This is the Truth Network. Coming to you from an entrenched barricade deep in the heart of central North Carolina, Masculine Journey After Hours. A time to go deeper and be more transparent on the topic covered on this week's broadcast. So sit back and join us on this adventure. The Masculine Journey After Hours starts here now.
Welcome to Masculine Journey After Hours. We're glad that you're with us today, and we are talking about a topic I think that will touch everybody out there, that they probably can relate to this topic. What do you think about that, Rodney?
I think if you really try hard, you may think of one time in your life that this may have touched you. It may just be that. Maybe. Yeah.
Rob, do you think anyone's going to escape having to deal with what we're talking about today? Apparently, at Corner Herald, not even if they're ancient of days. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Old, old. So, Danny, what are we talking about today? We're talking about the lures that the enemy uses to trip us up. Yeah, to try to get us to take a bite. Yeah, try to get us to take a bite. Yeah, the temptations that he throws in our life. Put you down when you want to go up. Yeah, those things that he wants, the whack-a-mole game that's pop our little head up and whack, he hits us with this once we take the bait and we kind of go with him. I know we talked about this just a few months ago, but it was still in my heart again this weekend, because I think it's something that even especially the closer you try to walk with God, the more the enemy's going to just up his game. You know, he's going to really come after you more, and he's going to throw more temptation your way and try to get you to trip in one way or another.
You know, we like to be, I can't say we. In the past, I've been judgmental of people, you know, when they've fallen. But, you know, you see a big Christian leader and all of a sudden they fall. And there was a season in my life that I'd be judgmental on that, and I'm just thinking, man, that could be me so easily. You know, because it's just one wrong decision.
Just one wrong decision and you're right there. Yeah, and you see there was just one with a big pastor. He was always out at Truth Network and stuff with MacArthur, and he got caught. And he just shut up, and nobody knew what was going on. Everybody was talking.
There went a whole lot really said, because most people that are in that community are actually pretty, I'd say, godly. And they're like, okay, well, we don't know, we don't know, but we'd like to know. So they're going through all this, and eventually, finally, he came out and said something here not too long ago again, and talked about his situation and trying to work through it. But I know, like, just myself, just all the things were going through my head about him.
Where is he at, what's he doing, all that stuff. And I'm like, I don't have a clue. But am I thinking, am I trying to go somewhere and trying to pick something out? Oh, yeah, you know, that's just where you go. You try to throw something in there, because you want to fill the hole that's there, because you see it. You just want to fill it with something of your own, not with God's. And I think he's trying to work through it with his family, with his wife, and stuff that he was doing, and get over that.
But he's done preaching. Oh, yeah, well, for me, it has been me in the past. I wasn't anyone that someone would care about just learning about, but I've made all those same bad decisions, or I'm sure at one point or another, at least similar decisions, or something along those lines. And so, you know, it's not for us to judge, but we tend to want to do that.
But everybody struggles with this. Everybody struggles with the temptation that the enemy throws at us, because he knows that if he can get us to trip, and again, we talked in the other show about this, it has nothing to do with us. It has to do with hurting God's heart, and that's what he's really after. You know, watch any good movie, they go after the good guy's family every time. You know, that's who they're going to attack.
Liam Neeson's made a career out of it. You know, just whatever show, they're attacking his family, I promise. Yeah. Yeah. Danny, you have the first clip, the only clip of this show. Yeah, it's easy to be the first one on this show when you're the only one.
But you're going to be so good, it'll be the last one we do this show. Yeah, that's pretty awesome. Yeah. I think.
Maybe, we'll see. Yeah, who knows. It could be.
I don't know. It could be. My clip is from the Andy Griffith Show. I hadn't done an Andy clip in a while, and I think Robby was kind of missing them. I was in withdrawal.
Yeah, he was in withdrawals, yeah. And so, but, you know, loved the show and everything. But when you threw this topic out, I thought, what am I really looking for? And in the end, we were actually watching a couple episodes of the Andy Griffith Show, and this episode, this particular episode is called A Feud is a Feud.
