Ramen and Food Adventures

Oscar Navarro 1:05

You know what ? Let me . I actually think this is something that's incredible that Ray does . And for our listeners who don't know , we are a nonprofit . We exist because faithful partners . Literally every day we receive gifts from faithful partners who want to see more and more Christians around the world be inspired and fulfilling the Great Commission . Thank you to our ministry partners . They make this podcast possible . I bring all that up to say that , as I speak with a lot of other nonprofits , they'll tell me something like oh yeah , our founder , we give him anybody who gives $10,000 or more . He'll give them a call and tell them thank you . And one of the things I love about you , ray , is I go into the notes and I will find somebody that gave $50 , $10 . Like . I've seen notes from you that you just you call them to say thank you . Just the other day you hopped on a FaceTime call with me for a young man who's not given anything to the ministry , just to encourage him . I just want to say that I think that you represent so well not showing partiality . If you have the time and you're aware , you will make the call and I'm super thankful for that .

Emeal Zwayne 2:12

While none of you seated at this table has ever succeeded in helping me to solve any mystery I've ever brought to you . Desperate times call for desperate measures , and I'm very desperate right about now . Against all hope , I'll try again .

Oscar Navarro 2:30

I absolutely love ramen Ditto .

Emeal Zwayne 2:35

Ooh , that sounds so good right now , okay , but here's the mystery , oscar why , please someone tell me why I have not been able to find the simple , beautiful , glorious cup of noodle or top ramen or Marishan flavored ramen at any ramen place I've ever been ? To Please somebody .

Oscar Navarro 2:55

What was your problem ? You can't find good ramen , Okay .

Emeal Zwayne 2:58

Oscar , you don't listen . I'm talking about cup of noodle top ramen . Marishan flavor in the ramen , in the juice .

Oscar Navarro 3:10

You're saying that that is your standard for ramen . Oh no , here we go .

Emeal Zwayne 3:14

This is going to launch in other war .

Oscar Navarro 3:16

I need to understand what's happening real quick . Are you using top ramen in cup of noodle as your telos for ?

Emeal Zwayne 3:24

ramen From a guy who drinks corroded ramen . Is that what's happening ? Boater oil .

Oscar Navarro 3:30

Yes , the telos of ramen to you is top ramen , the telos .

Emeal Zwayne 3:35

Flavor of ramen . What , Okay , you need help . Bro Mark , can you relay ? Please tell me you have some semblance of human in you , Por favor ?

Mark Spence 3:47

I don't like top ramen Because it's not just a bowl of MSG . Yeah with salt .

Emeal Zwayne 3:54

You guys have problems . I love ramen . I cannot find this glorious flavor . Why do they complicate matters ?

Oscar Navarro 4:01

There is like a world renowned ramen shop like five miles down the road and I bet you it doesn't have that good flavor .

Emeal Zwayne 4:08

Praise the lord . It doesn't have that flavor , okay , whatever , oscar , you need serious , serious help .

Oscar Navarro 4:14

It's like just salt MSG . Yeah , that's . I love soup .

Mark Spence 4:18

I just I don't like a stomach full of what is it ? What are those noodles even made out of ? In top ramen , it's made out of noodles . Styrofoam yeah , probably .

Emeal Zwayne 4:26

What are noodles made out of ?

Ray Comfort 4:27

Seriously , Do you guys know ? Yeah , noodles Starch .

Oscar Navarro 4:32

Is it ? They take a bunch of flour .

Emeal Zwayne 4:33

Oh , is it kind of like a batter mix kind ?

Oscar Navarro 4:36

of thing . You know I've made noodles before , but I don't remember what I put in there . Have you seen those restaurants ?

Mark Spence 4:40

where you can . It's like a conveyor belt and it shoots out the different stuff to add to your ramen bowl .

Oscar Navarro 4:46

No , oh yeah , what are those called ? I have no idea . I have a question for you , mark . Yes , sir , I have a question for you .

Mark Spence 4:54

Winnerschnitzel .

Oscar Navarro 4:56

What is the best dessert you've ever had in the city of New York and how much did you pay for it ?

Mark Spence 5:02

It was a chocolate souffle , which I was talking to my daughter yesterday about making me some chocolate souffle . I absolutely love it . It's so expensive , though , so we got duped into going to this fancy French restaurant . All we wanted was dessert . Did Oscar dupe you ? Well , oscar found the place Oscars could have finding good restaurants . I'll give him that he knows how to find a good restaurant . But so we went into this place , and then the bill arrives and we found out that the chocolate souffle's were $55 .

Oscar Navarro 5:30

$65 a piece for a dessert , wait , wait , what $65 for a chocolate souffle and it was smaller than this cup of coffee .

Mark Spence 5:41

It was good , but it was like what is ?

Emeal Zwayne 5:43

happening . You know what I have an admission to make ? Souffle is one of those words that , no matter how many times people tell me what it means , I just cannot remember it for the life of me . It's flayed soup . Seriously , stop it . It's a French word .

Ray Comfort 5:59

It's a nice souffle .

Emeal Zwayne 6:01

I get it . Yeah , that person asked me it's French , it's French . Oui , oui , jean-réjean , on péris , on péris , etri , soufflé , yes , Ow , that hurt my ears .

Oscar Navarro 6:13

Welcome to our lives .

Emeal Zwayne 6:15

Yeah , Mark , what's a soufflé ?

Mark Spence 6:18

It is a it's like a cake that deflates you guys have no idea either .

Oscar Navarro 6:25

It's like lava cake , basically .

Emeal Zwayne 6:26

Yeah , it's like a lava cake .

Oscar Navarro 6:27

But fancier Whatever .

