0:00:00 - 0:00:29 So one time I was on a trip to New York City, which I hate and um I was very anxious to get the heck out of there. Luckily I was only there for a few days. And um, so I got an Uber and um, after the driver picked me up, we picked up this lady and so it's super awkward to strike up conversations in cars 0:00:29 - 0:00:53 like that. So we get to the airport, get out whatever. And um, I go through security, I get to the gate and then this lady shows up. So I was like, oh, that's funny. New York is a huge city. Gotten the same Uber. Now we're at the same gate, couple of minutes go by, we board the plane. This lady sits 0:00:53 - 0:00:00 right next to me and this was recently enough that the seating was assigned. So I turned to her and I said, sir, are you stalking me or what? And she busted out laughing because it was super awkward. And uh I think that you could, you could slice the awkwardness, but it turns out she was, she was a, 0:00:00 - 0:01:37 a pretty friendly person and um, we struck up a conversation found out that she was from Algeria originally. She was working as, at the UN, as a translator. And, uh, I thought that was super interesting and, um, I don't remember how, but somehow we got on the topic of, she, she was talking about, um 0:01:36 - 0:01:59 , this experience she had in her home country. She was a younger girl and, uh, her older sister had gone out and I don't remember the circumstances but it was like to have fun one night. And uh she just became overwhelmed with this very strong premonition that something terrible was going to happen to 0:01:58 - 0:02:24 her sister. And uh she said she saw a vision and in the vision, her d her, her older sister uh hit was getting attacked by these men. And a voice told her this is what's going to happen and you have to pray. And she said, well, I don't understand. She's, she was raised Muslim and had very little exposure 0:02:23 - 0:02:47 to the sorts of things that I think some kinds of Christians would, would be very familiar with uh at least the ideas. And she was, she was told how to do this. And she said she did, she prayed and prayed and then her sister came home and was very upset and she said, what is everything? OK. And her sister 0:02:47 - 0:03:09 described that the beginning of the vision that she had had occurred. And then there was a miraculous intervention. And then her, her sister it didn't, the end didn't happen. And she said, uh I was raised Muslim and I don't understand this experience. Did, does any of this make any sense to you? You 0:03:08 - 0:03:27 probably think I'm crazy. And I said, no, I don't think you're crazy. You're describing her vision. I've had a lot of these and she said, really, I've never met anybody that's, that's been through something like this. And I said, well, and she, so she was asking me questions and I told her, uh, a little 0:03:27 - 0:03:49 bit about what I believe and she said, um, it was funny along the way. I said, well, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Bible. And she's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I know all about the Bible. I was like, oh, ok, because you know, um a lot of people do who, who may or may not be um believers 0:03:48 - 0:04:10 in it as scripture. So, um I was like, oh, ok. And then I said something that I thought was just very common knowledge about Jesus. I wish I remember what it was. And I saw a look on her face like what I've never heard that before. And I, I realized that probably for the first time in my life, I was 0:04:10 - 0:04:36 having a religious discussion with someone who had absolutely no previous uh background in anything that The New Testament says, like, anything even just the slightest cultural awareness. And I was like, whoa, ok. So, um, anyway, um, in the conversation, she, she, after we had chatted a while, she said 0:04:35 - 0:04:54 , you know, I really like to learn more about what it is you believe? I wish there was a way that I could, uh, I could learn more about that. And I said, well, it's funny you say that and I stood up and I pulled out a copy of a book I wrote called See You This Jesus. I said, this is what I believe. And 0:04:53 - 0:05:19 she's like, oh, who wrote this? I said I did the so, um, yeah, I, I tucked one of my business cards in there. I had, um, I had some business cards for some, some um s side consulting. I was doing so it had my, my personal email address on it and I said, look as you're reading this, um, if you have any 0:05:19 - 0:05:43 questions you want to talk about it, feel free to drop me a line and she never did. But it was an extremely positive conversation and hopefully, um, somehow something I said or did helped her along, I hope in some way. But, um, interestingly as I reflect on this, uh experience as tends to be the case 0:05:42 - 0:06:10 when I reflect upon past experiences. Um, the, the, in this case, sweetness of the, the memory is, it's, it's turned a little bitter, uh, it's bittersweet because I have, I can enumerate many things that I would have done differently today. And Um, that's ok. It's really important to recognize that if 0:06:10 - 0:06:30 we're growing, we will always be able to look at the past and say, yep, I definitely do that differently today. But at the time I was absolutely doing the best that I knew or if it's not the case that we were doing the best that we knew to admit that to, because if we don't, if we don't recognize ways 0:06:30 - 0:06:50 that we could have been better in the past, we chain ourselves to being less than the best we could be in the future. And that's something that I think a not many people realize they, they want to give their path selves a break and make all kinds of excuses. Um, and in doing that, you, you can't do that 0:06:49 - 0:07:16 without essentially guaranteeing that you're going to under perform in the future. So you really have to be, um, you have to tenaciously and ruthlessly judge your past self. That's the one person that you should judge no holds barred, holding nothing back because it's the one person where you do know 0:07:16 - 0:07:42 the full story. So it's, it's quite important anyway. And looking back on that, I asked myself what things would I do have done differently. And, um, but to get to that, I want to start by saying you might hear that story and s say like, well, that's pretty neat how God oriented you into this path so 0:07:42 - 0:08:08 that, you know, having kind of a weird resource. I mean, who writes a book about Jesus that contains stuff that probably no one's ever written. Um Who, who does that? Right? But having it being oriented to that, it's, it's quite a um