- Today, we're gonna
think outside the box
00:00:01.13\00:00:02.40
just a little to
see what we can discover
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when we step away from some
of our everyday assumptions.
00:00:05.17\00:00:09.24
[slow light music]
00:00:09.24\00:00:12.21
I am sure you've
seen one of those puzzles
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where you're presented
with a series of dots on a page,
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three rows of three
dots in a perfect square.
00:00:34.73\00:00:38.93
It's called the
nine-dot problem.
00:00:38.93\00:00:41.00
And the challenge is
to connect all nine dots
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by using just
four connected lines.
00:00:42.97\00:00:45.34
And of course, it looks like
00:00:45.34\00:00:47.14
there's
absolutely no way to do it
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until you realize
that nobody actually said
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you had to stay
inside any kind of boundary.
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The way we naturally
organize our thoughts,
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we assume that the
square form by those nine dots
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is the entire field of play,
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and subconsciously we
draw a boundary around it.
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But when you
dispense with the boundary
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and assume that the
plane you're drawing on extends
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in every direction forever,
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suddenly it's possible
you can connect all nine dots
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with just four lines.
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It's an exercise we used
to teach creative thinking
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to encourage
people to look at problems
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from a lot of
different perspectives.
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And what we hope will happen
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is that we become very
creative problem solvers.
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And then we can
hope that we can apply
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those
out-of-the-box thinking skills
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to the very worst difficulties
we face as a human race.
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If we could just break
out of the unspoken rules,
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then maybe we
could finally find a way
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to defeat some of
the horrible problems
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that have haunted us
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almost as long
as we've been here.
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We barely realize
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that we are
prisoners of our assumptions,
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and some of those
assumptions may be preventing us
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from solving a bunch
of very serious issues.
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Take for example, the dead crow
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I found on my walk
home from school one day
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way back in ancient history
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when kids actually
had to walk to school.
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The bird was out in the warm sun
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and it was in pretty bad shape.
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I poked it with a stick,
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which suddenly caused
hundreds of little maggots
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to spill out on the ground.
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Now, that was quite a find.
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Because in the
world I grew up in,
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those little larvae
were incredibly useful
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because rainbow trout
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and arctic grayling
really, really like them.
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But aside from that,
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those larvae also
piqued my curiosity.
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How in the world did
they get inside that crow?
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Now you and I know the answer,
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and it's really pretty simple.
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Flies like to lay
their eggs in meat
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so that the larvae
will have something to eat
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when they hatch.
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But here's the thing.
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For thousands of years,
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we didn't understand that.
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It's hard to believe this,
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but there was a time
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in the not too distant past
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when we actually believe
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that life can spontaneously
emerge from non-life.
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So for example,
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consider this
rather stunning assertion
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from the great
philosopher Aristotle
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who said, "So also some animals
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are produced from
animals of a similar form."
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In other words,
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Aristotle's talking
about natural reproduction.
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But then he says this,
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"the origin of
others is spontaneous,
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and not from similar forms;
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from these and from plants
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are divided those which
spring from putrid matter,
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this is the case
with many insects."
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So in other words,
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Aristotle taught that
maggots come from meat.
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And for many long centuries
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after he made that
erroneous observation,
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most of us
believed in something known
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as spontaneous generation.
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We actually thought that life
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can just emerge from non-life.
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And it's easy to scoff
at our stupidity back then
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because today we know better.
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But never forget that
somewhere down the line,
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somebody's gonna be making fun
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of some of our very best ideas,
00:04:01.40\00:04:04.27
and they're gonna think
that we weren't very bright.
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But that's kind of
the nature of assumptions.
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And if you and I
didn't make assumptions,
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the act of living
would become kind of tricky.
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If you and I had to
analyze every single decision
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we ever made before we made it,
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it would lead to paralysis
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because there's not
enough time in the day
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to analyze
absolutely everything.
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And for a man who
lives some 2300 years ago,
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it didn't really matter
how the maggots got there.
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All he needed to know
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was that a dead
animal could provide him
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with bait and he
could go fishing.
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In other words,
the assumption worked.
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He didn't have to observe
the flies laying their eggs
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in order to take
advantage of his discovery.
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So all day long,
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you and I make all
kinds of completely
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unfounded assumptions
about all kinds of things.
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I mean, just
because the sun came up
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every single morning over
the last 20,000 days of my life,
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except maybe the times I've
been above the Arctic Circle,
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well, just because it came
up faithfully every single day,
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there is no guarantee 100%
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then it's gonna
come up tomorrow.
00:05:07.74\00:05:10.11
Based on my past experience,
I just assume that it will,
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and it's a useful assumption
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because it
helps me plan the day,
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and it gives me some level
of assurance that life is stable
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and will continue.
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But at the end of the day,
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it's still just an assumption.
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You have no way of
intellectually proving that.
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Just ask the Scottish
philosopher David Hume,
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who exerted an
unbelievable amount of energy
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trying to demonstrate how little
we actually know for sure.
00:05:35.63\00:05:39.10
And actually, he
gave up on the notion
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of really
understanding something
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we all take for granted,
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cause and effect.
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Hume denied that
such a thing exists.
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But we can talk about
David Hume some other day.
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You and I assume
all kinds of things
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all the time.
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Assumptions
that help us navigate
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our brief human lifespan.
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And those
assumptions are a good thing
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until they're not.
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In the case of
spontaneous generation,
00:06:05.43\00:06:07.76
our assumptions
probably kept us from conquering
00:06:07.76\00:06:10.10
a lot of simple diseases.