Emeal Zwayne 6:28

But silky , but there's all kinds of souffle . It's a thing like a .

Ray Comfort 6:32

That's it there , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 6:34

Oh , the picture's worth a thousand desserts . What is ?

Ray Comfort 6:36

that . I don't know , I just typed in souffle and that came up .

Emeal Zwayne 6:40

That looks like an overripe pancake or something it's like an enhanced it's a baked egg-paste dish originating in the Kingdom of France in the early 18th century .

Ray Comfort 6:49

Boy , it's all right , I wouldn't touch it , all right .

Emeal Zwayne 6:51

It's gone . Bad Problem spoiled from the 18th century . It's a fur on top . Oscar , you like ramen ? Are you a fur guy ?

Oscar Navarro 6:58

I like fur , but I prefer ramen over fur .

Emeal Zwayne 7:00

Well , right , I would love ramen over fur if it tasted like God . This is a foreign language .

Ray Comfort 7:05

I haven't got a clue what you're talking about .

Emeal Zwayne 7:07

Yeah , you ever had a good bowl of ramen Vietnamese . Oh , vietnamese , yeah , okay , oh that's pretty good , man , I like fur .

Mark Spence 7:15

Yeah , there's a place near me . I've never had it . Oh is it cold . Oh , we got to go , mark . There's a place over by Pepe de Coupu , pepe de Coupu , pepe de Coupu , pepe de Coupu . Pepe de Coupu why can't you say that slow yeah by the mall ?

Emeal Zwayne 7:29

Oh you know , right there by Lucille's .

Mark Spence 7:31

Oh .

Oscar Navarro 7:31

Yeah , there's a .

Emeal Zwayne 7:33

This is super helpful to our listeners in this English dish it's like great .

Oscar Navarro 7:37

If I'm ever in Belflour , I know where to get a souffle .

Emeal Zwayne 7:38

The Mir Angle Eat Ramen and the Fur Is this the Living One's podcast , no . Ray , honestly , what can we do to get you to be more daring with eating new stuff ?

Ray Comfort 7:50

I do different stuff . Sometimes Name anything different . I had some fries the other day . Unsalted Ray , I want to get you adventurous with your taste buds . Look , I've traveled all over the world and given me mashed potatoes with gravy on .

Oscar Navarro 8:03

Seriously , what's the most obscure thing you've ever eaten , Ray .

Ray Comfort 8:08

Oh , I was in Mexico with Easy and a couple other guys years ago and we had some genuine Mexican food and I liked it .

Oscar Navarro 8:16

I wanted him to say like oh , this one time I was in Mexico and they gave me a taco .

Ray Comfort 8:22

Well , it was a taco Tongue , taco that was a language . It was really nice .

Emeal Zwayne 8:25

No , but that says the most exotic food he had at taco A taco , a taco With some ketchup on it . But , ray , seriously though , live a little .

Ray Comfort 8:35

No , Mark and I have been to Singapore . I've been a couple of times and we've had Singaporean food .

Mark Spence 8:40

Have you been to .

Ray Comfort 8:40

Singapore . Yes , I really hated . It Ray , would you eat escargos ? No , too slow , too slow , snails .

Emeal Zwayne 8:49

Mark , have you guys ever had escargo ?

Oscar Navarro 8:52

I actually have not . That's one thing I've never had . Look why call it , I'll have anything once . Call it what it is , it's like sin .

Ray Comfort 8:58

It's called something like adultery being called something else .

Emeal Zwayne 9:00

For some reason saying escargo sounds much more happy .

Oscar Navarro 9:03

It's because they can charge you more . You can't charge somebody $20 for snails have some snails please .

Ray Comfort 9:09

How fast does your carousel go ?

Oscar Navarro 9:12

That's how it goes . I will try anything once though . What about that thousand year egg ? Yeah , I'd give it a shot .

Ray Comfort 9:18

Come on , that's from Singapore , wasn't it ?

Oscar Navarro 9:21

Ezek I think , if I was in like if you ordered a thousand year egg and wanted me to have it here on the podcast , I would not . But if I was in a country and that was the delicacy , and someone served it to me because they were proud of the way their grandma made it , I'd eat it . You're not a textured guy .

Emeal Zwayne 9:38

I'm one of all of a guy to guy . There are some things I know for sure you wouldn't try . I can't even mention some of the things I've heard of we had great food .

Ray Comfort 9:45

When we went to Europe , we had 13 countries and 13 German restaurants and Austrian . Yeah , we did have .

Emeal Zwayne 9:51

German restaurants . I don't know what they call it Schnitzels yeah , they were , oh no , here we go .

Oscar Navarro 9:57

When I was in Singapore , they've got the hawker squares , which is just street vendors , and my strategy was just to find the longest line of locals , get in it and order whatever everyone else was having . And I can't tell you what I ate because I have no idea what it was , but it was delicious .

Emeal Zwayne 10:16

Yeah , something should not be eaten . I don't get the whole lingua tongs so good . I did try sheep brains .

Ray Comfort 10:23

once I tried .

Emeal Zwayne 10:24

Sheep brains , did you really yeah ?

Mark Spence 10:26

I wasn't told afterwards what it was and it upset me .

Ray Comfort 10:29

I just went and stood on the lawn .

Emeal Zwayne 10:32

Did you eat grass , ray ? Yeah , but you know frog legs . Would you eat frog legs ? I've had them . They're delicious . I had them . They were really good . I had them in Mississippi . But , ray , I would love for you to honestly sit down and let me give you real sushi . I ain't sushi in Japan with Mac .

Ray Comfort 10:50

I could try sushi California rolls . I don't have my lady food . That'd be fine Lady food .

