WEBVTT 00:00:03.300 --> 00:00:07.400 Well, what's up, Pursuing Jesus homies? We need 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.800 a fan. We need a name. Like a Pursuing Jesus 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.240 people. Because one of the podcasts I listen 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:15.400 to, they call their audience the third chair. 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.500 The third chair. Because it's two guys talking, 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.379 and then the audience is in the third chair. 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.280 So it makes sense. Like the 11th man at Texas 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:24.359 A &M. Exactly. So, I mean, we can't do that. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.079 They have it. They have it. They've trademarked 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.839 it. They have the chair. It's their chair. Yeah. 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:30.890 So we can't say that, but we need a name. Pursuers? 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:33.829 Fellow pursuers? Fellow pursuers. You know, I 00:00:33.829 --> 00:00:36.850 don't hate it. Pursuers. Pursuers, because we're 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:40.729 pursuing Jesus. The purses? No, absolutely not. 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:44.369 Overruled. Vetoed. We are not purses. We're handbags. 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:50.149 Pursuers is not bad. I feel like I couldn't go 00:00:50.149 --> 00:00:53.549 better than that. Is there a movie called The 00:00:53.549 --> 00:00:56.329 Pursuers? All that's coming up in my mind is 00:00:56.329 --> 00:00:59.710 scenes from The Rescuers Down Under, like the 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:02.710 animated little mouse movie. Dude, that's a throwback. 00:01:03.009 --> 00:01:05.250 Of course it is. It probably came out when you 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:09.230 were a kid. Pursuers is on the Dark Souls wiki. 00:01:09.329 --> 00:01:12.950 Isn't that a game? Yes. Maybe not a game I would 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:15.230 recommend for anybody. No, I have not played 00:01:15.230 --> 00:01:19.849 it. Man, this is two podcasts in a row now. You 00:01:19.849 --> 00:01:23.930 and I have reference. Parents are like, oh, kids, 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:25.650 let's figure out what that is. Somebody come 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:29.010 get Sean. So I want you guys to know. Okay, you 00:01:29.010 --> 00:01:32.849 want us guys to know. Listen up, pursuers. I 00:01:32.849 --> 00:01:34.969 was going to say that. All right, pursuers. So 00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:36.890 I did mention Good Morning Vietnam on the last 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:38.870 podcast. I went and Googled it when we left. 00:01:38.930 --> 00:01:43.849 Of course. And it is rated R. Oh, Sean. Now, 00:01:43.849 --> 00:01:47.349 with that said, I went to the, oh, what's the 00:01:47.349 --> 00:01:49.709 parent website? PluggedIn. I went to PluggedIn. 00:01:49.769 --> 00:01:53.329 Yeah. And it said that compared to today's PG 00:01:53.329 --> 00:01:56.269 -13 movies, it's tame. What? Is what it said. 00:01:56.549 --> 00:01:59.450 Isn't it usually the opposite, though? So here's 00:01:59.450 --> 00:02:01.370 the crazy thing. You are correct, because I've 00:02:01.370 --> 00:02:05.469 watched PG movies from the 80s and 90s with my 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.169 kids, and I'm like, I would never have thought 00:02:08.169 --> 00:02:11.030 that would be in a PG movie. No. So somehow, 00:02:11.189 --> 00:02:13.560 this one did the opposite. Interesting. Because 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:15.439 it really got me weird. I thought I was asked 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.340 to come on here and apologize. Yeah. I really 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:20.819 did. Because Robin Williams, his comedy, because 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:23.460 he's the star of the movie, he's not known for 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:27.280 clean comedy. Yeah. Now, he became known as a 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.710 family actor later on. Jumanji. Yes. Although 00:02:30.710 --> 00:02:33.169 that movie traumatized the living junk out of 00:02:33.169 --> 00:02:36.789 me. Flubber? Flubber was a great movie. That's 00:02:36.789 --> 00:02:38.150 an awesome movie. It's an awesome movie. Yeah. 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:40.990 Patch Adams. See, we could go down the family 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:42.969 movies of Robin Williams. Exactly. He did a great 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:47.030 job. So since we're already on this trail, I'm 00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:50.069 going to keep on going. So I saw a documentary 00:02:50.069 --> 00:02:53.870 a while ago that talked about how... So Robin 00:02:53.870 --> 00:02:56.550 Williams was one of the very first big -named... 00:02:56.810 --> 00:03:00.050 actors to do a character role in a cartoon oh 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:02.310 right because if you think about it before that 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:05.229 it was just it was voice actors that's true they 00:03:05.229 --> 00:03:07.569 did not advertise the name of the actors because 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:11.409 it was about the movie yeah so in his contract 00:03:11.409 --> 00:03:15.669 with disney he he specified like hey i don't 00:03:15.669 --> 00:03:18.969 want you to use my name as a big thing for this 00:03:18.969 --> 00:03:21.349 movie. Interesting. But they ended up doing it 00:03:21.349 --> 00:03:22.969 anyways because it's Robin Williams. Classic 00:03:22.969 --> 00:03:25.689 Disney. Yeah, yeah, of course. But yeah, so like 00:03:25.689 --> 00:03:28.129 the trend now, I mean, because every movie, it's 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.210 no longer voice actors except for the tiny roles. 00:03:30.349 --> 00:03:34.430 Right. Every main character now is an actual 00:03:34.430 --> 00:03:36.789 actor that people know their voice. Right. Kind 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:38.270 of an interesting transition that we have, and 00:03:38.270 --> 00:03:39.830 it's all because of Robin Williams. It's all 00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:41.789 because of Robin Williams. I mean, that's why, 00:03:41.830 --> 00:03:44.229 like with the live action Moana, that like Dwayne 00:03:44.229 --> 00:03:46.770 Johnson is coming back as, what is his name? 00:03:46.830 --> 00:03:52.530 Mata Nui. Maui. His name is Maui. Have you seen 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:55.009 the pictures of that? I saw just one of the posters. 