precise path and that's the thing is God will use you. He will, if 0:08:08 - 0:08:33 you give him things to use, he will use them. So, and you'll be shocked at how well your key fits in the keyhole. Um We are all keys carefully cut and um some keys fit in a whole lot of key holes that if you look at the old skeleton keys, there are ways that you can cut them to fit multiple locks. But 0:08:32 - 0:09:01 um some keys are specific for one thing. Now, imagine you get to the end of the road here and you're seeing this replay of your life. Uh Not that, that's the way it goes, but let's just go with the that convention. And um God says, hey, here's how I cut your key and that was the lock and you totally 0:09:01 - 0:09:26 missed it. And here are all the things that would have come through opening that door and I gave you everything to make it happen and you blew it. So that's not gonna feel very good. Now, it turns out we have a lot of keys and there are a lot of doors, but that does happen. I promise you. So looking 0:09:26 - 0:09:51 at this, you might say, OK, but I'm not gonna write a book or you might say, oh, I'd really like to write a book and in both cases, I'd, I'd probably say, um, well, in, in the case of you're not going to write a book. Well, let's start with the case that you're going to, there is nothing magical about 0:09:51 - 0:10:17 writing a book that's not the actual problem or solution. So, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do that. If, if Jurassic Park teaches us anything, right? So stop and think about why you're doing what you're doing and then ask yourself, is there a better way? There are certain 0:10:16 - 0:10:49 problems for which a book is the best solution? But in this case, I am quite confident and I think have the experience to um to have an opinion worth hearing on this, that the good that can be done by a book in most cases, it's already been done and, and talking about the gospel, talking about trying 0:10:48 - 0:11:11 to help people. What do I mean by that? There is so much valuable information in books already. And the first question to ask yourself is what difference is it gonna make if you write one? Because odds are the same information is already available in a book written by a better author with, with better 0:11:11 - 0:11:34 publishing support, better editors, uh more notoriety, whatever. So is there actually going to be an increment of improvement there? Is it going to accomplish anything that's not already done. And the factors I mentioned, that's one set of factors in terms of information and delivery. The other set of 0:11:34 - 0:11:56 factors has to do with the, the audience. So you look around and you say, well, this set of people needs XYZ. I'm gonna write a book. If the answers to the questions are already in a book somewhere, why are they gonna read what you wrote when they won't read it from someone else? There are only very 0:11:56 - 0:12:27 few people who will read books with the kind of effort and application that is required to get weighty truths out of books, especially from a no name. Author ask me how I know. So that's probably not a good idea. All the more if all you're doing is rehashing what someone else said in a book. What's the 0:12:27 - 0:00:00 unique contribution? So in that case, it's better to think of what you could do to share the things that are already in a book that isn't being done already. Now that might come in some new form like uh you're gonna do some interpretive dance of chapter seven of this one book. But in all likelihood, 0:00:00 - 0:13:19 it's more about your personal contact with a person and that actual, your pre-existing relationship with them or even if it's a new contact just being there as a person. So because you know, only a few people will write books, but everyone is a book. That's the thing you might not have written a paper 0:13:18 - 0:13:40 book. I'm like, look around. I don't have one with an arm's length. Um, but you are a book that has been written. There's some really deep insights that can and should come out of that. But we're not gonna go there right now. The point is it's, it's like when someone is 45 years old and they say, well 0:13:40 - 0:14:04 , I don't have a college degree. Yeah. You have a degree called life. Yyy. You for sure have done some impressive things in 45 years of life. Let's hope. And even when they don't seem impressive, um, odds are you learned an awful lot in those years. And so you might not have a degree, but you do have 0:14:04 - 0:14:34 an education unless you're a dimwit who's gone through life with their eyes, you know, pressed shut, uh, against all odds. And that's very, very rare. So, what would I have done differently with this gal if this happened today? I would not have given her a book. I would have given her my, my card and 0:14:33 - 0:14:54 I would have said here's my email, here's my phone number, please. Let's get in touch and I, I would probably leave it to her to make that contact. Um, if you know, back in the days of being a, a full time ecclesiastical missionary for an industrial church, I think that's what I'm gonna start calling 0:14:54 - 0:15:24 . Uh I used the, the phrase modern Christianity uh to refer to you know, the church complex today, but I think I'm just gonna start seeing industrial churches. Um We pushed hard to have the means of initiating contact with people. We would try to get their phone number, et cetera. And um I carried that 0:15:24 - 0:15:45 over into my young dating years. Um because it, it, you know, any good salesperson will tell you, um, it's good to leave the ball in the pers in the customer's court, but you have to follow up because there will be many situations where um they are interested, they would respond to a further contact 0:15:44 - 0:16:08 , but they're not gonna reach out to you. They're not gonna be the initiator and I have learned in um in subsequent years that there's actually quite a bit of value of indeed giving them everything they need to take the next step and then backing off. And so um there, there is value in follow up. I'm 0:16:07 - 0:16:33 not saying there isn't, but I'm just saying in this case, I probably just would have said, here you go see you and uh how this relates back to this idea of you being in the book. And I had an interesting series of conversations with a friend about this. Um But, but in short, just as I've made tons of 0:16:33 - 0:16:58 videos explaining and that's like it is a very deeply entrenched false tradition that preaching the gospel. One just has to do with churchy topics. Two has to be this formal huge undertaking. Neither of those two things are