What's going on, everybody?

Hi, everyone.

Hey, hey. Hello. What's happening?

What's happening?

What's up?

It took me solid six months to figure out my intro statement.

And he came up with hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

To most of the clients. When I see him, when I go out and take a look at a roof, I usually like, like, howdy. And then people go, howdy. I'm like, yeah, I'm from Minnesota. I shouldn't say howdy.

Howdy.

I say y' all a lot.

Y'.

All.

Yep. My wife trained me up on y'. All. I used to say pop. That was my whole thing. Cuz I grew up in the north. And then when I moved on, soda just flows off the tongue. Better. Pop just sounds weird.

And in some places use soda pop or Coke. That's the wrong way to do it.

That's the wrong way.

Yeah.

I'm just saying. What's your favorite? If you say, I want a Coke and you mean you want a Dr. Pepper, you're wrong.

You're wrong.

I. I mean, I just call it all soda.

So that's fine.

That makes.

That's cool. Soda pop. Pop or soda pop, I don't care. You can use all those. But if you say you want a Coke and I hand you a Coke and you tell me I'm wrong. No, you're the wrong one.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, that's a specific brand, right? You know, if you're like, I mean. Yeah, that is. That's really specific. I mean, if you said a cola and I handed you different kinds of cola, that makes sense.

No, that's fine. That's fine.

But if it was. But if you say Coke and you're right and you get handed a Coke.

Yeah, this is not. Yeah, you're wrong. Yeah. Anyways, so today, this is wild. The suggested topic was be fruitful and multiply. Why doesn't the church push its congregation to procreate so that other cultures won't overtake us?

Interesting.

Yep. It was based off a question that we had with a young couple in our young adult group. Their exact question was, why doesn't the church talk about being fruitful and multiplying? Filling the earth with Christians. Right now we've got a Muslim community who demands their families have 8, 10, or 15 kids. How long is it gonna be before we are completely overrun? And why is the church so quiet on it?

You know, interestingly enough, that is the reason that the Muslim church grows the way it does is because of the kids. That they're having. They're being born into this religion and into these ideals and I mean, actually, I think I brought this. It wasn't on a podcast, it was on a sermon. It was a while back. But, yeah, that's the number one reason it grows. Christianity, on the other hand, is the fastest growing when it comes to evangel. So. But, yeah, fair question. And it's going to be interesting.

Yeah, I've got some loaded questions that go along with this conversation.

Loaded questions?

Yeah.

Got a few in the chamber.

Yeah, I have a lot in the chamber. We're not going to get to all of them, but I have some devil's advocate questions, and I'm not even going to tell you which is which. I'm just going to go for it, which I know they love. But I just want to hear quick thoughts, intro thoughts on this.

Oh, okay. Thoughts on why we're not pushing it. Is that what you're saying? The question I'm trying to get right now.

So, yeah. So why doesn't the church push congregation to procreate so that other cultures won't overtake us?

Okay. I think that the reason we're not pushing that. I mean, I'm not saying it's good that we're not pushing that, but I think the reason we're not pushing that is that we're more worried on some of the other things that have come alongside that. Like, for instance, like people fornicating outside of the appropriate means, which is marriage, and also alternative lifestyles, you know, and what it. And the fact that they're fighting us on what it is to procreate like that, that has become a forefront. I think those are the forefront battles that we've been at to where the idea of, hey, here's what a healthy life looks like, get married, have babies, is kind of taken almost a back seat to that in a lot of places. And I don't think we do it on purpose. I think it's just that it kind of slipped that way.

It did.

I mean, a lot of it is the narrative of the culture that we live in. We now live in a narrative where it's all about convenience. It's all about don't do too much because you don't put too much stress on yourself. And so you've got.

Yeah. And then you also are battling these ideas of the culture where. And it's funny because, like, you talk to certain women and depending on maybe the group of women you're talking to, they're either for or against.

You.

Know, the idea that at one point women were like, we need a strong presence in the workplace. And there's women that are like, I wish that never happened because we have no place there. And then there's other women. Like, that was amazing. But the thing about it is, is that when you have that now as a forefront idea in your. That everyone's got to go out and make a great career for themselves. And the idea of the career overtakes the idea of the family, then we're battling that as well. There's a lot of ideas when it comes to money and things and even achievements that have overtaken the idea. Now, if you go back, I don't know, 50, 60, probably even more, 80 years, if you were going, all right, you know, here's what your life looks like. Successful, find a great person to settle down with, have kids and make a family. And people would have been like, oh, yeah, sounds like exactly it. But in this day and age, there's such a push for everyone to go. And I don't know if I want to use the words, make something of themselves. I was literally going to say, but I will say that to go out and find some kind of success. But success to them no longer looks like the family. The success to them looks like some kind of amazing career, something that we can put up on our LinkedIn page saying, look how great I am because I'm doing this. You know what I mean? So I think that is. That's a lot of. There's a lot of different things that we're battling, but I think a lot of that ended up pushing you to a back.

Yep, that's solid. Solid. Yeah.

If you had the.

There's a lot to pull apart in there, too.

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course.

Of course. Yeah, yeah. You go all the way back to, like, when all the men were farmers, right. And it's like their thing, they go out in the field, then their wife takes care of the kids back. Then you can have eight, nine, ten kids, no problem. Now, if you're now with the narrative being pushed that nobody who's. Or that you need a combined income, that means you need both people working and having somebody babysit or care for eight, nine or 10 kids, you might as well just not go to work.

You're right. It goes beyond that because not only you have childcare, but then your kids are being raised by the schools and the childcare places, and they're not getting the interactions with their parents. We're seeing a decline in the. What a healthy. What do you call it nuclear household looks like now? Because every thought, he's being stretched in different directions, and it's not what it used to be. And you're right. Back in the day, and I'm talking way back in the day, before the industrial boom and everything like that, you know, a household looked like this. You know, you're right. Mom kind of took care of the house and the kids, especially when they were younger. But then dad would start taking them on their wing and teach them whatever the skill is they did for farmers. They would learn farming. A lot of times if they were blacksmith, maybe they'd start learning that or something, whatever it is. And there were some places, families, where a child would be like, well, this is what the family's doing. But I think I have more of a skillset for this. And those things did happen, but it was. There was. There was a. There was a way of things where the whole house kind of came together. The family unit was a family unit. And this is what our family did was more of a forefront. And then this industrial revolution where, like, we got to go. We're not on the farm anymore. Now we're going out and getting a job. We're getting jobs going, doing this. And then dad's not at home, he's not teaching kids skills, and then mom's trying to pick up the pieces. And then that became problematic to some degree. And then you have. Where now you're right, you touched on it perfectly. You have both people out of the house, and the amount of time that they spend together is shortened to maybe evenings, possibly weekends and vacations. And the rest of the time, these kids are getting a lot of their interactions from everything else. And today is the worst it's ever been. Because even if they're not interacting with mom and dad, and if they could not even be interacting with teachers and overseers, now they're seeing everything on a connected through the Internet that is feeding them everything. And when I say everything, I mean there's some good things, but there's some terrible things, and it is just messing these kids up. If you're not sure, sit in a middle school class for a couple hours and just soak it in, man. Like, these kids are dealing with things they should have they have no business dealing with at all. And. And so it's sending shockwaves. And then we ask ourselves why some of these generations that are starting to enter the workforce or for the past, I don't know, a couple decades have started showing weird signs of things, and yet as problematic as that all sounds, there is, honestly, these generations right now, the younger generations right now, are also showing a need for something real. And because of that, in the churches, we're seeing kids actually being more open to the church and more open to God because they're searching for something that's actual, something that's real, something that they can actually hold onto because they're starting to realize, maybe even subconsciously, that the world is full of junk and they're not sure how to navigate it and they're looking for a compass.

