Know. It fires that. Alright. You're listening live from the Path… Cody from the Pathway Studios here in Johnston, Prummer. What did say? Do I look good in the beating? I don't have any I don't have any opinion on that. Alright. I just figured I'd ask you because I… I'm trying hot. I don't know if I'd look good in a beanie. I I feel like I've got too big of a head. No. I don't wanna talk about that. Okay. Alright. Okay. You're listening live from the path. Here's here's where I go on the show this week. I think not done with this beanie thing. I think… No. Listen to me. You know how many times I've told you guys, hey. We get complaints because we babble on for the first few minutes of the show? Oh, yeah. And so I get on a track about it. I'm like, no. We're gonna start. And and you idiots come rolling in here, and you fire up a nonsense topic, and then I try to pivot away, you're like, no. No. Wait a minute. Let's go back. Wait a Gumby was definitely supported Barry Goldwater. I know you to us that's doubled down in berating us. We were ready to go. No. I feel good about what I said. Alright. Here's what we got going on the show.

Buba's got a question about Saul. I do. Yes. I promised in the description of the show that it will not be about the witch of Endor. And so I I think we have a nonlady of Endor question. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. I feel alright about the the witch of Endor. Okay. We're good. Yes, I have another Saul question, but wrong Saul. Oh, okay. Of Saul. We'll talk about it. Okay. Got it. Alright. So we're gonna touch on that. And then we have… We got a… There was… I don't know. I was trying to think through stuff you might be praying. Here's what… There was an article that said, like, hey. Four things we're paying… Praying for the church about, and I hate that because it implies

that you're just gonna go accusatorily pray at someone else, like a broad group of people, when really you probably should be going, I don't know. What should I be praying about myself in my direct circumstances? Well, this is someone trying to correct the church? I think I think so. No. The church is off. It's cold, and I will pray for it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I'm gonna read them because there's only four, and I kinda… I'm kind of curious on the reaction of, like, how might… One, should you, and then how might you reorient these to go… I mean, how would you pray that for yourself?

You know what I'm saying? Okay. And so I so Like a vlog, friend. So I have something like this. I I will… I'm gonna give away a secret on the premise that my wife does not listen to this show at all. Okay? So if if she comes back and listens to the program, it'll give away a secret that I've been holding on to for, I think, three or four months. Holy cats. This is dangerous. Yeah. She doesn't listen to the program. So I I was at a I was at a conference. So I think I said in a previous show, I went to Hutch Boot with my daughter. And, like, there was… I was looking for stuff in this library that they had, and I was gonna get something for my wife. And they had this devotional written by one of the ladies that was there, and… But it was for for, like, mothers, for ladies. Uh-huh. And I said, oh, I could get her. I I wanna get this for her because she actually likes doing those types of things. This is something she would enjoy. I've not done one ever. And

so so I so I get her this thing, and I decided, like, I bought it, and I said, okay. I mean, this is gonna be good. I'll I'll just give it to her when when I get home as a gift because we're giving books to the other kids. And and I thought, you know, this is really a missed opportunity. And so as opposed to just giving it to her, what I decided I was going to do was I was going to do this daily devotional for

my wife, and I'm going to read it, and I'm gonna pray on it first for me on how can I support what this is calling my wife to? Oh, yeah. And then then am I praying for my wife intentionally knowing that… Assuming all is scripturally righteous,

this is what god is calling my wife to do. Right? So I just can't ever get a devotional al from anybody. That's true. Then just, like, take it in. Like, I I don't know about you. I'd love to see you reading Max Lucado's traveling light journal. I'm say this is, like, 95% good this week. Here's Ben's review of even a devotional he liked. Now I like most of the stuff this guy puts out. But I but, I mean, it was a real stretch. His theology on the witch of Endor is no problem.

That's not where Endor is. I ordered two commentaries, and I proofread this thing. The Golden Gae said about Endor, which actually in Hebrew meant the door. Billy Graham, he's a stretcher. Okay. Listen to me. You missed the point. I've done something beautiful for my wife. So, anyway, I I say I say that to say, as opposed to just going here, be a better lady of Oh, yeah. Good point. Of Christ. Oh, crap. This was me saying, how can I pray for her? And so here's my hope is that by the time this is done, if I'm following the year, it should be somewhere like September, I think, is I will be able to go, here is a devotional I got you when I went to this conference thing, and I've prayed over it for a year for you. That's cool. Right? And so, I mean, one, it's kind of romantic. It But seems

realistically, it has helped me shape my… What I'm praying for when it comes to my wife, knowing that, like, if she's trying to be the best wife, mother, follower of Jesus, and and this is what's driving her, I have a part in that. Yeah. And then I also have… Like, I've also spent intentional prayer time praying for her for those types of things. That's super cool. Do do you find yourself sometimes having, like, super, really superficial prayers for your wife? Yes. I do that. I'll catch myself, oh, bless my wife. And I'm like, okay.

Like, I stop and I'll have to go up… Know, list five things or something. But Yeah. Yeah. That's really disappointing with me. It… Totally. No. Do three put ups, Dan. I love I love my wife. Dear lord, love her too. I mean, yeah. I think that's actually… That's one of things that's been super helpful is I just presume, and that's… This is the reason I brought this up, is related to, like, praying for the church. It's like, I presume I have a part in whatever it is that is relevant to this person, and some… It's not just, hey, lord. You know, I'm really glad someone wrote this down. My wife really needs to hear this to be a better wife to me. Now I don't have to say it's like Go to this book. She needs… Like, if this is what it looks like to follow Jesus well as a wife and a mother, then like, well, how can I help? There's a me in here. Where am I hindering her from being able to do this? Where am I not providing her support and encouragement to be able to do this? Or think this? Where am I making it hard for her to do this? Like, it's harder to be a good wife when I'm a jack ape… Jack apes of a husband. You know? Yeah. And so, like, where am I making her life harder as she tries to follow Jesus and be a good wife to me? And so, anyway, it's been helpful to me, and so I I I do wonder, like, this, hey. Here's how I pray for the corporate church.

There is a real value in going, well, maybe you should do that, but, like, you should also probably start by going, in what ways is relevant to me? Totally. And then how can I make life easier on the church to behave in such a way that I want them to? You know? Yeah. Okay. And then we got some dear life from the path. Mike, could you… Do you preview any of these things? No. Okay. Okay. It's sometimes more fun when we don't. Hopefully hopefully, they're not scandalous. Then it's like, oh, this is a funny one that we go to, like, my son died yesterday. It's like, oh, man. What should I do? Where does… Yeah. How do I mourn a son? Oh, sorry. It's too big, sir. Alright. Here we go. This one was specifically

four prayers for the western church in 2025. Okay. Okay. It's the start of a new year, and here are four key things I, meaning Jamie Bambrick, the church should be praying for in 2025. Number one, the sheep would recognize which shepherds were for sale.

Oh. If a Bible believing Christian from a century ago were suddenly transported through time to our age and found that church leaders today endorse endorse gay civil marriages and side b Christianity… What the heck is that? What's side b Christianity? I mean, if side a Christianity was what they had a hundred years ago, they're saying that, like, the turn of the tides, the flip of the CD is what Christianity looks like today. See, these are only one-sided. I think that's your way of saying Yeah. It's record that has side b. Right? But it's still by the same author. It just may… It's a lesser known hit. I mean I I don't care for this reference. Alright. Sorry. I could tell. Supported politicians who advocated for child sacrifice up until birth, advocated for functional end of nations through unlimited mass immigration. Okay. That's a stretch. And spent most of their time attacking believer… God. Like, god did not draw the boundaries here. Okay. Spent most of their time attacking believers who oppose such positions. I love Florida.