true and both of them happen to describe pretty much the worst way you can do 0:16:58 - 0:17:27 this. You have to master the art of issuing the smallest possible invitation for improvement. So sometimes the next step in a person's life is a big deal and there's nothing you can do to chop it down into a smaller deal. However, almost always, even in that, in those cases, it's preceded by a chain 0:17:27 - 0:17:56 of small invitations and um not exertions, executions of those invitations, right? One by one, one by one and you build it up. And so, um what you could think about this as is a, a ramp and that's the small invitations and the purpose of the ramp is to get a person to the point they can make, make the 0:17:56 - 0:18:18 so called leap of faith, right? And in a sense, there is one leap of faith and I'll discuss that at a future date. But leading to that are a whole bunch of leaps of faith that are smaller and those are incremental. And so it's almost a cycle of you go up a ramp, you make the jump, you go up a ramp, you 0:18:18 - 0:18:40 make the jump, you go up a ramp and you make the jump. The idea is you want to get people to the point where they're just going, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, that's the ideal for us to get to. And also for us to help others to get to. And that is what full trust in God is. That is what it takes to go 0:18:40 - 0:19:06 directly to God. People like to if not use the phrase, use the idea. And the fact is that hardly anyone is prepared for that. How do you get there? Ramps, ramps, get you there. And so God builds ramps in our lives to help us get to the point where we're willing to trust him in one jump. Like just a contrived 0:19:05 - 0:19:27 example, that might end up being the case for a whole lot of people here as the economy sours. But let's say that you had the opportunity to look for a new job or even switch careers even into careers with, with some sort of massive preparation required. And you, you're like, well, I got a paycheck and 0:19:26 - 0:19:49 I'm comfortable. We're good. I, I just, I'm not gonna do that. It's way too much work and it seems unnecessary even if it seems like there would be an expected net benefit. I just don't want to do all the extra work, which is a huge problem because anything that has the greatest expected net benefit 0:19:48 - 0:20:11 compared to where you are now is exactly what you should do no matter the cost, no matter the cost. But let's step over that giant leap. Uh It is a giant leap for most people. So you're looking at this and you're saying, well, there's no reason for me to do all that. Well, let's say that something terrible 0:20:10 - 0:20:31 happens in your life where you suddenly need a lot more money and your current job just can't get you there. Well, that helps you build a ramp to the big jump or you lose your job. That helps you build a ramp to the, to the big jump and zooming out a little bit on those specifics. I'm sure that you have 0:20:31 - 0:20:55 either experienced or seen others experience this many times and that's how God helps build the ramp. So how do we help build the ramp? Well, you don't go sabotaging people's jobs or anything, but you have discussions with people and you use your model of what you believe the best things to be and you 0:20:55 - 0:21:17 apply it to the lives of other people and then you extract out of that whatever the very next thing is in this constructed path in your mind and you help that person be persuaded to take that action. And so, um I couldn't tell you what that was for that lady on the plane because I didn't understand any 0:21:17 - 0:21:43 of this back then and I wasn't thinking about it and I didn't ask questions to try to figure it out. So, uh I have no idea. All I know she was really curious about Jesus. And um at the time I was pretty pleased with myself because um I had, I had gone through, I knew what it cost me to write that book 0:21:42 - 0:22:05 and it gave me a lot of joy to hand it off to someone who I thought it might help. You know, that meant a lot to me. But looking back, I would have used the process of writing the book and everything I learned it became because of it to emit the smallest increment I could come up with to help her right 0:22:05 - 0:22:22 then and there and make sure she had some way of contacting me if she wanted more. That's basically it. So I invite you to think about this because we need to be a lot better at this. Here's the thing. So think of this lady in the situation she was in just based off the little I've told you and that's 0:22:22 - 0:22:41 based off the little I know God knows all things and he orchestrated all these crazy things to make that happen. He took me to New York, which I hate going to, but I was willing to do it because the, the the expected net benefit said that it was worth doing. Um They put me up in a crummy little hotel 0:22:40 - 0:22:58 room and I had a terrible time there. The business stuff I did there went terribly. Um and it cost a fortune to go. I really thought that it was gonna work out for the reasons. I thought it was and it didn't and I just wanted to go home and be with my family. It was it was part of a larger nasty trip 0:22:57 - 0:23:17 and there was a big sacrifice. Well, and then all the things that had to happen to put me, put, to give me that opportunity in the first place, uh which is like a lifetime of things and then arranging the car and the gate in the plane and the plane seat and the book and the conversation and her, you 0:23:16 - 0:23:36 know, her mood at the time because it's probably not a normal thing for random people to start, you know, spilling the beans about these deep spiritual experiences in their lives and all that was orchestrated because he had the tools to use to build that situation. There are all kinds of criteria imposed 0:23:36 - 0:23:56 on that, on that puzzle and he found a way to navigate through it with this weirdo Rob Smith who happened to have a couple of the things that he needed to make it happen. And then being God, he had access to all the other stuff he had to do to make it happen for her, right? So the more things you give 0:23:56 - 0:24:16 him to work with, the more he can use you for, you want to be the Swiss army knife that God has to do all the stuff he needs to do. And then he can put you in situations where he doesn't have that many tools that will work. Sometimes I'm fixing the things that are constantly breaking in my house. I don't 0:24:15 - 0:24:36 have the right tool for something. And I'm sitting there, you know, doing some goofy thing with the wrong tool and it takes me forever. But it's like, well, I