00:06:10.10\00:06:12.73
Back in 1668, Francesco Redi
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proved that spontaneous
generation is impossible.
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And by 1859, about
2000 years after Aristotle,
00:06:19.44\00:06:24.51
Louis Pasteur took
advantage of his discovery
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to give us pasteurization.
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It turns out it
you sterilize a medium,
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like milk or meat
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and then seal it off
from the outside world,
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you can stop the growth of
undesirable forms like bacteria.
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And of course,
that helped us develop
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the clean food sources
and sterile operating theaters
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that you and I
enjoy to this day.
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So sometimes assumptions
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as useful as they
are in everyday life
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are not a good thing.
00:06:54.38\00:06:56.28
Like back in 1899
when Charles Duell,
00:06:56.28\00:06:59.61
the commissioner of the
American Patent Office declared,
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"Everything that can be
invented has been invented."
00:07:02.68\00:07:06.55
Now, there were no
devastating consequences
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because of his attitude,
00:07:08.92\00:07:11.03
and he didn't
really hurt anybody.
00:07:11.03\00:07:13.73
But stop and
think about everything
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that's been invented
in the last 120 years.
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And I think you'll notice
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what a stupid
thing that was to say.
00:07:18.57\00:07:21.27
Or maybe consider the far
more consequential assumption
00:07:21.27\00:07:24.57
the Japanese made when
Admiral Yamamoto and others
00:07:24.57\00:07:28.18
decided that
bombing Pearl Harbor
00:07:28.18\00:07:30.18
would discourage the
Americans from fighting them
00:07:30.18\00:07:32.91
as they expanded further and
further into the South Pacific.
00:07:32.91\00:07:36.48
Yamamoto actually said
that he wanted to, quote,
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"fiercely attack and destroy
the United States main fleet
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at the outset of the war
00:07:42.32\00:07:43.93
so that the morale of
the United States Navy
00:07:43.93\00:07:46.13
and her people
would sink to an extent
00:07:46.13\00:07:48.40
that it could not be recovered."
00:07:48.40\00:07:50.77
Man, oops.
00:07:50.77\00:07:52.70
As you and I both know,
the raid on Pearl Harbor
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had the opposite effect,
00:07:54.80\00:07:56.24
and it led to a lot
more catastrophic decisions,
00:07:56.24\00:07:59.81
not the least of
which was the world premier
00:07:59.81\00:08:02.31
of a devastating new
technology, the A bomb.
00:08:02.31\00:08:06.85
So sometimes
you've got to wonder
00:08:06.85\00:08:08.88
just how much of world history
00:08:08.88\00:08:11.02
has been driven
by human assumptions.
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I know we like to
deceive ourselves into thinking
00:08:13.82\00:08:16.79
that we are perfectly
rational beings all the time.
00:08:16.79\00:08:19.59
And that ever
since the enlightenment,
00:08:19.59\00:08:21.60
we've been operating from
a platform of pure reason.
00:08:21.60\00:08:25.47
But you and I both know
that's not entirely true,
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and I'll be right back
after this short message
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to pick up where
we just left off.
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[slow light music]
00:08:33.78\00:08:36.24
- [Presenter 1] Here at
the "Voice of Prophecy,"
00:08:36.24\00:08:38.01
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:08:38.01\00:08:40.62
for the whole family,
00:08:40.62\00:08:42.05
like our audio adventure
series, "Discovery Mountain."
00:08:42.05\00:08:45.15
"Discovery Mountain"
is a Bible-based program
00:08:45.15\00:08:47.72
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:08:47.72\00:08:50.03
Your family will enjoy
the faith building stories
00:08:50.03\00:08:52.79
from this small
mountain summer camp and down.
00:08:52.79\00:08:55.66
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:08:55.66\00:08:57.83
and fresh content every week,
00:08:57.83\00:09:00.30
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:09:00.30\00:09:03.54
- You know, I don't know
why I didn't pay more attention
00:09:06.24\00:09:08.41
to the works of
Alexander Pope when I was a kid,
00:09:08.41\00:09:11.31
but the youthful brain
00:09:11.31\00:09:12.75
doesn't always
appreciate the good things
00:09:12.75\00:09:14.52
that our teachers are
trying to share with us.
00:09:14.52\00:09:16.58
So it really wasn't
until I was an adult
00:09:16.58\00:09:18.55
that I began to appreciate
what a treasure Mr. Pope left
00:09:18.55\00:09:21.86
to the English speaking world.
00:09:21.86\00:09:23.56
And just the other day,
00:09:23.56\00:09:24.76
I was reading his
essay on criticism
00:09:24.76\00:09:27.30
when I came across
something pretty amazing.
00:09:27.30\00:09:29.43
Here's what it says,
00:09:29.43\00:09:31.03
"Music resembles poetry, in each
00:09:31.03\00:09:33.74
Are nameless graces
which no methods teach,
00:09:33.74\00:09:36.57
And which a
master-hand alone can reach.
00:09:36.57\00:09:39.61
If, where the rules
not far enough extend,
00:09:39.61\00:09:42.14
Since rules were
made but promote their end
00:09:42.14\00:09:45.48
Some lucky license
answers to the full
00:09:45.48\00:09:47.98
Th'intent proposed
that license is a rule."
00:09:47.98\00:09:52.22
As you might have guessed
from the title of the poem,
00:09:52.22\00:09:54.52
he's talking about criticism.
