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Andy Stanley - The Beginners Guide to Predicting Your Future Part 2 Your Intention Please · Andy Stanley Sermons

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Speaker 1: One of the things that amazes me, and this is
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Speaker 1: kind of simple, is that there are people who can
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Speaker 1: find their way to just about anywhere and then find
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Speaker 1: their way back. They just need to look at a
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Speaker 1: map or look at directions, and they got it. They
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Speaker 1: can get there and back. And I'm like, whatever, the
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Speaker 1: opposite of that is. I am the opposite of that.
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Speaker 1: Sander's that way. My son, Garrett, our middle child, is
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Speaker 1: that way.
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Speaker 2: Years ago, I.
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Speaker 1: Took our kids to Rome, our whole family to Rome.
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Speaker 1: I just wanted them to see the city of Rome,
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Speaker 1: and I think Garrett was maybe a junior in high
0:27
Speaker 1: school at the time, I can't remember exactly.
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Speaker 2: And so we took a cab to an air we
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Speaker 2: wanted to see, and then we.
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Speaker 1: Walked a long way to see some other things we
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Speaker 1: wanted to see, and then we decided we were going
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Speaker 1: to walk back to our hotel, but we had no
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Speaker 1: idea where we were. So Sandra and I literally pulled
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Speaker 1: out the big old tourist maps, like we're tourists, can
0:44
Speaker 1: you tell you know? We got the big map and
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Speaker 1: Garrett said, in fact, I think he was younger than that.
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Speaker 1: Garrett said, I can get us back, and I'm like,
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Speaker 1: sure you can't. Of course, his older brother's like, no
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Speaker 1: you can't. His younger sister, no you can't. He said,
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Speaker 1: yes I can, and Garrett just starts walking. You remember this,
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Speaker 1: he just took How old was Garrett?
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Speaker 2: You remember? How about seventeen?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, so now it's a double dog there. So he
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Speaker 1: just starts walking me. There's people everywhere. We're like in
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Speaker 1: the you know, we're in Rome, okay, and so literally
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Speaker 1: Sandra and I have our maps and we're trying to.
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Speaker 2: Keep everywhere walking down the street.
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Speaker 1: Anyway, took a left and took a ride, and then
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Speaker 1: I'm thinking he is lost, but hey, we got all
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Speaker 1: day and whatever. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, we
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Speaker 1: turn a corner and there is our hotel.
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Speaker 2: And he just kind of looked at us like see, I'm.
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Speaker 1: Like, how did you do that? I mean, I mean
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Speaker 1: some people you can just do that again.
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Speaker 2: The opposite of that is me.
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Speaker 1: So, as we get started today, I would like to
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Speaker 1: share with you on four things regarding what I call
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Speaker 1: the art of lostness. Okay, this is something that where
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Speaker 1: I've gained a bit of expertise. Number One, people like me,
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Speaker 1: we don't get lost on purpose. In fact, it is
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Speaker 1: difficult to get lost on purpose. A number two. We
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Speaker 1: talked about this last week a little bit. We're lost
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Speaker 1: before we know that we're lost. We don't know exactly
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Speaker 1: when it happened. If you know exactly when it happened,
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Speaker 1: you can just back up be unlost. But we're lost
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Speaker 1: a long time before it even dawns on us. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I think we're lost. And the number three won't come
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Speaker 1: as a shock, but I need to say it. Men
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Speaker 1: go faster when we're lost, and there is no explanation
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Speaker 1: for this at all. And then number four, and this
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Speaker 1: is true for all of us. We wind up where
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Speaker 1: the road we're on ends up. You always wind up
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Speaker 1: where the road you're on ends up. This is regardlessless
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Speaker 1: of creed, you know, color, gender, IQ, net worth.
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Speaker 2: I mean, this is just true for everybody.
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Speaker 1: Now, as we began the discussion last week, we said
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Speaker 1: that what's obvious when it comes to driving oftentimes is
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Speaker 1: not as obvious when it comes to living. That what's
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Speaker 1: obvious when it comes to driving is not always obvious
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Speaker 1: when it comes to living. That just like physical paths
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Speaker 1: and physical highways and physical roads have predictable outcomes, there
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Speaker 1: are predictable outcomes in just about every single arena of life.
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Speaker 1: And thus the title for this series, you know, predicting
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Speaker 1: the Beginner's Guide, You predicting your own future. Now thanks
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Speaker 1: to technology. Thanks to technology, it is virtually impossible to
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Speaker 1: get lost. In fact, if your lost, all you need
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Speaker 1: to do is contact your favorite online retailer. They know
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Speaker 1: exactly where you are at all times, and you call
3:18
Speaker 1: them and they will help you get unlost. But as
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Speaker 1: we continued this conversation last week, I introduced you to
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Speaker 1: a principle that's going to govern our conversation that kind
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Speaker 1: of makes sense out of all of this. And then
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Speaker 1: we call it the principle of the path, and the
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Speaker 1: principle of the path. If you're here last time, simply
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Speaker 1: says that direction determines our destination. That direction determines destination.
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Speaker 1: And this is true not just geographically. This is true
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Speaker 1: in all the allies. This is true financially and professionally,
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Speaker 1: and relationally, and morally and spiritually.
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Speaker 2: And I made this one up marriagely.
