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. We are excited to be talking about this topic this week.
I just want to switch it up. I have nothing else to say except that we're glad to have you here because we are always glad to have you here with us on the radio show. And so we appreciate you listening. And if you'd ever want to reach out to any of us, you can through email, through any of the social media outlets we're on. I think we're on pretty much most of them.
We monitor some of those. If I could remember the login on a couple of them, we'd monitor them all. But no, you can reach us through Facebook or through the YouTube channel that we have or through our first name at masculinejourney.org. That would be like andy at masculinejourney.org, so forth and so on. Go from there.
Anyway, we are taking a break from our foundation series for a three-week hiatus as we go through some Christmas-related topics.
Some are more Christmas-related than others. You know, last week we had a couple of Christmas clips and a Christmas song, but it was all about coming home to God. Right? And so that could have been played any time throughout the year. We just happened to do it at Christmas and talk about the importance of what that looks like to be at home in Him, right?
What's it look like to be at home in Him now? And eventually, right, in eternity. And so that was last week's show. If you missed out, I listened to it again today. I thought it was a good show.
You can go back and listen to it. But today's show. Who you think was the best person? Was it you? Anyone other than me?
You know, because you always hear your own voice. You're like, what is that? Who's doing my voice? That's really a bad rendition of my voice. I like to hear myself.
Yeah. I mean. I'm usually my favorite. Are you? Yeah.
Okay. I used to couldn't miss one, and I just kind of worked in on myself. I haven't listened to it in quite some while. Like my favorite was last week. I was from myself.
Last week, my favorite was you, Andy, trying to come out of the coma from having too many sugary things. You're like, I passed on into tonight. I wanted to be awake. Yeah, you are more awake, more alert. Your eyes are open, so that's a good sign that it's going to be a better show.
I just pull it up, listen to myself, and then turn it off. That's right, exactly. Exactly.
Well, tonight's topic is. Your favorite Christmas movie or and or song. You know, and why. And so, we're going to play a couple clips from different movies and talk about probably different movies and different songs as today's show and kind of go through why. And some of that may not be directly related to God, but I promise you, if you think about it long enough, it'll all go back to God on why that's part of it.
And so, Andy, you have the first clip of the day.
So, if you want to tell us about your clip.
So this is from Santa Claus II, and the clause in the Santa Claus II is. That Scott Calvin, Santa Claus, has to be married in 28 days. Or he loses his Santa powers, and he had grown fond of being Santa, and he wanted to do that.
So he goes back to wherever that town was that they were from the North Pole. And his son, who's been, you know, south of there.
South of there, exactly. Yeah. So he gets back there and his son's causing trouble and he meets up with his son's principal. And She didn't like him at all. But he's starting to grow on her and and they're He kind of Mm.
He comes over to see her, and she's got to go to this faculty Christmas party for her school. She takes him along with him and the party's pretty lame. And then Santa, you'll see Santa, Scott, Calvin kind of. morph into Santa Claus and begin to do a secret Santa for all of these faculty there. And it's really cool to play out.
I'll talk a little bit more about it, but that's the setup. Yeah, she was not aware of any of this. She was not aware of any of this. In fact, later on in the in She was quite offended when he told her he was Santa Claus. Yeah, but you'd have to watch the movie to see what she was doing.
She would have to watch the movie. And I'll quit talking so you can actually enjoy the movie. She was from the East. Yeah, she was the Southeast over there. Here we go.
Uh could I have your attention? Your attention, please. I'm Scott Calvin, and I just thought I'd step up here and And uh, before the choir gets out here, I say we rock this house. The Secret Santa. Oh, huh?
Carol, happy, happy Christmas. She's afraid that these are just decorations for the Caroline. I think Carol is right about the Caroline. I'm talking about the packages that are backstage. There aren't any packages backstage.
Oh, there's none back there.
So I was mistaken when I saw this bag of gifts. Maybe I'm wrong, but sure looks like a bag of gifts. Oh, it's heavy like a bag of gifts. John Pierce. Doesn't your mom call you JJ?
Merry Christmas, JJ. Oh wait. This is Tosser Cross! I used to love this when I was a kid. But I never told anybody.
Where did it? Who did this? Grace Kim. Yes, there you are. Merry Christmas.
Thank you. Todd Astel. Me?
Sorry, Sword. Had to change a bit every time.
Okay. Lizzie Garcia. Here, here, here. There you are. Merry Christmas.
Rock'em Sagam Robots! Meal tradition. Oh, this is incredible. Oh, lovely hobby of this.
So That really, I'd like to take full credit for it, and I'll tell you a minute about how I ended up on that. But just noticing how he went through there, the secret stand, obviously, he's using his Santa superpowers to know. what those gifts are that they want. But you know, he goes on. Um, with the principal, her name's Carol, Christmas Carol, I guess.