00:09:54.52\00:09:56.59
He's dividing the public
up into creators and critics,
00:09:56.59\00:09:59.96
and then he spends thousands
00:09:59.96\00:10:01.96
of words talking
about the behavior
00:10:01.96\00:10:03.63
of those two different camps.
00:10:03.63\00:10:05.50
And I guess I get a
kick out of reading that,
00:10:05.50\00:10:07.50
because as a minister,
00:10:07.50\00:10:08.90
I've been dealing with
criticism most of my life.
00:10:08.90\00:10:11.31
It really doesn't matter
00:10:11.31\00:10:12.61
how careful I am
when I talk about ideas,
00:10:12.61\00:10:14.98
and I'm not always as
careful as I could be.
00:10:14.98\00:10:17.85
But invariably, I'll
get an angry letter or two
00:10:17.85\00:10:20.75
from somebody
who's utterly outraged
00:10:20.75\00:10:22.48
by something I said.
00:10:22.48\00:10:24.89
And the advent of social media
00:10:24.89\00:10:26.62
has only made
this problem worse,
00:10:26.62\00:10:27.99
because we now seem to think
00:10:27.99\00:10:29.79
that every opinion out there
deserves an angry rebuttal.
00:10:29.79\00:10:32.79
And if we're really mad,
00:10:32.79\00:10:34.36
we'll try to get
somebody canceled.
00:10:34.36\00:10:36.30
But here in in this
poem, at this point,
00:10:37.60\00:10:40.47
Alexander Pope touches on
something really important.
00:10:40.47\00:10:43.57
It's out-of-the-box thinking.
00:10:43.57\00:10:46.17
There's no question that
a successful civilization
00:10:46.17\00:10:48.54
has to have rules, guidelines
00:10:48.54\00:10:50.81
for how things should be done.
00:10:50.81\00:10:52.15
So for example,
00:10:52.15\00:10:53.55
if we didn't have rules
about driving on the left,
00:10:53.55\00:10:55.88
the freeways would
end up being a bigger mess
00:10:55.88\00:10:58.45
than they already are.
00:10:58.45\00:11:00.06
If we didn't have unspoken
rules for standing in line,
00:11:00.06\00:11:03.06
then going shopping
would be a social nightmare
00:11:03.06\00:11:05.53
like it is on Black Friday
00:11:05.53\00:11:06.93
when people
stand outside all night
00:11:06.93\00:11:08.80
and then trample each
other the moment the doors open.
00:11:08.80\00:11:11.40
So yes, rules
are very important.
00:11:11.40\00:11:14.34
And in this poem,
00:11:14.34\00:11:15.64
Mr. Pope is
discussing the art of writing.
00:11:15.64\00:11:18.31
When you and I took
English classes back in school,
00:11:18.31\00:11:20.61
we were taught the
rules of English grammar.
00:11:20.61\00:11:22.61
And those were very important,
00:11:22.61\00:11:24.41
because without the rules,
00:11:24.41\00:11:26.18
there would be a
breakdown in communication.
00:11:26.18\00:11:28.88
We need those rules
00:11:28.88\00:11:30.25
in order to
understand each other.
00:11:30.25\00:11:32.32
But then of course, as
it is with English itself,
00:11:32.32\00:11:35.22
there are exceptions to the rule
00:11:35.22\00:11:36.99
that can prove to be beneficial,
00:11:36.99\00:11:38.39
like you see with the
poetry of E. E. Cummings,
00:11:38.39\00:11:41.46
which if you've ever seen it,
00:11:41.46\00:11:43.13
is an absolute
grammatical nightmare,
00:11:43.13\00:11:45.90
but somehow it works.
00:11:45.90\00:11:47.10
It's kind of beautiful.
00:11:47.10\00:11:48.27
In fact, it
demonstrates an amazing level
00:11:48.27\00:11:50.71
of linguistic genius.
00:11:50.71\00:11:53.38
Or maybe consider the
music of Dizzy Gillespie
00:11:53.38\00:11:55.61
who always puffed out his cheeks
00:11:55.61\00:11:56.98
when he played the trumpet.
00:11:56.98\00:11:58.58
Ask any first
year trumpet student
00:11:58.58\00:12:00.32
and they'll tell you
you're not supposed to do that.
00:12:00.32\00:12:02.32
It's horrible form
00:12:02.32\00:12:03.72
and it'll keep you from
developing a healthy embouchure.
00:12:03.72\00:12:06.59
But there's no
denying that an outlier
00:12:07.62\00:12:09.49
like Dizzy Gillespie
00:12:09.49\00:12:10.79
is better than all
the rest of us combined,
00:12:10.79\00:12:12.56
even though he tossed
out some of the rules.
00:12:12.56\00:12:15.70
Now that's kind of what
Alexander Pope was driving at.
00:12:15.70\00:12:18.57
He's telling us that
rules are very important,
00:12:18.57\00:12:20.97
but you can miss a
lot of opportunities
00:12:20.97\00:12:22.90
if you decide to be
legalistic about it.
00:12:22.90\00:12:25.37
As somebody once said,
00:12:25.37\00:12:26.91
rules are meant to be broken,
00:12:26.91\00:12:29.18
but breaking the rules
does not become an advantage
00:12:29.18\00:12:31.48
until after you've
mastered the rules,
00:12:31.48\00:12:34.65
until you understand
00:12:34.65\00:12:36.02
why they were
established in the first place.
00:12:36.02\00:12:39.42
Which brings me to
the uncomfortable subject
00:12:39.42\00:12:42.22
of spiritual deconstruction.