I just… That one. You did a lot of good lines here, friends. Cash. Alright. Okay. Anyway, they would have thought they were witnessing the unbinding of Satan at the end of the age. Holy cow. Okay. This is a heavy I thought they were gonna say the sheep would hear the shepherd's voice. That's what I thought the first thing would… Was gonna be. No. That's not sheep would know what shepherd's for sale, Mike. Well, I I would word it differently, but, like, I'm I'm totally in for that prayer. Yeah. Because there are some shepherds out there that that are wolves. Well… Yeah. You know? And that's really what she's trying to say. She just she just got real pointed. I appreciate that it's not like the church really sucks. It is I'm gonna pray for the sheep. But if there's sheep wisdom and discern, hey. I hear her in voice, then they don't listen to bad shepherds. Yeah. Yeah. Totally fair. Yeah. I think the focus is just on the… It was a charged way to say the phrase. Yeah. Well well, but I I would say… I don't know. I've… But some of these are borderline not even relevant

from, like, a… They're not shepherds. Like, well, some of these are not shepherd problems. But I… But to to that point, though, like, most of the New Testament writers were concerned about false teachers, false leaders, and, like, not just It was super prevalent. Like, it was… Yes. Yes. I think you roll it all up. If you… Listening to Jesus, you're less likely to be taken in by impressionists, but, like, it seemed to be a relevant problem for even churches who are faithfully following Jesus. That's right. Paul's like, they… You… They preach any gospel but the one that we did. You tolerate the teachings of Jezebel. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Freaking Jezebel. Okay. So how how would you… As opposed to praying that out at everybody else, what does that look like to pray for yourself in your sphere of influence? If you're representing the right gospel to the people around you and there are more people doing that in their small circles,

that's how it gets influenced. Like, if you're prayerful, one, to make certain that you're in a place that you are recognizing the shepherd's voice, right, and then are using that same message, the good news, in your circle and circumstance. Like, that's what you do rather than, like, hurling an insult at the church as major, like,

thing in your actual life. It's having community and being close to people that you can also show the love of God and, like, shine the right light of his and be an image bearer of his. Yeah. It's like praying for the people around you that they wouldn't be taken in by a shadow or an impression of the gospel. Like, they just… They take in it for what it is. Right? Because most people… Like, false gospels come from ease. You know what I'm saying? Like, false gospels come from matters of the heart that you don't wanna submit.

Or… Yeah. Ease or the playing of desire. Yeah. Is something I want, or here's something I don't really wanna give up or do. Yeah. Exactly. And so, like, we'll just take this and tweak it a minute, or we'll just ignore this part, or we'll act like what God said is good is actually not good because this will turn around quicker results for small, fleeting pleasures. Or just flat out not representing what he did say. Yeah. Sure. Sure. Right? And so, like, almost all all false false gospels come from that. They take a thing that God said or a thing that they would like to tweak and they just tweak it, right, and be like, It's mostly

the good news. But the good news is like the Holy Spirit. It comes as a whole package, You get the whole thing, and just like the fruits of the Spirit. Anything that fools with that, I could find that to be reasonable to pray for the people around you, that they take in the full gospel and the full counsel of scripture and the full presence of the Holy Spirit and don't let anything cheapen it. Yeah. Half truth gets you to the place where God loves you and therefore you should get all the things that make you happy. Yeah. Half truth is not truth. Exactly right. You're misrepresenting what the full truth of it It's like your your joy and happiness come from God and what he calls good. And, like, you can be blessed in certain ways, but that that doesn't mean that you get all the things that you thought you should have. The really nice house and really nice car and never being in pain and all this different stuff. It's like, well, you read the the real thing, it it says very specifically that you should be prepared for for legitimate, like, problems and issues, and god will allow you to walk through them. Yeah. I I… Excuse me. I pray

often, regularly, weekly, that as as as a shepherd, I am listening to my shepherd. Mhmm. Yeah. And I am representing him to his people because they're not my people, and it's not my church. And because I also am influenced by… And that's what I think that first author is talking about, the the pastors who've who've been bought. Yeah. That that there's been influence out there to try to sway And churches a different

so I pray for myself that I will not compromise. I will… You know, I just thought I would just listen to the the shepherd. Every every single time you teach, you have

a a theme you're gonna follow. You have an angle you're gonna go with. You you decide decide what you're gonna keep, what you're not. You know, you have this big mound of study you've done. It's like, well, I'm taking this portion. Sure. And how do I determine that? You know? Well, is it just… This is my agenda. This is what this is what I wanna do. This will do whatever. I I always go that… God. This… What do you want of your people? So I guess that's how I personalize that that prayer. Yeah. Because I want every… Everybody to to do that within their own local congregation, but I'm also gotta be responsible in my congregation to make sure I'm not Yeah. Going after my own agenda. Yeah. They're listening to your voice. They need to hear his. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. I'm I'm irrelevant. I can be replaced in a heartbeat. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I I would agree. Actually, those were the long lines I was thinking, which is I would pray for myself to, one, to know the difference and to, two, speak the difference so that people can know the difference. Yeah. And, like… And and and frankly, it's interesting just the direction this lady took it or maybe it's a dude. I guess it's Jamie. Could be either one. But, like, I… Sometimes it means you don't stop. You don't get… You don't speak. Yeah. Like like like, the the risk, I think, in some of these things is it's for sale from an agenda, and, like, sometimes I'm real passionate about a thing that isn't on… It's not Jesus' radar. It's just a thing that I'm not on a soap… I shouldn't be a soapbox about, and, like, and the chance that it muddies the things that I know to be core and true, I… It's probably better I don't say. Yeah. And so… But knowing that, like, honoring that distinction, helping to protect that then helps influence the church

and lead and guide it in ways that it needed. So, like… Okay. Alright. Number two was the rise of courage. Rise of courage. The rise… K. We're gonna pray for the rise of courage. Yeah. My god. Sounds like an apostle Paul.

I might have boldness. Yeah. Right. Speak the gospel clearly like I should. I'm interested to hear how they're gonna play the Yeah. Rise of courage. Okay. We'll see. Some have noted that certain cultural battles, which are by definition primarily theological battles, are actually being won. Things like the widespread pushback now being seen regarding things like transgender madness, a topic that was deemed untouchable just a few years ago, and Donald Trump's huge electoral victory are signs that when Christians actually fight, winning is possible and that the world around us is growing somewhat tired of the insanity. This could be the start of a genuine shift in momentum. Courage is contagious, and seeing that fights are winnable encourages people to actually join in. Though it is, of course, good to notice who stood firm when it was not popular and the fight looked impossible, It's also wise to welcome to our side those who've taken longer than we would like to extricate themselves from their seat on the proverbial fence and to express appreciation for those who finally opened their mouths after years of silence, particularly if they do so with something resembling repentance for being slow on the uptake. So it ranks high in my list of prayer priorities that the church would recover its courage as a whole, and rather than complaining if they do so that it didn't happen sooner, celebrate even flawed obedience. There was not a measure of a faithfulness to Jesus anywhere in this description. That's… Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Primarily,

we liked our political outcome, and I get that you've tied those together, but that is not the same thing. Yeah. I would I would untie those and and pray for courage. Yes. Yeah. Let's keep of Jesus. Keep the courage prayer. Yeah. Oh gosh. We we we started doing a thing, I maybe have said this before, we just did it in November, so it hasn't been long. There's an app where you… Everybody, you know, does the QR code with their phone, and then they take… We all go… Everybody in the room goes to a different state throughout the globe, to a different country, different state. Yeah. And we're just… It has a one minute countdown. It gives you little things to pray for. And so it gets our eyes out of us and out Sure. Yeah. Really, really cool. We've prayed for, like, 7% of the world so far. But it guides you through things like like… And made me think of that when I said the courage, not the political part of it, but it was like… There's places where there's like, you know, 2% Christian,

and it's like, man, they need some courage. Yeah. You know? So I'm I'm praying for these people in Vietnam or where where it was recently in prayer. And and it's just kinda cool. So that part resonates with me. Yes. The the political part wasn't. So… Yeah. I I listened to… I think a couple of us in the room actually do, but the Elektio thing. It's like a daily prayer app that you start with a prayer and they actually just added a midday option and then an evening thing, right? And it's interesting because

there's a lot of church history in there that I don't know and don't have, but the thing that's relevant here is there's a lot about like what's happening in different parts of the world that I just I sometimes lose sight of admittedly because I think sometimes we're so big minded we like forget about what work there is to do right in front of us. And so but I've definitely gotten stuck sometimes where I'm so close minded that I forget that, like, it's important to be mindful and prayerful for the church across the nations. That's like doing work spreading the gospel in

crazy parts of the world that I've never been to. I've never thought about it like that, and it's like super important to take that step and look at that. Like, are massacres happening with Christians in other places, or not Christians, always people, and it's like, when was the last time I thought about and prayed for Thailand? You know, when was the last time I thought about

well or less well known nations in Africa that that are are under insane situations, whether go governmentally or or other societal situations. And so it's just it was crazy to kind of take that step and blow that up and look bigger at that. I think when you're praying for the kingdom of God, it helps you get beyond the political Sure. Surrounding of whatever country you're in. Yeah. I mean, not those aren't important and invaluable, but but the kingdom's where we focus. So there's there's, yeah, there's a shred of truth to the concept of the courage of the church and praying for that. When it comes to to, like, how I can take that for myself, right, which is the original thought of we wanna do for this piece,

I this same prayer just in your own life like it literally is well the right half of that prayer on on on bound. And then praying that specifically for myself and the courage that I have the courage that I have personally and the courage that I'm encouraging others to have in my immediate circle around me. I have the courage to be Jesus today. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

There was a third one. I'm gonna skip it because, like, it's really… It's three, protection from overreacting, but it seems to be, like, a five paragraph thing about some sort of seven paragraphs. Are you overreacting? Yeah. Maybe.

