cannot locate any voice messages, emails, texts, etcetera, showing that he shared with me the details of what happened. I live in a different part of the country now. I've offered to travel to visit him. Also offered to talk on the phone, but I've received only aggressive and bitter responses. How can I show Adam that I do care about him and that I had known about this sit and that had I known about this situa his situation at the time it happened, I would have been there for him?

Oh my. He seems angry. I would just stop talking to him for a little bit. Give him time to cool off. So you and Adam This has been going on for years. Nobody ever said that. You guys figuring it out over there? I like it. So you you and Adam have been friends for a long, long, long time. Is have they? Yeah. They go back to band and debate club. Yeah. But after that, did sorry. Did I get it felt like they just fell off even, like, right after that. Like, they've not really been stopped at like, a like, they graduated and went separate ways? Yeah. Am I reading that right, Grace? Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That was confident. Okay. Well, I mean, to be fair Either way, you and Adam used to be good buddies. Yes. Used to. You were you were in the band together in the debate club and he went through some reference and apparently is mad that you weren't there for him. Mhmm. And you've attempted multiple times to reach out and it's been nothing but animosity.

I think that you can less frequently reach out. Like, maybe if it's like you do it every month or so now and you just get animosity, maybe maybe knock it back. Maybe send a Christmas card, and then see how Adam responds to your Christmas card or your newsletter that updates Adam on your life. And then Adam goes, forget your newsletter and then sends you it back ripped up. Merry Christmas. How's that animosity coming? How's that animosity?

Joy to the world. I mean, you could still reach out. Even in anger, Adam may appreciate that you're still there. Like, even if it's just in once in a little while. Like, I've I've had some friends that have the the relationship has soured. Mhmm. And I still reach out to them every once in a while. Not very often. It doesn't usually go great, but, like, I do want them to know that they're still in my in my in my mind. And, like, I do think about this. Based upon the ineffectiveness of your relationships and situation, your advocation is for him to do the same. Because, what's like, what's it actually doing against you? Like, what's it hurting that you're I don't know. Be riling them up. Yeah. It seems to be hurting a lot. Once a year. Well That's what I'm saying. Don't do it. Okay. Everybody gets riled up during Christmas. Adam recently found out that his biological mother is a blah blah blah. Okay?

Hold on. Have quick question Chris mistakes. Okay. Did I say he found that out on a site? Because does that not seem sketchy? Like, traced his genealogy? Yes. I like when people take those online personalities. No. Okay. Oh, alright. Hold on. Yeah. They took their Myers Briggs and they found out that another woman was an ENFP and he was like, you must be my biological mother. That's just like sus, like, everywhere. Okay. Listen here. There are there's it's a genie it's a genetic test. The genealogies, like, can actually trace your lineage. It's not the same thing as, like, answer these three questions, and I'll know you what your job will be doing. Thirteen years into the show, we finally have someone who non ironically said the word sucks. That'll that fits feels sus. I'm with Layla. The Internet's dangerous. I'm telling you. Man, this is busted. Is he the Okay. Is he the impostor? This is busted. No cap for real. The

queen of indoor runs the Internet. That's what I'll say. I don't know if it's Alright. Dan all facts. Dan printer. Dan, you say give up on it. Let's just move on. Yeah. Who who who I mean, I don't I can't tell the last time I've talked to someone from high school. I mean, like, within six months. Dan, we can't base our our we can't base our our advice based on your popularity in high school. No. They all try to to reach me, and I get angry.

And you also did say automobile about five minutes ago and carburetor. He sucks. I'm not saying I think you are a youthful man of many, many colorful shirts. Okay? Pontiac.

Pontiac. That's true. Every time I see the Pontiac that I I park next to at home, I say, Pontiac in my head, and it's your fault, and I love it. Okay. Here's here's here's how this plays out for me. This this non friend of yours stop calling him a friend. They're not your friend. Adam's your best buddy. They did not reach out to you and tell you that they were going through it. You heard some sort of rumor gossip and then inserted yourself into a situation of which he might be raw about. Okay? So here's what I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna support Boova's point, except for you're only gonna do it once and you're gonna mail it. And you say, look. Snail mail. After you've already dealt with this person multiple times and they're not reacting positively, but say, look. I didn't I'm sorry if I interacted in a situation