Emeal Zwayne 10:56

I'm serious , ray Sushi is magical . Oh , give me a double , double . I don't know , Amen I appreciate it .

Oscar Navarro 11:02

Double double sushi , Oscar . You like sushi ? I love sushi . What are you talking about ? But he said double double .

Emeal Zwayne 11:06

That is pretty glorious . Seriously , why is it in and out fast food place ? We've talked . You did a video on it . Chef's World Are you an opera singer ? We're doing an opera singer .

Ray Comfort 11:16

We're doing an opera singer .

Oscar Navarro 11:18

Easy's gone into this new thing where every time he wants to make a point he like extends his hand .

Emeal Zwayne 11:23

Or are you guys just realizing it ?

Ray Comfort 11:24

It's very profound . It's like an opera .

Emeal Zwayne 11:26

singer he's like an Egyptian pharaoh . He's my hero here , you . He's my Arab roots , but Royal renowned chefs just go crazy about in and out .

Ray Comfort 11:35

Yeah , it's crazy , it's glorious .

Emeal Zwayne 11:36

It's glorious .

Ray Comfort 11:37

Yeah , coming out about in and out . Wait , we haven't released it , no .

Emeal Zwayne 11:41

Oh , that's gonna be a good one .

Ray Comfort 11:42

It's in , but it hasn't come out .

Emeal Zwayne 11:44

Yeah , all right , you guys talk too much . This is from gun dude , gun dude , gun DOOD . Faithful friends . You four Christian men have such powerful friendships . I dearly admire the way your faith in Jesus Christ is woven into everything you do , especially the friendships you have with each other . I have a new friend , a Christ filled pastor , that has a special heart for the Lord , and I love the way we kid around with each other , like you guys do . Thank you for your inspiration and Christian clarity . I pray that I continue to grow in my faith the way each of you have . Easy See , I was got a new audio . There's one without me . Thank you , dude . Yeah , gun dude , gun dude . Oscar doesn't want to say the word gun , it's politically incorrect Gun dude . Thank you , brother . That means a lot to us and hey , we do have real friendships , man , what a joy . The prodding of one another is all a part of that , and you can only prod really good .

Mark Spence 12:46

I have a scripture for easy . When it comes to me , it's John 1513 .

Oscar Navarro 12:49

Which is .

Mark Spence 12:50

There's no greater love than this than when it laid down his life for his friends . I just want to remember that if I'm a member in danger , the thing is is I'm my own friend , so I lay my life down for me .

Emeal Zwayne 13:02

All right . This podcast is brought to you by Tough Questions five session DVD study . It's also available on MP4 format . But in the physical form you get answers to questions who made God ? Why is there suffering and evil ? How can a loving God send someone to hell ? Isn't the Bible filled with contradictions ? Why are Christian anti-science ? And much more . I mean in the physical form and the DVDs in the five sessions , approximately 25 minutes each on three DVDs . You get all kinds of great things in there . You get a study guide as well , 400 gospel tracks that deal with Tough Questions , promotional videos , printable bulletins , all that good stuff . It's a good one , guys . Remember we filmed it at that coffee shop .

Ray Comfort 13:47

Here we go again Coffee shop oh coffee shop . I have a question for Ray . Was Oscar not with us when we were in ?

Emeal Zwayne 13:54

that coffee shop ? No , we don't take Oscar to coffee shops .

Ray Comfort 13:57

Did you just crush us Because ?

Oscar Navarro 13:59

it sounds like you said I was dead . Am I even doing that the right way ? Would you call an underwater dog ?

Ray Comfort 14:07

I'm no one in dogs .

Oscar Navarro 14:10

A subwoofer .

Emeal Zwayne 14:15

Oscar , I hate that . I laugh at your jokes but I do , even though they're not yours . Don't forget , friends . The Living Waters mug and the evidence study Bible all at livingwaterscom . All right guys ready to jump into this one ?

Oscar Navarro 14:33

Sin partiality .

Ray Comfort 14:37

Do we have the title ?

Emeal Zwayne 14:38

How to avoid the sin of partiality .

Mark Spence 14:44

Are you guys ?

Emeal Zwayne 14:45

partial people .

Oscar Navarro 14:46

Unfortunately .

Mark Spence 14:49

I part down the side , my brother parts right down the middle .

Emeal Zwayne 14:53

Did you guys ever do that , by the way , as kids part down the middle ? No , I couldn't . Calyx , oh Calyx , where does that come from ? It's from New Zealand . Easy cow licks because cows would lick you on the head .

Ray Comfort 15:08

Everyone has a natural part though , don't they ? I don't know , do we Does , eddie , I don't see a part . Please , please .

Emeal Zwayne 15:15

I actually called Eddie to apologize .

Ray Comfort 15:17

I called Eddie to apologize the other day because we mentioned his lack of hair and he didn't answer , so I didn't apologize . Wait , which ?

Mark Spence 15:24

Eddie ? Are you referring to ? Eddie ? Are you referring to he was getting a haircut ? I'm not referring to .

Partiality

Oscar Navarro 15:28

Listen , I think sin , partiality is a major struggle . It's a major struggle for all of us and there's definitely different ways in which we can show partiality . Social theory has agreed with the scriptures and that it shows that it is in our natural , fallen ways that we want to differentiate ourselves from other people . It's a way human beings be able to find their tribe and feel safe . We are tribalistic in nature . In other words , when we can differentiate ourselves versus other people , that could be our social status , whether it's our wealth or our interests , our politics , our race , our morality , views of morality , our knowledge or wisdom . Anytime we use those kind of things to separate us from other people , to know the difference between me and my other neighbor , what ends up inevitably happening is it becomes us versus them . In order for me to feel safe , I need to know who the outsider is . I need to know who the person who's not safe is . This is the sin of partiality , is to show difference towards others . I think it's interesting that the first sin of partiality was a moral , religious sin . It was Adam in the garden . When he says it is this woman that you gave me . You see what he did in that moment . He said I'm with you , god . She's against us . It's her fault , but I'm safe with you . Right ? And I think that we show this same partiality all the time . And I read this book years ago and it was this woman talking about her marriage and she talked about . She said every time we draw the line between us and others , jesus is always on the other side of it . Wow .