00:03:55.229 --> 00:03:58.490 It looks weird. That man should not have hair. 00:03:59.149 --> 00:04:02.469 Especially the luscious hair of Maui. Because 00:04:02.469 --> 00:04:04.710 Maui's got good hair. Maui's got phenomenal hair. 00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:09.409 Great, long, curly, thick hair. It looks awkward 00:04:09.409 --> 00:04:12.150 on The Rock. Now, do you think it looks awkward 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:14.069 on The Rock because we've known him as Dwayne 00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:16.430 the Bald Rock Johnson for so long? I don't know, 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:19.509 man. I've looked at the photos and it's just 00:04:19.509 --> 00:04:22.740 weird. So I don't know. We'll get used to it. 00:04:22.740 --> 00:04:24.480 I don't know if I'll go see that one. The live 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.139 action ones don't always tend to do what I want 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:29.300 them to do. So you're not on TikTok. I am not 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:31.439 on TikTok. TikTok is one of the only social media 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.759 platforms I am currently on. Wow. I've got rid 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.240 of the rest of them. But you've kept the most 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:38.379 potent. Because it's the least dangerous for 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:42.019 me. Really? Yeah, it really is. Okay. Instagram 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:47.379 is my worst. Instagram, to me, borderlines on 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:52.480 sinful. And it is for me. This is for me. I could 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.420 not. I was on it way too much. I got you. I could 00:04:55.420 --> 00:04:57.839 not. I just was on it way too much. I used student 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.439 ministry and church as an excuse to keep it. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:03.879 But it was way too much. And so that went away. 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:06.420 Snapchat, I just got bored with Snapchat. So 00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:07.819 that was easy to get away. Instagram was tough, 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:10.040 though. When I deleted it, there was many times 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:12.819 I wanted to... Redownloaded it. Yeah. Redownloaded 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:16.160 it. More redownloaded it again. I wanted to do 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.779 that. Yes. But I've had it off my phone now for 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:22.060 over a year, maybe even over two years now. Look 00:05:22.060 --> 00:05:24.519 at you. I can't remember. And now it's like once 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:26.779 you get away from social media, you just don't 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:30.139 care. Yeah. Going back to TikTok, the whole reason 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:32.480 we went on another rabbit trail. So there was 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.660 a woman that got famous for a very short, like 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:37.420 TikTok famous for a very short, like 10 second 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:41.300 video. Okay. And it's her. And she went to, it 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:42.939 looks like she's in a target or something like 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:46.100 that. Interesting. And the rock is being used 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:52.040 as an advertisement for shampoo. And so her whole 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:55.060 post, the entire post is her basically saying 00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:59.439 kids follow your dreams. One day you can be bald 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.540 and advertise for shampoo too. That's serious. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.279 What intern was like, oh, we need a celebrity 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:08.939 feature for old spice. So about the rock. So 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:11.120 the funny thing is he is bald in the, in the 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.620 picture. Oh yeah. Right. So evidently the rock 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:16.410 like commented back but not only that like sent 00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:19.990 her crates of shampoo and is sending her family 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:22.589 out to now for the to hollywood you're kidding 00:06:22.589 --> 00:06:26.689 for the premiere of uh moana like i saw a follow 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:29.209 -up to it i was like for a 10 second video that 00:06:29.209 --> 00:06:30.889 you put up thinking that no one would watch it 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:33.040 right Because I don't think this woman had any 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.019 kind of following or anything. It was just a 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:38.259 mama posting what she thought was funny, and 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:40.439 it was funny. And then all of a sudden, all these 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:41.699 people see it, and now she gets a free trip to 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:43.019 Hollywood and all kinds of stuff. It's kind of 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:45.779 crazy. It's crazy how social media works. So 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:47.620 I'm going to put on my tinfoil hat for a second 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:49.620 here. Oh, I'm so ready for this. I bet that was 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:53.939 a psyop. I bet that was a plant. Not her, but 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:55.860 I bet they were fishing for it. Like, let's put 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:58.339 the rock on the shampoo thing and let's see who 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:01.220 responds to it. And then it allows us to do more 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:03.100 publicity. Publicity stunt. That's what I'm looking 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:06.339 for. It's a publicity stunt for the movie. That's 00:07:06.339 --> 00:07:08.540 what I, you know, I'm not going to argue with 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:10.560 you on that one because I think you're making 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.740 valid points. That's the thing. The scary part 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.160 with conspiracy theories, publicity stunts, all 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:18.939 these things is that the more you open your eyes, 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:21.920 the more that you see. It's very true. Speaking 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.339 of seeing too much, um, next week. So actually 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.500 we're actually recording this episode a little 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:30.300 early, right? Pretty early, pretty early because 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:33.240 next week you are going to be somewhere special. 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:35.300 Yes. Um, some people in the church would call 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:37.240 it a vacation and I slapped those people. You 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:39.720 slap those people in the name of the Lord. I 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.040 rebuke you. This is some church members. Listen, 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:45.519 the one thing you don't want to do to your youth 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:47.759 pastor, the one I'm here to help you. I'm here 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:49.319 to guide you. I'm here to shepherd you. Yep. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.600 When I get back from a mission trip where I have 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.959 been on call for 24 -7 for seven days, please 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:00.420 don't say, how was your vacation? It has happened 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:02.660 before. It has happened in this church. And it 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:05.100 is good -hearted people that I will not slap 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:08.740 because I love them so much. But it still stings. 