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

And you're listening to live for the Path coming from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston proper. It's gonna be with you on this fine December morning. Take a lift for victory. What? I look like I'm wearing a dirty tank top. You know what? Not everyone watches the video. Well You don't have to give away your secrets. I just need them to know that, like, it's just real hot.

And so it was a tank top kinda day, but it just looks dingy. Like, I just got like, I just left the trailer. I I don't think I can focus any longer. Yep. I wish you would that wouldn't have been said. Alright. You listen live from the path. Here's what we got going on the show today. I I think most of the show are, letters from BUVA. Like, letters from BUVA. I hate that. You know? These are questions. Mike, you had a couple too. We've been, just as a group, so we've fielding some questions this week from from folks that are coming out of our bible reading.

Buva, what are the what are the top, three on your mind? So the top three in my mind are, every time I read through first Corinthians when I get to 11, and I know it's coming. The second I start up first Corinthians, I know it's coming. By the time you get to eleven, Paul has gone through a lot of good stuff that I just loved, and I was like, yes. This makes sense. I appreciate the way that he's calling out his flock and then praising them for some stuff and blessing them and all this stuff. And then it gets to like, hey, ladies. Stop talking in church. Mhmm. Mhmm. You know? You need to be quiet where you know you're supposed to be quiet. Don't don't open your mouth and talk. When you get home, that's when you can ask questions to your husband, not in the greater assembly. And I believe that Paul had a heart for people, and he loved people because Jesus loved people, and he knew Jesus loved him. But there's a level of like, wow, this seems harsh, Paul.

And so I I it just every time. I've I've heard the descriptions probably a dozen times from a bunch of different random people, but I just it for some reason, it just doesn't stick to me where I'm like, fine. This seems okay, and I'm okay with it. Now I understand how I'm supposed to be a husband in this situation and talk to my wife. Yep. So I wanna chat through that. Okay. The second thing I wanna chat through is I heard a fellow recently go, in a group of of of people when he's, like, talking through, his week and and and trying to, like, ask for prayer and stuff. He, like, just randomly off the cuff goes, yeah. And we're not supposed to worry. Like, Jesus says not to worry. So, like, if you're worrying, you're being sinful. And, like, my immediate thought was, that that ain't right. Mhmm. Nope. That's wrong. And then I took a step back and went, but is it wrong? Like, am I incorrect in my thoughts here? Like, shoot. He's right. We were told not to worry. Yeah. And, like, we're given specific examples as to why we shouldn't. And usually, if that's the situation, unless it's like Paul saying, this didn't come from the Lord. It came from me. Like, I'm supposed to call that out and go, that's this simple. I've given I've given out advice in this area recently, so now I'm gonna have to tell you what I said, and then we're gonna have to measure it and see how it goes. Mike, if your advice did not start with Bobby McFerrin is the greatest prophet of our time, then

you probably gave it wrong. You gave it wrong. Tried going Yeah. I love this song. I wish there was a fish that could sing it to me. Somebody told me today that one of their favorite songs is red red wine by u b forty. What? And I said, you gotta be kidding me. You should at least know not to say that out loud. Right. U b forty's favorite song isn't even red red wine. Also, one of the best hits around is, Tom Petty's you don't know how it feels. Oh. I like you got That's a very specific human being that those two thoughts are are coming from. You're not helping anybody with these dudes you're picking out. The heartbreakers just know me. Yeah. They just know me. Okay. What was the next one? Alright. The and the last one is I I wanna chat about baptism because

I think I understand the necessity for baptism and and why it's important and all that stuff. But given the need to give more than thirty seconds to a crowd of people that I I would trust to be able to say if I'm wrong or not, I don't know if I can make the assertions that I believe I can and and feel scripturally backed by it. Does anybody know, like, just in preparation for that conversation, like, where each of the denominations

stand on that particular item? Do not. Divisive for sure. I do not. I got a pretty good feel. Okay. Knows. Okay. The people that love Jesus think like me and everybody else. I mean, there's pagans. I'm on a Facebook group. Yeah. And no. I got you. I don't wanna say, I mean

Sheol. Okay. And so okay. So and I just I wanna spend a little bit of time, and we we probably talked about this on the show. It was probably me that asked it on the show, to be honest with you. I'm just not I'm not in a solid spot. Because you're like, can I get baptized four times? Yeah. That's the truth. When I was a kid, I totally did that. I was like every altar call. I'm like, I bet I should be baptized again. I sinned. I sinned after I was baptized, so I gotta do this again. I gotta I gotta repent. Lord, I'm I'm wearing a dirty shirt. Right. I look like I'm trailer trash. I better jump in that water right now and be saved. Can I just put water on my earlobe? Right. Can we be back to living? Can we call it a shower as long as I'm praying? Like, are we good? So, yeah, so those are the three things that I wanted to chat through today. Okay. I mean, there's a few hot buttons in there. Mike, what did you didn't you have some? I think it's encapsulated in movements, really. Okay. Alright. Well, let's let's hit those up. Let's go in reverse order. Let's let's start with let's start with baptism. Yeah. So, obviously, I I I think I have a general understanding of of, like, the concepts and importance of baptism. Mhmm. I recognize that there was a there was an importance for Jesus to be baptized at the beginning of his ministry and the representation of, like, where John calls out like what happens and God opening up the clouds and then like proclaiming

who Jesus was in that moment and then what he meant to him in that moment, right? There's a I understand at least a little bit the concept of like the Greek word of beptizo to take on the properties of the water and like the cleanliness that's offered through that, and it's a turning around that I'm doing,

that I'm dying to myself and I'm being raised again out of the water, which is a death of my previous self and a resurrection of my new self in Christ, and I am a part of the kingdom and I'm one of its workers and citizens, right? Like I've read a lot of that, I've heard a lot of that, and I've tried to understand a lot of that. Where I'm getting hitched up on on whether or not I can like sit down and be able to talk about it and feel like I'm backed by Scripture and a better understanding is the concept of like, is baptism

a necessary component of salvation? And I recognize that there's even some perspectives that like when I talk about salvation, I may not be talking about the same thing as a lot of people. Like, a lot of people would say that means that when I die, I get to go to the clouds in heaven with God. I don't I don't really believe that much anymore from the perspective of, like, kingdom of heaven is here kind of stuff. Like, I'm just I get lost, though, in the is there a perspective that, like, somebody dies, they had not gotten baptized yet, but their heart was right,

and are they saved? Is there salvation for them? Are they truthfully going to be called one of one of of of God's people that are in his kingdom? Or is is the act which I hate that, but the act of the baptism is that you saying or dying to your old self, and your new created self is what is able to pass into the kingdom? And so I'm trying to figure out how to answer my questions and then be able to turn around and answer others or talk about that correctly. Because if this is a if this is a make it or break a deal, like, I need to be pushing more out there and, like, making certain that I'm not just having conversations that I'm having, but I'm I'm leading people to water more often because I don't find myself doing that out in my in my dailies. Like, I don't I don't do that very often, and so

am I am I screwing this up? And am I screwing this up from the perspective of I'm not doing right by the people that I'm trying to disciple? What are your thoughts? Representing the more conservative position, Dan Hudson. Representing the word of god. Yep.

That's awesome. Shi o. Shi o. Okay. You you even your your question Sure. Is is filled with about two hundred years of argument k. Coming in different directions. Totally fair. Which which is makes sense because that's kind of where we're at as the church. A couple hundred years of people arguing back and forth and trying to come up with

reasons of how they've come to their conclusions. There's there's three things you look at in baptism. One one is is who is getting baptized as in what age? Mhmm. Secondly, the mode. Is it gonna be through immersion, through sprinkling? So how it's Sure.

