Father Interviews His Son Part 1

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This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Man Talk, brought to you by TAWCMN, talking and walking Christian men's ministry, where they're devoted to breaking down the walls of race and denomination and challenging men to take their God-assigned role. Here's our hosts Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. Well, good afternoon. Welcome back to Man Talk Radio.

This is Roy Jones, the white guy, and Will Hardy is still on vacation enjoying some time off. And folks, we just want to welcome you to the show. We've got an amazing afternoon planned for you.

This is going to be a very special show, one that I've had in the back of my mind for doing for quite some time. And this is where I get an opportunity to interview my youngest son, Joshua. So welcome to the show, Joshua. Thank you guys for having me. Well, Joshua is our youngest son and also our youngest child.

We've just been very blessed with all of our children, as I'm sure many of you have. And what I'd like to do is just kind of let Josh tell you a little bit about himself. He is, before we get started, I'll just lay a little bit of groundwork for him. He is an army reservist. He's a college student. He's an engineer program at school.

And when he comes out of school, his intentions are to go active for a few years and just give it a little bit different flavor of what the military is like at that level. So with that, Josh, welcome to the show. Why don't you just tell the folks a little bit about yourself? Well, you kind of hit the nail on the head. Yeah, so those are basically, I guess, the overviewing points of my life.

But yeah, so I'm in college for electrical engineering. And I think kind of a passion that I have is to mentor young men, and I guess just the people around me. Obviously, it's easier as a man to mentor men.

There's a certain gap that gets bridged between the genders as far as how far you can take certain recommendations and conversations. But I certainly have a passion for men around me. I'd like to be able to disciple everybody around me in some form or fashion. So that leads into my first question with you, which obviously, being on the show, people generally assume that they're Christ followers that we're talking with. But how are you a Christian?

And more importantly, are you a follower of Christ will be the question first. So yeah, yeah, I guess, you know, both. And yeah, I consider myself like a disciple of Christ, I guess you would say.

Well, that's even better. It means you're always in learning mode, right? Trying to be.

That's certainly the goal. Folks, he's much better at learning today than he was under my watch, that's for sure. So he's learning a whole lot greater as an adult follower of Christ, which is great. And Josh, let me ask you a question.

And I'll kind of give you a little bit overview of some of the things we were going to talk about. But how important as a young man was it for you to grow up in a Christ-centered home? I think growing up, you know, I didn't necessarily, I didn't see the value in it quite as much until you branch out and see how other people are raised. Um, so when you're, when your life experience is so little and you don't see outside perspectives growing up, how you grow up, that's just how it is.

So that is the truth in that moment. Um, and then when you branch out and then you see how other, other people your age behave or how, you know, children of other parents behave, um, and then, and then you start to, uh, as you mature, you can kind of value the lessons that have been taught and you can kind of retroactively see, okay, these are my habits and this is how I behave. And then you can look back and say, well, the foundation of my raising, um, contributed to that.

So it's like growing up, you know, you don't value it. And then it's not until you see the impact it has on your life at a moment that you can appreciate it, that it really impacts you. So growing up, I would say, to be honest, it, it didn't matter to me growing up because that's how life was.

Um, that's just, that's the ins and outs. And then I I'm here where I'm at and I can say, wow, um, it's absolutely instrumental in who I am as a man, um, and how it has affected my ministry. Um, and then I appreciate it because, you know, I'm in a position where, uh, you know, I mentor men, um, and even, you know, women from time to time and they, you know, give insight to how they were raised, you know, the things they struggled with.

Um, and you know, I'm like, well, I didn't have that issue because of how I was raised or things that happened in my household. So, right. So that was my next question. How has this impacted you as a young man in college? And you've kind of done a nice job leading into that. Uh, and let's talk about their college life. Um, you know, obviously you came through high school and what age were you, Joshua, when you got saved? Um, I want to say, you know, probably sometime like an early elementary school, you know, obviously being raised in the church, um, that was, you know, the expectation.