00:12:42.22\00:12:44.83
Right now in the west,
00:12:44.83\00:12:45.96
we appear to be
going through a time
00:12:45.96\00:12:47.30
when absolutely
everything is being questioned.
00:12:47.30\00:12:49.80
And there seems to
be this desire to smash
00:12:49.80\00:12:52.67
a lot of social conventions
00:12:52.67\00:12:54.90
without trying to understand
00:12:54.90\00:12:56.10
why those social conventions
00:12:56.10\00:12:57.54
were established
in the first place.
00:12:57.54\00:12:59.67
Of course, sometimes questioning
everything can be good
00:12:59.67\00:13:02.64
because there are
some unspoken rules
00:13:02.64\00:13:04.95
that used to make
sense once upon a time,
00:13:04.95\00:13:07.38
but now they don't.
00:13:07.38\00:13:08.58
I'm reminded of an old story.
00:13:09.52\00:13:10.75
You may have heard
about the Czar of Russia
00:13:10.75\00:13:12.69
taking a walk
through the imperial garden
00:13:12.69\00:13:14.79
only to discover a
century standing guard
00:13:14.79\00:13:17.36
in a remote corner
00:13:17.36\00:13:18.53
where there was
nothing to guard.
00:13:18.53\00:13:20.43
When he asked the soldier
why he was standing there,
00:13:20.43\00:13:22.56
the guard replied,
"I have no idea why.
00:13:22.56\00:13:24.93
I'm just following orders."
00:13:24.93\00:13:26.84
So the Czar went home
00:13:26.84\00:13:28.20
to search through
the official records,
00:13:28.20\00:13:29.87
and it turns out
if the story is true.
00:13:29.87\00:13:32.51
That once upon a
time, Catherine the Great
00:13:32.51\00:13:34.48
had a very rare
and expensive rose bush
00:13:34.48\00:13:36.98
growing in that location.
00:13:36.98\00:13:38.48
So she posted a guard
there to keep it safe,
00:13:38.48\00:13:42.22
but then Catherine died
00:13:42.22\00:13:43.42
and eventually so
did the rose bush.
00:13:43.42\00:13:45.59
And the guard that
was supposed to guard it,
00:13:45.59\00:13:48.62
well, that order
was still in effect.
00:13:48.62\00:13:50.86
And sometimes
there are conventions
00:13:50.86\00:13:54.23
we could do away with
because they don't make sense,
00:13:54.23\00:13:56.90
like some of those obsolete laws
00:13:56.90\00:13:58.80
that are still officially
on the books to this day.
00:13:58.80\00:14:02.17
But they actually stopped
being useful a long time ago.
00:14:02.17\00:14:05.31
In fact, I just discovered there
was an old law on the books
00:14:05.31\00:14:08.71
in a little
town called Severance
00:14:08.71\00:14:10.28
here in Colorado
just up the road.
00:14:10.28\00:14:12.61
And that law made it
illegal to throw snowballs
00:14:12.61\00:14:15.18
all the way up
until the year 2019
00:14:15.18\00:14:17.59
when a third grade boy
successfully challenged it in
00:14:17.59\00:14:22.29
court. Obviously, there
had to be a reason the law
00:14:22.29\00:14:24.26
was created in the first place
00:14:24.26\00:14:25.66
because it's hard to imagine
00:14:25.66\00:14:27.40
that the mayor of Severance
00:14:27.40\00:14:28.76
just arbitrarily
decided, I don't like snowballs.
00:14:28.76\00:14:31.67
So yeah, there are rules
00:14:31.67\00:14:33.40
we could probably
safely get rid of.
00:14:33.40\00:14:35.47
But in recent history,
00:14:35.47\00:14:36.74
it seems like
there's a growing movement
00:14:36.74\00:14:38.01
to do away with everything,
00:14:38.01\00:14:39.51
just deconstruct
western civilization.
00:14:39.51\00:14:42.24
And that might be okay,
00:14:42.24\00:14:44.98
but not if we don't understand
00:14:44.98\00:14:46.38
why the boundaries were
established in the first place.
00:14:46.38\00:14:49.95
Let me give you a
bit of a touchy example,
00:14:49.95\00:14:52.05
and I know some of
you'll write me off
00:14:52.05\00:14:53.62
as a social Luddite for this,
00:14:53.62\00:14:55.19
but I'm okay with that.
00:14:55.19\00:14:56.96
For a very long
time, western society
00:14:56.96\00:14:58.93
operated by a basic
set of moral principles
00:14:58.93\00:15:01.83
governing human sexuality.
00:15:01.83\00:15:04.10
Now, I'm well
aware that no generation
00:15:04.10\00:15:06.23
has ever faithfully lived
00:15:06.23\00:15:07.74
by all those principles,
00:15:07.74\00:15:08.90
but there was a
time when we said,
00:15:08.90\00:15:10.57
hey, it's a good
idea to wait for marriage.
00:15:10.57\00:15:13.44
And that was rooted not just
in Judeo-Christian principles.
00:15:13.44\00:15:16.34
I mean it was,
00:15:16.34\00:15:17.68
but it was also
rooted in good common sense.
00:15:17.68\00:15:19.58
It just made sense
00:15:19.58\00:15:21.28
that it's easier to
raise children in this world
00:15:21.28\00:15:23.72
with a family than without.
00:15:23.72\00:15:26.29
But then came the
sexual revolution of the '60s
00:15:26.29\00:15:28.66
and the
landscape started to shift.
