Roosters and Chickens

Emeal Zwayne 1:04

Sexual purity Mark . How important is that ? To have the hard conversations with our kids . I mean most parents . When they talk to their kids about that whole realm , they're nervous , they're anxious . When they even tell them about it . We decided , as I've shared before , to be excited about it so our kids can understand it , first and foremost , that this is beautiful . God designed it . But on the other side , some parents won't have the hard talks , asking them difficult questions . You know what are you looking at , what are you doing ? And to help them .

Mark Spence 1:28

Well , ray kind of alluded to it . It's the rising up and it's the sitting down that there's always opportunity , always moments to be able to speak truth , specifically in this area , into our kids' lives . So when a billboard comes up and you see maybe a wandering eye from your child , or a pretty girl comes walking by or a guy , whatever it may be , if something like that ends up happening , you're always conversing with them , you're always trying to get to the heart of the matter .

Emeal Zwayne 1:58

Ultimate questions , friends , that's because that's what we deal with here on the Living Waters podcast and I've got the ultimate of all ultimate questions for .

Ray Comfort 2:08

Ray Comfort .

Emeal Zwayne 2:10

Ray , if a rooster moved to a different time zone .

Ray Comfort 2:15

Oh yes .

Oscar Navarro 2:16

We were talking about this the other day .

Ray Comfort 2:18

It's deep philosophical questions about life . Yeah , it's life-altering . You're going to love this . This is very powerful .

Emeal Zwayne 2:23

Yeah . So , ray , if a rooster moved to a different time zone , would it croak earlier ? Would it cock-a-doodle-doo ? Yeah , that's a croak cock-a-doodle-doo Three in the morning .

Ray Comfort 2:32

Yeah , I don't know what time they'd do it . Just we should try it . Stick one , blindfold it , put it on a plane , bring it to California . Why blindfold it ?

Emeal Zwayne 2:50

So it would know where it was going . Another , oh man , that would be such a fun experiment . Yeah , yeah . But , Ray , you've stated before that roosters are illegal . In Bellflower no . Eagles are illegal . Sick bird Mexican eagles are illegal . What do you call a sick bird , Mark ?

Mark Spence 3:04

Well , no , isn't it like ? What is the difference between illegal and illicit ?

Ray Comfort 3:08

Yeah , you say to someone what is the difference between illegal and illicit ? Yeah , you say to someone what's the difference between illegal and illicit and they spend five minutes explaining the differences . Illegal , sorry , illicit is against the law . Illegal is a sick bird .

Emeal Zwayne 3:20

Ill eagle . I'd love to hear a sick eagle . The bird is ill .

Oscar Navarro 3:24

I looked it up and , yes , the rooster would . Their circadian rhythm would need to reset in order for the crow at a different time .

Emeal Zwayne 3:30

You're joking . Wait , you're serious .

Oscar Navarro 3:33

It says , as long as it does for a person like experiencing jet lag .

Ray Comfort 3:37

So the rooster would get jet lag and sleep in for three hours If he came from New York .

Emeal Zwayne 3:43

Yeah , so , ray , but why ? What if the rooster identified as a hen in Bellflower ? Well , it would lay eggs , wouldn't it ?

Mark Spence 3:51

What if it was in Alaska and the sun is up six hours , six months out of the ?

Emeal Zwayne 3:56

year Non-stop cock-a-doodle-doo Incessantly . Yeah , you know , I was thinking about it today . I wonder if different animals in different parts of the world , like , have accents and the noises they make we're getting worse .

Ray Comfort 4:15

Like an indian indian indian rooster , do a mexican rooster .

Emeal Zwayne 4:24

I can't no change . Oh , that'd be funny . Mooing and cock-a-doodling and different accents . Yeah , why was the chicken so funny ? Because it wanted to cross the road ? No , she's a real comedian . She's a comedian . What do chicken families do on the weekends ? Lay around , they have picnics . What ?

Ray Comfort 4:54

movies do hens like oh , you get been in no chick flicks oh man , that's good .

Emeal Zwayne 4:59

Favorite restaurant chick-fil-a . Yeah . How do chickens wake up on time ? Alarm clocks , what do you do ? What do you do with a shy chicken ? Get her to come out of her shell . What's a chicken's ? These are so dumb they're funny . I know what's a chicken's favorite school subject Egonomics . Why did Mozart hate chickens ? They loved Bach . All they say is Bach , bach , bach . That was pretty close . Very good , that was good . Yeah , all right , I've had my fill of chickens . Time for a cool , classy comment . This one is from Lucas Lamrock from podcast11waterscom , after hearing the start of episode 266 , how to Cultivate a Diligent Life . At the start of episode 266 , how to Cultivate a Diligent Life , I heard that Ray heats his ice cream up , and I immediately had to send an email , because EZ pronounced E-Zed in Canada couldn't believe that anyone else could possibly do that . Well , brothers , I'm here to tell you . My wife does this all the time . Laugh out loud . I have questioned her on multiple occasions of lie .

Ray Comfort 6:10

And I got a text from a family that they knew .

Emeal Zwayne 6:13

Well , ray , look , you guys had I don't know , you guys were mocking handwriting or whatever , and people came to my defense . So I'm fair , I'm fair . Yeah , we got no multiple .

Ray Comfort 6:24

It's just like five seconds . It's just like five seconds , ten seconds in the microwave Takes that hardness off .

Microwaving Ice Cream Debate

Emeal Zwayne 6:29

So that's one . Here's another one From Eileen Nehas From podcastalumaragecom . Ray is the only . Ray is the only one that eats ice cream the right way . I nuke it for a few seconds too . John from Arizona . For decades my wife and I have put our ice cream in the microwave For a few seconds before eating it so smooth , creamy and delicious Sounds like an advertisement . Good choice , ray . And finally Caitlin Sebo . I guess you are going to have to stop telling Ray on the podcast nobody does such and such , because my friend's dad just told me that he puts his ice cream in the microwave to soften it too .

Ray Comfort 7:06

So if you have a hole in your mattress , please write in .

