A Call To Duty Far From Home

This is Rodney from the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we explored manhood within Jesus Christ. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Sit back, enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Music Kingdom Pursuits, where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into Kingdom Pursuits. Now live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore. How fun on Easter Eve that we get to talk about Africa Needs Jesus, because, right, it's kind of that time of year where we get a chance to really see what Jesus is doing, and so we got Kelly Gilbert with Transworld Radio here joining us actually out of Raleigh, but via their studios out there, right, Kelly? Hello, Kelly. Well, we had Kelly Gilbert, but this would be an interesting situation here at Kingdom Pursuits as our other guest hasn't arrived yet, and Kelly, apparently there's a little technical difficulty. We'll get her here in a minute, but it's just a good time for me to do my Robbie's riddle, if that would be possible, to go ahead and just play my music, Carmen, if you could.

Well, she's busy trying to get Kelly on, so we'll just go with the jokes, why not? So again, the other guest that's supposed to be here is called to duty, and so speaking of duty, where do medieval soldiers hang out when they're off duty? So where do medieval soldiers hang out when they're off duty?

And there's nobody to ask, but I'll just ask you if you thought about it. So they hang out at the nightclub, of course, that's where they hang out. So the next one is plagiarism squad reporting for duty, sir, have you heard that? Plagiarism squad calling for reporting for duty, sir, copy that?

Where do medieval soldiers hang out when they're off duty? Hey, Carmen, now I'm hearing my delay. That's okay, did you get her on? No?

All right. And then, last but certainly not least of my jokes, what do they call jury duty in Australia? So a little bit difficult this morning due to a new studio and new systems and new everything, but what do they call jury duty in Australia? They would call that diggerty duty.

So this isn't the same without my music, but nonetheless, I like the joke. What do they call jury duty in Australia? Digger, you know, if you've ever heard a diggery do, it's kind of fun. So actually have a riddle today, you can call in win at 866-348-788486634 truth. So what is the, actually the first three mentions of duty in the Bible? They actually have to do with what union that usually gets a great reception?

So the first three mentions of duty in the Bible have to do with what union that usually gets a great reception? And if you can answer that, Carmen, tell them what they'll win. They'll win one of our awesome mystery prizes that Robbie has yet to tell me, so I'm excited as much as you are. Well, we were hoping again to have call to duty tickets. That's a conference coming up May 6th through the 7th, but since we don't have those at this point, we're going to go with the regular Kingdom Pursuits Tri's Vault, which we have all kinds of books and prizes as a result of, you know, we just got back from the NRB and we've had such an amazing, amazing, as Stu puts it, you know, we get this plunder, like all these people that weren't going to ship these books back, but we interviewed so many amazing authors. So we're going to give you a book from the Kingdom Pursuits Tri's, Prize Vault. All you do is call in, which would be really good because then I'll have somebody to talk to.

866-348-7884, 86634-TRUTH. So actually, I think I've been doing this show, well, since 2009, and so somewhere in the neighborhood of 11, 12 years, I've never had this happen where it came showtime and I had no guest. But we can't, you know, the disc jockey, the first time I ever did the Christian Car Guys show, he said, you must really like to talk on the radio. And I was terrified. And I was like, no, not particularly. And he said, well, you can't have any dead air. So here we are without a guest on Kingdom Pursuits and trying to figure out how not to have dead air as the case may be.

And so, you know, you guys can enjoy watching Robbie squirm unless you want to call it 866-348-7884. So, you know, I could get into a little bit of what I enjoyed so much in the 118th Psalm that I didn't get to talk about in the Christian Car Guys show. So, you know, if you look down, and I don't have the verses in front of me now, but really, really cool. As you come down near the end of the Psalm, you know, you get to the 22nd verse, which says, the stone the builders rejected has become, you know, the head of the corner. You know, that clearly, you know, has given you an idea. This is Jesus quoted this Psalm several times. And so Jesus taught on it. And now these folks are getting a chance to see this.

So apparently, they're getting, hopefully, Transworld Radio on the phone. So we're going to be able to do that here in a minute. But then when you move down, you know, there's, and I think it's two verses right after that, where they start saying, save us and bring prosperity. Well, that actually in Hebrew is the Hosanna. And so, oh, good, I got a Riddler.

