- 2 days ago
CTP (S4E177) Good Enough Christian? Christian or Churchianist?
We talk with Bill Senyard about why so many Christians believe the gospel but still feel unlovable, unsafe, and stuck in shame. We sort out hubris versus healthy pride, why grace can feel “too good to be true,” and how the Holy Spirit helps us actually experience God’s love now.
• hubris as “I can do it alone” and why it blocks love
• the hidden fear many believers carry about God’s disappointment
• “Good Enough Christian” book and who it is written for
• why church attendance does not always become relationship
• rational arguments versus lived experience of grace
• attachment theory and defensive patterns that resist love
• evangelism that leads with honest questions and real change
• showing faith through love and kindness rather than pressure and the difference between Christianity and CHURCHianity
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We talk with Bill Senyard about why so many Christians believe the gospel but still feel unlovable, unsafe, and stuck in shame. We sort out hubris versus healthy pride, why grace can feel “too good to be true,” and how the Holy Spirit helps us actually experience God’s love now.
• hubris as “I can do it alone” and why it blocks love
• the hidden fear many believers carry about God’s disappointment
• “Good Enough Christian” book and who it is written for
• why church attendance does not always become relationship
• rational arguments versus lived experience of grace
• attachment theory and defensive patterns that resist love
• evangelism that leads with honest questions and real change
• showing faith through love and kindness rather than pressure and the difference between Christianity and CHURCHianity
SEND US FEEDBACK: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2210487/fan_mail/new
https://tinyurl.com/SubscribeToCTP
CTP Audios: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBuzzsprout
CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBITCHUTE
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear
https://tinyurl.com/JLenardDetroitGear
AI images/videos/audio CTP uses: https://tinyurl.com/GalaxyMagicaAI
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jlenarddetroit
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to another episode of Perstitutionalist Podcast.
00:06I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard.
00:09That's L-E-N-A-R-D.
00:12It looks French.
00:13It's not.
00:14It's Leonard without an O.
00:17Thank you for tuning in, as Graham Norton used to say, on his show.
00:24Let's get on with the show!
00:27Hello, everyone.
00:30This is going to be a quick cheat intro segment.
00:34I'm going to be lazy.
00:35I've got so many guest recordings built up.
00:40I'm going to get lazy and cheat on some Saturdays.
00:44I don't have to dream up a monologue topic this way.
00:49And I'm also not going to say what guest will be appearing,
00:53because I'm going to be lazy and cheat and use this same intro several Saturdays to intro a guest show.
01:03So, as Graham Norton used to say, let's get on with the show!
01:10Surprise interview!
01:12Take care, Cop Plus!
01:15Joining me today is Bill Senyard.
01:20Well, actually, it says Bill on the profile.
01:23Is it officially William or?
01:27Oh, Bill's fine.
01:31Bill Senyard, and we've connected via PodMatch.
01:37I make no bones that I use PodMatch as a service to connect with potential guests.
01:44And your profile there says,
01:47Start living deeply, rooted in the love of God that innately loves the unlovable, unloved, unlovely, unworthy, and unlikely.
02:00And that's all of us on any given day, including me.
02:06That's a great, good, you know, a sense of humility to have.
02:17Yeah, I wish it wasn't true.
02:19Yo, yeah, well.
02:22I wish I was more lovable.
02:26But I'm referring to the humility.
02:29I, in a couple of my Constitutionalist Politics books that kind of correspond, I go into the sin is actually
02:41hubris, not pride.
02:46Pridefulness.
02:48I should be proud of Little Johnny hitting the home run at, walk off home run at Little League, right?
02:56I should be proud of Little Sally getting all A's and encouraging her and telling her how proud and happy
03:06I am of her getting all A's, right?
03:09I should be proud at work to put in a good day's work.
03:14It's hubris, however, to go pounding on the boss's desk.
03:20Why are everybody, I'm the only one that ever does anything around here, double myself.
03:26Those are different things.
03:28Yes?
03:29Yeah.
03:29You know, let me unpack that.
03:31I think that's absolutely right.
03:32But let me unpack hubris to two relatable things.
03:37I think if the greatest commandments, biblically, Jesus says so, I'm going with it, is to love God and love
03:43your neighbor.
03:44And implied in that to actually receive God's love, to actually experience God's love is implied, then perhaps the greatest
03:53sin, and I think it comes from hubris and maybe shame as well, which also might come from hubris.
03:59But anyway, maybe the greatest sin is not receiving the love of God that Jesus paid for.
04:08Number two, related to hubris, perhaps one of the greatest sins is, I can do this on my own.
04:16I don't need God now.
04:20Oh, nail head, right?
04:23Hammer nail, I mean.
04:25Right?
04:26Yes, exactly.
04:26Which I'm guilty of every day.
04:28Oh, well, we're seeing a lot of that.
04:32I say we're in a Jesus revolution, too.
04:35Just like the 70s, the hippie generation, we've returned to, if it feels good, do it.