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:11.339 It still stings to call what I just did a vacation 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:13.879 because it was very far from it. I did not sleep 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.279 much because I was worried about what the boys 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:17.980 were going to be doing. while I was sleeping. 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:22.279 Yeah, that's fair. That's fair, Sean. Yeah, yeah. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.019 So what actually are you doing? So for those 00:08:26.019 --> 00:08:29.519 of you who don't know, so we are taking our students 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.819 on a trip called Mission Serve. So we don't do 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:34.399 a typical summer camp that many student ministries 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:36.559 do. I think summer camp has a great place. I'm 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.860 not knocking summer camp. We just do something 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.519 different. And so Mission Serve is kind of like 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.590 taking a mission trip and a summer camp. and 00:08:44.590 --> 00:08:47.529 they had a baby together and out popped Mission 00:08:47.529 --> 00:08:49.610 Serve. Okay. I know I could have said that a 00:08:49.610 --> 00:08:51.009 different way, but I thought that was funny. 00:08:51.190 --> 00:08:54.629 So Mission Serve is a combination of a summer 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:56.870 camp and a mission trip. And so the reason is 00:08:56.870 --> 00:08:59.850 a whole bunch of churches come together. We usually 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:01.850 stay at a church. This year we're staying at 00:09:01.850 --> 00:09:05.389 a brand new built middle school. So we should 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:07.190 have good AC and all that kind of stuff. Decent 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:10.350 showers? It'll still be shower trailers. I'm 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:12.350 assuming the new schools don't build showers 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:15.100 anymore. What? I would assume so. Under what 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:17.899 circumstances? Do kids not shower anymore? I 00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:19.740 don't know. I mean, I just lather up an ax body 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:21.960 spray and move on. I don't think kids shower 00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:24.940 at school anymore. I know when I was growing 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:27.879 up, my middle school had a shower room and it 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.279 was one big room with a whole bunch of shower 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:33.320 heads. Terrifying, honestly. Oh my gosh. Yeah, 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:35.080 I remember walking in there from elementary school 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.279 and walking to the locker room after PE, just 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.899 staring at that room like, does that, do I have 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:44.519 to use that? Maybe that's why they don't build 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.940 shower rooms. So anyways, we'll have shower trailers, 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:48.480 but usually they're pretty nice. But going back 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.960 to Mission Serve, and so it's an incredible time. 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:53.080 So we'll be there with about eight other churches. 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:56.259 And so I think there's over 200, maybe over 250 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:58.299 participants at the location we're going to. 00:09:58.340 --> 00:09:59.679 We're going to be in Saluda, South Carolina. 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:01.899 So they're going to mix us all up. So they're 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:03.120 going to mix all the churches up. And I think 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.139 we've got about 12 that what they call squads 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:07.759 or teams. Okay. And so each team has its own 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.299 work site. And so like the squad that I'm on, 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:12.600 I'll have a couple people from our church, but 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:14.259 then a bunch of people from other churches too. 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:16.860 So I love that. So it gives our students the 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:19.059 opportunity where you're not just hanging out 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:21.419 with other kids. You're working alongside them 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:24.159 doing mission work. So the bonds that they create 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.759 next week or technically. We're going to be almost 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.620 at the end of it while y 'all are listening to 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:32.720 this. But the bonds they have created are going 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.279 to go with them for years. That's awesome. I 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.500 have students that still have Snapchat groups 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:38.779 or text groups from mission serve groups they 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:40.720 had years and years ago. And they all talk to 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:41.659 each other. Hey, where are y 'all going this 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:43.960 year? What did you do? And so it's really fun. 00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:46.480 That's huge, dude. I love that. And so I'm very 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.039 excited. We're taking a great group. We've got 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.440 a little over 50 people going with us. Wow. And 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.809 it is going to be amazing. So church. Let's say 00:10:53.809 --> 00:10:56.009 this is going to release on Friday. We are going 00:10:56.009 --> 00:10:59.269 to be heading home on Saturday. And so really, 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:00.909 by the time you're listening to this, we could 00:11:00.909 --> 00:11:03.110 possibly be done beyond the way back or, you 00:11:03.110 --> 00:11:05.110 know, it's the last night. And so pray for safe 00:11:05.110 --> 00:11:07.210 travels and Sean saying there you go and pray 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.809 for a good night's rest Saturday night. And you'll 00:11:11.809 --> 00:11:13.789 know if I get it when you see me Sunday. That's 00:11:13.789 --> 00:11:16.370 that's also fair. I can picture you coming up 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:18.950 on stage with a cup of coffee in your hand or 00:11:18.950 --> 00:11:21.620 a Celsius. or something and it'll be father's 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:24.399 day so like i'm just i'm just gonna i'm gonna 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.279 act like i'm in character i'm like i'm like your 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:28.000 typical dad getting on stage with his coffee 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.299 everybody be like oh he's just doing a bit no 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:32.179 i just need my coffee do you have like a number 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:35.080 one dad bug that you could use dude i have a 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.659 dad i have a mug that says super dad on it and 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:39.940 i use it all the time so you're welcome so you're 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:43.360 welcome yeah yeah so i have to ask with mission 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:48.139 serve Yes. What? Like, do you have a funny story? 