There you go. So then your answer to the question of why doesn't the church push its congregation to procreate so that other cultures won't overtake us is that basically we've destroyed the nuclear home.

I think in a way, yeah.

That's the reason why the church isn't.

I think that. Plus especially depending on your community and think about our community around here. I mean, we're all Lehigh. Our churches are all Lehigh. And there's families, there's communities that we're in that if you go, all right, you need to have more kids. They're looking to you like, I can't even handle what I've got. What are you talking about? We can barely put food on the table. Everything is getting more expensive. Mom and dad don't get along so well. You know, there's. There's so many issues that need to be addressed so that now, you know, there's a way that we want things to go. There's a way we'd love to go. Look, guys, this is the way. Everybody get on board. But the subscription plan is not as simple anymore.

Right?

Exactly. And what you're saying, you're not saying the church has destroyed the nuclear home its society has destroyed to a greater extent, you could probably try and pin it on. Satan has destroyed the nuclear home.

There's a cleanups that's happening. The church is too busy trying to clean up the mess of the destruction of the nuclear home or manage it. Or manage it to push this idea that they should push procreation so that other cultures don't overtake the Christian culture. Okay, well, I think that's a great place for us to put a pin.

Let's put a pin in it. Yeah.

I do want to say now that there's multiple churches getting involved, just for the protection of the churches. Like, the things that we say don't necessarily reflect all of the beliefs of our. Our churches that we attend, nor vice versa. Right? Like.

Correct. We're just having A discussion.

Just because Rise says something from the pulpit doesn't necessarily mean that reflects the truth. Responses, Thoughts.

This is a discussion. We're talking about some things. We're exploring things. We're trying to find some clarity in things. It doesn't necessarily mean that if I say something that this is exactly everything that the Rise Church is, or if you say something that.

Because the last thing we need is somebody to put a post out saying, well, Rise Church is trying to destroy the nuclear.

Right. Also, I mean, I think that as we. As we're growing. Right. Like, I think it's important that. That we just state that. I had a conversation this week with somebody. Where did I have it? I don't. It doesn't matter about, like, what we do. And so one of the things that I think it's important for everybody out there to realize is our goal is not necessarily to tell you this is how you should do things.

Correct.

Right.

It's.

It. Some things definitely. Right. There's some things that we're like, okay, this is the right way to do things. These are the wrong ways. But a lot of it is. There are some hard things out there that. That you all are navigating. That we navigating. That we have and are navigating as well. And we just. We want everybody to know that none of us have all the right answers.

Yeah.

We're in that same boat as you. Like, just because you go to Bible school or regular school, it doesn't matter. Doesn't mean you have all the answers. Right?

Yep.

It doesn't mean that you know everything. It doesn't mean that things are easy to navigate. And so I really want to stress that, like, our thoughts and opinions and everything are meant to supplement what scripture says. If there's something that we say that is non scriptural, and by not scriptural, I mean, like, goes against scripture, then please call us out on it. Right.

Yeah, we are. We're having a discussion. We want to give things out for thought and for perspective and actually for conversation, you know, and part of that conversation is you, the viewer, the listener, going, oh. And interacting with it a bit. We love hearing from you. Comments, good and or bad. To keep the conversation going. As you said, we're not perfect.

Right. I also want to put out there that some things that are said are not said in sincerity to what we believe necessarily. Sometimes it's playing devil's advocate in order to stir up the conversation in ways that naturally happen in the world.

That's usually your job.

And that is Very much my job. I love doing that. So just keep that in mind. Don't pick apart what Dave says or Matt or myself. Think about how these conversations are happening as well in society. Think about how you would respond in these situations. We'd love to hear those things too. With that. Welcome to the truth Response.

100%.

So, Matt, you want to pray for us today?

Sure.

Cool.

Father God, thank you for just everything that you've been doing within this show, within our lives and in our communities. Please continue to guide us, guide our conversation and everything that we do to make us better reflections of you and to be impactful for your kingdom and your name. We pray for our listeners that they get something out of this, that maybe some seeds are planted, some cool perspectives are thrown out there, some cool thought provoking things are said and perhaps maybe we can all move closer to you and we do all these things and we pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen.

Cool.

Well, you're captaining the ship. Which way you want to go, Captain?

Like I said, I'm a little sus of him because he's got these things he wants to throw at us.

Well. And then he makes this comment last time that we don't let him talk. So I guess we'll just have to be quiet this time.

It's time.

I've got questions. I don't have answers.

Fair enough.

So, okay, so let's start with be fruitful and multiply. Yeah, let's start there.

Okay.

Where is that in scripture?

Genesis 1:28 is exactly where it is in scripture. It says God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. So the question is, or the follow up to that is. Okay, so originally it was subdue and fill the earth. We've now got what, close to 9 billion people on the planet and there's a lot of people saying, it's full. Please stop.

It's not full. Everybody just likes to hang out in the same spot.

That's right.

That's what it is. It's a reality. Think about New York City. It's like, why do you all have to live there? That's crazy. You're living on top of each other, quite literally. And if it wasn't so much open.

Space, it would be great.

Yeah. You ever take a flight and you go over like hundreds and hundreds of miles of just nothing?

Yeah.

Like there's a lot of space out there, guys.

Oh, there's space, there's space, yeah. So fearful. Well, I mean, it was kind of the mandate not only on that, but it was also, you can see it promoted, whether straightforward or implied, through even the events after the. The flood where, I mean, you have eight families.

It's directly stated. Yeah, Genesis 9:1.

Yeah, exactly. To go forth, we need to repopulate. Everybody needs animals. Did. We did as humans. Actually, you know what? Here I recently learned something or something was brought to my attention. I thought that was fascinating because I'd never thought about it before. Do you know that we have eight blood types? Eight different blood types, that's how many we have. And there were eight people in the ark. I just wonder if God did that on purpose. I'm just saying it'd be wild if he was like, I need one of each. I'm just saying it's kind of a cool thought, right?

How does one blood type stay pure then? Wouldn't you have that stainage?

I don't really know how that all works, but either way, it's how the blood is formed because of the DNA. So it's really it. But like, yeah, it's pretty wild to think about. I'm just saying it's cool.

But that's not on topic though. That's.

It's a side story.

That is what we're about is rabbit hole.

So that's the establishment.

Okay, so then the follow up question is, was this a universal, timeless command or situational mandate for a world that was literally empty?

Mm hmm. Well, I would say yes.

Okay, that's my favorite answer.

Back it up.

Yes. And.

Well, I mean, I think that if we are living in the way that it was designed for us to live, then, you know, obviously it was, it was needed for a large period of time.

Right.

