This is the Truth Network. The heart of every man craves a great adventure, but life doesn't usually feel that way. Jesus speaks of narrow gates and wide roads, but the masculine journey is filled with many twists and turns.
So how do we keep from losing heart while trying to find the good way when life feels more like a losing battle than something worth dying for? Grab your gear and come on a quest with your band of brothers who will serve as the guides in what we call the masculine journey. The masculine journey starts here now. Welcome to Masculine Journey. This is Danny and Sam is away, he's actually out of the country and Robby and Andy and And A host of gentlemen are not here, but I have got This is like the SEAL team of Masculine Journey, right?
Yeah, Jim's gone also. Jim's gone also. He's not cruising, no. No. No.
So, you know, but anyway. He's actually in country. We've got Harold, Art, Rodney, and Grant. We're in great shape. And we're going to tackle another topic this week, see where it goes, and hope you guys enjoy it.
Topic. Topic, yeah. You got a topic? We do. We are actually doing mentors again as we did a rouge last week where we kind of roasted our buddy Harold.
And I've debated on giving him a 15-minute rebuttal to defend himself. But he's so gracious and he loves every minute of it. And he's just, I mean, a super sport. And we do love you, Harold. And you are somebody we all look up to.
Yeah, if we're going to pick somebody. In a spiritual sense, we all look up to you anyway. But, you know, so. Yeah, if we're going to pick on somebody, it might as well be Harold. Might as well be Harold.
Because he's the. Least likely to give you feedback. Every once in a while he'll come up with a tune or two. But I'm going to tell you. But he'll take them.
He's methodical about his attacks and their well-planned.
So he likes seeing the smile. Yeah. You know, you know, we all rib and and carry on and that, you know, kind of Robby mentioned it last week that, you know, it's kind of a love language of guys. But you learn over the years who you can and you can't mess with. And, you know, there are some people that just that's not their arena.
I'm not one of those. I reap quite a bit from what I sow. And rightfully so. And like our buddy Sam, who's a very good sport, he knows that the crop's coming home sooner or later.
Somebody's gonna get him. And but he takes it in stride and he usually gets a good chuckle out of it. And that's most, that's all of us around here that I know of. We take shots and we giggle, and it's in love. It really is.
And we are talking about mentors and talking about taking shots. I've taken a shot to from a few mentors of mine. And you know, talk about what they've meant in our life and the things they've spoken to our life, because there's nobody sitting in this room or I dare say nobody. In the sound of my voice, that hasn't had somebody pour into your life, whether you asked for it or not. Or, you know, because God has a way of just putting people in your way.
And you can try to get around them, and then you'll meet somebody just like them two weeks later. You know, I've done a few geographical cures, I guess, in my life, but.
Somebody evidently eventually shows up. that either ta take his way or the absent. Got two choices. Yeah, the grant you're absolutely right that you know. is you know I've heard it said that when the student's ready the teacher appears.
And that's been true in my life. You know, on many different levels, many different situations. And, you know, this life's an adventure. It's a big one. Oh my gosh.
There's so much that comes at you. It's like, well, where do I go next? And then you don't have to worry about it. God takes care of getting people together. He does.
He does. It's amazing. Yet it is so amazing the encounters you have, and when you look back, you go. Man. How in the world was that guy at that place at that time?
Yeah, because you don't even think about it, and all of a sudden you're talking about maybe even here on the show, and it's like, Oh, I remember three years ago when I was with Joe, this happened. And it's like And now is something that's important. Yeah. I was reading the other day about Balaam. If you know the story of Balaam, he's riding the donkey and he's going where God told him not to go.
and an angel standing in the path, if you know the story, and the donkey balked on him. would go. And if y'all ever been around a donkey with a donkey box, he ain't going nowhere. And so he smacks him, tries to get him going. And finally, the donkey turns around and says, Hey, why are you beating on me?
I'm trying to save your life.
So the donkey poured into Balaam's life. And sometimes God uses that to remind me when I get high on my horse that, hey, I spoke to a donkey one time, too, you know.
So, you know, that's kind of the deal. But God does things like that. And, you know, we're going to talk about that. And this first clip is a. This clip makes me sound like a clip genius because it's a montage.
I admire the montages that Robby and him have played, but I found this, and I'm going to be honest, Rodney, it was already done on YouTube before I cut it.
So the montage was already put together. And I'm like, thank you, Jesus.
