Men At Work After Hours

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 are glad that you're with us. And Andy, you have quite a revolutionary topic for us today.

It'll change your life. It will. Yeah. Revolutionize it. Yeah.

Yeah, it will. Yeah. Listen to the first show if you want to. know what he's talking about. Yeah, I don't usually know what I'm talking about, so that's okay.

No, we're just talking about careers and how Are they, you know, what is God's role in it? How do we see it? You know, we spend a third of our time, more than a third of our time at work, and Sam pointed out, and then probably spend more time at work than we do actually with our family. You know, it's how the world is set up. God says that, you know, you're to work.

I mean, that started in the garden. And work can be have a lot of thorns in it sometimes, and then sometimes it doesn't feel like thorns. It's just you're in that element and you're. And it's going, well, I'm going through a tough patch right now, even though I'm in probably the best job I've ever had. I've enjoyed it more.

But it's a, you know, there's going to be challenges in every job. But it just got me thinking about what's the godly aspect. We had a, I'm part of an early morning Bible study on Wednesdays with a team from Ohio called Revely, and we did a, they're going through a Study on the book of Acts, and they just talked about how our job, looking at it as a mission, You know, obviously, to share the gospel, to speak in other people's lives, to love people, but you know, also how it plays into, you know, maybe funding our ministry or obviously funding our family, taking care of them.

So there's a lot there. There's a lot to our life. And I think sometimes we don't think about it enough. Oh, that's just kind of keep it in its little thing. I've got work and all.

But, you know, when it's all good. When everything's going good, there's not much to talk about other than celebrating. But all of us have gone through tough patches. We've had to change careers at different times. We've had to reevaluate what we're offering up.

I'm that's in that place. And then also, or there's things that I can control. There's things I can't control.

So. God, I believe, uses these problem sometimes in our careers to get us to Push into him. What's going on, God? I know that's what happened when I first made my job change, my revolutionary job change about nine years ago. Totally changed my life.

I loved every part of it. It was tough, but he grew me a lot in that way.

Now I'm in a tough patch in this place and the best job that I've ever had.

So I'm just pressing into that, and I just thought it would be a good topic for us to share because I know everybody has stories. Yeah, and men struggle with work and creating balance and all the things that come with it because, you know, we feel a lot of pressures. We do. On that. Danny, you had something you wanted to say.

Well, I just thought about the quote from John Maxwell, the author and speaker, who says, Do what you love to do, and you never have to work a day in your life. And that's speaking into what we talk about, your calling and what makes your heart come alive. Absolutely. Jim?

Well, I was going to pick on Andy because apparently he wasn't here two weeks ago and we talked about the illusion of control. You don't have control over anything. You'll see that in my fault. Oh, contrary. We always have we have There's an aspect, but we have to make decisions of whether we're going to choose to do a thing or not.

And that's what we have. We have a control over our will. We do have control over that. But whenever the overarching theme, I mean, it says. Good word.

I don't I don't want to get into that 'cause uh but The control, there's times that we control whether we step up if we need to step up. But maybe it is, there's things that are out of our control that we cannot control that factor into it. And God is, I believe, all in that, and it doesn't take Him by surprise. I think He wants us to press in and figure out what He's doing in this particular time or whatever. Thanks, Jim, though.

It may just start an argument. That's all right. I think that Jim discusses it. You only pick on the ones you love. I was hoping to come to the fist fight.

I was just going to cheer you guys on. Outside, Jim. Yeah, let's go. Let's step out. Let's step out.

All right, well, I'm going to go with my clip. All right.

So my clip is a combination of two songs about this topic of work. The first one's Taking Care of Business by Bachman Turner Overdrive. And so I'm not going to read the words to you when it's done. You know, you guys have probably heard these songs. You probably really don't know what all of the song says, but you can hear these parts, especially the choruses.

And the other one is Boston More Than a Feeling, which talks about work and a different. I like more of mind. Peace of mind. Yeah, it is peace of mind. Thank you.

I didn't have peace of mind to sing that, Andy, so thank you. Yeah, it's yes, thank you. It is peace of mind. And so we're going to play that and talk about how those play into my story a little bit. They get up every morning from the long clocks, warning dig the 8-15 into the city.

There's a whistle up above the people pushing people, shoving at the girls who try to look pretty. And if your dreams aren't time, you can get to work by nine. And stock your sleeve and chop and get yourself away. If you ever get annoyed, look at me, I'm selling. I love to work at nothing all day.

And I've been taking care of business every day, taking care of business. Every weight, I've been taking care of business. People might be taking care of business. And working overtime with I am climbing to the top of the company ladder. Holding doesn't take too long.

Can't just sing or come and dare within one matter. Come and say when you become indecision, I don't care what I can behind. People living in competition. All I want is to have my peace on. Boy, I love those songs.