04:44It's all about me.
04:45What do I get?
04:47When do I get it?
04:48I want it yesterday.
04:49But more and more, like then, those who didn't become Bernardine Jornes and Bill Lair terrorists, or even more selfish,
05:02wanting what does government, like JFK, ask not what you can do for your government, but what you can do
05:10for your country.
05:13Some of them hippies went on to say, okay, yes, war for me, others owe me, I'm entitled.
05:21But a large part went on to form the Jesus revolution and the Church of Calvary, and that there's got
05:31to be more.
05:32There's got to be more than just me.
05:37So at the heart of the Jesus movement was an experience of Jesus' love for broken people, people who felt
05:45like rejects, people who felt like they were disappointment, people who had addictions.
05:49People at the heart of it was this amazing feeling of acceptance from the heavenlies, from the celestials, of those
05:56people, of people like me.
05:57And I'll go all the way back to the Enlightenment and the bursting out of rationalism.
06:06We Christians, we evangelicals, Catholics as well, we've rationalized the gospel into something that's easily convincible and transmittable, bullet points,
06:17PowerPoint, and it's fine.
06:18But what's missing is this relationship, this face-to-face relationship that we label, and I get this all the
06:26time, that we label emotionalism.
06:28And I say, no, it's actually emotions, and that's not bad.
06:35Yeah.
06:36I've got a song that I've written.
06:38I used to write and record with actual instruments.
06:42Oh, those were all sold off long ago because I never got a record deal.
06:47I'm on disability.
06:48I needed the money more than I needed a guitar.
06:51Got it.
06:51So I use the Suno AI music system now.
06:55I've got a song, long way to get to this, called Inner Animal.
07:01Indeed, we have emotions.
07:03But as Galassides says about the fool with his heart to his left and the wise who uses his brain
07:14at his right, we are to have emotions.
07:17We have them, even Jesus.
07:19And I go into this in my constitutionalist books, experienced anger and other emotions.
07:28It's how you channel them.
07:30It's that you have to feel, but you can't let it rule your entire life and rule your head.
07:39You've got to apply logic, reason, common sense for this place to even remotely work.
07:46But I've gotten, I jumped, I dove this right in the deep end.
07:52Let's back this trash can up.
07:55Beep, beep, beep.
07:57Or trash truck.
07:59Well, what I usually say, where were you born?
08:04Where were you raised?
08:05Where are you now significant places?
08:08I glossed over that.
08:10Let's get back to that.
08:11No worries.
08:13Yeah, I was born a coon's age ago in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
08:16And I've moved all around the United States, Canada.
08:21I've been in business, been in sales, been in management consulting 30 years as a pastor.
08:27And now that I don't have those responsibilities, I'm writing what I want to write and speaking at conferences and
08:34such.
08:35And, of course, my newest book is, this is one that I've put off for 10 years because I didn't
08:40want to screw it up.
08:42But this is kind of the lane God has had me in.
08:44And you said it at the very beginning that we need to get this word out that this God of
08:49the Bible, Father, Son, and Spirit actually loves the unlovable, the unloved, the unlovely, the unworthy, the unlikely.
08:56When something in our brain says, no, he likes the good, he likes the righteous, he likes the perfect, he
09:04likes the, and he does this too.
09:06But I've never found one of them.
09:08I don't know anybody that says that category.
09:11The only perfect person to walk this planet, they crucified him.
09:16We're all frail and flawed.
09:18I've got another song called Complex Beings.
09:22Yeah.
09:23Our emotions, we have moods.
09:26Things change.
09:28Right.
09:28But, indeed, unless if one suffers hubris, we're all likely to have a bad self-esteem day and feel unloved,
09:41unlovable, unlovely, and those things that you address.
09:48I've asked congregations.
09:51Actually, I did a poll in two congregations a little while ago.
09:55And I asked them confidentially, had them fill out slips.
09:57I said, what are you afraid of?
09:59And it was in a Christian context.
10:00So I expected bears and snakes and spiders to be some of the answers, right?
10:04But would you be surprised, 65 percent, again, religious context, so it's skewed, but 65 percent and more said, I'm
10:13afraid of seeing God eventually and seeing the look on his face.
10:17Well, right?
10:20That's very honest.
10:21It's not, I mean, because of the cross, it's not true.
10:25And I bet if I found out who said that, I'd say, you know the cross says Jesus paid for
10:30all of that, and now he bought all the heavenly delight for you, right?
10:36And they would go, well, yeah, I know that, but I sure don't feel that.
10:41And there's this debilitating fear in the pews where, and pastors tell me, I've done consulting for churches as well.
10:53Why can't I get people to come to discipleship, small group, evangelism?
10:57Why can't I get people to come?
10:58And here's the answer, I think, largely, largely, my opinion.
11:03I've been there, done that, and I failed.
11:05I fell short.
11:07Why would I do that again?
11:08I'm just going to sit here, not bother anybody.