I got Bill in Gastonia. But so that Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Well, really, really neat that you get, here's this, the stone the builders rejected, then you get the Hosanna, which we know from Palm Sunday you get to hear, and then blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And then right after that, if you look in that Psalm, which is just an amazing Easter Psalm, then you see that it says, you know, bind the sacrifice to the cords of the altar. Well, you know, it's interesting that here these folks were quoting the 118 Psalm on Palm Sunday.

And I think that they were showing a picture of what Jesus would be doing. Well, great, I have two callers now. So I'm going to go to, Bill is in Gastonia. Bill, you're on Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning.

And I'm just grateful I have somebody to talk to you. Bill, are you with me? Hello, Bill. Yes. Oh, Bill, you're on Kingdom Pursuits.

I'm here. Yes, you are. So... Great.

You know, the first three mentions of duty in the Bible have to do with what union that usually gets a great reception? Marriage. Ah, I kind of rejected that one. Are you married, Bill? I was.

I had a great reception, not as good of a marriage as I hoped. I understand. I understand. But it's interesting, don't you think?

And I was looking at it this morning. Absolutely. The first three mentions of the word duty. And, you know, I don't know if you've ever studied the different ideas of what motivates people to do something. Absolutely. Like, fear is a horrible motivator, from what I understand. You can get people to do a lot of stuff with fear, but they don't necessarily work their best. And money will get people to do stuff for you, but it's not necessarily the best motivator to get people to do stuff. Interestingly, duty is a tremendous motivator.

Like, you know, if you know it's something you're supposed to do, you know, it helps you. Yeah. So, how long have you been listening, Bill? Ah, I've been on and off for years. I guess it's just in North Carolina, I've heard you. Thank you. Yeah, well, you live in Gastonia there, just north of Charlotte?

Absolutely, yes. And where do you go to church? Ah, a place called Friendship Baptist Church. Oh.

I kind of just started going there. Oh, cool. And so, are you excited about Easter tomorrow? I am. I am. We're doing a little sunrise, and they're gonna feed me afterwards.

I can't ask for anything more. That's really cool. I get to do a sunrise service in, at, in Ashboro.

I think it's called West Ashboro Baptist Church. I get to do that. Well, Bill, I gotta run. Thank you.

You're a winner. We're gonna send you out a book of your choice. I've got Jim when we come back, hopefully in Charlotte. He'll stay with us, and I'll get a chance to talk to him.

And somebody else is calling in, maybe even Transworld Radio, who knows? Or, or our other guest that didn't come in today, but we'll be right back. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom, and we are so blessed to be with you today. I'm so glad you tuned in here on Easter Eve, and when we left our hero, we had Jim and Charlotte's gonna be with us. We have Mabel's gonna be with us with her book, Far From Home, in just a minute.

So, Jim, you're on Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning. Hey, how are ya? I am wonderful.

So, did you have another answer for us on the first three mentions of duty in the Bible? No, actually, I just, I wanted to call in and support you guys. Been a long-time listener, and just want to thank the Lord for dying for us, and then, of course, the blessed resurrection. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and it's a special time of year for everybody.

Isn't it? Well, thank you, Jim. That's awesome.

And I appreciate you. Where do you live in Charlotte? Actually, outside of Charlotte in Monroe. Oh, cool.

Haven't been here that long, about seven, eight months. Going to Leapart Baptist Church, a nice little church. That's neat. You know, getting all ready for tomorrow. Yeah, me too.

It's gonna be a wild afternoon. So, wow. Well, thank you, Jim. God bless you. I appreciate you calling in and supporting us.

All right, keep up the good work. Long-time listener. Oh, we're so grateful. Thank you.

Long-time listener. Oh, we're so grateful. Thank you, Jim.

God bless. All right, we'll see you. All right, we got Mabel. Mabel, my apologies. You were supposed to be on at the top of the hour, but we do have Mabel now.

Her book is Far From Home. Welcome, Mabel. Thanks for having me, Robbie. I'm so excited to be on your show. Such an honor.