I just like to be able to listen to them. And I remember listening to Taking Care of Business when I was first in my career. You know, I'd worked at jobs, but I wasn't in my career, you know, and there was a difference. And when I got into construction and really was starting to move up in it, you know, I was living about an hour away from where I worked without traffic. And so, you know, could relate to the, you know, if your train's on time, you know, you're going to get there on time.

If I didn't catch traffic, I wasn't going to get to work on time. And the stress of I got to be there on time and all this kind of thing. And your day would start out so stressful. And I worked a lot of hours, and part of that was because I was moving up in my career. And there were reasons I worked a lot of hours.

I was. Trying to provide for my family. I was trying to move up in the company, but make a better living, help provide for my family, hopefully get to a point where my wife could stay at home, you know, which we did get there for a season in her life, which she was able to do that. But and that all sounds good and noble. And there that's all true.

But another reason I spent a lot of time at work was 'cause it was a good place to hide. I knew what it took to be successful at work. I didn't know what it took to be successful at home. You know, I'd never been a dad of a kid whatever age they're at, you know, or of two kids that came along and then three kids that came along, and every one of them were so different from one another. And a lot of times I just didn't feel like I had what it took at home.

But I knew I had what it took at work. You know, and it was a place that I could feel validation. It's a place that it was easy to see the scoreboard and know you're doing okay. At home, you just never know if you're doing okay. And and I had a great family, it wasn't that, it was just inside of me.

You know, and the way the enemy attacked me in that. And and so but there was a lot of good thoughts on I want to be able to move up, and I did. I was able to move up in that in at the company I was at and make a pretty good living. You know, and then housing took a dive, right? And so I had to go back into.

another layer lower than I had been before, and realized that when I got there, that second song really kicked in, that, you know, I don't really want to climb climb to the top of the company ladder. I had a couple of opportunities to get promoted and actually turned it down. Not that I didn't need more money. 'Cause I did. It was always nice to have more money.

It makes it a little bit more comfortable when life's seasons come up, 'cause some seasons you just are struggling. You know, uh, regardless of what's happening. And and so it would have been better for me there. But I already had the knowledge looking back to say, but there's a sacrifice you have to make. And am I willing to make the sacrifice of the additional time, the additional commitment, and what will it take away from me?

And I was really more after the peace of mind that the second song talks about. That's more than a feeling, really. No, I was trying to get that peace of mind, and I left it play until it said, take a look ahead. Because what I was starting to do is say, okay, where do I want my life to be down the road? Is it chasing after something that once I'm gone they'll just put somebody else in my place?

Or is it something to where I can make a good enough living and still get as much time with my family and do things that are going to create memories? And I'm very happy with that choice and very grateful of that choice, and God helped prompt me in that direction. I don't know that I would have done it on my own, but had the housing market not done what it did and I had to reset some stuff, there was a lot of health in that. There was a lot of pain in that as well. You know, I went down very quickly.

In a few days I was making about sixty percent less money than I was making before. You know, and when your bills are set up, when you think you're living within your confines, But you drop your pay by 60%, all of a sudden you're not living within what you make, right? And having to make tough choices and having to. make sacrifices and go through a lot of things that were unpleasant. But at the end of the day, God was with me in it and it was all healthy.

You know, it helps me to be into a healthier place financially now, a healthier place emotionally. You know, and just in my relationships, much healthier. And so, you know, the encouragement I have is just inviting God into the mix of all those steps along the way. I don't think it's wrong to have ambition. It's just wrong to have blind ambition.

Right. Yeah. That's some of the discussions we were having in that Bible study. It's what what's the ambition going to lead you to? Me?

Sorry, I'm trying to get a clip. I can't talk and get a clip. All right.

Give me a second. No one multitasks me. It's Jim's clip, so Jim, you can go ahead and start setting it up. It's not. I just couldn't see it without my glasses on.

Now I've got it set up. Thank you. Well, my clip. It was what you remember it. And I appreciate Andy cutting it for me.

I don't know where I'd be without him. I don't know where he is. Which is why I pick out him. Clipless. Yeah, we are entering into a conversation with the governor of a territory and.

The early time out west and This is uh one of my all-time favorite comedy movies. But if you recognize it, you're old. If you don't, enjoy it and then look it up later. This entire conversation is really sometimes how I viewed. many of the jobs I went through and the people that were running things.

Letter rip. Governor, Governor, Governor, may I disturb you for a moment, sir? What is it? Governor, if you will just sign this, Governor. Right here.

Yes, yes. What'll it cost, man? What'll it cost? Ah. A box of these.

Are you crazy? They'll never go for it. And then again, they might. They love toys. May I try one?