And, I mean, the whole show is, I mean, if I could clip the whole show, you know, we just do the 26 minutes of the Andy Griffith Show. But the, it's about two families that are feuding, and there's kind of a Romeo and Juliet story going on with a son of one family and a daughter of the other family. And so this whole contention is around a feud.
They don't want them to get married and this whole thing. So Andy decides that he's going to get to the bottom of the feud. He says, if we can resolve that issue, then we can end this thing. We can get these folks married and everybody will live happily ever after. He has a great plan, but the scene we're going to see is he goes to Mr. Wakefield's house and he's going to find out what they're feuding about.
And so we'll pick it up there where Andy walks up on the porch and, and then we'll talk about it afterwards. Mr. Wakefield! Howdy, Sheriff. Are you doing feuding shooting or hunting shooting? Feuding shooting. Well, now you must have a pair of mighty sharp eyes there. I don't see no carters. You don't? No, I don't. I was afraid of that. Big aperture.
Heavy drink of water. Hey, sorry about putting a gun on you last night, Sheriff. But a fella's got a responsibility to see that his youngins is brung up right, ain't he? Oh, of course he does.
Don't worry a thing about it. At times, a fella gets mighty discouraged. He tries and he tries to teach him right from wrong, but this late generation, just plain ain't got no respect for the elders. Well, now I don't know now. Maybe your reason for feuding with the carters just don't seem strong enough to young Josh. No, it ain't that. Well, how you know it ain't? Because he don't know the reason. He don't?
You mean you ain't never told him? Nope. Well, how come? Because I don't know the reason. You mean your pa never did tell you?
Nope. Well, why? Well, it could be because he didn't know the reason either. Well, who was the last Wakefield that didn't know the reason? Well, it must have been his grandpa. Well, then how come he didn't pass along the reason? Well, it could be the time his youngin got old enough to join the feuding that my great grandpa just clear light forgot it.
Oh, I'll be dogged. Now, do you mean to tell me that you've been carrying on a feud for four generations without knowing why? Why not? Well, I don't know. It just seems to me if I was going to take a shot at a fella, it'd pass my mind to ask what for. I'll be damned if I know where you young folks get all them new-fangled ideas.
So you don't really need to know why. You just shoot at people. Yeah. And, you know, we do that. That's kind of an over-the-top example, but what I thought about was, you know, how often that I'm almost drawn into a controversy or an argument, which would be a feud, if you would, just simply because maybe I'm taking something out of context or maybe I'm not sure what's coming from the other side. I just take something the wrong way, and all of a sudden things are blown out of proportion, and they really don't need to be because, you know, as Christians, there's a walk in forgiveness. And some of that is kind of getting to the truth of things sometimes and having honest conversations. And, you know, lately sometimes, I mean, with family members and stuff like that, you get, you really don't know what's behind it.
And they may not know what's behind what you've said or what you've texted or, you know, because I think texting sometimes is some of the worst form of communication you can ever get because you don't know. And unless you're Jim Graham and you answer what you really already said, but I'm sitting in his chair. But that's kind of where I went with that. You know, and there's a scripture that I found a while ago.
The beginning of strife is like releasing water. Therefore, stop contention before quarrel starts. And, you know, I can think of example after example in my life where I probably took something out of context or didn't go to the person and say, what did you mean by that?
And there's nothing wrong with that. But, you know, we live in a culture where you don't question stuff and you don't, you know, because everybody's right and nobody's wrong and that kind of thing. But, you know, what I have found in my life is by approach and say, Sam, you said this and this is the way I took it. You know, can you help me process this?
And it goes a million miles toward healing, toward, you know, doing away with the warfare and doing away with the stuff that the enemy was trying to drive a wedge in or, you know, because, I mean, my goodness, churches are divided over, you know, less than carpet colors. Why? You know, or, you know, friendships break up.