Some sort of, like, current raging debate in reformed circles from names that I don't recognize and problems that seem like they shouldn't exist, and so I… We're gonna skip to that. Okay. Maybe it's a prayer to not be combative as a Christian. Yeah. Maybe, you know, take that easy. And they're using… Like, actually, what's funny is, like, we're name dropping. We're like, well, these three heavy hitters and these three heavy hitters, I'm like, I don't… It seems like a lot of people batting forth that I don't care. I don't know you. I Paul. Exactly. I follow Paulists. Yes. You're right. Really makes me think of Athens. Yeah. Like, I heard this recently from a dude, and it's changed everything about me. So Mark. We'll go to, number four, which is focus on the task at hand. Finally, I think we should pray for a renewed focus on what is actually in front of us. Year 2024, with it being an election year in The States… See, this guy's a one trick pony, was one in which a disproportionate amount of mental focus was given to politics, and rightly so. But the fact of the matter… Then it's not disproportional. Like, I… What… But the fact of the matter so? Yeah. What's, like… It's not how language works, friend. Yeah. It's a weird way to end that sentence in the argument that you're currently making. Okay. Here we go. But but let's see if we can get to a place we can agree. But the fact of the matter is that there are churches to build

or gather, children to raise, marriages to strengthen, friendships to work on, books to read, businesses to start, ideas to be understood, souls to be reached, prayers to be said, worship to be offered, and sermons to be preached, most of which should not be centered around the latest White House press release. Alright. Good. Gets paid by the comma, but it was not bad. It's a heck of a list. The kingdom of god, though impacting the political sphere, is much broader than that. Many people in your life may not need the finer points of Christian political theory or of the postmenilial understanding of Israel right at this moment. Many of them need to be reminded of the gospel again to know more about sanctification, to understand the nature of God more than they need to figure out what marginal tax rate God would have. He would not care. Though one does not have to be said against the other, we would be wise in the year ahead to think through our priorities and see which areas, particularly the less political ones, of the enormous mission god has handed us, need some extra attention, and I'll be praying we do just that. I mean… Yeah?

Yeah. Yeah. I was a very long way to say that, but… Yeah. Yeah. What was the prayer again? Because I Focus on the task of man. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's been the same work for thousands of years now. It is like we… It does feel like me going, though. Hey. I'm gonna spend all my time focused on remodeling my bathroom, and then I'm gonna spend another big bunch of time, like, working on painting my car. And then I'm gonna come in and look at everybody else and go, you know what we gotta gotta get back to? Cleaning the kitchen. And I know I spent all my time Yeah. Rightly so. Remodeling the bathroom and working on my car. But I tell you what, we should've get this. We don't need to get caught up in that nonsense

that I just did. We need to go clean the kitchen floor. There's a point. There's something there. Okay. He's right. He's right. Yeah. The kitchen needs to be cleaned. Just a weird way of doing I still say, and I say this all the time, that that if we're making disciples, we don't have to worry about other political stuff that everybody gets all hyped up about. Just let people be like Jesus and let him take care of it. Yeah. Yeah. I… At at some point, like But we need to make a legislation, Dan. Yes. I I think that's the problem. Right? It's because, like, the political landscape… Like, Ben's right. Like, it feels like a victory.

Right? It feels like like like we're on the the upswing or the tides are turning or what… Or however you wanna look at it. Right? But the political landscape is not a good indication if the son of God is present. Right? And that's a cursory reading of the Bible. What You I'm saying? The political landscape is not a good representation of the movement of God.

Yeah. It's every other king. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Great. Yeah. It's even up, boys. Yeah. No. We're on the we're on the uptick. Asher poles were taken back down. Give it a few years. Yeah. We're lucky if it's a third. And here's the thing. It's like somebody still knows how to make the Asher poles. Right? Like, we take them all down. We get through a generation of a king, and we're like, man, I don't wanna have those poles. Who knows how to make them? Well, Earl still makes them. Oh, well, let's get them mass produced, Earl. We're back to the ashore. Them down. We never destroyed them. They're just in the back alley. Dust them off? We had to dust them off, put them back up. I'm not Praise. It's a good point that, like, the… It's… What what old… What is old is always new again, and, I I was lamenting just before the show started is that, like, any perception you have

of victory is already likely on its way down, perverted by power, corruption, people using what is, what are righteous things of Jesus for their own greed and gain, including people, and, like, the the the the dangerous part of all those equations is people. And, like, people… Like, folks who are willing to influence, abuse, and take power over people are willing to grab any idea that will deliver it to them, whether it's an idea you agree with or the idea that's on the opposite side of it. And so, there is no safe harbor in whatever political situation you believe they're in. It may give you some space. Yeah. Maybe Paul doesn't get his butt whooped in this town. Right. Right. Like, it's not that… It's it's not like it's all dour and, like, you can appreciate positive movements and different changes that are good, but do

not make it sound… Like, you turned the chapter, you did not flip the book, and so I would just be cautious about that. Yeah, I think that the biggest… And even that article just screams it a little bit, right? Like, the tendency to go, like, culturally, even if it's more siding with a shadow of what Christianity might look like. Right? Like, people are like, we've arrived. Our work is is done. Like, we've we've done all this stuff that has gotten us here, and now we can enjoy the spoils, but, like,

that's not the call. Right? Like, Jesus says, go out and make disciples of the world, which means there is no victory in which you stop. There is no… There's no stopping point where you go, okay. Good. We've accomplished our mission. And, like, as long as there's still people breathing and there's room on the streets of gold for them to walk, we're out. We're out in the world, like, talking to people about why God is good. You know? And so, like, I don't… It it… It's… I'm I'm not saying that, like, these aren't good things to pray for. They just seem shaded in a way where where, like, it just feels like the gospel's a little bit purer than this. What would you and easier. What would you… And it doesn't have to be for, but, like, what jumps to mind that, like, this would be a thing to focus on? Oh, to pray for? Yeah. What would you put on the list?

I would for sure would for sure pray… If I was praying for the people around me, it would mostly be that they would see God rightly and they would see themselves rightly. Those two things come into focus.

It changes the whole thing. I think when we were talking before the show, I think I would pray for the people around me and more specifically for myself, pursue holiness like we were talking about it. If I'm pursuing holiness and that is a daily walk with my father and I'm trending upwards to him, and that is what my life looks like, and then the people around me are doing that too. It is a good day. Yeah. What does a church body look like where, like… This is gonna sound terrible because, like, missions aren't like schemes. You know what I'm saying? Like, if if the church body took six months and everybody was in their scriptures every day and everybody spent time

praying. Change. Right? And, like… And and, like, you weren't you weren't like, hey. People probably want a prayer Tuesday night. We should put one together. But, like, they clamored for it. They're like, we're already doing prayer Tuesday night. If you wanna put a sign up, great. But we're already… We we organized it without you, Dan. We're just… Can we have keys? Like, we're coming in. Yeah. And this is what we're gonna do. You know I'm saying? Like Yeah. I don't know that we've ever tried that. What what we try to do is, like, well, let's set up a class. We'll get you some childcare. Maybe we'll do a fun VBS. We'll do a dude's night where we shoot something. Like, they're like… Well, like I'm saying, I'm not saying they're bad. Right? But what I'm saying is, like, they feel like shadows. They're not outpourings of the six months we put in. Right? They're they're the the end result of of making it look like we put the six months in. Yeah. So it's a difference between, like, the church as an organizer versus the church as the, like, kind of the codifier. Yeah. Right. Like like, as opposed… But but it it doesn't have anything to do with, like, a church leadership or Right. Building or whatever. Like, it's it's… The question is is, the the… Are the people are active?

Like, people are behaving in a way that g… That reflects the eyes of Jesus into the world and the desires of Jesus into the world and the lamenting of what it looks like to ignore Jesus in the world, and it drives them to action. Actually, this came up in something we were talking about over the weekend was that it is very… It's foreign to the Bible emotions that don't carry some implicit type of action to them. We've

talked about love before, but even in first Samuel 11, there's… After the the king… So… No. No. No. No. The the… Whatever. The the Ammonite guy. The Ammonite king shows up, and he he basically… He he goes to the Israelites in in in Gilead or something and goes, hey. We want… I wanna conquer you. And they're like, well… Oh, and I'm gonna pluck your eyes out. And they're like, well, give us a week. See if we can find someone to help defend us.