Yes, yes. We're so grateful. And where are you calling from today? From San Jose, California.

Really? That is far from home. But anyway, so I take it you know the way. But nonetheless, years ago, I lived in San Jose actually.

And I'm talking about a lot of years ago, like 1963, I lived in San Jose. So that's really, really neat. So I, there's quite a story behind this book, Far From Home. Can you share with our listeners a little bit how you were, how God called you to write it?

Sure. And so I'm an immigrant from India. And I moved to the US more than 13 years ago. And when I moved at that time, I was, you know, I'm giving away my age here, but I was almost 30 years old. And so I was somewhat settled, you know, in the sense that I was rooted in one place. I grew up in a Christian home, and I had a very sheltered upbringing, a happy family. I had a good job, I was involved in the church, in youth ministry. And so life was just happy, comfortable. I was serving God where He put me. But when I moved to another country, and I was happy, you know, I was so happy to be in the US and start a new life with my husband, because I moved right after I got married.

So I followed my husband here because of his work. And I was ready for an adventure. I was ready to start a new phase of life with my husband. But I didn't realize that this was a huge change, and that it was going to have an effect on me, both emotionally and even spiritually.

Because I was uprooted, literally, and in every way, you know. I didn't have my family with me anymore, the community of friends that I was so involved with, I didn't have them anymore, or a job. And so I really struggled to live with joy or a purpose on the surface. I seemed well-adjusted, and like I was enjoying myself. But deep down, I started to feel like I don't know why I'm here or where I belong. I was wrestling with questions of identity, missing home, loneliness, also feeling like I don't belong anywhere. And it was not until a few years later when I, you know, signed up to go to a Bible study and really started spending more time with God and saturating myself with scripture, that he made me realize I am in my very soul, an immigrant, a foreigner on earth.

So how can anything on this earth give me that stability and security? And he reminded me of verses from the Bible that pointed to our foreign identity, like Philippians 3.20 says that our citizenship is in heaven. In 1 Peter also, 1.17, he calls us aliens and strangers. And again, in chapter 2 of 1 Peter, he calls us strangers. And in 1 Peter, he calls us foreigners. Even the author of Hebrew in the faith chapter, chapter 11, when he quotes all these people of faith, he says that they admitted they were foreigners and strangers on earth. And that kind of seems to have fueled their faith. And so the lessons that I learned from just digging deeper into God's Word and learning more about my immigrant identity, my spiritual immigrant identity, I wanted to share that with others, because like me, if there's anyone out there who's probably struggling with change, uncertainty, or who's feeling lost, like they don't belong, or even someone who's going through a prolonged period of suffering, I wanted to encourage them with this message. And that's the reason why I wrote this.

Yeah, it's so beautiful. And you know, in the 119th Psalm, in the Gimel section, actually the second, might be the third verse of the Gimel section says, I'm a stranger on the earth, hide not your commandments from me. And I've often thought about that verse, it's like, if you're a stranger to any place, you need a map, right? Like, you know, if I'm a stranger, I need a map. And that's what kind of the psalmist was saying that like, man, Lord, I, you know, I don't know what I'm doing here. And I'm clearly out of place.

So, Lord, give me a map. And he gave us his Word, which is actually kind of Jesus, and Jesus is the Word. And so, you know, it's kind of neat I have you here on Easter Eve, because it sounds like you were a believer before you started going to that Bible study, and you had this revelation, but then all of a sudden, God took you deeper into the freedom that he had for you, right?

Yes, absolutely. I mean, I was, like I said, born and raised a believer. I accepted Jesus at a young age, and I was raised in the tradition of the church, which I feel is a privilege, because in India, only 5% of the population are Christians. But God in his sovereignty puts me in a family that, you know, we studied God's Word every day, and I was part of a loving church. And so I thought that I had it figured out until everything was, you know, shaken in a sense. My world was shaken and completely changed, and it challenged me to really think about the fact that if Jesus was enough for me, then why am I still not feeling okay? Wow.

Wow. And so how long ago was that that you had that experience where you went to that Bible study? What year was that?