Um He does the same thing for her, and it's really impactful to her because she just can't figure out how. And like I was say Was saying is that she was quite offended when he actually said, you know, Santa Claus, and they work through all that. But anyway. Why I chose this was that it church Sunday a couple came up and they were doing communion and ladies there was just I don't know who it was, but she was just s um, giving an example Of Christmas movies that she liked. And she brought this out that.
You know, it was a matter of it's like God seeing us. God knows what we wanted at Christmas, what we didn't get as a kid. That personal God. That um You know, that enters into our life, and even though He knows what our hearts need, and He knows that we need to be seen by Him. The closest relationship with God at times, I know that I struggle with this.
You get into this You know, this area. I mean, you should have seen the boring Christmas party they had. None of them felt seen by anybody. And God enters into that and sees them all as individuals. And like I was saying, the boringness, not the boringness, the times of life when it gets to be a struggle, a drudge, a repetitive, God sees us in that.
He sees the faithfulness, he sees where we're at. And it's just a reminder that he truly does see us and and uh reaches towards us. Yeah, the couple thoughts I had on that clip. First one was in the masculine journey, you know, we talk about, you know, when you walk closely with God, he'll take you back into things you missed as a kid. Right?
That, you know, if you miss something in the boyhood stage, which isn't going to make sense if you haven't been listening to the show for a while, but there's six stages that you're supposed to have gone through as a man. And each stage, you're supposed to get something vital from many things. Like talk of talking about talking. Like me trying to talk. And so anyway, you know, God can take you back into those stages when you're well beyond the years of when you should be able to enter in and give you those presents that you remissed.
You know, and it's a good reminder. The thing, the other thing I thought of was we're doing our gift mart right now that we're going to do this this upcoming Saturday when this show airs, I'll be at a gift mart where we're helping some kids have, 250 kids have Christmas. And one of the presents that was given was a toss across. And I see it, and I hear this guy's voice. Toss across.
And every time, you know, I just hear it in that voice, and it makes me laugh. Right? It was impactful that, as you were saying, Andy, that this was such a dead. Feeling in this whole thing, and then when you get seen by somebody, how that enters in and makes a difference, makes all the difference in the world. And to be seen by the creator of the universe, there's nothing bigger than that.
Correct. You know, that's it's so true. this being seen, right? Sunday, two little girls at church hadn't been there for a while, but they came because there was going to be a baptism of a close primary friend and And so there was kind of a little bit of a reunion as well because they they've they live a little ways away and And both those little girls were wearing little pleated skirts.
Well, I mean, one of the things that always happened when they used to go to church there was as soon as they saw me, they would run to me and give me a hug.
Now, I wasn't the only one. They're the hugginess little girls in the world. I mean, they're awesome, they make you smile. But As soon as I saw their dresses, you know, candy canes, and I said, oh, those are really cool candy canes. I love your dress.
That's really cute. And both of them immediately started twirling because their little pleated dresses flew out. And so. And it was that idea, and it just, I mean, I love it when a little kid reminds me of. And so in that moment, you're able to be A Jesus with skin on, right?
And to say, yes, you are seen, you are beautiful, you are special. and all of those things. And that's what Christmas It's kind of for. And it I mean, yeah, there's all the secularism and everything and Harold's not here, so I'll be mad about Christmas this week and all the secularism that goes on with it. But.
Those times when you were seen as a kid. I remember The Christmas I probably remember most as a kid is the Christmas that I wanted. A bow and arrow really, really badly. And I mean, I just knew I was going to get a bow and arrow. And Christmas game.
No bow and arrow. Christmas morning. And it was on a Sunday, by the way. Hated it when Sunday was Christmas. You know, because you got to go do the church thing.
And when you're a little kid, that's not necessarily. You have to go do the church thing. I know, but when you're a little kid, you have to, yeah. And so, but that Sunday night when I got home from church the second time, because you know, back in the day, we always went to church at least twice. And there was nothing wrong with that.
But... I got home that night and we were sitting around chit chatting and so forth, and I remember my mom saying, Well, did you find that other gift? I think we had one here and it it was kinda misplaced and Blah blah blah. And she was just doing it to play a joke on me, because I was the kid that always snuck into everything and found everything.
Well, ended up I looked underneath the couch and there's my bow and arrow that I wanted. But that idea of, oh, they did know, they do care, they, you know, and So it's really cool when God shows up. for us even today. I wish that I were still child spirited enough. To just jump into that like I was then when God does show up for me.
And sometimes I am, but not always.
Well, you know, parents really let their kids get a more than one arrow. You kept saying a bow and arrow. But no, I'm just went to Raino. It was all I could do. We were a poor family, Sam.