11:12I'm going to keep my head down and just hope, I hope that grace is what it says it is.
11:18I just hope there's no joy.
11:19God doesn't want that for us, though, either.
11:22He wants us to engage.
11:25Although, I don't want to push back, but I'm going to a little push.
11:29I hate to break it to some, some people are going to hell, right?
11:35Sure.
11:37Jesus did say, go forth and sin no more.
11:40At least try to sin no more, right?
11:45We can be forgiven, but indeed, if you're purposefully, willfully, malice aforethought, ignoring all the commandments, I hate to break
11:58it to you, you probably deserve to go to hell.
12:03Something's wrong.
12:04Yeah, something's, there's a disconnect there of some sort.
12:08So I'm talking, my book is primarily for the Christians, Christians now.
12:12So let's say these are the ones that are in, and I don't have a meat thermometer, you know, to
12:16stick in somebody to judge that.
12:18But let's assume they have the Holy Spirit in their inner being, Ephesians 3.
12:23And that's the book, that's why I'm writing this to them, because there's just a lot of shame and guilt
12:29and fear.
12:30I was in, I was, two weeks ago, I was in western Colorado.
12:34I live in Denver now.
12:36Oh, great.
12:37Now I'm going to have Colorado, Rocky Mountain High in my head the rest of the day.
12:43Go ahead.
12:44I'll just smoke stuff to go to the side.
12:46Yeah, just the way my OCD brain always works.
12:50Those intrusive thoughts.
12:52Anyway, I interrupted.
12:53Go on.
12:54So check it out.
12:54So this was in western Colorado.
12:56This was the public, this was the bookstore, right?
12:58This was, and it was a number of people came to the table, curious about the title, Good Enough Christian.
13:06You know, what is that?
13:07And I said, you know, and there was one lady who came, and she was 60s, maybe 70.
13:14And I said, you know, I wrote this book for you.
13:18And she said, what do you mean, wrote it for me?
13:21And I said, this book is written for people who feel like they've been a disappointment to Jesus.
13:28She looked shocked.
13:30She started crying.
13:31And she said, oh, my goodness, that's me.
13:33And we went on to have another talk.
13:35A few minutes later, a young man, about 30, came by.
13:38And he's looking at my fantasy series, kind of a C.S. Lewis series.
13:43And I said, you know what?
13:45You go to church, don't you?
13:47And he goes, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:48Yeah, I go to church.
13:50And I said, you know, here's a book I wrote for you.
13:53And he said, what do you mean?
13:55I said, you know, this is for those people probably like me and like yourself.
14:01And we feel like we just haven't done enough to make God smile at us.
14:04And he looked at me and went, what?
14:07And I said, yeah, you know, people who feel like they've just screwed up and they can't fix it.
14:13And he starts crying.
14:14And he goes, you'll love this.
14:15He goes, yeah, I need to get that for my brother.
14:22Well, I hate to bring this back to hubris, but I'm going to because we have to be aware there
14:29are Matthew 23 types.
14:31The viper snakes, blind guides that want to twist the scriptures and, you know, then their hubris.
14:39Oh, I'm going to heaven, you're all going to hell types.
14:43You know, Dennis Quaid, I'm a bit jealous of, came up with a term before I could create it called
14:52churchianity.
14:53Because indeed there are a lot of those who may go to a building that happens to have a steeple
15:01on it, but it's nowhere close to a church of Jesus Christ going on in there.
15:07So, you know, I worry about and I pray for those people to find a more appropriate biblical scriptural based
15:17church.
15:18And one of the reasons why I started the show, you know, because a lot of people want to just
15:25pick or choose a few scriptures like saved by the blood.
15:30Oh, I'm good.
15:32Right.
15:33And gloss over the context of faith without works is dead.
15:39It's all got to be together in context, the good, the bad, the ugly of it all.
15:46Yes.
15:47Oh, totally.
15:48And that's, you know, and that's, it's complicated.
15:51And here's what I found.
15:53Here's what I found is, is I'm giving a gospel message that Jesus actually loves the unlovable.
16:01I'm giving it to Christians and non-Christians.
16:04See, what I found is we're all beat up.
16:07We're increasingly aware of our celestial loneliness, even though we don't label it that.
16:12We're certainly aware of broken relationships.
16:15And I can actually use the same, and there's a chapter in the book where I'm talking to kind of
16:19a composite of unbelievers using this logic.
16:24Instead of talking to them about theology, I talk to them about kind of, hey, yeah, how's it going?
16:30How's your path going?
16:33How are your relationships going?
16:35Would you consider yourself lonely?
16:37Those kind of things.
16:38And I push the conversation to the point.
16:43And here's where I tell people when I train evangelism is you want to get to the point where the
16:48person says, wait, that's too good to be true.
16:54And you go, there it is.
16:56And if I've convinced them, like, yeah, that's reasonable, I've missed something because it is too good to be true.
