Bible Guys Classics: Proverbs 18

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, we want to welcome you, formally and delightfully formally welcome. Yes, well officially, okay, officially that's what I meant. Yes, I didn't mean necessarily. If we couldn't through the screen or through your radio speak, shake your hand, looking in the eye and say welcome. That be fun. It is our privilege to have you here. Yes, that's some Star Trek kind of thinking right there, there you go. That's right. I would love for the world to be like Star Trek. Okay, in terms of travel and and you know, beaming. Well speaking of your favorite movies. Oh, yeah, for sure. So today is Trivia Tuesday. Oh that's what I've heard, or trivia whatever day it is you're listening. To, like sixty seconds ago. Yeah, but so we know that Chris knows this movie quote. Yeah, well some of them. But let's test this overall movie trivia knowledge. Oh you're you're reading what Desiree wrote. Yes, okay, so can you answer these trivia questions correctly? Before the segment started, By the way, when we were. I was reading through them. Yeah you were. You were saying, it's hard, these are hard. I wouldn't know these, Okay, I wouldn't know any of these. Okay, and I oh really yeah, and there's five. Yeah, but I don't know most of the movie quotes. You do either, so that doesn't matter. But okay, ready, okay. What is the name of the boat in Jaws? It's easy orca. Oh wow. Everybody knows that. Everybody. Everybody knows it except Jeff. Jeff doesn't know this. Okay, you didn't know that. I did not. Yeah, you know. It's if you ever met somebody who like knows so much about football, you're like, dude, just study a bibble verse. Yeah yeah, yeah, right, that's me. Or guys that know movies. Yeah yeah, right, Okay, here we go, which Disney movie was the first full length animated feature produced in the United States. Okay, this is not hard. Come on snow White in the Seven Doors. Yeah, that he risked, really, yeah, he risked everything that was like nineteen thirty nine or thirty eight or something like that, and he risked everything on Snow White and the Seven Doors. So he was about to be bankrupt and had snow White not done well, he would have claimed bankruptcy. Wow, yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, okay, what is the very first animal scene in Disney's the Lion King at the beginning? Yes, yeah, whatever it is. Okay, first of all, I'm not going to get this, but I'll take a guess. Let me process it out loud. So I see gazelle's there's like the meer cats who come up. There's a rhino, there's giraffe, there's elephants that eventually come over. I know that the elephants come later. There's ants. I could see the. Whole thing before you before you guess. Yes, you've already said what first animal was. Oh, it's in that group. Yeah, okay, so what is first? What is first? There's zebra, but that's not you had already said zebra. And I know I know. Okay, okay, yeah, you're right. Okay, so it's hard. I'm gonna say the little meercats that pop up. Nope, but you want to keep going it's rhino rhino, Yeah, yeah, according to Dez, I don't know. I don't know. It's just what's on the shape in front of me. That's right, because it starts off with that low boom. Yeah, and then he and then he starts marching in. That's right. In what year was the film Forrest Gump released? Oh? Gee, is I'm usually really good at this. I know it's mid nineties. I'm I'm gonna say. It was ninety four. Okay, so two and two this is it right here? This is the majority. Okay, oh, this is the majority. Yeah. So either yeah, no pressure, no pressure. Which Indiana Jones film sparked the controversy that led to the creation of the PG thirteen rating. First of all, wow, yeah, I did not know that piece of trivia one of the Indiana Jones led to controversy that invented. The PG The creation of the PG thirteen rating, well, obviously, I'm just gonna. Have to talk this out. It's either a the ending of part one, because it was the only controversial part where his face melted off, which I wouldn't think would be that number two. Oh, there's a lot of number two. Temple of Doom. There's a lot there with reaching into the heart and pulling out the heart and the voodoo the e Well, that's. That's that's monkey brains. Monkey brains is comical but yet creepy. Then number three was not controversial at all. The Holy Grail z it's more Nazi or Nazisi. But but there was nothing creepy at all about it. So I'm gonna have to see the Temple of Doom. It was the Temple of Doom. There you go. You worked it out. I worked it out like that. You worked for that win. Hey, I I did not realize that, did you. I didn't know. I told you. I didn't know any of these, so so that was a mystery to me too. Hey, but but but Indiana Jones are some of your favorite. Oh yeah, I like the Indian Jones movies. Huh. It's not like I study them. I just well, but you hear something and you remember it, will you? I'll remember that forever now, you think? So? Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, next time I watched Ago, did you know? Because that's that's me. I have my head's full stupid little trivia things. It's like Oscar on the on the Office. He's he's the he's the guy that's known to be Actually yeah, actually, actually, okay, that's fun. But I missed almost half of them. No, No, you got three, right, you got sixty percent correct. All right, almost half better than half, better than half, better than half. I missed almost half. You're a winner. That's a winner. You would have won an election with sixty percent of the vote. There it is, Yeah, you said it. Yeah, you would have won. Okay, So I have no no transition Oh yeah, transition transitions. I'm trying. I can't find one. Hey, speaking of speaking of winning, winning of facts that we don't normally think about, Solomon Pepper's the Book of Proverbs with these facts that we should always try to remember. Yeah, that one works. Or I was going to say, speaking of winning, Solomon tells us how to win it. Life of Proverbs? Is that a good one? That's okay? Good? Good, good, that's better. So if you don't know when you're new to the show, we're trying to figure out how to do the cheesiest transitions into. Yeah, and by the way, this is a new thing. Yeah, this is only a couple yes, weksl okay. So we are in Proverbs eighteen. Now we're just going chapter after chapter and we're looking at these little slogans. They're all one liners of whise sayings that are usually true in life. And so Solomon says in Chapter eighteen, verse one. Unfriendly people care only about themselves. They lash out at common sense. Fools have no interest in understanding. They only want to air their own opinions. Doing wrong leads to disgrace and scandalous behavior brings contempt. Wise words are like deep waters. Wisdom flows from the wys like a bubbling brook. It is not right to quit the guilty or deny justice to the innocent. Fool's words get them into constant corals. They're asking for a beating. The mouths of fools are their ruin. They trap themselves with their lips. Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one's heart. A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things. The name of the Lord is a strong fortress. The godly run to him and are safe. The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense, and they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. Haughtiness goes before destruction. Humility precedes honor. Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish. The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit? Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge. Giving a gift can open doors. It gives access to important people. The first to speaking court sounds right until the cross examination begins. Wow. That's a good one, isn't it. Yeah. Flipping a coin can end arguments. That settles disputes between powerful opponents. An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars. Wise words satisfy like a good meal. The right words bring satisfaction. The tongue can bring life or death. Those who love to walk talk will reap the consequences. The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives honor from the lord. The poor plead for mercy, The rich answer with insults. There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend stick closer than a brother. That's good, and well, there you go. The word friends is in quotes. There are quote unquote friends who destroy each other. Right, but a real friend sticks close to the brother. Did we do a thing at heritage? I'm struggling with my throat today. Did we do a thing at heritage where we couldn't tell me? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. People who act like your friends, but aren't. Yes, frenemies yea. So yeah, there's a lot there isn't there. Yeah, you know, So this would be a good time to reference this idea whenever you do. Whenever I do a basic study of any kind, like a devotional thing, I like to use the soap acronym. Right, soap sap s means you start with the scriptures. So the scripture in front of us here today is Proverbs eighteen, right, and we read it and so we just read that and we read it all the way through. It's always good to to read out loud. Sometimes you hear it in a different way. Whatever. So if you're with a friend like I, let's say you wanted to do this show, but you're hanging out at Starbucks, a good way and around the world. This is what we teach people, is you read it out loud. Have your friend read it out loud, so both of you are hearing it out loud. There's something special about that. I don't know why, but you just remember more. So start with scripture, and then the O is observations. And what you're observing is what does it say about God? What does it say about people? And what really just jumps off the page and captures my attention? Right, So there's only one phrase in here that talks about God, and that's the name of the Lord is a strong fortress? Right is that the only one? I think so? Yeah? I think so. Yeah. So these are life principles that have to do with others and yourself. Yeah, yep. And so