0:00:00 - 0:00:21 So there's this old, horrifically bad movie called Mortal Kombat and it had an even worse soundtrack, but it's got a place, some of the songs have a nostalgic place in my heart. And one of the songs, uh there's this, this quip where you hear this guy saying and now for a taste of things to come. And 0:00:20 - 0:00:44 I think, um I think that's probably a good catch phrase for a lot of the things that, that I'm doing. Uh I have volumes of information that I'm processing and I'm discovering ways that I can share some of it in the briefest form and it's entertaining to me to comprehend. Well, that's not the best word 0:00:43 - 0:01:15 . It glorifies God in my sight to share snippets from that the tiniest tastes while not being able to convey in the smallest part, everything that's behind it both in terms of other informa. Well, well, the, the, the rest of the information, the, the greater resolution that's available, the body of scriptures 0:01:14 - 0:02:04 that through which this weaves and the, the price that it costs to know these things um and live them. But God is glorified in those sorts of things, you know a form of this is when uh when he said suffer the Children to come to me and uh you know, he held, he held a child um or when he was on the cross 0:02:03 - 0:02:34 and a comforted his mother and his friend John. Um and the man that was crucified next to him because we don't see the cost of doing certain things. One thing that, that I'll be raising if I haven't already, I don't know what I've said in these videos, what I've just written, but it's the question, what 0:02:34 - 0:02:57 does it cost to say this with sincerity? To know this would be how someone else would say it, but to say this with sincerity. Uh we, we value things based on our perspective. And if we don't comprehend the cost of something, we can't comprehend the cost of something, you know, the world would teach you 0:02:57 - 0:03:26 that you should never give a gift that can't be fully appreciated. You should never give a gift when the cost of it cannot be comprehended. But God glories and that he delights in doing things that are so good that he knows there's no way anyone's going to get it. And because his value is so focused 0:03:25 - 0:03:57 on the benefit of the person that um he he is not impeded by in any way, by um our lack of reciprocation. Let's say there are caveats there that are important, but I don't want to digress too much. Um because the greater, the greater equation of benefit, you can do things that are good for other people 0:03:56 - 0:04:31 and cause them harm depending on what their response is. But anyway, he glories in that. And so, um and now for a taste of things to come, so, um God calls us to greater things through what we naturally desire. How He does that is wherever we are right now with what we desire and by how much we desire 0:04:30 - 0:04:56 it, he encourages us to head towards that and into that and embrace it more fully. And honestly, because as we do so against the context of life, the limitations of those things that we desire will be revealed that only works. If you're honest and you go for what you want, you really, really seek it 0:04:56 - 0:05:23 . So it's amazing once this gets unlocked in your brain and you start to see it, of course, in your own life, it has tremendous implications, but also in the lives of others. It's also extremely sad because you see just how much honesty becomes limits of honesty becomes a barrier um to so many people 0:05:23 - 0:05:45 in so many ways. So honestly, acknowledging how things really are, whether something works by how much, by how much it's insufficient, what it would be worth to find something that could do what you seek or could provide it or could provide it more enduringly, et cetera. So really being honest about 0:05:45 - 0:06:10 revealed limitations is massively important. But that all has to begin with really being honest about what you want and what you're willing to do to get it. And so as you walk into that, that's the, that's the, the, the lens through which God shows you what is actually good and by how much so I wanna 0:06:10 - 0:06:33 tell two stories. One's a little funny, the other one's not so funny. You probably won't find either of them funny because I have a super strange sense of humor. But maybe you will. So I saw this brief little clip of these, I'm assuming college cheerleaders, um, performing a routine which could be described 0:06:32 - 0:06:57 as shaking their pom, poms. Yeah. So, I mean, if you don't know, you're under rock but, like, cheerleading today, I mean, I'm not sure what the difference is between that and, uh, exotic dancing other than they have maybe a little bit more clothes on. So, um, you know, it's an odd thing because it's 0:06:57 - 0:07:22 not exactly things that I watch in either case. Um, but in the moment that this was going on, I had this flood of thoughts. So, um, the first thing I thought was, wow, these ladies are actually pretty good at this. Like, if this is what your goal is, they're pretty good at what they're doing. And then 0:07:21 - 0:07:53 I thought about how much time it must have taken to be able to practice this and, you know, like whether it's Tik Tok people shaking their pom poms or cheerleaders. Um, it's bizarre to me that these ladies get so good at body movements and facial expressions and things that are designed to intentionally 0:07:52 - 0:08:23 , right to evoke certain emotions from mostly men. Right? And yet what they are tapping into is something that they also do. Not actually, um, it's, it's synthetic, it's deceptive because they don't actually know anyone. They're