Oh wow, that was 2000, I think 2011 or 12. That was after my son was born, and you know, it was not like before that I wasn't reading the Bible or studying the Bible. I was doing all those things, and I was struggling on my own to kind of, you know, read and stay in God's Word and abide in God's Word. I knew that God's Word had the answers, but I was also trying to find happiness in other things, and you know, I would volunteer at so many places, because in India I was used to being such a busy person, and so I was trying to find or get back that joy through, I don't know, worldly things, but I was still feeling dissatisfied, and I said, I can't do this on my own. I need community, and that's when I just googled Bible study. Did you really?

You just googled it. Yes, I said Bible study near me, because I didn't even have a church at that point. Yeah, I just landed in Southern California, and I didn't have a church at that point. We were still looking for churches. I said Bible study near me, and then this brought up, you know, Bible study fellowship, this organization that met Wednesday mornings in a nearby church, and I had one friend.

I called her, and I said, please tell me this is not a cult or something, and she said, because I know nothing about them, and she said, Mabel, you've got the right group. I've been going there for years, and they are strong on doctrine, and you will find an amazing community to study with, and that's what happened. They were studying the book of Matthew that year, and just learning about Jesus, his words, and his work, something started shifting in my mind. I think it was just that I started enjoying intimacy with God even more, and he changed my perspective, so slowly my questions began to change from what am I doing here to God? What do you want me to do here? Use me for your will and your purpose wherever I am, even if I don't know anyone, even if I have nobody here, I have you, and you tell me what to do, how I can be a blessing to others, and so that mindset, I don't think it happened, you know, immediately like a miracle. It took a while, but it did happen, and that just brought back the joy in my life. Oh, that's so awesome. Well, we got to go to a break, Mabel, but when we come back, we're going to have more from far from home, because we've just begun the journey far from home.

So we'll be right back with a lot more Kingdom Pursuits. Thank you for listening. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom and, you know, really cool, always how I get a chance to see how God comes to somebody who was called out to him in need and then comforted them, and then they are in an opportunity to comfort those with the comfort they were comforted with, which is what Mabel's story is. Her book is called Far From Home. Mabel, where's the best place to get your book? Oh, my book's available on Amazon.

Kristinbook.com has a great offer right now, and Barnes & Noble, yep, and all the major retail retailers site online. And what's your last name, Mabel? Ninan, N-I-N-A-N. So if they look for Far From Home by Mabel Ninan, N-I-N-A-N, right?

Yeah. So whether that's Amazon or, yeah, go ahead. Sorry, I just wanted to say that it releases in July, but it's up for pre-order now. You can pre-order it right now, and so it's not available in bookstores now, but it will be out for July 12th. How wonderful. So, yeah, and boy, it really helps out an author if you order it before the book's released, because that first week, you know, all the sales go in that the book's released of all the pre-sales, and so you really help her out by ordering the book and then reviewing it when you get it.

It's called Far From Home, and again, it's by Mabel Ninan, N-I-N-A-N. So, Mabel, you know, here you were. You obviously had felt this relief. How did God come after you to write a book?

Oh, that's a good question, Robbie. I've always been interested in writing ever since I was a little girl. You know, I've had journals. I used to write poems. When I was single, I used to write a blog called, you know, Sold Out, S-O-U-L-E-D. Oh, really? I'm always good for a pun or two, so I like that, Sold Out, S-O-U-L-E-D. That's really good. Thank you, and I have always expressed myself best through the written word, and so when I was going through this journey, there was always this prompting on my heart, you know, that you should write.

You should write down what you're thinking. Write down what you're going through and memorialize it, because these are all God's stories, and another reason or strong motivation was for me to write down how God has been faithful to me and to keep that for my son to later look back and read so that his faith can also grow, because he's growing up here in America, and he has no clue about my life in India or what I went through, you know, coming from India to the U.S. and how God stood by me and built me up or edified me, and so I wanted to leave something behind for him too, and so my idea was first to write letters to my son or something like that, and so I took this idea to a writer's conference, and over time it evolved into this book, and I'm just so surprised that God works in mysterious ways that, you know, my idea of a blog or letters to my son was somehow changed into something so powerful, and this idea could not have come on my own. It was other writers and coaches and mentors who came along the way and helped me really refine this idea, refine my craft, and the book is a product of all of those people's investment in me. Right, and then, just to further the adventure God has you on, you know, I met you at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, and so how did you end up there? So I wanted to, you know, get the word out about my book and connect with media professionals. I also do have a video podcast on my own, so I was interested to see what others are doing in the field. I wanted to connect with podcasters and others like me and learn from them, and so that's what brought me to Nashville. I didn't have, you know, the money to pay a PR person to publicize my book or promote my book, but I thought, you know, I can go to Nashville, and I have a good friend in Nashville who I stayed with, and I wanted to just meet people from the media and put my idea forward to them and see if they would partner with me in spreading this message and encouraging people all over the country and the world.