can't spend 500 bucks on this whiz bang tool for just this one thing. I just gotta make it work. And, you know, we like to think that God just 0:24:36 - 0:24:56 everything's easy for him. He doesn't need us whatever. Well, he doesn't need you or me, but he needs somebody. He needs somebody. And the short answer to the question we talk about on earth as it is in heaven. Well, why isn't it already as it is in heaven? The right somebody hasn't come along or the 0:24:56 - 0:25:24 right set of some bodies. That's the reason He does all things through faith and, and our limitations can make it take longer for Him. His will to, to finally uh be fulfilled on earth. It is inevitable. But that doesn't mean that it can't happen faster or in a way that causes less suffering. So the end 0:25:24 - 0:25:45 goal is the maximal joy. But the path there can be better and that's where we come in or we can come in. We have the tremendous privilege of uh being, being used by God. That's, that's like a funny thing to say because if you were, were to say it about anyone else would be a terrible thing. Like you 0:25:45 - 0:26:11 have the privilege of being used by, you know, Tom Clancy or whatever, I don't know. Um But in God's case, if he uses you, you're doing better things than you would have been doing otherwise. Um and getting a lot more out of it. So, um so we need to be better at this because the people who will benefit 0:26:11 - 0:26:40 from being handed a copy of the scriptures, they already have uh their copy, they're already using that. That's not the, the puzzle that remains the puzzle that remains is processing that information into a representation that makes its value more apparent than what they've already seen. And in most 0:26:39 - 0:27:11 cases, that representation is you and they will see it by the things you do and say. And so it's really important to understand that these are things that you, you need to extract out the, the higher level understanding of all these ideas and apply it everywhere in your life and be the agent of the Lord 0:27:10 - 0:27:49 to do what he would do in the places you're in and to say what he would say and it doesn't need to be, it won't always be healing the sick and raising the dead. It won't always be standing up on a wall and saying this really um powerful sermon as people are shooting arrows at you. Often, it's gonna be 0:27:49 - 0:28:23 noticing somebody that's suffering and stopping from the very important and good thing that you're doing to help them. Often it's gonna be seeing that somebody's marching into a situation whose actual cost, they do not understand and helping, trying to prevent um helping to convey to them the lessons 0:28:22 - 0:28:54 they would learn through suffering if they continue so that they don't have to go down that road. You know, trading your experience for their benefit, often it's going to be seeing options that are better than what they see and helping them to see it or benefits of certain options that they don't see 0:28:53 - 0:29:20 in helping them to see it. And the thing is, is you might in many of these situations you might say. But what does this have to do with God? Everything because light cleaves to light, it's not, he's not trapped in a church somewhere. If he's in and through all things, then our religion has to have a 0:29:20 - 0:29:43 place for him in and through all things. And if that's the case, why is the goal to shuffle people into church a building? Why is people? Why is the goal to shuffle people into a church and to try to, to get them to believe that saying the sinner's prayer is the beginning and the end of all things, God 0:29:43 - 0:30:13 is so much more than that. If you don't know how he makes every aspect of life better, you don't know Him yet at all, not even close. And so we have to use that and respect that and live in it instead of against it. So find the ways in normal life that we can help people attach into this path towards 0:30:12 - 0:30:43 all things higher. And most of the time on those first steps, there are exceptions where it's exactly what's needed, but often those conversations and actions will not mention anything that could be construed as religious. The, the entry point, you know, the, the base of the mountain looks flat. So when 0:30:43 - 0:31:06 you're just coming to the foot of a mountain, it looks flat unless it's a cliff. And if it's a cliff, you need stuff to climb a cliff. But if you're just constantly throwing stuff to climb a cliff at people who think they're on flat ground, they're not gonna see that as valuable, you know. And surprisingly 0:31:05 - 0:31:24 , if they are crazy enough to like, start throwing ropes over their shoulder and putting it, putting harnesses on and whatever, they're not going to understand that they're not actually on the cliff yet. And they're gonna think that just walking around in a harness with a rope on your shoulder makes 0:31:23 - 0:31:47 you a mountaineer. So I hope you get the connections here because industrial Christians, they have no idea what God is like. They have no idea what it's like to walk on his path. They might be carrying the stuff, but they don't even know how to use it and they don't use it or they use it for things it's 0:31:46 - 0:32:06 not intended for. And, uh, not surprisingly that puts people off because if you have any kind of sense and you see some idiot standing on flat ground pretending he's climbing a mountain, you're gonna think he's crazy and you'll probably be right. Or maybe you'll think he's blind and you'll probably be 0:32:06 - 0:32:31 right. So, I hope this all makes sense. We need to get the people on the flats to take the next steps and, and maybe you're on the flats. If you haven't repented of your sins yet, you're not on the mountain. So what's the path forward for you again? It's getting into your head. It's taking off the harness 0:32:30 - 0:32:58 in the rope and saying, oh, uh, maybe I missed something in the prior class. Maybe I need to back up the, the, the car back to the last point where I knew where I was. Maybe you need to decompose the gospel as a whole down to what you do first thing in the morning, what you do when someone treats you 0:32:58 - 0:33:24 like garbage, what you do with your kids after dinner, how you treat your husband or your wife when no one's looking or when they really get on your nerves? Maybe it's about those little things because Jesus was very plain that this is all incremental. It's all successive. It's all progressive. It's 0:00:00 - 0:00:29 So one time I was on a trip to New York City, which I hate and um I was very anxious to get the heck out of there. Luckily