So I didn't have to go hunt down all that stuff, but it's perfect because you're going to hear variables from different movies, different mentors pouring into different people. In a plethora of movie scenes from the Dark Knight, Batman, to I think there's a Superman, there's The karate kid, there's all kinds of things, you'll hear different, some of them you'll recognize, some of it you won't go. But, and the life advice that goes to it is phenomenal. And the reason I chose this was because I've had a plethora of men. and women and even creatures that have poured into my life over the years.
And, you know, as Grant mentioned, you know, even our current journey with his cancer, God's putting people in my life every day. that have been there done that and got the t-shirt. And are pouring into my life going. Here's what some of the, you know, some things are just advice, and some things are true from the heart. This is my experience, and this is what worked for me.
You're welcome to try it. My good buddy Dwayne Stevenson, who passed away earlier this year, used to say that. Take what you can use from people. And cast the other to the side. He said, but don't throw it so far that you can't pick it up later on because you may need it.
And it was good advice.
So I'm going to play this clip and then we'll talk about it a little further. No, try not. Do or do not. There is no trying. I never saw your future.
only its possibilities. You have such a capacity for goodness. Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all. Which is. It's not about you.
You don't know about real loss. because it only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. Remember, with great power. comes great responsibility. True courage.
It's about knowing not when to take a life. But we despair one. Because it's Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men. Just wanna watch the world burn. Either you, karate-do, yes, or karate-doo, no. You, karate-doo, guess so. Just like grip.
There is a deep magic more powerful than any of us that rules over all of Narnia. It defines right from wrong. and governs all our destinies. Yours? And my dark and difficult times lie ahead.
Soon we must all face the choice between what is right What is easy? But remember this. You have friends here. I love the end of that: you have friends here, you are not alone. And one of the things the enemy tries and tries to hammer home to you is that your situation is unique.
and nobody knows the trouble you've seen. But that's not true. That's not true. The uh nobody has terminal uniqueness. The uh, you know, because God's putting people in your path, and all in all, As Grant brings up quite often, he's there.
All the time. He'll never leave you nor forsake you.
So, you know, that's what in the heart of hearts. And you know, Art talked about a free show. By God, it's a design. One person pouring into another was by his design. You see it all through scripture.
You see Jethro. Not Bodine. If you know that reference. poured into Moses. That was his father-in-law.
You see Moses poured into Joshua. You see Joshua poured into I don't remember the name, but anybody. You see Paul poured into Timothy and Luke and those guys. You see Jesus poured into the twelve disciples. You see it all over the place.
So, by divine design, it's in your core DNA. If they allow it.
Well, it's like Harold talks about the programming cards in the card that God programmed us with. There's a punch in there, Harold, that says discipleship's part of this deal. I believe that. It's in the core. It's in the core.
Um.
So You know, that reminded me of, you know, just a couple of guys that I think about pretty regularly is you guys have heard me talk about my buddy Bill Hughes, who was just a phenomenal guy. And Michelle and I quote him all the time. We call it the Billisms of the world. And, you know, one of his favorite things to do is to say was you'd pour out your problem to him and tell him what your solution was. And he'd go, how's that working for you?
That was his way of saying Dude, you're on the wrong track. You know, you need to reel this thing in a little bit. I remember sitting across his dinette table in his kitchen one time, and I'm pouring out my woes, Harold. You know, oh, lonesome me, oh, you know, doing all the thing. And he goes, look.
He said, This ain't a relationship where you get to come in here and dump your trash and then leave. This is a two-way street. You know, I gotta I there's gotta be some reciprocation here. And what he was teaching me was that every relationship that you encounter, all of you guys have taught me something. No matter what our dynamics of it is, it's always a two-way street.
because the teacher learns.
sometimes more than he teaches. And so if you're forever a student, we talked about that, then that's the way it is.
So Anybody got anything? We've got probably a minute or so? Just when you're going through that saying it's a two-way street, really, it's a three-way because you have God. Absolutely. And he's overlooking everything that's going on in your life.
And that's one of the beautiful things. I forget how Robby describes it, but he describes that very well in his triangle, and he holds it up and it's like. The spirit. Yeah, but he's got something specific he says in there, and I can't remember what it is, but. It's very, very good to have every one of your relationships overseen by God.
Yeah. Because you're going to forget about Him, you're going to forget about the things you need to say. But God's going to bring it up. God's going to make sure that you get out what He needs you to get out for the listener. You may not even need to remember some of the things that you're talking to somebody about, but somebody else really, really needs it.
And that's when it's going to be brought up. It's just amazing how God will work with everything to say, Here's what you need, and here you go, and here's what you don't need, and He doesn't bring it up. It's just much, much better than trying to do it all on my own.
Well, I want to tape that. I think we just did. You're absolutely right, Rodney. And you know, John Elders talks about putting the cross between you and people sometimes to protect yourself from all that other stuff. We might get into that or not.