And actually it's kind of an interesting conversation to have with people because like every once in a while you get somebody who's like, doesn't that mean there was incest? Yep. But, but, but our whole genetic code was different back then. It was stronger. It was the most pure. And as we know from looking at genet biology, is that these things break down over time. So think about if they've been breaking down over time. And let's play, let's play for a minute. Let's say that young Earth is completely true. Right? Look, and look, I am guilty of being a young Earther.

How do you define young Earth? You mean that it's only a few Thousand years old, right?

A few thousand years old. Like about 6,000 years old. And so anyway.

And honestly, I'm the opposite side of that coin.

I know, I know, but listen, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter.

But either way, hear me out. So let's say you were a young Earther, right? And so this happened this way. And if we look back just 6,000 years, think about how much stronger our genetic codes would have been in just that amount of time throughout all those generations. That's incredible. Yet would have been necessary in order to be able to continue to populate from a small number to a large number. And it would have made sense that he could. He started with two, but then after the flood, had to start with eight. Because at that point things have spread out just enough to where you can't go from two, you have to go from eight. Now, that being said, those are just things that I like telling people to think about because I think they're valid. But not the young Earth. Old Earth, but the idea of the genetics. That being said, yes, it was completely necessary to do it then, but yet now there's still an encouragement to live in the way that God has given us to do. There's an encouragement that scripture does tell us that for this reason, a man and a woman come together and the two become one flesh. Well, that would mean that they come together and in a way that seals the deal, right? We call it. What's the word? There's a word, starts with a C, right? When they two actually come together. First time.

Copulation.

Nope, nope, nope.

Consummate.

Consummate. Thank you. That's a word that was not coming to me for some reason.

I'm just gonna let you guys dangle there.

Co Elate.

He got it. He's the answer man today. So anyway, so once you consummate, that is an act of, well, probably sex. And the thing is that what does sex do? It gives you the chance of having a baby. And so it's implied that we are to come together sexually with our partners if we have one, and then that could produce children. So if that is what a healthy relationship looks like, if that's what it looks like to have a man leave his mother and father and become one with their wife and children is the result of such acts, then it would imply then that this is what a normal life looks like, right? This is what if a God intended marriage. If this is what it looks like, then children are the natural outcome. And therefore things keep going. The world keeps getting Populated now for a long period of time. As we mentioned earlier, this was something that was the norm. It was have kids and there wasn't as many contraceptives at the time. There wasn't all this other stuff. So, you know, people either managed it themselves, they figured out how it happened. That's right. People who like to make fun of people who have a lot of kids. We do know how it happens from the first time, but. But, you know, they, they would manage themselves and, and, you know, there's different reasons why they had as many as they did. And we can talk about that, but. Or we don't really need to talk about that, but, you know, but as, like I said, there's been other things that are getting in the way now, you know, especially when people are like, well, I only want to have one kid because I want to be able to have these kinds of things and do these kinds of things or have this kind of, you know. And so, yeah, it's. It's all become muddled, well, distracted, I think.

Yeah, well, they live in a very me first culture. Right. And if you start looking at. I found some other scriptures like, so Psalm 113, 9, for all those you paying attention? Keeping on. Psalm 113, 9 says, he gives the childless woman a happy. I'm sorry, let's start over. He gives the childless woman a family, making her a Happy mother. Psalm 127, 3 says, Children are a gift from the Lord. Deuteronomy 7:14 says, you will be blessed beyond all people there. There will be no barrenness among you. So kids open up a level of love that you can't understand until you have one. I've told a lot of young fathers that are fathers to be. It's like the minute you hold that baby, something unlocks in your brain and goes, I finally understand my relationship with God. And you can't understand it fully until you're finally holding that kid, even if it's a nephew or niece or something like that. But children also give your life a purpose that's higher than your own. The chance to duplicate yourself and put more of you out into the world. And there are some people out there that should not be duplicating themselves, but that's another conversation. And they have more kids than me.

Yeah.

Okay, so, but is it, is it a universal command or is it just a natural part of life? I mean, or is it both? I mean, I think it's a. Do you think that it's a command?

I don't know if I'D call it a natural part of life as much as I'd say it is a universal command. And I think then it is a appropriate part of life.

Okay, so well said. If it's still a binding command. Right. Why doesn't the church treat childlessness the way that it treats other ignored commands?

So for those who say, I don't.

Want kids or can't, or let's approach all of them, I know they're all different.

There are. You gotta be careful. Cause you're heading into a slight gray area. So now, even in Paul's time, there were some that he said there are some that weren't going to be married. You know, for those who can abstain, do it. But if you can't get married. You know what I mean? And so you got to see. There's some reasons. We got to look at why, if it's a very selfish reason. Well, I feel like it would be a burden because we're accepting the. Now I'm going to use this word. It's a very great word to use anywhere today if we accept the propaganda. That's right. I used it that says, oh, no, children are a burden. Children are going to keep you from being able to live your life.

They're so expensive. They take so much time.

I mean, it's crazy, I got to say. All right, so think about it. I'm going to use the term again. How much propaganda did it take to convince a woman that the blessing of a child that is hers, that she's given birth to and is a burden and not a blessing? That is like. It's wild. Because women. There's been this message that's been given to women that says that if they do that, that's like being held down. That's like being kept captive in a household or relationship. Whereas without that, they can be free and they can be more. And I'm like, you realize that there's a design here that you are fighting against. There's a fulfillment that you're robbing them of and you're trying to tell them that they need to trade that in for something else anyway. Yes. So I think. Yeah, I think that it was. We're getting away from a lot of what we're supposed to be doing because of other ideas. And you kind of touched on it. Where our enemy has been fighting on it. He's been trying to get us to think the wrong things about the way we need to go about life. Why we used to go about children. And I mean, and because you Know what? I'm just gonna go for it. Because, I mean, this is. I mean, it should be appropriate on this show. But even when we come to, like, babies in the womb, I mean, how do you. How did we get to the point where killing babies in the womb was not only, like, okay, but normal?

Yeah.

Like, that is ridiculous.

I actually had a. I sat in a message with a young man from another church, and he was talking about how he was scrolling through Instagram and he came across this article that said that they're trying to argue for. What's the word? Basically, killing babies up to three months out of the womb. Right. And so that. Right.

That's just murder.

It is, but so, I mean, it's all murder. But the point he was trying to make was he goes, I saw that, and I was shocked. He goes, but several weeks ago, I saw that they were trying to do the same thing up to six to nine months. And he goes. And that didn't shock me. That was like, oh, man. But then I saw this, and that shocked me. He goes, so even I have to admit that I'm becoming desensitized to any kind of that.

Well, I mean, if the. And that should tell us in itself, if we're looking for an outside evidence of the natural order of things, how life is supposed to be. Look at what our enemy's doing. If our enemy's saying, don't have kids or kill them, then obviously the natural order, the things that's supposed to happen, is we are to have kids.

Yeah.

Do you see what I'm saying? Like, if they can see the cyclones, the enemy wants to stop what God wants to happen.

Yep.

So, I mean, it's an apologetic in itself.

Yep. And all he's got is the. You go back to the first question asked. Are you sure? Is that what really God said? Right. So it's like it's. You got a massive ship, and all he has to do is push the rudder just a touch, and you're gonna end up way over there.

Yeah. That's all it takes.

That's it.

So I think that still. I think that both. The fact that that is a thing, like. I agree with what you're saying, that those things are true, but I don't think that that proves anything about it being a command, a universal, forever command.