in a way that was not helpful. I was just trying to be helpful. I I completely understand if I cannot be of any any assistance to you at this time. I totally understand. Just know that I'm here from you if you need me. I care about you forever and always. Love so and so, and then you're gonna drop it. And and there will be a time when this person gets their mind right at which they may reach back out to you, and I think they should. However, there's no reason to go and keep casting pearls before swine and setting fires that are not gonna do any good. You're never gonna be Adam's friend again if you keep calling him swine. That's fine. No cap. That's fine. I completely agree with Ben. I was just about to say the same thing, actually. Yeah. Same. Because he hasn't put, like, any work into this while she is putting in all the work, and friendship is a two way road. Yeah. I don't know how it's I don't know how it's Yep. You're right. But, like, it's not supposed to be only one person putting in the work. It's supposed to be two people. If he hasn't talked to you in forever,

then, I mean, I would probably not talk to him either because he hasn't said a single thing. And that probably means he doesn't really think you're really best buddies. So he would probably not reach out to you because he wouldn't he didn't think of you, like, as that close of a friend. Yeah. But but think about it this way. Is this not the friendship equivalent of no means no? First off, no. Yes. The same. You you do not have a good pulse on the concept of friendship. No means no. Second off. This is like That's absolutely right. Jesus did say, love your neighbors as long as it's a two way street and they love you back. That's absolutely true. That's I remember that part. Jesus did not say, do not cast your pearls before swine.

Oh. I told you, you need to stop calling my buddy Adam Swine. Okay? He's not your buddy. He hasn't talked to you. He hasn't put any work into this. He's not your buddy. Now listen. It's Your job is to be a friend. It's it's well, now hold on. It's okay. It's a your friendships are not are not transactional. Alright? It's perfectly okay that they're not equitable. Right. And in times of trouble, you reach out to try to help somebody. Absolutely. If you have done it multiple times Keep doing it. And they insist on biting you in the hand, here's what I might say. Jesus will hear you. You might you might be a good friend. You might be a good friend, and this may not be your moment. If you befriend a snapping turtle, the lord will bless you and heal it over and over again as you get bit. Yeah. And when you tell your friend, I'm here to help, and they ref they refuse to give up all their possessions and walk away from you, you should chase them down and tug at their coat and say, please like me. Sometimes donkeys bite. That's that's the Google way. And sometimes donkey says, why you keep hitting me? That's what I'm saying. Don't hit the donkey. Befriend it even if it's not nice. He's hitting you. Yep. Right? You take a hit. Turn the other cheek. That's what that means. I do. I'm just There's no way I took that wrong. No cap for real. Turn

the other cheek and sweep the Ben, your friendships are sus. That's all I'm saying. Okay? I'm just saying, like, shoot. I had it. Now I lost it. Happens to me. Well, see, like, if you're like, if you keep saying stuff to him and he's just responding as a swine, if he's responding poorly As a swine. Then you should you should hoist up your hoist up your I don't know how to spell it. I'm a go ahead and say this right now. No. No. No. No. No. No. About how you should act in a friendship,

it is almost exactly the the wrong message. I'm just saying, like I get it. Just build up the courage to say, hey. You're not doing anything in this, and I'm trying to help you. If you're not gonna help, if you're not gonna tell me anything Yeah. Then I'm gonna have to be done with this. Right. You can respond back. I'm okay with that, But you need to quit this attitude that you have because you didn't tell me nothing. Yeah. Your biological mother hates you and you're a bad freak. Yeah. Adam is gonna love that. Adam in this broken place in his life being told that he's a schmuck is totally gonna love him. Okay. Ella, listen here. We have we were kinda together, and then you you kinda overdosed. You really did stand up on the soapbox every your pants sometimes if he's being Okay. But listen. Like the Lorax? Listen. This has got away from us. Hoist your pants. This has got away from me. Okay. Okay. Real. It's okay. Sometimes you need to recognize that your attempts to help aren't helping.

