Thank you, John. So I'm going to need your help today to do this. What is it? We're going to talk about teenagers making decisions. How do you deal with that? Does that bother you? Are you okay with that? Are you concerned? Have you worries? In my eyes, I'm not. So what was the input about the decisions that small children are making compared to the decisions that teenagers are making? Anybody? Well, I haven't had much of a conversation about it. OK. I'll let you repeat it. I don't think this is different about teachers, disciplines, adversities, and violence. Will the teenagers go back to their homes? No, they do. What's different are the consequences of the decision, right? So a young child makes a bad decision. We can usually recover from that without too much damage. What about a teenager? They're making decisions about driving, or sex, or drugs, or mental health. These kinds of things, the consequences could be irreparable. It could cost permanent damage. Is that right or wrong? That is absolutely right. That's what makes dealing with teenagers so terrifying, because they are making these decisions, any one of which could catastrophically affect the rest of the world. Now, how experienced are they at making these decisions? Zero. So you have a combination which is very different, right? Serious consequences, no discernance. OK, make your decision. So what would we do to help them with that? If you had a situation like that, how might you handle something like that? Yes? Let's turn to Proverbs 29, 19. Who'd like to read that for us? Yes, go ahead. OK, the slave will not be instructed by words alone, for even though he understands, there will be no response. So in other words, if you tell them what to do, show them, do that, do this, will they respond? Well, they might. But in general, that's usually not enough. So we have to do something more than just words. Okay, now the first thing that we could do is in Mark 3.14. Let's turn to Mark 3.14. So if you'd like to read that. And we have seen, we have also, that in 1923, that meant that in our tradition, OK, so the first thing we can do as teenagers is to help them. We can do things with them. For example, we can have a quiet time with them. We can get the Scripture and everybody with them. We can pray with them. So those kinds of things, when it's an option to do it with them, you want to do it with them. That's the best way to do it. But there's other decisions that they're going to make when we're not around. So how can we prepare them for that? In many ways, Jim Dobson compares it to preparing a rocket to launch. So in the 60s, we had the Apollo program. We were going to set our hands on the moon and back again. Now, here's the mission, which no one's had any experience doing. Any decisions would have to be made by the engineers, the casting councils, nobody. Any one of us could do the casting. And yet they were successful. What did they get? Ah, okay. They used simulation. So they built these simulators, and they practiced the simulator over and over. They ran the mission thousands and thousands of times. And they threw in all these problems of what ifs, and had to figure out how to respond. So that by the time they threw the real mission, in their brain, they already told them a few times. Well, I don't know, is there anything in the Bible that might indicate we should do something like that? Turn to Psalm 78, verse 1-3. So Psalm 78 on 2 Corinthians says, So what's going on in this verse here? What's going on in the verse? What was the instruction in turn? Is that it? And you notice it talks about a parable. What's a parable? Father told us a parable. What's a parable? It's a story. It's a story. Guess what? The story is the cheapest form of simulation. So in fact, we can do simulations to help them make their decisions. We can use stories to do that. OK, so when we're working with teens, what we try to do is we try to use a combination of scripture and stories. OK? Not just stories. That's not good enough. It's got to be scripture first, and then stories, so that they can work through and see what's coming over the horizon. OK. So the stories need to be simple. They need to be credible. They need to be concrete, not abstract. We want them to be as concrete as possible, and we want them to be believable, and we want them to include the emotions as much as possible. It's just like when the astronauts are in a simulator and something's going wrong. Their heart rate goes up just like it was a real accident, even though they know they're safe. And so we're trying to make it as realistic as possible, and to do it in a classroom setting or just a one-on-one setting. Okay, in Matthew 13, verse 3-9, let me read the parable of the sower. Immediately, they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. When the sun hit them, they were scorched because they had no way of keeping them away. Others fell on their thorns, and the thorns came out of each other. Now, others fell on the best soil and yielded the crop, some 100-fold, some 60, some 30. You guys are just going to hear it. OK, now, here's some questions for you. What was the name of the soil? It doesn't say anything. Why is it the same? Because it's not important. So don't put that in the story. What was the story we read? Did we hear that? It's not important, so we leave it out of the story. If we put all this in the story, it makes things complicated, and people can't figure out what they're putting in the story. So we're trying to keep it as simple as possible. And this is what it means to stay