I think that God's commands. You would say that certain commands from God have expiration dates.

Yes.

Interesting.

100%, I could say that. Yes.

So the first command on what we should do with our lives from the Beginning had an expiration date.

I don't know. But I am saying that it's at least possible because you wouldn't argue that against the fact that we're allowed to wear different clothing with different makeups. Right. Actually, that's a command.

I would. So you're saying I recently learned why beyond, like the scientific reason why mixing fabrics together isn't good, which is. So it's about. Actually, it's about vibrations, and they actually start to counter each other out. And one is there's certain kinds that are healthy for us, which we find in more natural fabrics. But then when you start putting different things with each other, then they start to counter each other. And we're not able to be. Our bodies aren't able to, like, it's almost like we're not able to vibrate at the right frequency. And it kind of messes up health wise from head to toe. Messes up our minds, messes up our chemical balances and all these things. This is completely true. It's science.

Okay, all right, so we'll go with one that we know has been repealed.

Okay, what's that?

The eating the unclean animals, okay. That had an expiration date.

Hmm.

So did sacrificing animals that had an expiration date or did it did.

Or was sacrificing animals was completed.

Okay. Still an expiration date, right?

I don't know if I would look as an expiration date.

How many people are in the world today? Probably 8 billion, 9 billion, something like that.

Okay.

I mean, there's argument to be had that like we've multiplied. Right. Like it's been completed. We've at least multiplied the Earth. I'm not saying that there was. We don't know the number. Sure. But I'm just saying, like, there's a solid argument to be made that there's 8 billion people in the world today. Like, it could be. I'm just saying this is one of those gray area things that I don't know that you can say, like it is the command for every person.

Well, the easy scientific question is, what happens if we stop? We say, well, we got there. Let's just be done now. Then eventually the human race dies off.

It's gone. That's what happens when.

So then you have to figure out how to.

Also, I don't think there's an expiration date.

Also. If we're being told, if it is a command for us as people to be fruitful and multiply, then Paul was directly telling us to do the opposite. If it's possible. Well, so. But that's what he's. I understand, but that's the truth. Right.

Like, okay, you're muddling some things.

I'm not. I'm not muddling things.

The listeners wanted more arguing, so let's go.

You are so.

Okay, tell me how I'm muddling, because.

So, okay, I think.

I mean, I'm connecting dots without leading. A, B, C, D. All right, let's go with.

Let's go with the first, because I. There's a lot of thoughts that I had as you were speaking. Sure. So. So you pointed out about animal sacrifices. And I said, but it was completed.

Right?

It was with Christ.

I agree with that.

It was completed.

So I think still an expiration date, but it was completed.

I don't see it as much as expiration date is like, this was a fulfillment which is not necessarily expiring. It's fulfilled.

Well, if you drink a gallon of milk, hold up.

Well, in the same line of thinking. Right? On the same line of thinking, yeah. Right. When it comes to procreation, I think that command is until it is fulfilled. And the reason I say that is that because eventually God will culminate history with his return and he is going to. Well, he'll have to fix things, of course, but like at the culmination of history, when he decides this is the end cap, that's when it will be fulfilled. I think that it is until then. I think it is. That's the thing. I think it's. The command does not end until he physically ends it. So with that, I think if you're going to use the pork, if you're going to use things like that, it goes until he physically ends it. In fact, the sacrifices went until he physically ended it.

Okay.

Okay.

So I think it is. It goes until he says it doesn't go. That's it. We don't. We don't decide when it ends. God decides if it ends.

All right, so then what about Paul?

What do you mean about Paul?

The scripture you brought up about Paul.

Where he said, basically, take a wife if you can't keep yourself.

Yeah, but the problem is it would.

Be better for you to be without a spouse. And.

Well, because the road. He's saying that because obviously God is going to be our first priority in life. And the idea is that. That he was putting out was more of the fact that, you know, a wife is going to distract some of our detention. Well, distracts, yes, but like, to take some of our attention. It's gonna, you Know, whereas we. If we didn't need those things in our lives, we could put everything into Christ.

I agree with that.

Now, he said, for those who could do that, great, do it. But if you can't do what you're supposed to do. And the thing about is that we also have to recognize that Paul was fully aware that the amount of people that could possibly live without that were going to be. In the pure way that Paul was talking about, were going to be incredibly small. And he was. And I believe he said that fully, so that everyone came over themselves and went the path. They.

So I agree with everything that you've said. So here's the problem. Here's the problem. That automatically makes this not a command for everyone. That disqualifies this as a command for everyone.

Mm.

Because. Because if Paul says there are people and it is better in his opinion, and this was his opinion. So I'll give you that. Right?

Yep.

But it's in scripture as a. As a. This is my suggestion. Right.

Like, what if it doesn't? What if it doesn't? Let me. What if it. Instead of. What if the definition expands? What if it's okay because the. We're talking be fruitful and multiply.

Right.

So what if it's not? It expands beyond just nuclear household, you know, where we're actually procreating and what we're doing is actually being fruitful and multiplying those in the church.

Okay. Then that negates the be fruitful and multiply through procreation as a universal command. As a universal command.

I don't think it does.

It has to because we're getting contradictory statements.

Well, it's interesting. I just looked up. I was looking up because I'm trying to film me. Did anybody else say it? Did it happen anywhere else? So in Jeremiah 16:2, it says, you must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.

Right.

Because he was talking about there was going to be a great calamity that came. And having a family would have added to the sorrow and the distraction and things. But that briefly for a period of time. Don't do it right now.

Right.

That was just.

Hold on.

Sure. But we're talking about Paul, who is one of the apostles, and the apostles were given the power to whatever they say is binding. And he said that, you know, it would be better if you could abstain, as I do.

Okay. At that point, Paul's marrying himself to Christ.

I get it. I get it. But here's the deal. That then negates this universal you should. You gotta procreate. Right. It negates that as being a universal command.

I don't know.

You don't have to know to be wrong.

Neither do you, my friend.

Okay, but that then lends to this question, right? If we selectively apply commands, who decides which ones still matter?

Sorry?

If we're being selectively applying commands because this is selectively. Yes, we are selectively. Yeah. Because you're saying this is universal, and then Paul is saying it's not necessarily universal, but whatever, because he's not necessarily talking about procreating. But it is a part of that conversation. It has to be in order for that. I mean, to make your argument, you have to bring that in or throw it out. So how. I mean, which. Who gets to decide which ones are the ones that we then follow?

Well, then you can start getting into the whole crazy thing of, like, Solomon, Solomon, Solomon having how many concubines and things like that? Well, he wasn't married to those people, but we were creating children that way. Like, now you get in some weeds.

There's another great example of a topic, right?

First off, should we reinstitute concubines? Is that.

That is the topic. Yes. The answer is yes.

For a guy, that has to be so wise, that does not seem wise.

No, it really is.

All right, so we'll move on to the next question.

Can you imagine having 700?

No, I'm not going to hold you for that.

I don't want more than one.

Hold buckets.

I won't hold you to the last question. Okay, so. Well, let's just say that it is, at least on the table as the proper way to do things when you're married.

Yeah.

Though we can't put it as a requirement, I don't think.