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:50.440 Scariest thing that's ever happened at Mission 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.179 Serve. Funniest thing that's ever happened to 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:55.539 Mission Serve. Now, scary. One year, this would 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:57.360 happen with the girls. So I can't comment fully 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.179 on this. Okay. But we stayed at a very old church 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:02.600 and the girls were like on the third floor, like 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:04.740 almost an attic. Maybe it was an attic at one 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:06.639 point, but now it's Sunday school classrooms. 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:10.039 And the adult leaders did like ghost stories 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.580 one night. And this was like 6 ,000 years ago. 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:16.960 This was a long time ago. And just scared. Ghost 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.840 stories on a mission trip is crazy. And evidently, 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:21.899 they planted a Bluetooth speaker somewhere. Oh, 00:12:21.899 --> 00:12:25.059 come on. And it freaked out some girls. There 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:28.000 were some girls freaked out from that one. But 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.600 we'll have to get somebody that was there to 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.899 tell that story. Now, what I got to see. So pranks 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:35.840 is a part of mission serve. Okay. Right? And 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.980 we... Sometimes we have to reel it in. As teenagers 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:41.600 can do, it's always about one -upping. And so 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.919 if the pranks start really hard on Monday... 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:48.759 By Friday, it's more. So most of the time, it's 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:52.299 not bad. So this was four or five years ago. 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:58.019 So there was a young man named Ethan Smith. Okay. 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.740 Ethan Smith is still part of our group and going 00:13:00.740 --> 00:13:03.019 to be going to Mission Surf with us next week. 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:07.960 And Ethan Smith... Uh, the guys decided ahead 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:10.659 of time they were going to, and this was probably 00:13:10.659 --> 00:13:13.139 a group of like eight. Ethan, I think was in 00:13:13.139 --> 00:13:15.919 middle school at the time. Okay. And this was 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.700 like big football player, high school students 00:13:18.700 --> 00:13:21.720 were like, we're going to duct tape him. What? 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:25.320 Yeah, like duct tape his legs together. Duct 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.519 tape his arms together. Like not his body, but 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:29.600 like basically like get him like trapped. Yeah. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.580 Like his legs and then try it. And I think they 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:34.059 were even going to try to like get it where like 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:35.440 once they got his arms and once they got his 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.379 legs, like duct tape those together, his arms 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:39.159 and his legs. They're going to hog tie this poor 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.159 boy? Yes, yes. They're going to try. And so me 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:42.919 and a bunch of the other men, like they came 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:44.320 to us first and they're like, can we do this? 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.590 And we're like. Let's see how this goes. What? 00:13:47.049 --> 00:13:49.250 Because we know the guys and we know their heart. 00:13:49.309 --> 00:13:52.269 It was not out of meanness they were doing this. 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:58.269 So, the story. They get Ethan. Yeah. They start 00:13:58.269 --> 00:14:01.450 trapping him. Yeah. They start putting duct tape 00:14:01.450 --> 00:14:06.049 on him. Yeah. They cannot get him. The boy was... 00:14:06.049 --> 00:14:09.870 He... was overpowering these eight high school 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:13.330 boys. You're kidding. No, they were never, they 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:16.590 were never able to get. And like, so it turned 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:18.610 into something where all of us adults and other 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:20.830 people in the room, like go, Ethan, go, go. Like 00:14:20.830 --> 00:14:24.009 we're cheering him on. And like, you know, he's 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:25.649 starting to get a little, a little frustrated, 00:14:25.730 --> 00:14:27.750 but it didn't get too far to control. So we were 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:29.710 just letting it go. And then finally the guys 00:14:29.710 --> 00:14:31.769 were like, we're done. We can't do it. You're 00:14:31.769 --> 00:14:33.889 kidding. And so like, we're high five and Ethan, 00:14:33.950 --> 00:14:36.029 like, dude, that was amazing. I think I had a 00:14:36.029 --> 00:14:38.909 video of it at one point. point and so it was 00:14:38.909 --> 00:14:41.909 pretty fun little david and goliath it was it 00:14:41.909 --> 00:14:44.009 exactly was and so that's what i'm saying you 00:14:44.009 --> 00:14:47.750 you we know our guys yeah and if like some boys 00:14:47.750 --> 00:14:49.009 would have come up to me asking me if they could 00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:51.529 do that i've been like no under no circumstances 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:53.789 but because of the situation we're like let's 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:55.789 see how it plays out and i'm so glad i did because 00:14:55.789 --> 00:14:59.049 like that is like That is a story that will live 00:14:59.049 --> 00:15:02.669 infamously with Ethan forever. Yeah, he's going 00:15:02.669 --> 00:15:06.269 to get to go to therapy for that, Sean. He won. 00:15:06.629 --> 00:15:09.809 He won. Well, maybe those boys will get to go 00:15:09.809 --> 00:15:11.830 to therapy because they were overpowered by a 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:13.750 middle school boy that they were trying to duct 00:15:13.750 --> 00:15:16.210 tape. Yeah, that's their own fault. Fair enough. 