I was only there for a few days. And um, so I got an Uber and um, after the driver picked me up, we picked up this lady and so it's super awkward to strike up conversations in cars 0:00:29 - 0:00:53 like that. So we get to the airport, get out whatever. And um, I go through security, I get to the gate and then this lady shows up. So I was like, oh, that's funny. New York is a huge city. Gotten the same Uber. Now we're at the same gate, couple of minutes go by, we board the plane. This lady sits 0:00:53 - 0:00:00 right next to me and this was recently enough that the seating was assigned. So I turned to her and I said, sir, are you stalking me or what? And she busted out laughing because it was super awkward. And uh I think that you could, you could slice the awkwardness, but it turns out she was, she was a, 0:00:00 - 0:01:37 a pretty friendly person and um, we struck up a conversation found out that she was from Algeria originally. She was working as, at the UN, as a translator. And, uh, I thought that was super interesting and, um, I don't remember how, but somehow we got on the topic of, she, she was talking about, um 0:01:36 - 0:01:59 , this experience she had in her home country. She was a younger girl and, uh, her older sister had gone out and I don't remember the circumstances but it was like to have fun one night. And uh she just became overwhelmed with this very strong premonition that something terrible was going to happen to 0:01:58 - 0:02:24 her sister. And uh she said she saw a vision and in the vision, her d her, her older sister uh hit was getting attacked by these men. And a voice told her this is what's going to happen and you have to pray. And she said, well, I don't understand. She's, she was raised Muslim and had very little exposure 0:02:23 - 0:02:47 to the sorts of things that I think some kinds of Christians would, would be very familiar with uh at least the ideas. And she was, she was told how to do this. And she said she did, she prayed and prayed and then her sister came home and was very upset and she said, what is everything? OK. And her sister 0:02:47 - 0:03:09 described that the beginning of the vision that she had had occurred. And then there was a miraculous intervention. And then her, her sister it didn't, the end didn't happen. And she said, uh I was raised Muslim and I don't understand this experience. Did, does any of this make any sense to you? You 0:03:08 - 0:03:27 probably think I'm crazy. And I said, no, I don't think you're crazy. You're describing her vision. I've had a lot of these and she said, really, I've never met anybody that's, that's been through something like this. And I said, well, and she, so she was asking me questions and I told her, uh, a little 0:03:27 - 0:03:49 bit about what I believe and she said, um, it was funny along the way. I said, well, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Bible. And she's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I know all about the Bible. I was like, oh, ok, because you know, um a lot of people do who, who may or may not be um believers 0:03:48 - 0:04:10 in it as scripture. So, um I was like, oh, ok. And then I said something that I thought was just very common knowledge about Jesus. I wish I remember what it was. And I saw a look on her face like what I've never heard that before. And I, I realized that probably for the first time in my life, I was 0:04:10 - 0:04:36 having a religious discussion with someone who had absolutely no previous uh background in anything that The New Testament says, like, anything even just the slightest cultural awareness. And I was like, whoa, ok. So, um, anyway, um, in the conversation, she, she, after we had chatted a while, she said 0:04:35 - 0:04:54 , you know, I really like to learn more about what it is you believe? I wish there was a way that I could, uh, I could learn more about that. And I said, well, it's funny you say that and I stood up and I pulled out a copy of a book I wrote called See You This Jesus. I said, this is what I believe. And 0:04:53 - 0:05:19 she's like, oh, who wrote this? I said I did the so, um, yeah, I, I tucked one of my business cards in there. I had, um, I had some business cards for some, some um s side consulting. I was doing so it had my, my personal email address on it and I said, look as you're reading this, um, if you have any 0:05:19 - 0:05:43 questions you want to talk about it, feel free to drop me a line and she never did. But it was an extremely positive conversation and hopefully, um, somehow something I said or did helped her along, I hope in some way. But, um, interestingly as I reflect on this, uh experience as tends to be the case 0:05:42 - 0:06:10 when I reflect upon past experiences. Um, the, the, in this case, sweetness of the, the memory is, it's, it's turned a little bitter, uh, it's bittersweet because I have, I can enumerate many things that I would have done differently today. And Um, that's ok. It's really important to recognize that if 0:06:10 - 0:06:30 we're growing, we will always be able to look at the past and say, yep, I definitely do that differently today. But at the time I was absolutely doing the best that I knew or if it's not the case that we were doing the best that we knew to admit that to, because if we don't, if we don't recognize ways 0:06:30 - 0:06:50 that we could have been better in the past, we chain ourselves to being less than the best we could be in the future. And that's something that I think a not many people realize they, they want to give their path selves a break and make all kinds of excuses. Um, and in doing that, you, you can't do that 0:06:49 - 0:07:16 without essentially guaranteeing that you're going to under perform in the future. So you really have to be, um, you have to tenaciously and ruthlessly judge your past self. That's the one person that you should judge no holds barred, holding nothing back because it's the one person where you do know 0:07:16 - 0:07:42 the full story. So it's, it's quite important anyway. And looking back on that, I asked myself what things would I do have done differently. And, um, but to get to that, I want to start by saying you might hear that story and s say like, well, that's pretty neat how God oriented you into this path so 0:07:42 - 0:08:08 that, you know, having kind of a weird resource. I mean, who writes a book about Jesus that contains stuff that probably no one's ever written. Um Who, who does that? Right? But having it being oriented to that, it's, it's quite a um precise path and that's the thing is God will use you. He will, if 0:08:08 - 0:08:33 you give him things to use, he will use them. So, and