then the other side is what does it say about people? Well, man, the whole chapters about people? Right then, like you and I like to do, will often go so what jumps off the page at us? And the front of me? Thing jumped off the page at you or whatever? Right, there's several of those things. Then, So s is you start with the scriptures? Oh, you start with observations? What's to say about God? What does it say about people? And what really jumps off the page or captures my attention? And then the a is application? So then is there a command to obey? Is there a sin or a behavior to avoid? Is there something I should begin doing? Is there a promise to claim right those kinds of things? What does this mean to my life? Really? How do I apply this to my life? Who should I tell this to? Those things? And then p you just wrap it up with prayer. Right, God, Hey, this is what I learned today, This is what I feel like you taught me. And you go through what you learned about God, what you learned about humanity in general, the things that really captured your tension, and then God, I see this, you know, this thing to avoid, I should be careful about letting my words get me into chorls, or I should be careful about, you know, talking too much when I really don't know what I'm talking about. Whatever, you know, because I see these things, and so then you tell God what you saw, and then you're tell him as a result of that, this is what I want to do over the next day or two or three. Help me with those things, you know, as you go on and the rest of your prayers. So soap is a really great acronym, and really that process is really how you and I filter through all these chapters. Anyways, right, yes, yeah. Really, yeah, you know, so observing and then what jumps off of the page at you? Yeah, thirteen, spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish. So here's a question, pready know what you canna say? No, But that's good. That's good. No, I was just gonna say, do you have a tendency to do that? Do you think yourself or do you think that's something that other people do to you? Yeah? No, I do that. I very quickly get to the end of what you're saying sometimes and I wind up saying dumb things. And do you think that that particularly hurt my wife with that a lot? Yeah? And do you think that that's just like a part of a personality wiring. I mean, obviously it's something that could. Be learned, right, No, it's just because I'm a fool. The Bible says, and we've already talked about it, the fools. You know, you can't fix a fool. So no, no, it is. It's one of those things. The reason why Solomon has to tell us all these things is a wise person reads those things and goes, ooh, I should work on that, and a foolish person goes, that's dumb, right, right, right. So I think a wise person would say, yeah, I think I struggle with that. I'd jump into an answer too quickly sometimes rather than hearing the whole story. And that's part of the teachability thing that we talked about was it yesterday? Yep, Yeah, that's that's really good. That's really good. Well, it says in two verses later, intelligent people are always ready to learn. That's right, and their ears are open for knowledge. So the idea that, like, you know, because the reason why I asked that question, by the way, is because there are certain personalities that want to get to the end, you know, like, don't give me that. In fact, I had lunch with somebody yesterday and he said, he said, yeah, he goes, I'm not a detailed person. He said, don't give me the labor, just give me the baby. Well, I think for men in general, we tend to be fixers. We want to fix a thing. That's a really generalized statement, but it seems to be true. And so I am that. So if not everybody, lots of people, I go into meetings you've been in meetings before, where I go in and I just I'll ask a probing question and sit back, just let somebody talk for twenty minutes, trying to figure out what are they thinking, why are they doing, what they're doing whatever, Let them talk it out, and then I'll jump in sometimes. So you see me do that too, but particularly if somebody comes in. And I'm not super fond of problems, but I like solving problems. Probably the first really really good job I ever had in my life, I was working for Marriott Hotels and I've been there about six weeks and my boss comes in, a boss. He wasn't even my boss, but a boss. We had twelve hundred and eighty rooms. We had nine hundred employees at our one hotel. I'm Michigan event in Chicago, nine hundred, so it was a big hotel. And so this boss comes. He says, hey, Jeff, keep coming in to my office. I said sure. He says, you like the talk and I said yeah. He said you like interfacing with people? I said sure. So I noticed the job that you have is behind the scenes all the time. He said, are you good at problem solving? I said yeah, I think so. He said, can I run you through a battery of test? I think I have a cool job for you. I said sure. So they ran me through this battery of tests and it's all problem solving, tests, quick problem