00:15:17.169 --> 00:15:20.669 Best of luck on Mission Serve. I guess in the 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:23.789 future, I hope Mission Serve has gone well? This 00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:26.070 podcast operates outside of time. I don't know 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:29.379 what to do with that. Anyways, do you want to 00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:31.320 dig into some scripture, pursuing Jesus this 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:33.240 week? I think we should now. I think we should 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:35.720 start looking at the devotional and some of the 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.220 passages, because there were some wild passages 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:42.340 this week. No doubt. No doubt. Do you mind if 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:45.080 I kick this thing off? I would like nothing else. 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:46.919 Nothing else? Well, you'll get more than that. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:51.279 But here we go. So I want to talk about June 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:55.720 the 13th. Cause like this parable, like I spent 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.639 a lot of time here cause I felt like it was, 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:03.879 I had difficulty with my interpretation of this, 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:05.440 but once I felt, I'm assuming you're talking 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.100 about the very beginning. Uh, yes. Yeah. Cause 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:11.340 this one, it's all, it's a difficult one to understand. 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:13.980 Yeah, it is. You can wrestle with it. You can. 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.220 So let's, uh, let's, let's give the, the high 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:19.259 level summary of it. Cause it's, it's a pretty 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:23.110 big chunk of text. Yeah. Go ahead. Luke. starting 00:16:23.110 --> 00:16:27.049 in verse 1, Jesus tells a parable where a rich 00:16:27.049 --> 00:16:30.490 man has a manager who gets accused of wasting 00:16:30.490 --> 00:16:33.529 his possessions. Rich man calls him in. It's 00:16:33.529 --> 00:16:35.549 like, hey, you're done. Let me see your accounts. 00:16:35.970 --> 00:16:39.590 In the process of settling the accounts, this 00:16:39.590 --> 00:16:42.529 manager starts writing off the debts of the people 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:46.190 who owe the rich guy money, but shorting them. 00:16:46.429 --> 00:16:48.549 Yeah, yeah. You owe 100, now you only owe 75. 00:16:48.730 --> 00:16:51.710 Like that kind of thing. Correct. Yeah. The master 00:16:51.710 --> 00:16:53.629 commended, and this is a direct quote from verse 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:56.110 8 now, the master commended the dishonest manager 00:16:56.110 --> 00:16:58.929 for his shrewdness. Did you just say he commended? 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:02.769 Commended. Wow. And so Jesus is telling this 00:17:02.769 --> 00:17:05.269 parable, and then he goes on to say, for the 00:17:05.269 --> 00:17:07.130 sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing 00:17:07.130 --> 00:17:08.849 with their own generation than the sons of light. 00:17:08.930 --> 00:17:11.150 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by 00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:13.410 means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it 00:17:13.410 --> 00:17:16.920 fails, they may receive you into the eternal 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:24.059 dwellings. Interesting. And I'm like, what? Yeah. 00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:27.740 Because in context here, the chapter before this, 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:31.019 you've got the parable of the lost sheep, you've 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:33.220 got the lady with the lost coin, and the parable 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.920 of the prodigal son, all of which the master 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.240 figure, the father, the judge, the shepherd, 00:17:41.529 --> 00:17:44.210 is in the parable. Yes. And it's portrayed as 00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:46.750 Jesus or the Father. Yeah, Jesus is that main 00:17:46.750 --> 00:17:49.549 hierarchical character in each of those stories. 00:17:49.890 --> 00:17:52.869 So initially I tripped on this passage because 00:17:52.869 --> 00:17:59.589 it was like... So Jesus condones lying? So you're 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.710 saying at first reading, you could think that 00:18:02.710 --> 00:18:05.670 Jesus is the rich man. Correct. At first reading, 00:18:05.710 --> 00:18:07.390 you could think Jesus is the rich man. Yeah, 00:18:07.430 --> 00:18:08.910 and I'm sure many people might have done that. 00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:11.849 Yes, and so I really struggled with this one 00:18:11.849 --> 00:18:14.609 initially because it's like, but this goes against 00:18:14.609 --> 00:18:17.609 everything I've seen in Scripture up until this 00:18:17.609 --> 00:18:20.130 point. What do I do with this? And usually that's 00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:21.809 a good indication. Whenever something like that 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:25.960 is happening, I would say every time it's not 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:27.960 scripture that's wrong, it's our interpretation 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:30.359 of scripture. Correct. So that should cause us 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:32.859 to dig deep and not just be like, oh, that's 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:37.259 weird. Right. So you dug deep. So yes, more than 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:39.519 maybe I would have liked to for this passage. 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:46.099 So when Jesus says crazy stuff. usually I feel 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:47.880 like there's a deeper message that's really, 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:50.980 really good under there. Um, and man, I was digging 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:55.720 for it, but, uh, one of the passages. So one 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.160 of the things that I often do that I learned 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.740 this from my time at Cedarville, uh, the college 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:04.039 that I'm shout out mascot of Cedarville, um, 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:08.960 go yellow jackets. Really? Yes. You could have 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.000 given me 10 guesses and that would have not been 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.400 anywhere in there. At another point, I will tell 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:16.259 the story of where a language barrier made that 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.960 really, really funny. Okay. This is a big story. 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:20.559 I don't want to get a sidetrack, but yes. Wow. 