within folk hero. You have to focus very simply, and it's very short, and very easy to learn. And yet, you can see that story out there. You can picture it in your mind, can't you? And that sticks with you, you remember that. OK, the other thing we need is we need to have surprising or counterintuitive elements. So the reason that a lot of people make a bad decision is because there's usually something counterintuitive about the decision that they were not aware of. And so we want to bring that up and show it to them. It's surprising. I'll give you some examples as we go. And we want it to be concrete and emotional. In Mark 12, 28-31, Jesus said, one of the Spanish names for the Christian, recognizing that he had answered them, I will ask them, what commandment is the foremost of all? Jesus answered, the foremost is, hear the music of the Lord our God is contorted. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is like, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So God wants people to love him with their strength, and also their minds, and also their heart, and also their soul. In other words, there's nothing wrong with leaving the emotions in. We're going to leave the emotions in the story as much as possible. So when Jesus, for example, here's another parable, Matthew 7, 24-27, Jesus talks about a house built on the rock and the sand. So as you read through it, it says, therefore everyone who hears these words of mine in exile may be compared to a wise man who built this house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and the sand against that house. And yet it did not fall, but it had been found within the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine does not act that way, but they are foolish if they don't think the house is in the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and the sand against that house in the dirt, and its fall was great. You can feel the wind and the rain coming, can't you? You can see the house falling down the hill, it's like, like, it's just divine. So that's what Jesus would do. Okay, so when we're talking with teens, what is it that we should tell stories about? Should we tell stories about today, or in the future? We used to talk about dramas in the future. What are teens thinking about? Are they thinking about now or in the future? Most teens are going to think very differently in the future. So what I'd like to do is talk with them in the sense of the next slide. So if I'm dealing with mid-schoolers, which are the 13 short-term girls, I'm going to tell their stories about the United States. And for high school students, I'm going to tell them stories as if they were thinking about getting married or getting a job. I'm going to talk to them with those kinds of stories, because that's where their head is. They're thinking about the next phase. So I want to get them early before they make any other decisions. So they can prevent that. Can you share exactly? Yeah. Well, we're going to try to run through a few decisions. Oh, that's great. Yes. Okay. Okay, so what would be some topics that you think would be a good thing to talk to teams about that you think would be most interesting? Yes? OK, so we can do something like that. Now, this is what I would do with my mid-squarters. So what we'll do is we'll go through. If you don't mind, you guys have to act like mid-squarters. Mid-squarters look sympathetic, right? Very happy. But yes, we can do that. So we'll talk about. Centrality before merit, OK? So now I'm switching you to a mode where I am now going to teach you the principles, OK? So I'm going to start the simulation. Ready? OK. All right. Now, you guys, you're walking down the street one day, and you see this young man and this young lady, and they're just kind of, like, touching and hugging and kissing. And I want to know what you think about that. Would you say that what they're doing is helpful? Everybody has to vote. Let me get one question. How many say that what they're doing is harmful? How many people say that what they're doing is harmful? How many people think it's harmful? OK, it's two to three. And how many people think that what they're doing is harmless? Oh, yeah, OK. Yeah, so the culture. OK, good. I have another question for you. You're walking down the street, and you see a young man and a woman, and they're hugging, and they're kissing. Now, this stuff was really easy. I'm talking heavy, passionate, less like physical. Now, come on, what do you think about it? How many of you think what they're doing is helpful? Okay, one. How many people think what they're doing is harmless? Oh, no, we don't have you here to see that. Okay, you are on the third day, so that means you're on the third day of John's career. Okay, now, how many of you think what they're doing is harmful? OK, so a few more. Let's get live. OK, not that one, but the series. You see, every other one. Energy isn't handed. Passion isn't just in. The hands are going everywhere. Not in the head, front, and back. The hands are going everywhere. I want to know what you think about that. How many of you think that's helpful? Okay, number one, usually by this time the road is going. How many of you think those enemies are harmless? Usually by now it's down to zero. And how many people think that's harmless? Okay, so now we've got everybody in the room. So we just did the simulation, didn't we? We just did the simulation. Okay. Okay, now, I want you to notice something. Did you notice that all of our answers were identically the same? What this tells us is we