17:04And it is true.
17:06And so we want to keep pushing people.
17:08And, again, back to the rationalism and modern apologetics, we've boiled it down to we've tried to make the gospel
17:16reasonable.
17:18And you know what?
17:21It's reasonable in God's head.
17:25But it's beyond anything.
17:27It's beyond any relationship that I know that God would actually love.
17:32Look, God loves me, a sinner.
17:34He loves me as much as the father loves the son.
17:37Jesus paid for it.
17:38That's it.
17:38And I've got that.
17:40But God loves me as much as the father loves the son and the son loves the father.
17:45Well, I can't explain that.
17:48I'm stunned by that.
17:50I don't love me that much.
17:54You know, my dog, maybe.
17:57Yeah, it's even way above, right?
18:00In the book of Kennedy, Project Carpe Diem, I discuss the four different types of love, right?
18:08Even a parent loving a child is still not the same as the agape love our creator has for us.
18:19And our creator loves us so much that he wants better of and from and for us.
18:30Not just, you know, not necessarily helicopter parent.
18:35We are given free will.
18:37But at the same time, also not laissez-faire, do what you want.
18:42Not, hey, I'm your friend, I'm your buddy, I'm your pal.
18:46No, you need to be the damn parent.
18:52There's a great quote from a child psychologist.
18:55I don't think he was a Christian, but his quote is great.
18:58And his name is Bronfenbrenner.
18:59But he says, every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her.
19:07Well, I need that, and that's actually, that's the heart of the gospel is through Christ.
19:16For me, there is one person who actually is irrationally, humanly speaking, crazy about me.
19:24And through the Holy Spirit, Paul says in Ephesians 3, I can actually begin to feel that a little today.
19:30I don't have to wait for heaven, for heaven, for the full, you know, for the full show.
19:34But I can start tasting some of the appetizers, and they should make a difference.
19:39And Paul argues it's that kindness that leads me to repentance.
19:42I actually need that to change my behavior.
19:45I actually need that.
19:46Well, in Ephesians 3, Paul prays for the Ephesians, they would access power from God.
19:54Well, that should be noticeable.
19:56Power from God through the Holy Spirit in our inner being.
19:59I don't know where that is.
20:00That's above my pay grade.
20:01In order to begin to grasp the height and width and length and depth of the love of Christ.
20:07Well, that's sophisticated.
20:09Paul is implying that something's wrong with me, that even though I have, Jesus purchased that love for me.
20:18I actually need God's power today to begin to experience it today because I've got something,
20:25and I talk about that in two or three chapters in my book.
20:27Something in my brain is preventing me from experiencing the love of Christ.
20:33My brain has been so beat up by relationships.
20:35I mean, since I was born and the doctor spanked me, right?
20:39And so it's defensive mechanisms are preventing me from being loved and preventing me from actually loving.
20:49I've done so much marriage counseling for people.
20:52I see it over and over and over and over and over.
20:54And when people realize it's not all your partner's fault, you know, it's largely your brain.
20:59And your brain has got this defensive mechanisms, and you don't see it because you're it.
21:05And so the Holy Spirit apparently has this charge from the Trinity to actually make Christians experience God's love now
21:15and experience God's love for others now.
21:18And if we don't lean into that, by the way, most Christians have never been told.
21:24I have a chapter in my book with like 25 quotes through from 500 A.D. to modern, different denominations,
21:33Protestant Catholics, different theologies, and they all say the role of the Holy Spirit,
21:37the passion of the Holy Spirit, the charge of the Holy Spirit is to make us feel the love of
21:42God right now.
21:43Well, you know, and the question I asked right after all those quotes is, Christian, do you believe this?
21:50And I would say most Christians, really, I think this is true.
21:54I can't, you know, I can't prove it, but I believe most Christians have never heard that.
22:01I wrote down two notes while you were talking.
22:05First one, Satan.
22:08Satan, Satan, that little devil on your shoulder, constantly trying to convince you, you're not worthy.
22:18You will never be worthy.
22:20You are not good enough.
22:22You can never, right?
22:25So you've got that counter force trying to convince you that indeed, to convince you to use your terms,
22:38you're unlovable, unloved, unlovely, unworthy, and unlikely, and never can be, which is, as you're saying, not true.
22:49And the other is you use the words above my pay grade.
22:54I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've either said that on my own show or another
23:02show.
23:02Like, talking about UFOs on Paranormal, the new normal show, Genesis does not say, and God created life on Terra,
23:17and only on Terra, and only on this one-dimensional plane life created it.
23:25It doesn't say that.
23:27Not even in the Hebrew, yep.
23:30Right.
23:30So it doesn't preclude God having created life elsewhere and then happen to be able to get here.
23:39So, that's all about my pay grade.
23:45Pay grade.
23:46And God, the other thing I say, God, this goes back to humor, God does not owe you all the
23:57bleeping shirts.
24:00He doesn't owe you that.