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Speaker 1: And I was going to add, in pairing to parenting
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Speaker 1: Elie that in all the allies that there, this principle
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Speaker 1: holds true, that the direction you're moving in in your relationship,
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Speaker 1: the direction you're moving in financially, the direction you're moving
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Speaker 1: in as a parent, the direction that you're moving your
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Speaker 1: marriage in, academically, whatever it might be in every area
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Speaker 1: of life, the direction you're moving in ultimately determines your destination. Now,
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Speaker 1: to take this a little bit further, if I were
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Speaker 1: to sit down and ask you, hey, what, and I'll
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Speaker 1: just pick one of these, what do you hope your
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Speaker 1: financial world looks like in say two years or five
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Speaker 1: years from now, you probably have an answer. You know,
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Speaker 1: I intend to make this much money, I intend to
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Speaker 1: save this much money. I tend to get out of debt.
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Speaker 1: If I were to say, hey, what a professionally, what
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Speaker 1: do you hope things How do you think things will be,
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Speaker 1: or how do you hope things will be professionally two
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Speaker 1: or five years from now, you'd say, well, by this
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Speaker 1: time next year, five years from now, ten years now,
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Speaker 1: I hope to have my own company.
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Speaker 2: Whatever it might be.
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Speaker 1: Relationally, I mean, you know you've been dating this girl,
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Speaker 1: You've been dating this guy for a long time. You know,
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Speaker 1: with two years from now, I mean, what do you see?
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Speaker 1: You say, Well, I see marriage in the mix, or
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Speaker 1: I'm not so sure. So if I were to ask
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Speaker 1: you about any of these things, what you intend, how
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Speaker 1: you intend for life to go, and just about any
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Speaker 1: of these areas, you would have an answer, right. I mean,
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Speaker 1: all of us have answers to some extent where planners,
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Speaker 1: even if it's not really a plan, even if it's
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Speaker 1: just a dream, you have some idea of where you
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Speaker 1: intend to go in every important arena of life.
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Speaker 2: We're just wired that way.
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Speaker 1: But the challenge is, and here's what we're going to
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Speaker 1: talk about today, the challenge is, oftentimes there is a disconnect.
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Speaker 1: There is a disconnect between what we intend and the
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Speaker 1: direction we choose. There's often a disconnect between our intention. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: we're going to be out of debt. Yeah by this
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Speaker 1: time next year, by the five years from now, I
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Speaker 1: hope you know, by the time kids roll around. There's
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Speaker 1: oftentimes a disconnect between our intention and our direction. And
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Speaker 1: here's the thing I don't want, and I know you
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Speaker 1: don't want, And maybe most importantly, or most importantly, your
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Speaker 1: heavenly father does not want you to be a victim
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Speaker 1: of this disconnect because at the end of the day,
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Speaker 1: and we all know this, we just need somebody to
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Speaker 1: remind us every once in a while. At the end
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Speaker 1: of the day, direction and Trump's intention. Every single time
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Speaker 1: that direction all weighs wins. So a young lady says, yeah, Well,
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Speaker 1: my hope is the one day I'm gonna be a
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Speaker 1: great guy.
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Speaker 2: You know, got you know, mature guy. I have some
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Speaker 2: things in common.
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Speaker 1: And ultimately I like for him to be a strong
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Speaker 1: Christian because my dad was a strong Christian. I'd like
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Speaker 1: to marry, you know, a Christian guy. But in the meantime,
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Speaker 1: I'll just go out with basically whoever asked me, if
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Speaker 1: you know, as long as he's cute, right or A
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Speaker 1: dad says, you know what, I want our family to
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Speaker 1: be a unit. I mean, I want us to be
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Speaker 1: family centric. I want the kids to want to be
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Speaker 1: together even when they don't have to be. I want
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Speaker 1: us to all want to be together even when we
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Speaker 1: don't have to be, even when they're older. I mean,
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Speaker 1: I want us to be a family unit. So in
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Speaker 1: the meantime, I'm just gonna work all the time and
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna say yes to extra trips or maybe you're
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Speaker 1: a grandparent. He's like, oh, yeah, I want to live
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Speaker 1: a long time so I can have a relationship with
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Speaker 1: my grandkids. But in the meantime, I'm gonna eat too
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Speaker 1: much and I'm gonna drink too much an exercise of
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Speaker 1: you know, that's for other people.
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Speaker 2: One day we're gonna be debt free. But in the.
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Speaker 1: Meantime, you know, debt is just a it's just a
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Speaker 1: way of life. Now, when I'm married, and of course,
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Speaker 1: when i'm married, I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna honor
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Speaker 1: my wife, right, I mean with these other girls that
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Speaker 1: I'm dating, I mean, they're not my wife, so it's different.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, I want my kids raised in church. Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: I was raised in church. My husband, my wife's kids,
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Speaker 1: you know, she was raised. Yeah, we want our children
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Speaker 1: raised in church. We want them to have a Christian foundation.
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Speaker 1: And when things settle down, when things aren't as busy busy,
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Speaker 1: you know, we'll get him in church.
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Speaker 2: Well. Of course, I want.
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Speaker 1: To have a great relationship with my husband, and you know,
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Speaker 1: once the kids are grown, I'm gonna make him the priority.