So look us up on masculinejourney.org. You can check out our boot camp coming up November 20th to 23rd, and we'll talk to you after the break. What we have at our boot camp is something that makes you stronger and gives you the strength to go on your regular walk with God. It's something that will make you be bigger than you were when you got there. I listened to Morgan Slider's book, Driving to Work last year, and that was a very profound experience.
So, this kind of culminated into it. I'd have been invited to it several times, and just it never worked out. God really had it set up that I came last time.
So, coming into this one, I knew this one went deeper, and I really wanted it. It's a break for me to get outside of things I've got going on, and I just needed a break from it and needed to reconnect. It's been absolutely bad, this process. The covenant of silence, silent prayer, those are some of my favorite parts. This is real connection with the Lord.
You can hear Him speak, you can. Get direction, guidance, anything you're missing is there. You always learn something new. It's fun experiencing it with other men. It's fun standing for them and what they're going through.
We're all different and unique, but we all go through the same struggles. And when you hear somebody else went through it too, it kind of gives you an encouragement that, hey, you can make it through this. And God's got you, and He's going to hold you up through it, and He's going to carry you to the next level. Register today at masculinejourney.org. Water difference you've made in my life.
What a difference you've made in my life. You're my sunshine day and night. Oh, what a difference you've made in my life. That was Ronnie Mealsap, and what a difference you made in my life. That goes back a couple of decades.
And Harold vaguely remembered who he was. And maybe a little more than a couple. Yeah, you have a few. Probably seventies, but you know, he was a country singer and he was blind and he played the piano. And he sang that song, and the song ultimately is about Jesus.
And the difference Jesus makes in our life. And that's kind of what we've been talking about. But the element part of the element of that is the people Jesus chooses to be his hands and feet in our life. And we call them mentors or sages or whatever you want to call. And that's what we've been talking about.
And, you know, I love that song. I've always loved Ronnie Milsap's music and all that stuff. And, you know, I told him in the pre-show that, you know, you can take the boy out of the country. I'm up here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. But you cannot take the country out of the boy.
It's just going to be what it's going to be. Is it still in there? Oh, my goodness. Yes, it's in there.
So, you know, that's, you know, that's as I ate fried catfish that I had caught this week. Yeah, Rodney is in there. Like Sprego spaghetti sauce. Good.
So, you know, that's just, you know, it's just, you know, I grew up in the country. And you know, we listened to all that stuff, but you know, that song just made sense. Yeah, so anyway, we'll move on from that.
So, Mr. Art. You have a clip that I absolutely love. I'm kind of jealous I didn't find this one, sir.
Well, I'm going to go back to the 70s too. I guess we're kind of giving our age away there, Danny. We're getting some years on us. Hey, if we were old cars, we are classics. You know what I mean?
That's right, classics. Sure. Just like the car show in town this weekend. Always the good stuff from the old days, huh? That's right.
That's right. Okay, well, I took my clip from the TV series Kung Fu, which aired from 1972 to 1975. And I loved watching that show back then. And Danny said he likes that show too. And probably if I took the time to go back and watch it again, watch the.
I think that's the only thing that's What do you call them? The episodes again. I would enjoy them again, probably. But anyway, in this clip, it's titled When and Why Kane Got the Name Grasshopper. And the clip is pretty much self-explanatory.
We will just go ahead and play it first and then come back and talk about it. Yeah, Kane is played by David Carradine.
So, yeah, we're going back a day or two.
So, here we go. You are the new student. Come closer. You cannot see. You think I cannot see.
of all things To live in darkness must be the worst. Fear is the only darkness. Take your plume. And strike me with it. Do as I tell you.
Strike. Again. Here, catch. Never assume that because a man has no eyes, he cannot see. Close your eyes.
What do you hear? I hear the water. I hear the birds. Do you hear your own heartbeat? No.
Do you hear the grasshopper? Which is at your feet. Old man. How is it that you hear these things? Young man.
How is it that? You do not.
Okay, well the part that Uh it might not have been self-explanatory as where Cain was striking the master with his broom and the master would grab the broom and send Cain for a tump wool and he would strike him again and the same thing would happen. He would eventually take his broom away from him. Even though he's blind. Even though he cannot see. He cannot see.
He has no vision. Um but he he says that he can he can see. He he he can see through his he has learned to compensate for his blindness. By fine-tuning his hearing, and he is teaching Cain that that is possible, that you can do that. And it is a There's just so much to learn in this world from each other, from the Word of God, and from.
