John reads some mail from a Neighbor who regrets learning how comedy is made... Sometimes accepting the truth requires a full grief cycle.

Next, John shares a quote from a preacher asking for help engaging the young families who have started coming to his church. (Specifically, the preacher wants "doctrinally sound" videos and other resources to share with the newcomers.) Why is John being so hyper-critical this week?! John's point: church leaders already should have doctrinally sound resources in their possession--whether they have new families visiting or not. Amanda's point: many church leaders have been told it's right and proper to defer to "the experts" when it comes to dispensing resources.

We live in a culture that values outsourced knowledge more than homemade tools. For whatever reason, we think it lends a certain credibility when we can share a well-produced video made by SOMEONE ELSE, rather than creating something of our own.

Pause. John needs to go get a drink before he chokes to death.

Okay, now he wants the Peaches to tell the story of the tomato in the toaster. But first, we need to pause again to retrieve the pizza.

When we finally resume recording again, it has been a couple of hours. (We can't keep secrets from you, Pkarlgh!) But we eventually get around to discussing the tomato in the toaster. Collin, who's seven-years-old, is starting to show signs of maturity, and we are optimistic he's going to be a free-thinking adult some day! This reminds us of great advice from Pastor Doug Wilson: give your kids FEWER rules. Make the principles broad, and trust the children to be smart enough to reason for themselves.

And that's pretty much a wrap, Pkarlgh! Make sure you visit johnbranyan.com for information about Vacay with Comics. This is the LAST WEEK to register. If you can't make it for the full weekend retreat, just come for the showcase on Saturday, August 21st. Link is here: https://johnbranyan.com/vacay-showcase/