shaking their pom poms for and they don't actually care about any of those 0:08:23 - 0:08:53 people. But those feelings that they're attempting to trigger are ones that are meant to be deeply rooted in unique intimate relationships. And I, I don't mean sexual there. I mean, like, like uh you get to know someone very well and you're bonded with them. So, um so that's really interesting and then 0:08:53 - 0:09:18 another whole cloud of thoughts that came with. Oh, so, so I marveled that someone could be so good at deception. Um And it's a shame that the world doesn't better understand this, particularly men. And this is uh a fantastic example of that lack of honesty I was talking about because um I think the 0:09:18 - 0:09:43 whole scourge of porn would disappear in a second if guys really understood what they were after when they looked at that garbage and how far from it, anything like that is. Um And, and these things exist on gradients as well, like the same spirit of pornography is also what drives any kind of sipping 0:09:43 - 0:10:11 by guys. So anytime a guy um is sort of over the top supportive of a lady because he thinks that it will curry her favor. But it's not something he would do for anyone else or particularly a lady he thinks is attractive versus one. He does not or um yeah, anything like that. It's all the same spirit 0:10:11 - 0:10:32 . It's just on a different gradient. Uh You could, you could talk about this same idea with something like prostitution where we know what the full version of that is, but less understood is when you, when you reduce the gradient and you look at more minor versions of this any time someone is showing 0:10:31 - 0:11:01 parts of their body, just showing parts of their body that uh in, in order to get something out of someone that's prostitution, right? So um maybe you could, maybe you could restrict that a little further by saying like parts of your body that are not meant to be shown to other people or something. But 0:11:00 - 0:11:24 , but even if you're not naked, you could be engaging in prostitution if you're dressing in a way or making your face up in a way or whatever, um you're, you're doing what you're doing in order to get something out of somebody that they wouldn't otherwise give you right payment, whether that payment 0:11:23 - 0:11:50 is attention or favor or even esteem. So that's really interesting and uh I'm sure will cause problems for people. Um So anyway, so these things exist on gradient so another flood of thoughts that came in, in this brief moment. Um, I thought back to when I was, uh, I don't know, in my early twenties 0:11:50 - 0:12:11 . Yeah. Obfuscate this a little, I knew a couple very well. That had two girls who were, I'd say less than 10 if I'm remembering correctly. And they were looking for after school activities for their daughters and they got them into cheerleading and I knew this couple well, and I said, you know, I think 0:12:11 - 0:12:36 that's a really bad idea. Well, why, what's wrong? They're just little girls. What's? And I said, fast forward, look at older cheerleaders and look at the things that they get into and, um, you know, we had a discussion about that and, uh, I don't know about you but all the cheerleaders I've known, uh 0:12:35 - 0:12:58 , it's, it's, it's a social setting that's into really bad stuff. We'll just put it that way and, uh, I mean, worse things than just shaking your pom poms, um, for, for total strangers. So, um, they didn't listen, they put their girls through that fast forward. One ended up on really bad drugs and they 0:12:58 - 0:13:23 both ended up very promiscuous and they are both miserable now, uh, in their mid to late twenties. So, um, there's that and all that came out of friendships that they made at cheerleading. And then my mind went to a topic that I've been thinking a lot about lately, which is this knife's edge idea where 0:13:23 - 0:13:47 it's so interesting that it's, it's really difficult to classify people, things, situations as always good or always bad. And I wondered if, you know, I'm sure that there are situations where people got into something like cheerleading for all the right reasons, whatever those could be. I think in the 0:13:47 - 0:14:03 case of this couple, like, they just wanted something where their daughters could have a social group and I don't know, do something that was fun but also challenging and they really weren't into sports or whatever. I don't know. I don't know. Uh, you, you could make the argument a lot easier for sports 0:14:03 - 0:14:20 . Like, there are a lot of good reasons to get into sports. I, I think there are a lot more bad reasons not to so that you shouldn't do it but whatever, um, you could totally sketch out a way where someone could get into that for all the right reasons. Um, I, I believe I joined the military for all the 0:14:20 - 0:14:45 right reasons back in the day. So, um, but it's not something I would recommend anyone else to today. And, uh, it's really tough, I'll say more about that knife edge thing later but it's really tough to wholesale right off something. Um, even if it's a situation where in general you can say pretty clearly 0:14:45 - 0:15:11 , hey, this is probably not a good idea. Um, and there are a lot of reasons for that. So then my mind went to, uh, a friend of mine, I know who, um, well, he's a warrior in a, in a literal sense. He's long time infantry guy and he's been into combat situations, uh, many times and face some hairy stuff 0:15:10 - 0:15:36 . And I had a really interesting conversation with him about courage and this is gonna seem like it's totally unrelated, but I'll tie it back in