Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - August 15, 2023


Ep 856 ｜ Can Christians Burn Sage & Collect Crystals？ ｜ Q&A


Episode Stats


Length

35 minutes

Words per minute

177.55428

Word count

6,226

Sentence count

416

Harmful content

Misogyny

12

sentences flagged

Hate speech

14

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of Relatable, Allie answers a listener question about which fast food restaurants are better, Qdoba or Chipotle. She also talks about what it's like to not be able to wash your hair every day.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 What are my thoughts on burning sage and collecting crystals?
00:00:04.780 Am I optimistic or am I pessimistic about the future of the country?
00:00:10.060 Would I rather eat Moe's Chipotle or Qdoba?
00:00:14.420 Who is my favorite superhero?
00:00:16.100 What's my encouragement for Christian public school teachers?
00:00:19.020 We are answering all of these questions and many, many more on today's episode of Relatable,
00:00:23.840 which is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
00:00:26.660 Go to goodranchers.com.
00:00:28.720 Use code Allie at checkout. 1.00
00:00:29.680 That's goodranchers.com.
00:00:30.940 Code Allie. 1.00
00:00:40.900 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable.
00:00:43.960 So I'm answering some of the questions that you guys sent me on Instagram today.
00:00:48.460 I always love, I always love taking in your questions.
00:00:52.060 A wide range.
00:00:53.460 We'll be talking about some serious stuff, some not so serious stuff.
00:00:56.840 I'll start with the not so serious question.
00:00:58.760 Well, serious to me because I care so much about Mexican food and what kind of food I consume.
00:01:05.700 So this is a very important question to me, but I understand maybe not consequential to
00:01:09.560 everyone listening to this.
00:01:10.940 Nevertheless, I want to answer it because it's a good one.
00:01:13.320 Okay.
00:01:13.600 A question that I got.
00:01:14.620 Chipotle, Qdoba, or Moe's?
00:01:16.540 All right.
00:01:17.140 Moe's is terrible. 1.00
00:01:18.540 So let's just put that out there.
00:01:20.320 Moe's is not good. 1.00
00:01:21.720 It shouldn't even be in the same realm of conversation with Qdoba and Chipotle.
00:01:27.660 Now, I will say same thing with, so I used to live in Athens, Georgia, and there was like
00:01:32.980 a Barbaritos, I think.
00:01:35.980 And there were some other, I can't remember the names.
00:01:38.100 There were some other competitors there.
00:01:39.860 And people in the Southeast like Moe's. 0.69
00:01:42.920 I went to school in Greenville, South Carolina at a small school there.
00:01:46.480 We had a Moe's on campus and people thought Moe's was so good.
00:01:50.520 But as someone who was born and raised in Texas, no, no, no welcome to Moe's for me.
00:01:56.540 So, okay.
00:01:57.060 Chipotle and Qdoba.
00:01:58.020 I have been a Qdoba diehard fan my whole life.
00:02:02.860 However, Chipotle is what is accessible to me now.
00:02:06.840 And I do have Chipotle more than I have Qdoba.
00:02:09.600 But if you're looking, like you got to look at a few different things here.
00:02:12.720 And I think the main thing that you really have to look at if you're looking for what
00:02:16.580 is the best fast Tex-Mex, if you don't know what I'm talking about, if you live in like
00:02:20.480 Minnesota or something and you don't know what Qdoba is, we're talking about fast Tex-Mex
00:02:25.000 type things where you just, you know, you walk in, I guess maybe I'll have Chipotle.
00:02:29.020 But all right.
00:02:30.480 So Qdoba has way better queso.
00:02:33.360 And that I think is a really good indication of what kind of quality you're getting.
00:02:37.720 Whereas Chipotle just added queso.
00:02:41.920 And for those of you in the Southeast, we're talking about cheese dip.
00:02:44.600 Okay.
00:02:45.200 Talking about cheese dip.
00:02:46.360 It's called queso.
00:02:48.560 I would say that Chipotle still has not mastered the queso.
00:02:53.640 It's still gross.
00:02:55.360 And therefore, like I probably have to rate Qdoba better than Chipotle, even though I eat
00:03:01.080 Chipotle a lot more than I eat Qdoba because that's just what I have access to now.
00:03:05.080 Um, so yeah, that's, that's my ranking.
00:03:08.080 I'm sure I offended a whole lot of you.
00:03:10.840 If Mo is out there, I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, but your restaurant just isn't
00:03:15.240 as good as Qdoba or for, or Chipotle.
00:03:19.320 And it's Qdoba, by the way, it's not Qdoba.
00:03:22.600 It's Qdoba.
00:03:23.380 All of this.
00:03:24.080 Very, very important.
00:03:25.300 Um, all right, let's look at some more questions, maybe some more serious questions, although
00:03:30.660 you never, you never really know.
00:03:32.660 Oh, this is a good question.
00:03:34.000 How many times a week do you wash your hair?
00:03:37.500 Two, probably two times a week.
00:03:40.340 Definitely not every day.
00:03:41.980 It's not really great for your hair to wash it every day.
00:03:45.280 My hair color, I guess, is kind of the hair color that you can get away with not washing
00:03:50.120 it every day.