Emeal Zwayne 7:12

That I guarantee you . There will be no one on earth , unless those that started doing it after they heard about you . Ray Comfort , yeah , I still think it's insane .

Mark Spence 7:21

It is insane . It's the reason why I don't like frozen yogurt , because it's not frozen , it's just very cold .

Ray Comfort 7:26

It's a lot to do with sensitive teeth . If you've got sensitive teeth , you can't stand cold things on your teeth . Is it the same for people ?

Mark Spence 7:31

who brush and floss .

Ray Comfort 7:33

Brush and floss .

Emeal Zwayne 7:34

Yeah , Ray .

Ray Comfort 7:35

Try it .

Emeal Zwayne 7:35

Blushing .

Ray Comfort 7:37

Blushing and frosting .

Emeal Zwayne 7:40

Ray , could it be you need root canals ?

Ray Comfort 7:43

Don't even mention root canals . Your teeth are sensitive . I'll never have a root . Next time someone says you've got to have a root canal , I say take them all out . I want my gums . I had 20 minutes of waterboarding where I couldn't breathe . The dentist had me upside down . It was just crazy and they say you okay .

Mark Spence 7:59

When I go to the dentist I wear one of those breathe rights .

Ray Comfort 8:01

So you can breathe through your nose when I take three Advils before I go .

Emeal Zwayne 8:07

Didn't help with this thing . Dentists are well nice people . We have some dentist friends who are terrible .

Ray Comfort 8:13

My dentist , is really nice . I fell asleep while he was working on my teeth . He's really good .

Emeal Zwayne 8:16

Really .

Ray Comfort 8:17

Yeah , but then he sent me to another guy with a root canal because he doesn't do them .

Mark Spence 8:20

I heard they don't hurt anymore though root canals . I heard that there's yeah dentist Say that again . I'd rather have a root canal than go to the dentist .

Emeal Zwayne 8:33

Can you imagine doing your own root canal ? I don't even want to imagine it . I'm trying to imagine a dentist doing his own root canal . Oh boy , yeah , we're blessed to have them . Though , man , seriously , you think about back in the day . What'd they do in the day ? What'd they do ? You lose your tooth you lose your tooth .

Mark Spence 8:47

Never heard of a rooster having a root canal , a rooster canal , I watched a little video the other day of a rooster doing that cock-a-doo-da-doo thing and it passed out .

Ray Comfort 8:57

It passed out . I actually had that on my timeline because I thought that's good for a Christian to never give up .

Emeal Zwayne 9:03

That's one of my favorite videos . Have you seen it , Oscar ?

Ray Comfort 9:06

Guys , for those who are listening , if you've never seen it on YouTube type rooster tries real hard or something like that . He just goes on and on until he passes out trying to croak , croak .

Emeal Zwayne 9:15

It's really good man . What does a rooster do ? Crow ?

Ray Comfort 9:19

Does it croak , croak ?

Emeal Zwayne 9:20

No , no , crow , Rooster crow . Yeah , yeah , crow . What does a crow ?

Mark Spence 9:23

do Russell Crow Russell .

Emeal Zwayne 9:25

Crowe Rooster .

Mark Spence 9:26

Yeah , rooster Crowe , yeah From .

Emeal Zwayne 9:28

Braveheart . And now what ? Mark Gladiator ? Gladiator , what about him ? Rooster Crowe ? Yes , that's not the gladiator thing , that would be a cool name for an animal , rooster Crowe . All right , friends , and now a radically revolutionary resource

On-the-Go Devotional for Stress Relief

Emeal Zwayne 9:45

. This podcast is brought to you by Stop Stressing and Count your Blessings , ray . What's the book about ?

Ray Comfort 9:56

How you Count your Blessings If you do that it'll stop you stressing .

Emeal Zwayne 10:01

Is it a devotional Ray ?

Ray Comfort 10:02

Yes , it is . It's been designed to read while you're driving the LA freeway . What's your favorite chapter ? Chapter 8 . It doesn't have chapters . It's a designed to read while you're driving the LA freeway .

Emeal Zwayne 10:09

What's your favorite chapter ? Chapter 8 .

Ray Comfort 10:11

It doesn't have chapters . It's a devotional Day , 8 . I think .

Emeal Zwayne 10:15

Yeah , so give us a gist of it though , ray . Really .

Ray Comfort 10:18

It's all about how that , if you count your blessings , is that the fall off right there ? Yeah , you stopped stressing . I haven't read it , sorry .

Oscar Navarro 10:28

That is so good , all off , right there . Yeah , you stop stressing . I haven't read it , sorry , it's just 365 pages of him saying that in different fonts , different fonts Basically .

Emeal Zwayne 10:34

Yeah , friends , check it out . It's bound to be helpful , I guess .

Mark Spence 10:39

I guess .

Ray Comfort 10:40

Allegedly Did you wheeze . Yes , I did , he just wheezed . That was actually funny easy .

Emeal Zwayne 10:45

Crazy . Yeah , and don't forget , friends , the Living Waters mug from which you can chug the Evidence Sighted Bible which may libel the cause revival . And don't forget , it's all at livingwaterscom . All right , friends , Today we are talking about how to prepare your kids for the real world . Guys , what a blessing to have children . Just kidding .

Ray Comfort 11:15

They're all right . I used to be one myself . Yeah , back in the day , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 11:19

Back in the day . Seriously , I love seeing baby pictures of famous people . Yeah , because you can look back and do the retrospect thing right , like I mean , we're seeing them now , but their parents were imagining what are they gonna look like ? You know they can like , but I mean , like you don't know , hitler had parents . They looked at him .

Oscar Navarro 11:39

It's our baby the lead singer of kiss didn't change whenever I meet somebody , whenever I meet somebody , they're like what is Ray like in real life ? I'm always like he's like a kid stuck in a kid's body , that's my line .

Ray Comfort 11:55

That's easy Slade .

Emeal Zwayne 11:56

You better give attribution A little boy stuck in a little boy's body . But yeah , you know , like Elvis , you know how did he cry . Oh , thank you very much , um . But you know , you , you think about , about all of us , right , do you think ?