00:15:28.66\00:15:31.03
Now, not everything that
happened in the '60s was bad
00:15:31.03\00:15:33.60
because there was
some room for improvement
00:15:33.60\00:15:36.00
when it came to our attitudes.
00:15:36.00\00:15:37.60
But we also started to
deconstruct sexual mores
00:15:37.60\00:15:40.57
without asking ourselves
00:15:40.57\00:15:42.20
why they were put
there in the first place.
00:15:42.20\00:15:45.11
And just to be clear,
00:15:45.11\00:15:46.51
what you do in your bedroom,
00:15:46.51\00:15:47.88
that's your business.
00:15:47.88\00:15:48.71
I don't want the church
00:15:48.71\00:15:50.15
to start writing laws
about your private conduct.
00:15:50.15\00:15:53.01
But I do find myself questioning
00:15:53.01\00:15:54.88
whether or not
our deconstruction
00:15:54.88\00:15:56.45
of the traditional nuclear
family has been a good thing.
00:15:56.45\00:16:00.09
Which brings me to a
somewhat amusing post
00:16:00.09\00:16:02.59
I read the other day
00:16:02.59\00:16:03.83
while scrolling
through that vast treasure
00:16:03.83\00:16:05.69
of half-baked
ideas that is Twitter.
00:16:05.69\00:16:08.86
It was posted
after the Supreme Court
00:16:08.86\00:16:10.27
overturned Roe v. Wade,
00:16:10.27\00:16:12.10
a decision that caused
a predictable firestorm.
00:16:12.10\00:16:15.70
And I'm not about to
tackle the subject of abortion
00:16:15.70\00:16:18.11
because we don't have
that kind of time today.
00:16:18.11\00:16:19.91
But imagine my amusement
00:16:19.91\00:16:22.34
when I stumbled across
a post that inadvertently,
00:16:22.34\00:16:24.91
almost accidentally
spelled out the reasons
00:16:24.91\00:16:27.98
for holding to a
traditional view of marriage.
00:16:27.98\00:16:30.85
What did it say?
00:16:30.85\00:16:32.32
Well, you're gonna
have to wait to find out
00:16:32.32\00:16:33.79
because it's time
for another quick break.
00:16:33.79\00:16:36.09
But when I come back,
00:16:36.09\00:16:37.33
I'll show you what
I found on Twitter,
00:16:37.33\00:16:39.66
which is now called X.
00:16:39.66\00:16:41.83
[slow light music]
00:16:41.83\00:16:44.80
- [Presenter 2] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:16:45.97\00:16:48.04
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:16:48.04\00:16:51.37
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:16:51.37\00:16:53.84
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:16:53.84\00:16:56.54
Here at the "Voice of Prophecy",
00:16:56.54\00:16:58.08
we've created the
discover Bible guides
00:16:58.08\00:17:00.32
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:17:00.32\00:17:02.25
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:17:02.25\00:17:04.32
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:17:04.32\00:17:07.72
and they're absolutely free.
00:17:07.72\00:17:09.79
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:17:09.79\00:17:12.06
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:17:12.06\00:17:14.56
- When the Supreme
Court overturned Roe v. Wade
00:17:14.56\00:17:17.03
in the first part of 2022,
00:17:17.03\00:17:18.73
it caused no end of debate
00:17:18.73\00:17:20.40
in the bombastic
halls of social media.
00:17:20.40\00:17:23.67
I mean, abortion has
always been a contentious issue
00:17:23.67\00:17:26.64
here in the west.
00:17:26.64\00:17:27.48
And so I fully expected
00:17:27.48\00:17:29.14
to find name
calling an angry tweets.
00:17:29.14\00:17:31.91
But then I saw this post
00:17:31.91\00:17:33.82
and I think it was
actually on Reddit maybe
00:17:33.82\00:17:36.02
instead of Twitter,
00:17:36.02\00:17:37.32
and it was written
by a gal who was upset
00:17:37.32\00:17:39.55
by the new
restrictions in her state.
00:17:39.55\00:17:41.22
So she started
talking to her female friends.
00:17:41.22\00:17:44.33
Here's what she said.
00:17:44.33\00:17:45.83
"We all agreed to a pact:
00:17:45.83\00:17:47.76
no having sex with any men,
00:17:47.76\00:17:49.70
until he had proven
himself a capable provider,
00:17:49.70\00:17:52.47
and until that man
has signed a contract,
00:17:52.47\00:17:54.67
written on paper,
00:17:54.67\00:17:55.97
agreeing to stay with us
00:17:55.97\00:17:57.11
and support us
if we get pregnant.
00:17:57.11\00:17:59.17
We started
drafting an actual contract,
00:17:59.17\00:18:01.14
and we're planning on
sending it to a lawyer
00:18:01.14\00:18:03.24
to make sure it's legit.
00:18:03.24\00:18:05.41
At this point, I am
completely done with men
00:18:05.41\00:18:07.78
who wanna hook up and leave."
00:18:07.78\00:18:09.55
Well, you know
what that sounds like?
00:18:10.65\00:18:12.09
That sounds an awful
lot like the contract
00:18:12.09\00:18:14.09
I signed with my wife
more than three decades ago,
00:18:14.09\00:18:16.96
a contract known as marriage.
00:18:16.96\00:18:19.09
In at least one person's mind,
00:18:19.09\00:18:20.46
the social
conventions of yesterday
00:18:20.46\00:18:22.53
are starting to make an
awful lot of good sense,
00:18:22.53\00:18:25.40
which brings me back
to the subject of rules.