And thirdly, the purpose and the meaning behind it. Is it symbol or is it forgiveness of sins, get to the Holy Spirit as Acts two thirty eight would clearly say. So

Dan seems to be showing his hand already. What happens is you get 10 people in a room, you're gonna get 13 answers Sure. Yeah. With those three mixtures, partly because everybody's confused they don't have a confident answer, partly because they've heard so many different sermons and so many different teachings and so many blogs and so forth, with so many different and and it's so it's it's confusing. So here here's how I approach it. Okay. Here's how how I approach it. Sure. When I when I talk to people. I would say, is it necessary for necessary

for salvation? I I mean, can anyone really say anything necessary? Right? I I mean, you know, like, I'm not God. I'm not qualified. So I'm not gonna say you're disqualified. You didn't get baptized. You're never gonna make Here's how I will say it, though, is I would say it's necessary for the assurance of salvation because there is enough evidence in scripture that points to baptism happening as a part of your faith. K. That it is an it's like one of the first things you do. I mean, it's even Jesus telling his disciples, make disciples by baptizing him in the name of the you know? So like, that's how you make a disciple. So, If you wanna be a disciple, you're gonna be baptized.

And then you get into two, you know, different places in scripture, like I mentioned, acts two thirty eight. People argue on this back and forth on on on some of the Greek, but but to my understanding, it's pretty clear that baptism is a point of forgiveness of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit. Now can God choose to do that at a different point with other people? Who am I gonna say no? Right? Right? What about Cornelius? You know, they'll throw out that one one example. Or the guys on the cross. Except that's pre pre church age. I thought you But people do say that. What about the guy on the cross? Well, Jesus hadn't died nor had he resurrected. And

ever being baptized in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he hadn't done any of those yet yet. Yeah. But, I mean, well, that I don't know that I buy that because, like You're false. You're wrong. Very notion of his crucifixion applies in in right. Respectively. Like, retro like, back retroactively. Like, the old testament folks who are rescued from from the sinful life are still rescued by Jesus' sacrifice. It just backwards applies. And so Right. But then none of them were baptized because it couldn't be because there was not Christian baptism yet. Agreed. The baptism of repentance that John the Baptist did, but not Christian baptism. Yeah. Hope that happened in Acts two thirty three. Was Paul baptized? I would presume. It didn't say he is, but I would nine.

Oh, yeah. Waiting for it. You have to wash away your sins. Cool. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Why don't say wash away your sins? There's enough little things like, oh, and wash away your sins. Like, why would he say that? Although that wasn't immersion. Oh. Oh, yeah. It is because that's just what the word meant. So it wouldn't be I mean, he wasn't he had that was, like, the washing of his like, the scales on his eyes. That wasn't really Well, they had fallen off. Okay. Do you think people are asking these questions because they're looking for a caveat or they're trying to understand God's character? Right? Because a God that would put you in a gotcha. Right? Let's say I I planned my I don't blame God on this, though. So let's say I plan so here's the thing, though. It's like, you just as responsible

if someone comes and says, hey. I would like to get baptized. Yep. And they say, I wanna do this a couple weeks from now, and you allow it, and then they get hit by a bus Right. You're to blame because you should've just done it right then and there. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I talked to to a couple yesterday who are gonna get baptized in two weeks. And you said, I find this risky. No, I'm okay with that, honestly. Mean, good because God does know their heart. That's just say, I'm not gonna disqualify people from heaven. I can't imagine God doing that.

We're going to assume his grace covers that. Their intent was there. They had a plan. It was gonna happen. I do tend to tell people to do it as soon as possible, but here's why there's argument on it. It only goes back a couple hundred years when some of the theologians started arguing back and forth, Calvin and Zwingli and all these guys going back and forth, and you can actually watch if you get into the real weeds of that, their debates. Can read their information, how they formulated their doctrines

through time in order, like they tweaked it a little bit because there was, ah, there was a hole, that guy won, he got me a zinger on there, so then they'd kind of tweak And it a little to where today we've grown up in a society where, you know, if you go to a Baptist church, you're gonna tell it is a symbol of what's happened already on the inside. And someone like in a restoration movement church, you're gonna say, no, that's the act. That's the place when it's taking place, when grace is happening. And here's how they had that's here's how they reduced it to symbol. They decided, hey, there's there's two ordinances,

right? Communion and baptism. Now that sounds really clever because we're all like, well, yeah, two ordinances. Or what's what's the other words? Ordinances or the Sacraments. Sacraments, thank you. Of course, the Catholic church has seven or nine or depending on who you talk to. But but in in a Protestant church, say there's two sacraments.

And although the Bible doesn't mention that word and it doesn't exist. Right? But when you put them in the same bucket, they're they're the same thing. So is communion and baptism mean the same thing? So you have two choices. If if baptism is a place of forgiveness and communion is a place of symbolism, you neither need to raise communion to the meaning of baptism and say, wow, there's big forgiveness that happens in communion

that that you're literally drinking the blood of Jesus and and it's know, it kinda messes with the doctrine there, or you're gonna lower baptism to the meaning of communion as only a symbol. Mean, I'm just going to the that's getting into the weeds of where the roots of the doctrine came from and the explanations. Interesting. And then what happens if we're raised a certain way, I was raised at being a symbol, and so I fought this for years until I just kept reading the scripture going, I can't I can't deny what it actually says. And and that's why I I I settle on it is a it is necessary for the assurance. I would not be confident in my salvation if I wasn't baptized by immersion as I'm dying to myself and accepting Jesus Christ.

God can do what he wants, but I wouldn't be confident personally. And so as you say that, the thing that hits me is, right, and this is one of the distinctions that you were talking about is a conversation of, like, when you decide that from an age perspective. Like, when I when I was first baptized, I was young. Like, I was I was I was think 10, maybe 11. Mhmm.

And I I think that I thought that, like, this is necessary for me to be forgiven for the things that I know were wrong in in in what I've done before, who I am without it, right? And so, like, I am I'm I'm making this decision for my relationship with my father and to understand or to to to get that kind of assurance. That's good way to put it, understanding what you're saying. When I look at it from the perspective of, like, what happens to a kiddo then that, like, is before that age of I would really believe that they understand what they're taking on to themselves. Yeah. And, like, I know it's covered by the concept of, like, I believe in a god that that loves his children. Right. And I believe that He's not hoping to send it to Exactly. And, yeah, right. Like Mike said, I I don't believe that this is the spiritual gotcha. Yeah. Like, this is like the, oh, too bad. I'm so sorry that you got cancer and, like, didn't make it to seven. And so it's very unfortunate. But there are some denominations that look at it like if you are a child

and you are not baptized through sprinkling or whatever it is at that point in time, like, that is that is a damnation for your soul or whatever way will you look at baptize for the forgiveness of sin, but they baptize for the forgiveness of Adam's original sin that they think you're born in. Oh. A Protestant church like ours would say you're baptized to forgive your sins, your personal rebellion against God. That's why I say it gets Interesting. All didn't even know that distinction existed.

So I've had people in funerals, loving family members tell a mother of an infant child who died said, you didn't baptize that child, they're in hell. Right, I've heard that before. And I just wanted to slap them, but, you know, that would have been inappropriate. Had to go get baptized again. Yeah.