These do, sir. Thank you. Thank you. These things are defective. Right as usual, sir.

Show affair, sir. Just sign this, sir, right here.

Okay, give us a hand here. All right, sir. Work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Just one more bill for you to sign, sir. What was this?

This is the bill that will convert the State Hospital for the Insane into the William J. LePedimain Memorial Gambling Casino for the Insane. Gentlemen, this is this. Phil, who'll be a giant step forward in the treatment of the insane gambler. Yes, Babo, sir.

Thank you, thank you, Heddy, thank you. Not Heddy, it's Hedley. Hedley Lamar. What are you worried about? This is 1874.

You'll be able to sue her. Ha ha ha! Just sign my face, sir. Thank you. Thank you, thank you very much.

All right, help me in with this. Help me in with this. Help me in with this. All right.

Don't make a very good suggestion. All right.

Thank you. All right.

Okay, is that it? Anything else? Just this urgent telegram for Rock Ridge that arrived last Friday. Last Friday? Read it, read it!

Sheriff murdered, church meeting bombed, reign of terror must cease. Send your sheriff immediately. Holy underwear. Sheriff Vernon, innocent women and children blown to bits? We've got to protect our phony baloney job, gentlemen.

We must do something about this immediately, immediately, immediately. Around. I didn't get a hurumph out of that guy. The next slide. This is a silly movie, but there's a lot of reality in it.

And guys love to make fun of me, so I'll do it first for all the different jobs I've held over the decades. There is a bottom line to it. Once I accomplished something and I felt confident, I was ready for something new. And so I've never really ad I identified more myself as a learner, and I want to. try something different and See how that fits.

And I had. My first job was a police officer, my last was a pastor, and there isn't much that I missed in between. But the bottom line was, in all of those activities, And they were very different. I didn't identify with the job, but I did identify with helping people. And those careers I was in that were helping people, Boy Scouts, police officer.

Asteroid. Avid tech support for Microsoft. I was getting fulfillment out of being a help. to those that I encountered, whether they were volunteers, kids, and I also taught school, middle school, which is part of why I'm crazy. But not the all not the biggest part.

I started that way. But the identity in the job was never really an issue for me. It was an identity with being in a position where I was doing someone some good. Yeah, yeah.

Well, thank you, Jim. Appreciate that. It makes a difference. You know, it makes a difference when you feel like you're making a difference around you. You know, it I I know that um I had an opportunity when I was first building houses to go to work at uh a factory for Delco Remi, which was they did Chevy parts and stuff and and it would have made a lot more money.

You know, my father-in-law at the time worked there. He had had an opportunity. He could have got me hired in. It would have been 30 years, you know, in and out. You got a retirement and it would have killed my soul.

You know, because I appreciate people that can do that, but sitting behind something and putting parts together was not the way I was made, and it's not what makes me come alive. You know, as I get closer to retirement, I kind of say, well, maybe I should have. But then again, most of those places went out of business over the years, and sometimes the retirement was there, and sometimes it wasn't. But, you know, going out and making a difference in people's lives, and the people that work on those lines make a difference in people's lives. They really do.

I don't mean that. But for me, it was a different type of calling. You know, to be active in people's lives one-on-one, as you're talking about. When you're doing that sort of work, you're not seeing the people that you're helping. Right.

And that's a huge thing for me, and I think for most people. It is. It is. Well, we're down to your clip, Andy.

So this clip is from Fury and Brad Pitt's the main character in here that you'll hear, but Um It's a tank command that's At a crossroads that the Germans are coming upon, and these guys know they're going to die. All they have is their tank, and it's broken. And they're standing to try to hold this crossroads. And they're in the tank, and there's camaraderie, but they've had some fights. But they have this.

common goal, I think, common mission that you mentioned, Sam, that they're they love each other because of it. You'll hear this interaction. In fact, one of the guys kind of nerdy had joined the group and he was an outsider. And then They kind of adopt him and give him a name, a war name, which that was a big thing in their group. And then it gets down to the end, and I'll just kind of leave it there.

We'll talk about it when. After the clips over. Bye Ah, ah, that's better than good. Mm. Come here.

Yeah. What you gonna do with that? I'm gonna drink it. I know you hear me preach. I know it.

What we're doing here is a righteous act, gentlemen. You hear me, Gordo? Mm-hmm. You know, there's Bible verse I think about sometimes, many times, it goes. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?

And who'll go for us? Yeah. And I said Here am I. Send me. Save me Book of Isaiah, chapter 6.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah, bitch. Yeah. Yeah, don't Exactly right.

So Wow. Here's some. You fight for Shane, ain't you? Machine, that's it, that's his war name. That's perfect.

I christened him with She. Yeah. Shame! Machine. That was it, it cut off.

What happened? I know. Oh.