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:22.339 I want to bring that back up. Go bees. Okay. 00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:27.660 Anyways. Yes. So one of the things that I learned 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:29.819 at Cedarville, shout out to the Yellow Jackets, 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:33.000 is that when you have a passage you're struggling 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:34.880 to interpret, you want to always interpret scripture 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.880 with scripture. Absolutely. That's a principle 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.599 that's helpful when you're coming across a hard 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:43.000 path. Good job, prof. Exactly. Yeah. So two things 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.440 that helped me get a different lens for this 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.799 passage. One of them I landed was Micah 6 .8. 00:19:49.109 --> 00:19:51.089 What does the Lord require of you but to seek 00:19:51.089 --> 00:19:53.589 justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your 00:19:53.589 --> 00:19:56.069 God? And so I feel like that sets up a framework 00:19:56.069 --> 00:19:59.710 that feels prohibitive for the practice of selling 00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:02.029 short somebody else's debts just to get yourself 00:20:02.029 --> 00:20:03.970 out of trouble. The second piece of scripture 00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:06.349 that I found that was helpful for my interpretation 00:20:06.349 --> 00:20:08.869 of this passage is the latter portion of our 00:20:08.869 --> 00:20:12.130 reading for this day, verses 10 through 11. The 00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:14.670 one who is faithful in very little is also faithful 00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:17.650 in much. And the one who is dishonest in very 00:20:17.650 --> 00:20:21.089 little is also dishonest in much. If then you 00:20:21.089 --> 00:20:23.670 have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:26.869 who will entrust you to the true riches? And 00:20:26.869 --> 00:20:28.670 if you have not been faithful in that which is 00:20:28.670 --> 00:20:31.869 another's, who will give you that which is your 00:20:31.869 --> 00:20:35.130 own? And so like it reframed this whole passage 00:20:35.130 --> 00:20:37.950 for me as a question of faithfulness. Yeah. So 00:20:37.950 --> 00:20:40.670 you look at the dishonest manager and you see 00:20:40.670 --> 00:20:44.869 that even before he's accused of dishonesty. 00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:48.390 he was not being faithful with his master's assets. 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:51.109 Correct. Right? And so that's what leads to this 00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:53.029 problem. That's why he's being fired. Yes. But 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:56.849 even in his removal, you see more of his character. 00:20:57.349 --> 00:20:59.890 Think about it. He's never been faithful with 00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:01.970 this guy's stuff. Why would he start now? Yeah, 00:21:01.990 --> 00:21:04.710 my translation in verse 1 says he was squandering 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:08.880 his... They're squandering his possessions. Correct. 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:12.420 Yeah. And so you see a character thing of faithfulness 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:15.400 versus unfaithfulness. And that's the lens with 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:17.839 which I read this. And I can even hear Jesus 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.299 maybe tongue in cheek, sarcastically saying, 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:22.900 and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by 00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:25.559 means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails, 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.579 because it will fail, they may receive you into 00:21:28.579 --> 00:21:30.640 the eternal dwellings. That sounds a little bit 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.480 to me like you better make friends with the people 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.380 that you're going to spend eternity with. I don't 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:38.720 know. One other thing that is super interesting 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:43.140 to me is the word that we see here. Jesus repeats 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:47.380 the phrase often, unrighteous wealth. Yeah. There's 00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:51.059 a little footnote in my Bible. Okay. The direct 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:55.910 Greek here for wealth is called mammon. which 00:21:55.910 --> 00:21:59.390 is a Greekification of a Jewish word that can 00:21:59.390 --> 00:22:02.029 mean money or possessions, right? Yes. But it 00:22:02.029 --> 00:22:06.130 most literally translates to that which is trusted 00:22:06.130 --> 00:22:10.630 in. Interesting. So reframe that in verse 10. 00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:14.349 Those who are faithful with little are also faithful 00:22:14.349 --> 00:22:16.750 with much. And one who is dishonest with very 00:22:16.750 --> 00:22:20.369 little is also dishonest with much. If then you 00:22:20.369 --> 00:22:24.339 who have not been faithful with... The thing 00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:27.640 you trusted in, who will entrust you to true 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.660 riches? And so part of the, one of the other 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:33.160 things that I drew out of this is where has been 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:37.039 putting his trust. Lack of trust is what can 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.539 lead us to the unfaithfulness that we see in 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:43.039 the servant. And so if we don't, because we can 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.099 trust in many things. Money is the example that 00:22:45.099 --> 00:22:51.420 Jesus uses in this podcast, mercy malarkey. Money 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.819 is one of the things that Jesus uses in this 00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:56.559 piece of scripture, but there is much that we 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.900 can trust in that can't actually bear the weight 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:03.839 of the trust that we're putting on it. So this 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:07.720 was kind of a theme of my message last night 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:12.039 with our students. Hit me with it. And we were 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:14.609 talking a little bit about idolatry. because 00:23:14.609 --> 00:23:17.890 we're going through Acts, which is kind of fun. 00:23:17.950 --> 00:23:19.809 I mentioned it a little bit, but we're going 00:23:19.809 --> 00:23:21.769 through Galatians, and we're currently at the 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:23.349 part of Acts on Wednesday night with our students 00:23:23.349 --> 00:23:25.349 where we're going through the churches of Galatia. 00:23:25.390 --> 00:23:28.769 Yeah. And one of them, they show up in Lystra, 00:23:28.849 --> 00:23:33.309 and they call Paul Hermes, and they call Barnabas 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:36.250 Zeus. Right. And so I use that to talk about, 00:23:36.309 --> 00:23:39.410 well, hey, no one's calling us gods, but what 00:23:39.410 --> 00:23:41.190 are the gods that we might have, and we have 00:23:41.190 --> 00:23:44.819 idolatry. And it's really, and we are talking 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:46.099 about, okay, what are the things you placed your 00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:48.759 trust in is where we ended up getting through 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:51.339 this passage. Yeah. And it's kind of that same 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:57.640 idea of, okay, are you trusting in the praise 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.180 of others? Right? Because that's a big thing. 