The wrong moment for sure. But but kinda answering what I saying earlier, I I have no problem baptizing someone again. You know, later on who who my children were baptized around ten, eleven. With them, I I I kept pushing it off, putting it off, putting it off until they couldn't not do it. Then I thought, okay. They they're really serious about this. Mhmm. And if they came and said, man, I really wanna do this again, I'd be like, okay. I mean, if if there's I I don't I don't don't think it's gonna do anything harm. Right. At worst, it'll do something good, you know, if they didn't really mean it. Yeah. Like, I gotta have problem little with bit out of the out of the category you put it in and make it more as a symbol if you're willing to do it twice? Like, the first one didn't matter? I no. Well, I'm just saying, like, maybe they really weren't repentant. I I don't know. Maybe they were repentant of a 10 year old thinking, oh, okay. I'll stop stealing cookies. Right. And now they've gone through life, they've had, you know, murdered four people and killed chickens. And and they're like, no. No. I really need to repent. I but to be honest, though, like, to your to that exact point. Right? Like, if you'd have told me, Mike, do understand what following Jesus looks like at 25? I'd have said, yeah. Oh, sure. Yeah. And now, you know, at 40, I'm like, I did not. I was an idiot. And I will tell them that I don't think you need to because you've done it. I I mean, I will tell people that. I say, but I will do it because if that truly gives you peace in this, I I I mean, I don't think God's gonna be mad at you because you really wanted to make sure you're pleasing me. I got dunked twice. I do think that brings up a good point, though, is that, like, God is not I have someone I know who,

I wanna say, like, fifteen years ago, got baptized, and they were like, Well, I don't know if I really believe in this, but, like, just wanna make sure I'm covered. And, like, god is not bought off by a wet body. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was that a true conversion or was that a insurance? Yeah. God knows your heart. Buy your insurance. And so I think, actually, I would say that I I land mostly in the same spot as Dan. Like, I it's I'm less I'm less worried about it as a salvation issue until you say no. And then I'll be like, well, why would you say no? Why like, if like, because I the opportunity. I don't love people. Well, Jesus says, well, I just don't want you. I don't do that one. Right. So I actually think

the reason there's been a lot of debate about this is there's enough that people debate about it. Sure. But the reality is is that there's enough times where baptism naturally follows a confession of faith. Paul's a good example in Acts nine. See this with the Ethiopian eunuch, the jailers. Ethiopian eunuch. Right. And so even if you thought, like, again, will get to some of the Paul stuff, is like, well, how much of that is cultural? I don't know, but the church has always done it. Nobody gave this up in the fifth century. We've been baptizing people forever. So the reality is if Jesus says, Hey, go do this and be baptized, and someone said that to you, and you go, Nah.

Frankly, I'm more concerned about the form of rebellion or like no to not getting baptized than I am about the technicalities around what happens as you're being baptized, because I think Jesus does make it relatively, and Scripture's always holistic, they make it relatively clear that it just naturally follows. Yeah, right. Like, you being rebellious or at least just apathetic to like, do I need it? The only thing the church did change a few hundred years ago, not very long ago, was, hey, let's throw in sprinkling and count that as baptism. I will often tell people who've done that said, just to be true to the word, I do. I I tell everyone who's been sprinkled. Right. Like, that's one of the biggest concepts is, like, there's a death to it and a life It's a burial. It's a it's a picture of the death, burial, resurrection.

I like I've never seen a burial. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Hey. A slight variation. I died to myself because somebody tossed a a a mud pie at me. Actually, that gets into something we were talking just before the show started. It's like there I I do think God did not give up completely on the nature of us understanding, like, spiritual truths through physical behaviors. Sure. As much as baptism

isn't magic per se, you're connecting. This is a physical demonstration. This is where the words get weird because I do think it's a physical demonstration of a spiritual reality,

but it's happening at the same time. Those two things are concurrent, not just you saying, Oh, we're putting on a show. This is part of a celebration in a community. This is part of you actually doing a physical obedience that is part of following Jesus,

and you get to remember it, and you get to tie the action that you took with the reality that it is demonstrating. And same concept is communion for us too. It's like it's a physical representation that's representative, or physical action that's representative of a spiritual thing. Yes. And so to get back to, I think, mostly what Dan was getting at is that, like, well, regardless

of where, if there was a line, regardless of if it falls 10 feet one way or 10 feet the other, why are you just not getting baptized? I like to use this argument too, where no one argues about when a person is married. Mhmm. You know, they don't say, well, was it at the unity candle? Was it when they signed the license? You know? Well, it was when they did the vows. You know? It was the consummation. That was the moment. You know? We just know you did all that. Sure. You know? Yeah. Yeah. I got married Saturday. Like, but when? How but what what When was the time of marriage? What if you died before you signed the paper? You know? Where does the insurance go? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Silly. And that that's that's what we do in the West with all silly arguments. Yeah. Yeah. That's true.

Like, when he was struck by lightning, had you pronounced them man and wife yet? Boom. That's a tricky wick. What time was it? So I generally don't argue with people. Time of marriage? I'll just say here's the future. Let God worry about it. Yeah. If I were you for your assurance of salvation, I would do this and go with that. I think that's

often I've said the same like, something very similar, and I usually start with, well, what's holding you back? Like, what's causing you to say no or even ask? For me, I I I held it back for years, and and people debated me with it, and I mean, it was pride. When I finally realized it was my pride saying, well, I'm not gonna do that because you're telling me I should Uh-huh. Then I realized, crap. It's because I'm I'm Oh, crap. This is categorically one problem that I'm trying to eliminate. Actually, it's interesting that this came up because this showed up at my house this week. My

third kid, I can't remember what we were talking about, but like, somebody in my family said, like, no one's born a Christian, and was trying to explain this to them. It's like, so that they kind of understood this decisions that people are making or whatever. And she she goes, I was. Like, no no doubt She's in her like, I've been a she's like, I've been a Christian since I was born. Like, what do you mean? And I'm like, well, I mean What else is there? I and here's the thing. I don't want

I don't even wanna talk her out of it. Like, it's something that seems so very does not occur to her that she's, like, to think I'm not, and that there's maturity steps of which she has to do, of which God would recognize her as a She's just like, Of course I follow Jesus. What do you mean? There's some argument that, yeah, she's part of a Christian family and sanctified by that union and marriage, And I mean, I I could see where she's coming from. Right. And that. Yeah. It's it's weird because, like, then you get into a It'd weird if she made those arguments, to be honest with you, but still, yeah. You get into a mostly you get to actually, this isn't just I'm a sanctified by your union. That's mama. I was saved for your childbirth. Maybe you understand more than I think you do. Do you know what propitiation is, man? You know, it's it's about old test preps, isn't it? What was taken what was what was ab executed upon the father. It's funny though because, like, you get into a situation where you almost have I have to convince her of her own sin to then convince her back into a restoration that she's like, well, of course.

I already have it. I'm following Jesus. What do you mean? Why did you take me to B? I was straight at sea, dad. Yes. And so and there's something about that that I'm like, you know, we may not be getting the story quite right for that. Because, like, what you're always trying to, like, yank fish out of the sea and be like, she jumped into the boat voluntarily. What are you guys waiting for? Actually, we find those people very suspicious. That's true. You know what I'm saying? Like, the hard fought catch you. Hard won, like, down in the dumps, whatever. You're like, yes. This this grace is good for this. Right. But someone who just jumps in the boat and says, I'm totally in. You're like, wait. What? Yeah. Get out of here, Enoch. Yeah. Do you secretly murder? Like, you're very suspicious to me.