you'll be shocked at how well your key fits in the keyhole. Um We are all keys carefully cut and um some keys fit in a whole lot of key holes that if you look at the old skeleton keys, there are ways that you can cut them to fit multiple locks. But 0:08:32 - 0:09:01 um some keys are specific for one thing. Now, imagine you get to the end of the road here and you're seeing this replay of your life. Uh Not that, that's the way it goes, but let's just go with the that convention. And um God says, hey, here's how I cut your key and that was the lock and you totally 0:09:01 - 0:09:26 missed it. And here are all the things that would have come through opening that door and I gave you everything to make it happen and you blew it. So that's not gonna feel very good. Now, it turns out we have a lot of keys and there are a lot of doors, but that does happen. I promise you. So looking 0:09:26 - 0:09:51 at this, you might say, OK, but I'm not gonna write a book or you might say, oh, I'd really like to write a book and in both cases, I'd, I'd probably say, um, well, in, in the case of you're not going to write a book. Well, let's start with the case that you're going to, there is nothing magical about 0:09:51 - 0:10:17 writing a book that's not the actual problem or solution. So, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do that. If, if Jurassic Park teaches us anything, right? So stop and think about why you're doing what you're doing and then ask yourself, is there a better way? There are certain 0:10:16 - 0:10:49 problems for which a book is the best solution? But in this case, I am quite confident and I think have the experience to um to have an opinion worth hearing on this, that the good that can be done by a book in most cases, it's already been done and, and talking about the gospel, talking about trying 0:10:48 - 0:11:11 to help people. What do I mean by that? There is so much valuable information in books already. And the first question to ask yourself is what difference is it gonna make if you write one? Because odds are the same information is already available in a book written by a better author with, with better 0:11:11 - 0:11:34 publishing support, better editors, uh more notoriety, whatever. So is there actually going to be an increment of improvement there? Is it going to accomplish anything that's not already done. And the factors I mentioned, that's one set of factors in terms of information and delivery. The other set of 0:11:34 - 0:11:56 factors has to do with the, the audience. So you look around and you say, well, this set of people needs XYZ. I'm gonna write a book. If the answers to the questions are already in a book somewhere, why are they gonna read what you wrote when they won't read it from someone else? There are only very 0:11:56 - 0:12:27 few people who will read books with the kind of effort and application that is required to get weighty truths out of books, especially from a no name. Author ask me how I know. So that's probably not a good idea. All the more if all you're doing is rehashing what someone else said in a book. What's the 0:12:27 - 0:00:00 unique contribution? So in that case, it's better to think of what you could do to share the things that are already in a book that isn't being done already. Now that might come in some new form like uh you're gonna do some interpretive dance of chapter seven of this one book. But in all likelihood, 0:00:00 - 0:13:19 it's more about your personal contact with a person and that actual, your pre-existing relationship with them or even if it's a new contact just being there as a person. So because you know, only a few people will write books, but everyone is a book. That's the thing you might not have written a paper 0:13:18 - 0:13:40 book. I'm like, look around. I don't have one with an arm's length. Um, but you are a book that has been written. There's some really deep insights that can and should come out of that. But we're not gonna go there right now. The point is it's, it's like when someone is 45 years old and they say, well 0:13:40 - 0:14:04 , I don't have a college degree. Yeah. You have a degree called life. Yyy. You for sure have done some impressive things in 45 years of life. Let's hope. And even when they don't seem impressive, um, odds are you learned an awful lot in those years. And so you might not have a degree, but you do have 0:14:04 - 0:14:34 an education unless you're a dimwit who's gone through life with their eyes, you know, pressed shut, uh, against all odds. And that's very, very rare. So, what would I have done differently with this gal if this happened today? I would not have given her a book. I would have given her my, my card and 0:14:33 - 0:14:54 I would have said here's my email, here's my phone number, please. Let's get in touch and I, I would probably leave it to her to make that contact. Um, if you know, back in the days of being a, a full time ecclesiastical missionary for an industrial church, I think that's what I'm gonna start calling 0:14:54 - 0:15:24 . Uh I used the, the phrase modern Christianity uh to refer to you know, the church complex today, but I think I'm just gonna start seeing industrial churches. Um We pushed hard to have the means of initiating contact with people. We would try to get their phone number, et cetera. And um I carried that 0:15:24 - 0:15:45 over into my young dating years. Um because it, it, you know, any good salesperson will tell you, um, it's good to leave the ball in the pers in the customer's court, but you have to follow up because there will be many situations where um they are interested, they would respond to a further contact 0:15:44 - 0:16:08 , but they're not gonna reach out to you. They're not gonna be the initiator and I have learned in um in subsequent years that there's actually quite a bit of value of indeed giving them everything they need to take the next step and then backing off. And so um there, there is value in follow up. I'm 0:16:07 - 0:16:33 not saying there isn't, but I'm just saying in this case, I probably just would have said, here you go see you and uh how this relates back to this idea of you being in the book. And I had an interesting series of conversations with a friend about this. Um But, but in short, just as I've made tons of 0:16:33 - 0:16:58 videos explaining and that's like it is a very deeply entrenched false tradition that preaching the gospel. One just has to do with churchy topics. Two has to be this formal huge undertaking. Neither of those two things are true and both of them happen to describe pretty much the worst way you can do 0:16:58 - 0:17:27 this. You have to master the art of issuing