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Speaker 1: Once I meet the right person, I'll change. Once I
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Speaker 1: may make more money, I'll become generous. And yes, I
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Speaker 1: want to know that God is with me in the
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Speaker 1: tough times. I mean, I want to have that kind
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Speaker 1: of certainty. I've met people who go through really tough
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Speaker 1: times and I mean their faith is so big, their
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Speaker 1: faith is so rock solid. I have seen people just
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Speaker 1: face incredible things with extraordinary faith. And I want to
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Speaker 1: have that kind of faith. So when the bottom drops out,
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Speaker 1: I'll get serious about my faith. And it always gets
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Speaker 1: really quiet at this point in the message, because somebody's thinking, wow,
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Speaker 1: how did you know? Well, two things somebody always knows,
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Speaker 1: in fact, somebody has already tried to warn you. And
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Speaker 1: the other thing is this, you are unique, but your
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Speaker 1: story is not, and your path isn't either, and your
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Speaker 1: destination isn't either. Now about nine hundred BC. Okay, think
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Speaker 1: about that if you can. Nine hundred BC. A king
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Speaker 1: named Solomon that all of us have probably heard of.
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Speaker 1: He's the second king of Israel. There, excuse me, a
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Speaker 1: third king of Israel. There was Solove and David and Solomon,
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Speaker 1: and Solomon was David's son, and so as the third
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Speaker 1: king of Israel. Turns out, Solomon was very wise on paper,
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Speaker 1: he was textbook wise, he wasn't lived out wise. In fact,
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Speaker 1: at the end of his life he ignored all of
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Speaker 1: his advice. And his story does not end well. But
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Speaker 1: when he was writing and when he was thinking, he
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Speaker 1: was very, very wise, and he left the world with
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Speaker 1: wisdom literature. That's absolutely extraordinary.
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Speaker 2: And in the.
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Speaker 1: Document we call the Book of Proverbs that was part
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Speaker 1: of the Jewish scripture that then became part of our
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Speaker 1: English Bibles and was combined with our New Testament documents.
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Speaker 2: In the Book of Proverbs, he tells a parable. I
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Speaker 2: think it's a parable.
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Speaker 1: It could be a true story, but it's kind of
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Speaker 1: written in parable form, so I think it's a parable.
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Speaker 1: But he writes a parable to illustrate basically this principle
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Speaker 1: for a group of young men, and it involves a
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Speaker 1: young man as part of the parable, and then it
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Speaker 1: also involves another care just so, the two characters in
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Speaker 1: the parable are a naive young man and a seductive
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Speaker 1: married woman. Now, ladies, I just want to make sure
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Speaker 1: you understand. The point is not that all women are seducers.
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Speaker 1: That is not the point, okay. And his point is
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Speaker 1: not that all men are naive, but they might be
10:19
Speaker 1: so anyway that but that's not the point.
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Speaker 2: The point is here.
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Speaker 1: Here's Solomon's point. Solomon reminds us and this is this
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Speaker 1: is a big deal. Solomon reminds us that what oftentimes
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Speaker 1: is intended by us, and there's our word. He reminds
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Speaker 1: us oftentimes that what is intended by us to simply
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Speaker 1: be a diversion is actually a direction with an unintended destination.
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Speaker 1: This is why it is not enough to have good intentions.
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Speaker 1: They count for nothing. Your direction determines your destiny every
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Speaker 1: single time, in every single arena of life. So here's
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Speaker 1: how Solomon rolls this out. Here's what he says. He
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Speaker 1: says at the window, and again he's talking to young men.
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Speaker 1: He's kind of got a bunch of young men sitting around.
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Speaker 1: He's trying to teach them this lesson. And here's what
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Speaker 1: he says at the window of my house. So he's
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Speaker 1: got perspective.
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Speaker 2: He's up high. I look down through the lattice. I'm
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Speaker 2: kind of spying on this kid.
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Speaker 1: I look down through the lattice, and I saw, among
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Speaker 1: the simple or the naive, I noticed among the young men,
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Speaker 1: a youth who lacked judgment. Now, there's only two ways
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Speaker 1: to get judgment. You get judgment through time, and you
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Speaker 1: get judgment through experience. So here's this young kid who
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Speaker 1: hasn't had a lot of time, hasn't had a lot
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Speaker 1: of experience, so therefore he's naive. In other words, this
11:35
Speaker 1: explains why our parents got so much smarter as we
11:39
Speaker 1: got so much older, right, because as you grow and
11:42
Speaker 1: have more experience, you have better judgment.
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Speaker 2: You go, oh, that's why they said that.
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Speaker 1: He continues, He this kid was going down the street
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Speaker 1: near her corner. Everybody knows where she lives, walking along
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Speaker 1: in the there's our word, direction of her house.
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Speaker 2: At twilight.
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Speaker 1: He knew what was going on as the day was fading,
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Speaker 1: as the dark of night set in. So now we
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Speaker 1: have two different perspectives, the narrator and the naive young men.
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Speaker 1: And if there was music playing, there would be two
12:12
Speaker 1: very different soundtracks, because what this kid is hearing playing
12:15
Speaker 1: in the background of his mind is very different than
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Speaker 1: the Jaws music playing in the background of the narrator. Okay,
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Speaker 1: the text continues. Then out came a woman to meet him,
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Speaker 1: dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
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Speaker 2: She is unruly.
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Speaker 1: He blows this up. It's you know, there's hyperbole to
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Speaker 1: make his point. She is unruly and defiant. Her feet
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Speaker 1: never stay at home. Now in the street, now in
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Speaker 1: the squares at every corner she lurks, and she took
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Speaker 1: hold of him. She took hold of him, and she
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Speaker 1: kissed him, and with a brazen face, she said, and
12:49
Speaker 1: this is a little bit r rated. Okay, with a
12:52
Speaker 1: brazen face, she said, today I have fulfilled my vows
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Speaker 1: and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
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Speaker 2: Who come on, what in the world does that even mean?