Um, so, you know, you know, I got baptized and accepted to Christ in my heart at a very young age. Um, and then, you know, I didn't have an issue believing, you know, the stories and the history that the Bible tells. Um, and then, you know, as you mature as a more, as a person, you know, um, you know, talks about, you know, when I became a man, I put childish things away, you know, as a child, but the things you value are like toys and whatnot or play time. But you know, as I matured, um, you know, I started to value the lessons I was being taught and started to value my faith, I guess would, would, would be an answer to that kind of. Well, if we can roll back for just a moment to your junior high and high school years, um, the foundation that was laid, um, in your household, how did that help you dealing with the temptations? Even though you weren't as appreciative of the way you were being raised or the way that you had been, or were being taught at the time, was that instrumental in keeping you somewhat out of trouble and high school from doing the wrong things, making the right decisions, that sort of thing?

Uh, yeah, certainly. So I think, you know, you know, the very start, I would say the start of my real faith was like middle school, right? Cause that's when I stepped into youth group and then you branch out into public school, um, and start having to put those things into practice. So, um, you know, that's when I started trying to put those those values into action, you know, uh, whether it be, um, basically just trying to, to maintain my character and represent Christ, you know, and then as again, it's a maturing process and, you know, I think, you know, to an extent you never really stopped changing as a person, but so from the transition from middle school to high school, it became less about, you know, being a Christian and letting people know that as opposed to actually having to put Christian concepts and Christian habits, I guess, or, or Christ following lifestyles into play. So, um, certainly as a transition to high school, you know, I guess the ability to, or the opportunity to get into trouble certainly doubled, but, you know, I think that would be where my raising was more instrumental in saying, Hey, um, like I have my whole life ahead of me, so therefore let me surround myself with people who aren't going to jeopardize my future. Um, so, you know, I stayed around, you know, not everybody I hung out with was, was Christian, certainly majority of my friends, you know, in the public school system weren't, uh, but they also, you know, most of them had a pretty good head on them. Um, and then even then, you know, I was taught, you know, right is right, wrong is wrong. And I had the Bible to back that up growing up. So those, those values and those morals were what I would apply to, I guess, my habits and keeping myself out of trouble by saying, okay, like I can see what you're doing.

Like, I won't be a part of that. Right. That's interesting. You say that, um, about the non-Christian friends or non-Christ followers, it's cause you had the opportunity and joy and blessing to lead several of those young men to the Lord. Um, as I've watched you through the years in some, uh, in high school, some outside of high school. And, you know, I think because you were who you were, uh, and you stood on your standards that that gave you an opportunity to speak to those men, young men in a way that had you been running off course and running wild, uh, you wouldn't have had that opportunity to share with them.

And they were looking up to you, I think, before you even realized that. And you most definitely, and I heard, I heard a saying it's, uh, you know, share the gospel always and use words when necessary. Um, and that's kind of the lifestyle I try to live to where, you know, people can see Christ in my life, um, before I ever have to, um, say a word about it. And, you know, sometimes it's a lot easier said than done, but so long as that's, uh, the goal in mind, and that's what you're striving for, you know, it's not always, it's not always doable, you know, we slip up and you maybe let a word loose here. I say something bad or, you know, you know, I act out of character and here or there, but, you know, the end goal is always, you know, let my actions reflect Christ.

Um, let me lead people to the gospel before, like lead them to Christ before I had to talk to them. You know, it's interesting, Josh, one of the things that we say quite often on the show and you remember uncle Dale, one of the things he would always say is, you know, your actions are speaking so loud, I can't hear a word you're saying. And that's, as we say often on the show, that can be a really positive thing or that can be a really bad thing. And if it's a positive thing, it's just that people are seeing the life that you're living, uh, as a father of Christ and, and the soul of the person through your actions. And the same holds true, right?

If you're, if you're going the other direction, uh, if you're saying one thing and doing something else, that certainly, um, creates challenges in your witness and being able to share your story. Yeah, definitely. And I think, um, I think, I think your actions are definitely the standard to which your, your words are, are, um, set, you know, like if the gold standard backs up our money or used to your actions, back up your words. Right.