And, Anyway, so they send word and it gets to Saul, who's newly crowned king and he's bringing his oxen in and it says, Saul was angered. We look at that and we read it as angered like he felt anger.

But, like, that isn't that isn't what it's getting at. Like, he was angered to action. And when took on the stake. Yeah. They're not they're not Bible references where people are just, like, having emotions of which the motion feeling itself was the action. Like, presumption is is that the stirring up of lament and and anger and love

drive the something that you do. And, like, it's… We are culturally… We don't we don't think of it that way. It's that's how we get to, like, for god so loved the world, like, and we love other people, and it feels like a a feeling. I really think highly of them, but don't do anything for them. And the same thing is to feel like, hey. You know? And and Dan, I'm sure, has run into this. Like, what… If you think about your work in Zimbabwe, like, oh, I was I was so touched by your presentation and the things that are going on in the villages, and some people are moved to that. And then some people go, I was touched. It made me feel something for this, and then I did nothing in reaction to this. Or our city… There's all kinds of troubles in the city, and we should feel something about that, but we did nothing with this as reaction.

And so like, I think like if that is a thing is to maybe look, if I trust the words of scripture, if I trust the things that the truth that is relaying to me, remove cultural barriers to me recognizing them for what they are, like, things like that. Yeah.

And so as as you were saying that, I was thinking to myself, I'm like, but what about, like, when people were just moved really sad, and then they'd, like, cover themselves in dirt and rip their clothes and stuff? I was like, wait. That's the thing they did. Like, that was the outward expression of a thing that they felt. Like, they weren't just sad and went, oh, man. It was a bad day today. They're like, I'm sad, and I'm going to change my physical manifestation in this situation to show how I've been moved by that thing happening. Yeah. Fasting, whatever that looks like, literally just wearing sackcloth for a while and coving yourself in dirt for a bit. Like, this… It's not just I felt bad about the situation. It's like, I need something to represent physically and out into the world what is happening in here. And it's not and it's not like just a, oh, I'm holy if I wear the sackcloth. It's a communication. Yes. Right. We know this because somebody saw the guy. We're like, there he was. Yeah. Out and about in the ash Right. In the sackcloth. I'm not gonna eat for three days. Yeah. You noticed that. And and I don't I don't mean to imply that, like, the only way to respond to heavy emotion is to go attempt to fix the problem. Right. With… Sometimes that is the right reaction. I'm not saying that's the only way to do it, but I am saying that, like, I think the satisfaction with either the accumulation of knowledge or the accumulation of emotion is doing a disservice for what it looks like for the hands and feet and eyebrows and elbows of Jesus to go do work out into the world. Makes sense.

Eyebrows and elbow. Okay. Alright. You're listening to Live From The Path. I think… Okay. There was one other thing, and we're not gonna read the whole article here, but just to remind ourselves of places at which, you know, we might be able to step into this thing. The share of evangelicals who have donated to their church has dropped in recent years with nearly one third saying they didn't donate to a church or charity within the prior twelve months. Poll found that 61% of respondents donated to a church in the twelve months preceding the survey. This figure constituted a drop from 74 of evangelicals who gave to a church in 2021.

Dan, are you seeing this kinda broadly? No. No. Dan's not seeing it. Wonder if… I wonder how much it correlates to people stopping going to churches. I mean, that's… Yeah. That's quite possible. I don't know. Yeah. No. We're… I

don't… Let's see here. Do they see if they had any particular takeaways? Proportion who gave to either church or charity dropped 24% among the lowest income evangelicals. Okay. Yeah. It could be rising. Yep. But also 7% among those earning a $100 or more fell 21% among people who infrequently or never attend church worship service, but also 10% among those who attend at least once a month. Fell 19% among the youngest evangelicals. Blah blah blah blah blah. Okay. Anyway, I I pointed out maybe just to hit some of the stuff that we were talking about.

I don't… I actually don't even care whether it's your church or charity. I… There's no record of me giving to a church or charity over the last… I don't know. However long I've been doing it. We've been doing house church. So six, seven years or something like that. We're we're giving. It's just not taxably traceable, and so I don't know. If that's what we mean, then… Okay. I mean, maybe, but I'm I'm not guessing that that's actually the the result of our 7% or 21% declines, and, like, I don't don't care if it's your health… Your… The church you're going to or whatever. Like, I

will remind us from a Western perspective, the thing that comes easiest to you, probably more so than everywhere else, is probably your income, and it is a it is a relatively easy way to check. I don't measure it by like, the more I give, the more I love Jesus, but like, if you're not, if there's not something about yourself that you are giving of what God is giving you out to other people, would make

sure it's not an obedience thing. And perfect, I actually don't even have any problem with like, hey, people can't afford to it. It's standard of living in The United States. It's just different. It takes more money to even be at the line around here. But I would say, don't check the size of it, but I would make sure you're praying and saying, God, am I giving you everything? Am I open to what you wanna do with the money that you've given me steward Just like I praying this morning actually around,

it wasn't clear to me or obvious to me, let me put it that way, that I had handed over every of my… Every one of my work interactions to Jesus. And not just like, hey, may I share the gospel with Freddie today? I got a call with him at 03:30. I don't necessarily mean that, but like, I don't know, have I evaluated my reactions to people,

the framing of how I go about something, my… Let's see, even forgiveness on people and extending trust and stuff like this. Just things that I thought, I don't know.

It doesn't always seem like it's applicable, but it's possible that I've not actually given it. Did I say, look, you get this. This meeting's yours. This break is yours. This thing is yours. And so I said, well, I'm trying to be intentional about that this week. Make sure I'm focusing on it. So it's like that. I think about giving that way. Sure. Do you remember… I think Dave Herrick was on this show, I don't know, ten, twelve years ago. Who remembers? But he said, we were talking about going out to eat with people, and he said a phrase that I've never forgotten. He's like, You should pay for it. I'm like, Well,

know, he goes, Tell him you have a backer. I'm like, A backer? He's like, It's Jesus. Jesus is your backer. And I thought, What a freaking weird thing to say. You know? But then… So I've put this into practice. Right? Like, I will pay for… And people get super mad at me. Like, it makes… It makes them super awkward. Right? Like like, I I I set money aside on purpose to be able to be generous in this way. Or, like, if we were we were not planning on going out to eat, but someone was there, and we're like, well, let's go out to eat. You know? I'm like, this is perfect. This comes right out of the generosity fund. No problem. Let's do… And they're like… They feel real awkward about it. They're like, I had someone tell me last week. They're like, you have to stop doing this. I'm like, oh, what do mean I have to stop doing this? Like, you can't keep doing this. I'm serious. They were very mad at me because it just keeps coming up that they happen to be in a group that I paid for a thing a couple times. I'll go out to eat with you. That's what I'm saying. I thought, Man, I feel like I should explain why,

but I'm like, I don't really want to. I don't really wanna explain. I just wanna pay for it and be done with it. Now I don't want it to be awkward and weird. You know what I'm saying? But it creates way more awkwardness than I thought. Yeah. When faced in that with using Jesus as my backer who just pays for meals for people and, like… Because it's people that could pay for their own meals. Sure. They're not like a homeless group of people. You know what I'm saying? Like, they're legit folks. They have jobs. They have kids. Like, they have responsibilities. They could pay if they wanted to, and they were… They went out with the premise that they were gonna, and I'm like, I'll take the check. You know what I'm saying? Not to be like some kind of daddy Warbucks, but I'm like, Eric said, Jesus Jesus is the backer. I'm like, and if I have it, then I should. Right? Why not? I've never I've never regretted any money going out of my household for somebody else. Yes. Right. I have regretted purchases that I've made Totally. Yeah. For my own self, but I've never once thought I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have been generous in that way to somebody. It was irresponsible. Yeah. I tell you what, I had… I thought of a situ of a… I don't know why this popped into my mind. It was probably two weeks ago, but I was doing kinda like a accountability group with a guy. This has probably been fifteen years ago,

and we would go out to this cozy cafe here in Johnston. Is this still open, Dan? Yeah. Okay. Anyway, they had a pretty good egg special in the morning. And so we go out there and like, it just… We just would like like trade off. I would, we'd go out and then I'd cover the check one week and the next week or two weeks from there, he'd be like, okay, I got it. And there was a guy who he wasn't, he didn't know Jesus or anything, but like me and this other dude, he was a mutual kind of acquaintance. I said, hey, you should come out and have breakfast with us and maybe give him a chance to get to know us and see the kind of things we're talking about or whatever. And the first week he was there, it was, of course I picked up the jack. I'm like, no problem. Hey, I got it. I got it. No problem this week. This is great.