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Speaker 1: It's like, hey, fellowship offerings.
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Speaker 2: Oh, I can't resist, you know.
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Speaker 1: So basically she's referring to some kind of religious ceremony.
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Speaker 1: We don't know if it's Jewish or Canaan I and
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Speaker 1: then nobody's.
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Speaker 2: Really clear, you know.
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Speaker 1: But her point is, hey, I'm not a bad person. Okay,
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Speaker 1: I went to the temple and I you know, I
13:26
Speaker 1: kind of went through the routine. You know, I made
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Speaker 1: a sacrifice. I emptied my sin bucket. Let's fill her
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Speaker 1: back up.
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Speaker 2: So now she gets real personal.
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Speaker 1: So I came out to meet you, not just anybody you.
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Speaker 1: I looked for you and have found you. And he's
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Speaker 1: thinking me, I'm special, and the narrator is thinking, no,
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Speaker 1: you're an idiot. The kids thinking I am one in
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Speaker 1: a million, and the narrators thinking, no, you are one
14:04
Speaker 1: of a million. She continues, I have covered my bed
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Speaker 1: with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed
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Speaker 1: with merh aloes and cinnamon. Now this is a really
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Speaker 1: big deal in this culture, which means nothing to us,
14:20
Speaker 1: and so let me just put it in context.
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Speaker 2: Context.
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Speaker 1: In ancient times, everything and everybody stank, stunk, smelled horrible,
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Speaker 1: and ancient times there everything smelled terrible. It smelled like manure,
14:36
Speaker 1: it smelled like body fluids.
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Speaker 2: It was horrible.
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Speaker 1: I mean, some of you been to parts of the
14:40
Speaker 1: world where I have where you smell where you're going
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Speaker 1: before you get there. Okay, that was just the way
14:46
Speaker 1: it was in the ancient world. I mean, they never
14:48
Speaker 1: brushed their teeth. There was no such thing as mouthwished,
14:50
Speaker 1: they didn't have soap. Only very wealthy people had anything
14:52
Speaker 1: that fell into those categories.
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Speaker 2: So everything smell horrible.
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Speaker 1: So what she's saying is, I'm gonna rescue you from
14:59
Speaker 1: the rescue you from.
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Speaker 2: This horrible, polluted world.
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Speaker 1: That you live in, and you're gonna come into an
15:03
Speaker 1: environment because apparently she's wealthy, as we find out in
15:06
Speaker 1: just a minute, and it's not only is it gonna
15:08
Speaker 1: feel good, it's gonna smell good.
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Speaker 2: It's gonna be perfect. So come, she.
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Speaker 1: Says, let's drink deeply of love till morning. Let's enjoy
15:17
Speaker 1: ourselves with love. And then she reads his mind, which
15:24
Speaker 1: is not all that difficult.
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Speaker 2: But don't worry. My husband is not at home.
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Speaker 1: He has gone on a long journey, and he has
15:35
Speaker 1: taken his purse, which is confusing. So we're gonna switch
15:46
Speaker 1: from the new International version to the new American Standard
15:49
Speaker 1: version at this point to gain a little clarity. Lest
15:52
Speaker 1: you think that explains why she's out on them. Okay, anyway,
15:54
Speaker 1: So my husband is not at home. He has gone
15:57
Speaker 1: on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money.
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Speaker 1: Oh that's what we're talking about, a bag of money
16:02
Speaker 1: with him. In other words, he's you know, he's gonna
16:04
Speaker 1: be gone a long time. He has taken a bag
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Speaker 1: of money with him and will not be home.
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Speaker 2: Till full moon. We got time. So here's the message.
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Speaker 1: I mean, there's no consequence if we don't get caught, right,
16:20
Speaker 1: there's no consequence if nobody knows, right. I mean, you
16:24
Speaker 1: can do the wrong things and things turn out right, right.
16:28
Speaker 2: You can do the wrong.
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Speaker 1: Things and things turn out right, right. I can take
16:32
Speaker 1: a wrong turn. I can take a wrong turn and
16:35
Speaker 1: not end up where the path is leading. Isn't that correct?
16:38
Speaker 1: I can take a wrong turn without actually going the
16:41
Speaker 1: wrong way. Right with persuasive words, she led him astray,
16:48
Speaker 1: She seduced him with her smooth talk, and then all
16:52
Speaker 1: at once, all at once, he followed her. Now he's thinking, yeah,
16:57
Speaker 1: I followed her. I'm like a like a salt celebrity,
17:01
Speaker 1: passed all the lines outside the club, right up to
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Speaker 1: the door, pass.
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Speaker 2: The bouncer to the best seat in house. He followed her.
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Speaker 2: The narrators like, nah, like an ox going to slaughter,
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Speaker 2: to the slaughter. So wait a minute, what do you
17:17
Speaker 2: means slaughter?
17:18
Speaker 1: I mean this is like the greatest moment ever, right,
17:20
Speaker 1: I mean this is perfect an ox of Solomon. You
17:23
Speaker 1: are so old fashioned you just don't get it.
17:25
Speaker 2: Gramps.
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Speaker 1: Solomon's like, I'm not even done, Like a deer stepping
17:30
Speaker 1: into a news till an arrow pierces his liver. Oh, Solomon,
17:34
Speaker 1: you are such a drama queen. Just relax. I mean,
17:38
Speaker 1: this is just one night. It's just a diversion. I mean,
17:40
Speaker 1: you're making such a big deal out of this. Solomon
17:42
Speaker 1: still not done, Like a.