I think that there's certain things. Well, okay. There's so many. There's a lot of dimensions to this that we haven't even talked about yet, so. Especially in this day and age. Because, you know, one of the things that's going to be a tender spot for certain people, there's some people that try to do this, and then no children happen, you know, and that can be disheartening.

Well, what about people like me, though, right? I have not repopulated the world like I am not. I mean, I've had one child. Right. And we're done.

Mm.

Right. So, like, what. What about people like me then?

Because.

Did you not have a child?

Yes, but one child is not enough to then populate. It's not multiplying at that point, it doesn't become multiplying until you have two or three.

Well, now we're getting into the weeds. Because if you have four.

Well, think about if you have. If you have four couples.

Yep.

Right.

Okay.

You have four couples.

Yeah.

Each have one kid.

Yep.

Right. You have eight people. Has. Now the next generation has four people, and they all have one kid. Right.

Unless you got a couple really kids.

So then you've got. Then you. Then you're down to two people. Eventually, it's a nun. So there. I'm just saying it's not. Technically, there's a lot of things that have to go into play here that we'd have to, like, really work out for this to be a universal command, is what I'm trying to say.

Hmm. I think that you are.

Because if not. So if not, are you gonna say that that person is sinning? Like, am I sinning by only having one kid? Is the person who can't have kids?

Why is there a when? Does it say a set number? When? Cole.

Okay, when you say, what if a couple gets married and they don't have a child?

Right.

Even just by. It just doesn't happen.

Well, okay, so let me ask you something.

Not because they can't, but just because.

They decided not to. Then they could possibly.

Would you consider that sin?

Possibly. And here's why. Here's why. If they have gone, all right, you know what? We are going to take it in our own hands, right? Because, look, God designed us a certain way, right? And so. And it's funny, because God has played into these situations a few times where I've heard people that are trying to use contraceptives and somehow they still get pregnant. I'm like, that's God going. I'm going around even you trying to stop me. But the thing is that there are people that will go out of their way to make sure that they can't do it, because they've decided, for whatever reasons they decided to, that they don't want that. And so what they do is they take away what God has put in place to be possible. You know, you'll see people that are. That will fix themselves say fixed. That's what we say. You fix the dog, you fixed it. They fixed themselves. All right? That's what they say. I think that's funny that they use the word fixed. I'm like, that doesn't sound fixed to me, right? But they'll go, and they'll make it so they physically can't do it, right? So it, it would take. I mean, at that point, if they got pregnant, got, they'd be like, well, be skeptical of the other person. But they would be like that be life altering for sure. But for those who are going out of their way to stop it, maybe there is a bit of sin involved with that where they are physically doing everything in their power to go against the will or possible will of God.

Do you think?

Because if they think God may want them to have kids, so they go out of their way to make sure that doesn't happen, then you are quite literally going against the will of God at that point. So perhaps there is some thought sin involved there where we like to play God with our own lives, where we have decided, this is what I want for my life. It doesn't matter what God wants for my life.

I think if we go, I kind of lean more towards the God withholding blessings, right? So it's like. So I fought tithing for the longest time because I thought, this is ridiculous. When I finally gave in, I didn't have more money, but because I was doing it with a willing heart, more blessings opened up, right? So I think God's saying, I want you to have kids, and when you do, blessings are gonna pop up. You couldn't even imagine. And people are like, I don't want to. I'm lazy. Like, all right, well, there's a whole bunch of blessings just behind that door that you're not going to have access to. Now.

I think that's. There's some. I think there's some validity to that. I think there is. And you know what's funny is that we'll liken it to tithing. Like sometimes we don't realize what we're really holding back. It's not the money we're holding back. It's the faith and the trust that we're holding back. I was reading a book by Craig Groeschel recently and he had this illustration that I thought was incredible. It's about this guy who, he was famous for crossing long distances on a tightrope, okay. And so it was over the Grand Canyon, over or over the Niagara Falls, and he would do it in different things. And then he ended up doing the wheelbarrow. And he could cross, pushing a wheelbarrow across. And then somebody said to him, as the story goes, that, hey, you could put somebody in the wheelbarrow. And so he's like, okay, get in. And he says, that's what we do to God. We go, yeah, I know you can do it. And he's like, all right, cool, get in. And we're like, no, we're not going to do that. And we don't realize sometimes that, yeah, we say these things, but when it comes time to put the faith to the pavement, we don't do it. And so when you're holding back with tithing, when you're holding back and going, I need to control all these different areas of my life, even if it is childbirth, even if it's the idea, like, we cannot get pregnant, so we're going to do everything in our power to not do that. He could be going, you know, if you could just trust me and know that it'd be okay whether you did or you didn't. So maybe he would go, okay, you guys don't want it, but you. But you're not going against me. Maybe that would be the way things went. Or maybe you'd find out just as you were kind of what kind of blessings could be in your life, how your life could be so dramatically different and maybe blessed because you did have a kid or even more.

I see what you're saying, and I don't disagree that kids are blessings. Like, I think for sure, 100% I am saying yes. And, yeah, that's totally a thing. I think that there are blessings that are not given to you because you fight with God. I think that he withholds some blessings whenever you refuse to do what he wants you to do, but it's not always because of a universal command that has been laid out, but rather like, things can be withheld from you without you being in sin.

Well, I also think that there's consequences that our world is dealing with that it might even not necessarily happen. Have anything with anything we did or did not do.

Sure.

But, I mean, we think about it. Let's look at it in a different light for just a second. Let's think about cancer. You know, cancer is one of those things, and we're finding out more and more why all these cancers are happening.

And.

And the reality is a lot of them are happening because us, we've been screwing each other up for a long time when it comes to.

It's that mix of fabrics.

Well, okay, sure, but let's think chemicals. Let's think foods. All the different ways that we've been poisoning ourselves and hurting each other for years and years and years, for so long that at this point. But here's my point with this, is that, you know, sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes when we make a mistake, God goes, all right, I got you. But sometimes he's like, yeah, if I did that every time, you guys would never learn a darn thing. So I gotta let this play out. And so because of that, terrible things happen. Well, sometimes we ask, why do bad things happen to good people? Because sometimes, unfortunately, they have to pay the price for something someone else did. Because if. If it didn't happen, we would never learn.

Amen.

I would. I would take that even deeper and say there are no good people. But.

Well, okay, okay, but listen. Okay, yeah, but you understand where I was at with that statement. But the thing is, is this. It's like, yeah, so there are people that go out there and they're trying to do things the right way. Right. Or they're trying to do things in the way of procreation. They come together, they get married, and they're trying to live a good life. And yet kids never happen. And we find out that sometimes it's because of these other things that have happened to them.

Sure.