Oscar Navarro 12:18

before you speak no I'm just , I'm just never have . I'm stuck picturing a little baby with the hitler mustache , right actually he looked a cute little baby .

Ray Comfort 12:29

If you see pictures I've seen a picture of Hitler as a baby People don't know who it is until they put the mustache on . Then they get a clue .

Emeal Zwayne 12:35

Oh man , imagine , though . You know , you think of the characteristics , like what was Trump like ? I think boss , baby , you know , I think Trump , but but yeah , you know , I mean we , we , we all have kids here . Oscar , you've got three , mark , you've got five , I've got five , ray , three , and you think of the joy of being parents , first and foremost . I mean , I want to talk about that for a minute before we get into . How do we launch our kids out and prepare them for the real world ? But think of Psalm 127 , three to five . Behold , children are a heritage from the Lord . The fruit of the womb is a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior . So are the children of one's youth ? Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them . They shall not be ashamed , but they shall speak with their enemies in the gate Mark . What a contrast this is to this modern age we're living in , where kids are seen to be such a burden that parents will murder them in the womb .

Mark Spence 13:33

Well , I wasn't expecting that twist right there . Yes , you know , people say you know the word abortion is not mentioned inside the Bible . That's because it was so unthinkable . You know , the greatest blessing upon a couple , in the Old Testament especially , would be an opening of the womb , and the greatest especially would be an opening of the womb and the greatest curse would be a closing of the womb . We see that with Abraham and Sarah and Haggai Is that how you pronounce it ? Children are our heritage . Right , there are a lot of work , but the blessing there is huge and , by God's grace , all of our kids here we talk about 5 , 10 , 13 , 16 kids are represented here . They're all walking with the Lord .

Mark Spence 14:17

I had my brother call me up and we're talking and he said man , how do you get your kids to go to church ? It's like it's pulling teeth to get them to come to church . And I go . My kids all love going to church . They , they absolutely love going to church and they check . They're there for both services you know to to serve in one , maybe , or to go to a youth group . I such a heritage , such a blessing .

Mark Spence 14:42

I said this to one of my , to my oldest brother , mike . I said , what the world tends to do is when the kids are young , they give the kids free reign to roam wherever they want to roam , to do whatever they want to do , and then , as they get older , they're saying that decisions , wise decisions aren't being made . So then they lasso them and they try to pull them in . They try to hey , don't , don't , you don't want to do that , hey , come on back . But by that time it's just too late .

Mark Spence 15:08

What we did when the kids were really little , really young , we tied them with a lasso , if you would , spiritually speaking , and we just held them really tight , not giving them the ability to make a lot of decisions . We made all the decisions for them and then , as they begin to grow up , we begin to loosen that leash a little bit , if you would , and it got to the place where you can , for the most part , let go of that leash , because they're making the wisest decisions and letting go of that leash . They didn't want to go out , they didn't want to leave , they didn't want to go out into the world and experience the things of the world . They wanted to stay close by and they realized that we had their best interest in mind .

Mark Spence 15:48

I mean , how torturous is it , what a terrible decision it is to give a cell phone to a 12-year-old without any oversight whatsoever . That is terrible parenting , absolutely terrible parenting . And then you try to pull that back in , try to rein that back in when they've already been exposed to horrific things . But no , of course Christian children are such a blessing and we have to remember that it's not our job to raise Christian children , it's our job to model what a Christian is for our children and then hopefully they make those wiser decisions as they get older .

Emeal Zwayne 16:25

Yeah , amen . And look , friends , we know we're talking to a broad audience . We know that there are some of you out there whose kids are in rebellion , they're not walking with the Lord or they've strayed . But then there are others of you who have young children or are not even parents yet , but you're heading in that direction . So we're speaking to that full spectrum . We don't want to discourage any of you , but we want to encourage those of you who are parents of young children , who aren't hardened yet perhaps by the world , or those that are going to be parents , to understand the sweetness of your children walking with the Lord and you bringing them up in the ways of the Lord .

Emeal Zwayne 17:00

Ephesians 6 , 4, . You fathers , do not provoke your children to wrath , but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord . And we have been blessed those of us around the table here to have watched our children walk with the Lord . You know , my son , luke , a few nights ago asked hey , dad , can I have my small group over to our house ? It's like their life group , you know , at church . Can we have them over to the house ? Because you know they need another place to meet this week . I thought what a joy , you know , instead of my son like waiting for my wife and I to go out of town so he can have a party at our house and , you know , do a bunch of wicked , sinful things , he's asking if our house can be used for the Lord .

Ray Comfort 17:44

He's not ashamed of you .

Emeal Zwayne 17:46

Only of his grandpa .

Mark Spence 17:48

He's never said anything about me . The book that helped us more than anything was Shepherding a Child's Heart , by Ted Tritt .

Emeal Zwayne 17:54

Absolutely . We've mentioned it many times before and it's excellent . And so , yeah , my daughter Julia . She has a weekly Bible study with girls at the house . They use the upper room that we have , and just to see our children doing that is a joy . And yet we have to stop and say , look , are we sowing in our children ? Are we pouring into them in ways that glorify the Lord ? Ray , that was important to you at the foundation when your kids were young .

Ray Comfort 18:23

Yeah , when Mark was speaking I was thinking kids learn through bruising . Through bruising you just let them go . When they get a little older they want to climb up on that shelf and they fall down . I remember watching my I don't know if he's a nephew or what , but my in-law's kid's child . I don't know what relative he was , but I remember when I was visiting their house he was like five feet up in the air crawling on things right across shelving , and that Just a little kid . But as he grew up he realized there's such a thing as gravity and gravity teaches and life is like that . It teaches us through bruising . Whatever your question was , I remember it , but I'm just going to put it aside for a second . I'm actually bluffing . Christian kids often will say I don't have a good testimony because they didn't go out into the world and get into drugs and get into things that are dark to testify of the cross . But that's fallacious . Every Christian has an incredible testimony because we're not testifying in what Satan did in our lives , but what God has done .