00:03:50.600 We also, life hack, if you are trying to be like a little more natural, you don't want
00:03:56.860 to wash your hair every day, but you don't really like all of the ingredients in, um,
00:04:02.000 in dry shampoo, which I mean, moms live and die by dry shampoo. 1.00
00:04:07.640 It's how you get through the week without looking like a complete and total trash person,
00:04:11.480 but it's not really that great for you.
00:04:13.620 So you can get arrowroot powder from, uh, like sprouts, whole foods.
00:04:20.600 You know, health food stores and it's, you know, a kind of powder that I think people
00:04:26.080 replace flour with.
00:04:28.520 And yet, if you put it in your hair, it disappears.
00:04:30.660 So you don't look like George Washington forever, but it does soak up the grease in your
00:04:36.300 hair.
00:04:36.600 So sometimes that's what I'll use because no one has time.
00:04:39.220 I don't have time to wash my hair that many times a week.
00:04:42.460 And I don't think it's that great for you.
00:04:44.620 Sometimes I know not everyone can do this, but sometimes I'll get my hair blown out.
00:04:48.700 And that is an amazing gift.
00:04:50.580 And I absolutely love getting my hair blown out, even though I'm very tender headed and
00:04:54.200 it's not a fun process for me.
00:04:55.880 I still love doing it because that stuff lasts for a really long time.
00:05:01.300 I mean, if I could do that, like all the time I would, that is also a life hack.
00:05:06.000 If you can go get your hair blown out, make them wash it twice.
00:05:10.160 That'll last you.
00:05:11.060 So yeah, the answer is about twice a week.
00:05:27.720 Next question, more serious question, change of pace here.
00:05:31.960 It's how we do it on Relatable.
00:05:33.560 How to deal with discontentment as a young person desiring stability.
00:05:37.860 So first of all, I just want to tell you that it is normal human nature.
00:05:42.560 It is an innate drive to want stability and security.
00:05:47.140 And it's very important in our lives.
00:05:48.920 I've kind of talked about, I think I talked about this maybe at the beginning of the new
00:05:53.000 year, how there is part of us who really wants change.
00:05:56.020 Like we require seasons.
00:05:57.860 That's why COVID was really hard, especially for those of you who lived in those blue states,
00:06:02.560 not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, not knowing when normalcy was going to come.
00:06:06.900 And not knowing when things were really going to change.
00:06:10.080 Like we were constantly put, like this carrot was put in front of us, like by Easter, by
00:06:14.580 summer, by Christmas, by next year.
00:06:17.360 And we felt like we were just surviving on the prospect of future normalcy.
00:06:24.200 And so we like really desire that change.
00:06:26.480 We really need some kind of movement forward.
00:06:30.360 Human beings don't exist well in just kind of this static state.
00:06:34.020 That's why when you think about the Chronicles of Narnia, when you think about the Lion,
00:06:37.700 the Witch, and the Wardrobe, how awful it was for the creatures in Narnia to be cursed
00:06:43.160 with a perpetual winter without any Christmas.
00:06:46.000 Think about being placed in perpetual darkness, perpetual cold without any hope of season.
00:06:50.840 So God created seasons.
00:06:52.160 He created us to need those seasons, to need those cycles, to need those changes, to need
00:06:56.560 to age, to need different stages of life.
00:06:58.980 But at the same time, we don't do well with chaos.
00:07:01.840 So there is a difference between needing necessary change and a turning of seasons and chaos and
00:07:08.560 unpredictability.
00:07:11.300 We like the change, but we need it to be predictable.
00:07:13.820 We need things to hold us down.
00:07:15.740 We need family.
00:07:17.020 We need community.
00:07:18.360 We need a daily routine.
00:07:20.300 We need a home.
00:07:21.600 We need that kind of security and protection.
00:07:24.260 We need to know where our next meal is coming from.
00:07:27.540 Human beings have craved these things, have sought these things, have built entire civilizations
00:07:32.000 and societies based on human beings' need for this kind of protection and stability and
00:07:37.340 security.
00:07:38.480 So just understand, if you are discontent because you need stability, I don't know exactly
00:07:42.720 what that means in your life.
00:07:44.400 Understand, part of that is human nature.
00:07:47.820 You have a natural human longing for that.
00:07:51.280 But, and again, I don't know all of the factors contributing to the instability in your
00:07:55.980 life.
00:07:56.500 Maybe you're talking about you want to get married, you want to have kids, you want a
00:08:00.180 stable job, or maybe you're younger and you just wish your parents created a kind of stable
00:08:04.860 home for you.
00:08:05.480 And all of these things right now may feel like they're out of your control.
00:08:08.400 So really, what can you do to contribute to the stability in your life?
00:08:13.440 Can you join a local church?
00:08:15.220 Can you find a group of friends at that local church or a Bible study that you can plug into?