Well, they can't continue to go around. As you can hear that, they're on this mission together. And they have this camaraderie. In fact, the leader who quite Quoted what they're told what it was from Isaiah 6. They didn't think he had much spiritual knowledge.

And this other guy was always quoting the Bible.

So you hear that. And then you hear, you know, Norman, and they're calling him out the machine. And that does a lot for his heart because he'd become, he was very passive. And then he'd begin to realize, I need to kill or be killed. And so, anyway, it goes on to say.

Um Brad Pitt's character there, he goes on to say, best job I've ever had. They're just, they have this connection, this camaraderie, this shared mission to stop the enemy. We were talking about doing good for others on your job. They were doing good for humanity by stopping a maniac, right? And so, just through all that, You know, when we go to work, I don't feel like I'm going off to war.

But i in a sense, our you know, we talk a lot about battle and warfare. I believe that there in a sense, when we work, when we work to glorify God, we are going to battle. And when you go have people to go with you, there's people that I've worked with that have some spiritual um agreement with me on that or or whatever. But another thing is, is this job, the best job I've ever had, I'm in it now. And whenever it I When I first got into it, I thought, oh, heck, what have I done?

And I leaned into God so much. He pulled me through because I had no business. I was having to depend on a skill set I'd never developed. And I'm still in the process of developing. And I've loved my job and I've had a lot of success in it.

Well, these are one of the times where, like I was saying earlier, that it's not as easy. And it gets you to the first thing you're like, well, I'm getting out of this.

Well, that may be an option. It may. It may be God's leading you to something else. But I'm pretty hard-headed, and I just think my faith-I mean, I know who I've believed in, and I'm not just going to abandon things because things are tough. And that's just kind of where I'm at.

And I think there is a time for persistence. But I was the same way in my previous job and didn't think I could have another job other than that until I started, I believe God started moving on my heart.

So I know that it's possible. We don't know. Danny gave an example of where it moved him and it aligns now with what he's going through.

So God knows the future, I don't. and it's important to be listening, but it's also important that maybe God wants me to change my attitude or change what I'm doing. That's that's definitely on the table for me. I'm listening there. But it could be just that I'm just supposed to lean in, and that's all I know to do, and allow him to guide me on that.

But. you know, at first it just it becomes very frustrating if you're not. You know, from what you were talking about, sales job, it's very difficult. I'm in a very competitive industry, and when sales don't come, They want to know why. They want to know what's going on.

I have all kinds of reasons, but it's not always that easy. And so. One thing you can be certain of: there's a change God's wanting you to make. It just may not be of job, it may be of heart, maybe of lots of things. Absolutely.

There's something, there's a change a coming. Maybe I was just too comfortable. Maybe I need to be shaken up a bit. I don't know.

Well, you circle back to the first show in Robby's clip. Become that cell that starts to rumble, that starts bouncing off, and then it creates the restoration. A bit of other more of my story, though, I am dealing with a lot. dealing with moving back and there's a lot of stuff to do.

So I'm I'm it's requiring a lot from me, energy, a lot of thought, a lot of Just a lot of life changed.

So, this is just one aspect, too.

So, to your point, I agree that I do want to bring the rumble. I just don't know if the rumble's there. I've might be rumbled out as I'm getting up there in my career. You know, it takes a certain amount of energy to manage all this stuff. Again, to Jim's point, I'm not trying to really control it, but these things are things that we have to juggle at times.

I think we talked about that.

Well, I have noticed. Most places, the best way I know to get into a lot of trouble is to do something, right? Because if you do something, chances are you're going to do some part of it wrong. It's going to aggravate people. Because look at him over there doing something.

And just like it's pointed out, and that if you just do something, Oh my gosh, it gets the whole People just start pushing, just like he showed. Like, you get away from what you have to do. Why do you have to get, you know, and all sorts of things happen until it gets into the groove. Yeah. Right?

And so it's a hard thing to just jump in and go, hey, God. What's my next move? Yep. I took it hard at first 'cause uh it just all came to a head kind of a couple of weeks ago and I was struggling. I wasn't feeling good at the time either, which didn't help.

But I it was like You know, we talk about the um Check engine light. There was a check engine light that was happening for me, so. Yeah, but luckily it was yellow, not red. You know, the red angel night. It was orange, I think.

Yeah, it was getting there. It's time to get revolutionary. It is, it is. Revolutionary light. Yeah, go to masculinejourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp November 20th through 23rd.

Again, that's masculinejourney.org. Where are you at in your work life right now? Are you walking with God? Are you in the middle of that? That's the key thing: you always say, God, I want to invite you into this.

Maybe you want you to just love on others in your current place. Maybe you want you to do something different. But walk with Him. We'll talk with you next week. This is the Truth Network.

Yeah.