And they were supposed to be good and they're not good. And they called problem when they weren't supposed to. And so you never know why these things happen. And sometimes I think God has to let things play out because once again, if he just took it all away, we'd never learn a darn thing. Yet, you know, he always has our best interests at heart for those who are keeping faith in him. And ultimately we know what his best best interest is, and that's him and us in eternity. Yep. We know that, you know, Romans makes it completely clear in Romans 8 that, you know, there's nothing we can go through, positive or negative in this life that can compare to what is coming for us. So we know ultimately he's always got our best interest at heart. So even if it doesn't feel like it is right now, it will be in the long run. And I know for some people it's like, well, it sounds like a cop out because I'm going through something. No, it means keep the faith because he's going to get you through that to whatever is coming, no matter what it is. So sometimes when we start to meddle, sometimes the things that we're meddling with affect us and sometimes they affect other people. You know what I mean? And so there's so much to this. There's so many layers. And the thing about sin, the thing about the mistakes that we make, it's not like we go into a restaurant and we're like, should I get the chicken or the fish? And then you pick One you're like, I should have gotten the other one. No, this is more like once you throw a rock in the pond, the ripples never stop and they stay. And so all we're doing is making more ripples. And now the water's so turbulent that we can barely get towards it. You know what I mean? It is just rocking our world, and I think we're feeling that. You know, one of the things the scripture tells us is that the world's groaning and moaning. Yeah, we see that. We feel that every day because we see our world being torn upside down by crazy ideologies and just terrible things all the time. It feels like sicknesses are getting worse. It feels like everything's, in some ways, are getting worse. And yet the thing that is.

I mean, well, here's the thing. And you said a scripture said it, right? So that ain't new, right? Like, that is. That's not a new thing. Like, it's. I'm not saying. I'm not gonna argue one way or the other for it getting worse or better. Whatever. I'm not gonna argue that way. Because there's a lot of people say it's getting better, which I think is crazy.

But.

But at the same time, like, it's not. That's not new.

I didn't say it was new. I'm just saying that. That we're continuing to. To pour into the same bucket. You know, the sin doesn't go anywhere. It's still here.

Right.

And the only thing we can do is clean ourselves from it. We're not removing it from the world until God removes it from the world.

Right?

Yeah. Well, on the other side of it, too, is that obviously the human body was. Was a designed machine, and machines start to break down and they start to fail. And the. The hard thing that most people don't want to hear. I've sat with people who are like, I tried everything to get pregnant, and I just can't. And I desperately want a kid. There's just something wrong with the machine, and there's nothing that can be done. There's. You go back to, you know, Abraham and Sarah, where he's like, there's no way it's gonna happen. She's 150 years old. And God goes, all right, in this instance, I'm gonna flip the script a little bit just to use this story as an example. But I'm not gonna do this for your neighbor down the street and this person down there, Right? Because again, if you knew that every time you cried out saying, I'm too old to have a kid. God's gonna go, okay, I'll give you one. Then that means that's what you do. You'll just put it off until it's too late, and then you'll throw up. And God will fix everything. I even had a gentleman back in the day. I had. One of my first bosses told me straight up. He goes, God wants me to have a lot of kids, and I'm not gonna use any kind of contraceptives. However many he throws at me, it's his will. Like, cool. And then years and years later, I saw him. He has. I believe he has eight kids or nine kids. I can't remember. And then I said something about, you know, what's. What's new with life? I'm pretty sore. I'm like, why? He goes, well, I had a vasectomy. And I said, oh, really? And he goes, dude, nine's too many. I was like, oh, okay. So it was cool until it was inconvenient.

Well, you know, that's.

That's. I think. I think that's well past inconvenient. I think eight's a lot. I mean, I'm not. If you can handle it, and God has blessed you that way. God bless you. You know, I am all for that. I'm not saying anybody should or shouldn't. I'm saying that would be way too. Yeah, that's way too many for me. I always joke that after three, it might as well be 500. Like, randomly state.

There's some real.

Like, you have 1500 kids. That's where it is.

I've got five kids, but it's more than three. Is that. Yeah, well, you're right. Well, the thing is, is once you get to a certain number of kids, it just. It. It doesn't feel like a big.

It's.

It feels like the same. You're like, well, if you have two kids, your man on man defense, you get to three, it's. Now you're in the zone, and then there's just more people in the zone.

Yeah.

And you're just. The things that change is like you're making a head count before everybody gets in the car. You know, stuff like that. Like, you're just.

It feels more like you called the wrong defensive play is what it feels.

Like at that point. But, you know. You know, I've met. So, I mean, I have five kids. I have some friends up north, and they. They definitely have dwarfed me in the kid department. And, you know, some of the. I've talked to some of the women, and they're like, well, you know, it helped to them, it's like, it's keeping me young and keeping me part of the taking care of the babies. And actually, for them, I think there's such a fulfillment and blessing that they feel in it. Some of the guys, it's almost like they're a little competitive about it. I know these two guys, I'm not kidding. Like, the one had finally. He had, like. I want to say he was at number seven, and then another guy was like, my wife and I just got pregnant. He's like, you're gonna have more than me. And I. And there was. He said it. In a way, it's like, did you just take that as a challenge?

Honey, we're leaving early.

What are you doing? Like, it's. It's wild. But the mentality is. And the thing is, it's all about perspectives. I mean, it's how you view kids. If you subscribe to, you know, for those who are out there and they're not trying to have kids because they're subscribing to the idea that, you know, that would keep them from being able to live their life, you know, whether they're right or wrong. We'll keep that argument on the. On the table, away from the table right now. But, like, you know, it's not going to be able to see.

That's not true. Yeah, like, let. I don't want to. I don't want to leave that. Like. No, it's not.

My point was being because.

No, hold on. Let's go there and then we'll get back to your. It's not true. Right?

Yeah.

If you are holding off on having kids because they're gonna hold you back. That's not true.

Absolutely.

Okay. Like, I don't want more, but that doesn't. I don't look at them as. As my daughter is not holding me back. Right. And here's the other side of that is you're never ready. Right. Like, there's. There's all of that. That is all true. So. So they're not holding you back. They won't hold you back. Right. And also, you're not going to be ready for those of you who are just like, I'm holding off till I'm ready. Like, that's not going to happen. None of those things are there. So. So that excuse is.

Is just.

Is invalid.

My favorite is the ones who say that I'm waiting till I'm financially stable. I'm like, I'm 42. I've nowhere near.

Good luck with that.

Yeah.

So anyway, getting back to my. So for those who are subscribing to those. The matter. The completely different perspective is what I'm pointing out is that like, wow, what it does when you have a different perspective, how dramatically different it could be where one's looking at like, oh my gosh, that would completely ruin everything. And the other one's like, that could be great, you know. Sure. Let's go to the Catholic section of the car dealership. I'll go right to the back with all the 15 seaters. Let's go the Catholic section. That's my joke.

So I was gonna say Mormon, but yeah, that works either way.

But no, ironic. Nevermind. Ironically, one of the guys that has like, I think maybe eight kids at this point, he is Catholic, but. And that was the joke I told him, like, do you just go and go, hey, I'm Catholic. They're like this place.

Baptists in the country do it too. So it is what I'm saying.

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, so you know, it's gonna be what it's gonna be now. Okay, you brought up instance. I wanted to kind of circle back to it because I'm gonna use my brother. So you and wife have one child, but things were also. Were not always easy. Right?

Yeah.

So my point being. So my brother. So he has one child, my nephew. And I remember before they were able to conceive him, they were flat out told by doctors it wasn't going to happen. And to the point. And they were trying everything. They were trying everything. And they were at the point of almost complete. Absolutely giving in to the impossible.

Of course.

And my brother came to me and he said, so I don't think I'm going to be able to be a dad. And I was like, nope. And the funny thing is, in that moment I had this incredible conviction. I said, no, God wants you to be a dad. And I actually felt the conviction that not only did he want to be him to be a dad, he wanted to be a dad to a boy. But I was like, no, I think you're going to. And he kind of looked at me like, why are you being a jerk about this?