17:44
Speaker 2: Bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost
17:48
Speaker 2: him his life. Oh grief, Solomon.
17:51
Speaker 1: Come on, it's not gonna cost me anything. I mean,
17:53
Speaker 1: it may cost me a little money, it may cost
17:55
Speaker 1: me a little time.
17:56
Speaker 2: Nobody's really gonna know.
17:59
Speaker 1: Then the narrator Solomon pulls out of his parable and
18:02
Speaker 1: he addresses the young men who are in his presence.
18:05
Speaker 1: He speaks directly to them. He says, Now, then my sons, again,
18:10
Speaker 1: he's out of the parable. Now, then, my son's listen
18:13
Speaker 1: to me. Pay attention to what I say. Do not
18:16
Speaker 1: let your heart turn to her ways or straight into
18:21
Speaker 1: her paths. It's say, wait a minute, ways and paths,
18:25
Speaker 1: I mean, this is this wasn't about a way or
18:28
Speaker 1: a path.
18:28
Speaker 2: This was just a This was just a diversion. I mean,
18:31
Speaker 2: now is now, and later is later. The past is
18:34
Speaker 2: the past, the present is the present, and the future
18:36
Speaker 2: is the future. I mean, what do you mean paths
18:38
Speaker 2: and ways?
18:40
Speaker 1: Many, many, many aren't the victims she is brought down.
18:45
Speaker 1: You're not one in a million. You're one of a
18:47
Speaker 1: million brought down. Her slain are a mighty throng. Now
18:52
Speaker 1: we'll come back to this in just a second, do
18:55
Speaker 1: you know why counselors are so smart? Oh, they're educated,
18:59
Speaker 1: and they're they're good at their craft. Do you know
19:01
Speaker 1: why they just appear so smart? I mean, you walk
19:03
Speaker 1: in to see a counselor and you start telling them
19:05
Speaker 1: your story and they listen and they write notes. You
19:06
Speaker 1: know what they're writing. They're writing the grocery list. It's like, yeah,
19:09
Speaker 1: make sure you.
19:10
Speaker 2: Pick up because you're telling your story.
19:12
Speaker 1: And I'm just kidding. Oh, I don't know what they're writing,
19:14
Speaker 1: but I'm and I'm all for counseling, okay, and counselors
19:17
Speaker 1: in fact, in fact, I'll just tell you.
19:18
Speaker 2: Something kind of odd. Don't tell anybody this, but I.
19:22
Speaker 1: Run into counselors all over the city all the time,
19:24
Speaker 1: and either they recognize me or they ask me what
19:26
Speaker 1: I do. And I find when they find out that
19:28
Speaker 1: I'm pastor of all these churches, without thinking, it comes
19:31
Speaker 1: out before they catch themselves. They say, oh, so many
19:34
Speaker 1: people from your church come to see me.
19:38
Speaker 2: I'm not making this up. I have heard that for years.
19:41
Speaker 1: Oh North Point, so many people from oh yeah, Gwinnett Church.
19:45
Speaker 2: We have.
19:45
Speaker 1: I have several clients from Genett Church.
19:47
Speaker 2: And then I think as.
19:47
Speaker 1: They're staying there, realizing I probably shouldn't be saying that,
19:51
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, I'm just so happy for you that
19:53
Speaker 1: we're able to shovel all the trouble people your way,
19:56
Speaker 1: because apparently I'm not doing a very good job or
19:59
Speaker 1: not getting anything what I'm saying, Oh, but we're so
20:01
Speaker 1: grateful you kind of collect them and then you send
20:03
Speaker 1: them our way to get fixed.
20:04
Speaker 2: You know.
20:05
Speaker 1: But ging it back to my point, do you know
20:07
Speaker 1: why counselors appear to be so smart. It's because we
20:12
Speaker 1: are so predictable, because your direction has a destination tied
20:19
Speaker 1: to it. And you get in to see a counselor
20:21
Speaker 1: or a pastor or somebody or even just a trusted friend,
20:24
Speaker 1: and you're telling your.
20:25
Speaker 2: Problem and this happened, this happened, that she said this,
20:27
Speaker 2: And now we're in a.
20:28
Speaker 1: Mess, and I'm looking.
20:29
Speaker 2: For a solution.
20:30
Speaker 1: As we talked about last week, I'm looking for a fix,
20:32
Speaker 1: and a good counselor knows there's no solution. There's no fix,
20:36
Speaker 1: there's just direction, and the solution isn't here. You know,
20:40
Speaker 1: just do these two things, and you know, stop doing
20:42
Speaker 1: this to these two things.
20:43
Speaker 2: A solution doesn't just read a book.
20:45
Speaker 1: The solution ultimately is a change of direction, and you
20:49
Speaker 1: can't instantly do that.
20:51
Speaker 2: That's not an overnight thing. It's a process.
20:53
Speaker 1: Just like the process got you where you aren't don't
20:55
Speaker 1: want to be, there's a process that gets you to
20:57
Speaker 1: where you do want to be, and when you change direction,
21:02
Speaker 1: things change. This is Solomon's point that what began as
21:09
Speaker 1: a simple sidebar kind of a diversion. We didn't know what,
21:13
Speaker 1: you didn't know it. It was actually a pathway that
21:16
Speaker 1: led somewhere. Listen to what he says next, in case
21:19
Speaker 1: you know you think I'm exaggerating this. Her house, he says,
21:23
Speaker 1: her house is a highway. Her house isn't a highway.