Emeal Zwayne 17:24

That's interesting , oscar . I've never thought of it from that perspective . The partiality of Adam with his wife and yeah , god , I'm on your side , it's her .

Ray Comfort 17:36

It could have been another aspect of that , depending on where you put the emphasis . It's the woman that you gave me , because people tend to blame God when things go wrong .

Emeal Zwayne 17:47

So yeah , you were going to say something .

Ray Comfort 17:50

No , that's it . That's all I was going to say I'm done , I'm going home .

Emeal Zwayne 17:53

See you later , ray . I'm thanking you back , seratons , that's not seratons .

Ray Comfort 17:56

Seratons , seratons , you never lived that down .

Emeal Zwayne 17:59

Oscar , by the way , I really I like your sweater . Thank you .

Oscar Navarro 18:03

Yeah , it'll be raised in a few years .

Emeal Zwayne 18:05

Does it come in any other size than extra , extra small , and do they ?

Ray Comfort 18:09

make them . I'm just extra , extra big . Do they make them for men ? Yeah , no , they don't .

Emeal Zwayne 18:14

Yeah , I think it's nice . Partiality is along with what we talked about last time bitterness . It's a real destructive sin and I think that it's one of those sins that is kind of a default sin . I think we all default toward partiality , as Oscar alluded to , in our sinful nature .

Ray Comfort 18:31

Can you define it , just in case we haven't got a definition .

Mark Spence 18:34

Yeah . Does it fall into the same category as favoritism ?

Emeal Zwayne 18:37

Yes , yes , yeah , I think they would be synonymous , and I think , though , that partiality would have a nuance to it , that it's tied in with this sort of desire to serve ourselves in a selfish way because of our association with other people , whether it's I like how this makes me feel to be this person's friend , or I like what this will give me . If I treat this person that way . It's wicked , because it can come across like love but be anything but that . For example , I'm spending time with someone and treating them in a way that I wouldn't treat someone else that I call my friend , and I'm talking about having friends that are closer than others . We build bonds , and that's fine , but I'm talking about certain treatments that fall under the rubric of love but that we withhold because we want to do them toward this person , because of the benefits we get , or maybe their social status , and then associating with them . That helps our status or it makes us feel more important , or whatever .

Ray Comfort 19:48

It's very good to spend time with a lowly . That's why I love spending time with you guys .

Emeal Zwayne 19:52

You're welcome Because it makes you feel good . So you're partial to us because we're lowly so you can feel good about yourself .

Ray Comfort 19:58

I wrap you up in a partial yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 20:02

But there's so many facets to partiality . There's that partiality that James highlights , and James 2.1-4 . My brethren , do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Lord of glory , with partiality . For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and find apparel , and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him you sit here in a good place and say to the poor man you stand there or sit here at my footstool , have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts ? Wow , that to me is one of the most grievous elements of partiality within the church , among God's people being saints differently because of their , their social status or their music .

Ray Comfort 20:56

So easy to do . You know , a guy comes in with gold chains and gold all over and you say here , mr Tithe , I mean sir , because he's going to help you , church , financially . So you've got to pull yourself back and say I fear God , I'm going to not show partiality .

Oscar Navarro 21:13

Yeah , you know what ? Let me actually think this is something that's incredible that Ray does . And for our listeners who don't know , we are a nonprofit . We exist because faithful partners . Literally every day we receive gifts from faithful partners who want to see more and more Christians around the world be inspired and fulfilling the Great Commission , and so thank you to our ministry partners . They make this podcast possible . I bring all that up to say that , as I speak with a lot of other nonprofits , they'll tell me something like oh yeah , our founder , we give him anybody who gives $10,000 or more . He'll give them a call and tell them thank you . And one of the things I love about you , ray , is I go into the notes and I will find somebody that gave $50 , $10 . Like I've seen notes from you that you just you call them to say thank you . Just the other day you hopped on a FaceTime call with me for a young man who's not given anything to the ministry , just to encourage him , and so I just want to say that I think that you represent so well not showing partiality . If you have the time and you're aware , you will make the call and I'm super thankful for that .

Emeal Zwayne 22:20

Oh , that's kind of it . Thank you , it's such a great example .

Ray Comfort 22:23

But it's so easy to do . Yeah , just make a call to somebody . It's no big deal . Yeah , and it's such a I get so much out of it .

Emeal Zwayne 22:30

And it means so much to people they are being shown the fact that they're appreciated . I get hung up on a lot , do you ?

Ray Comfort 22:39

Oh well , they don't they think it's recording or something ? Seriously , yeah , I have to say hi , is that Eric ?

Mark Spence 22:47

And I have to call back and say it's very covered here .

Ray Comfort 22:49

I'm just calling . Oh , I thought you were a telemarketer . It's really funny .