This same kid Your holiness is suspect. Probably for the last three years, she's like, I'm gonna go help the poor people in Africa. When she first said it, I don't know, I thought maybe we watched a video somewhere or something like that. But she's not letting it go, and she'll talk about it as if it's already a baked in part of her plans of her life. It's like, hey, you thinking about getting married? Are you excited about having kids someday? She's like, oh, maybe after I get back from helping the poor people I could in set her up for an internship in an orphanage. She might need it. She might need enough. That might have been my wife's story too. Like, from a very young age, she was like, yes. I will be living in Africa, and I will be loving on children. And then people are like, oh, that's so sweet. Like, you're gonna do that? And, like, the second she had the opportunity to go, she was like, cool. I'm gonna go camp out in Liberia at, like, ten. Sounds great. I love this. We're gonna sleep on the ground for a month and then possibly be killed by witch doctors. Let's do it. Yeah. I'm doing this. I'm in for it. And then she went there and freaking lived there for four years, and she was like, yep. Dude, this was happening from the time I was, like, seven years old. She's also she's freaking awesome because, like, she's one of those people that, like, she was like, Jesus was my only friend. And I'm like, what does that even mean? Uh-huh. She goes, I didn't have friends. I had Jesus. And I was like, I don't understand that concept. Like, did you sit with Jesus at lunch? And she'll go, yeah. I'm like, you weirdo. What are you talking about? That's freaking creepy. Don't shame me. Yeah. And it's funny because, like, her her story, like, girl she did not grow up at a Christian home. Like, her parents did not bring her to Jesus. Jesus was just in her life. Yeah. And then, like, she she basically forced their aunt into being like, well, if she's gonna be there, I guess we gotta go to church, and that's literally how it happened. This is also the woman that got grounded for spending too much time at the altar. Like,

flat out. She, like, stayed too long for an altar call at the end of youth group one night Yeah. And got in trouble because she missed curfew. And then, like, she got in trouble because she was think I shouldn't even say this. I think her mom said something along the lines of Jesus understands curfews. This is not how this goes. She understands the law. She was like, I just couldn't be moved from like, I was in the presence of the lord at this altar staring up at the cross. Like, this is what I had to do. I could not leave. I was worshiping and speaking to my father. And I'm like, woman, I got grounded because I threw parties at my house where I the only reason I got in trouble was because someone lined our gutters with beer cans, and I hadn't gotten outside to clean the place out. I was outside smoking heaters. Yeah. Exactly.

Hey. Remember that time I got off the bus in sixth grade and lit up a cowboy killer? Yeah. Yeah. You were in an altar call too long. This is a weird deal that god has led us together. We would have different. So I appreciate that because, like, I think I'm asking the question for two reasons, and I think the first reason is I get asked this sometimes. People want to talk to me about this stuff, and they're reading through the Bible, and they want to make sure that they understand it well enough. The other perspective is, again, the thought process of, like, am I not doing it justice if I'm, like, not being a part of, like, hey. I wanna talk to you about Jesus. Are you baptized? Like, that's not one of my normal conversation starters or my questions, but I had that thought today while I was talking to a fella. I was like, are you baptized? Because, like, it became important in that moment for me to, like, know that that was true or know that he had plans or had talked to somebody about it because of the kind of confessions that he was making and kind of the things we were talking about. I don't feel like I've ever really gotten to the point with anybody where I go to the, hey, man. We've been talking about Jesus for a while. Like, are you baptized? And, like, have you thought about that? Is that a part of your question? Like, after conversation or toward the end. Sure. Yeah. It's not your opener. No. And don't mean I see Joe on the side of the road. I've never met him before. My first question is, are you baptized, friend? Like, that's usually not how I start. Right. I try I try not to Ned Flanders normal social situations. Pull it over, Joe. Baptito. I got me a bucket. Where's the closest river? Let's go. Like, but but I also I I joking aside, like, do want be in a place where I'm being faithful to what I'm in what I'm called to do as I'm I'm told I'm supposed to be going and making disciples. I don't have any problem with with believing that that's true. I don't have any issues with, yes, that is part of my job, and I'm supposed to doing it and stuff like that. I guess I just get a little bit worried that like, oh crap, am I like am I not am I not doing this right? Am I representing or misrepresenting a heart or not representing at all a heart that God has for this kind of thing? And so I I appreciate those answers. My job now is to continue to go back to the word and and and search that for myself and also be praying about it and be open to to being directed by the Holy Spirit as I understand things more through sanctification, all that stuff. Right? The thing is that there's no conversations in the scripture that we we don't have someone, like, laying out the plan of salvation necessarily. Right. Although all we know is it ends up somehow when they get baptized. Mhmm. Like, it'd be kinda cool if we had that whole conversation.

Know? Every once in while, over here's his faith, over here's his repentance, over here's his baptism, over here's his confession. Know? And it's like, we just gotta throw it in a pile and say, well, here's the things that seems to be what you do. Here's your unity candle. Here's your, you know Right. Yeah. Like, what are what are the rituals that I'm supposed to fulfill Yeah. Yeah. To to be like, I get to go to heaven. Like Yeah. So whatever that looks like. Right? Kingdom person. Yeah. Right. Exact and, yeah, right. Like, how do I get to the castle in the sky? I've I've I've heard a lot of stories about, like, this really big city with really big mansions and, like, streets of gold. How do I make my way? I like it. And, like, how do I make certain that the people that I love and I'm talking to are also gonna make their way there? Because, like, the the the question or the conversation of, like, I wanna walk with them in heaven someday. Like, it's true. I do want them to be in the in the kingdom with me, and I want that to be truth. And so yeah. Okay. Alright. I appreciate those answers. I I guess yeah. Okay. Fair enough. I guess argue with me a whole lot. Yeah. Yeah. I expected you to come out with more spears, Dan. I thought you actually had a really good a really good explanation.

And, yeah, it wasn't I thought it was gonna have some more teeth in it. I well, Dan, you let me down. I expected you to bring fire and brimstone against anybody. So, unfortunately, so I think the what's not happening in this room, which I think is is does happen outside of it, is, the most liberal position is yeah. It's just it is just a symbol, which makes it voluntary, Unfortunately, what it means then is that you actually miss out on part of the thing that it does. It's like

baptism largely, this is where, it's quibbles to me, I think most of the time, but it should be public. It's a celebration. We're celebrating someone going, Yes,

I'm in. I want in, and I want to declare it to people. In and of itself, the declaration is powerful. I think we do people a disservice by not being able to take part in. I know that some of that, depending on your personality, maybe it makes you feel uncomfortable taking part in a baptism ceremony.

It doesn't have to be 500 people. But actually there is something about ritual itself, like being able to use your physical body and have doing people around you who can celebrate you and be excited for the thing that you're doing, and even pray and make promises the way that you do at a wedding, around that kind of thing. And so,

I think it is a disservice to the power in it to treat it like it is just, like, oh, well, sometimes, you know, it's what old school Christianity does. If you wanna do that, you you can put on the special robe on the third Sunday, and then maybe we'll let you do it. Like, I actually think that it misses something in the same way that it missed most of the time when it's something that's physical and we get a little itchy about it, like anointings and praying on your face and things like that, I actually think we're missing out on something by not allowing our physical bodies to be part of that in that way, and I think it is actually a disservice.

And I think they do that though because it feels like it's an old thing, And it feels like, well, how do we explain this? I think back to 20 earlier questions, oh, is this like a work that God is making me do? And if I don't do it, he's not gonna save me. Because it doesn't it doesn't have a logical sense to us. And so we're running away from it. I And think that's actually a mistake. Okay. Alright.

Second one? Yep. Reverse order, it would always be the same no matter which order we're going. So, question of the concept of worry and whether or not it is sinful.

Again, dude goes, Hey man, we're told not to worry, and so if you're worrying about stuff, you're being sinful, so you gotta let that worry go. You gotta let God handle that kind of stuff or or just trust in him kind of thing. And my reaction straight up was, nope. You're wrong, and then, oh, crap. Am I wrong? And so as I'm thinking of the concepts that, like, we're we're we're called not to worry because, like, there's a level of let tomorrow's worry be tomorrow's worry. Let today's be like, live in this moment and then trust that God literally gives, you know, clothes to the flowers of the field, and, you know, the birds of the air have no worries. Even the least of these, like God takes care of, and they never want for anything because God takes care of them, so you are not to worry.