00:08:19.820 Can you create a daily routine in your life that gives you some kind of regimen and predictability?
00:08:28.340 And then, of course, just reminding yourself, which we have to do every day in a variety
00:08:32.380 of ways for a variety of reasons, preaching the gospel to yourself.
00:08:36.300 Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
00:08:39.820 That's what Hebrews 13 says.
00:08:41.420 And so while we need these changes in seasons, we also need a solid rock on which we can place
00:08:48.000 our feet, and that solid rock is Christ.
00:08:50.600 So even when your life or the world is in chaos, even when you can't predict anything,
00:08:57.220 we can have the same peace that Jesus had when he was sleeping on the ship in the midst of
00:09:02.820 the storm with his disciples.
00:09:04.640 Because we trust in that God.
00:09:06.940 We have that power, that spirit of God within us that calms the waves and calms the seas.
00:09:14.240 And so knowing who we are in Christ, knowing that we belong to him, that our purpose is
00:09:19.240 wrapped up in him, that our identity and everything that we are and everything that we need is found
00:09:24.760 in him.
00:09:25.180 Like, I encourage you to go read Matthew 10.
00:09:28.340 I encourage you to go read Jesus's words about worry, about anxiety, about looking to him
00:09:34.800 for everything that we need.
00:09:36.120 If God clothes the lilies of the field and the grass of the pasture, all of these things
00:09:43.100 are here today and gone tomorrow.
00:09:45.120 If he cares about the flight and the plight of sparrows, two of which are sold for a penny,
00:09:53.260 then how much more does he care about us, people who are made in the image of God?
00:09:57.460 So I just encourage you to preach those things to yourself in addition to trying to find ways
00:10:02.720 to create stability and predictability in your own life.
00:10:06.340 Because again, that is a natural desire.
00:10:09.100 All right.
00:10:09.740 Next question.
00:10:11.160 Thoughts on burning sage.
00:10:13.480 So I totally understand why you're asking this.
00:10:16.760 Witchcraft is something that has become very popular, especially among millennials and young
00:10:21.940 people.
00:10:22.280 We did an episode on this a couple of years ago, why millennials are engaging in witchcraft, 1.00
00:10:27.740 why this has become a thing on TikTok.
00:10:30.520 There's something called witch talk where they talk about, you know, casting spells and all
00:10:34.940 the different things that come with witchcraft.
00:10:37.160 And it's part of the new age.
00:10:38.560 And it's really become very commercial in our capitalistic society.
00:10:43.060 I'm not hating on capitalism.
00:10:44.300 This is just how it is.
00:10:46.220 The supply and demand things become very commercialized.
00:10:49.020 Even niche things become commercialized.
00:10:50.880 Even demonic things become commercialized.
00:10:52.620 So now you can walk into Barnes and Noble and you see like spell books and you see tarot
00:10:59.020 cards and you see Ouija boards and all of those things, which really should be cast into the
00:11:05.600 outer darkness and really shouldn't be accessible, especially to young people at all.
00:11:10.040 Because while we can laugh at them, demonic forces are real and can use these things to
00:11:17.340 really darken people's minds and to really harm people and to trap people in this kind,
00:11:25.040 a form of, a form of, we could get into the theology of all of this, but a form of demonic
00:11:30.240 possession in at least in that someone is following the print of the power of the air rather
00:11:36.800 than the Holy Spirit, as Ephesians 2 distinguishes.
00:11:40.840 So burning sage is kind of a part of this witchcraft culture. 0.99
00:11:44.940 However, I also want to remind you that like God made sage.
00:11:48.800 God made sage.
00:11:49.920 God made herbs and God made crystals.
00:11:53.720 God made all of these things which naturally occur in the world.
00:11:57.920 So they in themselves are not evil.
00:12:01.080 Like sage in itself is not an evil plant.
00:12:03.820 A crystal is not evil.
00:12:05.600 And so I think it depends on what the purpose is.
00:12:09.520 Are you burning sage in your home for some kind of witchy reason or some superstitious
00:12:14.580 reason, even if you wouldn't call it witchcraft, just because you think it's going to like cleanse
00:12:18.660 the aura or cleanse the spirits in the room or because you think it's going to banish bad
00:12:23.920 vibes or bad energy or evil forces or darkness or whatever.
00:12:28.060 Then yes, that is a form of witchcraft, which is absolutely forbidden in scripture.
00:12:33.040 You can't worship two gods at once.
00:12:35.940 That would be idolatry.
00:12:37.520 And again, you're just inviting in things that you just really don't want to mess with.
00:12:42.600 But if you have sage in your house because you think sage is beautiful, because you think it's a beautiful
00:12:47.000 color, because God created it, and you know that everything that God created
00:12:50.800 can speak to his glory, then I think that's fine.
00:12:57.200 Same thing with crystals.