Oscar Navarro 19:21

He gave us life .

Ray Comfort 19:23

he preserved us and then saved us through the cross , amen . And so every Christian has a very powerful testimony .

Emeal Zwayne 19:29

Yeah , you know , I wouldn't have minded at all to have had a testimony like that , you know , and that how amazing to have grown up and it's stayed , you know , within the realm of the faith .

Emeal Zwayne 19:40

Obviously , everyone needs to get born again at some point , but to not have gone headlong into the world and accumulated the scars that all of us here at the table have , I praise God that none of my kids have ever gone that route and that they're entering marriage and purity and they don't have all that baggage that comes with a testimony like that . So what we want to focus on today is how do we launch them out into the world ? How do we , you know I mean , they're likened to arrows , you know , as we saw how do we shoot them out into the world and have them ready for the world to really be ready to take on life ? We've dealt with raising children before on the podcast . We've talked about that , but I kind of would like to go into different areas today of just saying like , okay , what sorts of things can we give them to best equip them to handle the rigors of life ?

Mark Spence 20:34

well , first and foremost , it's the spiritual foundation . Right , we talked about going to church . Well , we also need to include prayer and a biblical foundation of the study of god's word , an understanding of the basics that are going to come your way . So there's a spiritual foundation which would include really those three elements Bible study , prayer and church . Church is so important . The local church , I think , gets a bad rap in that . Think , well , I can just attend church online , I listen to my pastor online , but no Scripture makes it very clear to not neglect that . Hebrews 10 says let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works , not neglecting to meet together , as is the habit of some , but encouraging one another , and all the more as you see the day drawing near . Covid has ushered in a horrific thing in that people only attend church online , and if that's the case , people need to repent . But that's first and foremost , I think , when it comes to the spiritual foundation for your kids .

Emeal Zwayne 21:31

That's been one of I think you're right , mark one of the biggest negatives of the whole COVID thing in terms of the after effect . Yeah , a lot of people now , they just got accustomed to that and so . But you know , yeah , it's not just attending church , but it's being the church and that we're teaching our children how to serve . That's right . Come early , stay late , yeah , to be a part of the body and to use the gifts that the Lord has given them , and so , yeah , so I'd love to explore these things . I have a list of things , but , oscar , I'd love to hear your thoughts on this .

Oscar Navarro 22:06

Well , I'm an eager observer of this conversation , actually because my kids are a lot younger than your guys , what are the ages again ?

Oscar Navarro 22:12

My daughter just turned 15 . Levi will be turning 13 . And then Evie is 11 . So 11 , 13 , and 15 . And so we're on . I think we're headed into that season of sending out , especially with Maddie , where she's getting to that age where , in six months now , she's going to get her driving permit and she's going to have a lot more independence , and et cetera , et cetera . And so I I'm eager to hear cause you guys have gone before me in this area .

Oscar Navarro 22:41

I will say one thing , though , that I , I , I feel like we've done . I feel like in some way , you're preparing your kids to send them out from day one . That's not something that happens at 15 or 16 or 17 or anything . Rather , that happens like from the earliest ages , and one of the things I've talked about this years ago on this podcast , one of the things that we've always wanted to do is not shield our children from other narratives , but rather help them understand and analyze the narratives that they would hear , the false gospels that are out there . And so one of the things that we've done at a very early age is we would watch a movie as a family , and one of the games that we would play is find the lie and find the lie was simply like whether we're watching Disney's Frozen , right , where you might think , well , there's no cussing , there's no sexuality , therefore it's safe . But Frozen has false gospel narratives in it . And so our kids were taught if you find the lie , we'd play a little game , you give them a dollar , some motivation , right , and so they'd be watching Frozen or any other movie . To this day , my 15-year-old will be sitting there watching a show or listening to a song or whatever , and she'll go lie Because it'll say something like follow your heart , you be you .

Oscar Navarro 23:58

And so the point here is that , instead of shielding our kids from only being exposed to gospel narratives , what we decided to do at a young age is have them primarily exposed to gospel narratives , but also a slow exposure to alternative narratives , with the help of interpreting those things and understanding where they go awry , so that , as they experience more independence and they hear more of these false narratives . Because the reality is that we're a story driven world . Our average person hears and experiences 5,000 advertisements a day . Each of those advertisements are telling your kids a story . Do they have the tools needed to interpret it ? What is true and what is not true ? And so I would just say , at an early age we've always tried to do that for our kids .

Emeal Zwayne 24:52

That's so good . Yeah , teaching them to discern , because , again , the whole point is giving them the tools that they need with which they can function in the world , because there are so many different scenarios they're gonna run up against , right , but we know that the roots to those scenarios right , worldviews , philosophies , and so you equip them to be able to adapt to the manifestations of all those roots and to have the wherewithal to deal with them . And discernment is huge . You know you have to be able to filter what you're hearing and receiving , whether it's at school , whether it's through TV , television , people's ideas , speeches , you know , whatever .

Mark Spence 25:28

When my kids entered into college , I said listen , I got one rule You're here . If you start questioning what you grew up with , if you were challenged , if the professor says something that doesn't align with what you were taught growing up , just make me this commitment Come to me and share with me the things that made you go . Hmm , yeah , hmm . And it worked really great and I absolutely love Find the Lie . I quickly threw that into ChatGPT and I said give me some ones that are along the same line . And it said spy the lie , which is kind of cool , seek the leak .

Oscar Navarro 26:06

Seek the leak .

Mark Spence 26:07

Find the bind . Spot the knot . Wow , seek the leak . Find the bind , uh , spot the knot .

Oscar Navarro 26:16

Wow , sift the rift catch the hatch nab the blab and pick the trick . Pick the trick . I like that last one .

Emeal Zwayne 26:18

Those are good man , I like that . Yeah , you know , one of the things that I think is important and we have touched on this one before , but it it bears repeating and that is reminding your children why they exist , because , mark , you mentioned the spiritual , but what's important is that we cultivate their hearts toward the gospel so that the soil is tilled in a way where they're ready . And Ted Tripp , in Shepherding a Child's Heart , talks about how our kids need to know that they were made by God and for God , that that needs to be the primary thing , and what you do is you hold up the law of God .