with the cheerleaders. And we had this discussion about these impulses of courage impulses. I don't mean like uh like uh desires, I mean moments, moments of 0:15:36 - 0:15:55 courage, courageous moments where um you know, you rush into battle and you do a hard thing or jump, jump by a grenade or that sort of thing, you just run into hail bullets, stuff you got to do sometimes. And you know, these are depicted in movies. A lot of times there are things that people like to 0:15:55 - 0:16:19 , to experience and think about sometimes even if they wouldn't do it, they like to experience that vicariously at least. And then we were talking about how he, he actually mentioned that you can't help but realize that that could be synthetic, it could be manufactured like an otherwise not brave person 0:16:19 - 0:16:36 can work themselves up to momentary courage. They can, they can just do it or maybe they hear like a rousing speech or they see someone else rush into the hail of bullets or whatever. And then they just find a way to get into that for the moment it, sometimes it cost them their lives. And then these 0:16:36 - 0:16:58 people are regarded as, as heroes by others or whatever. When it was a moment, it wasn't really who they were. And hey, thank God for courageous moments. Right? Thank God. In all seriousness. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. If someone's like, hey, there's nothing special about me and I am scared to 0:16:58 - 0:17:28 death. But for one moment I'm gonna do a courageous thing. Great. But we were talking about how there's a higher form of this and you're drawn into it right through the lower form. And you know, if you feel this surge of honor and, ah, magnificence, maybe like something higher than you, you're giving 0:17:28 - 0:17:56 , getting the opportunity to participate. I'm on borrowed time in something much greater than you and you, you do it, you perform the role you, you take advantage of the opportunity, maybe that's a calling to become what you're just momentarily borrowing and you can do this, right? You can do this. And 0:17:56 - 0:18:30 we talked about a fuller form of courage where maybe instead of like a really loud rousing public surge of courage, you come into a life where you're consummately consecrated to something that maybe no one knows about. Maybe it's completely internal, maybe it's just really hard for you. Maybe it wouldn't 0:18:30 - 0:18:50 even be hard for other people, but maybe it would be hard for them, maybe be impossibly difficult, but they can't see it or you're working on something that no one can appreciate because they won't figure it out until it's done. They won't possibly be able to see the value until later. And you just keep 0:18:49 - 0:19:18 chipping away at that for a whole life, which of those two things is more courageous. So when uh wonderful example is thinking about the dedication of a committed mother to her Children and she just keeps chipping away at that every day. You know, in the younger years, with every diaper with every, uh 0:19:18 - 0:19:41 , wiping up the, the vomit when they spit up, every time she's washing those clothes, which is like every day with little kids, especially if you have a few and, and on and on and on. Right. And then of course, that, that graduates to different things as they get older and just deciding to be patient 0:19:41 - 0:20:05 one more time and these things are not so obvious because our perceptions are coded. It's like we're wearing lenses that filter out certain things and we have to develop that vision that's more like God's, but he calls us through the things we see naturally and we're supposed to graduate to these greater 0:20:05 - 0:20:32 things. And now back to the cheerleaders. And so, um, there are men out there unfortunately, in great numbers who think that some kind of like per perfectly seductive dance routine with women who are in their prime and happen to be in really good shape and whatever. And they, they've got enough makeup 0:20:32 - 0:20:56 on and outfits just, just so that it highlights everything that they can highlight in the most favorable way for, for the kinds of people that are watching that. And they really think that that's the pinnacle of femininity right there, shaking their pom poms on the screen and it's not, it's not even 0:20:56 - 0:21:23 close, it's not even in the same universe. But if we just pay attention to the things that we think are good and we follow through on that to the fullest, we will find the limitations. Now what that looks like. I mean, it's different for every person. In this case. I think a wise person, a wise young 0:21:22 - 0:21:41 man say would look at the older men in his life that he comes across and with the internet, I mean, it used to be a library would expand your horizons. You could read books written by people that you'd never have a chance of meeting from a completely different sphere of life. Uh Usually much more successful 0:21:40 - 0:21:59 than anyone you've known or have faced much greater challenges. You know, you can read man's uh man's Search for meaning by Victor Frankl. And you know, maybe you're never going to meet someone who went to a concentration camp, but he wrote about it and it's great things you can learn from him. But with 0:21:59 - 0:22:19 the internet, it's, it's just exploded wide open, right? So maybe you find an older man who did marry uh you know, one of these cheerleader types or whatever, something like that where whatever your scale of value is they found and married someone like that and see where it went, see what happens when 0:22:19 - 0:22:40 you put your heart to that desire or more