Um, so people value your words or value your currency based on what's backing it up. That's good. Now, do you have a network of young men, Joshua and within college, you know, we, we refer to them as accountability groups for fire teams, that sort of thing that you're a part of within college and how important is that to you? Yes, I do. So, um, you know, uh, uh, the model was laid out for me, you know, biblically that, you know, as a man, you want a Paul to speak into your life, a Barnabas to walk beside you and a Timothy to mentor. Um, and, you know, maybe not everyone's ready for a Timothy, but a Barnabas and Paul are always, you know, attainable.

Um, so I certainly have all three of those. And right now, you know, I guess you're asking about my, my Barnabas and my Timothy's. Um, so, you know, Monday nights I lead a group, um, of about, you know, I think to right now we're at, uh, six of us total, you know, six, including me. So I mentor five men on a month, on a weekly basis. And, um, you know, on Sunday nights, I have three other, three other men who, who come under me for, for guidance and leadership. Um, so, you know, I mentor them on a weekly basis and, you know, the accountability part comes where they're my Barnabas is and walking through life with me. So, um, you know, I teach them about biblical manhood and, and try and prepare them for life. And, you know, kind of in return, you know, they watch my back accountability wise, you know, they hold me to the standards that I set, you know, they expect my actions to line up with my words.

Um, and that's been absolutely instrumental, uh, in my walk with Christ through college. Um, certainly, uh, there's something to be said about having people who are willing to push you, uh, on a weekly basis and push you to be better than yourself. Like that's one aspect of it, but then, you know, you come into the aspect of I'm a leader now, um, independent, you know, I, I, I want to be the best leader that I can possibly be. And I want to be the greatest influence on the men that I can possibly be.

Well, how do I do that? Um, so being a part of leader, being a leader now and having that goal in mind has, you know, I've asked my question, you know, how do, how do I do that? Um, so then you look to the Bible and you look to Jesus Christ. Um, and he was basically a servant leader and that's kind of what I base my mind on. Right. So when we come back here and we're going to really take a break in just a few, few seconds, but one of the things I thought that was interesting, you talked about the Paul Barnabas and the Timothy, and you spoke about the Barnabases in your life and may or may not have true Kennedys, right?

Cause you got a lot of guys alongside of you and mentoring, but we'll be right back. Folks are going to take a break and we'll pick this topic back up on, on the Paul in his life. host, Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. Day two is a men's one day conference from 9 AM to 4 PM. They'll have a multitude of speakers like Lee Strobel, Jerry Boykin, Bishop Larry Jackson, Pat Teague, and Bishop Charles Flowers. For tickets or more information, visit tawcmm.com. Don't miss your chance to meet us at the summit on February 4th, 2022. Welcome back to the show.

Uh, if you weren't here at the introduction to the show, this is Roy Jones, the white guy. And, um, interestingly enough, I've had the blessed opportunity to bring my son, youngest son, Joshua onto the program and just, we're doing a father's interview with his son and asking some questions that, uh, we haven't really talked about before. I've just kind of watched in the background and on the sidelines and some which we have talked about. And so Joshua was left for break. One of the things that came up was the accountability groups and the small groups. And you mentioned the, you know, the Paul, Barnabas and Timothy, which every man should have those three in his life. And those, those roles may change over time and through the seasons. And, uh, typically Paul may not change because he may be with you for quite some time. Barnabas will come and go.

And certainly the Timothy, um, that you're feeding into those guys will change too over time. Uh, you mentioned that and I, uh, just, this is from a, um, I guess an overview, who is that Paul in your life? You don't have to go by name, but do you have a man there in Charlotte or in that area or several guys that you lean on or, um, yeah. So, I mean, I guess excluding you right as the father figure and the one who raised me, um, like outside of that, you know, you certainly laid the foundation foundation for what it was that I'm looking for. Um, but, uh, you know, I've had, I've had about, you know, three or four people, uh, you know, throughout my college experience. Um, you know, certainly my youth pastor was a big influence in high school. And then, you know, I've had, uh, you know, two or three Paul's in my life who all served a different purpose as a mentor.