Emeal Zwayne 26:53

You hold up God's standard so that your kids see they can't measure up from an early age Easy .

Mark Spence 26:59

Do you think people's families should have like mission statements ?

Emeal Zwayne 27:04

Good one , mark .

Emeal Zwayne 27:05

Yeah , do you happen to have a mission statement Posted right up in our living room , to gladly and passionately glorify God in every thought , affection , word and deed , while constantly enjoying Him as our greatest pleasure and most precious treasure . And it has been the foundation for our family devotions and our spiritual discussions . And to have heard the kids over the years say , yeah , you know this and that I just want to glorify the Lord . It's like ah music to my ears . But it started with laying that foundation . Yeah , you are made by God and for God to live for his glory and you need to live a life of obedience , and then you hold up the law . I mean , ray , a lot of people adults I mean you ask this on the street have no idea what the Ten Commandments are made up of .

Ray Comfort 27:50

No , they don't . They haven't got a clue . That's written on their heart but they really don't know . I'd like to digress a little and talk about what I would tell this generation of kids If I was given an opportunity . I'd give them an American history lesson . I'd tell them in the 1920s , hollywood was called the Roaring Twenties for a reason . They had great influence on a generation . The Roaring Twenties .

Ray Comfort 28:15

The movies were very salacious , very extremely sexual . Can't imagine it way back in the 1920s . That's what caused LR William Hayes to bring in the Hayes Code , where they leveled on Hollywood a very strict censorship no blasphemy , no nudity , no sexual anything . Every movie had to have a good theme and end positively , with the police winning . And they held that code from 1934 through to about late 1950s when Hollywood got rid of it . They wanted to get rid of it with all they're getting and they got rid of it and that released the filth that helped fuel the 1960s , the sexual revolution which led into the 70s , then into the 80s .

Ray Comfort 28:55

It got progressively worse and then , with the 90s and the old frog in the in the frying pan , the moral frying pan croaking because it was happening so slowly , had to drop , be dropped . We've now had a . Nowadays , the frog has been put in a microwave and exploded it . It's absolutely destroyed . There's neither right nor wrong as far as today's concerned . So it's a tsunami of filth . It's flooded humanity . So how can one young Christian kid stand against a tsunami ? Well , you can't , but God can , and the reason he can do it is because he's given us the power of the gospel , which transforms the heart .

Ray Comfort 29:27

Thinking earlier on about Martin Luther King and that incredible speech , I have a dream . I've listened to it multiple times and just been thrilled with how he said , on the mountaintops and all this stuff . And I have a dream he says seven times . However , he didn't preach the gospel . Jesus wasn't mentioned even once , not Christ crucified . And if you fight racism without the gospel , you're not going to win the battle . We're still dreaming 60 years later . It's an elusive dream because we haven't gone for sin .

Ray Comfort 29:54

When Jesus said come after me , I'll make you to become fishers of men , he could have said to the disciples come after me and you'll see Lazarus raised from the dead . Come after me , I'll walk on water right in front of your eyes . I'll still the storm with my voice . The weather will obey me . Blind will see , the deaf will hear . But he didn't say that . He said come unto me and I'll make you to become fishers of men . That was his priority , and the priority of Jesus is seen in his words . The son of man has come to seek and save that which is lost , and we're called to imitate Christ , be followers of Jesus , and that's what we need to instill in the hearts of our children . They're for this generation . They've got to try and stop the tsunami , and they can do it with the power of the gospel , because the weapons of warfare are not carnal , but mighty , through god for the pulling down of strongholds . So we must never forget the great commission , what we're here to do , yeah amen .

Emeal Zwayne 30:43

So good ray . And and there's no greater representative of the great commission than one who has been a full and true partaker of it . And one of those ways is , again , to try to avoid false conversion by not trying to rush your kids to say a little prayer , but by schooling them with the schoolmaster , God's law .

Ray Comfort 31:06

I never thought I'd change the subject from Ray . What do you think of the Ten Commandments ?

Emeal Zwayne 31:11

Something else .

Ray Comfort 31:12

But that was on my heart , but yeah , absolutely , but they're interrelated .

Ray Comfort 31:14

Yeah , deuteronomy , chapter six , says when you walk with your children , when you talk with them , hang the law between the front of their eyes . Take them through that law . Because when you're instilling the law into a four or five-year-old and teaching them the Ten Commandments and the spiritual nature of the law , that God requires truth in the inward parts and he says lust is adultery and you teach them what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount , which is the Messiah , magnifying the law and making it honorable , as the prophet said , what you do is instill in them a knowledge that's going to come back to them when the hormones kick in . Wow , when they feel the power of lust and suddenly they remember the words of Jesus whoever looks upon a woman , that will act as a schoolmaster to bring them to the foot of the cross .

Mark Spence 31:59

Ray , I'd like to ask you a question . If you could go back in time and give advice to a young re-comfort teenager and you're like 13 , 14 years old what would you do differently or what advice ?

Ray Comfort 32:11

would you give to a young teenager today ? I would like to say get saved sooner . But no , the fact that I was lost makes me rejoice that I was found . You know , I often think without almost never , without tears in my eyes , of how lost I felt as a successful young businessman , married with a home business , lots of friends , money , and absolutely lost in darkness and not knowing why I was alive and why death was coming my way . That knowledge made me embrace the cross with both hands . Wow .

Mark Spence 32:45

What would you do differently ? How old were you when you got saved ? 22 . 22 . All right . So what would you do differently , knowing all that you know now ?

Ray Comfort 32:52

Oh , I wouldn't spend 10 years telling people give their hearts to Jesus , he'll give them peace , joy , love , fulfillment and lasting happiness . Fill the God-shaped vacuum in their heart . I preached a false gospel for 10 whole years . God made me wait for 10 years , but that had the effect as the testimony I just gave . In appreciating the cross , I now appreciate biblical evangelism , because I did it wrong and got nowhere . And worse than nowhere , I created damage through my lack of knowledge . I was like Peter , who took a sword and cut off an ear . When you use the gospel , have zeal . Without knowledge , you cut off ears .