Is that a command that if I'm worrying, I am then being sinful and and going against the will of God? Am I looking at that even close to right? What do you guys think about that? I feel like that definition of worry is tough. You know what I'm saying? Because, like, it feels like the opposite of worry has to be apathy Because any attempt to think about something or someone or their behavior or the decisions they're making, and you're like, man, if they keep making these decisions, I just feel like they're not gonna be in a good place. And, like, I'm kinda worried about it. Like, I'm I'm and and by worried, mean, like, I am

uncertain of the outcome of the choices that they're making and thinking about how I could interact, how how I can pray for God to interact. Mhmm. And, like, tech I mean, it like, it just feels like sometimes this gets thrown in a technicality as if you're sinning by being concerned. Right. You know? And, like, I don't I don't think that's the case. Right? About the problem? Is it the fear of the consequences or the or the outcomes of things because you're not trusting god to be the one who handles and ordains that stuff? Is that the problem? Yeah. That's it. I wouldn't call it a sin. I would call it a weakness

or a lack of faith, a weakness in your faith, but not sin. It's an area of a growth point for you if you worry, if you're anxious,

you're not fully trusting God. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so what's interesting is I think most of the time that I hear people teach on this,

their response is to say, We're not supposed to worry, but it isn't quite what he says. He says that like Let tomorrow's worry be tomorrow's It needs a boundary. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Your your anxiety needs a boundary. If if I see if I'm in the store and my child was by me and they went to go find some pickled herring, and then I haven't seen him in twenty five minutes And I'm concerned about that. It seems perfectly reasonable to be concerned about that. Right? But true. If I see a lion coming at me right now and I'm worried about the danger of being eaten by a lion today Yes. Is that a problem? But if right. But if I'm worried, like, today, even more practically But there's a line tomorrow. That they're gonna get on the how will they do on the bus ride for the first day of school six

weeks from now? It's not bound correctly. I think it doesn't take away the very difficult thing, which is putting the boundary

on the things that we allow to consume us. And I would agree with Dan that it is less of a sin problem as it is, like, do you recognize where you're being where where things are latching onto your legs? Yeah. Like, like, can get so tight and I'll I'll say this. This is about me too. Like, you get so tied up on something that you don't control,

that you can't actually predict that's what's gonna happen. Your own ability to perceive what may or may We tend to default to the negative. You're creating situations that don't even exist all because you're thinking ahead of badness or anxiety

about what could occur. It's a hope stealer. Causes you not to look at the world with hope. It causes you to look the world we tend to bend It's funny. Martin Luther King says the world bends towards justice. Our minds bend towards negativity Mhmm. And anxiety and worry. Because, like, hope is the exact opposite of anxiety.

Right? Jerk. Yeah. You are thinking about a thing over and over again. And you're just handled. It's just going to a different conclusion, one that was positive outcome. Wow. So hope and anxiety are the exact same road. They're just going in two different directions. Yeah. Yes. The thing is is that, like, you know, I I I think, like, Jesus looks at the world with hope. Jesus, he carries in his return because it is a desire that more people will come to him. Jesus has a belief that the good news changes all the things that are going on around us. Christians, modern Christianity tends to lack hope. It's why we spend our time grousing about the culture around us and the political environment,

and this neighbor and that neighbor and the things that our other churches are going on. We're not hopeful people. We're grousing, anxious, angry people. Now here's the thing. It's cartoonish sometimes to think of it that way, but then you've got legit problems. You've got things where Jesus

is concerned about, has a view on people who are running away from the faith, or a world that is continuing to turn away from his goodness and choose their own paths. And you're like, Well, isn't it righteous to worry about that? Bound by today, the people that you're gonna run into, and the people that he has got you caring for, and the people that you have influence over, yes, that's today. What

is not probably your purview is to take on a weight of which only Jesus can bear. Only Jesus can bear the weight of the worry and the problems and all the things that are going on in the world. You're not made for it. If you try to take on too much of that stuff, won't move. It won't You'll simply move. You'll get stuck. Go ahead, Dan. I would say, you mentioned the lion running at you, just give me this flashback to a time when a lion literally was going after my daughter and and she literally thought she was going to die. This is it. Right? And and she looked at that and she thought, I'm just gonna watch it because I'm okay. I mean, at worse, I go to heaven. Right? I mean, was like, god's got this. Mean, it was it was a total hope thing. I mean, it it was there was she wasn't, like, panic and scared. She's I mean, she's she just thought, well, I'm dead. It just so happened there was a hyena behind her that the lion was after. Nice. But

she didn't know the hyena was there. But Of course. That's how they They literally there was three of them together that thought they were going to die, and and it was just like she just looked at her straight in the eye and said, well, let's watch this happen. Mhmm. I mean Yeah. I mean that's that's like I certainly get it. I think it's just the idea that that that whatever it is is coming at you, whatever is ahead of like I was saying, it's god's god. He's gonna handle it. And so why can what what do I what am I what's my worry gonna add to it? How how how am I there's nothing I can do to make it better or worse Yeah. That that God can't you know, he's he's got this. Yeah. Or or, like and I think there's, like, prac this is where this gets this the rubber meets the road. Right? Because, like, let's say you are you you and you got three kids and you're by yourselves and your rent's due two days from now and you don't have a job. And like, you go you get God's got to handle this, and he totally might. He might send money.

Yeah. But he might not. Yeah. But the but the reality was is that you worried about it actually isn't gonna change a lick of Right. You don't wanna get a job, Mike. Right. Right. You you working might. You asking for help might. You finding another living situation might help. Sure. I think we sometimes misunderstand this. We say very negative things about pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but it doesn't mean you have to do all these things alone, but you do probably have to do something. The Gospel is an action. Love is an action. Good news travels. It doesn't sit, and so I

think it's perfectly okay to recognize that Jesus has given you something both very theologically enriching and also very practical,

and that your worry and rubbing your hands together and wondering what the next week is going to be is not gonna change anything about that. And so it it actually brings you back into a very tangible day by day, step by step Sure. Mhmm. Prayer by prayer way of engaging with the world, and it's it's very practically helpful. But still think about that, though. If someone said, like, what are you doing? I'm just sitting around thinking of how great this week is gonna be. You know what I'm saying? Like, you're doing the exact same action. You're just assuming a different outcome. Mhmm. Right. Mhmm. So it's just interesting that they are so much the same. Yeah. You know? And one is so frowned on, and one is like, what a great way to spend your time. You know what I'm saying? Like, if I if you're like, I spent living in hope. Yeah. If you're like, I got this big thing coming up Saturday, and if I was fretting about it and worried about it and it's on Monday, everyone be like, look, man. It's not even here. Like, you gotta stop this. But if I was on the same Monday going, Saturday is gonna be so awesome. I've been thinking about it. Right? They're gonna have this, and it's gonna be this, and I'm gonna talk to this guy, and they're like, cool. Then everyone's in support. Man, it affects the world. It's the exact same thing. Yeah. Yeah. I I don't know how many times we whether we had a young family

and a low income that that we honestly we didn't know where the next next meal was coming from. We didn't know how the house was gonna get paid or or or know the cars broke down. You know, all the stuff. You know? And and we would and I don't know how many times we said to each other, you know what? We've lived this long. You know what? We still own a house. We still have a car. We still have a job. Uh-huh. And if all that goes away, we'll still have each other. Yep. And and then just keep plugging away. And then god would, like, yeah, god would do stuff. Someone would just pull up with a carload of beef, and we're like, what?