Sure.

You know, because he was trying to be vulnerable. And I get it.

Sure.

But I wasn't. I didn't want him to just accept defeat. Defeat. Here I felt like this was real now. It was actually that long from after that that they had my nephew Jude. And. But the thing is, everything that would.

Have been quite a revelation. Yeah.

Everything that they went through, everything. All the heartbreak and the pregnancy wasn't exactly the easiest either. Everything they went through. When Jude came, it was like, all right, thank you for the blessing.

Yeah.

Then we're perfectly fine with that. And I get it. Because at that point, you know, with everything you've done, I get it.

The appreciation.

Thank you, God, for what I have now, for sure. Let's move on with, you know, I get it. And, you know, you guys had gone through a lot. Even with.

It was after. Yeah.

But even then, think about it. I mean, that was a lot.

It was a lot.

I know. And, like, I think God has compassion on those who, you know, sometimes we're asked to get through a lot, and he's like, yep, I get it. He does know what it is to be in our skin, to walk in our shoes. He gets it when we are in pain, where it's taken everything from us, where. You learned a lot of lessons through that. But at the same time, he knows that, like, man, I don't know if they could handle me trying to put them through something like that again. Sure, you know, or maybe they could, but it could change things in a way that he doesn't want it changed yet. And so, you know, he has compassion for the fact that, look, I get it. You guys enjoy your blessing, keep moving on. You know what I mean? For some, he will make it so fruitful. That's like, you guys could probably stop at this point. You know what I mean? But, like, you know, and me, it's a bit of a mix, but, like. Yeah, I mean, the thing is, I think the point I'm really trying to make here is like, you know, we gotta be careful to try to figure out what we think God's thinking in all these situations and let God be God, you know? And that's the thing that I was kind of making earlier is like, there's people that are trying to take this into their hands and go, no, no, I'm God here. You know, it's like that story, look at me, I'm the captain now. I like that movie. Right? No, no, no. God's the captain, but play your part and he will come alongside you in all of it. You need to trust him that he's going to understand your situation. He's going to be with you in those situations, whether you're going to have zero kids, one kid, two kids, or 15 kids. And I couldn't. I don't know if I could handle 15 kids. I got five. That's a lot.

You already got five million. So it's.

I got what they said. The whole basketball team was like, sure, why not? And. But yeah, I mean, like. But just trust him in it. You know, we know the things to do. We know the things not to do. We know what is going against, you know, and if you're willing to be honest with yourself, what are you deciding? That you're the God in the story?

Sure.

You know, because if you're doing that, if you recognize I'm trying to be God in this.

Yep.

Maybe it's time to rethink what. No matter what it is, it's time to rethink why you were doing that.

Yep. So I think that all of that stuff is true.

Okay, he's got another pokey question.

I also am going to stand by the fact that I don't think that it's a universal command, but it. I think that something in that has changed. And I think that the command to be fruitful and multiply, I think, as you said in the intro, I think that has changed. I don't think it applies. I don't think it applies in the same way as it did then. But rather, we get the fruits of the Spirit that we're told to be fruitful in. Right. And we're told to make disciples who are disciple makers. Right. So I think that that new command continues on, and I think that is God's command to change it. Now, I'm not saying that it is or isn't. Right. I'm not gonna die on that hill, but I do think that that is more so. That's where I think it leans more so than actually just the procreation side of be fruitful and multiply.

And I would agree with that. But I think also, obviously, you're gonna be unlocking some blessings. But also. Y' all ever play the game Othello?

Yeah.

Okay, so the game for those who don't know what Othello is, you start with a white piece and a black piece, and as you touch each other, you flip the other person's piece. Right.

Okay.

So going back to what you said about discipleship and how we've got this mass wave of discipleship going on. So there is a. An element of we need to have new children that are going to help procreate and are going to overtake the earth. But through discipleship and Christianity and things like that, we are now playing a game of Othello with the other people. And so you are now Going, okay, I'm taking him and he's now my disciple. You're my disciple. So now we are filling the earth with Christ, like people through discipleship and the message of God.

Okay, I like that I didn't put all Thalia there, but that's kind of what I was at. That's cool.

So this is totally gonna end up being a multi part.

I like multi part.

Yeah, yeah. Cause there's questions. There's more to this.

He had a list.

No, no. There's more to this that we've got to talk about.

There's a relief knowing I know what we're talking about next week, right?

No, for sure. I mean, it's got to be. Because there's things that. Seriously in that statement that we're trying to tackle. There are things in that statement that we have to address that we have not touched on. And whether or not, like I said from the beginning, whether or not you think that it's a universal command or that it is shifted over time and it was meant for that time as the procreation side, whatever side you land on. Like, we don't necessarily have a solid answer either, you know, And I think that. I think that the things that you stated, I think those things are all true. And I think that is the more important part of that question of whether or not it's a universal command or sin to not or any of that stuff. Like, I think that if we're following God, we'll know what's. What's right. Right. If we're. If we're seeking after God, we'll know the right answer for us in that moment. And so I think that the direction that you went with it, even though I don't think that it necessarily clears up that question of is it a command for us today? I do think that everything you said is how we should look at it. And I think that that is the approach that we should take to it next week.

Mark this on the calendars. He just said that I had the right approach.

Right, you had the right approach. First time ever. Whatever. There's a first for everything. So I want to talk about next week. This idea of. The overtake.

Overtake portion.

Yes. What do you mean, the overtake portion of this statement? Why doesn't the church push its congregation to procreate so that other cultures won't overtake us? I want to. I want to touch on the other cultures overtaking us part of that conversation. I know you are, but. But. So I've got. I've Got some loaded questions here for that too. I don't know. It could go on for a while probably, but yeah, I like it.

We can dig.

The church needs to teach Othello to. It's like, let's go get him.

Oh, I mean, it's a part of it, actually.

But do know Othello goes both ways. Oh, yeah. And so those kids that you are procreating and having, you know that you. You've got to.

Well, discipleship needs.

Train them up in the way that they should go.

Exactly.

And then when they're old, they will not deviate from it. Right. So like that. That is important because that. That is the flip. Right. So itching. But the overtake us part. Right. The cultures. So cultures won't overtake us is next week we're gonna talk about that. Any. Any final thoughts on this week? Go.

I was gonna say the over 100 times. In scripture, he says, fear not.

Right.

And 365.

365. Okay. There you go.

One for every day.

Perfect.

Roughly every day of the year.

The calendar is supposed to be 365 days.

That's actually pretty brilliant anyway, but so most of the conversations around, I don't want to have kids deal with. I'm afraid it's not going to work out. I'm afraid I won't have the money. I'm afraid I won't be a good dad. I'm afraid that once I have more than one, it's going to get too hard. I can tell you from experience, it took me four years for my wife to convince me to have a second kid. Once I had the second kid, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I have someone I can delegate these responsibilities to. And as you said, I had a friend up north who I think they have five kids. Kids. And they said after three kids, it's just, here's the next one. You go take care of it.

Yeah, to a degree.

So I would.

Built in babysitters, buddy.