You know, family members don't speak to each other for years because of some trivial thing that probably could have been avoided with an honest conversation. I'm not great at it. You know, I got to work Monday morning, read the first email and was ready to fight because of the way somebody said something. And I took it as your question and, you know, my ability to do my job. And it really wasn't what it was. It's just the way I took it.
And, you know, I just about took the bait, barbed hook and all, Robby. But, you know, I didn't engage like I would have probably five or six years ago. I'd have been on it. I would have had a three-page email ready to go.
But I don't like to type that much, so I'm not really going to do it. But that's kind of where I see this in a lot of my life right now. You know, it'll be something else down the road like, you know, we've talked about. The enemy doesn't quit. And the thing he wants us to do is to either give up or just turn our backs on what we know to be truth. And, you know, it's tough sometimes. But it's so worth the battle. It really is so worth the battle to know that you can walk day by day with God. And, you know, there is grace.
There is mercy. You know, because, you know, you were talking earlier about, you know, people falling from grace. And, you know, we are judgmental people.
Most of us could say we are. But, you know, interestingly enough, you know, all the people who accused the lady who called in adultery, Jesus said, well, those of you without sin cast the first stone. And everybody dropped their rocks. Because none of us can throw stones. We really can't. And the enemy, he knows that the easiest way to get people tripped up is miscommunication. As you're talking about, you know, the text is so dangerous because you're reading it through the lens of which you're looking at the world at right now. Like if I'm mad right now, every text I read is going to have a mad context to it.
Right? If I'm looking at the lens of anger, if I'm looking through it at the world, then that's how I'm going to interpret things. And so text is really dangerous. And that's why I stay away from it except for just mostly yes, no's, like at work when I'm telling my clients at work, if you text me, I'll call you.
And we'll talk about, you know, what you texted me or I may just say yes or I may say no. But you can't hear voice inflection. You can't hear anything like that. And it's so dangerous because it can be taken out of context so easy. Well, in the spirit of transparency, we had text right before we went to eat about where we were going to eat.
And Robby made a joke. But it was part of me that was going, okay, where are we going to eat? Or are we going to eat?
Because the guy with my figure, I mean, we've got to eat. But it's just so easy to take the bait. And there was no malice in any of it, but just there for a minute it was like, okay. And that's kind of what I'm talking about. My favorite expression regarding communication is, I know you believe you understand what you think you heard me say, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
True. I can't even remember that much. Yeah, I'm confused already.
So Rodney, where has the enemy been trying to trip you up in this season? And again, that's one of the things I was trying to think through as we're talking, as we're leading up to the show and other things. Is it really something that is current, something recent? Or is it something in the past that's always been there?
And just with our discussion like we're just having is, I think for men, the discussion around women is just a constant ongoing. It just keeps going and going and going and coming around. You just find another way to beat it down, get it out of your sight, get it out of your mind, and go another direction for a while, and then it comes back up, and then you go on for a while, and then it comes back up. And that's one of the things that it used to come up, and I just sat in it. This was before I came to Christ and all this other stuff, but it was just something I just sat in. And I would just have thoughts all day long of, well, what if this and what if that, and you just had all these thoughts. And it's something that I used to just live in the middle of, and now I just don't allow myself to go there. Every once in a while, all of a sudden I'm walking along, I'm having something, and I see something or something said, and it hit me, and I'm like, okay, stop. I get my mind right out of that and go on to something else as soon as I kind of recognize. But I'll even, recently even, I just, I talk myself into it. I'm just doing something, and I'm going along, and all of a sudden it's like, dang, I just started thinking about this, and I just walked myself in a conversation with myself right into the same trap.
So I just want to get out. I'm like, nope, just get out, go think about something else, do something else. That's one of the reasons why I love the phones and things like that because I'm just on a podcast almost any time.