We couldn't afford more than one arrow. Yeah, I had a bow and arrow, but no strain. And it almost cut my ear off the next day.
So, I mean, there's a whole lot of things. Don't worry. Go to masculinejourney.org. 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 think sometimes as men, we feel like we're on our own and we've got to do everything ourselves and the weight of the world is on our shoulders and it's our job to fix everything and make everything right and have all the answers. And I think when you come here, you just get really honed back in and reminded that God really is for us. That a good father helps you and a good father makes sure you have all the tools you need and a good father comes through for you when you need him and you just feel less alone. Register today at masculinejourney.org.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose Although it's been said Many times, many ways. Merry Christmas to you. Welcome back to Masculine Journey. I know Darren's going to rain on my parade here in a second on the clip that I chose to play back in.
No, but he's on the floor. He fell down laughing. Yeah, he's laughing about something. No, I was thinking about a guy I invited or was. going to call him and try to get him to come tonight with us.
and hang out for a little while. And then I am glad that I did not.
Okay. Because there's no necessary, I just don't know what would have happened in that moment.
Okay, well, that was Nat King Cole, and that was the sounds very dramatic. Yeah, it does. I'm interested in meeting him now. Yeah, but obviously, he has an affinity for Nat King Cole. But no, that song was a Christmas song, and the reason I picked it, I had a couple Christian songs I really enjoy.
You know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, probably one of my favorite Christians. Hark or Harold. Or Harold, you know, because he was with the Angels back then. That's right.
Now the reason I picked this song is it reminds me of something really fond in my childhood. Growing up, my parents uh we had a record player and I never knew we had a record player until Christmas. Right? Because my mom would two Christmas albums, and she would play them pretty much non-stop during the Christmas, you know, leading up to Christmas from Thanksgiving. You never start it before Thanksgiving.
That's just wrong. I'm just saying, you can't play Christmas music till after Thanksgiving is over. And that's the way I was raised. But she would play it that whole month, you know, you typically have. And with it only being two albums, you know, I got to hear all these singers, and it was like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Joey Bishop, all the guys from that time period.
And it heard them so much that I could recognize their voices. And so one of my favorite things to do at Christmas is put on a Christmas playlist. I don't know who's coming up and just see if I can guess who the the singer is. Because over the years, you know, Burl Ives and all that. And it just brings me back to a time that was very fond in my childhood.
Not all my f childhood memories were great, but that was one that was good. And even though we didn't really have much money and Christmases were lean a lot of times and wouldn't have had Christmas except for my grandparents. Most years are all years. The warmth of my mom loving those songs so much, you know, still today it's one of my favorite memories. You know, and it brings me closer to being home.
You know, and I think about, you know, that was just God's way. Of reminding me that outside the circumstances, I was still raised in a house of love. Yeah. You know, yeah, we had our dysfunction. You know, there was plenty of dysfunction, but in the midst of that dysfunction, underneath it, it was love.
You know, I was born into a family at war.
So you kind of personalize that. That was my larger story. That's good in the midst of a big love story. Anyway, you'll have to come to a boot camp to figure out the fullness of that statement.
So before we go ahead to our next clip, what's some favorite songs or movies some of you guys have? Anybody want to speak out? Yeah, I love All of the kind of Christian classic you know, Christmas songs, the First Noel and, you know, and all of those different ones. Um I truly love those.
Now all of this subject You know, we were talking before the show, this whole subject. Kind of There are certain songs that I hear on the Secular radio today? That I like the artist, I like the song, but that song or that artist has been really tainted for me personally because of some horrible traumatic event that was going on in my life. And somehow or another, those things are connected, you know, like a smell, you know, can bring back memories.
Well, music does the same thing. And Christmas at one time in my life was that way, where I just didn't really like any of it. You know? But now I'm the guy that, I mean, you know, Jamie and I working construction for the last, you know, 15 years or so, we'd start listening to Christmas music in like August or during the radio show, even sometimes. And so anyway, I mean, it just, because it was like, yeah, that it brings.
A smile to my heart.
Now, I mean, I'm not going to be listening to it constantly, you know, three months before Christmas, but. Um you know, a Christmas song. Every now and then, I mean, I I have like random playlists, you know, your thumbs up kind of playlist and stuff, and one will hit every now and then. I don't skip it. I enjoy it.
So. Yeah. What about you, Corey? Um Mm-hmm.
Well, the one that I'm listening to a lot right now is Ocom Emanuel by Skillet.
Okay, probably won't listen to that one, but go ahead. It's one. The melody at the beginning is Absolutely beautiful, and I've never really appreciated that song until I heard them sing it. Also I like driving the uber religious people crazy, and uber religious people are having a fit over that song because it's got heavy metal in it. But, you know, it is what it is.