So for those of you who are fearful, I'm not financially stable. I'm not ready for this. I'm not. I don't. I can't handle more than one. It's like my thing was, lean into scripture. God says, don't be afraid. I've got this.

Yeah. Faith over fear. My new song, though. Process of writing. Great. Beautiful.

Your final thoughts on this topic?

My final thoughts on this topic. You know what? I think my final thoughts on this topic is when it comes to scripture, let scripture be scripture. And when we see what it Says we need to understand that at least at one point in time, this is exactly how it needed to be. Says, go forth and procreate. Go forth and be fruitful. Multiply. There's something to that. But more importantly, I want you to. My challenge to you is to look at the things that you're doing. Whatever area in your life that you're currently looking at, I want you to examine what you're doing and why. And I want you to ask yourself the question, while I'm making this decision to do it this way, is it because I'm being God or God's being God?

That's good. That's good. Beautiful. I don't have any final thoughts except for I'm gonna plug some of my stuff. I have a new song coming out.

All right.

Actually, there's two, actually. My daughter has a song that's coming out next, which is phenomenal. It's really good. In fact, in the midst of writing it, we had some creative differences and she trumped me because it was her song. I was like, no, I really think it should sound this way. She's like, no, I want it this way. I was like, okay, fine. Cool. How old is your daughter, by the way? She's nine.

Nine, okay.

Yeah, she's nine. And so she came up with the majority of the lyrics, or at least the concepts behind them. And I helped her form it into, you know.

Sure.

I helped her ease out the edges.

You massaged the rough edges.

Yeah. Right, right, right. So help me make this pot.

Here's the clay.

Right, right. So that there's one. Her song's coming out in the next couple weeks. Also within the next month, one of my songs is coming out. So that's all under Breath and Bone music.

You mentioned that on Tuesday, and I wasn't sure if you said breadth with a D or breath, as in breathe.

As in to breathing. Okay. It comes from, you know, dry bones.

Breath and bone.

Ezekiel got it.

Becoming flesh. Yeah, it's that concept of. Of God breathing life into dead things.

Beautiful.

So Breath and Bone music. Also, I'm going to plug Strider design because I could actually use the help in finding vendor markets. If you guys know of somewhere that is more local to the Lehigh area would be great. Although I have traveled to Naples in the past. I'm all ears. I could use some help with that.

What is Strider design?

Striderstone is a laser engraving company. We focus on custom laser designed goods, whether that is tumblers, wall art, signs, whatever can do leather can do all Kinds of stuff.

He can even make little wooden coins.

I can. I can. So Strider Design LLC on the Facebooks and everything. Breath and bone, music everywhere.

And I can give him a nice plug which would lead into mine. Is that Elevate Networks, which is the company I started to pull local contractors together to find good ones. We used you to do some engraving on a metal panel that we used to commemorate our opening of a chapter up in Winter Haven. And we've gotten massive, huge response. So you did a really good job and I'm really proud of you. So Strider Designs find them. And then the only thing I would plug outside of Elevate NETWORKS, which is networkofswfl.com is our. I'm the young adult director over at Victory Church right around the corner. And our young adult night is tonight. Well, it's gonna pass by the time this comes out. But it's every first and third Wednesday. Doors open at 6:30 and we invite anyone between 20. Sorry, between 19 and 35.

Cool. Yeah.

You have anything to plug?

Jesus.

There you go. Jesus. You boys need Jesus.

Everybody needs Jesus.

Everybody.

Beautiful.

Actually I hope to have something by the end of the year that really great to promote. I'm working on a project actually. I try to. What it is. I've been trying to finish a book that I've been writing. I've been writing it for three years. But the reason it's been three years is because I write and then I get distracted and I get away from it and then I have to come back and do it some more. But I am like I really want to finish this. I think it's. I think I need to stop letting myself get distracted. And once that's. I'm so ready to be. I'm so excited about it because I want to finish it and I'm excited to get it out there.

So.

Yep, that'll be fun. When that time comes, use chat GPT.

To reverse engineer a schedule and then now you have to stick to the schedule.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, no, that's not good.

I'm the chat GPT guy. He doesn't like.

I don't.

I don't even know. AI does great things.

It can be, but it also is going to.

I didn't say it doesn't do bad.

Things murder us all.

I mean Skynet. What Skynet's a thing.

Here's my question, right? This could be for another time. What was the purpose? Like what was Skynet's end game? Like literally, we're gonna wipe out the human race and then what? We're just gonna continue to make more machines. For what purpose?

I don't know.

Okay.

Obviously there's some theological and. Okay.

So yeah we're gonna so all of that to say thank you for watching. Comment like subscribe, hit the bell, do all the things and the stuff. Please, please comment.

Yep.

We love to hear your guys thoughts and we want to react to them. Like we would love to be able to like have a conversation about a comment that you've left that puzzles us. You know, like give us something hard to talk about.

Heck yeah.

Like we, we want to tackle those things. So also last but not least in April. In April there's an April 24, 24.

At 6:00 clock 6:00pm live on stage.

At Rise Christian Church. We are doing truth response live. So at. @eventbrite eventbrite.com you gotta go get tickets. They are free.

Nice.

They are not expensive.

We are not charging.

They are cheap.

They are the cheapest definition of cheap.

They are the cheapest tickets you'll ever find for a live anything. Okay. They are free. So we just need to know how.

Many people are coming out a two for one special. Too.

Yeah. In fact the more people you bring, the cheaper it gets. So we just need to know how many people are coming so that we can prepare finger foods and some maybe some giveaways and that sort of thing.

And come with some hard questions.

Yeah, well I mean we got some ideas on what's this is gonna fairly maybe be like. We'll see.

Fair enough.

So yeah, that's once again eventbrite.

Yeah. Plus you get to watch us go off the rails live and that's the best.

That's true. Yep. The truth response live. That's what you're looking for. Yep. Gotta add the the. I should have just dropped the the a long time ago.

And to all those. Cause I know there's those naysayers out there that did have the ones going. Why would I wanna go watch a podcast live? Here's, here's, here's your value add. You spend $0, you drive five minutes up the road and you get if you have one laugh and you learned one new thing that you paid nothing for it.

Yeah. Plus you get to celebrate a little bit. It's gonna be a good time.

And you're totally gonna heckle us. We know that 100% place.

It'll be wild to see their reactions in real time.

Also bring your friends that haven't listened to us necessarily. You can do that. Too. Bring friends, family, spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends.

You know how we can prep this?

Plural.

Let's keep sending it out.

I mean, there's more plural people. I'm talking.

We can use some more subscribers on YouTube, you guys, really?

We are at 98, so I think.

We'Re gonna break that $100, but yeah, let's keep. Let's keep sharing it. Keep getting that, that, that, like, button. Hit that subscribe button.

Subs.

Or smash that. Subscribe. Smash that, like, button. Yeah, yeah. So we wanna keep growing as well, and I think this is gonna be amazing and fun and. Well, I mean, we've never done it before, so who knows?

But, like, it's gonna be crazy.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

See you guys next time.

See you next time.

Hey. Hey.

God bless. Hey, thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and give us a like on itunes and so that you will never miss a show. And while you're at it, check out our Facebook and Instagram pages and make sure you tell your friends about this show. You don't want them to miss out on the truth, because we are all.

About the truth here.

Thanks for joining us this week, and God bless.