00:12:57.940 If you have a crystal that you got on vacation because you think it's beautiful and you put
00:13:01.600 it in your home, I think that's fine.
00:13:03.100 If you have it because you think it's going to bring you some kind of luck or because you
00:13:06.920 think it's going to wash over you or ban evil spirits, then okay, we've got an idolatry
00:13:11.120 problem there.
00:13:13.140 So I think that those are things to consider.
00:13:15.080 It really matters what the purpose is of you using these different items.
00:13:20.940 Different question.
00:13:34.640 Now, this is something that we talk about a lot.
00:13:36.720 So I don't know if you're asking because maybe you don't listen to the show very often,
00:13:41.000 or maybe you're asking a deeper question that you feel like we haven't really touched on
00:13:46.040 when we talk about gender ideology.
00:13:47.640 And the question is, why are people for the normalization of kids having the option to
00:13:53.680 choose their gender?
00:13:55.320 So I think that's actually a good question and maybe one that we don't touch on that much
00:13:58.920 because we talk about how insane it is.
00:14:01.080 We talk about the biblical reasons why male and female exist, the biological reasons why
00:14:06.620 that sex dichotomy and gender dichotomy of male and female exist.
00:14:12.600 But the question would be, why are people for the normalization of kids having the option to
00:14:16.340 choose their gender, knowing everything that we know about the dangers of puberty blockers,
00:14:21.080 the dangers of cross-sex hormones, the dangers of these surgeries, which are being performed
00:14:26.920 on minors, teenagers, but puberty blockers on much younger than teenagers because it has
00:14:31.880 to be pre-puberty to work.
00:14:34.220 So why in the world would anyone be for that?
00:14:37.040 So I think the vast majority of people who say that they're for the normalization of kids'
00:14:42.300 so-called transitioning, they have not thought about it.
00:14:45.980 This is true of most people also who say that they're pro-choice.
00:14:51.060 They haven't thought about it.
00:14:52.980 Beyond the talking points, beyond being constantly inundated by the ubiquitous progressive culture,
00:14:59.920 the progressive zeitgeist, they just haven't thought about it.
00:15:03.940 Like if you ask someone, why are you pro-choice?
00:15:07.020 They might say, well, I believe in a woman's right to choose. 1.00
00:15:09.400 I believe in women's liberation. 0.60
00:15:11.560 I believe in bodily autonomy.
00:15:13.680 I believe, you know, what about those terrible circumstances in which a woman gets pregnant?
00:15:18.040 She was coerced into having sex, all of these different things.
00:15:21.040 But if you get down to it and you ask them, why do you believe it's okay to purposely kill
00:15:26.020 some humans and not others?
00:15:27.440 Because there's really no debate if you're talking to a sane person about whether the
00:15:32.500 child inside the womb is human.
00:15:34.000 They might not think it's valuable, but it's human at the point of conception.
00:15:37.080 It can't be anything else.
00:15:38.400 You can't put it in any other category in the universe.
00:15:43.020 So why do you believe it is okay?
00:15:45.740 It should be legal to kill some humans.
00:15:47.800 Is it just because they're defenseless?
00:15:49.200 Just because they're small?
00:15:50.520 Just because it's early on in development?
00:15:52.580 So you ask all these questions and they typically don't have an answer.
00:15:57.020 They haven't thought about it.
00:15:58.080 They'll divert you.
00:15:59.420 They'll use red herrings.
00:16:00.520 They'll say, yeah, but what about this?
00:16:02.300 Which has nothing to do with what you're actually asking them.
00:16:04.720 That's what it comes down to.
00:16:05.800 Why do you believe it's okay to kill some humans?
00:16:08.460 Some innocent humans and not others.
00:16:10.660 They haven't thought through it because it's really difficult.
00:16:12.940 It's really difficult.
00:16:13.760 Even for the most ardent pro-choice person to say, yes, I believe that killing defenseless
00:16:19.760 human beings is okay if that's what someone wants to do.
00:16:24.000 I mean, that's what underlies the abortion argument. 1.00
00:16:26.100 And then also when you go to gender, why do you believe that it's okay?
00:16:31.560 You believe that most of these people who are for this transition, they would say that
00:16:36.300 kids, rightly, they would say that kids can't consent to sex because their brain hasn't fully
00:16:41.680 developed to be able to do that.
00:16:43.100 And it's wrong to prey upon children in a sexual way.
00:16:46.480 They would say, you know, an 11-year-old doesn't have the physical or mental ability to be able
00:16:51.740 to drive.
00:16:52.600 They shouldn't be able to be able to make major life decisions.
00:16:56.720 A lot of people, not everyone, but a lot of people on the left would agree that maybe
00:17:00.240 an 11-year-old can't vote.
00:17:03.560 They just don't have the cognitive ability to be able to do that.
00:17:06.120 They don't have the emotional capacity to make major decisions.