can't. See, what if we did, as you were picturing the description, is you responded in one of two ways. You either thought through what you thought was the right thing, or you responded based on your reaction to what the image that you could be. Here's an example. And so based on that thinking or those thoughts, that's how you determine your answers. So the fact that we all came up with different answers means that we can't use that method in a reliable way, can we? OK, what have I just shown you? I've just shown that you're trying to go with your feelings. You're trying to think your way through. You don't have a problem. So I just kind of opened that door a little bit. OK, so then we go to Proverbs 16.25. Proverbs 16.25, there is a way to seize rightful man, but his end is a way to the left. See, you can't rely on how you feel about things that you see or what you think about them. You could still make the wrong decision. OK. OK, let's look at Jeremiah 17 and 9. It says, the heart is more deceitful than all else. That's where we sit. Who can understand? So what does that say about our human heart? It says it is more deceitful than all else. There is nothing else in the entire universe that is more deceitful than your own heart. Now, what does it mean? It means to absolutely convince you that something good is bad, but there's something that is good. And very far, it's the most powerful thing in the universe that we have. OK, now we get to another situation. So now you're watching a movie. And there's these two young people in the movie. And it's a love situation. And they're crying. And, oh, the girl's thinking, oh, I don't know what to do. But I love this boy. I love that boy, too. And then an older figure comes in, dressed in an armor-clad gown. And they say words of wisdom to each other. What are those words of wisdom? Ok, I don't know what to do. Go follow your heart, if you want. That's the wisdom of the world. Follow your heart. But what God's word says is, if you follow your heart, you're the chosen one. So now we're just looking at a simulation, right? Because they all went to the movies where they saw this play out. So we're all speaking these things into our consciousness. So we're running into their simulation, showing them why that's the cause. Showing them why that's the whole thing. Is this helping now? Does it make any sense? And if you notice these switch gears, we're not climbing up at that period at all. We're talking about 15 feet. So it is different. Okay. Well, what about, um, what about this intention? No weapons in possession. 1 Corinthians 6.18-26. A little bit of morality. If you're going to sin, I think you can dance outside. Because outside is a body. But the immoral man sings against his own body. For he that knoweth that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit is sinning. For you have a God, but you are not sure of Him. For you have a problem with Christ, but you're a problem. Therefore, glorify God with your body. Amen. So some people say you can do whatever you want. They're helping you because it's your home. Is that right? Oh, that's stricter than the Senate problem. You can't do that. OK, I turn to Romans 13, 13 and 14. Usually, when I'm going through the passage of the kids, it will stop at that point. That's supposed to be the way it is. It's a little hard to get in this environment. I'm just going to read it for you. The Romans 13, 13, and 14 says, those who behave properly is a mistake. How do you charalise him in front of us? How do you sexualize him? How do you subjugate his sexuality? How do you strike him, tell us? But on the Lord Jesus Christ, you make no provision for the flesh to inquire into his lust. OK. So now you say, what is this word, charalising? Well, it means to attend without thinking first. There is a sensuality that needs to go into the physical senses. And in this, the word lust is strong, overwhelming desire. And the word flee, which is going to come up more and more often, is to run away from things that are disgusting to him. It literally means to run away on the street. So we don't hear those definitions because otherwise, I have no idea what they think those words mean. So God does not want you to get drunk according to this verse, but he also doesn't want you to go to the temple out of your demons. I don't care if you're having a dope. I don't care if you're a heroin addict. I don't go to the lottery anymore. In the same way, God says, I don't want you to be sexually promiscuous, but I also don't want you to be too egregious and too arrogant, as he intended. Because why? Because it opens the door to to strong, overwhelming desires. That's why we don't do it. So, physical touching is a bonding process that happens within a marriage. So, if that process starts outside of the marriage, And it's very powerful, and it's very destructive. So it's kind of like a trap that pulls you in. And it causes you to keep working. Now, here's the problem. What if the person that you're engaging with is even touching you? What if that person is not the right person for you as a parent? Well, one of two things is going to happen. First of all, you may end up into that person. Now, you have to live with it for the rest of your life. That's one of the things. Another day, you might need to wake up and say, gee, I realize this is not the right person to be married. I'm in a very comfortable relationship. Well, that's good. But the problem is that bonding process has already started. OK? So the bonding process is not finished. It's already started. So