That's beautiful, and it's kind of cool. I'm honored that you would give me a chance to share, you know, your story with our listeners. And so, Mabel, you can hear, you know, the idea of the show is, how does God take your passion and use it to build the kingdom?

And here we understand that Mabel's passion is clearly writing, and like she said, the written word. So I'm curious, of all the chapters of your book, which one can you hardly wait for somebody to read? I really like the one chapter I wrote on homesickness, because, you know, many people who relocate or who leave their homes and move, they experience homesickness at some point, and for immigrants and refugees, it can be more intense, because somehow in their mind, home is really, really far away. And so I talk about my homesickness, especially for me, it was different, because even within the US, I moved around a lot. For instance, in the 13 years that I've lived here more, this is my 10th home, and seventh city. And so just moving from one place to another made me homesick for a permanent home.

And sometimes when I go and visit India, I feel homesick for the US. And so I feel like there's this constant longing for home that inhabits me. And it's beautiful, because in a way, it's a shadow of the longing that I have for my permanent home with Jesus.

And so I cannot wait for my readers to read that chapter. And especially for those of us who love God and who enjoy sweet fellowship with Him here. And that is, in a sense, a taste of heaven on earth, whenever we enjoy time with God, whenever we encourage other believers, or go to church, or serve God's Peter, we basically get a glimpse of heaven here on earth. And that makes us long for our heavenly home, and that homesickness, which I now fully embrace. You know, it's a neat thing. I once did a little bit of a study in the US, and I did a little bit of a study and discovered there are arguably more songs written about home than there are about love.

And you don't have to do much of an inventory, you know, there's no place like home for the holidays or, you know, Homeward Bound, I wish I was. You know, the list goes on and on and on and on and on, actually, if you begin to study it. And I looked at it for a while, and it's fascinating to me, and you may be aware of this, that the Bible itself, the Torah, starts with a bet, which means house. And that originally when God made the world, what the Jews teach about the reason it starts with a bet is he wanted a place that he could call home where it could hang out with those people that he made and have fellowship and have a community like you're talking about in your church.

And that's what God wants. And so that was the whole idea to begin with, and so no wonder that's such a deep, deep place in our hearts, this longing for home, which is so tied to our identity, because we got kicked out, you know, two chapters later, just saying. Anyway, so we will be right back with Mabel. She's far from home, and it looks like we got the other guest who's driving up that's going to be here with the call of duty.

We can at least get in a short bit with him, so stay tuned. We got a little bit more Kingdom Pursuits coming up Easter Eve. – Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom.

And we've been so blessed to have with us Mabel Ninen with her book, you know, Far From Home. And now we have Michael Hansley with us. He's with a conference coming up called Call to Duty. It's going to be in Clements at the Village Inn Event Center, May 6th, coming up.

And so, wow, Michael, tell us what's going on. – Just looking to put on a men's conference and encourage discipleship and just bring men together for fellowship, and ultimately to glorify God. – And so, you know, what kind of guys are you hoping that will hear this and show up, I guess?

Or can you give us a picture of, like, if you're sitting on the couch and you're thinking, man, I need what… – I mean, that's… I wouldn't even know how to answer that question. I mean, that's the thing. If you're a man and you love the Lord, I think you should show up. I think there's not any of us that don't need deeper growth and to just love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, strength. – And so, who do you have lined up that's coming to speak? – So, the keynote speaker is actually Mike Devine. He's out of Covenant Church down in Denver, North Carolina. I don't know if you've heard of him before or not. Just loves the Lord, has a huge heart for men.