Emeal Zwayne 22:53

Oh , that's really really funny . Yeah , so , mark , you know I've talked to pastors before that have had the dilemma of someone wanting to give them a gift , you know , or to bless them with a car , or whatever . Some pastors , by policy , just don't take it . They don't do that . Send them my way . I like that man from the moment I met him but Mark there are some that you know , maybe even someone's going to give to the church or whatever . But I heard one pastor say that he he makes it clear to them . You understand that I'm not going to treat you any differently . In other words , if they're sin in your life , if we have to excommunicate you , if I have to , I'm going to do it . That's important , right ? I mean that pastors , leaders , are impartial , and I've heard one of the best ways to do that is for the pastor to never deal with the giving . Yeah , and I love that .

Mark Spence 23:48

Most pastors that I've met in churches that they oversee that they have no idea . Who gives no clue whatsoever on who gives . Now , when you have other deacons or elders perhaps I don't know what the structure is in the ecclesiology of the way the churches run , you know , but it is a very good idea to , as quickly as you possibly can , to raise up deacons who can serve at the table , so the pastors and the elders , the bishops , the overseers , they can give themselves over to the study and the proclamation , the preaching of God's word . Study , prepare , preach , right . That's the idea . Let me take care of the sheep , you take care of the running of the building , let me love on the sheep to the best of my ability , without showing the partiality , and you let us know what we have inside the finances so that we can make these decisions together when possible .

Ray Comfort 24:40

I was thinking about the amount of transfiguration when there was a move of God , when God appeared or the bright light . And for the disciples , peter suggested they start a building program , which is what tends to happen . That's right . It tends to happen when there's a move of God and I've seen it happen . Back in New Zealand the church had a great move and someone says let's have a bigger building . So they decided to and that destroyed everything . They went into millions of dollars of debt . So the pastors got to be carefully done upset the tithers , because this whole future is . You know what the word mortgage means . It means death grip , More death gauge grip .

Mark Spence 25:16

I can't with .

Emeal Zwayne 25:17

Yeah .

Oscar Navarro 25:20

I was going to say . I think partiality creeps its way into all of our lives . For pastors and people in ministry , you can show partiality towards the people who give , which is a terrible thing , as you pointed out . But there's other ways we show partiality , as I mentioned before social status or even politics . I've noticed lately that there's an influx . It's so interesting to me because there's an influx of people starting to go to church and a lot of these individuals what they're really looking for is for a church to spiritualize their political disposition . So when these non-believers come to church because they agree with the politics of the pastor , the pastor's like man . That guy's a faithful brother , but there's actually no self-affect work there , right , but immediately they're elevated in status there because they have money , they're immediately put on some board , like I've seen it happen over and over and over again . There's partiality is shown because of the money and the way someone votes rather than thinking to themselves wait a minute , is this person a Christian ? Should we pursue them or are we just going to assume because they're voting the right way and giving the right amount , they're in , they're one of us .

Emeal Zwayne 26:29

Yeah , partiality can be demonstrated too in other ways that we don't think about . Like with the lost , we can be partial in wanting to share the gospel with someone who looks more down and out than another person , or someone who looks less intimidating than another person . That's a form of partiality 100% . They're both lost . They're both in danger of God's judgment .

Ray Comfort 26:50

I battle that every day .

Emeal Zwayne 26:51

Really .

Ray Comfort 26:52

Yeah , when I go to local college I look at a student and think that guy's not sharp . He looks really dull . It's going to be the most pathetic interview I've ever had . Go out and say , hey , you're doing things after life and he's sharp and it's really good , and I think , man , I hate the way I make I sum up people with my eyes rather than looking at how much we can't do .

Emeal Zwayne 27:10

But , ray , you are so partial to people with funky hair .

Ray Comfort 27:14

Oh yeah , that's true , that's totally different .

Emeal Zwayne 27:17

I remember one time we were in Hollywood , we had an academy and we were eating and I felt Ray disappears and my brain already concluded what it was . I look and I see this big , huge head of hair walking by the window . I do an interview with you , right ?

Oscar Navarro 27:34

now . What's funny is , whenever I'm out and about and I see somebody with some wild hair , that's the first thing that comes up .

Emeal Zwayne 27:39

I'm like Ray would love to interview that guy . Oh hoax , big afros .

Ray Comfort 27:42

Absolutely . I mean giant purple hair , yeah Big dreadlocks . Yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 27:48

I mean Ray's on it . Yeah so you're partial , I'm partial to people I do .

Ray Comfort 27:52

Yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 27:56

But you know I do hate partiality .

Oscar Navarro 27:58

I know it's a saying Are you partial to partiality ?

Emeal Zwayne 28:01

I am in fact . So you got a problem with hatred , mucho hatredo , but you know it's a wicked sin man and I went over Real quick , I was gonna say I almost feel like I wish sometimes I could go around and lie functioning in certain aspects blindfolded , like if a preacher preached blindfolded right , doesn't know who's in the congregation . No one can accuse them of you are preaching at me and this or that or you know . I mean you think of these pastors sometimes that get like really famous politicians or celebrities in their congregation . Are they going to compromise a message ?

Ray Comfort 28:35

I had a friend that did that . That compromised Richard Gunther . No , he put a paper bag over his head and preached to a crown Stop . No , I'm not kidding why ? Just to illustrate the blindness of sinners .

Emeal Zwayne 28:45

They can't see what's going on .

Ray Comfort 28:48

Did he ever take it off ? Yes , he did , funny guy yeah .

Mark Spence 28:53

Mark . We continually try to make it our aim to preach our heart out , whether or not there's 10,000 people in attendance or 10 people in attendance .

Ray Comfort 29:00

Mark , you do that , don't you ? Yeah ?

Mark Spence 29:01

I think we all do that right . We just pour our hearts out , regardless of the attendance . I mean , jesus could have filled up the steady eye of the world with thousands and thousands of people , but he chose rather to pour into 12 people , knowing that one of them was gonna betray him .