And he came back the next week and he said, oh, I'll get it. I'll get it this time. And I thought, and I wanted to let him get it because he had volunteered to do it. And then he never came out with us again. And it made me think that, like, I actually not sure that his family probably could afford that. He probably could have… Would have a hard time justifying coming out with us at all, let alone picking up three checks.

And I kinda knew that at the time, but it felt wrong to kind of insist, like to say, no, no, man. Let me let me get it for you. Because it almost… I I was I was kinda concerned that it would make him feel like less than a… You know? Sure. Yeah. But it put it it put it in a real… What felt like a real awkward situation because, like, he probably couldn't continue to come out because now it felt like he established the pattern that he was gonna pick up his check every so often. You know? Yeah.

It would be hard to say, no, I actually can't. That would be kind of an awkward thing to do. So then I thought, I kind of came to that. It was just easier if I'd had just always said, look, I always got this. Don't worry about it. And so… Anyway, it was just so… It it it was a regret, and I can't fix it. There's nothing I can do about it. The guy's recently moved out a out of state, and I wouldn't even know how to bring it up. I don't know if apologies are an order. It's not quite what I what he would… It would make him feel real awkward,

and I I didn't do anything wrong necessarily. Yeah. But, anyway, it's just… It's interesting to think about, like, what the presence of perceived generosity or even money does to a dynamic that I had totally just asked in there because we thought this would be kinda cool, and it did not go…

It didn't go the way I wanted. Anyway, laments from Ben, 2025. Excellent. Okay. Alright. You're listening live from the path. A, one one thing that I… Our family did this last… I think it was yesterday that I thought was kind of fun.

As we were going back, I… We're gonna try to… We're not good at goals. I'm terrible at the goals, to be honest with you. I think we're gonna do them anyway because it seems like a real good thing to do. But a friend of ours had said that their family was was working to focus on… You you start moving on forward to, like, what am I gonna do for next year? Which inevitably you're probably not gonna make or whatever. And so all you're, you're setting yourself for what feels like a series of, well, here's my recollection of this year, which I fell short. And so we intentionally said, look, let's take ten minutes and everybody write down

what were you thankful for in 2024? What made you happy? What what have gratitude for? And they were primarily focused on, like, things that seemed real simple. Like, I I was going through my my list was, I'm thankful. For example, I have an old house and it's drafty as crap, and we keep the thermostat at 67. I have a a a thing to kinda gauge the temperature in some of the rooms in my house. I put it next to my… Up in this one room, on my upstairs. It's 22 degrees coming because we gotta leak a window or something. And so, like, the the upstairs is probably 10 degrees lower than 67. It's freezing. Nickers cold up there.

My office is in a, like, a shed, a tool shed that I've finished and put a, I don't know, a hotel unit in there. It's… It… But it… It's broken. The temperature gauge don't work. So that bastard's running all the time. It's it's 50… It's, like, 57 degrees in my upstairs. It's 78 in my office, and I love it. And so, like, I'm just thinking back, like, just… Like, not where did I accomplish major things, but, like, what makes me happy about my 2024? I'm grateful

for an office that's 10 degrees warmer than the rest of my house. I'm I'm grateful for… That I get to do daddy daughter and daddy do dates with with my kids. I am thankful for… I got to be Mike's Mike's daughter

and my… So my niece, and then my daughter wrote a book that we… I talked about a few weeks ago. Like, I'm grateful they even care what I thought as they were going through the process. And and so, I mean, it was a pretty good list, it's a pretty fun list, and I figured like… And, like, I was just… I had my mind. I was thinking, like, I was… What what was I just, you know, this is pretty right on. This is pretty good. And, like, one of them was I was sick, not, like, death sick, but, like, kinda sick over Thanksgiving to the extent that everyone else… We're going to a family function, and, like, I probably shouldn't go because there's gonna be a blue hair there and you don't want them to pick it up. And so, like, I was at home by myself on Thanksgiving watching a game of football in a mostly dark house. I saw the whole game. I'm not seeing a whole game of football for a long time. And, like, there was… It was quiet in the house and, like, I just… It was very peaceful. And so, anyway, I bet I had 25 things that if I look back and I go, that was pretty great. That was pretty great. That was pretty great. And they were, like… Some of them were quirky things. Some of them were relational things. Some of them were just, like, you know, every once in a while, the show broadcast to YouTube and the audio was good, and I didn't have to do anything. And what a… What an awesome… I'm grateful when that happens, and I don't think it's happening tonight. Like, so, anyway, I… If if that was… It was a very good exercise,

and I do, and it's something that our family needs to focus on, but maybe it's just something your family could focus on. But, like, as you think about goals and stuff for 2025, maybe take a few moments and go, as I think about the year that just passed, what am I grateful for small things, big things,

things that you maybe influence how you think about your goals and stuff. But anyway, I I… Was a it was a really… It was a fun exercise. Some of them were funny, but I think it was very helpful to look back in gratefulness of things of… That sometimes were very, very simple about your life. So anyway, just an encouragement in case you…

That could be valuable. Also, if you wanna pick up that book, you go to go to Amazon. Just go to Amazon and search for the a thousand balloons, and that's gonna be by Emma Foust and Evelyn Foust, yeah. It's a good book. Mike… Mike's making his way through. Yeah. I'm on chapter 22. Mike ain't ain't read a full book. I've never read a full book. I've read the bible. That's it. Yeah. That's it. Okay. I mean, it's a pretty good one to have have gotten down. I know. It's got a lot of ups and downs. Alright. Move up. You wanna add… You got a question about Saul, but not Old Testament Saul. Yeah. But they're both involved. Okay. Hit me.

So Saul's Mammy and Pepe, Saul of Tarsus. Okay. Yep. They were Jews. Mhmm. They knew who king Saul was. Yes. And they knew that that story was pretty rough. Like

like, the story of Saul is not one that goes, oh, boy. Yeah. He hurled spears at people playing music for him Mhmm. And then his own kid. It's like naming your kid Judas or Barabbas. They knew. Right? Like like, they knew

who Saul was, and they were like, you know what we're gonna do. Because, like, names were very important, and they usually meant something. And, like, that's a cool thing. It's one of the things I love about Hebrew culture or Jewish Hebrew culture, Jewish culture, all that. I I love the fact that, like, these names are like, yeah. We named them this because the Lord was doing this in this situation. We named them that because that was happening in our circumstances. And then freaking Saul's mom and dad are like, look at that beautiful baby boy that we just had. We're so blessed with. We're excited. In eight days, we'll circumcise him. It's good things. Let's name him Saul

because, like, you know who was the best? Saul. Like, there was a lot of names to choose from, and that's the one they did. Yeah. I'm not crazy. I I don't expect an answer from the pastors in this one of, like, well, actually, we find out in Galatians two that Saul was. I know I didn't find that anywhere, but, like, it's kinda weird if you take a step back that they went, you know what we're gonna do to, like, pronounce a blessing on our child is we're going to name them Saul. And I wonder if you're looking up what the name Saul means. No. I know what I know what the name Saul means. Oh, cool. Okay. So, like, am I crazy for having that thought?

Am I missing something just staring me right in the face in the story of the fact that a Jew, a nine hundred to, like, twelve hundred years after Saul named their kid Saul? Yeah. So a couple a couple considerations. So I think what the name means is actually pretty important. It it means… There's there's variations of it, but, like, it's something like you asked for this or Oh. Prayed for.

And so the context is you may have the… That may mean it's more personal to them. It's not an honorific to king Saul. It's like we prayed for this child and God answered. Yeah. Yeah. And so it, like I knew it was gonna be something that it meant something like that. It could be that. Now the other consideration too is that if you if you look in some of, like, I'm gonna say Jewish commentaries, the mission… Like, the the rabbi's reflection on scripture, They did not take in Saul near as harshly as Christians render him. K. So, like, there… If you think about stories around

Saul gets gets anointed as a king by by Samuel Yep. Then he doesn't tell his uncle. And we're like, why wouldn't you tell your uncle? Like, that's weird. And it's it's it's building a vibe that, like, maybe this man is not king material. And then it's time to to find him and to actually, like, present him at Mizpah, and they section him off by, like, all the different tribes or whatever, and then they go by the dads and, like, to get down to him, and he's not there. You get to, like, you get to Kish, and he's hiding in the luggage. Yeah. Right. And you're like, what?