Emeal Zwayne 33:28

You cause people to reject the truth because they think they've experienced it what a joy it was to be able to go to New Zealand , to Hamner and to go into that house , into that very room where your eyes were opened , I got emotional . It was very emotional , and then to go to the hot springs where you first used the law when you witnessed to that man Was he still there . He was still there . Yeah , he looked like a prune .

Ray Comfort 33:53

He was so taken back by what I said . He hasn't moved he hasn't left . Still pondering , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 33:58

Wide eye . Yeah so , yeah , that's such good stuff . So here's one of the things that I think we should instruct our kids in early on so that they're ready for the real world , and that is to drill in them that they must be open to correction and instruction and to kill that . I know spirit , right , I've talked about it , I write about it in my book where you're counseling someone and they just like , yeah , I know .

Ray Comfort 34:24

I know .

Emeal Zwayne 34:24

I know , I know , oh , I know what you're talking about .

Oscar Navarro 34:27

I know what he's talking about .

Mark Spence 34:28

I have no idea .

Emeal Zwayne 34:30

Oh , Mark , the humble one .

Mark Spence 34:32

Yeah , we call them sponges , right , we love finding a sponge . It doesn't matter what you share with them , they're just eating up everything .

Emeal Zwayne 34:38

Yeah open to instruction and correction . You know , you think of Proverbs 12 , verse 1, . It says whoever loves instruction loves knowledge , but he who hates correction is stupid . I mean , that's the only appropriate time you can use that word with your kids . Don't be stupid , right , and that this is , I mean , that's biblical . If you're the kind of person that will not receive instruction , will not receive correction , you're stupid and you're headed for destruction .

Ray Comfort 35:07

How are we going to deal with this in a future podcast , one called how to Cultivate a Teachable Heart ?

Emeal Zwayne 35:12

We did that already , didn't we ? No , oh , we are , oh , we are .

Oscar Navarro 35:15

Oh , yeah , that's right , that's coming up .

Emeal Zwayne 35:17

Yeah , we'll talk about that more in depth , but yeah , you know that spirit that just says I want to learn . When someone corrects , you say thank you , Don't put up your walls and become defensive , but be ready to receive and to think , wow , this is a mercy that someone is correcting me , instructing me , because you'll have so much .

Mark Spence 35:38

What if he disagrees ? I mean , I absolutely love that right . And I immediately begin to play devil's advocate because I don't want to learn , maybe , this area . But somebody's correcting you . First response is thank you . And then what If you disagree ? Where do you go from there ? Or if you agree , where do you go from ?

Emeal Zwayne 35:51

there . Well , it depends . I think , first of all , clarification is always important . So if they're pointing something out that you know is not accurate , because they misunderstood something you said or misheard , yeah , first you thank them , you receive it and then you may make that clarification . You might even make it later if you feel it's more appropriate . But I think more often than not , it's better for us to pause and say maybe they're right and I think I'm right , I need to chew on this . And that's the problem . We don't go and think , we process in the moment and then we just spit out whatever you like that . We spit out whatever pops into our mind , instead of like saying , okay , let me go think on that , pray on that , not just that , but get more counsel , more feedback , so that other people might tell me hey , the back of your head looks like this . Right , like I said , you can never see the back of your head with your naked eye . Listen to others .

Oscar Navarro 36:45

That reminds me of Paul Tripp , which I know you guys already talked about . Shepherding Child's Heart great book , ted Tripp , ted Tripp , sorry , ted Tripp , paul Tripp . Also his brother writes a few incredible books Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands is a great one , and how People Change is another really good one . And one of the common themes that come up in his book is he talks about our inner lawyer , and so what he says is he reminds us that all of our sins is ultimately rooted in idolatry . And the thing about idolatry is that when people get really close to an idol , when they start questioning the things that matter most to us , that are more important than God , our inner lawyer comes out . We get defensive , we get the I knows , we get the yes buts , we redirect , we ignore the reality that there's actually something wrong with our hearts , that we're holding onto something too tightly .

Oscar Navarro 37:38

And so it's important in those moments to be self-aware . Do I feel my inner lawyer coming out right now ? Could it be because there's something here that's true about what this person is saying about ?

Emeal Zwayne 37:52

me Amen , so good , and that's what it is . It's idolatry , and a lot of times what's interconnected to that idol Oscar , is image . We don't want to appear a certain way . We don't want people to think about us a certain way , versus . It doesn't matter what anyone thinks , how I'm perceived by anyone . God sees me , he knows me and , as Tripp has said in another place , there's nothing that can be uncovered about you that hasn't already been covered by the gospel of Christ . His blood has covered it , and so you know All right . Another thing I think and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this is drill into your kids that they have to understand that work is sacred and that they have to be hard workers in life .

Mark Spence 38:32

Yeah , you know , because work came before the fall . We always have to be reminded of that . You know , fallen people live in a fallen world , we make fallen decisions . But this working hard came before the fall . It was always God's desire for us to tend the earth , to work hard , to have our minds sharpened to do whatever we need to do , to be the best that we can possibly be in the work which God has prepared for us before the foundation of the world . Work hard and then rest hard . Feel free to rest . I often say that . I learned it from Dave Ramsey that a budget is supposed to free you up to spend . It's not to hold you back , it's to demonstrate where the money is at and now , with free liberty , with a clear conscience , spend the money as you laid out on paper . Well , the same way , you worked hard , rest , enjoy that rest . Jesus said come aside and rest a while . We need to rest , but we need to work hard .

Emeal Zwayne 39:30

Yeah , proverbs 13, . For the soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing but the soul the diligent will be made rich , and I think that applies spiritually and physically . But sadly a lot of parents don't teach their kids how to work hard from an early age .