24:02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:04Yeah, and that conversation that I have with that composite non-Christian, I say that.
24:12It's kind of like, you know, all these questions you have.
24:14If I give you answers to your satisfaction of all these questions, which I can't do, but if I could,
24:20would you then follow Jesus?
24:22And in my book, the person goes, well, yeah, follow's kind of strong.
24:26I might investigate Jesus, right?
24:29It's not the point.
24:30The point isn't that I don't know everything.
24:32The point is I don't want to give up my independence hubris again.
24:37I don't want to give up – I don't want to take that risk with Jesus, and that's the big
24:42deal.
24:43And evangelism should get to that point where the person – where you say to the person, hey, look –
24:48and I say this to the person because he says I've explored Buddhism, I've explored Hinduism and Islam.
24:54And I say eventually, I said, look, I don't want to offend you, but it looks like you're afraid to
25:00follow Jesus.
25:01I get that.
25:02You're not alone.
25:04It would be much safer for you to pursue any of those other paths.
25:07And if that's what you're looking for, please do.
25:10If you want to actually have your life changed and rattle your brain, let me introduce you to Jesus, but
25:16he'll change your life.
25:17Good talk.
25:19And I've got no problem with Buddhism.
25:22I've talked to this before, especially on shows where meditation – Buddhism as a philosophy is great.
25:31It's wonderful.
25:32It's got some great tenets.
25:34I reject it as a religion, however.
25:37Yeah, that's an interesting perspective.
25:40There is a difference in those two there.
25:43Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:44I don't reject all aspects of the other face, but I – you know what I mean?
25:53I think you understand what I'm saying here.
25:55I like that.
25:57I think that's very intriguing.
25:59Good on you.
26:03I'm not sure where to go next.
26:06Just – but now, what – but to say – I haven't repeated it.
26:12Bill Senyard is who we're talking with.
26:15Go ahead.
26:17In the book, what I've done is –
26:20Hold it up.
26:21You got it there?
26:22Hold it up for those viewing on behind-the-scenes video.
26:26There it is.
26:27Good enough Christian.
26:28Yes.
26:29It's written for the regular person.
26:31It's not written for theologians or pastors.
26:34It's kind of sitting around the coffee table or around the bar or whatever and talking about, I wish there
26:39was more.
26:39So in the book, I give seven biblical, neuroscientific, and attachment theory reasons why we have such a hard time
26:49receiving the love that Jesus purchased.
26:51We Christians, I'm talking about, not counterfeit Christians, but the real ones with the Holy Spirit in us.
26:57And there's seven – it's normal.
26:59Seven reasons, humanly speaking, everybody has a hard time receiving love.
27:04And then I talk about here's some things that biblically you can actually do about it to begin to experience
27:11the vastness of Jesus' love that he purchased for you already.
27:15And what I tell people is, you know, don't try all seven.
27:18Pick one, pick two that you can actually work on and have questions and an exercise to do.
27:25And it's good for groups because you could do it together and encourage one another.
27:29But my goal is to have people.
27:33I spoke on the love of God, this love of God for the unlovable at a church on Valentine's Day.
27:40And after – it was two services.
27:42When I did communion, I said, look, here's what I want you to do for communion.
27:45I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to make you feel the height and width and length and depth
27:49of the love of Jesus before you come up and take the bread and the wine.
27:53And then go back to your – and just let it seep on you, right?
27:57Just experience that.
27:59Well, during the break, during the coffee break in between services, five men came up to me.
28:05And this men came up to me and they kind of looked around and said, Pastor Bill, I think I
28:13experienced the love of God today.
28:17Five men said that, one in tears.
28:20And a dozen women said the same thing.
28:22Well, isn't that interesting?
28:24I mean, they've been going to church, and some of them, by the way, had an experience that one person
28:30said for decades.
28:32Well, what are we doing?
28:34And we're teaching people really well, and I'm for that.
28:38I'm a teacher.
28:38But, yeah, relationship.
28:41Jesus paid for relationship.
28:43He paid for relationship.
28:45Follow me.
28:46It really is personal.
28:48And I think many of us – you know how we pastors hide behind pulpits – I think a lot
28:53of Christians are hiding behind theology.
28:55What do you think?
28:57Yeah, and with that, I'm going to wrap it up and say, and we are to want to share that
29:04with others.
29:05And by sharing, I don't mean taking your Bible and beating people over the head with it.
29:10That's not what I mean, right?
29:13Like little acts of random kindness shall be known by your fruits.
29:19Show you're a Christian, not speak that you're a Christian.
29:26It will – right at the old Rush, not Limbaugh the talk show guy, the Canadian rock trio.
29:33Show, don't tell, Saul.
29:35Show, don't tell.
29:37And you will bring more to Christ than beating people over the head with the Bible because they're going to
29:45have the knee-jerk human reaction of, oh, this guy's just nuts.
29:49Get him the heck away with me.
29:51If you ask him if you know Christ, oh, yes, yes, I do.