This is not the… This is not king material. And then, like, the third example that fits this is that, like, after that, you get some of these… The the… Most of your translations will say, like, worthless men who don't support him. The… It's sons of Belial, which is sons of perdition. Yeah. The same, like, thing for Judas. And… But, like, they… Anyway, they they refuse to give him a gift. It's a… It's an offense to the new king, and he doesn't do anything about it. And so a lot of times, we'll look back on it and go, I mean, the signs were all there. This guy's not king material. Like, he's just tall. He… He's the king. He's a king that's above the others. That that are like a king like that other nations have. He's tall, he looks strong, but, like, he's not demonstrating either faithfulness to Yahweh or

any of the qualities of which you would expect him to do. He hides from responsibility. He's dumb. He doesn't seem to catch on. His servant knows more about dealing with Samuel than he does. And so there's all these indications where we're like, these… Well, they were laying the groundwork. A lot of the rabbis would look back and go, oh, look how humble Saul was. He he he didn't try to, like, stand up front and take his place. He was… He recognized what was in front of him, the responsibilities, and was in the luggage.

And, like… Or see how he didn't take any vengeance upon these people because he was humble. And so there are… Like, I I… Now here's… With Samuel's indictment of their requesting a king, and then ultimately his… When he talks to Saul after Saul fails to wait Yeah. It's it's certainly clear that Saul was rendered an ineffective king, but but it is not…

It's probably not as a slam dunk, like, Saul just kinda sucks. Okay. The the rabbis were kind to him, some of them anyway, in the reflection of his kingship. And so it could be that they just don't see it so bad as perhaps I might. Okay. Interesting. I… Yeah. I didn't… Because I was… It just hit me the other day. Like, I was thinking about it, I was like, wait a minute, Saul. Wait a minute, Saul? What? Yeah. Why would you name your kid that? Like, who goes think of names like we do. You know? We're like, hey. We have a son. Oh, Elvis would be cool. Right. Yeah. He'll play guitar. You know? It it… Like, being said, know, it has meaning to it. Is it kinda odd that no one, like, grabbed on to great biblical characters? Like, no one's like, what should we name our kid Moses?

You know what I'm saying? And instead… It almost feels like they were trying to get away with it, get away from… Like, the… Like, they hit their… There's, like, Adam and Joseph and Moses, and they're like, alright. What's the farthest thing we can get from that? Mahomet. This kid will be named Mahomet. Yeah. That's true. You don't see any more Adams. No. No Adams. No Josephs. This is our new kid, Madame. This is Oh, yeah. You named your kid, man? Joe… Johafa Waffahaya. Zerubbabel.

He is Mahomet's brother. Why don't we just name him Cain? We're not naming him Cain. You would expect more information. Yeah. I feel like like right in the beginning, god's like, now keep it simple. Just like four letter four letter names. And a syllable. Don't be going crazy, and then the fall happened. Four generations later.. People are like,

I'm b b b f a rough on that one. You think it's the result of the Tower Of Babel? Yeah. Like, he he confused their languages. He confused their language, and they're like –. Yes. Look look where it happened. Like, everybody's like, hey. This is Lamech. Jerahosha. Is Moses. This is, like, five letter names. There… It's Aaron. Right? Just regular dudes. And then all of a sudden, Tower Of Babel Falls, and everybody like, this is Tamola. Guess This is so offensive culturally what we're doing. And they're like really is. They're like, well, it's got ayah in it, so that's the Yahweh. I'm like, okay. You basically just strung 15 letters together and then put ayah at the end, and you're like, Yahweh. Yeah.

Oh, boy. Yeah. It is it is interesting, though. The evolution of names in the Old Testament is actually kinda curious. Yeah. And then we get to the New Testament, John. Wait a minute. Then we're back. You know what's interesting? New creation. Well Do you think there's any relationship? I'm thinking about… Has anybody read the book Freakonomics?

Yes. So there was a question of the relationship between, like, names, especially ethnic sounding names and, like, the types of jobs and things you could get. And, like, it is… There's a correlation there. And so, like, the… If you're too rudimentary about it, you're like, the presumption is, like, well, what kind of people from what economic background name their kids these things? And that's the reason they're not getting a job. But, like, some of it simply has to do with the name itself. Like… And so people have a a bias or perception into it. And so… But think about it. None of the really complicated names are the names of the books.

You get in the middle of the exile and you're still getting Daniel and you're getting Isaiah and you're getting Ruth. You're not getting these. Yeah. None of those guys are putting pen to paper. What's going on with that dude? His name's Ezra. Okay. It did come back around, though, about the prophets. Right? Like, if you look at, like, Job, Ruth, Boaz. Right? Like, these… We're back to four letter regular living names. Amos. Amos. Joel. Micah? Yeah. Yeah. What Yes. And then Habakkuk. What's cool? Well, he… He's a I think he chokes out a turkey bone. They're like, what do you wanna call it? Habakkuk. I guess. Sure. Somebody's done a doctoral thesis on that somewhere out there. Curious. I'm gonna The father of Habakkuk was choking when he pronounced the name of the child. Actually, it's more of like a… It's it's Habakkuk, so it's more like a. It's Habakkuk. Habakkuk.

Anyway –. You're listening to live from the past. Sorry about that. If you're wearing headphones, I'm sure that Habakkuk thing wasn't good on you. Why were those names so wildly big? Yeah. I mean, as far as… Like, in a lot of the naming conventions, aren't they, like, amalgamations of multiple words being kind of forced into the same word to be a name? Like, I thought there… There's one that I was trying to remember. Like, not… Like, Moshe. Moses was Moshe, if I remember correctly. I might be totally wrong on that, but, like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's, like, something about the reeds that's within the words that make up his name, and it's, like, two things that have to do with the situation that actually led to Moshe being the name that's the amalgamation. So I wonder if stuff like Jehoshaphat is actually, like, a phrase

that's actually being truncated into a name based off of the words that make the phrase. Okay. Hold on. Did you… Hold on. Are you using the AI? No. ESV. Okay. King Solomon was king over all of Israel, and these were his high officials. Azerahiah, the son of Zadok the priest. That makes sense. El Horuf and Ahayjah and Shisha

and Jehoshaphat and Elihud and Benaniah and Jehodahiah and

Abiathar, Azariah, Nathan, he's regular. He's regular.

Again, Abiathar the priest. Ben Decker. Ben Decker. Shahalbim. It's not regular just because you recognize the name. Ben… Be quiet. Ben Beth Shemesh? I mean, what are we doing here? That was the name of the town. Of, wasn't it? Yeah. Like, house of Shemesh? Yeah. But Shemesh is is not… Like, it's not a proper name. Shemesh is like…

I don't know. It's a… It means something. Bethlehem is the city of bread. There's towns called that, Bethlehem. Bread or… Right. Ben… Benebinadab. That's probably the far as I'll go. Tell me this. Give me your wisdom, old AI. Alright. Okay. Well, thanks for answering my soul question, fellas. Yeah. Much appreciate it. You're welcome. Alright, Mike. We got some advice on dear life from the path. Okay. I'm sorry.

Dear Life From The Path. I've got a long, difficult, discernible name to Western New Year's, primarily Mike Foose. What should I do? Can we just agree that they got difficult in the middle there? They aren't different. I… That's what I actually don't understand. Middle is such a fun way to that. Well… Right. But, like like, they should all be different. That's actually what… Like, maybe there's… It's just a translation thing, but, like, it is curious that the predominant names don't have the… I don't wanna say complications, but, like, they're just not as… They're simpler. Maybe we've Englishified them.

Well, Moses is is English. Like Right. Yeah. Wasn't it? Yeah. Right. It's I about I actually don't even understand that. I don't understand how we got into this business of, like, taking someone's legitimate name that their mama gave them and then making it sound like a name that we recognize. Like, I don't I don't understand. Like, telling of the fact that this is, like, the fourth language it was translated into? Like, didn't it go, like, Hebrew into Aramaic into Greek then into Latin and then German, and then now we've got our way down to Yeah. But why do we say Jesus and not Yeshua? Right? Like, his name was Yeshua. Jesus was Greek. Jesus is Greek. Yes. Oh, got it. Okay. Yeah. But, like… So, yeah, that's what I don't understand. Like, his mom… If his mama called him Yeshua,

why didn't you just, like, just Why don't you just call him Yeshua? He would just want to be in just wanted to Europeanize it. Isn't that where Jehovah comes from too? It's like we get the word… The name of God because, like, the… They didn't want to continue the spelling of of God into the the, like, translations, and so they took the letters of Jehovah and then the Greek phrase, Ego e mi, and put Yahweh into Jehovah using the the vowels of Ego e mi into the consonants of Yahweh. I I think it's That might be a way oversimplification, but I thought that actually is, like It's simpler than that. It's it's a mistranslation of of… But but the the point… The broad point is correct. They don't wanna say Yahweh. Like, they didn't wanna say the name.