They're Christian. That's just because there was a power back then. Yeah. Right. Jesus was the god of heavy metal as well.
Yeah. Um. But Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I just It well. I just like it. That's that's my genre of music that I enjoy.
So. And that was the first concert that I ever went to. First real Concert, not just, you know, some guys playing a couple of guitars in a warehouse. Um, So that that holds a a special memory.
Now, people I was with is what it is, but It was a first for me in my life, and it was an amazing show.
So Yeah. It's good. like transport and orchestrating. Let's go to some For me, it's uh, you know, I submit a lot of clips on here for It's a Wonderful Life and That really came about. We watched a lot of Christmas uh Christmas movies.
Mom loved that stuff. Turn all the lights off. I mean, all the lights and turn the Christmas lights on. put some movie on But I w I had gotten serious about God in my twenties and mom was really a kind of a spiritual mentor and kind of we just hit it off on that because she'd been praying for me to To come back to God, and when she did. She kind of introduced me to It's a wonderful life.
And we just kind of, and she gave, she'd give me, she got the colorized version for me and stuff. And I don't know, there was just something there because life became more valuable to me. Um or more You know, just with the Christian message and what's going on there in It's a Wonderful Life about. you know, really, you know, thinking about what impact you're having on the people around you and that kind of thing and I don't know. It was just it was cool to have that because we had we had done all the movies, all the traditional Christian movies, the all the Santa Claus is coming to town, Rudolph, or whatever it may be.
That like I said, that she was a big into the Waltons, and we we would watch Waltons Christmas and stuff. But that at that time in my life, it made a big impression and that's one of my favorites now, so Grant, what about you? Um well my best favorite was um Scrooged.
Okay. They're going for him. Is it okay? That's all because everything's doing is wrong. Exactly.
He got around. He almost smiled. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
We got one last clip. I think I can get it in. We got a couple minutes left. This is from the side. The Santa Claus.
Yeah, and so this is a scene I'm gonna play it uh Tim Allen's character has a son for Christmas. He's divorced from the boy's mother, and he tries to cook dinner and it doesn't work out, so he takes him to Denny's, and this is what transpires. Yeah. Oh.
Alright. Remember why? Christmas. Danny's.
So I was open? I don't want it here. What are you talking about? Everybody likes Denny's. It's an American institution.
I don't even know what. We're talking. Yeah. Are you with Hatsutashi? No.
Yeah, but the truck could be. Oh yeah, this way. Come on. Right over there? Thank you.
There we go. Coffee? No, thank you, Judy. What do you say we start out with? Cold glasses.
But delicious seasonal favorite. Eggnog. I don't like it, Nog. We're out. Coffee, decaf.
Oh chocolate milk, please. We're out. Plain looks fine.
Okay. At least we know they got hot apple pie. We did. Yeah. This is nice.
So quickly, a couple of reasons I played that, and I've shared it on the air before in the past. But when my daughter's mom and I got divorced when my girls were living with me, and she would get them half of Christmas. We would in part of the summer, and I had them the rest of the year, and we would meet Christmas Day. To exchange the kids, and there's only two places in this place where we'd meet that were open every time. It was Denny's or Perkins.
Right across the street. And so we spent a lot of money, a lot of money, a lot of time at Denny's and Perkins over the years. And, you know, and one of the sayings in my family that became just it just stuck from the movie was that plain milk's fine.
So whenever the kids were like complaining they didn't get their way, we'd go, well, plain milk's fine. You know, and they would get mad until they started doing it too. And so it was just something that stuck with us. We still do it for on occasion today. And it's good memories.
But when I look back of all the times that I thought was really a struggle, you know, to go the four or five hour drive as we would drive across Ohio, you know, God sustained us every time. We got there safely. Every time, other than me getting two tickets on the way back on the same trip in Ohio, which I still drive through Ohio very cautiously, you know, again, we were safe. And through the bad weather of Indiana and Ohio during that time, you know, it was a lot of bad storms that came through. And each time we made it there safely, and just knowing God was there, and God was building memories, even through a silly movie like this that we can go back and we can revisit.
You know, and our kids laugh about it still today. There's not a Christmas that doesn't go by that we don't talk about those trips to Denny's or the plane milk's fine. And it's just a good reminder that, you know, God's always in the mix of things, whether we can see Him or not. You know, He's in the middle of what we're going through, and He's doing some things. And for me, it's a reminder in the plane milk's fine.
I may not usually get what I want, but God gives me what I need. You know, and sometimes I just need plain milk. Right? I don't need chocolate milk. Skim.
Skim milk. I could use some skim milk. Thank you for making a weight joke there, Grant. I appreciate that. Go to masculinejourney.org and register for a boot camp here coming up in March.
We're not ready to register yet, but go visit there. We'll talk to you next week. Um