specific, it's not that desire but it's what you think will fulfill that desire. And what happens if you're, if you're a young man or young woman or older man or older woman, uh, who struggles with pornography, would you really want to be with any of those people 0:22:40 - 0:23:01 ? I mean, that's really gross for a lot of reasons. But even beyond that, what, what would you want out of a relationship? It, it probably involves an intimate connection. Again, I'm not talking about physical, I'm saying emotionally. Do you really think any of those people are capable of any of that 0:23:00 - 0:23:23 ever? I mean, you may as well befriend, uh I don't know, porcupine or something. Um, because you'll be able to get as close to, to that and, and as far as the special capabilities humans have as people created in the image of God. Exactly. How much can you act contrary to that image before you don't 0:23:23 - 0:00:00 have any of that left to give other people. So, um yeah, just you don't have to experience it yourself, right? Use your reasoning and your perception abilities, but you can find people who have and it's not that hard for the courage thing. It's the same idea, right? If you, if you try just a little, 0:00:00 - 0:24:07 you can meet a whole lot of people who are courageous in the world's definition of the term. It's a lot harder to find people who are courageous in Christ's definition of the term. Not least of all because you have to find out what that definition is to be able to recognize them, right? But again, it 0:24:07 - 0:24:31 exists on a gradient and you can use your, your noggin and your heart to orient yourself towards what is greater than that. And you know, not literally sit down to interview, although if you have the opportunity, it's a wonderful thing, but dig into these things and try to find what happens to people 0:24:30 - 0:24:54 who set their hearts to that thing that seems desirable to you right now and what happens down the road. So I remember in the cretaceous period when I was on a mission in Chile and I did some math one time I think I met somewhere around 20,000 people during two years. Well, some subset of those people 0:24:53 - 0:25:17 , I got to know at least a little well, uh because we'd eat meals with them or visit them, uh you know, across, across a couple of months on a regular basis. And um I would actually take notes in my journal of qualities of that house that I found desirable or not desirable of that family. I was trying 0:25:16 - 0:25:40 to take advantage of being exposed to many different family environments so that I could extract what I wanted in my family. And what I believed uh generated that by observing these other families. So we could do that with people our whole lives. We can do that. We could pay attention to the, the things 0:25:40 - 0:26:06 that we find to be good and then studying the fruits, the consequences of those things and then emulating the causes that, that we believe generated those effects. And, and by doing this kind of observant research, you can extract multiple lifetimes of wisdom out of other people's experiences. You only 0:26:06 - 0:26:34 have one life to live here and now at least, but during that life, you can extract the wisdom of multiple lifetimes by watching what other people do with their choices and then extracting the value of those lessons learned in living your life. You can avoid a host of mistakes and orient yourself on a 0:26:34 - 0:26:57 much higher plane. But takes faith, meaning the meaning I I'm using there with faith is a willingness to do what has sufficient evidence because just because you see someone who or a collection of someone's who made certain choices and they all go to the same outcome. It doesn't mean you're gonna believe 0:26:57 - 0:27:19 it. You might say, well, I'm gonna be different. Everybody else in this world who I've ever met or know of did X and got Y but I'm different. I'm gonna do X and get Z. Well, you better have a good reason for that, right? And it kept you just wishing it, it were. So, so this whole volume of thoughts happened 0:27:19 - 0:27:45 in like AAA brief moment of this cheerleader clip. So, um this is also a wonderful, uh a wonderful example of how you can't judge what you see by what it would mean if you were doing it. And so, like, you know, if you walked by my computer and the second I was watching this cheerleader thing, you might 0:27:45 - 0:00:00 think, what is this guy doing? And I told you what I was doing, that's the last thing you'd imagine. You know, you, you, sometimes people ask why there's so little about Jesus in the gospels. You say they're so little, they're full of stories about him. Yeah, they're full of mostly the same stories. 0:00:00 - 0:28:24 And so, yes, it's four books but it's really like a little more than one and there's almost nothing about him before he's 30. And even the three years it covers for the most part. There's hardly anything in there. So you could take everything that happens in those gospels and it's like two weeks of time 0:28:24 - 0:28:44 or something. So, what happened for the rest of the three years? Why don't we have that written down? One of the chief reasons is because you would misinterpret those things and use them to justify sin in your life. That's why because God knows where our hearts are and he doesn't want to give us things 0:28:43 - 0:29:09 that we will use exclusively to advance evil in our own lives and the lives of others. He lets out more when there's a reason to, which is always that there is at least one person who would use it to do greater good than could otherwise be done. So that's a lot to think about. But anyway.