21:26
Speaker 1: Her house is a house. A house is a house. No,
21:29
Speaker 1: her house is a highway. You mean it's on the highway. No,
21:31
Speaker 1: I mean it is a highway. Wait wait, how can
21:35
Speaker 1: a house be a highway? Because her house and everything
21:39
Speaker 1: associated with it is taking you somewhere, and some of
21:46
Speaker 1: us have some houses that are highways that have nothing
21:50
Speaker 1: to do with anything sexual, or it might that we
21:54
Speaker 1: just think it's a pastime, it's a diversion. It's just
21:56
Speaker 1: what we do. It's just, you know, I'm only twenty five.
21:57
Speaker 1: You know, we've only been married for a year. I mean,
22:00
Speaker 1: I got plenty of time. It's a house, and you're
22:03
Speaker 1: heavenly following us.
22:04
Speaker 2: Say no, it's a highway.
22:07
Speaker 1: Her house appeared to be a pastime. It turned out
22:13
Speaker 1: to be a pathway. It was actually taking him somewhere again,
22:18
Speaker 1: back to where we started.
22:19
Speaker 2: You are unique, I'll grant you that.
22:21
Speaker 1: And as much as you don't want to hear this,
22:22
Speaker 1: your experience is not all that unique, and neither is
22:26
Speaker 1: your path, and the destination isn't either. It is predictable,
22:33
Speaker 1: and it's predictable to somebody, and it's predictable to somebody
22:37
Speaker 1: who's probably tried to point it out.
22:40
Speaker 2: But you can't. You just can't seem or you just
22:45
Speaker 2: don't want to hear it.
22:46
Speaker 1: Somebody who can see what you don't see or in reality,
22:50
Speaker 1: most of the time, if we're honest, isn't this true?
22:52
Speaker 2: More than likely it's somebody who can see what you
22:55
Speaker 2: won't see.
22:57
Speaker 1: And the reason they keep bringing this front and center
22:59
Speaker 1: for you, the reason they keep writing you those notes.
23:02
Speaker 1: Every once in a while, they just kind of give
23:03
Speaker 1: you that look. Every once in a while you feel
23:05
Speaker 1: like they want to talk to you about something, but
23:07
Speaker 1: you know and you know what it is, but they
23:08
Speaker 1: don't want to bring it up, because there we go again.
23:12
Speaker 2: The reason is because.
23:13
Speaker 1: They don't want, and I don't want, and your heavenly
23:17
Speaker 1: father doesn't want. And at the end of the day,
23:19
Speaker 1: you don't want to be a victim of the disconnect
23:22
Speaker 1: between your intention and your direction, your intention and your direction,
23:28
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, it's not your intention,
23:31
Speaker 1: it's your direction that determines your destination. So we're going
23:34
Speaker 1: to add a word to our definition of the principle
23:37
Speaker 1: of the path. Direction, not intention, determines destination. Direction, not
23:45
Speaker 1: intention determines destination. Direction, not intention, determines your destination. Now,
23:52
Speaker 1: I know what you think you think, okay, Andy, I
23:54
Speaker 1: don't know where you live.
23:55
Speaker 2: I know what you think I'll live.
23:56
Speaker 1: You think I just live here, right, and I just
23:58
Speaker 1: wait for y'all to come every week, you know, and
24:00
Speaker 1: they put me in a closet and then they wind
24:01
Speaker 1: me up on Saturday night to stick me out here.
24:03
Speaker 2: You know.
24:04
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know where you live. You probably
24:06
Speaker 1: have no social life. You don't live in the world
24:07
Speaker 1: I live in. You don't face what I face and
24:09
Speaker 1: so andy to be honest, I'm just super honest with you.
24:11
Speaker 1: It sounds to me like you're just trying to take
24:13
Speaker 1: away all my fun. No, I'm just trying to take
24:17
Speaker 1: away some of your fun, not all of your fun.
24:20
Speaker 1: And I'm really not trying to take away anything. I
24:23
Speaker 1: really want to give you something. And it's not me.
24:24
Speaker 1: It's our father in heaven who gave us this incredible
24:27
Speaker 1: literature right and then combined it with what Jesus would do,
24:30
Speaker 1: you know, some one hundred a thousand years later. I mean,
24:32
Speaker 1: it's just fantastic. And jesus invitation was always to better life,
24:37
Speaker 1: not less life. And what Jesus offered and what our
24:40
Speaker 1: heavenly father offers and what I'm trying to offer today
24:43
Speaker 1: on their behalf, isn't. I don't want to take something away.
24:48
Speaker 1: I actually want to add something. So to do that,
24:52
Speaker 1: I want to give you a homework assignment. You won't
24:53
Speaker 1: need to write this down.
24:54
Speaker 2: I think you'll be able to remember it.
24:56
Speaker 1: So this is what I would love for you to
24:57
Speaker 1: do when you go home at some point by yourself
25:00
Speaker 1: or maybe as a couple. If you know, if you're
25:02
Speaker 1: if you you're a part of a couple It won't
25:05
Speaker 1: take very long, and it's gonna set us up for
25:07
Speaker 1: where we're going next week.
25:08
Speaker 2: But I would love for you to go home and
25:09
Speaker 2: find an empty box.
25:12
Speaker 1: And your empty box will probably have the word prime
25:16
Speaker 1: on it. Okay, And if you don't have one yet,
25:23
Speaker 1: just wait a couple days.
25:25
Speaker 2: It's coming.