00:18:25.40\00:18:28.04
Sometimes, as
Alexander Pope pointed out,
00:18:28.04\00:18:30.54
we all benefit when somebody
00:18:30.54\00:18:31.77
starts to think
outside of the box.
00:18:31.77\00:18:33.81
I mean, if Wilbur
and Orville Wright
00:18:33.81\00:18:35.94
hadn't been
thinking outside the box,
00:18:35.94\00:18:37.51
it's entirely possible
00:18:37.51\00:18:39.01
it would still
take me several weeks
00:18:39.01\00:18:40.58
to travel from the west
coast to the east coast.
00:18:40.58\00:18:43.45
If Mozart hadn't defied
the conventions of his day,
00:18:43.45\00:18:46.59
we wouldn't have the
incredible treasury of music
00:18:46.59\00:18:48.82
that he left to us.
00:18:48.82\00:18:50.16
If Rosa Parks had
not defied an unjust law,
00:18:50.16\00:18:53.60
civil rights in this country
might not be where they are.
00:18:53.60\00:18:56.50
So yeah, there are
moments of human genius
00:18:56.50\00:18:59.13
when somebody realizes
the rules don't make sense.
00:18:59.13\00:19:02.37
But not always.
00:19:03.44\00:19:05.64
Sometimes we dilute ourselves
00:19:05.64\00:19:07.14
into thinking that we're
having a moment of genius
00:19:07.14\00:19:09.18
when all that's really happening
00:19:09.18\00:19:10.71
is a moment of selfish ambition,
00:19:10.71\00:19:12.31
a moment of self-indulgence.
00:19:12.31\00:19:14.75
We decide that we
don't like the rules
00:19:14.75\00:19:16.52
because we personally
find them to be inconvenient.
00:19:16.52\00:19:19.82
And that seems to be all the
rage now in the 21st century.
00:19:19.82\00:19:23.36
Here in the United States,
00:19:23.36\00:19:24.63
we place a very high
value on individualism.
00:19:24.63\00:19:28.33
And rightfully so,
00:19:28.33\00:19:29.56
because most of
us are not in favor
00:19:29.56\00:19:31.43
of morally
regulating our neighbors.
00:19:31.43\00:19:34.77
But I do want to question
00:19:34.77\00:19:35.97
why we seem to praise everybody
00:19:35.97\00:19:37.67
who deconstructs
our social conventions,
00:19:37.67\00:19:40.54
even when they're
so-called achievements
00:19:40.54\00:19:43.21
prove to be questionable.
00:19:43.21\00:19:44.75
So for example,
when it comes to art,
00:19:44.75\00:19:47.68
it seems that shock value
00:19:47.68\00:19:49.45
now outweighs any actual
intellectual or aesthetic value.
00:19:49.45\00:19:53.59
You might remember the accolades
00:19:53.59\00:19:55.12
that one so-called
performance artist got
00:19:55.12\00:19:58.13
when he crushed a live
rat in front of an audience
00:19:58.13\00:20:00.70
to produce a visceral reaction.
00:20:00.70\00:20:03.20
And there were our critics
calling that magnificent.
00:20:03.20\00:20:07.67
And we're finding the
same thing happening now
00:20:07.67\00:20:09.34
in the entertainment industry.
00:20:09.34\00:20:10.74
And from where I sit,
00:20:10.74\00:20:11.71
it almost feels like
00:20:11.71\00:20:12.94
there's not much
difference anymore
00:20:12.94\00:20:14.48
between the circus of Rome
with its insatiable appetite
00:20:14.48\00:20:18.21
for violence and bloodshed,
00:20:18.21\00:20:19.81
and the ever increasing savagery
00:20:19.81\00:20:21.48
and decadence we find
streaming into our homes.
00:20:21.48\00:20:25.59
We find ourselves
celebrating things
00:20:25.59\00:20:27.42
that would've
shocked our ancestors
00:20:27.42\00:20:29.16
and abandoning the
principles and hard work
00:20:29.16\00:20:31.66
that enabled them
to provide you and me
00:20:31.66\00:20:33.86
with a really
exceptional place to live.
00:20:33.86\00:20:37.77
I'm reminded of a
famous passage written by Paul
00:20:37.77\00:20:40.44
back in the first
century where he said this,
00:20:40.44\00:20:43.57
"But know this,
00:20:43.57\00:20:45.11
that in the last days
perilous times will come:
00:20:45.11\00:20:48.04
For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money,
00:20:48.04\00:20:51.28
boasters, proud, blasphemers,
00:20:51.28\00:20:53.42
disobedient to
parents, unthankful,
00:20:53.42\00:20:56.18
unholy, unloving, unforgiving,
00:20:56.18\00:20:58.45
slanderers without self-control,
00:20:58.45\00:21:01.16
brutal, despisers of good,
00:21:01.16\00:21:03.39
traitors, headstrong, haughty,
00:21:03.39\00:21:05.33
lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
00:21:05.33\00:21:07.86
having a form of
godliness but denying its power.
00:21:07.86\00:21:11.33
And from such people turn away!"
00:21:11.33\00:21:15.30
I guess what I
wanna say is this,
00:21:15.30\00:21:17.21
not every act of
independence is genius.
00:21:17.21\00:21:19.41
Not every act of
social deconstruction
00:21:19.41\00:21:22.41
is brave or progressive.
00:21:22.41\00:21:24.41
Sometimes it's
just attention seeking.
00:21:24.41\00:21:26.65
It's our selfish
human nature on display.