Partiality and Fairness in Parenting

Mark Spence 29:17

It's interesting to note we have to bring a distinction here that when we start talking about partiality , we don't want to fall into an area where we're shown partiality towards our kids , but we also , at the same time , we want to demonstrate that there's a folly of fairness in this world , because this world is not fair . So say , if I go on a road trip and I have , for example , say I have two kids , I don't need to bring back two gifts because I have two kids . I could bring back two gifts for the same child and I could have it as a lesson for my kids . Because what happens is when we raise our kids up to think that life is fair , when they grow up they become socialistic in their behavior towards society . And I say well , my neighbor has four cars , I don't have any cars . Well then , my neighbor must give me one of their cars . That would be fair . Well , actually it would be fair if they gave me two of their cars , right ? There's no partiality that is going on here , because there's just a folly of just being fair . So there's a fine line in just studying your kids , studying the environment , your situation that you're in , and not showing partiality , but there's just lessons to be learned .

Oscar Navarro 30:24

See , that's why we're a very capitalistic family and we're super into social Darwinism , so we make one meal for dinner and then , it's survival of the fittest man , whoever gets it first .

Emeal Zwayne 30:35

yeah , yeah , mark , that's really interesting and I'm thinking through that because we have talked to our kids about that . Like you may get a relative that may help out with a car , let's say for a kid , or whatever . There's this immediate mindset of obligation . Well , of course they're going to help me . Absolutely not that was grace and kindness that they did . That you never expect . We talk about that , about birthdays . Oh well , so-and-so is going to get me this because they got so-and-so , that it's like we have to be careful of that , you know . But I do want to tease that out in my mind and think , though that is sensitive right with our kids , though , because I could see it being done to teach a lesson . But if it's drawn out too far , right , it can get to where maybe someone is showing more affection to a child and not to the other , you know , because it is my aim to try to be as fair as possible with my kids . But I think there's a way to teach them where , hey , sometimes it may not work out that way , life doesn't always work out that way . I'm not intentionally being partial , you know , I'm not intentionally , but sometimes it may be forgetfulness or maybe that this like perfect point , mark , this sibling has a certain personality , so I saw this gift and I bought it for them . You know I can't go now . Okay , now I have to buy one for everyone . We need to be understanding . There may be a time I may do that for you , sweetheart . You know and You're talking to me Me . Sweetheart .

Oscar Navarro 31:54

Should we leave the room , sweetheart ?

Ray Comfort 31:56

I think the antistasis of partiality is seen in the Good Samaritan story . There was no partiality on his own prejudice , it was just someone in need . I'm going to take care of them , and that's what we should be like Treat others as heaven treat us .

Oscar Navarro 32:10

Well , and that's actually a really good point , because I think that Christians we as Christians have the tendency to begin to forget that we receive grace and we start to believe that we achieve grace and so we assume like , oh well , I've figured out that there is a God and you , stupid fool , you don't realize that there isn't a God . I have partiality because I have figured , my wisdom has led me to the understanding that there is a God , or my understanding of morals and ethics in this world makes me better than you or you know . Whatever the case is like my moral attributes , my religious practices , these are the things that have allowed me to achieve salvation . We actually start to believe that we forget that we've been shown grace , that we don't achieve it , we receive it , and when we keep our eye on that , it is very difficult to show partiality . In another book I read , she said it like this what's the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian ? The Christian is someone who knows she's no different from anyone else . Wow , that's good .

Emeal Zwayne 33:16

Yeah , and you know , speaking of kids , you know we see in the Old Testament the sin of partiality and the impact that it had . I mean Genesis 25-28 , now . Isaac loved Esau , but he had it because he had a taste for game . But Rebecca loved Jacob . I mean , how sad to be hearing that about someone's children , you know .

Ray Comfort 33:34

And Joseph's dead Jacob same thing .

Emeal Zwayne 33:37

Yeah , genesis 37-3-4 . Now , israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was a son of his old age . You know , the first one is because he had a taste for game . The other one is because he was a son of his old age Also . He made him a tunic of many colors . And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers , they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him .

Ray Comfort 33:59

Was that tunic a sign of that he was getting the inheritance from his father ? I've read that somewhere .

Emeal Zwayne 34:05

I've .

Oscar Navarro 34:05

Yeah , I thought it was because he had two necks .

Emeal Zwayne 34:09

Two necks . Oh , that's sick . But I've heard that it was kind of a sign of authority , that he was given authority over his brothers , you know , and yet he was the youngest . But there is a sin of exerting more focused time energy toward one child over the other and it's very harmful and destructive . Now they're responsible for their jealousy , obviously , and their wicked actions that led to murder . I mean , from their perspective , what they thought they were killing their brother at one point . But we can still create the atmosphere where we make it more difficult for people to do what they should do , right .

Ray Comfort 34:48

Speaking of that , have we ever done a podcast on Joseph ?

Emeal Zwayne 34:52

Yes , I think so .

Ray Comfort 34:54

I just thought I'd mention it . It's very memorable . Yeah , clearly I loved it .

Oscar Navarro 34:58

It was so good .

Mark Spence 34:59

So what are some practical steps that we can take to avoid the sin of partiality ? Let's recognize it as it is . You have a situation . We are showing partiality . Maybe you recognize it in yourself or in somebody else . What steps do we now take to make things right ?

Oscar Navarro 35:14

Yeah , Side note before we go there . You reminded me of this and I think this is funny . I also think I've shared this before , but in case I haven't at one point , so I have it's myself .