00:17:09.340 They shouldn't be able to get married at 12 years old.
00:17:11.300 And yet they will say, well, they should be able to make the life-altering decision to
00:17:16.680 pause their puberty, which is not temporary, but does have long-term, often lifelong repercussions
00:17:23.460 such as sterility.
00:17:25.620 And when you ask them these questions, they typically will just be angry.
00:17:29.560 And again, they'll revert to these euphemisms.
00:17:32.320 Well, I don't want to be transphobic.
00:17:34.040 I don't want to be bigoted.
00:17:35.320 At the end of the day, most people have not thought through their positions.
00:17:39.740 They're not even really for the things that they say that they're for.
00:17:43.820 And because we, on the other side of these things, are so against the zeitgeist, like
00:17:48.220 we're, you know, we always talk about being human salmon, like we're swimming upstream.
00:17:52.740 Like we have to really understand both our argument and the other side's argument.
00:17:58.960 That's why we typically are so much more effective in debate than the other side.
00:18:03.140 And so often when you're talking to your friends and your family who are on the other side of
00:18:05.980 these issues, they just erupt in anger and they start calling you names.
00:18:09.400 Yeah, because they're insecure.
00:18:12.360 They're actually not armed with any illogical defenses for why they believe what they believe.
00:18:17.340 And they just are like, I don't want to debate.
00:18:18.920 I don't want to debate.
00:18:20.100 But they will still insist upon calling you a bigot.
00:18:22.980 And they'll call you divisive for actually having an answer for the things that you believe.
00:18:29.040 And they'll call themselves empathetic.
00:18:30.480 That's what it comes down to.
00:18:31.520 They think that they're empathetic.
00:18:33.140 Now, of course, there are other reasons beyond that.
00:18:36.000 I think that's the vast majority of people, really on the left in general, whether it
00:18:39.400 comes to any issue.
00:18:41.260 But then there's, of course, the people, as we've talked about, who are perverse, who
00:18:45.960 have a perverse incentive to trap children in perpetual adolescence.
00:18:53.460 Think about that.
00:18:54.220 That's what puberty blockers do, who have a perverse incentive to make men into women. 1.00
00:19:00.580 We've talked about the pervasiveness of something called, it's very disturbing, just FYI, go back
00:19:05.760 and listen to my episodes with Genevieve Glock.
00:19:07.740 We'll link some of them.
00:19:08.600 But sissy porn, kind of pornography that actually glorifies humiliation of men and makes them 0.96
00:19:16.520 dress up like little girls, that has become a very popular fetish among these men who now
00:19:22.880 claim to be women. 0.88
00:19:24.880 And so there's that.
00:19:25.640 And then there's also big medicine, I guess you would call it, the industrial medical complex
00:19:32.940 that makes a lot of money from puberty blockers.
00:19:36.460 They're creating lifelong patients because these women who are put on testosterone, well, 1.00
00:19:42.420 they're going to have lifelong health problems.
00:19:44.300 These men who are put on estrogen, lifelong health problems, especially when they decide
00:19:48.960 one day when their brain is developed and they're 27 years old, oh, yeah, maybe I actually
00:19:53.520 do want a child.
00:19:54.340 Well, you can't do that naturally because your body has been mutilated and your hormones are
00:19:58.680 all jacked up.
00:19:59.480 And so now you have to pay more money to big fertility, the medical industrial complex.
00:20:06.200 And so there's also a money incentive there.
00:20:08.220 There's ideology incentive, there's sexual incentive, and there's control incentive, too.
00:20:13.900 That's why a lot of this propaganda is actually being pushed by the Chinese Communist Party.
00:20:18.220 OK, next question.
00:20:20.960 Why don't you talk more about the Second Amendment?
00:20:23.280 So the Second Amendment, I obviously really care about it and I really believe in it.
00:20:27.060 And I think attacks on it are wrong.
00:20:29.340 It's just I don't really know.
00:20:31.340 Like, I don't have a good answer for that.
00:20:33.320 There are just issues that I think that I am more well versed on, better versed on than
00:20:40.200 the Second Amendment and gun laws.
00:20:43.180 I think it's really important in opposition to tyranny.
00:20:47.700 And I think that you should defend yourself.
00:20:50.240 And I think that you should take advantage of Second Amendment protections.
00:20:53.640 And I think a lot of the arguments, not all, not all, but a lot of the arguments in the
00:21:00.120 wake of tragedies and school shootings in favor of, you know, gun laws are just bad faith.
00:21:07.500 Not all of them are bad faith, but a lot of them are. 0.99
00:21:10.120 And they're just kind of illogical and disconnected from the reality of what laws actually do and
00:21:15.220 what the Second Amendment is, too.
00:21:16.480 But I also think it's just used as a diversion tactic on the left that, oh, you can't say
00:21:21.120 that you care about anything unless you are for confiscating people's guns.