Right. You know, one of them showed me, you know, I guess the guide to mentorship. What does it look like to be a mentor? How to mentor?

Um, you know, what does it look like to be a healthy man, as far as like, you know, the different aspects of the soul, it's not just spiritual, you know, there's financial health, there's mental health, um, physical health and spiritual health, and even a couple more. Um, and just having those as a well-rounded man, you know, I had another mentor who, who taught me what it looked like to, um, you know, give and be selfless. You know, I have a man who, who from a perspective would have everything you could ever want, uh, you know, very, very wealthy and, you know, uh, as humble as can be and, you know, kind of showed what it looks like to, to have everything and to not let money spoil who you are and how, and how to use money and, you know, understand that, um, it's not your money, it's God's money. And then, you know, my, my latest mentor who, who I meet with pretty regularly, um, just showing, showing what it looks like to serve, um, you know, very similar to my second mentor. Um, you know, he, he's financially kind of helps me out with projects and stuff, but he's just like, you know, takes whatever time I want, uh, to help me build things, to do things, um, you know, at no cost to myself. Um, and he, you know, is texting me what he's learning about what God's teaching him. So, um, and, you know, through that, I've been able to take that, um, mentorship and the lessons I learned from them and pass them on to my groups. Well, that's really good, Joshua.

I appreciate you sharing that component. Um, in your college life, how has, um, how has your walk with Christ impacted your, your learning at school and what is the school downloading into you from a spiritual perspective or trying to deter you from a spiritual perspective? Um, well, so, you know, as an electrical engineer, there's not, you know, a lot of time for, for lollygagging, when it comes to the curriculum, once you get into your major. Um, so for me, uh, the school hasn't downloaded too much other than what it is I need to know, but I've certainly had a class here or there, um, that certainly wanted to get very focused into the race or gender politics. Um, you know, very one-sided, uh, very polarizing and, and, you know, uh, didn't open up, you know, very good of a conversation to have, you know, it was just, this is the way it is.

Um, X, Y, and Z people are responsible for it and you need to tell me, write a paper, why is that, you know? Um, so that's not very much the case for electrical engineering or engineering and STEM in general, I don't think. Um, but it certainly is an issue I would say in the university systems today.

So. Is faith encouraged, uh, walk with Christ encouraged from a campus perspective? Uh, is it readily available for say a non-believer who's searching and says, Hey, I would like to dive into what it looks like to be a Christ follower.

Is that something that is readily available and visible, or is it something that's basically out of sight, out of mind that you really, a person has to know someone to how to find those resources? So I guess there are two sides to that, you know, from my experience, which is, you know, very limited as far as someone who deals with the university politics. Um, I certainly haven't found an issue in getting involved, you know, because they basically treat religious organizations like any other club.

So, you know, you just got to go through the right steps and channels to become a club and you're allowed to advertise just like anybody else is. Um, but certainly, you know, uh, universities tend to lean one way politically. Um, and sometimes that gets in the way of which religions they want to push or not push. Um, so I would say, you know, at least my school does a very good job of, of allowing, you know, Christian organizations to function like any other organization.

That's good. So for, say a new college student arriving on campus, those resources or should be readily available or clubs or activities, if they're looking for things that are a group of Christ followers, Christians to do, they've just got to basically seek that out through the administration, through the club organizations, et cetera. Yeah.

You just got to know where to look. Um, as far as my understanding, most Christian resources aren't going to be resources, but rather clubs. Right. Um, now certainly the university does provide like, you know, university resources. Um, and as to which way, you know, what kind of resources those are, I'm not very sure cause I don't seek those out. Right. So everything that you're currently doing is basically on your own with a group of guys.

There's no sponsorship from the school level. Uh, in my case, yes, but you know, I do have friends who lead, uh, Christian organizations that are official school organizations and they get the same support and funding so they could get minor sponsorship. What do you think is the most challenging part of being a Christ follower and being the student in college? Um, you know, I think the most challenging part is how serious you're gonna take your faith. Right. You know, um, it can be as challenging as it can be very challenging if you take your faith very seriously or it can be not challenging at all if your faith is on Sundays.