That is not the same thing as as as riling up animosity toward the person. They're obviously going through rough time. They're acting unreasonably. Right? Like, on principle, they're acting unreasonably. Sometimes people do do not know how to take your help in. They don't know how to express anything, and so they're gonna they're gonna take a bite out of anything that sticks their hand in the cage. Okay. That's why you go the gentle way, then you go the, hey. This isn't working. No. Just hold here's the deal. There's no reason to have animosity towards this person. If you want to help, hold the line on, I want to help. If it's not helping, then take a break and hold off and wait until they're ready and say, look. And I'm here from you. I'm not sure that I'm against if you wanna, like, remind them every every year and go, hey. Still thinking about you. Still here if you need me. Fine. But, like, you don't try to rescue a stray cat by continuing to grab it while it hisses at you. You gotta give us some space. Yeah. Because sometimes you get stuck with a stray cat and then the feral cat just lives in your room. It lives in your house. You can't do anything. You just can't get rid of it. Alright. What is what is secular have to say on this I'm not understanding you, Ben, is because I don't know what the heck animosity means. I don't know what that means. Anger. Yeah. Oh. Never mind that. Wrath, really. Face. Yeah. It's when you flare your nostrils and It's sign of the apocalypse. Yeah. Grace, what does what does secular have to say on this one? Right. Secular says, your friend is going through a lot right now and is rightfully angry that his birth mother rejected it as his effort to connect. It's rough. He is hurt and is and looking for somewhere to transfer his anger. Yep. You shouldn't be blamed for not reacting to something you were in the dark about. But until Adam is ready to recognize that fact and patch things up, nothing you can do will fix this. My advice is to sit tight for now. Yeah. Yeah. Send a Christmas. I went the wrong way.

I went the wrong way. Amen. Now listen. Don't turn code on just because secular said. No. Yeah. That's the truth. Part of this is we have to hold our ground regardless of if we're wrong or not and also regardless of what secular says. I went down the wrong section. Dang it. I hoisted my pants. Alright. Let's do I've never heard that phrase. Is that what I was say? Came from. Was doing you're not doing anything Buva hasn't done for the last thirteen years where I, like, really, like, entrench myself in the wrong advice on a dear life for the path and then get reamed for it for about ten minutes. I was trying to find a way that you could, like, say, well, you gotta you'd like a buckle down. I was trying to find that. Could not pants. What else? You were thinking of belt? Put your big boy pants on. Like that. Sweep the leg, John. Sweep the John. Sweep the leg. Sweep the leg. Alright. Turn the Mike, we are you looking for another one? Yeah. I got one more. Okay. Ready? Yep. Hold

on. No. We just did that one. Hang on a second. I had it. Okay. Hey. There's a there we go. No. Go ahead, boo. No. I was just doing a fill time for you. No. I'm ready. Okay. Go ahead. Dear, I'm from the path. I have a sister-in-law, Helen, who has appointed herself as the final word on all family events.

Helen? Helen. Helen? No other relative has any input into when, where, what, etcetera, regarding any family celebration. If it's not her way, it's the highway. The biggest problem with Helen is she schedules everything on the date that fits her calendar without regard for anyone else's. Here's an example. We once celebrated Christmas in February because that worked best for her. Another time, my wife and I scheduled a complicated vacation around my brother's birthday so we could be there to celebrate with him. Helen moved his birthday party right into the middle of our vacation.

More examples. Thanksgiving is celebrated in early December, and other significant dates fall whenever she decides and are subject to change at the last moment at her whim. Complying with Helen's one-sided demands makes planning for everyone else a nightmare. The control doesn't end there. It also includes the venue, menu, and guest list. She even puts place cards on the table designating the seating arrangements. As with everything else, these are not negotiable. Uh-huh. If not complied with, the offender is subjected to a minimum of six months of silent treatment and ghosting. Okay. How does one deal with this? Okay. I have Helen sounds like when a southern person is throwing up Helen. Listen to me. This is not Helen's problem.

Why are you bowing to the will of Helen anyway? Yeah. This is your problem. This is your whole family problem. When it says hell hell or the highway, take the highway. Helen, we're not gonna do the thing you said. We're gonna we're all gonna go somewhere else. You're gonna sit by yourself in your placard tent. Like, if she's that inflexible some people now listen here. Some people are good at organizing. It makes them feel good to be in control. And frankly, a lot of times you should be thankful for that. What? You wanna do it? You should be thankful. However, if she's completely dominating, refuses to listen to other people, then go, Helen, we're not doing that. We're all gonna do this other thing. This is your fault. You've permitted this. Helen is just being Helen. You're allowing Helen to be Helen. That's your fault. Hoist your pants.