Demonize it. And they didn't wanna write down… It's why we don't get the… Yeah. Right. Well, but but Jehovah is still actually attempting to do that. Yeah. Oh, okay. Got it. It was just like… It had to do with the letter pointing in in Hebrew. But, like, it it indicates, though, it is it is it is curry. I I just don't understand it. It'd be like saying… Like, someone… Miguel, you meet a guy whose mama calls him Miguel, and I go, you know what? That's unfamiliar to me. Give me a name in my language that I could be comfortable with. Yeah. That's true. We did that at Ellis Island for a long time, didn't like saying, like, hey. This is Vladimir Putin. You're like, well, this is Vince Parsons.

Yeah. Vince Parsons. Hi. My name is Michael. You mean you mean Michel? You know what saying? Like, his name's Vladimir. Right? He's just Russian. And so, like, why would we change it to be something, like, to make his name sound that he's not Russian? I mean, there's probably a lot of this that was happening that people didn't feel this way for a couple hundred years to when it was like, yeah. No. Change your name into my language. I don't wanna say that name. That's weird. Yeah. Okay. Mikhail, you're Michael. Vince Parsons. Here we go. Dear life from the path. Dear life from the path. I've been an amateur astronomer for twenty five plus years. Me too. I always go meteor watching as well as observe any celestial events. This year, I invited my brother-in-law and his wife to watch a meteor shower with my husband and me. Since we both have campers, I reserved and paid the deposit for two camping sites at a nice location close to some of the best night skies. The reservations were made more than a month ago.

My sister-in-law, who I dearly love and have been good friends with for more than twenty years, called me yesterday to let me know that my brother-in-law had invited three of their preteen granddaughters. Life from the path, I thought they understood it would be an adult event, and we'll be up half the night and traveling thirty minutes to get to the Dark Sky site. I do this every year. I told my sister-in-law that my brother-in-law should ask me first since I invited them and made all the arrangements for this event. We talked on the phone for ninety minutes before I told her my brother-in-law was wrong for not asking me first if it was okay. Moments after we hung up, she texted me and said to cancel their reservation because they would not be attending. We were driving ninety minute… Miles to the campsite. They live thirty minutes from it. Was I wrong to tell her I should have been asked first since I am the hostess for two days and nights? I'm most confused because you said sister-in-law and brother-in-law in the same marriage.

Yeah. So you're you're in laws with two human beings? None of them are your your your sibling? Yeah. It sure sounds that way. I don't know. Maybe I'm just too tired to understand. Yeah. Fowl said they both been in laws. Oh, okay. Yep. See, I figured it might be something dumb like that as I was saying it. Thank you, Dan. What was the offense here? World. I'm here for clarity. Called me yesterday and let me know that my brother-in-law had invited three of their preteen granddaughters. So it's two it's two old couples. Got it. Yeah. But you can still do what you wanna do at the camp, but not make them a deal of it and say, hey. We're gonna go off and do this. You guys can stay with your kids. We do this every year.

You are old enough that you should never assume that something is implied in a relational situation. If you were you do at night? It was so serious that you as an amateur astronomer for twenty five years now would be so offended that that they would invite other people. It sounds like it should have been important enough for you to say, by the way, we do try and make this a very serious event. It means a lot to me because I care a lot about the celestial bodies in our universe, and I'd like to look at them, and other people might be a

a hindrance to that. So, like, by the way, we're extending an invite to you because we expect a certain level of respect for the situation. Please consider that as you walk towards it. You don't find it a little bit rude that someone bought a campsite for you and then you invited three more people? If they're in the camper building family thing. What does it matter? Yeah. We're going out camping thirty minutes away. Y'all wanna come heard us we're going camping. Yeah. Get to spend time with their granddaughter. They're three preteen granddaughters. Right? Meaning, because it's their grandchildren,

not like a granddaughter and her two buddies. I think it would be… Yeah. I think it would be different if someone got me a campsite, and then I invited, like, Buva and his wife Yeah. And then you and your wife. That would feel weird to me because, like, basically, I extended a party where I can enjoy the time without these people. But the bringing of, like, my kids or, like, grandkids, I… Which I would consider similar Yeah. Wouldn't feel odd to me at all, and I would be I would be frankly be surprised that someone at home? Yeah. What an opportunity to share that with your grandkids. They're their granddaughters. Like, they don't live with you. I mean, might live with the grands sometimes. Yeah. Granddaughters. Yeah. I I did… But I I think… I guess I'm trying to sympathize with this gal a little bit that, like, she set up a thing assuming the dynamic would be two couples hanging out. Sure. Then when you brought three preteen

girls to the outfit, like, you pretty much took all that off the table, because now you're babysitting. I mean, is is the noise gonna scare the stars away or something? Like, I I… You know? I think it's the say they have to, like, hiking, throwing heads from campers too will be noisy. I think it's the dynamic of the thing. Like, you were trying to share something with another couple, and then they basically brought a situation where they're going to have to, like, babysit three kids now, and now, like, it's all different. The preteens. Yeah. Like, that makes me think, like, 11 and 12. I… Yeah. I would've just

I would've talked think they would've asked… Like like, you should've said, hey. I was thinking about bringing my my my granddaughters. What do you think? Definitely, it could've been a conversation that said, hey. What do you think about me bringing the granddaughters? They really wanna come with, or we would love them to come out. It absolutely could have been a conversation. Undoubtedly, there's sympathy that could be had for this amateur astronomer. To the extent that it feels like this person has just ruined their experience and now they just feel very betrayed that the people have backed out from the circumstance.

Like, it just feels like there's a lot of of of hurt in this situation, and I I don't know how much I would agree with that being warranted, but it certainly is fair to say there should have been a conversation on both ends. Anybody's ever… You ever gotten those free ice cream coupons at the Culver's Oh, yeah. And the kids meals? The Scoobies? Or whatever. Yeah. Scooby. Yeah. Yeah. You ever held on to that and said you're gonna use it for a different day? Yeah. Okay. Now I want you to think about that situation. You got it with you and you're gonna go, hey. I'm gonna take a couple kid… My kids out or somebody out. We're gonna go over to this… Get the free ice creams. And you show up there and you forgot the coupons. I think you chalk that up to, like, I should have remembered the coupons, and you still buy ice cream for everybody.

I think that is what… That is the situation we're talking about here. The minute they said, hey. I invited these preteens, I would have thought, dang. I probably should've been more specific about this situation. By the way, I got you a campsite. Don't bring anybody else. I feel weird that you would have to say that. But but that's what I'm saying. Like, I think I would say, like, figure

out… I would've thought in my head next time. I gotta figure out a way to frame this up where this doesn't happen, but I'm… I would not have even brought it up because now you… Well, you're gonna put your friends in a rough situation. What are they gonna do? Call these preteens and go, no. My grandpa said I could come out with them, and now I'm not allowed. I can't come anymore. It just puts everybody in an awkward thing, so just chalk up your mistake. Enjoy the time for whatever it was. Like, it does see… Feels like you might be… Like, this has all the enamorings of a, I don't know, operation board game convention. Like, something you really love that other people may only casually enjoy that you're inviting people out of, and you have to recognize you're the quirky dude here. True. If you're the curator of the Papp's Blue Ribbon Museum, you should not be surprised if some if some, like, hooligans come in at times that are like, oh, this is cool. Yeah. And they are hating on something that you really love. These Budweiser boys are being a reverence in here. Yeah. And so Budweiser boys. Chalk up the thing is I think that you're right. Like, I think you can have a generous attitude for this, but, like, I don't know. I… It just… It feels rude.