Um, right. You know, the Bible tells us, you know, Christ's last commandment was us to go and make disciples of all nations. Um, and you know, also whether you eat or drink, you know, whatever you do, do all to the glory of Christ.

So are you going to take that seriously? Are you going to go out on campus and share your faith? Um, you know, are you going to make disciples of other students? Um, are you going to let your study habits reflect Christ?

Is your mouth and your actions going to reflect Christ when you're in class and you're around everybody who's not, um, or you know, is your faith going to be on Sundays and are you going to do what everybody else does during the week? So in my case, I've found it to be, um, challenging at times, uh, to do what God has asked me to do, to be obedient. You know, I think I haven't found it challenging to be a Christian on campus, but rather just the obedience part to step out of your comfort zone, to talk to strangers about, um, about the faith. I would say that that can be the most challenging thing, which we'll talk about, uh, on part two of this series. But there's some things I want to talk to you about, temptations about challenges related to men specifically and that sort of thing. So, um, what do you, what do you view as your greatest spiritual challenge, um, since you've been in college?

So I would say I'm a little more unique than most college students, at least with what I struggle with. Um, because, you know, I lead a group of men and I don't only, I don't just do a Bible study and my men don't just come to hear about the Bible. You know, I push my men and my men chase after God, you know, so not to pat myself on the back because really 97, 90% of the footwork is done by the flock that I shepherd. Um, but when you have a group of men that take the fight that seriously, um, there's just a lot of spiritual warfare that gets involved. So, you know, thought the thoughts and, and, and temptations of absolutely everything you can imagine come into play at that point for me. Um, so if you, if there was a temptation mentioned in the Bible or a thought in the Bible, like at some point saints put that in my head. Um, so that's what I struggle with the most, I guess. Um, but even then, you know, it's like, I don't struggle with it too much because I have, I have eight, seven guys at any given moment who, who are willing to pick up the sword, you know, and back me up. But, um, certainly I guess for, for anybody else, you know, you know, you got drinking, you got partying, you know, that's a big struggle for some men on campus.

You know, you have your purity, whether it be pornography or just having sex at parties, you know, that's a big one. Uh, you know, there's certainly the two biggest ones that I have seen to be the biggest struggle for, for men on campus. Well, you know, that, uh, and we've talked about on the previous shows, Will and I have, and another temptation and another distraction seems to be gaming. And I know I, I hear a lot of young men and, you know, we've even talked about this, you and I, Joshua, about how much time spent on either handhelds or on Xbox is that sort of thing. So, uh, is that still a major play in college amongst, amongst the young men gaming? And obviously the pornography that you just mentioned is a big thing, drinking, partying, uh, um, sexual promiscuity, all those things. So is the gaming as big as it seems to be, it must be because the Xbox demand over Christmas was incredibly high across the country.

Um, you know, I don't, I don't know. I, you know, there certainly has been a big stigma about video gaming, the impact that it has on, uh, you know, the generation, their habits and their thoughts and actions. Um, but I don't think it's that as much of a temptation, you know, as, as drugs and alcohol, right. Because gaming is, it's a cheap hobby, you know, everybody needs a hobby and they need a way to spend their time to enjoy themselves in college. Right. And you know, the Xbox or video games might be a one-time purchase that they can enjoy.

So that's, that's kind of where I see the high demand coming from. Well, you know, one of the things that we, we, when we speak about that is distraction in that it takes, well, especially for young men, it keeps them off the, keeps them out. If they're sitting inside on the game, they're not on the basketball court, they're not in the gym working out, or they're not certainly not studying the word. So that's the concern that we've had as an older generation, seeing that develop and just, and more and more people sitting there playing games more and more of the time of the day. Right. So good point though.

It could be the very thing that they need to relax into to get some downtime. So folks, we're having a father-son conversation with my son, Josh. So we thank you so much for joining us. Hope you have a great week and we'll see you next week.

God bless. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCMM, Talking and Walking Christian Men's Ministry is building a community of men that are Christ followers with a desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches, and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmm.com. Men walking the talk. This is the Truth Network.