Yeah. She has the authority that the family has given her. Exactly. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I I when when they give you the option of the six month silent treatment, I would take it. Yeah. I'm just saying take make her take a dose of her own medicine. If she is not, like You're on the vengeance track today, y'all. Yes. I guess. I don't know. It is. If she's not willing to, like,

let a little control go, then you you're just gonna have to end up doing stuff without her because she's just she's being too much of a controller. That's not that's not how it's gonna work. Helen, you're a controller. Yeah. That's what I'll This sounds a sound like control freak. Yeah. This this sounds like a rough time for you that, like, it's it's messing with you and your family that that it's it's so bad enough that, like, you're you're letting us know about it. You're asking life in the past about it. Right? Asking us. Why do you gotta talk like they're on a couch to you or some kind of wispy music? Friend. Mike, can you play a little piano for me real quick? No. You have this six month silent treatment, you can plan the rest of your events. Yeah. I was actually just about to say, you know what's great? It's just not just don't go. Yeah. Like, there is there is no obligation for you to have to go. Just like go. Alright. Fine. If Helen is causing me distress, I'm no longer gonna go to the events. Your life will not crumple

if you don't go to Christmas. I mean, is it like a group chat or something? Our family all does everything in group chats. Right. And someone says, oh, can't make that date. And we go, oh, okay. Here's another date. Helen sends a newsletter once a year that has all the dates on it, and it's to her friend Adam Yeah. Who has recently found out that his biologic Little did he know. Like, It won't it will you have your family. You've got a wife. You've got a family. You've got the family that you wanna see. You probably don't even wanna see all that extended family every single time. You don't It's fine to just be like, I live with my wife and I live with my family, and guess what? We're gonna celebrate Christmas on Christmas. Helen, I don't care when you celebrate it. If it works for our time, we'll be there. And if it doesn't, we won't. We don't care. Okay. But Go ahead. Okay. I feel like I mean, this isn't a big deal, but I feel like she's gonna give you the guilt treatment. You know? Yeah. I'm gonna make know, just don't accept it. Guilt guilt means nothing. I know. But, like, the I'm the type of person that makes guilt makes me feel really bad. I don't Choose better for yourself. I know, but it's hard. Listen. But if you've dealt with Helen for years and years and years, guess what feels very freeing?

No longer giving her the power of guilt. Yeah. Like, I mean, it listen. If Helen's involved, take a guilt vacation. Don't just trip. Vacation. Not a guilt trip. A guilt vacation. But now here's the thing. You don't That sounds so Alright. I get it. You you've permitted this. And so however angry you might be at Helen's behavior because you're responsible for it, you don't have to start a fire with Helen. Yeah. Hey. Let's say she plans the thing, and you're gonna make it. Everyone's gonna come this time. Great. And you go up and you say you give Helen a hug and say, Helen, I really pray you're putting this together. I'm not gonna follow the placards. That's not that I don't love you. I'm a sit by who I wanna sit, but thanks so much. I'm glad to see you. Right. I don't you don't have to be angry with her. You don't have to, like, give her the same goofball treat. You don't have to teach her a lesson. Yes. Just live your life in a normal fashion. Control how worked up you get about how worked up she gets, and just go about your business. When you're able to set up boundaries

with your family, it is one of the greatest things ever to be able to go, I don't have to answer your phone calls. I don't have to show up to your parties. I don't have to hurt your feelings whenever we see each other or not hurt your feelings, and everything about your life doesn't have to impact everything about mine. I'm a be a human being in a family. You could be a human being in a family, Helen, and I hope the best for you. And I'm a pray for you, and I love it. That's never a good thing. Booba. Yeah. That's never a good thing. Went the wrong way. That's wrong, Ella. Yeah. This is not that's not Your dad are he already clapped for me. No. We we had in fact, we had a situation one time. Mike, I think you remember this. We were gonna be in somebody's wedding, and they basically said, look. You have to I'm gonna be offended if you don't eat the food. And we were like, we're gonna bring Chick fil A. And and they were trying to guilt everybody saying like, hey. I really I picked this food out, and I'm gonna be offended if you don't eat it. Feel like it was, like, super expensive food too. Do I know that person? What if you're And they were, look. It's gonna be, like, a hundo. You gotta pay me, like, a hundo for the food. I'm, like, we're gonna bring our own food. There's no way we're doing this. What if you're, like, deathly allergic to something? They're, well, just try it. I'm gonna die if I try that. No. That's a terrible friend. Also a very specific example that you are death. As you were both in my wedding, for a second, I thought that was about to be a story about me. No. Okay. And I don't think it was a practical thing. It was just context. But, like, I was like, did I did I rude you guys at my wedding and I don't remember it? No. Okay. Cool. No. I don't remember. Even Ben remember being in my wedding, so it's fine. No. That actually did happen. We talked about it on the show. You said you would be offended if we didn't eat your wedding food because we said, hey. Is there a Chick fil A near this place? Oh, yeah. Where did it That's why I remember it. It was my wedding.