29:56They'll tell you anything just to get away from you.
29:59You're not helping at that point.
30:01They will know you are Christians by your love, not by your theology.
30:08Theology is good.
30:09I'm a theologian.
30:09I love theology.
30:11Jesus said they'll know you're a Christian by your love.
30:13And he said, you know, he expanded that for your enemies.
30:17And that's tough.
30:19Oh, yeah.
30:20That's above my pay grade.
30:21In the book of Kennedy, Project Harpa Deum, I have Kennedy, the female lead, says, you know, some people make
30:30it hard to love them.
30:32So it's best just to love them from afar.
30:37Loving you doesn't mean I have to put up with you all the time.
30:42I will pray for your soul because I love you.
30:47Jesus, have you met my neighbor?
30:52So the usual Christian show, so can't avoid the pun, proverbial last question, right?
31:00I see what I did there, of course.
31:03Well, that's why you're the host and I'm just the interviewee.
31:07Yep.
31:07Website.
31:08Where do people find you?
31:10Yeah, they can find me at gospel-app.com.
31:15There's a lot of resources on there.
31:17My doctoral thesis was on how to biblically forgive.
31:20I think we've screwed that up.
31:21And so you can find information on the forgiving path.
31:24The books, I would point people to Amazon, Kindle, and Audible, and particularly this one.
31:31Amazon, Kindle, and Audible.
31:33Yeah, get them.
31:34It's award-winning.
31:35They won an International Impact Award, Secular Award, which is fantastic.
31:40The idea is they looked at the book and said, oh, this author is trying to make an international impact.
31:45And I went, I think that's just the gospel, isn't it?
31:48I think Matthew 28 was kind of that award.
31:52So that's why I would suggest.
31:54I also have a book in the series, Good Enough Parent.
31:58Similar thoughts.
31:59A lot of people need that.
32:01A lot of people need that.
32:03And the other one is coming out in January, Good Enough Prayer.
32:07And I look at my top 20 prayers in the Bible, and it's a very strange list that does not
32:13match anybody's that I know.
32:16All right.
32:17Thank you, Bill Senniard, gospel-app.com, if I can get the word out.
32:27And it will, of course, in post, I'll put it, for those viewing behind-the-scenes video on the five
32:34video channels, it'll be on the bottom of the screen.
32:37For those hearing on the 40-plus audio-only platforms, you should have written it down by now, if you
32:46haven't.
32:47Again, it is Bill Senniard, and it's gospel-app.com.
32:55Thanks for stopping by, Bill.
32:57And I will be tacking on a few of the tunes that I mentioned, like I wrote down.
33:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:03I'd like to listen to them.
33:05I'm going to tack on my tough love song, my complex being songs, my inner animal song, and the one
33:13I recently wrote, which is an ode to Supergirl.
33:17The Supergirl movie is better than people think it was.
33:21There's a lot of hate on that movie.
33:23Interesting.
33:23But the message, the bottom line message is a good one.
33:28And so I wrote a song about that called, If You Claim Goodness, Be Nice.
33:36Because the line in the movie is of her mother saying, you don't always have to be nice, but I
33:45expect you to be good.
33:47So I quote that in the song.
33:50I go on to say, yeah, but if you claim goodness, you should be nice.
33:55You know, I think you're having way too much fun.
33:58No.
34:04Hey, why shouldn't we in this process, right?
34:10It doesn't always have to be serious and fire and brimstone stuff all the time.
34:18So thanks again, Bill.
34:20Take care.
34:22God bless, brother.
34:24Thank you, man.