25:27
Speaker 1: And isn't it awesome because when it arrives, you won't
25:30
Speaker 1: even remember what's in it. It's like Christmas. Every week, Oh,
25:34
Speaker 1: I got a package?
25:35
Speaker 2: What is it? I can't remember.
25:37
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to see what I ordered because I've
25:40
Speaker 1: ordered so much stuff I just can't even keep up. Sorry, Okay,
25:47
Speaker 1: so just wait a couple of days, you'll have an
25:49
Speaker 1: empty box. I want you to get an empty box.
25:51
Speaker 1: That's step one, okay, and open it up. And then
25:54
Speaker 1: I want you to collect all the fun you've had
25:58
Speaker 1: and put it in the box.
26:00
Speaker 2: You just put all the fun from the past in
26:03
Speaker 2: the box.
26:03
Speaker 1: Then I want you to collect all the money that
26:06
Speaker 1: you've wasted and put that in the box.
26:09
Speaker 2: With all the fun you've had.
26:11
Speaker 1: And then step number four is I just want you
26:13
Speaker 1: or y'all to just, you know, just stare at it.
26:21
Speaker 2: And then I.
26:23
Speaker 1: Want you to push back from the table or the
26:25
Speaker 1: countertop or wherever you are, and I want you to
26:28
Speaker 1: think about something.
26:30
Speaker 2: I want you to think back to your.
26:32
Speaker 1: Most generous moment, that time there was somebody in need,
26:38
Speaker 1: maybe a family member, maybe a neighbor, maybe you heard something,
26:40
Speaker 1: you know, one of our churches, and you didn't have
26:43
Speaker 1: any margin, you didn't have a lot of money, but
26:45
Speaker 1: you just thought, you know what, even if we have
26:47
Speaker 1: to go without, we have to do something about that.
26:50
Speaker 2: I want you to remember that moment.
26:51
Speaker 1: Sandra and I have some wonderful generous moments, especially early
26:55
Speaker 1: on in our marriage, where we just felt that just
26:58
Speaker 1: felt compelled, and you know, we just looked at each other.
27:00
Speaker 1: We just knew, you know what, we gotta do this.
27:02
Speaker 2: I don't know how we're gonna do this, but we
27:03
Speaker 2: just have to do this.
27:04
Speaker 1: And every time we think back over those stories, she
27:08
Speaker 1: would tell you, and you know from personal experience.
27:11
Speaker 2: It's emotional.
27:13
Speaker 1: I mean, it is so emotional to think that we
27:15
Speaker 1: felt the nudge maybe of the Holy Spirit to do
27:18
Speaker 1: something we couldn't necessarily afford to do, and we did
27:20
Speaker 1: it anyway. And of course we don't miss the money
27:22
Speaker 1: because as time goes by. It's just I want you
27:25
Speaker 1: to think back to that moment or those moments, and
27:27
Speaker 1: if you don't have any, that's part of the point
27:29
Speaker 1: of all this. But I want you to think back
27:31
Speaker 1: to those generous moments. I want you to think back
27:34
Speaker 1: to some of your more selfless days, those days when
27:37
Speaker 1: you could have done something for you and instead you
27:38
Speaker 1: gave up that Saturday and you went over there and
27:41
Speaker 1: helped that neighbor. You wouldn't help that person, or you
27:43
Speaker 1: went down we're part of a habitat build, or you
27:46
Speaker 1: just you went and did something. You went and fed
27:47
Speaker 1: some people, or you went and collected some clothes, or
27:49
Speaker 1: you packed a backpack for some kids. You gave up
27:52
Speaker 1: time that you were gonna spend on you for somebody else.
27:54
Speaker 1: I want you to just think, as you're looking at
27:56
Speaker 1: that empty box, to think about some of those things,
27:58
Speaker 1: that time that you said no to you so you
28:01
Speaker 1: could say yes to somebody else. And then I just
28:05
Speaker 1: want you to ask yourself this question, what.
28:08
Speaker 2: Do you want more of? What do you want more of?
28:13
Speaker 1: Just memories of fun that aren't even all that emotional
28:16
Speaker 1: until you conjure them up, memories of money you've wasted
28:20
Speaker 1: and you have nothing to I mean less than nothing
28:24
Speaker 1: to show for it.
28:24
Speaker 2: In some cases you have debt to show for it.
28:27
Speaker 1: Or do you want more memories that elicit emotions of,
28:30
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, that was like the greatest day or
28:32
Speaker 1: some of the greatest days to remember that and it
28:34
Speaker 1: just brings emotion? Which one do you always want? Do
28:36
Speaker 1: you want more of? And here's my point. Fun fun
28:42
Speaker 1: is always in the rear view mirror, even the right
28:47
Speaker 1: kind of fun. But satisfaction is a traveling companion. It
28:54
Speaker 1: sits in the passenger seat every single day of your life.
29:02
Speaker 2: And satisfaction that sense of.
29:08
Speaker 1: This is how I intended for life to be, This
29:13
Speaker 1: is how I intended our marriage to be, This is
29:16
Speaker 1: how I intended our.
29:18
Speaker 2: World to be.
29:19
Speaker 1: Satisfaction is always the result of arriving.
29:24
Speaker 2: Where you intended to be. But satisfaction, satisfaction eludes the
29:32
Speaker 2: people who live as if life isn't connected. So maybe
29:39
Speaker 2: it's time.
29:40
Speaker 1: Maybe it's time for a little less fun, but a
29:44
Speaker 1: little more joy, a little more peace, a little more.