I was sitting here thinking I was like, who do I why do I know what person that was? Yes. I do remember. And, no, I didn't ask you to pay for It was like a $100 a plate. Me out. No. All of that was paid for. You did not have a warbucks over here. Whatever. I'm literally sitting here. I'm like, why does this sound so familiar? It's because it was my wedding. No. I did not ask you to pay for anything. He was a tyrant. Yeah. I don't remember. What a Helen. We are going to have Christmas in February because it works for the Helen. Okay. Helen of Troy. What what's what is what's Secular actually The

question was, how does one deal with this? Secular says, one deals with this by discussing it with other family members to see if they feel the same as you do and are willing to face the consequences of Helen's extended silences, which from my perspective might be a relief. Then pray she doesn't plan your funeral. Oh. What?

Yeah. So the only advice I would give counter to that is is, like, I I mean, you could talk it over with your family, but, like, you need to you need to make it a good decision for your household. Yeah. Right? Like, even if your brother's family ain't on board with it, like, you do you you're you're in charge of your family and, like, you do what's best for them. Like, you don't have to be a jerk or selfish about it, but, like, if you can't make it, you can't make it. I was just thinking the placards thing was hilarious because, like, I can't think of one placard I've obeyed since I was seven. Yeah. Right? I walk in and I'm like, Mike's gonna sit here. I'm like, I see an order. See a no trespassing sign. I'm just saying it's like, I can take I I can take orders from other people, but, like, this placard ain't gonna tell me what to do. I'm certainly not gonna take orders from this folded up piece of paper. Also, let's be honest about the the February Christmas thing. That's awesome. Like, you get to have a Christmas for your family, and your kiddos get to have an awesome Christmas during Christmas time. And then two months later every year because it works for Helen, we get another Christmas. No. Helen goes, don't be having a Christmas at your place. Forget you, Helen. I'm having a Christmas at my place on December 25. We're gonna celebrate the birth of Jesus and presents. And then in two months, we're gonna go, hey, Helen. We got you a card two months ago. Ho ho ho. She probably gets you cleaning products for Christmas. I hope so. I need them. This is completely Give me the four zero nine. Is completely unrelated in total ways. Excited to hear you then. Can you remove family people legally? Oh, I'm sorry. What? Can you remove family people legally is the funniest question I've ever heard. Disown? You can disown people. Right? Like, are you asking, like, can I legally remove them from my the law doesn't care about your second cousin? You disown people, it's just like you're shunning them. Like, I don't care for you anymore. Bye. But can you legally disown someone? Can you It's it's at this time Mike realized his parenting skills are lacking. Is there someone in particular that you're trying to disown? I'm not your real uncle. Okay. Helen. You can't kick me out. I thought this was an assassination. Because I feel like is it is it a is it legal to take away your family? I was worried you would take it that way. I was like, oh, they're totally thinking I'm gonna kill him. How do I remove my uncle Ben? I would like to aggressively disown my aunt Fanny.