I mean Yep. And that happened multiple times in our lives. Or pork and, you know, whatever, meat. And and and it was just, okay. So you just you just let god be god, and and I'll sit back and watch him

show off a little bit sometime. It takes a certain kind of life to to look hopefully to a car full of beef showing up at your place. You know what? We weren't anticipating it. It just No. I just mean Yeah. Shows a car full of beef shows up and you look at it as a good thing. It's a very interesting life that you've lived because plenty of people in the world go, you don't trust that beef. It's It's frozen. Don't don't trust that beef, friend. You don't know where it was before you saw it frozen in this state. I'm just saying. That's true. You'd be like, why are you giving away all this beef? What's wrong with it? Why do you have beef in crates? What's happening? Did just fall off the back of a truck somewhere? My grandpa was a was a ba Baptist pastor, he told many similar stories. As far as long as I, far back as I can remember, my grandma and grandpa lived in a trailer park in

South Sioux City, Nebraska. And I didn't even think about it, what it meant for their lives that they were living in this trailer. So,

like over the years we'd heard stories and they were very similar to that. Like we just didn't, the church, The church, he didn't have a set salary from the church. People would give an offering, and then there would be a separate offering in the back that if you were not a member there, you didn't know about, and that was money for him. Wow. And so If you didn't intentionally go back and put money in the plate or whatever, he would be not getting That's what didn't get paid. Yeah.

I think that was his way of trying to protect not whatever it might feel like for people coming into the church or whatever, he would tell stories like, just sometimes In fact, I heard he told a meat story. Somebody showed up with half a pig or something like that, or most certainly at Thanksgiving or at Christmas.

Someone would just show, they would have a goose. Someone would have a goose or whatever it was, you know? And, or a car, like they were getting rid of someone in the congregation or a friend or something would be getting rid of a car and they'd Hey, do you want this? Do you want this car? And, and it was just that, that I, I don't think this is where this gets weird. It's not Joel Osteen. It's not like you're manifesting things into the world with your good attitude, but I tell you what, you're not gonna miss them.

Sometimes we miss the good things that are going on around us because we don't expect God to be acting positively into the world, and we're so grousy about the world. You won't see it. You won't see it happen, and you didn't even leave any opportunity. He left him and his family wide open by going, We're gonna do this thing separately, and I can't control it. One of my biggest, this is probably legitimate anxiety, is that I just don't know

how I could function well without the certainty of my paycheck. I've been earning a steady paycheck from a company, insurance company for twenty years now. Like, Wow. What would it look like two weeks from now if the money I made didn't come from anything that I knew for certain?

You don't even have to give up corporate life. I couldn't be a salesman either. I couldn't go selling cars or dishwashers or something. I would be nervous about that, and it's because I just don't have a lot of hope. The thing is that once you constrain that and you pull away variety,

what you also took away was the ability for something to surprise Yeah. Stability has its values, for sure. I remember saying this a lot to when people in my family are arguing, is they're like, someone can't actually get better and treat you differently

if you always presume that they're not going to, because you won't notice it if they do, and you'll approach them as if they're going to be snarky to you in the morning, or whatever the thing is. You've got to give people a chance to be different, and you gotta have some hope to the world. I think it does actually, not in a magical way manifest itself, but people feed off your emotions. They feed off your perception. Where you have a hope for them, they're almost having to fight against your hope. It becomes a positive pressure on someone's life because you have optimism where other people do not. As Christians, if we lose that, I

didn't create this. This just showed up in my mind. I remember it was the sermon that I was teaching one time, and all I could think of was a bunch of real sad people going, What is this world coming to? Blah, blah, blah. The answer that kept popping up was glory. It's coming to glory.

It's the positive answer when it's even a predominantly Christian thing. Look at the world. What is it coming to? We're just so unhopeful about the whole thing when you've got the bucket full of chuckles and hopes with you. You are the hope dealer in the world, and you're down No wonder people aren't latching on because you're a real bummer about it.

But I think we shy away from it because it feels like we're doing magical things. It's not magical things, but you look at the world with hope, you will act at the world within hope, and it will be infectious, and you will start to see those hopeful things come true. Sure. Okay. Alright. Now now now to the ladies. Now do we do we have the time to jump into this? No.

Actually, maybe maybe we've been this week. We could save it for next week because I'll still have the same question. Good. Because I didn't say it right. I meant to say, and this was for the ladies. Yeah. We all hated that. It's appropriate for the conversations that we're about to Every every bit of us hated that. Okay. Let's do some advice on Dear Life From The Path, and then we're we're gonna pick up, we're gonna pick up women next week. Oh, boy.

I can't be controlled. Oh, boy. Is this live. Go ahead, Mike. Okay. We got a couple. Ready? Okay. They're live from the path. My husband and I retired a few years ago to a neighborhood where most of the residents are our age, and we have become friendly with the widow next door. My husband and I help her out with minor home issues she runs into and some light gardening. We are happy to do this. She and I also occasionally get together for coffee. She recently called to invite us to dinner at her house with her sister, whom we have met, and her sister's husband. Life from the path, I don't wanna start socializing over dinners with her.

My husband and I are introverts, and I have anxiety issues. Although I've entertained on a small scale occasionally over the years, usually just one couple, I become extremely anxious, and I'm miserable until it's over. I want my retirement years to be stress free as possible. We also are particular about the foods we eat. She sends foods over occasionally that I end up throwing out. Her brother lives close by, keeps completely to himself, and has nothing to do with any neighbors. I'm thinking of telling her or using the excuse that my husband is pretty much like her brother and isn't interested in getting together for dinners. Is this rude, or is there a more polite way of doing it? Wait. Isn't it her, not the husband? Yeah. She's trying to blame it on the husband, why she can't go. I was thinking about telling her my husband. Yeah.

Okay. She basically said, this woman has a introverted brother. She's basically has a has a plan and a scheme concocted to go. My husband's kinda like your brother. We probably won't be coming over. I mean, it's it's okay to to to not wanna socialize, I guess. I mean, that's that's on you. Dance is no problem. I mean but you're making mean, it's all there's five of them, and and two of them are them.

Right? There's three other people. Yeah. But, you know, that's you know, what do mean? Big gathering. It seems like you've gotten anxiety from when you were hosting dinners. If someone else is making I mean, you all you have to do is literally go over there and put your butt in a chair. This is all that anybody's asking you. Put some corn in your face and respond to when a thing is is asked of you. But I don't eat corn. Yeah. Okay. Now here's the thing. It's like, to be fair,

people will people will respond to be like, look. I have legit anxiety about this. This doesn't seem to bother you. Right? I would look at that situation and go, I don't see the big deal. Even if it's crappy, we could suffer through it. What's gonna take three hours? It seems like the right thing to do. You know? But other people will, like like, spin it over and over and over again and keep multiplying it in their head and make it into a thing. And, like, to their explanation would be, I can't control that. I can't keep my mind from doing that. Yeah. I I don't I'm gonna I'm gonna say I think that's in some ways true and then in some ways not true. I think

people often There's a risk, Mike, and you've talked about this before, is the buckets, when people just have a belief that I am like this. Humans are extremely

malleable people. I will tell you that one of the most important relationship to your spiritual, to where you ended up spiritually will be your spouse. So like you could grow up in the church, and then you marry a person who does not follow Jesus, and your ability to follow Jesus with your life is

markedly more difficult. The opposite is also true, is you start dating someone who follows Jesus, and there's a significantly high likelihood that you will end up following Jesus. It's difficult as a parent because you put a lot of effort into people, and then frankly, this one person could show up and hose up the whole affair relatively quickly. And so,

I, I think when you undersell ourselves, putting yourselves in a bucket, even like introvert so I would say I'm naturally an introverted person. I do not get energy from people. People tend to take, it takes energy from me to interact with people directly, especially if there's like small talk and things going on. But I'll tell this, I'm a lot more comfortable with it now than I was five years ago. Because what I, what I realized is that

there is an element that like, I could totally just be by myself most of the time, It would not cause me any particular problems. I can't serve people that way. I can't share good news doing that kind of thing. It's okay to go, Hey, I know this takes energy from me, and so I know that I can't set up three dinners in a week with groups of people. I will not be at my best.