Uh for mentors if and um The like I said, the the The master is teaching Cain that he can see with his ears, essentially, and that is a great lesson that that probably most of us never really think about. Um But um Anyway, I'd just like to say it's it's important. that um to always be a student, a student of of God, a student of other men, we can learn from each other, we can be mentors, we can be students, and at the same time, um And then I had a preacher. In my church, when I was a kid, and he used to always refer to himself as a student. And I thought, well, how can that be?
I mean, you're the head teacher, you're not the student. But now I kind of understand it. He's both a student and a teacher. And you have to be a student and learn things before you can teach other people what you know, what you have learned. And all of us have the capacity to be mentors of some sort.
I was saying earlier that All of a set of Played any kind of sports, probably remember our coaches, all the coaches' names that we had, and a little something about them.
Some of us from for years ago, from years ago. And um And probably all of us aren't cut out to be a coach, but in some way we can mentor someone, help them along their way. in life and Let's see, I do ha I do have a um A verse, a Bible verse, I would like to read, and it is Proverbs 18, 15. Says the heart of the discerning acquires knowledge. and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
I would say it's it's probably pretty easy. To get caught in a little trap of thinking, well, I know everything I need to know at this point in my life, and I don't need to. learn from others. I know everything. I have knowledge, but I've probably been there a time or two myself, but thankfully it was for short periods and I realize now there's always more to learn from other people, from God's Word.
And I did have, um, A mandatory dog story to tell since they put a microphone in front of me. It's mandatory. It's. You know, I got this dog, took her in as a rescue. She was two and I.
I trained her to be a cow dog, to herd cows, and it was really easy to do because she was such a smart dog. But then then later the later I got a puppy. She was about three at this point, and I got a puppy.
So I didn't have to train the puppy. She trained the puppy to be a cow dog. And she she um She taught him how to herd the cows, and she liked to ride with me on the Kubota and let him do the work and just supervise him and watch him. She would watch closely, and anytime A cow decided to get stubborn and maybe turn around on the puppy. She would zip.
She would be right there to help him. And she would, she would. She would turn the cow back in the right direction there for him.
So, and nature, so essentially, what I'm saying is, it's nature's. In nature, the ones that know things teach the ones that don't. And it's God's plan, and it's the same for mankind. The ones that have knowledge and know things are to teach and mentor the ones that don't. Because there's a lot of things that when we go through life, we don't know.
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, so you're always learning something. And like for me, in my situation, I've lost a lot of memory. There's just things I don't remember.
But what I've noticed, even not remembering, when something comes up that I'm familiar with, but I just can't remember it, as we go through that a little bit, it's amazing. It's like, oh, I start to remember, and it starts to come back. And I'm like, okay, I know where I'm at, what we're doing, and I can remember the words or what to say. But it's never just real easy anymore. That that's work for me is just to be able to remember what I'm going through, what I've been through, and then apply that.
'Cause it's just. Just hard. Yeah, you know, I thought about something in a book that I read years ago, I was fond of. The big book, Alcoholics Anonymous, says that if you want what we have and are willing to go to any length and get it, then you're ready to take certain steps. And that's where I've lived my life for the past 30-something years, is I see people who are living the life I want to live.
And I approach them.
So if you don't know anybody like that or you can't think of it, look for people who have what you want. And those are the people that God will allow to pour in your life. Harold, you got something you want to interject right quick or? Yeah. No, I got a couple of stories, but it'll take more time than we got left.
Well, we do have the after hours, so y'all stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat channel for the after hours. Grant, you got anything you want to say? Yes, um No I don't. No?
Yeah, no, maybe. Yes, no, maybe we don't know. Yoda said, well, I go do or don't do. But that's where there's so many opportunities for us to go learn. There's so many opportunities for us to teach.
And a lot of times we're doing it when we don't even realize it's there. you have so many people that come up and say, Oh, I just learned this from somebody And it's like, well, what'd they teach you? How'd they do that? Like, I don't know. I just watched and I observed or I heard.
You don't always have to be in a very. minute situation to really kind of understand what's going on. I think what we have is mind, body, and soul. Yeah. And along with what Robby was saying, I think Rodney was saying, I think just being a role model sometimes, you're teaching, you're being a mentor.
If nothing else, you're just by living your life the right way, you are teaching others how to live. A great place to do that and begin that journey is at a boot camp. Right. Yep. At November 20th or 23rd, you can go to our website, masculinejourney.org.
You can go to Facebook. You can get the radio program and the after hours on any podcast format. And you can, you know. Do that kind of thing, so look us up, and we hope to see you at boot camp.
So, see you, talk to you next week. Mm-hmm. This is the Truth Network. Yeah.