00:21:25.140 And I think that's silly.
00:21:26.040 But yeah, I just don't talk about it as much because I think that I am, I think I'm more
00:21:30.880 interested in and just better at talking about some of these other issues.
00:21:34.160 Okay, this is a very, very, very serious question.
00:21:49.620 Would you rather?
00:21:51.320 Would you rather have hot dogs for fingers or spaghetti hair?
00:21:56.960 Definitely spaghetti hair.
00:21:58.760 Definitely spaghetti hair.
00:21:59.780 If it's like regular hair and that it grows back.
00:22:02.260 Okay, I mean, you're going to lose a little bit of hair every day.
00:22:05.760 Spaghetti is not that strong.
00:22:07.660 But think about having hot dogs for fingers.
00:22:10.980 You can't, you don't, you're missing a joint.
00:22:13.520 Like you can't bend your fingers.
00:22:14.920 You can't do anything.
00:22:15.900 You can't write.
00:22:16.760 You can't type.
00:22:18.420 It would be completely useless to have hot dogs.
00:22:20.840 I would rather not have fingers than have hot dogs for fingers.
00:22:23.940 But yeah, yeah.
00:22:25.820 So I'm going to go with spaghetti hair for that one.
00:22:29.040 That would, I mean, that would really change my life, though.
00:22:31.660 I don't know how many people would be watching on YouTube if I had spaghetti hair.
00:22:36.140 Let's see.
00:22:42.000 Am I optimistic or pessimistic for the future of our country?
00:22:44.860 So I was just speaking at an event where the host of the event, the head of the organization, distinguished between optimism and hope.
00:22:58.140 And I think I don't, I'm not, you know, I don't have a problem with people using the word optimism.
00:23:05.080 But I do think that there is a difference.
00:23:07.840 And I think that it comes from a place of faith.
00:23:10.660 Like optimism, I would see, okay, you're looking at indications of what the future is going to hold.
00:23:16.580 And if it's positive, then you're optimistic about it.
00:23:19.840 Or you're looking at indications or what you think are indications of what the future may hold.
00:23:24.320 And you think they're all bad or negative.
00:23:26.880 And so you are pessimistic about the future.
00:23:29.660 Whereas hope, I think, is rooted in something a lot deeper, no matter what the indications are of where the future of the country is going.
00:23:36.720 Which I would say the indications are bad.
00:23:38.220 But just based on the moral collapse of our country, the stupidity that is now glorified, the Romans 1 that is manifesting every day, the political corruption that we have, and how little it seems like we can really do about it.
00:23:52.780 Yeah, like, okay, there's a lot of negative indications there.
00:23:55.720 Not that there's no positive indications, but there are some negative indications about where the future of the country is going.
00:24:01.320 So I don't know that I can say that I'm optimistic, but I can say that I'm hopeful.
00:24:05.900 Because when I look throughout history at change, I know that it didn't happen a day.
00:24:11.760 When I look at something like Roe v. Wade being overturned after 49 years of relentless perseverance, of unsung and unseen pro-life heroes just pushing for truth in every sphere of culture, private and public.
00:24:28.760 I think, okay, things can change just because things seem bleak right now doesn't mean that at least one thing can't change for the better.
00:24:36.160 Maybe not everything all at once, but maybe one of these things, maybe it's gender ideology and the transitioning of children.
00:24:42.480 Maybe that changes.
00:24:43.220 Maybe it takes 20 years, but it's going to take us raising a relentless and respectful ruckus every single day in a million different ways in our lives to do that.
00:24:52.260 And so when I see the perseverance of people, when I see the courage of people that are willing to count the cost for the sake of the most vulnerable in this country, which is what makes America unique,
00:25:01.800 then I think, okay, I'm hopeful because I can look back on history and see that things have changed for the better.
00:25:08.540 But I'm also hopeful because it's rooted in my faith in Christ, is that no matter where the country goes, even if it really does go completely to hell in a handbasket and God just takes his hand off completely and no amount of evil is held back and he has no patience and no mercy anymore, which we completely, I think, deserve as a country.
00:25:31.920 Even if that happens, I know who wins in the end.
00:25:35.540 And my task as a Christian doesn't change.
00:25:37.980 My calling to not be anxious does not change.
00:25:41.400 My command that God has given me to not fear, to not worry, to rejoice in everything, to think about what is lovely and pure and excellent, that doesn't change.
00:25:52.080 My call to share the gospel, to raise my kids, to do the next right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory of God does not change.
00:26:02.100 And so that is what I can take comfort in.
00:26:04.040 I am hopeful that if enough people do that, maybe things can change for the better.
00:26:08.080 But if not, I know that God is still going to be glorified.