Ray Comfort 39:45

You know , it's good for parents to encourage kids to soak their souls in proverbs . Amen , read scripture daily , read the proverbs daily , because you can learn the wisdom of solomon without having to go through the pains he went through to get it . Yeah , and it can save you a lot of pain yeah , absolutely .

Emeal Zwayne 40:03

The proverbs are so packed with real practical life truths that can save you a lot of pain .

Ray Comfort 40:10

Well , it deals with the sexual issue head on , right at the beginning of Proverbs , right when most parents are a little nervous about , solomon can come up and step into . Oh , I love it .

Emeal Zwayne 40:20

Yeah , but man , hard work , it's so important and that ties into the next thing that we need to teach them , I think , and that's understanding how money works . You know , starting at an early age , with that it grows on trees or under them , as I discovered back in the day .

Ray Comfort 40:38

It's not made of paper . You know that Money's not made of paper .

Oscar Navarro 40:41

No , it's cotton .

Emeal Zwayne 40:42

Yeah , that's why it's so durable , but living , teaching them about money . Oscar's looking at me like thomas but teaching them that , um yeah , that to live within their means , teaching them to the folly of debt right ray , I mean , that's been a big thing for you to .

Ray Comfort 41:02

Oh , yeah , the word mortgage means death grip . Yeah , and it's good . Before you go to a mortgage , you just memorize what the word means death grip .

Ray Comfort 41:08

You really want to do this , and it's so sad that so many a mortgage . You just memorize what the word means death grip . You really want to do this , and it's so sad that so many young people can't get a house nowadays because it's out of their reach . But yeah , it's so important don't get in debt . That's what we noticed about American society . Everything's in debt , everything's a credit card and not facing the music .

Emeal Zwayne 41:25

The music's going to come and Oscar , you were in the financial world before you came on with Living Waters and you do find that , don't you Like with kids , that they're not taught how to handle money . The second they get any significant amount of it , they blow it on silly things . They're not taught to save for the future . And I think it's important to say that this is a spiritual element , because we're called to provide for our own . In fact , if we don't , we're worse than an infidel . Scripture says we've denied the faith . So it's right to be independent , because if you're not meeting your own family's needs , someone else is . It's always going to be someone doing it , and we're responsible .

Oscar Navarro 42:01

Yeah , it's so good , and the reality is that this is a struggle around all generations , all levels of income . We worked with legacy families , and so at one point I was part of an organization where we had three point something billion dollars in assets . The average net worth of the client that we were working with was they had liquid assets of $2 million or more , and these kinds of families would also have these kids come up . They would go through Harvard , they would get out of college , they would go into the workplace and they would have no idea on how to spend or manage their money . And so this is a problem , of course , of cross all um , uh , all areas of finances , um , and it's crazy to me that , even in our educational experience , I can remember taking a trigonometry class and and that was the point I always loved math , but when I hit trig , I was like this is the most ridiculous , useless information . I will never put this to use . And the reality is that schools will teach our kids trigonometry , but before they teach them how to manage a checking book or invest their money . And listen , it is really easy . It does not take rocket science .

Oscar Navarro 43:13

And you mentioned Ramsey . What's his first name ? Dave , dave Ramsey . I've never gone through any of his coursework , but I know he's got a lot of stuff and some of it's available for free online . It's really easy to learn how to manage a checkbook and save , to look at it as buckets your kids when they get an allowance , or our kids when they go and walk neighborhood dogs . We teach them okay , you're going to take that and 10% of it we're going to give , and how much would you like to save ? We give them agency . So they'll say I want to save 30 to 40% of it . Okay , here's your piggy bank that goes here , and here's your money . When you want to buy a soda , a new shirt , whatever you want , that's yours to spend . So at a very early age you teach them about money management . It's really easy .

Emeal Zwayne 44:00

Yeah , it was such a joy for me , Oscar , a few years ago , to bring my boys over to your house , because I know this was your world , and for you to instruct them on how to invest in stocks and how to promote that . Yeah , and man , they're doing really well there . I mean , there's been faithfulness in that regard . But it's that instruction that's key . I mean , when my kids were young , I did this thing with them where I gave them a certain area of responsibility and we decided it would be kind of like employment to train them for the world . And so I gave them a certain amount of money they would get if they did the job that they're supposed to do . Then , if they did better than they were supposed to do , I'd give them a tip .

Emeal Zwayne 44:37

If they did less than they were supposed to do , I would decrease it by X amount depending on how bad the job was . And if they didn't do a good job for X amount of weeks , they'd get fired . But they would remain slaves because they still have to do the work , but they got no pay . So the day came when I had to fire one of my sons and he was devastated . He was in tears but I said look , okay , but now if you show a change for X amount of weeks , you get your job back . And man , he turned it around and I remember the day that he went from a slave to a paid man again and I mean he was being . I said , son , how does it feel to no longer be a slave ?

Emeal Zwayne 45:16

He was a bond servant , bought his freedom and he was glowing and he went into the work world . After he became an adult , he was promoted and one day we were talking and he reiterated . He said yeah , it was those days that trained me , that prepared me for that which son , so I can make fun of him .

Emeal Zwayne 45:34

Zlabooksy , zlabooksy . Yeah , so that's good . Sexual purity Mark . How important is that ? To have the hard conversations with our kids . I mean most parents . When they talk to their kids about that whole realm , they're nervous , they're anxious . Oh , when they even tell them about it , we decided , as I've shared before , to be excited about it so our kids can understand it , first and foremost , that this is beautiful . God designed it . But on the other side , some parents won't have the hard talks , asking them difficult questions what are you looking at ? What are you doing ?

Mark Spence 46:00

and to help them , Well , ray kind of alluded to it . It's the rising up and it's the sitting down that there's always opportunity , always moments to be able to speak truth , specifically in this area , into our kids' lives . So when a billboard comes up and you see maybe a wandering eye from your child , or a pretty girl comes walking by or a guy , whatever it may be , if something like that ends up happening , you're always conversing with them , You're always trying to get to the heart of the matter . So I know we're running out of time , but I think for me it's really doing those things . But also , you need to do a search onto their phones . You know , if you're entrusting them with a phone , you can't entrust them to always make the right , the best decision . Then there's some really good apps out there as well , from Covenant Eyes and things like that .