No. Okay. Keep an eye on Ella's Google search from anytime from now. If you start seeing how do you legally remove someone from your life? Also shovels and quick land. I definitely didn't look at the same way here. K. Now listen to What comes Apart from Ella's apparent comedy with removing people from her life. Like, we've talked probably talked about this a thousand times. Like, there's a there's a gal that I watched when we were a perspective adoptive parents. There's a gal named Karen Purvis. And, like, that they she dealt a lot with, like, parenting adoptive kids, especially ones that come from, like, third world countries or, like, famine situations or whatever. And, like, they're gonna act out and they're gonna act in a certain way. And, like, the major point of all those videos was is, like, their emotions don't get to change, influence your emotions. Yep. Right? And so, like, this is true with Helen. Like, this is true with family members that are hard to get along with. Right? Adam. This is true with Adam. This is true Adam. Right? With Like like, you you are if when you find that you're following their emotions up and down, right, when they're happy, you're happy. When they're mad, you're mad. When they're upset at you, now you're upset because they're upset at you. It's not like a family ride along on emotion. Yeah. But that's the thing is you're riding an emotional train that you don't even wanna be on. Right? You don't wanna live that way. It's exhausting. Right. And and it has it comes with guilt that doesn't even belong to you. And so, like, there's there's, like, practical things to do, like, you set up boundaries, right, of things that, like, you you decide in your mind. Here's what I'm gonna tolerate. Right? Will I take a phone call from Helen? Sure. Does she get to call me in the middle of the day when I'm at work? No. I will call her back when I have time. Not every time she calls is gonna be an emergency. Right? When she says we're gonna do Christmas on February 23 and I go, Helen, I can't make February 23. And she's gonna be all angry about it. I go, look, I'm sorry. I would love have loved to see you. If you have any other dates, we'll do our best to make it, but '23 ain't gonna work. Let us know. And that's it. You're not mad because you missed it. You're not mad at her for planning it. You just it's a fact. You're just dealing in facts, not emotions. Right? We can't make it. I wish we could make it. That's a fact. I thank you for trying to plan it. That's also a fact. But, like, we just can't make it. And it's it's the difference between expending all of the energy you have in your entire life trying to put the brakes on that emotional roller coaster versus just getting on the roller coaster. Yep. And and standing there and waiting for them to be ready to get off to. Yeah. Yeah. And you can do this with anybody at any time. Right? Like, like like, your friends relationship. As your friends groups will change, your relationships with people at work will change. Right? Like, there's nothing set in The

the worst thing you can do is is find yourself in a situation you don't wanna be in and then have to concoct a crazy plan to, like, fix it. Like, sometimes you just need to get out. Sometimes you just need to leave the situation and then the whole world looks way different. Right? Like, you were clouded under this Helen's thing where everything is, like, push and stressful and hard and difficult. And then you don't go to one of those Christmases and you look out at the world and you go, well, hot dang. The old sun shines. And I got up what time I wanted to, and we got coffee, and the kids had waffles. And, like, this Christmas is kinda awesome. I didn't even think this was possible because you were so blinded by, like, Helen's ridiculous vitriol. Yeah. So, like yeah. I yeah. We don't need we you don't need to teach Helen a lesson. You don't need to help her change her ways, but you also don't have to be subject to it. So you came in calmly, you dealt calmly, you left calmly. All that's that that's how you deal with people who are completely amped up and ridiculous. The bonus of getting shunned for six months, you no longer get invited to her ridiculous parties. Well, the bonus for getting shunned is you don't care. Right. Like, it's you're not you you don't hate Helen, but you are apathetic to whether you attended the thing or not. Right? You're like, it's you're you're the bonus is is that you don't feel either way about it. Right? Like, you're not gonna get riled up. You're not gonna match her energy. You're not an energy matcher. Right? Whatever energy you came in with, it's the one you hold. You just hold that energy because when you when you don't, people get to puppet you around. Right? You get to fall to their crazy, and there's a lot of crazy in the world. I would now like a shirt that has Mike Foust on it, drawn as a kind of like a cartoon character with, like, the six hands and the middle eye and stuff like that and says, Foust, energy catcher. Yeah. Yep.

Yeah. And like the sands of the hourglass, these are the days of our lives. You've been listening to Live From The Past. We appreciate you hanging out with us tonight. I hate that. No. You love track. You you loved it. Like a like a super dramatic exit, like, as evil struck, this was a good preparing for the church. That's us. You've been listening to live in the past. I don't wanna match that energy. Okay. Alright. We're trying to we're gonna succeed in getting out of here. That's what we're gonna do. Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight. If you got any feedback for the show Yeehaw. Good

good, bad, indifferent. You just wanna you wanna a tune, and you want other people to enjoy it. You wanna tell a joke that your wife's sick of hearing. (515) 517-0085. Call or text. We would love to hear from you. We will see you when we see you. In the meantime, be faithful in the men's me means apocalypto. And God will handle the ends. You've been listening to Live From The Path.