the smallest possible invitation for improvement. So sometimes the next step in a person's life is a big deal and there's nothing you can do to chop it down into a smaller deal. However, almost always, even in that, in those cases, it's preceded by a chain 0:17:27 - 0:17:56 of small invitations and um not exertions, executions of those invitations, right? One by one, one by one and you build it up. And so, um what you could think about this as is a, a ramp and that's the small invitations and the purpose of the ramp is to get a person to the point they can make, make the 0:17:56 - 0:18:18 so called leap of faith, right? And in a sense, there is one leap of faith and I'll discuss that at a future date. But leading to that are a whole bunch of leaps of faith that are smaller and those are incremental. And so it's almost a cycle of you go up a ramp, you make the jump, you go up a ramp, you 0:18:18 - 0:18:40 make the jump, you go up a ramp and you make the jump. The idea is you want to get people to the point where they're just going, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, that's the ideal for us to get to. And also for us to help others to get to. And that is what full trust in God is. That is what it takes to go 0:18:40 - 0:19:06 directly to God. People like to if not use the phrase, use the idea. And the fact is that hardly anyone is prepared for that. How do you get there? Ramps, ramps, get you there. And so God builds ramps in our lives to help us get to the point where we're willing to trust him in one jump. Like just a contrived 0:19:05 - 0:19:27 example, that might end up being the case for a whole lot of people here as the economy sours. But let's say that you had the opportunity to look for a new job or even switch careers even into careers with, with some sort of massive preparation required. And you, you're like, well, I got a paycheck and 0:19:26 - 0:19:49 I'm comfortable. We're good. I, I just, I'm not gonna do that. It's way too much work and it seems unnecessary even if it seems like there would be an expected net benefit. I just don't want to do all the extra work, which is a huge problem because anything that has the greatest expected net benefit 0:19:48 - 0:20:11 compared to where you are now is exactly what you should do no matter the cost, no matter the cost. But let's step over that giant leap. Uh It is a giant leap for most people. So you're looking at this and you're saying, well, there's no reason for me to do all that. Well, let's say that something terrible 0:20:10 - 0:20:31 happens in your life where you suddenly need a lot more money and your current job just can't get you there. Well, that helps you build a ramp to the big jump or you lose your job. That helps you build a ramp to the, to the big jump and zooming out a little bit on those specifics. I'm sure that you have 0:20:31 - 0:20:55 either experienced or seen others experience this many times and that's how God helps build the ramp. So how do we help build the ramp? Well, you don't go sabotaging people's jobs or anything, but you have discussions with people and you use your model of what you believe the best things to be and you 0:20:55 - 0:21:17 apply it to the lives of other people and then you extract out of that whatever the very next thing is in this constructed path in your mind and you help that person be persuaded to take that action. And so, um I couldn't tell you what that was for that lady on the plane because I didn't understand any 0:21:17 - 0:21:43 of this back then and I wasn't thinking about it and I didn't ask questions to try to figure it out. So, uh I have no idea. All I know she was really curious about Jesus. And um at the time I was pretty pleased with myself because um I had, I had gone through, I knew what it cost me to write that book 0:21:42 - 0:22:05 and it gave me a lot of joy to hand it off to someone who I thought it might help. You know, that meant a lot to me. But looking back, I would have used the process of writing the book and everything I learned it became because of it to emit the smallest increment I could come up with to help her right 0:22:05 - 0:22:22 then and there and make sure she had some way of contacting me if she wanted more. That's basically it. So I invite you to think about this because we need to be a lot better at this. Here's the thing. So think of this lady in the situation she was in just based off the little I've told you and that's 0:22:22 - 0:22:41 based off the little I know God knows all things and he orchestrated all these crazy things to make that happen. He took me to New York, which I hate going to, but I was willing to do it because the, the the expected net benefit said that it was worth doing. Um They put me up in a crummy little hotel 0:22:40 - 0:22:58 room and I had a terrible time there. The business stuff I did there went terribly. Um and it cost a fortune to go. I really thought that it was gonna work out for the reasons. I thought it was and it didn't and I just wanted to go home and be with my family. It was it was part of a larger nasty trip 0:22:57 - 0:23:17 and there was a big sacrifice. Well, and then all the things that had to happen to put me, put, to give me that opportunity in the first place, uh which is like a lifetime of things and then arranging the car and the gate in the plane and the plane seat and the book and the conversation and her, you 0:23:16 - 0:23:36 know, her mood at the time because it's probably not a normal thing for random people to start, you know, spilling the beans about these deep spiritual experiences in their lives and all that was orchestrated because he had the tools to use to build that situation. There are all kinds of criteria imposed 0:23:36 - 0:23:56 on that, on that puzzle and he found a way to navigate through it with this weirdo Rob Smith who happened to have a couple of the things that he needed to make it happen. And then being God, he had access to all the other stuff he had to do to make it happen for her, right? So the more things you give 0:23:56 - 0:24:16 him to work with, the more he can use you for, you want to be the Swiss army knife that God has to do all the stuff he needs to do. And then he can put you in situations where he doesn't have that many tools that will work. Sometimes I'm fixing the things that are constantly breaking in my house. I don't 0:24:15 - 0:24:36 have the right tool for something. And I'm sitting there, you know, doing some goofy thing with the wrong tool and it takes me forever. But it's like, well, I can't spend 500 bucks on this whiz bang tool for just this one thing. I just gotta make it work. And, you know, we like to think