00:26:10.360 Romans 8, 28, he works all things together for the good of those who love him.
00:26:14.640 He's working all things together for his glory and our good.
00:26:17.860 That is what I can trust in.
00:26:18.900 That is where my hope lies.
00:26:20.420 And I try to change things for the better with the grounding of that hope, not based on some flimsy optimism or pessimism.
00:26:29.240 So let's see, just a couple more questions.
00:26:34.020 Who's my favorite superhero?
00:26:35.880 Don't have one.
00:26:36.940 Don't like superhero movies.
00:26:39.000 If you're talking about like Marvel, I don't know.
00:26:42.060 What's the difference between Marvel and what's the other one?
00:26:46.340 DC.
00:26:47.540 What?
00:26:48.180 I don't even know.
00:26:49.600 What's the difference between that and Star Wars?
00:26:51.560 I have no idea.
00:26:52.980 I really don't.
00:26:54.120 I'm not hating on it.
00:26:55.520 If you like that kind of stuff, I know a lot of people do.
00:26:59.980 But one time I was on Ben Shapiro Sunday special.
00:27:04.520 And when we were taking a break before the end of it, I was like, I got him to instead talk about theology.
00:27:10.080 He was about to ask me about Marvel and DC.
00:27:12.480 And I was like, no, no, no, no, Ben.
00:27:14.240 We're not talking about that.
00:27:15.700 Let's talk about something else that I know a little bit about.
00:27:18.400 Um, yeah, I don't, I don't know.
00:27:21.960 I don't, I'm Wonder Woman.
00:27:23.520 Sure.
00:27:24.220 Not Spider-Man.
00:27:25.820 Too skinny.
00:27:27.100 Um, I don't know.
00:27:30.120 Batman, Superman.
00:27:32.520 Sure.
00:27:33.480 Any of those.
00:27:34.820 Is Catwoman a superhero or is she a villain? 0.99
00:27:37.220 I have no idea.
00:27:39.080 Um, The Incredibles.
00:27:41.080 Yeah, I might call them Harry Potter.
00:27:44.280 Is that a superhero?
00:27:45.720 I don't know.
00:27:46.640 My producer, Bree, is laughing at me behind the camera. 0.96
00:27:51.600 Um, thoughts on the future of Christian higher ed.
00:27:55.300 I'm actually hopeful.
00:27:56.600 I'm actually hopeful in this.
00:27:57.820 Like, I think that there are positive developments that Christians are like, yeah, don't like the 1.00
00:28:01.400 public school system, but we're going to build something better.
00:28:05.060 Um, I see that happening or at least non-progressive entities.
00:28:09.160 I mean, we see that happening in Florida.
00:28:11.080 I see these kinds of colleges, like, cropping up around the country and charter schools and
00:28:17.360 things like that started by Christians.
00:28:19.520 Um, I'm, I'm actually very positive about that.
00:28:22.360 I think a lot of people are going to, you know, just homeschool or not go to college and
00:28:25.400 that's fine.
00:28:25.880 But I also think it's awesome to build new institutions.
00:28:27.840 Like, okay, maybe that's one of the reasons why I am not completely pessimistic.
00:28:34.880 Yes, hope, optimism, all that.
00:28:36.340 But Christians have been in the business of building culture and building institutions,
00:28:42.040 hospitals, charities, colleges, all of these entities for hundreds of years.
00:28:47.360 I mean, certainly the building of America and our first and greatest institutions were
00:28:53.820 started by Christians.
00:28:54.720 I mean, that's why the vast majority of hospitals and colleges, all of them have Christian origins.
00:28:59.700 Like, maybe being kind of pushed to the margins and not having this kind of privileged place
00:29:06.420 in society anymore, Christians are forced to build excellent institutions. 1.00
00:29:10.200 We do that really well.
00:29:11.940 Let's lean into that.
00:29:12.940 So I feel good about that.
00:29:14.380 What is my go-to coffee order?
00:29:17.040 Um, so I guess by the time this episode is coming out, I've already announced that I'm
00:29:20.620 pregnant.
00:29:21.460 So in pregnancy, I have not liked, so I typically, I would say black hot coffee.
00:29:27.040 Honestly, saying that right now makes me want to throw up.
00:29:30.160 I don't know why, but black hot coffee throughout this pregnancy, it was not like this in my
00:29:35.900 first two pregnancies, but it just, I don't know.
00:29:39.040 It just makes me want to gag.
00:29:40.260 It's so weird, but that's what I would have had every morning.
00:29:44.080 And now for some reason during pregnancy, I just haven't been able to do it, but I've needed
00:29:49.780 caffeine.
00:29:50.320 First semester, I didn't have caffeine, but, um, so I will do iced coffee.
00:29:55.660 I just make it at home, iced coffee, and then I put some vanilla almond milk in there and
00:30:02.600 then a little bit of vanilla extract.
00:30:04.980 And then I have my little frother mixer, mix it together, put some ice in there.
00:30:09.800 It's not going to taste like a Starbucks drink.
00:30:11.820 It's not like super sweet, but that is what I have on any given morning.
00:30:17.120 I have it, have it with me right now in my little taking care of baby's cup.
00:30:25.660 All right, uh, let's see.
00:30:34.880 I think we have time for one or two more.
00:30:37.680 Okay.
00:30:38.360 Encouragement for Christian conservative public school teachers.