00:21:26.65\00:21:28.92
And it might be
time to remind ourselves
00:21:28.92\00:21:30.82
why the rules were put
there in the first place
00:21:30.82\00:21:33.59
before it's too late.
00:21:33.59\00:21:35.69
There's a verse in
the Book of Proverbs.
00:21:35.69\00:21:38.33
The book renowned for its wisdom
00:21:38.33\00:21:39.86
that really sums up what
I'm trying to get across.
00:21:39.86\00:21:42.36
It goes like this.
00:21:42.36\00:21:43.53
"Do not remove
the ancient landmark
00:21:43.53\00:21:45.67
which your fathers have set."
00:21:45.67\00:21:48.17
In the ancient land of Israel,
00:21:48.17\00:21:49.50
property markers were
unbelievably important.
00:21:49.50\00:21:51.81
They delineated your
family's inheritance.
00:21:51.81\00:21:54.31
They marked the place
that was set aside for you
00:21:54.31\00:21:57.08
in the land of promise.
00:21:57.08\00:21:59.08
And you'll find the
original regulations
00:21:59.08\00:22:01.05
regarding these property markers
00:22:01.05\00:22:02.92
over in the Book of
Deuteronomy where it says this,
00:22:02.92\00:22:06.79
"You shall not remove
your neighbor's landmark,
00:22:06.79\00:22:09.59
which the men of old have set,
00:22:09.59\00:22:11.29
in your inheritance
which you will inherit
00:22:11.29\00:22:13.43
in the land that
the Lord your God
00:22:13.43\00:22:15.10
is giving you to possess."
00:22:15.10\00:22:17.97
In the world where
that regulation was written,
00:22:17.97\00:22:21.50
this was a really big deal.
00:22:21.50\00:22:24.27
Your very livelihood depended
00:22:24.27\00:22:25.84
on the
reliability of those markers,
00:22:25.84\00:22:28.01
and it was strictly
forbidden to mess with them.
00:22:28.01\00:22:31.05
In essence, the
wise man is reminding us
00:22:31.05\00:22:33.18
there's a reason our
ancestors put those boundaries
00:22:33.18\00:22:36.79
where they did,
00:22:36.79\00:22:37.99
and we'd be
fools to mess with them
00:22:37.99\00:22:40.32
until we understand
exactly what they are
00:22:40.32\00:22:42.42
and why they were put there.
00:22:42.42\00:22:44.83
Okay, time for one last break
00:22:44.83\00:22:46.83
and then I'll be right
back to wrap things up.
00:22:46.83\00:22:49.76
[slow light music]
00:22:49.76\00:22:53.47
- [Presenter 3] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:22:53.47\00:22:57.44
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:22:57.44\00:23:02.24
If you've ever
read Daniel a Revelation
00:23:02.24\00:23:04.45
and come away
scratching your head,
00:23:04.45\00:23:06.18
you are not alone.
00:23:06.18\00:23:07.45
Our free focus
on prophecy guides
00:23:07.45\00:23:09.55
are designed to help
you unlock the mysteries
00:23:09.55\00:23:11.95
of the Bible and deepen
your understanding of God's plan
00:23:11.95\00:23:15.12
for you and our world.
00:23:15.12\00:23:16.73
Study online or
request them by mail
00:23:16.73\00:23:18.86
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:23:18.86\00:23:22.66
- Okay, up to now,
I've been talking about
00:23:22.66\00:23:25.10
the boundaries and markers
00:23:25.10\00:23:26.67
that our ancestors established
00:23:26.67\00:23:28.77
in order to
safeguard civilization.
00:23:28.77\00:23:31.67
The unspoken rules
00:23:31.67\00:23:33.44
that are still there underneath
00:23:33.44\00:23:34.91
our rather successful culture,
00:23:34.91\00:23:37.01
or at least it's been
successful up till now.
00:23:37.01\00:23:40.65
And maybe I should close today
00:23:40.65\00:23:42.65
with an appeal to
some of God's boundaries.
00:23:42.65\00:23:45.65
You know, things
like the 10 Commandments.
00:23:45.65\00:23:48.59
I know a lot of
people view these things
00:23:48.59\00:23:50.43
as religious fables,
00:23:50.43\00:23:51.66
unnecessary
restrictions on our liberty,
00:23:51.66\00:23:54.83
but I'd encourage you to
maybe give them one more read
00:23:54.83\00:23:58.03
because you might just discover
00:23:58.03\00:23:59.87
these rules make
really good sense.
00:23:59.87\00:24:02.00
I mean, you
shall not murder him,
00:24:02.00\00:24:04.97
you shall not steal.
00:24:04.97\00:24:06.54
Those seem obvious to us,
00:24:06.54\00:24:08.01
even though we appear
to be living in a time
00:24:08.01\00:24:10.28
when life is cheap
and personal property
00:24:10.28\00:24:12.65
doesn't seem to
mean very much anymore.
00:24:12.65\00:24:15.65
Honestly, I
believe that right now,
00:24:15.65\00:24:17.62
we're reaping the consequences
00:24:17.62\00:24:20.02
of out-of-the-box
thinking but the wrong kind.
00:24:20.02\00:24:23.93
The problem is that we no
longer seem to know exactly
00:24:23.93\00:24:26.76
where the box is or was.
00:24:26.76\00:24:29.06
You're not
coloring outside the lines
00:24:29.06\00:24:31.40
if there are no
lines in the first place.
00:24:31.40\00:24:34.40
That's not creativity.