I don't listen to really any music anymore. I'll watch some TV. But for the most part, I'm listening to a podcast or something, or if I'm at work, I'm usually pretty good because there's always stuff going on at work that kind of keeps me in the middle of work. But there's just, I just want to avoid my thoughts just going astray, going wherever they go. If I can keep that under control, I've got a pretty good hold on myself. It's not perfect, but it's much better than if I just let myself go and start thinking and trying to do things and be around things that I just don't need to be around. And just even through the discussion tonight, different thoughts have come up as people are talking about, oh, yeah, there was that time that I did something or I said something, just trying to stay away from that as far as I can these days.
And I'm fine with that. I don't need a lot of stupid stuff in my life, don't want a lot of stupid stuff. I'm just trying to stay away as much as I can. I just go live somewhere else. I'll read Scripture, read something, go do something that keeps me away from that. And I'm fine. I don't need a lot of people in my life.
You guys are great. I just don't need all this craziness going on. I've got a group of guys at church, much the same thing. It's about this many guys, and one guy is out, one guy is in.
But we're doing guy things, and we'll talk about some of the same stuff. And it is so good that you can talk about it with somebody who understands with your perspective rather than just talking, oh, yeah, man, I had that. No, you don't understand. It's a bad thing. You just want to stay away from it.
And the better you can stay away or be with men that understand and can talk to you and help guide you through and do that, it's just a much better situation. Right. Thank you, Rodney. Grant, was there something you wanted to add on this topic? Yes. Just as Rodney said, being away from the small stuff, the closer you get to the Lord, the smaller the sins are, you know, the small things, which start one, and a little bit beams up big.
Yeah, it definitely grows. Yeah, and that's like when you're sitting there. I've had times when I know I'm driving down the road or I'm doing something and it just hits me, and I'm like, Lord, I have no idea where all my sin is at. There's things I sin on every day.
I know I do it, but I don't see it. I don't even know it's part of my life. But just let me know. Keep me away from it. But they're smaller than they used to be as far as the one thing. Yeah.
Sorry about that. If you realize. Yeah, but that's hard. It's not easy just to be living in, oh, yeah, there was that one.
There was that one. They just are so much a part of your life that you just, they're just there. You just live with them. And I got rid of the big ugly things that were out there in my life, but there's still many other little smaller things that you just don't always just recognize real quick. God will peel those back one of the time. Exactly. He'll awaken you to that.
Yeah. I think it's a great assessment. That's why I love you brought the topic up a second time, Sam, is just to ask yourself if you're listening, you know, where are you being lured? You know, there's a passage I read in Isaiah today that talked about, you know, if you choose what delights the Lord, like are my choices right this minute? Do you feel God's pleasure when you're doing that? Or do you feel like, well, maybe I'm in someplace or doing something that isn't all that crazy right now. And it's a really good exercise to go, oh, I'm being lured over here. And when the light comes on, in so many of these situations, when the light comes on and you see, oh, my gosh, he's lying to me, oh, my gosh, I'm following this, you know, then all of a sudden it becomes a whole lot easier to fight the battle. It is.
Which brings up a question. You guys have mentioned a couple different things you do, but how do you combat that temptation? You know, Rodney, you said something about, you know, I kind of get away from it.
Yeah. I turn my head a lot of times or just start thinking about something else and just kick it out and start thinking about something I either have been doing or doing. It's around there, but it helps me get my mind right back off. So what do you guys do to try to fight against the temptation as it comes your way? I know it doesn't work for everybody at the table here. I wish it did, you know, in some way. But what I have learned recently that if I start to feel that particular lust or something like that coming on, then I begin to go, okay, God, help me to turn – obviously, I have a need for – help me to turn that into romance, like how can I romance my wife or what can I do to make this a healthy thing that you would delight in rather than going down this path that looks like destruction. And I found that to be not only, you know, help with the temptation thing, but actually you end up in that place where you can really feel God's delight, which is where you want to be.