solving, and how do you delight people. I just didn't realize that was the thing, And so then they put me in charge of I answered every single complaint from all twelve hundred and eighty rooms every night. That was my job. I had thirty people that would just run and go solve all the problems from every single complaint in the hotel. That's what I did, and I loved it. What Yeah, you know that I loved that job. I knew everything about you working at Marriott Hotels except for that that was your job description. Yeah yeah, Like wow, So complaints all night? Now did you talk with the people who complained or did yeah? Yeah, the phone? So this was really cool. This was back in you know, nineteen ninety color Ide was like brand new. So I had a phone on my desk and I knew every single room, and then I would print off a manifest of everybody that was in the in every hotel room. And then I went to booking and I discovered what the codes were, and then I would figure out how many nights a year did you stay in one of our hotels and were you traveling on a business expense or your own personal expenses? And so then I would make highlights, make notes so I knew who I was talking to. So then you call from room twelve eighty five and i'd be able to see twelve eighty five. Oh, he's a high roller. He's traveling with a business account and he stays sixty five nights a year. Well, buddy, i'd back off, you know, bend over backwards for your your pillows not fluffy, and you want to tell me off, I'm going to send you to out for stake in a blue man group and a limousine. Right. Oh, I could spend fifteen hundred dollars to keep you happy per person per room. Yeah, for the high rollers. Yeah, if you've been in our hotel for fifteen nights a year, I could do almost anything to make you happy. Wow. So it was fantastic, right, So because I was highly empowered, I delighted in solving people's problems. It was famb because it turned into a game. So instead of me getting mad and shut up, you're an idiot, that was a fluffy pillow. Instead I was like, oh, certain, I'm so sorry. What can I do to make you happy? You know what I'm going to send up, you know, six pillows. You'll be able to test them all out. But in the meantime you should not have to suffer through that kind of stuff. We delight in providing better service. Why don't I just give you and your wife a fifty dollars gift card to our steakhouse downtown or downstairs? Yeah? What right? So I'd send in ten extra pillows, let them pick them all out, because you know, different pillows have different fluffiness to them. We had all these different styles or blankets or whatever. I'd send them four extra boxes of chocolates, the whole nine yards. And you know, if you stayed there forty nights, fifty nights a year. So for me, that that problem solving thing was a delight in that, and that became a big part of my life, just trying to sell people. But because of that, my wife comes sometimes she wants to talk to me about how she feels about a thing. Yeah, And I go, yeah, yeah, I hear you. Here's what you should do. Yeah, And she's like, wasn't looking for an answer, didn't need you to fix it. I want you to feel it with me for a minute. Yeah. And that's where that's where I would say that spouting off thing comes from, because I'm quick to try to solve a problem and she's not want me to solve the problem. She's want me to feel the problem for a minute. Yeah, just saw a clip yesterday with Family, Modern Family and Phil. You know, he's my favorite character almost on any TV show ever created ever. Okay, he he's married, you know, uh, with the with the family there family, but anyway, so he's but he's he's sitting there with like a green mask on, with a bunch of women at some salon or something, right, because he has these like tendencies and he goes, what, ladies, what are you trying to tell me? He goes, you're trying to tell me the next time. My wife says, oh, I got stuck in traffic. He goes, I shouldn't say, why don't you try leaving half an hour earlier? No, so what you're saying is I should just say, oh that that's too bad, honey. They're like, yes, it's hilarious. Yeah yeah, And he's and and then then I get more ridiculous, he goes, And then she's trying to tell me the next time that she says, uh that that uh, the water this waiter that I had was horrible. I shouldn't look at her and say, well, hey, why don't you try and order something on the menu for once. I shouldn't say that. Yes, So usually when I'm spouting off before listening to the facts, it's it's with my wife. Yeah right, it seems like so twenty two says the man who finds a wife finds a treasure. There it is, Isn't that true? Yeah? It is true, gracious yea. I tell Bonnie all the time, she's the best thing in my life, best person in my life, my favorite human on the planet, right, because it's just she is. She's a treasure in my life. That's awesome, and it's a favor from the Lord. That favor is Jeff, you're going to screw up your life if you don't have a good woman in your life. Here you go. There, It is right, that's