I mean, the… I I could see why you're saying that. Grandpa probably thinks he's providing an educational experience for the grandkids. I mean, he could've done that on his own dime with his own campsite. He's not by, like, I don't know stars either. He waited until some cost. It's expensive. If I got bird watching friends that said, hey. We're go camping with us. I'd say, hey. Grandson, come with us. We… You can… I can't teach you about birds, but these guys can't Right. Seems like a fun thing. I'm an amateur ornithologist and have been for the last twenty five years. You've elevated your We saw a migratory pattern at the blue footed booby, and we asked for our friends who are my brother and sister-in-law to come out with us, and they brought their granddaughters. And I shot him. And

was I right? Yeah. Mike, campsites are not that expensive. No. It's like $30 a night. That's why I thinking, like, some even big dollars. No. It's not. Unless you, like, got a campsite that also doubles as a golf and country club. Like, you went out into the woods and spent the $30 fee to pay for water and and trash at the joint, and they brought their own camper. Yeah. I would presume… Like, unless someone gave… Maybe they just don't… You feel like you should know the guy. Like, if you're friends Yeah. You know, maybe you should understand that he's like this. Brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Yeah. Well, that's friend territory. That's not really family, is it? Hey. I love my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. You… As friends. So, anyway,

I… So, like, I… Maybe you should've known this. But, like, if someone has some sort of what feels like an educational opportunity, I think they should have asked for sure. Sure. But I wouldn't be surprised that someone would like, hey. Stargazing, really cool thing to go, hey. I'd like my kids to participate. And maybe it's because, like, I'm in the homeschool thing. Like, we presume everything is some sort of excuse for a learning opportunity. Like, hey. We're gonna go to the pizza restaurant. Can my kids come along and, like, look in the kitchen and learn from it? Also, how self centered do you have to be to be the one that goes, I refuse to share this celestial level event

with other humans Yeah. That I didn't want there in the first place? It's the stars. They ain't yours, friend, regardless of your amateur love of astronomy. Yeah. I I You red dwarf. I guess if the if the question is, do I think the guy was wrong for not asking first? I think the answer is yes. Yeah. He pretty… I… It wouldn't cost nothing to say, hey. Do you mind if I bring my Yeah. Go ahead. Guess seems like just a…

I don't know. I just can't imagine someone inviting me somewhere and then me inviting more people without asking them. Would you feel like it's different? Let's say the arrangement was me and my family, and then one of my daughters had a neighbor friend that they brought along. Would you consider that the same thing,

or is it because it's a different type of person? Because there's already kids in my example. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I… Yeah. It just feels like it changes the whole dynamic of the of the trip. You I see what you say. Yeah. You turn from a corona night to an o' duels. Yeah. I mean, I don't even think it's that. You know? But I I just think, like, if you were planning on, like, if they had in their head, like, we're gonna go out and watch the stars, and then we're just gonna sit around and have adult conversation and, like, you know And be quiet, which is not gonna happen with three preteen kids. Right. Like, it it… And now they… They've gotta go to bed or, like, you know, whatever. Like, it just feels it just feels like it changed the setting. So I understand how the the gal is disappointed. She had an event planned, and she took the initiative to find the campsite, pay for it, get deposit going, and, like, this will be nice to just spend time with my brother and sister-in-law. And then they don't have… Like, they're they're old enough where they don't have any direct kids, and then they, like, introduced three preteen girls out of nowhere. Sure. You know? Like… So I I guess I I sympathize

with this gal just a little bit. I think that you're right. You can have a a generous thought about it and go, Hey, man. This is what it is. We're not gonna disrupt the whole apple cart just because it didn't go my way, but dang. Sure. If they were to just ask me, I would've told you what I was thinking, and then this would've been fine. Yeah. Okay. So Segular says, your brother-in-law should not have invited anyone along without clearing it with you first. What they did may have been well intentioned, but it was also rude. If any of these girls showed an interest in astronomy in the future, you might choose to invite them for this kind of event, but their presence should not have been sprung on you the way that it was. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. I can accept it. I appreciate that you ended that with… Yeah. Nah. Yeah. I just Yeah. You know? Nah. That is it. It just seems unfortunate. Alright. You wanna do one more? Yes. Do it. Me than right now. Dear life from the path, I've been married for nearly twenty years. My mother-in-law has always been passive aggressive, critical, and mixing into our business. My husband never told her to stop because he never could stand up to her. Sadly, I didn't stand up for myself either. I finally had it and cut her off to an extent. My husband says he supports me, but he has never shown it. He now often speaks to her away from the house and lies to me about it. Since I stood up to her, he has also pulled back from me emotionally, which he which he was barely capable of before. Oh gosh. She still mixes into every part of his life and gives him speeches like he's still her little child. I am finished with this unhealthy dynamic. I insisted on therapy, but I have seen no change in him at all. He goes only because I force him. Have you any advice? Great. Now he's got two gals forcing him to do crap. Yeah. That's unfortunate. Sounds like he married someone just like his mother that doesn't know that she's just like his mother yet. Yeah.

I think you're right. Yeah. You just… You've not gone on into the relationship far enough to recognize that you're the same woman. Yeah. And I can't wait to see when your child someday has to have an awful relationship with their spouse because of your

existence in their lives. She doesn't like her because she just like her. Yeah. I don't know what you mean by stood up to her, but it didn't sound like it was a well seasoned, calm affair. Yeah. Right. Know? Strew it up to her never feels like it was something that goes, hey. I really wanna make certain we find common ground, and this is the things that I value, and I recognize that you value these things, and I think that there's a place that we can find that's in between these two things to to talk about this calmly. Yeah. It it feels like it's like a, well, you, Esmeralda, I'm tired of you talking to Danny this way. Get out of our lives. Yes. This feels definitely that way. So, like, there's there's nuances to this story. It feels like you might not including because it would make you look bad. Can we get AI to write the ballad of Danny and Esberlda?

Yes. Sorry. Yeah. So, I mean, look. What what was the question? Have you any advice? Yeah. Shut up. Yeah.

Take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and see Esmeralda. Yeah. I I mean, at this point, your husband's the problem, not your mother-in-law. Right? Like, what you allow will continue. And so if he is gonna continue to allow this, then it's gonna continue to happen. It is his barrier

or it's his boundary to set up and to enforce. And so this is not her problem. This is not your mother in law's fault. This is this is your husband's fault for allowing it. Yeah. Especially since he's sneaking around with his mother. Yeah. This is… I hated saying that, and that felt so creepy, but not a Jocasta situation there, Oedipus. I just mean that, like, he's sneaking around to talk to his mom behind your back. Yeah. You married a wuss. Like, that's the thing you're upset about is, like like, he… You asked him, hey. We need to create some boundaries here, and he refused to do it, and then you let it build up and you snapped, and now you're not on speaking terms or whatever ain't going well with the mother-in-law, and, like, he's still trying to maintain as if none of that happened.

And so, like, your husband's a wuss, and so just know that you're mad just know that you're mad at him. If you can walk away with anything here, your concern is with your husband and not with your mother-in-law. Those conversations should be left for him. Segular says, I agree that the dynamic you have described is unhealthy. It appears your husband is more bonded with his mother than he is with you. Do nothing on impulse or out of anger. That sounds too late. If you are truly burned out, continue talking with your therapist to help you decide how to move forward. I mean, he agreed to go to therapy. Most people, like, are saying, like, hey. My husband refuses to go to therapy. This guy's like, yeah, I guess. He only goes because I tell him to. You know why he goes? Because he's a wuss. Right? He he won't even stand up. Of women. Yeah.

I don't know. This dude I'm really excited for my in laws. Like, I really lucked out. I know… I… I'm… They're not trying… They don't listen to the show. I'm not trying to do them any lip service or anything with that, but I lucked out so hardcore with my in laws. They are the freaking best. They love Jesus. It's awesome. Yeah. It's awesome. Alright. Sorry. Not the case for this guy. No. Alright. You listen to live in the path. Thanks for hanging out with us, on this, first live in the path of 2025. This will be year 15 of broadcasting here on the program. And so, mister Gita, maybe you love the show. Start making your way back into the the back episodes. There might be some good stuff back there for you to enjoy. How would we know if people love the show, Ben?

Could they text us or call us on something? I don't know if you wanna do that. Because there's, like, a specific complaint line that we have, isn't I'm not That would be handy to have. I'm not familiar. Is it… I… It's the it's the Eisenhower Life and Path complaint line. Right? It's (515) 517-0085. Is that correct? That doesn't ring any bells. No. Okay. Alright. Does that thing ever see any action? It's… It gets a text message every couple of months. Yeah. But that's pretty good. Mhmm. Sometimes it tells about how great I am. It's worth keeping the phone on. Comes free with Gmail, doesn't it? I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I… If this thing exists, you could hit it up. The Bob Eisenhower life and the path of complaint line, (515) 517-0085.

Call or text. No one's gonna answer the phone, so don't worry about us picking it up for you introverted types. Just go ahead and leave us a message and… Or give give us a text, and we'd love to hear from you here at the at the start of the year. I believe, we're we're back on regular recording schedules here, so, we should see you next week. In the meantime, be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends. You've been listening to live from the path.