Yeah. For me, I looked at – anger is one where the enemy gets me pretty quickly. I can get angry pretty quickly, you know, at things. And there were a few situations with family over the last few weeks where I could feel him pulling me towards wanting to get angry, not necessarily to confront but to be bitter about something and realizing, okay, I have to hold on to what I know is true, you know, because anything the enemy throws at you is going to have a little bit of truth to it or you wouldn't bite at it, right?
So he's going to throw something at you that appears to have some little truth in it. But what I know to be the most true, you know, if I'm dealing with my kids, what do I know to be the most true about my kids? They love me. They love me dearly. I mean, I know they do. I hear it from them. I see it in their actions. And so when something comes up and I'm thinking, oh, well, they're not really there for me if I need them or this isn't going to happen or it's a friend or whatever, I have to stick to what I know is true about that person. You know, what is the deepest truth about that?
The deepest truth about that person is they do love me. And so everything else can be a misunderstanding, which puts me in a position, Danny, to say, hey, when you said this, did you mean this because this is what I heard? Instead of reacting out of anger, which would be my normal course of action, you know, sometimes it would be like, no, what I heard you say was this is just what you meant. Now, there's always a chance that they could say, yep, that's what I meant, and then it will probably be on. But other than that, you've got to leave room for the enemy in that miscommunication or you'll find yourself there pretty quickly.
Again, as has already been said with Robby, but it's not just common sense. Need a little help from the Lord to realize these things. Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. One of the things that I didn't realize until I met you guys how important it is from a soul maintenance standpoint is to get out and enjoy the real because we live in an artificial world. I stare at a computer screen all day long at work and your phones and everything else, but to get away from all that, not every day, but there are times when I need that to settle my soul.
We went fly fishing up near Stone Mountain the other Saturday and didn't catch anything, but just being out there in an untouched world other than beavers, but just being out there, you can't see any roads or anything like that, and you realize how real that is. I think when you immerse yourself in the real, it helps you see the artificial quicker. Does that make sense?
It does. That's so dynamic there that I think is important. Yeah, I would agree with that. And fly fishing is fun too. Yeah, I'm probably still not signed up for that one. I'll just do regular fishing.
I can do that. That's a little bit more my speed. I just find myself leaning a lot more into God this year. God, I need help here. I'm not at a good place. I'm not feeling this.
In the past where I just kind of let the enemy run with me on stuff, I'm finding that I am at least stopping a lot shorter, a lot sooner, and saying, God, I need help. Because without you, I'm not going to get through whatever this is. I'm not going to get through being hurt. I'm not going to get through this temptation of lust. I'm not going to get through filling the blank. I just need God's help to get through that. That's the only place I'm going to find the source that's unending, is to say, okay, God, father me through this. Help me switch my mind to something different.
Help me go to a different place. Yeah, I own some of that. I own self-discipline, and I do own all that. But it's got to be beyond self-discipline, because at some point that's going to break down. At least it does in my life. That's probably any description of something that starts with self, self-made, self-discipline.
It ends up in the same self-righteous, ah, meh. Good point. That's true. And that's where you can't just make up your mind and say, I'm just going to be this self, whatever it is, because you're not going to be that all the time. You're never going to be that consistent. So you have to be able to look at the situation and go, yeah, okay, I screwed up.
Be honest with yourself, but then just move on. You can't live in it. You're not going to change it. It happened.
You have to figure out how do I go forward. And that situation didn't separate you from God. It's like we talk about in true faith, yeah, that's a lot of sin over there, but we can work on it together. It doesn't separate us from Christ. It actually is a point of our sanctification or how we're going to get cleaner is you've got to get in there.
Yeah, you've got to get a little dirty working with your hands there to get through that. Go to massconjourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp November 20th through 23rd. If you'd like to reach out to any of us, it's our first name, at massconjourney.org. You can send Harold at massconjourney.org if you really want to know something. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that an 84 year old is thinking about. But anyway, just let God love on you this week and then pass that love on to someone else. We'll talk with you next week. This is the Truth Network.