that God just 0:24:36 - 0:24:56 everything's easy for him. He doesn't need us whatever. Well, he doesn't need you or me, but he needs somebody. He needs somebody. And the short answer to the question we talk about on earth as it is in heaven. Well, why isn't it already as it is in heaven? The right somebody hasn't come along or the 0:24:56 - 0:25:24 right set of some bodies. That's the reason He does all things through faith and, and our limitations can make it take longer for Him. His will to, to finally uh be fulfilled on earth. It is inevitable. But that doesn't mean that it can't happen faster or in a way that causes less suffering. So the end 0:25:24 - 0:25:45 goal is the maximal joy. But the path there can be better and that's where we come in or we can come in. We have the tremendous privilege of uh being, being used by God. That's, that's like a funny thing to say because if you were, were to say it about anyone else would be a terrible thing. Like you 0:25:45 - 0:26:11 have the privilege of being used by, you know, Tom Clancy or whatever, I don't know. Um But in God's case, if he uses you, you're doing better things than you would have been doing otherwise. Um and getting a lot more out of it. So, um so we need to be better at this because the people who will benefit 0:26:11 - 0:26:40 from being handed a copy of the scriptures, they already have uh their copy, they're already using that. That's not the, the puzzle that remains the puzzle that remains is processing that information into a representation that makes its value more apparent than what they've already seen. And in most 0:26:39 - 0:27:11 cases, that representation is you and they will see it by the things you do and say. And so it's really important to understand that these are things that you, you need to extract out the, the higher level understanding of all these ideas and apply it everywhere in your life and be the agent of the Lord 0:27:10 - 0:27:49 to do what he would do in the places you're in and to say what he would say and it doesn't need to be, it won't always be healing the sick and raising the dead. It won't always be standing up on a wall and saying this really um powerful sermon as people are shooting arrows at you. Often, it's gonna be 0:27:49 - 0:28:23 noticing somebody that's suffering and stopping from the very important and good thing that you're doing to help them. Often it's gonna be seeing that somebody's marching into a situation whose actual cost, they do not understand and helping, trying to prevent um helping to convey to them the lessons 0:28:22 - 0:28:54 they would learn through suffering if they continue so that they don't have to go down that road. You know, trading your experience for their benefit, often it's going to be seeing options that are better than what they see and helping them to see it or benefits of certain options that they don't see 0:28:53 - 0:29:20 in helping them to see it. And the thing is, is you might in many of these situations you might say. But what does this have to do with God? Everything because light cleaves to light, it's not, he's not trapped in a church somewhere. If he's in and through all things, then our religion has to have a 0:29:20 - 0:29:43 place for him in and through all things. And if that's the case, why is the goal to shuffle people into church a building? Why is people? Why is the goal to shuffle people into a church and to try to, to get them to believe that saying the sinner's prayer is the beginning and the end of all things, God 0:29:43 - 0:30:13 is so much more than that. If you don't know how he makes every aspect of life better, you don't know Him yet at all, not even close. And so we have to use that and respect that and live in it instead of against it. So find the ways in normal life that we can help people attach into this path towards 0:30:12 - 0:30:43 all things higher. And most of the time on those first steps, there are exceptions where it's exactly what's needed, but often those conversations and actions will not mention anything that could be construed as religious. The, the entry point, you know, the, the base of the mountain looks flat. So when 0:30:43 - 0:31:06 you're just coming to the foot of a mountain, it looks flat unless it's a cliff. And if it's a cliff, you need stuff to climb a cliff. But if you're just constantly throwing stuff to climb a cliff at people who think they're on flat ground, they're not gonna see that as valuable, you know. And surprisingly 0:31:05 - 0:31:24 , if they are crazy enough to like, start throwing ropes over their shoulder and putting it, putting harnesses on and whatever, they're not going to understand that they're not actually on the cliff yet. And they're gonna think that just walking around in a harness with a rope on your shoulder makes 0:31:23 - 0:31:47 you a mountaineer. So I hope you get the connections here because industrial Christians, they have no idea what God is like. They have no idea what it's like to walk on his path. They might be carrying the stuff, but they don't even know how to use it and they don't use it or they use it for things it's 0:31:46 - 0:32:06 not intended for. And, uh, not surprisingly that puts people off because if you have any kind of sense and you see some idiot standing on flat ground pretending he's climbing a mountain, you're gonna think he's crazy and you'll probably be right. Or maybe you'll think he's blind and you'll probably be 0:32:06 - 0:32:31 right. So, I hope this all makes sense. We need to get the people on the flats to take the next steps and, and maybe you're on the flats. If you haven't repented of your sins yet, you're not on the mountain. So what's the path forward for you again? It's getting into your head. It's taking off the harness 0:32:30 - 0:32:58 in the rope and saying, oh, uh, maybe I missed something in the prior class. Maybe I need to back up the, the, the car back to the last point where I knew where I was. Maybe you need to decompose the gospel as a whole down to what you do first thing in the morning, what you do when someone treats you 0:32:58 - 0:33:24 like garbage, what you do with your kids after dinner, how you treat your husband or your wife when no one's looking or when they really get on your nerves? Maybe it's about those little things because Jesus was very plain that this is all incremental. It's all successive. It's all progressive. It's 0:33:24 - 0:33:46 step by step, run by run. And if you got off course earlier in the path, it doesn't matter what you do right now, you're off. Course you have to backtrack and get back on the highway. So hopefully this gives you some things to think about and work on.