Or, My wife has to be there. If she's there, she'll buffer the thing. She'll handle most of the stuff that saps my energy. Then I just hang out and I get to listen. The point was, and I'm not just saying that this is a personal anecdote. I think this is true for people. You can change. You're not probably going to fundamentally flip over.

Most people don't go from getting energy from being by solitary things to getting energy from large groups of people. You don't tend to flip completely. But it's wrong to go, I'm introverted. I cannot be around people. It drives me crazy. You can adapt. You

may not do it overnight, and the deep end may not be the thing. So There's a difference between your maybe long term ability to be in these types of situations and this particular situations. I will say, if you know this is true about you, you need to start taking some steps to start feeling more comfortable in these types of situations. Go places for half an hour, not for three hours. Start with small groups of people. See, get groups of friends for coffee every couple weeks. It's okay if it takes your energy, but it doesn't mean you get to bail from it completely. And do

have to adapt. It's what it means to live in a community and a society full of people. And so don't accept that you can't do it ever. A lot more things are skills, not talents. Yes. Right? Like, so consider the fact that you can learn a lot of things. You don't necessarily have to have been born with a lot of things. Yeah. And so where you choose to draw that line is your own your own call. And if you draw it really short and really narrow and you end up with a bucket of not a whole lot to deal with, like, that that's kinda on you. Right? Like, you wanna redraw some lines and and refire up some things and, like, skills, not talents. That's where we're at. Skills can be learned. Talents are given. And so, like, a lot of things well, way more things than you think fall in the skill category, not the talent category. And I'll I'll give an example. And I I know I've given I'm pretty sure I've given this example on the show before, but, like, I, I do, I do sympathize with, Hey, my, my, my body rebels against me. I know it should be fine going over to the neighbor's house, but I feel worked up about it. I sympathize with that. I, I, I, I do. I've gotten nervous stomachs in major work meetings. I left a sermon one time because I was gonna poop my drawers if I did not leave. Mhmm. Sorry. Breach Yeah. And so like or like Breach

it. Things that I'd love to do. Like, was running sound at a show for somebody multiple times, something was going wrong, and it just made me super nervous. I could not get my body to cooperate. I

totally understand, but I did not give up preaching. I did not quit my job. I've not stopped running sound gigs. It doesn't mean those things are difficult. Frankly, I get nerves upon nerves. Now I'm thinking ahead. Now I know it could happen. Know there's no level at which my body will go, Oh, certainly you won't poop your drawers. You're 25 years old. Yes, I would. I totally would do that. And so I sympathize with it. But my encouragement is to say it's not a stopping point.

You need to recognize where you've got land mines, but it doesn't mean you don't traverse the field. And so it's just a broad encouragement to not cut yourself off. Now, but to the broader question, and this goes to Dan's point, like if someone asks you to socialize with them, do you have an obligation to do it? Yeah. I would, like everybody else acts like this. There's some great way to do this, and I would honestly

answer the question and then stare at them. Hey. Come over to my house. Okay. Next Thursday, it's gonna be a great party. Yep. I ain't gonna make that. Why not? Mike feels no need to explain himself. Okay. Well, don't you think someone's brother. They're gonna say why not? Yeah. I I'm just not I'm not gonna be able to make it. Yeah. Well, no. You could make it. Sounds like you're choosing not to. I I am choosing not to. Okay. There we go. That was at least an honest honest answer. Yeah. You try to play me like a Finn. Yeah. It's easier to say I ain't gonna make it. And then if people press because they want to be hurt, then that's kind of their own business. Right. Right. Right. If you don't read between the lines that my, yeah, I ain't gonna make that one, really means I don't wanna make that one. It is your fault for fact finding to the point that you found out that you should be hurt. Dan, do you do you do you recall having done that? Have you ever given someone just, like, a very flat terse answer on something like that?

I can't think of a time. I mean, I prop maybe I have, but that's generally not my personality. I do this I do this a lot. I'm you, it just it cuts a lot of weak chat for me in a pub. If people say, hey, man. Who could make it? Blahbity blah. Most people just wait to see who else answers and then decide when they're gonna bop in, and I will right off the crack just go, I'm out. And then no one ever comes back to me. To be honest, seeing

that happen in Mike's life before and then also inviting him to stuff and him saying, It makes me feel good. Yeah. There you go. When he's like, hey. I'll be there. I would add, though, that that they're retired people, and they they really should make an effort to go to some of these because the the older you get, the smaller your world is. You know? And and I've seen it happen in older people. They they get into a little little tiny dark place. Yeah. And then there's no one left because they pushed everybody out. Yeah. And and just just man, for your own mental health, I'd go even though if it drives you crazy. Yeah. That doesn't sound right. You can never have too many too many acquaintances Yeah. Or friends. Like, there'll be times where it, like, it ebbs and flows,

but, like, knowing someone just a little bit is always an opportunity to know them a little bit more later on when you need them need them more than you did at the moment. Yeah. And that's look at that as a parasite, Ben. Well, I mean. Right now, you may not need them. So keep them as acquaintance, though, because someday you might need them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When you're less desirable as an old person. I don't have as many people lining up to take me to the pharmacy. I'm really glad I've kept this acquaintance ship going. Yeah. Okay. Secular says,

your neighbor may have invited you for dinner as a way to repay the many favors you and your husband have done for her. Do not tell her your husband is, quotes, like her brother because you do not know the reason her brother is the way he is. Yeah. That's the reason not to do that. Yeah. I don't know because it's a lie. It would be a good way place to start. Right. Gee. Out of all the reasons. Well, you never know why he's an introvert. Yeah. I tell you, didn't wanna go Survive NAM. It's just worse. Right? Because you're like, not only did I not wanna go to your house for dinner, but I don't even respect you enough to tell you the truth about it. Right. I'm a weave a story together where my brother your brother and my husband share a wispy disease of being introverts, and now we can't go. I mean, how much do you not like this woman? Continues. A preferable solution to your problem would be to be honest. Excellent. Tell her you enjoy your occasional coffees together, but you have anxiety issues, which is why, although you like her very much, this is placating, you would not be comfortable socializing with her sister and brother-in-law. It sounds like Gru. I like you very much, but I will not be over

at your house for coffee. I don't I don't have any idea what that was. I I I think it's a Despicable Me reference. That was as it grew from that was your Russian accent? Yeah. I like you very much. You went, like, Indian with it. No. I like you very much. I do not want to come to your house literally just like him. No. You did not. Probably the best impersonation to grow. Do a better one. Girls.

I like you very much. Okay. The girls was pretty I was waiting for a minion to come around the corner. The physical appearance of the police means nothing to me. He's not even Russian. You're He was Russian. No. He wasn't. He act he sounded Russian. Did not sound like you just did. He's Ukrainian. You sound like that Colossus from the 97 x men. Who was also Russian? Yeah. But that the Gru is not Russian. Yes. He is. Ben, since the nationality of Gru He's Estonian. Use your computer. He's Eastern European, and I was close to gonna look you're Indian. Alright. We got one more. Ready? Okay. They're not from the path. Yep. Oh, boy. My sister has a squawky bird.

She insists on keeping alongside the dinner table This better not be a euphemism. Which she invites guests for dinner. Its ear piercing screeching inhibits guests' ability to carry on normal conversation, so I asked her if in the future she could please put the bird in another room during dinner. She responded that the bird is a family member. I said, so are children, but they aren't permitted to run around the dining table screeching when their company is over. This year, when we returned for another dinner, she pulled the bird and its cage even closer to the table, and the person sitting next to her than last time. She apparently decided the comfort of her guests is not as important as her closest to the bird. I do not know how to address this in the future when she disregards my feedback.