Recognizing and Overcoming Partiality

Oscar Navarro 35:25

And then I have triplet sisters that are 13 years younger than me , and they are the pride and joy of my mom's heart , and one day , one day we're at Christmas . Well , that makes sense . My sister goes like mom . Why is your ? Her social media was like mom of three , proud mom of three , or something like that . She's like you have four kids . She's like , no , I know , but I just wanted . I just wanted everyone to know that I've got three beautiful daughters . And we're like , yeah , but you have four kids . She's like , no , no , but it's not like that . I just really was proud of my three girls and we're like , yeah , but you have four kids . So , anyways , I'm deeply moved by your guys' .

Ray Comfort 36:06

We absolutely love you , Oscar . Yeah , I appreciate you .

Oscar Navarro 36:10

Yeah , how do we avoid ? How do we recognize ? First , I think the first thing to do is to I've got two good friends on the podcast . We first have to confess that even as Christians we are prone to show partiality . Once we confess that , then we need to apply the gospel into the crevices of the darknesses of our heart and we need to realize we need to look to Jesus and we need to remind ourselves that God did not show partiality when he saved you , because if God showed partiality we'd all be in grave trouble . The only one that deserves to be in the face of his glory is his one and only son , jesus Christ . But because he is gracious , he shows no partiality .

Emeal Zwayne 36:58

But , mark , that's a good question and I'm excited to get practical on this . You know , I think first we look at scripture 1 Timothy 521, . I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels , that you observe these things without prejudice , doing nothing with partiality . You know that is the general call to us as God's people , is that we make sure we're proactive in that regard . I want to say first that we have to be careful , though , that we don't call partiality that which is not partiality . It's not partiality in a negative sense . I mean , you might say technically , you're being partial in that regard , but just like we talk about killing right , there's righteous , justifiable killing and there's murder right , so there is a partiality that would not fall under the sinful type of partiality . It's not sinfully partial to say this brother gives really good wisdom and counsel . I have many people I can get counsel from , but I've sense his counsel is typically the best . I'm going to him . You know it's not partial . You have a ball game .

Mark Spence 37:56

You have a pick up basketball game . You look over and you see Oscar there .

Emeal Zwayne 38:02

And you don't pick him and you go around in the next round .

Mark Spence 38:04

And you pick Oscar over picking the guy that doesn't look like he knows how to play or he didn't make a layup during practice . There's nothing wrong intrinsically evil , about picking somebody who you want to be on your team to have a good team , because I can see that people just swing on the other side of the channel right Exactly . Well then , I'm just going to do the exact opposite of everything I think that I want to do . I love chocolate . I'm not going to pick chocolate , I'm going to eat . I can't do it because that's what I really wanted .

Emeal Zwayne 38:29

Yeah . Or even with our kids . We have an errand to run and one of our children is competent in that or has the strength to do that . They're older , they're bigger . We take them , and this applies to so many things . But honestly , I think it falls under doing specific things that fall in line with general courtesy , a love , kindness that we would do overtly for someone , or just period for someone that we wouldn't do for someone else , and I think that can take on so many other forms and I think it could happen with , again , courtesy . For example , someone wants to share something with you that they're going through . You're in a public place and this person just doesn't seem very focused , or maybe intelligent , or maybe they have a disability , and you just kind of like , ah , get me out of here . And then someone else comes up and they seem to be more in keeping with those other things I mentioned and you're like , oh yeah , and you'll fully give them your time and your focus , and that's partiality . This is a human being . They want to talk to you and now , because you don't like the way they make you feel or you don't sense they're worth your time , that is an example of partiality .

Oscar Navarro 39:48

Or someone walks into your church and they don't look like you , dress like you , talk like you , and your immediate assumption is they're not as close to God as you .

Emeal Zwayne 39:58

Right .

Oscar Navarro 39:59

So you disregard them as an outsider , but you simply don't know what the Lord is doing in that person's life .

Emeal Zwayne 40:07

Yeah , ray . You know , when we read the passage in James , he talked about judging like with partiality . You're being judgmental . In a sense it carries with it that aspect of coming to conclusions at times about people .

Ray Comfort 40:21

Yeah , I remember and I'll never forget this . I better remember it right now .

Mark Spence 40:25

I was gonna say that .

Ray Comfort 40:27

Huntington Beach . Once I went up to interview a guy who's obviously non-Christian because he had tattoos all over his face , all over his arms and everywhere and he had bones through his nose . Oh pastures . No , he had bones through his ears , bones through his nose , his lips were pierced and he loved the Lord Do you remember that ? Yes , I do , and it blew me away . I question you're reading your Bible ? Yeah , are you ? Oh dear .

Emeal Zwayne 40:54

Because you're right . Your mind is telling you , no , this can't be .

Ray Comfort 40:57

But and that's evil .

Emeal Zwayne 40:58

Yeah , you know , and so it's . But it's hard to fight against that because we have these prejudices that are lodged in our minds and so we're just coming to these conclusions and we just have to fight against that . I mean , mark , what do you do in times when you feel that bias rising in your heart and you're prone to be partial ? How do you fight it ?

Mark Spence 41:18

Well , I think being slow to speak just quick to listen when somebody comes to me , I typically will offer a prayer to the Lord . Just simply place your spirit between us . You know , if there's something you want to say to me , something you want to say to them , I'm open . I'm open to review correction . Whatever you want to do , it's being humble . You know , in the midst of that , you know treating them better than yourself , that you don't deserve to be in a conversation with them . I often think of the mortality of people and what if this is the last conversation that they'll actually have with someone . And I kind of had somewhat of a situation like that with an individual when I was done speaking at a church . When I was done speaking with them , he went and committed suicide and it really weighed heavy on me when that had taken place . So when I am speaking at a church , when I am with somebody and maybe they're pouring their heart out to me , I tend to give them a lot more time than I would see maybe another person do , because you know who's to say that I'm not just that last person or they're just a place . They're in a place of desperation . We just don't know what somebody is going through . So I experienced that several years ago in order to get me , I think , in a good headspace , to not be in a hurry to go anywhere . I don't like hanging out in green rooms . You know to get away from people , unless there's some really good food in there and then I'll be able to get it . But that's kind of where my head goes .