now you're going to go wherever you carry a partner. That's fine, but what may happen is you may feel like you have a broken heart. You may feel like you're not lovable. Even though you broke up, it may make you feel like you're not lovable. Perhaps you need a new guy. And that can affect your thinking and cause you to make other bad decisions. So this doesn't have to be complicated. There might be a situation where, what if you have a couple who, you know, they've never been sensual with anyone else. They've been sensual with each other. But God really didn't want them to get married and they didn't accept any marriage. So that's not a problem, right? At least you may think that's not a problem. And then no one raises their hand, and they're like, oh, I'll raise my hand. And that's not good. So then I say, no, because they're all hate cases. No, I don't like hate cases. So instead of them asking me, because they don't want to ask me, I just assume, I'm just an overthinker. So I'm just an aggressor. I say, well, actually, what people have found is that even in that unique situation where you might think there's a problem, Still, this is a problem. The problem is the problem of trust. I couldn't trust you to obey God in this area before we were married. How can I trust you to obey God in other areas after we're married? So it drives away the distrust in marriage. It would take a long time for me. OK. Well, that is who you're supposed to live on the path. So it's not like what we're doing is getting people to think things they can think about, but they just won't normally. That's right. The other way is that we'll never refer to them to use whether these things are issues. So I'm bringing it up. I'm writing it into the simulator. What about this? What about couples in this situation? What about this situation? What would happen in this situation? I'm taking them through these little simple simulations. Just like that, all the last women in the nation, they didn't wear that many shawls. And most of them haven't thought about these things. There might be a situation where, then I'll say it with a voice. So I was in these groups. And I was friends with one of the girls. And we got along. We agreed on just about everything. We taught the same thing. And one day, she appeared to us in the park. And we kind of got off by ourselves. And I don't know, we were kind of sitting there. All right, so Tom, David, and I ran it out. And there's a total of 80 speakers. And these were less than an hour each. And some came over here just to talk about it. I thought we were going to do a short presentation. So then I say, as she turns to me and says, do you want to do this one? Do you want to do it? OK, what are we going to do in this situation? So now we have a dialogue about it. Well, let's see, you say, we can just take our friend, just please take our friend down the street. But the problem is she calls in a stalker. Another thing we can do is we can say, oh, get behind these things and let's look for more fleet and more islands. We could do that. No, that doesn't sound good. Or we could say, you know, I like you, but I don't know how you're going to talk to us. Which one of those would be better? I'm not saying that's a mistake. The question is not, will this happen? The question is, when it happens, what will you do? Think about that now. Because most of them are thinking this will never happen. But it will. And if they're unprepared, who knows what will happen. So let's think about it now. Let's run that simulation now. OK, then I got another story. Now, there's my dissimilation in this class. Then I got another story. October of my freshman year at college, my roommate Joe and I had a talk. Now, Joe is trying to get a PhD for science. He wants to be a professor. He's been making history all over the summer. And they just spend a lot of time in the rivers. And they're brought on dates. And in the dates, there's lots of festivals. How exciting. So one day, Joe and this girl are at a party. Doing all this kissing. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Doing all this kissing. All of a sudden, the girl pulls back and looks at him. And she says, if you want to touch me anyway, that's OK with me. OK, he's a friend. Now, so far, Joe has made two mistakes. What's the first mistake Joe made? Oh, he shouldn't have been kissing on this girl, right? So first of all, he shouldn't have been kissing on this girl. But now that he has, now he's in another situation, which is even worse. But there's a girl sitting with his mouth open. What did he fail to do? He didn't flee, right? He shouldn't have been there. Now that he was there, he shouldn't have taken off running down the street. But instead, he just sat there with his mouth open. So then what happened next? So then the girl takes her hand and puts it on her chest. She throws her hand and puts it on her chest. They're just trying to help us. Don't sit there. Especially if you're a girl. Because again, some of this may not be used to you, but this is loose as fuck right now. These are things that happen. They're just kind of But we have a weird consequence. So we just want to change that. OK, now, fast forward to April. Joe and I are sitting in our dorm. We just got the diagnosis from Blake. And Joe and I are talking about what he needs to do. And Joe says, Mike, I'm married. And I say, have you been married? He says, no, I am married. We got married over Christmas. He said, well, we've been roommates. He got married on Christmas. And he came back to the dorm. He lived