what it was. Yep. And and Liz, you're my treasure too, baby. Oh yeah, but Liz, I just want to point out I said it about Bonnie first, so Chris is just copying that. I just had to I just had to match it. That's what I did, Okay, first time with twelve. Haughtiness goes before destruction. Humility precedes honor. Haughtiness is such a gross word. Yeah, it's it's actually hard to understand. Yeah, oh, it's pride, right, right, but it's like a worse word than pride. It feels worse. Yeah yeah. But but humility procedes honor. I love that. That's a that's a rule for life, isn't it. Yeah? You know you it's it's like George Costanza and Seinfeld. He's the one that wanted to give himself a nickname. Do you remember that? And they called him Coco. The monkey goes before destruction, humility proceeds. My point is is that is that you others bestow upon you honor, right, right, And so so you can't bestow honor upon yourself. You can try the people who are self important and try to demand respect, right. Uh, but that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about, Uh you know, if you if you live your life in humility, and by the way, it's even you get more honor the higher higher up you go. Right. So the higher the more influence you you have, the greater role you have. If you stay humble, the more honor will be stowed upon you. Right right. Yeah, So you can't demand honor, but you can be an honorable person, yeah right, And eventually people will notice that you can't demand respect, but you can decide to do respectable things. And so it's really a behavior thing that captures people's attention, and then people bestow honor and respect on you. It's something that's earned, it's not something that you can demand. And yeah, so in this one, humility precedes honor. When you choose to be humble, people go, that's the kind of person I want to be. Wrong, yeah, and then and then I think the last thing that I that really jumped out of me is it says the mouths of fools are their ruin. They trap themselves with their lips. And there's something to be said about all the other places in the scripture that talk about, you know, to be slow to speak and be quick to listen in the Book of James, because it talks about the tongue is so powerful, and it could say the forest on fire and everything else, but but actually it says here that there are mouths that actually lead fools to ruin, and you trap yourself with your lips because have you ever met somebody who talks out of both sides of their mouth? Oh? Yeah, And they'll say something to somebody and then they'll turn right around to the other party and say what that person wants to hear, right, and they and they'll, they'll they'll trap themselves without even realizing it because in their own little bubble, you know, they're they're they're fine. But what they don't realize is that, you know, the world connects, and when the when the dots connect, you know, they've they've basically sealed their fate with their lips. Well, that's Solomon says in the verse rate before it. Fools, get fool's words, get them into constant carols. They're asking for a beating. Yeah, and sometimes that's the only solution for a fool. Several times in the Book of Proverbs it says the only answer for a fool is a beating. Right. So yeah, And by the way, I'm not suggesting that, I'm just saying life is gonna be way harder for a foolish person who's not careful with their words. And by the way, you know, you know a lesson I learned at my second church. So I've only been at like four or five churches in my whole career, but my second church that I worked at, I learned this lesson. Actually, I learned the lesson that whatever you share with anybody, regardless of whether it's in complete confidence or anything else, it will always, always, always, always make itself back to either that person or somebody close to that person. And so it's like, no matter what you say about anybody at any time, it is always going to come back around. Yeah, yeah, right, So there's almost nothing unless unless it's more like a leadership employee kind of discussion, right, Like like if you and I were talking about an employee in confidence but for the right reasons, right, not for the bad reasons, but for right no reasons, and we had to do like an assessment or something like that, and we can share on a leadership level type confidence. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about those kinds of leadership. It's a whisper. The gossiping, Yes, yeah, that'll always come back. It is the sharing of opinions about somebody, how you feel about somebody, your opinion about somebody. It doesn't matter whether it's a boss or whether it's an employee. If you think it's in confidence, you just know if you're on a staff, it will always go back. You've got to be careful what the kind of friends you have. If your friends like hearing gossip, they also like sharing gossip. Right, that's true, Right, that's true. Yep. Hey, well that probably wraps up our time and so hopefully we will see you next time on the Bible. Guys,