Emeal Zwayne 42:43

You know , there's this one pastor that I've spoken . I've spoken to as a church a lot and I've gone to some of his services and I'm blown away with how so present he is with every person that comes up to him after the service and a lot of times there's a line of people and he sometimes he's going 10 minutes and he's not , like you know , looking around , looking at his watch . I mean he is fully there and I've told him this . I said this blows me away . You're present with your people and that's impartiality you know . So , ray , what about with you ? I mean in terms of what's wrong with you .

Oscar Navarro 43:19

Ray yeah , in terms of .

Ray Comfort 43:22

What are you going to ask me ? You make me nervous .

Emeal Zwayne 43:24

No , but in terms of that temptation , you know sometimes to be partial , that we all face , how do you find it ?

Ray Comfort 43:32

The love of Christ , fear of God . Know that God's watching and so don't follow your own thoughts . Just say what would Jesus do ? And Jesus was never in a bad partiality . He spoke with everyone Leppers , weppers , weppers and lepers , weppers and lepers .

Emeal Zwayne 43:50

Yeah , oscar , would you say that what Christ taught the disciples in terms of being the last and the least and the servant of all carries with it that effect of veering away from partiality in terms of , like , I'm called to be a foot washer , I'm called to be the last and the least . If I'm the last and the least , then everyone is above me and I'm , in essence , they're servant . So I treat everyone with with that love and kindness and care and dignity .

Oscar Navarro 44:18

Yeah , yeah . I think that's such an important aspect to remember and that's just the thing too is because how do you show partiality towards someone when you don't think you're better than them , when you view yourself as below them rather than above them ? You cannot show partiality towards people because then you become a servant to all , and so you know , you don't gravitate towards the bombastic , the wealthy , the affluent , but rather you see people in the fringes , the outcast , the last , the least and the last become a part of your radar . I just heard , I heard a pastor . I went to a different church than our church this last Sunday because of scheduling conflicts , but we still wanted to worship somewhere , and the pastor was talking about how he was on vacation in Ireland . They were just like trying to walk into this restaurant and he like saw this table at this really busy restaurant . He ran over there and he sat down and he looks around . He's like where's my wife ? And he's like man , if I get up and leave this table , I'm going to lose the table , but I gotta find my wife . And so he's like , what do I do ? And so he just leave your wallet on the table .

Ray Comfort 45:17

There you go , yeah .

Oscar Navarro 45:19

And so he walks , 101 dumb things raised on . So he walks outside and his wife is like on one knee talking to some homeless guy and like face to face eye contact , getting to know him , asking about his day and proposing , trying to find the right guy . And pastor Mark Ambrose is , like you know , he wasn't even on my radar , like I didn't even , because I'm on my vacation and I am doing my thing and I deserve this moment of relaxation . He showed partiality in that moment , but his wife stopped and he , she saw the last , the least and lost . And that's exactly it , man . When we don't see ourselves above others . It's really hard to show partiality .

Emeal Zwayne 46:04

Yeah and look , there are contexts in which we naturally may gravitate towards someone . It can happen in friendships , it can happen in families , you know , to whatever degree ? I think in those cases we need to push ourselves and say no . It is important in these contexts that with my attention , with my time , with my focus , with my deeds of love and kindness , that that I , I , don't show partiality . And so we have to think through those things and then push ourselves so that we don't dishonor the Lord and hurt those that are dear to us . You know this principle goes back to the Old Testament . It's foundational Liberty . Because , 1915 , you shall do no injustice in judgment . You shall not be partial to the poor , nor honor the person of the mighty and righteousness . You shall judge your neighbor . Do honor me . 117 , you shall not show partiality in judgment . You shall hear the small as well as the great . You shall not be afraid in any man's presence , for the judgment is God's the case . That is too hard for you , bring to me and I'll hear . I mean , I love that right . Don't be . Don't be afraid of the person or just in everything , don't show partiality . He was wrapped it up . He says for Christians the ground is leveled , the foot of the cross . This being so , it is absurd to be partial toward anyone . All should be treated equally , as beings created in the image of God . Rich and poor should be accorded equal honor and cordiality . Discrimination or favoritism is spiritually irrational . Good for us to remember . Anything else to add , guys ?

Mark Spence 47:32

Did you guys realize I didn't change my shirt ? Are you partial to that shirt ?

Emeal Zwayne 47:37

mark On the podcast , are you ?

Mark Spence 47:39

partial to that shirt . I've just seen how perceptive you guys are .

Emeal Zwayne 47:42

It does matter , Ray , because these are being recorded and Mark is being rebellious . Thank you for joining us friends . It's been a fun episode . Remember to not forget what the Remember to not forget , yeah , the tough questions . Five second DVD study , physical or MP4 format . Don't forget the Living Waters mug , the evidence study Bible , all livingwaterscom , and remember podcast LivingWaterscom with your thoughts and your questions and suggestions .

Ray Comfort 48:11

And don't forget to remember , to remember .

Oscar Navarro 48:14

Yeah , because if you don't remember to not forget . Then you're back to remembering precisely .

Emeal Zwayne 48:19

So remember that , friends , and don't forget it , and thank you for joining us . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast . The ultimate cure for Insomnia .