00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:03.880 And I didn't even say teenage culture. I just 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:06.079 said our culture because so many of us, we are. 00:24:06.809 --> 00:24:09.289 We, instead of pursuing Jesus, we're pursuing 00:24:09.289 --> 00:24:12.710 the praise of other people. Absolutely. But the 00:24:12.710 --> 00:24:14.990 thing that I was trying to get them to realize 00:24:14.990 --> 00:24:20.369 was that whenever you take anything besides Jesus 00:24:20.369 --> 00:24:22.430 as the thing that you're placing your trust in, 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:27.190 I use the example of how all of these things 00:24:27.190 --> 00:24:29.609 are like salt water when you're lost at sea. 00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:32.619 Oh, that's a phenomenal example. Because when 00:24:32.619 --> 00:24:35.420 you're lost at sea, one of the things that you 00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:37.240 hear all the time is not to drink the salt water. 00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:39.099 Because if you drink the salt water, it's actually 00:24:39.099 --> 00:24:42.339 going to make you more thirsty and desire more 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:44.900 water. So that's exactly what it means to trust 00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:47.259 in something that's not Jesus. If you put anything 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:48.980 in that place, whatever it is in your life, because 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:50.240 like you said, there could be so many things. 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:53.279 It's not just money. But whatever that is that 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:56.460 you're placing your trust in, the more you desire 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.690 it, the more you're going to want. And it will 00:24:58.690 --> 00:25:00.890 never satisfy. In fact, it's going to make you 00:25:00.890 --> 00:25:03.190 more hungry or more thirsty and more thirsty 00:25:03.190 --> 00:25:05.329 and more thirsty. Isn't that such an interesting 00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:10.650 pattern? Yeah. I feel like as humans, we intentionally, 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:14.450 unintentionally, like elements of both, we intentionally, 00:25:14.670 --> 00:25:18.950 unintentionally seek ultimate fulfillment. Yeah. 00:25:19.049 --> 00:25:23.960 Right? Like in anything. One example of this 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:26.500 I'll give in my own life is a beloved video game 00:25:26.500 --> 00:25:29.400 that I loved to play as a young kid, Lego Star 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:31.440 Wars, A Complete Saga. I put that bad boy on 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:35.160 my Nintendo. We play it often. Mom would say, 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.160 okay, dude, one more level and then it's time 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:39.599 for dinner or then it's time to do your homework 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:41.440 or then it's time to stop rotting your brain 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.859 with this video game, right? And I would finish 00:25:44.859 --> 00:25:48.980 that level and the very next thing, one more, 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:51.380 come on, please, please, one more, one more, 00:25:51.400 --> 00:25:54.799 one more. We never find the ultimate fulfillment 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.259 of any desire that we have in the stuff that 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.420 we have on earth. I firmly believe that is because 00:26:01.420 --> 00:26:05.940 it is made to point us to the greater fulfillment 00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:10.700 in Christ. Yeah, absolutely. And like we see 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:14.400 that in this text too, verse nine, so that when 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:19.640 mammon fails, they may receive you into the eternal 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:22.299 dwellings. Like, dude. It doesn't matter how 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:26.140 high you stack your cards. Eventually, that card 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:28.579 tower is going to fall. But I also think that 00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:30.700 sometimes you have to have a couple of card towers 00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:33.640 fall to recognize the genuine article. Absolutely. 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:35.400 I think you're right. And I think this is a good 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.519 time for our pursuers listening to really take 00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:40.480 self -reflection and think, because I think there 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.920 is something in all of our lives that is... we 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:46.180 struggle with trying to take the place of God 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:49.099 in our life. And so for everyone listening, it's 00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:51.000 really this is that time to reflect and be like, 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:53.180 okay, what is that thing in my life? What is 00:26:53.180 --> 00:26:56.019 that thing that I am tempted to continue to go 00:26:56.019 --> 00:27:00.160 after more than Jesus? Absolutely. And for you, 00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:02.480 when you discover what that is, that's where 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.400 you know you've got to be careful. Yeah. Because 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:08.140 a lot of times, because here's the scary part, 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:11.380 that a lot of these things in and of themselves, 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.339 like money, It's not a bad thing. No. Not a bad 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:20.539 thing at all. Nowhere is Jesus condemning someone 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:22.519 for being wealthy just because they're wealthy. 00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:25.319 Right. It's not about the money. And so the same 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:28.000 is true with anything in our lives that is not 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.460 a sinful thing. There could be sinful things, 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:33.799 but where it's more dangerous is where it's not 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:35.859 a sinful thing. Yeah. It is something that is 00:27:35.859 --> 00:27:40.359 morally acceptable. However... When you place 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:43.160 that thing above Jesus with importance and you 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.859 pursue that more than Jesus, that's where it 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:49.759 gets dangerous. Absolutely. So the question becomes, 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.539 how do we find it? I find it a rule in my own 00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:58.299 life that, dude, it's so easy sometimes to point 00:27:58.299 --> 00:28:01.319 out other people's blind spots, right? And that 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:05.319 in and of itself can be like... maybe not even 00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.359 real blind spots, but elevating my preferences 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:09.160 to biblical standard and then holding somebody 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:12.079 else to it. Right. But like, so what does it 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.740 look like to find the blind spots in our lives 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:19.000 that where we realize like, Oh junk, this, this 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.240 is actually something that I give worship to. 