00:30:41.100 So as I just said, a lot of Christians where they're building other institutions, a lot of
00:30:45.200 Christians understandably, and I would say that this is the right move, are pulling their 1.00
00:30:49.520 kids out of Christians or out of public schools and putting them in, uh, Christian schools 0.99
00:30:56.160 and putting them in a homeschool, giving them homeschool curriculum.
00:31:00.960 And if you want to go back and listen to my episodes on that, you can, we won't get into
00:31:04.280 my whole argument about why we shouldn't be sending our Christian kids to a public school, 1.00
00:31:09.100 but Christian teachers, that's different because we're talking about adults.
00:31:12.380 We're talking about probably a position that you feel like God has called you to and has
00:31:15.740 equipped you to do.
00:31:17.180 And now some of you, I completely understand you're a Christian public school teacher and
00:31:20.840 you're like, I am out.
00:31:22.160 They're not even allowing me to say anything.
00:31:24.080 They're forcing me to teach gender ideology and stuff. 0.99
00:31:27.180 And so I don't want you to ever sin because you are placed in that position.
00:31:32.840 But like, if you can be there, if you can be there, you feel like you're called to be
00:31:36.500 there and God has equipped you to be there.
00:31:39.280 Um, then I want you to shine as brightly as you possibly can, because look, you are the
00:31:46.020 only representation of Christ that a lot of these kids will ever see.
00:31:50.780 Like, I still remember, I went to a Christian school, kindergarten through 12th grade, so
00:31:54.600 it's a little bit different, but I still have some bad teachers, some mean teachers too.
00:31:59.920 I still remember the kind teachers that I had, the teachers that attended to me.
00:32:04.680 And okay, again, Christian school, like, I don't think these teachers that I'm thinking
00:32:08.400 of necessarily like shared the gospel with me, although that's great, but they were kind
00:32:13.580 and I still am affected by their kindness and how they attended to me, maybe in different
00:32:19.780 ways that teachers hadn't.
00:32:20.980 I just like, didn't really like school that much because I was constantly talking in class.
00:32:25.380 And so there were different ways probably that I dealt with discipline, but like my fourth
00:32:30.220 grade teacher had such an incredible impact on me because of her kindness, because of
00:32:34.540 her joy, because of her love for her job, which I understand is rare in a public education
00:32:40.960 setting, because she had a great attitude, because I could tell she really loved and liked
00:32:45.680 her students.
00:32:47.000 That's a big game changer.
00:32:49.760 Be different than all of your nagging, sad, depressed, don't want to work hard teachers.
00:32:56.620 Like, I have enough teacher friends that I understand that that is the environment in a lot of public
00:33:01.340 schools that you're just like constantly complaining about how difficult it is, constantly complaining
00:33:06.520 about how emotionally trying it is, how much money you don't make, not liking your kids.
00:33:10.600 I'm not saying that you can't have those feelings because I think that they're valid in some ways
00:33:15.860 for sure, but you can distinguish yourself by doing nothing with grumbling or arguing or having
00:33:24.420 a bad attitude, but having a great attitude, getting up every day and loving and liking those kids,
00:33:30.680 man, you can make such a difference.
00:33:32.880 And you might not see the difference.
00:33:34.500 Like, you might feel like, well, my classroom is chaos every single day.
00:33:37.620 I feel like these kids don't listen to me.
00:33:39.360 They don't respect me.
00:33:40.780 You have no idea how God is planting those seeds of kindness and love in those kids that might not take
00:33:47.280 root and grow for another 20 to 25 years.
00:33:49.920 You may never know about it.
00:33:51.940 As I often say, we won't see like the constellation of our testimonies and other people's testimonies
00:33:59.160 until we get to the other side, until eternity.
00:34:03.100 And yet you have no idea what star you are in someone's constellation testimony.
00:34:09.860 And we may never know because it's not for us to know.
00:34:11.980 It's for God's glory to know.
00:34:13.340 But I guarantee you, as a Christian teacher, you play a part in every future Christian that
00:34:18.760 walks into your door, a part of his or her testimony, as well as your administrators,
00:34:25.420 as well as the other teachers that you're a part.
00:34:29.440 So set yourself apart in your attitude, in your words, in your actions.
00:34:32.160 And thank you for doing what you do, because I know that it's not easy.
00:34:35.820 All right.
00:34:37.460 Okay.
00:34:37.980 I think that's all we have time for today.
00:34:39.760 Like I said, wide range.
00:34:41.020 I have a ton more questions that I could get to.
00:34:42.920 Thank you so much for sending them in.
00:34:44.900 And we will see you back here soon.
00:34:48.760 Hey guys, if you love this podcast, please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen
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00:35:03.480 Thanks.