Aside from the squawking, it's not appealing to have a bird cage pulled up alongside a dinner table or to have the host constantly distracted and conversation interrupted. What's your advice? Kill the bird. Kill the bird. Yep. Just kill the bird.

No. Obviously not. You're being ridiculous. If it's that much of a deal, stop showing up to the dinners. You think? I would take a step back and go, if I'm so inconvenienced by a bird that I'm willing to not go to a social situation that I appear to to go to yearly, you seem ridiculous to me. Once a year, you've gotta deal with a bird for an hour. Okay. Hold on. I don't feel like that's it. Let's say you go to this dinner. Sure. And it's you and, like, six other people. Yep. You're trying to talk it up, and this bird is like

That is the whole time. Conversation piece. This bird is very loud. Please shut that bird up. That's right. Gaurav, get the bird. Gaurav,

get the bird. It's so good that the one that I do. The physical appearance Okay. Hold on. I wanna put this in a different perspective. Let's say the bird is actually the children. Right? Because this is way more common. Adults are trying to have some kind of dinner or whatever, and there's two kids Clocking kids. Just tearing it up. Run it. Like, making making circles around the table, yelling, interrupting the conversation. The mom's always trying to be like, hey, you guys. And then, like so Search. That's a would you say something about that? Would you say, look. You gotta get control of your Sorry. This is family. It's a sister. Right? Yeah. Oh, totally. For sure. Right? Hey, man. Your kids are acting like bunch of animals. We can't even talk in here. Yeah. Stop talking so loud. Yeah. I tell them myself, frankly. I'd move the bird personally.

Hey. I'm moving your bird. No. No. Don't. It's a it's a family member. What? Don't move me. Okay. If grandma was doing that, she'd also have to eat in the other room. So You would wheel grandma out? If she refused to stop making any horse, you crazy old bird. That's what I I thought it was a euphemism for a while. This old bird in a cage,

grandma Jenkins would keep over in the corner. Like, if it's that and, it sounds like you and your sister just don't get along. And, like Yeah. She's trying to spite you by moving it closer and irritating you. So the bird is a part of my family, Evelyn. I seriously, I don't even I can't even respect bird people. I don't understand the draw, honestly. Birds are gross. I I would rather have you keep a live cow in your house than a bird. They're so they're just gross. All every bit of them. Of course, that's Mike's feedback. I don't even like How do you feel about a goldfish? Hey. I don't like them. Okay. Like, the snack or the actual animal? Like fish tanks, though. Think they're very calming. Mhmm. Like, you captured the ocean. Yeah. This fish tank calms me. Girls.

Basically, worls. The fish tank You're trying to swallow the word. Worls. Shut up. The fish tank is very dirty. This is terrible accent. It's so good. Worls, listen to me. I'm tired of the bird by our house. It's

very big. It makes very big noises, son. You'll be very proud. This is like an Indian just like it. That's what you sound like, an Indian Donald Donald Trump. Either case, obviously, your sister don't like you. Yeah. And listen. I I've never said, Ben, I want you to hear my feedback.

So, like You would listen to my feedback. Think you're very close with your family because, like, I don't offer Ben feedback. I just tell them what I think, and then we argue about it. And and so, like, something wrong. So either stop I have booze rights. Either stop going to these dinners or whatever, or, like, I have a a conversation with your sister that isn't instantly on fire. It feels like you're you're coming in hot about this bird. Yeah. Is family and you show up to their place once a year, you're really only showing up at obligation. Like, you're not showing up because you want to be there. And so if you're just gonna randomly keep, like, giving into the obligation, just show up, shut up, and leave. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I bring your own bird. Like, it's a weird thing to hold. Bring a bring a bigger, louder bird. Yes. Exactly. One that's become a falconer. Or like a snapping turtle.

You just put them right on the table. Oh, thank you, man. Like, this is Paul. Here's here's my turkey version, Edward. Right. Yes. Exactly. Become a falconer. Get some kind of, like, oh gosh. This is great. I brought my black mamba. Actually, I can Bring a competing predator bird. Yeah. I have a couple turkeys

at my place. Oh. And we just we just built a new our our barn got hit by a tornado. And so we built, like, a new A tornado? A new chicken It's very big. It's a chicken shed. It's a very twisty. But, like, there's this door that opens up automatically at sunrise, sunset so the chickens can go in. Oh. But these big turkeys can't fit in that. So, like, they're stuck outside. And so but this dude this dude turkey, he goes I can't don't I don't know how else to explain it, but, like, he he he, like, he, like, puffs up like this and, like, gets his fans out and his feathers up. But he's like a he's like a muscle man who doesn't know how to solve any problem except to show up to it and go, This is all I got. Like, we were capturing we had to move all these chickens. There's, like, almost 30 chickens. We had to pick them up from the current area and drag them over into this new chicken area and lock them in there for a few days so they get used to it. And this turkey was mad about it. Like, he didn't whatever was going on, he didn't want it. So he turns around, and he, like, stamps his feet like this and sticks it in and and then just walks over towards me and then stops and goes, and gives you the Schwarzenegger. Yes. And, like, I'm very upset about this. And he, like, follows you a little like,

and it looks so ridiculous, but he like, he's only got one weapon in his arsenal. I have no way to solve problem. I show up to it, and I get bigger. My feathers are very wide. They are not twisty. Not like tornado. I oh, I laugh at him every time. It was because it would just be so funny in human life if some whatever problem was happens, if some guy shows up and just

stop fanning out your lats at me, friend. Get out of here. Alright. Okay. What's the secular What does secular have to say, Mac? Secular says, because it's clear your advice wasn't appreciated, the next time you're invited to a dinner party at your sister's home, feel free to say you are busy. The only bird at the table should be a nice roasted chicken or a stuffed turkey. Sorry. Let me

oh, boy. Oh. Sorry. I was really hoping that Sekuli was gonna say, yeah. If you're gonna act this way and you don't take my feedback well, I'm bringing a bigger dang bird. I'm cooking your bird. You could bring an air horn if you don't wanna know I'm saying? Just fire it off or everyone This seems comparable. Bam. I mean, honestly, the level of childishness that is involved with this bird. Right? Like, the air horn's kinda the next the next evolution. DJ chaos pad where you could just press the button, and it does that, like, DJ topic. Every

time the bird's annoying, respond to beep beep beep. Make a remix of the bird squawk. That sounds great. Yeah. Like a whole tune. Yeah. Hey. I'll make that happen easily. Mock, mock, chicken, chicken. It's great. It's gonna be awesome. Alright. Don't don't buy the tunes from booba. No. Don't. Yeah. I think that was an actual tune I just quoted anyway. Okay. You've been listening live from the path on live from thepath.org.

If you would like to speak to us during the week The show is very good. Hit us up on the live from the path complaint line. Listen to by boys and girls. (515) 517-0085. The live from the path complete line. That's call or text. Call or text. Send us carrier pigeon.

We accept. Unless bird eat at table. Unless no bird in table, only caged birds here. You poop on floor. You leave the door. These are the rules. I don't I don't make rules. I enforce them like big turkey.

I have no control over situation. I just show up. And I'm big. There's nothing I can show you other than my bigness towards the upset that I am. You will get the lads right to your face. Don't question me.

Call me Vladimir or don't call me. Birdcage. Hello, birdcage.

What? Birdcage. Why get baptized? Just a symbol. It not physical representation of spiritual thing.

It is sprinkled. I throw the water on you, and then you see the world does correctly. A birdcatch. Right. Be faithful to me. God, what that is. You've been listening to live from the back.