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:24.559 You ever looked at a where's Waldo book? Yes, 00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:26.839 I have. Yeah. They're really fun. Right. And, 00:28:26.900 --> 00:28:29.539 and a lot of times, man, Waldo can be difficult 00:28:29.539 --> 00:28:32.779 to spot, right? He really can. But once you find 00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:35.549 him, you know where he's at. You can't unsee 00:28:35.549 --> 00:28:38.210 him. No, you see that, right? You see him from 00:28:38.210 --> 00:28:40.589 now on. You're going to see where Waldo is every 00:28:40.589 --> 00:28:43.130 single time because you found him. The same is 00:28:43.130 --> 00:28:46.450 true with this as well. And so a lot of it is 00:28:46.450 --> 00:28:49.410 just really like, if this is truly the desire 00:28:49.410 --> 00:28:51.990 of your heart, ask the Lord to help you. He will 00:28:51.990 --> 00:28:54.789 show you these things. And then once you see 00:28:54.789 --> 00:28:57.569 it, you're going to start to see the different 00:28:57.569 --> 00:28:59.529 things in your life that say, oh, I got to be 00:28:59.529 --> 00:29:01.609 careful with this. You know, I mean, going back 00:29:01.609 --> 00:29:02.529 to what I talked about at the beginning with 00:29:02.529 --> 00:29:05.089 social media in my life, you know, I started 00:29:05.089 --> 00:29:08.150 to realize how much I was looking at the likes 00:29:08.150 --> 00:29:11.630 on my posts and how many followers I was gaining 00:29:11.630 --> 00:29:14.049 and all the different stuff. And like, it was 00:29:14.049 --> 00:29:16.829 going down. Like I was searching for validation. 00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:21.599 Yeah. within those things. And I realized, and 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:24.420 once I saw the danger, I was like, nah, this 00:29:24.420 --> 00:29:26.660 has got to go. It's got to go. I mean, so what 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:28.059 you're saying, that searching for validation, 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:30.940 that's a question of your affections. That's 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:32.720 a question of your loves. And I feel like the 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.660 next Devo, like the, what is this, the 14th? 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:37.980 The 14th speaks to that too, right? At the very 00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:41.059 beginning, Jesus says, It's Luke 16, 13 through 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:44.579 18. No servant can serve two masters, for either 00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:47.099 he will hate the one and love the other, or he 00:29:47.099 --> 00:29:49.000 will be devoted to one and despise the other. 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:51.079 You cannot serve God. And there it is again, 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.980 mammon, the thing that is most trusted in. It's 00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:57.640 a question of your loves. And so maybe one of 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:02.000 the ways that we find what that small G God is 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.059 in our lives is to look at what we're devoted 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:09.029 to. Like the thing that when... you've planned 00:30:09.029 --> 00:30:12.089 on it in your day and it goes awry that your 00:30:12.089 --> 00:30:15.349 heart goes, no, you know, the thing that when 00:30:15.349 --> 00:30:18.509 somebody asks you, Hey, is this, is this good 00:30:18.509 --> 00:30:21.630 for you? That internally you have that rise up 00:30:21.630 --> 00:30:23.950 and of you, of course it is. And who are you 00:30:23.950 --> 00:30:27.089 to tell me what to do? You know, you look at 00:30:27.089 --> 00:30:29.329 where you feel threatened in that regard. And 00:30:29.329 --> 00:30:30.690 that could be one of the ways that the spirit 00:30:30.690 --> 00:30:34.539 shows you what those gods are in your life. and 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:36.160 I believe that kind of like with the Where's 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:39.480 Waldo thing, once you get the glimmer of whatever 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.200 this thing is, it's going to become more obvious. 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:47.029 But a lot of times we are blinded. by our own 00:30:47.029 --> 00:30:50.970 downfalls until we start to see it. And then 00:30:50.970 --> 00:30:53.450 once we start to see it, we realize, oh, this 00:30:53.450 --> 00:30:55.609 is a big problem. It's just getting to that point. 00:30:55.769 --> 00:30:58.289 And it's allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to 00:30:58.289 --> 00:31:00.630 you and to listen to what the Holy Spirit is 00:31:00.630 --> 00:31:02.750 telling you. And then when you do that, man, 00:31:02.869 --> 00:31:04.970 it's going to be so much better to start to realize, 00:31:05.109 --> 00:31:09.109 okay, this is an issue. this is not necessarily 00:31:09.109 --> 00:31:11.369 a sinful thing, but it has become a sinful thing 00:31:11.369 --> 00:31:13.710 in my life. Yes, it has outgrown its natural 00:31:13.710 --> 00:31:18.069 boundaries. So again, if you guys get kind of 00:31:18.069 --> 00:31:20.950 nothing else from today, in spite of the mission 00:31:20.950 --> 00:31:25.490 serve and the revisiting R -rated movies, take 00:31:25.490 --> 00:31:28.650 a second in your car, on your couch, in your 00:31:28.650 --> 00:31:31.230 cubicle, any of the other places that you might 00:31:31.230 --> 00:31:34.670 be listening to this podcast, and ask the Holy 00:31:34.670 --> 00:31:38.140 Spirit. will you show me the areas that I have 00:31:38.140 --> 00:31:42.460 elevated to your place? Will you show me who 00:31:42.460 --> 00:31:44.779 my two masters are? Because Lord, I know you. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:47.619 You promised that my sheep hear my voice and 00:31:47.619 --> 00:31:49.900 they will not listen to another. And I am beginning 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:52.460 to turn my ears. And so that's a prayer that 00:31:52.460 --> 00:31:55.299 we, that Sean and I need to offer the Lord. That's 00:31:55.299 --> 00:31:57.200 a prayer that you need to offer the Lord. And 00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.240 I think that that's part of a regular practice 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:02.980 of pursuing. A hundred percent. Yeah. Well, it's 00:32:02.980 --> 00:32:05.019 been fun, dude. Man, that was good. That went 00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:07.680 by quick. Yeah, time flies when you're talking 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:12.440 about mammon. It doesn't work. It doesn't have 00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:14.980 a good ring to it. No, I think we should just 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:16.200 end it there. You think we should just end it 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:20.740 there? I think we're done. Pursuing Jesus is 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:23.700 a ministry of Memorial Baptist Church in Norwood, 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:25.900 North Carolina. To learn more about our church, 00:32:26.039 --> 00:32:29.460 please visit memorial4norwood .com.