with me in the dorm, January, February, March, April. And he never told me you were marrying me. Well, I don't understand why he did that. See, I wanted to make sure that we were very different, maybe even more than that. So then, about a year and a half later, I go to this event where I'm starting student housing. And I'm knocking on the door, and everybody's looking at her. And Joe comes out, closes the door. We're talking on the porch. And I ask him, how's it going, Joe? No, I'm not. No, boy, I'm working really hard. I'm going to take extra classes. I work at food centers. And my wife, she doesn't have any friends here, because she's not going to college. She's trying to take care of the baby. She just wants me to get my degree and get out and get a job. So I'm going to the service center and get out of there as fast as possible. And that's nice. And I said, well, I thought you were going to put your PhD and be a professor. Yeah, well, I'm not going to be a professor. I will be a professor. So that's what happened to Joe. Crazyasshead726 says, and I discovered more bitterly that the woman in his heart was snares and gnats in his hands or cheeks. The one who was pleasing to God would escape from her, but the sinner would be matrified. So this verse describes what happened to Joe. How about the surveying yesterday where you discussed the role of kissing? Well, when this issue of kissing comes up, I don't think you're going to remember what happened in jail. So let me just grant you another simulation. I'm going to get them to think about the things I'm going to advise them to think about. OK, and I have a few other simulations. I don't know if you want to do more or if that's enough. What do you think? Do another one. Do another one? All right. This one only is intense. Because remember, you know, when you're dealing with people who, you know, they kind of get beat up emotionally all week. So we also want to have some fun. We want to have some basically fun, happy time with them as well, right? Let me try that one more time. OK. Now we're going to do another simulation. So I'm going to pretend that I'm another person. This person is a real person. I'm going to make seven statements about myself, and then I want a minute of votes to find out who you think I am. OK? I will save lots of votes, because I want to keep showing that your brain is not good enough. OK? Just be good, and you'll never make it. OK, are you ready? All right, here we go. I will establish my kingdom on the earth over every triune people, nation, and time. I have in the past and will in the future perform miracles near to the resurrection of the dead. I am Lord of the world, men and angels. I am clothed in the arms. I am a seeker of the man. The whole world belongs to me, and I am your Lord. So, do now. What? No, I don't want to. I don't want to continue with this. You can't do it. All right, great. Any other thoughts? Any other thoughts? So everyone agrees it's Jesus? Okay, so everyone who thinks it's Jesus, I want you to come up to the front of the line right here. Come on, let's go. Let's go. Line up right here. Alright, let's do this quickly. I don't know what you're waiting for, get up there! Get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up there, get up Now, I don't want you to stand up there that you believe that you're right so strongly that you will even put to death if you're wrong. Does anyone have any doubts at all? Okay. The only people who are so convinced they're right that they're willing to die right now today is their mom. Go sit down. OK, come on. Don't be shy. I know your mom's a true believer. OK? All right. All right. Let me take a look at you. Why should we hand over to everyone of these brave people? Because every single one of them is dead. I'm intrigued by every one of us saying this, but this is about us. Here's the thing. Sometimes, and I'm surprised that it doesn't happen here, usually one of the kids will shout, I'll save you. Somebody, I've heard from a little farther around, I'll take care of this. So here's the thing. If you were to call, I'll save you, what would I do to you? Let's say you said, I didn't like to save you. Everybody else says, you should save me. Well, am I going to just sit there and complain? This is the one time, and I'm going to give you this one lesson, or I'm going to have you use it, because later you're going to use it. And this is when I'm going to say, come on, you're only being serious. Come on, I only want serious things. OK, so you're going to feel a little bit late. But later on, you're going to feel it. Because you're the only one who can have sex. So you see, how did you feel as I walked past you looking in your eyes? How did you feel as I challenged you? I'm trying to bring that feeling that they're inexperienced in the real world. I simulate myself as saying, ah, ah, ah, ah. OK, so then we spend the rest of the interview going through all the verses that show why English didn't secure me. And the whole purpose of the lesson is to show that, again, Satan is smarter than you are. He's been doing this for thousands of years. You don't know God's Word. You don't have a chance. You don't have a chance. Look at what I did. Look at all these people I just beat. I've got way more heart than you do. Just imagine what a heart can do. That's just another simulation. Is that enough? Okay. Every lesson I do, I've got about 70 on the website. Every lesson I do is a simulation, at least now. But I think we'll end there. I think you've got the idea. So I think we'll end there.