Emeal Zwayne 46:41

Yeah , I hear there's a really good book coming out on the subject . What's ?

Mark Spence 46:44

it called . I can't think of anything . What's it ?

Emeal Zwayne 46:46

called yeah , Fight Like a man , a bold biblical battle plan for personal purity . I don't know if it's going to be out by the time the podcast airs , but look for it friends , it's on Amazon right now Not for sale , but I saw they've posted .

Oscar Navarro 46:58

Yeah . Yeah , somebody posted something , you're right . So you can go and read about the book .

Emeal Zwayne 47:05

Go pre-buy it right now . Yeah , real quick , ray , we'll go a couple minutes over . These are important Teaching them to keep their word .

Ray Comfort 47:15

Oh , so important . I ended up in India because I believe that I should keep my word , that's right . Ray Someone . Once we were in Dallas or somewhere .

Emeal Zwayne 47:25

Was that in Dallas ? As a ministry leader , someone ?

Oscar Navarro 47:26

said would you come to ?

Ray Comfort 47:27

India , and I said yeah , yeah . And then I thought what did I just say ? And then an invite came and I thought no , 36 hours on a plane .

Emeal Zwayne 47:36

We almost died on the roads . Forget the plane .

Ray Comfort 47:38

Oh , screaming I was more terrified than I've ever been in a car . They're maniacs . Yeah , it was crazy . So , yeah , so important . Psalm 15 , he swears to his own hurt , as it says in the King James swears to his own hurt the . Living Bible says he'll keep his word , even if it hurts him to do so . So if you say something , make sure you do it . If you say I'm going to do this , just do it .

Emeal Zwayne 47:58

Amen , yeah , huge , because it's going to affect the rest of their lives . It's a part of their character , you know , doing all the things . I mean this generation is so just inconsistent and flaky . They say , yeah , I'll be here . They don't show up on time . They come 20 , 30 minutes later . They don't even apologize . It's just kind of like that's just how it is . So , teaching them early on what you say you do and that teaches them to be careful not to make commitments .

Oscar Navarro 48:23

You know , what I've seen some people in this generation do is that they'll show up on time , leave their stuff and then leave the room for like five minutes .

Emeal Zwayne 48:32

Oscar's generation . Yeah , that's what they do . Nice try , oscar . We don't have time , but this is the rest of my list . Teach them to be good listeners . That's key to really key into what people are saying . Would you hurry up ? Teach them the value of impartiality and respect . Teach them to ask questions and not make accusations . We've talked about that before . Teach them to be willing to learn important things they don't enjoy . That's huge . You know , those things that that just are irksome to you , that are technical or or mechanical or domestic .

Oscar Navarro 49:08

Last words , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 49:11

Last words we can all relate to that but push yourself to learn things that you don't necessarily like because they're important . They'll be , tools that'll help you in life . Teach them how to just not just apologize , but elaborate on their error when they're confronted and to ask for forgiveness . That will go in such a long way in healing relationships and things like that . And teach them to be humble and meek . Humility and meekness are key .

Oscar Navarro 49:35

Could I hit something real quickly ? I know you mentioned we're running out of time , but I think it's really at the top of the hour . You mentioned they are like arrows in the hands of a warrior . I think it's important to key back on that verse because oftentimes Christian parents will treat their kids like sanctifying trophies rather than arrows . What I mean by that is that if your kids are saved in walking with the Lord , there can be , if you're not careful , this unintentional pride as though that's the trophy to prove that you were that spiritual parent who did all of the right things . And look at them . And the opposite is true . If your kids aren't walking with the Lord , there can be the shame of like man . It reveals how lacking I was as a parent . Or when you hear about someone else not walking with the Lord their kid your judgment goes there what did they not do that I did do ? Well , if they only raised their kids , if they made the educational decisions , the church decisions , then their kids would be walking like our kids .

Oscar Navarro 50:38

And it's so important to remember especially Psalm 127 , verses one through five , the first few verses leading into the arrows , because the first few verses are the key to remember the whole thing . And it goes like this unless the Lord builds the house , those who build it labor in vain . Unless the Lord watches over the city , the watchman stays awake in vain . It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest , eating the bread of anxious toil , for he gives to his people , to his beloved sleep . Behold , children are heritage from the Lord , the fruit of the room of reward , like arrows in the hands of a warrior , the children of one's youth . And so , in context that quiver of arrows , is God raising them up , god sovereignly bringing you a saving faith , and God sending them out for his purpose , to do his work . And I just think , as parents , we need to humbly recognize that even if we do all things right , salvation is in the Lord's hands . And even if we do all things wrong , salvation is in the Lord's hands .

Emeal Zwayne 51:46

Amen . Very important , oscar . I'm glad that you brought that up and it's good to end there . Yeah , to say , look , salvation is of the Lord , and Ted Tripp talks about it . In Shepherding a Child's Heart , you have what are called shaping influences , which is what we're responsible for . We are to provide the atmosphere where our kids can blossom in the gospel and in truth . But , yeah , there's that Godward orientation . Then he says and it's where they yield to the Lord and what God does in their heart .

Emeal Zwayne 52:15

And so be encouraged , those of you that have kids that have strayed don't lose heart . Continue to pray , continue to cry out to God . As long as they have breath , there's hope . Even if things didn't go well in their upbringing , even if you may be able to look back and say I made some errors , god is able . So repent if you've blown it to them , even if they're older and the things that you made mistakes , and reconcile on that and then just love them with truth and have hope in the Lord . All right , friends , that about wraps it up . Don't forget , count your blessings and stop stressing the Living Waters mug and the Evidence Study Bible at livingwaterscom . Write to us at podcast at livingwaterscom . Don't forget to like and share and get involved on the platform where you listen . Still one of the top podcasts in the world . Thank you for making that happen . We'll see you next time here on the Living Waters Podcast Ooh good Ray when we have no idea what we're doing .