34:37Ecclesiastes 10, 2 through 3
34:40A wise man's heart is at his right hand
34:44But a fool's heart at his left
34:47Yeah, also
34:48When he that is a fool walketh by the way
34:51His wisdom faileth him
34:53And he saith to everyone
34:56That he is a fool
35:07We walk on two thin lines
35:10Fangs behind the smile
35:13Soft hands
35:16Sharp instinct
35:17Taught to tame the wild
35:20You feel it in your pulse
35:23When pride starts talking loud
35:27I know that hungry sound
35:30It pulls you off the ground
35:34But slow down
35:36Count to ten
35:37Hear the crack before it bends
35:41You gotta mind
35:42You gotta plan
35:44Don't let fire burn your hands
35:49Inner animal
35:50Inner animal
35:51Hold your ground
35:52Inner animal
35:54Don't spin out
35:56We're animals
35:57With feelings too
35:59But don't let your heart
36:01Rule your head
36:03Fool
36:09I saw you bite the hook
36:12For one sweet empty dare
36:15Won the fight in silence
36:19Then lost it in the stare
36:22The mirror knows your name
36:26Before the rage gets stressed
36:29A little self-control
36:33Can do more than the rest
36:36So slow down
36:38Count to ten
36:40Feel the weight
36:42Of where you've been
36:43Keep your nerve
36:45Keep your frame
36:47Don't give your life
36:48To a flare of flame
36:51Inner animal
36:53Hold your ground
36:55Inner animal
36:57Don't spin out
36:58We are animals
37:00With feelings too
37:02But don't let your heart
37:04Rule your head
37:05Fool
37:14Not every bite
37:17Is hunger
37:18Not every spark
37:20Is right
37:21Sometimes the
37:23Bravest answer
37:25Is turning
37:27From the fight
37:38Inner animal
37:40Hold your ground
37:42Inner animal
37:43Don't spin out
37:45We are animals
37:47With feelings too
37:48But don't let your heart
37:51Rule your head
37:52Fool
37:52Inner animal
37:54Stay awake
37:56Inner animal
37:57Don't break
37:59We are animals
38:01With feelings too
38:02Don't let your heart
38:05Rule your head
38:06Fool
38:20Yeah
38:29It ain't all sweet songs
38:31By the fire
38:32Warm hands
38:34Soft words
38:36Pretty choirs
38:41If I cut out the thorns
38:44From the story
38:46I'd be dressing up
38:48A grave as glory
38:50This is tough love gospel
38:53And I just can't fire shine
38:56If I sand down the edges
38:59I turn truth into lies
39:03Reality or delusion
39:05I can't serve both sides
39:08I'm not here just for the choir
39:11I'm here where the hurt hearts hide
39:14Yeah
39:16Some pages bleed red in the margins
39:19Hard lines, hard calls, hard bargains
39:22If I skip over storms
39:24If I skip over storms for your comfort
39:25Then your house gets washed in the flood water
39:29This is tough love gospel
39:31Not just campfire shine
39:34If I sand down the edges
39:37I turn truth into a lie
39:40Reality or delusion
39:43I can't serve both sides
39:47I'm not here just for the choir
39:49I'm here where the hurt hearts hide
39:53Do you want a dream or do you want a mirror?
39:57Do you want a dope or do you want it clearer?
40:00If the truth cuts deep let it cut through fear
40:02Better scars that heal than a sweet lie in your ear
40:08This ain't cotton candy truth
40:10Ain't a campfire sing-along rhyme
40:14You can't sell sweet dreams
40:17While the house burns behind
40:19If it never cuts deep
40:22It will sugar all along
40:25If you skip the hard pages
40:28You just rewrote the song
40:31This is tough love gospel
40:34Not rainbows on a wire
40:37If you hide the hard words
40:41You're just planting the fire
40:43I won't preach delusion
40:47Just to make it sound lighter
40:50If I only sue the choir
40:53I'm a singer, not a fighter
40:57You can hum all the feel-good lines
41:00While your neighbor breaks inside
41:03Quote hope like a slogan
41:06Then look away from the crime
41:09But a bandage on a bullet wound
41:12Is a pretty little lie
41:15If the truth never offends us
41:19Did we ever even try?
41:21This is tough love gospel
41:24Not rainbows on a wire
41:27If you hide the hard words
41:30You're just planting the fire
41:33I won't preach delusion
41:36Just to make it sound lighter
41:39If I only sue the choir
41:42I'm a singer, not a fighter
41:45I'd rather lose that crowd
41:48Than sell them painted grace
41:51I'd rather stand alone
41:54Than smile and dodge the weight
41:57Don't ask for easy comfort
42:00Than curse the honest cost
42:04Love that never warns you
42:07Will leave you more than lost
42:10This is tough love gospel
42:13Not rainbows on a wire
42:16If you hide the hard words
42:20You're just planting the fire
42:22I won't preach delusion
42:25Just to make it sound lighter
42:28If I only sue the choir
42:31I'm a singer, not a fighter
42:34Oh, if I dress up the danger
42:39I'm a liar, not a writer
42:44Tough love
42:46The bible isn't just rainbows and lollipops
42:50Singing kumbaya around the campfire
42:54You cannot ignore the harsh reality drops
42:57To peddle such makes you a liar
43:02Reality verse delusion
43:04Speaking
43:06Not just to the choir
43:10This, that
43:12And in all things transpire
43:25The next day
43:26On the road
43:26A light
43:38The light
43:38The light
43:44Is
43:54Complex beings, yeah, we bend
43:57We break, we mend
43:59We got moods, we got ranges
44:02Quick flips, strange rearrangements
44:05Season shifting in our skin
44:07Quiet storms behind a grin
44:10One word, whole day changes
44:12Heart rewrites its own pages
44:15We're just complex beings, that's what we are