I think he's got his own podcast, I'm pretty sure. – And so, what is he going to be speaking on, do you know? – So, the conference theme is Light Up Your World. It's based on Matthew 5, 14 through 16. So, that is ultimately… It's all about discipleship, equipping men in the areas that we need to.

Because let's say, you and I, we both love the Lord, right? – Yes. – Okay. We're on different paths, right? – Yes.

– So, what I need for growth may not be what you need for growth. So, what we're really focusing on is Mike Devine will be speaking, yes, but then we're going to break out into classes that are taught by just laymen that are walking in victory in just different areas of their life. So, that way we can sit there… I mean, for the man that's struggling with porn, we got a guy that's walking in victory over it. For the guy that's having marital issues, yeah, we have men that are teaching on marriage.

For the guy that just doesn't know what it looks like to love the Lord, yeah, we have classes on that too. So… – And so, you've got the main speakers, and you have several of those? – So, we have one main speaker, and then we have a couple… Jeff Zinger will be one of the speakers as well there.

He'll be doing a small spot. And then we have other… They're teachers. I would call them teachers because we're going to break into smaller classroom-sized settings and actually teach.

So, that way we're not all 500 men in a room or 300 men in a room, but maybe down to 10, 15 men in a class, so we can have more intimate discussions. – Yeah, and that's a beautiful event center right there, you know, right off the exit in Clemens, North Carolina, if you're in this area. Or even if likes people are in Raleigh, because we're broadcasting clear into Virginia and actually into Pennsylvania as well. – Yeah, very easy to get to. We've tried to make it simple.

It's easy to get to, easy to register. You can go to CallToDuty.World, and you can just click on the button register right there. – CallToDuty.World.

– You got it. – Not the CallToDuty game, but… – That's CallOfDuty. This is CallToDuty.

– Okay, well, that's a good significant thing to know. So, it's CallToDuty. – CallToDuty. – Not CallOfDuty. – Correct. – And there you go.

So, you want to make sure you get that. And, well, we lost Mabel. But I guess that's no problem. Been that kind of a morning where all sorts of surprises are coming around to every bend. So, tell us about your own journey. How did you, you know, come to have a heart for men's ministry? – Well, that's a long story.

I don't know if you have time for all that. But, I mean, ultimately I failed. I failed in life, just in so many different aspects. I was living culturally, and I was what you would call a cultural Christian. And I thought I was a Christian. I thought I was a follower of Christ. But then everything was just falling apart. And if we're being honest, I didn't love God. I didn't.

Like, I knew who He was. I didn't have any reverence. He wasn't an authority over my life. And eventually things fall apart. So, yeah, a failure as a father, a failure as a husband, failure as a business owner, just… And when I finally surrendered, you know, life started changing. It's not easier. Definitely not easier.

But it's better. – And so you have a heart for discipleship. So, did somebody come alongside you and help disciple you? – Oh, I have… So, my dad died when I was 16.

And so I lived under the lie that I was a self-made man for a long, long time. But, yes, I've been blessed, especially in the last four years, to have two wonderful old men just come alongside me. And they have fathered me like I would have never dreamed of. – And so what are the… In what ways have they fathered you? – Oh, lots of correction. Lots of correction and discipline. Much needed, I will tell you that. Honestly, just having an intimate relationship with another man, just sitting there, confronting me with the hard truths, you know, questioning, you know, watching my walk and saying, are you sure this is what you believe? You know, because the way you stay and the way you walk don't always line up.

– Yeah, that's the distance between the two. Again, the conference is called To Duty. It's at the Village Inn event center. It's coming up May 6th through the 7th here in Clemens, North Carolina. And you can go to calltoduty.world, right?

Calltoduty.world and register. And we thank you so much for being with us, Michael. We thank you from Mabel, who's here with us most of the show, and for you guys who called in and helped me when I didn't have any guests. So it's been an interesting show, and boy, you know, what a wonderful Easter Eve. I pray that you guys just have an amazing resurrection day tomorrow. Right now, stay tuned for encouraging prayer, followed up masculine journey starts here now at 12 o'clock.