00:24:34.40\00:24:37.01
And unless you understand
where the boundaries are,
00:24:37.01\00:24:39.67
where the box is,
00:24:39.67\00:24:41.11
you cannot possibly
think outside of it.
00:24:41.11\00:24:44.18
And maybe
that's the best summary
00:24:44.18\00:24:45.81
I can give for what I
think is going on right now.
00:24:45.81\00:24:49.42
And you know,
maybe it's too late.
00:24:49.42\00:24:51.42
As one philosopher
told me a few years ago
00:24:51.42\00:24:53.62
as he packed up
and left this country
00:24:53.62\00:24:55.79
and moved somewhere else forever
00:24:55.79\00:24:58.73
because he said
there is no coming back,
00:24:58.73\00:25:00.46
maybe he's onto something.
00:25:00.46\00:25:02.33
Or maybe there is a coming back.
00:25:03.13\00:25:05.00
And again, I
know that some of you
00:25:05.00\00:25:06.47
don't really believe the
Bible is divinely inspired.
00:25:06.47\00:25:09.27
But before you
assume that it's not,
00:25:09.27\00:25:12.84
maybe give it another look.
00:25:12.84\00:25:14.61
Try reading it
00:25:14.61\00:25:15.98
to examine what it
says about human beings
00:25:15.98\00:25:18.48
and their penchant
00:25:18.48\00:25:19.75
for incredibly
self-destructive behavior.
00:25:19.75\00:25:23.05
Maybe take a look at what
it says about the condition,
00:25:23.05\00:25:25.89
the nature of the human heart,
00:25:25.89\00:25:27.99
and then look at what it says
00:25:27.99\00:25:29.69
about the God who
made us in the first place.
00:25:29.69\00:25:33.90
"For as the heavens
are higher than the earth,"
00:25:33.90\00:25:35.80
God says in Isaiah chapter 55,
00:25:35.80\00:25:38.37
"so My ways are
higher than your ways
00:25:38.37\00:25:41.04
and my thoughts
than your thoughts."
00:25:41.04\00:25:44.14
Now if I'm perfectly honest,
00:25:44.14\00:25:45.81
there have been times
00:25:45.81\00:25:46.98
when I've read
what the Bible says
00:25:46.98\00:25:48.04
and I've told myself,
00:25:48.04\00:25:49.44
I don't know if that
makes a lot of sense.
00:25:49.44\00:25:52.35
But you know, the older I get
00:25:52.35\00:25:53.75
and the longer time goes,
00:25:53.75\00:25:55.08
the more I'm starting to see
00:25:55.08\00:25:56.65
that a world untethered from God
00:25:56.65\00:25:58.59
is exactly what God
said it was going to be.
00:25:58.59\00:26:01.22
It's suffering, pain, and death.
00:26:01.22\00:26:04.76
So now I've come to the point
00:26:04.76\00:26:06.26
where most of what I
read in the scriptures
00:26:06.26\00:26:08.60
actually makes
absolute perfect sense to me.
00:26:08.60\00:26:12.37
I'm starting to see
00:26:12.37\00:26:13.94
that the one who made me
00:26:13.94\00:26:15.90
understands how my mind works
00:26:15.90\00:26:17.64
far better than I do.
00:26:17.64\00:26:19.44
I'm starting to see
00:26:19.44\00:26:20.64
that God didn't
write a bunch of rules
00:26:20.64\00:26:22.24
to make my life harder.
00:26:22.24\00:26:23.95
He did it for my good.
00:26:23.95\00:26:26.11
I mean, look at the mess
we're making out of this world.
00:26:26.11\00:26:30.15
And then you
tell me just how well
00:26:30.15\00:26:32.32
have human beings
managed this place.
00:26:32.32\00:26:34.89
Why is it that
all of our best ideas
00:26:34.89\00:26:37.13
have all these horrible,
unintended consequences?
00:26:37.13\00:26:39.83
And can we ever, ever trust
00:26:39.83\00:26:41.90
that somebody's
gonna come along,
00:26:41.90\00:26:43.16
somebody who is
perfectly selfless,
00:26:43.16\00:26:45.63
somebody who can't be
corrupted and fix this place?
00:26:45.63\00:26:49.60
Well, actually
that's already happened
00:26:50.64\00:26:53.94
and you find that rather
amazing story in this book.
00:26:53.94\00:26:57.75
Now, the things
I don't understand,
00:26:57.75\00:26:59.95
I've come to believe
00:26:59.95\00:27:01.35
that God knows
what he's talking about
00:27:01.35\00:27:02.95
when it comes to that stuff too.
00:27:02.95\00:27:05.19
So before you join the crowd
00:27:05.19\00:27:06.82
that seems eager
to rip everything down
00:27:06.82\00:27:09.06
for the sake of ripping it down,
00:27:09.06\00:27:11.63
maybe, maybe take a deep breath.
00:27:11.63\00:27:15.66
Stop and think.
00:27:15.66\00:27:19.07
Ask yourself,
how did we get here?
00:27:19.07\00:27:22.40
Why?
00:27:22.40\00:27:23.74
What's really going on?
00:27:23.74\00:27:25.64
Well, did we
really fail in the past
00:27:25.64\00:27:27.48
when we had moral boundaries?
00:27:27.48\00:27:29.38
Or are we failing right now?
00:27:29.38\00:27:32.18
Thanks for joining me.
00:27:32.18\00:27:33.45
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:27:33.45\00:27:34.85
and this has been
another episode of "Authentic".
00:27:34.85\00:27:38.29
[slow light music]
00:27:38.29\00:27:41.26