44:18Puzzle piece hearts, little bite-sized scars
44:20We got ups, we got downs
44:21Till we stick around on a dime
44:23We can turn and turn it all around
44:25Complex beings, tangled and true
44:27Half a meal away, running half, running back to you
44:31Complicated yet a life-in-living series
44:35Book spells out the reasons
44:37But I love you through the chapters and the seasons
44:44You're a sunrise, you're a shutdown
44:47You're a soft laugh and a letdown
44:49You go quiet then you're singing
44:51Every mood, every shade still clinging
44:55And I'm a question in your doorway
44:57You're an innocent the long way
44:59Both hands full of tiny treasons
45:01Still we stay, still we stay through the reasons
45:05Complex beings, that's what we are
45:08Puzzle piece hearts, little bite-sized scars
45:10We got ups, we got downs
45:11Till we stick around on a dime
45:13We can turn and turn it all around
45:15Complex beings, tangled and true
45:18Half a meal away, running half, running back to you
45:21Complicated yet a book spells out the reasons
45:24But I love you through the chapters and the seasons
45:57Complex beings, that's what we are
45:58We have moods, we have moods, we have ranges
46:02Seasons and changes
46:06We have ups and downs, on a dime can turn it around
46:11Complicated, the book spells out
46:15Some of the reasons
46:21Complex beings, we got moods, we got ranges
46:25Little storms in our teacups, whole climates
46:29Seasons and changes
46:31We go quiet, we go wild, we go tender, then tough
46:34One word, one look, one moment
46:36Can be way too much
46:41We're just complex beats
46:43Breathing, trying to make some meaning
46:46From all these turns and twists inside
46:49We fall apart, then realign
46:51We're just complex beats
46:53Reaching, hearts cracking open
46:56Healing
46:56We got ups and downs, on a dime can turn around
47:12Some days I'm the hero, some days I'm the doubt
47:15I'm the riddle and the rumor and I'm still working it out
47:18Complicated like the book spells out
47:20Some of the reasons
47:22Every chapter, every scar
47:25Every quiet little treason
47:28So if I change in the middle of a sentence
47:31If I laugh when I'm breaking down
47:34That's just all my different versions
47:36Showing up at once right now
47:42We're just complex beats
47:44Breathing, trying to make some meaning
47:48From all these turns and twists inside
47:51We fall apart, then realign
47:53We're just complex beats
47:55Reaching, hearts cracking open
47:57Reaching, healing
47:58We got ups and downs, on a dime can turn around
48:04On a dime can turn around
48:12What's a great sport is this game?
48:19And unexpectedなんだYYy
48:20takes the mind... también It's
48:23really
48:23hard to hit You just need
48:25Or you can judge
48:28me I'm just suspicious
48:29Like I'm both
48:29strong Although you know You
48:29are mad People
48:29need please A
48:32decentсть Asking
48:32Of totally In
48:32God You
48:37Gavin But
48:37I institution
48:37How
48:38the logic that
48:50A recent movie story said
48:53You don't have to be nice
48:56But if you say you're a good one
48:59You ought to back it up
49:01At least twice
49:02Out on the street
49:03In the checkout line
49:05With the kid in the car
49:07And the clerk on shift
49:09Goodness is in the line
49:11You quote
49:12It's how you carry the lift
49:15So be nice
49:17If you're calling yourself good
49:19Hold the door
49:20Say you'd be street folks
49:22Like you should
49:23It doesn't cost much
49:25Just a little respect
49:26Be nice while you're here
49:28That's the best thing, yeah
49:34That's the best thing, yeah
49:44I've seen it in the small stuff
49:46The coffee left on the counter by eight
49:50The text, the text that says I'm running late
49:53And still shows up straight
49:56No metal for the easy move
49:59No badge for the polished grin
50:02Just a way to leave a room better
50:06Than the way you walked in
50:09So be nice
50:11If you call me yourself good
50:13Hold the door
50:14Say you'd be street folks
50:16Like you should
50:17But it doesn't cost much
50:18Just a little respect
50:20Be nice while you're here
50:22That's the best thing, yeah
50:28That's the best thing, yeah
50:30That's the best thing, yeah
50:44But real life keeps asking
50:47What you're willing to say
50:50So be nice
50:51If you're calling yourself good
50:53Hold the door
50:54Say you'd be street folks
50:56Like you should
50:57But it doesn't cost much
51:00It's just a little respect
51:04A recent movie story
51:06Proclaimed to the girl
51:08Who would become super
51:11You don't always have to be nice
51:13But I expect you to be good
51:15For that movie will suffice
51:17But for you on earth
51:19I declare
51:20Be nice
51:21If you claim goodness
51:22Cost nothing to share a smile
51:26Be nice while here
51:28All you're while
51:33Be nice while you're here
51:35That's the best thing, yeah
51:57The Life and Living Series
51:59Five Standalone Stories
52:02Read them in any order
52:04By Joseph M. Leonard
52:06Like and subscribe
52:09To Christitutionalist Politics Podcast
52:12And share episodes
52:14We need your help
52:16Thank you for having tuned into
52:19Another Christitutionalist Podcast Show
52:23I really appreciate
52:25That you stopped by
52:27Again, please
52:29Like, share, subscribe
52:31We need you
52:32To help spread
52:34The Christitutionalist Movement
52:36Thank you again
52:38Take care
52:39God bless
52:40Love you all