29:50
Speaker 2: Satisfaction.
29:52
Speaker 1: And the path you choose makes all the difference. And
29:58
Speaker 1: the reason I really for some of you want you
30:01
Speaker 1: to get a box is because you are moving in
30:04
Speaker 1: a direction, and you know it's not a happy ending.
30:07
Speaker 2: You're happy now, but you know.
30:09
Speaker 1: You just can't keep doing this. You can't keep living
30:11
Speaker 1: this way. You can't keep treating her that way. You
30:14
Speaker 1: can't keep talking to him.
30:15
Speaker 2: Why that you you.
30:16
Speaker 1: Know this, At the end of this path, it's not
30:18
Speaker 1: where you intend to be. It's time to start a
30:21
Speaker 1: really sharp you turn turn. And I hope that maybe
30:23
Speaker 1: this little silly exercise will remind you, you know what, at
30:26
Speaker 1: the end of the path I'm on, I'm just gonna
30:28
Speaker 1: have more empty box, but I'm not gonna have any
30:34
Speaker 1: satisfaction because you only find satisfaction.
30:39
Speaker 2: When you arrive at where you intended to be. This
30:43
Speaker 2: is why what Jesus taught is so remarkable.
30:48
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many things. Come to me, all
30:51
Speaker 1: who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
30:54
Speaker 1: you rest. You take my yoke, and you know what
30:58
Speaker 1: you're gonna find. You're gonna find this is it's so amazing.
31:00
Speaker 1: You will find.
31:01
Speaker 2: Rest, satisfaction for your souls.
31:07
Speaker 1: Follow me, Jesus said, and I'm going to lead you
31:10
Speaker 1: to abundant life, big life, fulfilling life. The apostle Paul
31:14
Speaker 1: would come back later and say, since following Jesus, I
31:18
Speaker 1: have learned the secret. I have learned the secret of
31:22
Speaker 1: being content in every single circumstance. I have learned the
31:26
Speaker 1: secret of finding satisfaction even when I don't have anything.
31:34
Speaker 1: That is the invitation of your heavenly Father. But it
31:38
Speaker 1: will require of you, and require of me, that we
31:41
Speaker 1: begin living in a different direction, because direction, not intention,
31:49
Speaker 1: ultimately determines our destination. So let me ask you, and
31:54
Speaker 1: that we're done, are you living in the wrong direction?
32:00
Speaker 2: Are you living in the wrong direction? It's some capacity,
32:03
Speaker 2: has somebody.
32:04
Speaker 1: Even trying to warn you, and you just think they're
32:06
Speaker 1: trying to take away your fun. And your heavenly Father
32:09
Speaker 1: has spoken to you today to say, no, I'm not
32:11
Speaker 1: trying to take you away your fun. I'm trying to
32:12
Speaker 1: give you more of what life is all about, a
32:14
Speaker 1: sense of satisfaction. Does your direction, here's the real question.
32:19
Speaker 2: Does your come on?
32:20
Speaker 1: Does your direction line up with your intention? Does your
32:24
Speaker 1: direction line up with your intention?
32:27
Speaker 2: I know you know what you intend life to be like,
32:29
Speaker 2: you know how you intend this to work out and
32:31
Speaker 2: to end up. Is your life lined up as your
32:34
Speaker 2: direction lined.
32:35
Speaker 1: Up with your intention? And if not, would you be
32:39
Speaker 1: willing to consider changing and living in the right direction.
32:43
Speaker 1: And here's what I don't want you to do. Okay,
32:45
Speaker 1: I don't want you to leave here today or shut
32:48
Speaker 1: off your computer or shut off your television and say, oh.
32:51
Speaker 2: That was so convicting. He's so smart. How do you
32:55
Speaker 2: know I really need to do something about that. That
32:57
Speaker 2: was so religious.
32:58
Speaker 1: I felt so bad about myself and I've felt close
33:01
Speaker 1: to God. Wow, that'll do that. That's just unapplied. Pain
33:05
Speaker 1: doesn't do any good. Doing is what makes the difference.
33:10
Speaker 1: And the invitation isn't simply to believe something. The invitation
33:14
Speaker 1: isn't to agree with me. The invitation is to change
33:19
Speaker 1: the direction you're living in. And that's what your heavenly
33:22
Speaker 1: father has invited you to do. So would you begin
33:28
Speaker 1: making that hard?
33:30
Speaker 2: You turn.
33:31
Speaker 1: People won't understand, Your family won't understand. People at work
33:34
Speaker 1: may not understand your broken up boyfriend or you're broken
33:36
Speaker 1: up girlfriend. They're really not going to understand You're what
33:40
Speaker 1: becomes your ex fiance. He's not going to understand. She's
33:43
Speaker 1: not going to necessarily understand. But if you know, you
33:47
Speaker 1: gotta go. And if you know what your heavenly father
33:51
Speaker 1: is nudging.
33:52
Speaker 2: You and urging you to do.
33:53
Speaker 1: Don't say no to your father in heaven because at
33:59
Speaker 1: the end of the day, with when you believe this
34:00
Speaker 1: or not, whether you leverage it or not, remember it's
34:02
Speaker 1: a principle.
34:03
Speaker 2: You don't apply a principle.
34:05
Speaker 1: Principles apply themselves to you, and regardless of whether you
34:09
Speaker 1: believe it or not, your direction, not your intention, is
34:13
Speaker 1: determining at this very moment, your ultimate destination. So would
34:21
Speaker 1: you begin this week living in a different direction