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're glad that you're joining us this week, and we're going to continue on the topic we started a little bit last week.
It's kind of continuing on the topic, we're continuing on the same scripture. As last week.
So last week we're talking about from Ephesians. one, seventeen, and eighteen. where Paul's praying Obviously the people of Ephesus, I guess that would be. I keep asking That God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, and that your In order that you may know The hope to which he has called you the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.
And so we were talking last week about when God opened the eyes of our heart. Right, and it's kind of just a general thing. And this week we're kind of narrowing it down because one of the things we talked about last week, when you really peel it back in your life, when you're walking with God, He opens your eyes to this aspect of Scripture. He opens your eyes to this aspect of Scripture, He opens your eyes to this part of your life. Right?
I mean, it's a constant of opening your eyes to see things in a different way. Than it was before. You know, so it's a constant part of the relationship. And so this week we're talking about the opening of our eyes to spiritual warfare. or deepening how we see it.
And so we're going to be talking about that this week. You guys got anything you want to add real quick? No, I I mean, other than I don't know that it's deepening. For a lot of us, it is truly opening. I mean, it's it's kind of like we were Paul and we were blinded for a while and and uh at some point in time, somebody came into our life That You know, led us a little bit into this idea that there is really spiritual warfare going on around us all the time.
And And more so that that is as Um Watchman knee. a great Chinese um Theologian said It's the normal Christian life. I mean, that's the reality of it. Is that spiritual warfare is a very normal, normal, normal part of Scripture. And a normal part of Christian life.
But the reason that a lot of us are turned off by that is because we've met somebody. That you know, thinks there's a demon hiding behind every rock and, you know, that every single thing that happens is spiritual warfare and doesn't leave room for stupidity. Um because sometimes some of the things that happen to me are my own stupidity or the stupidity of of my other brother Daryl. Yeah, it's consequences of my choices. Yeah.
Right. Which is a lot of it. Yeah, exactly. Or you run into Christians That live saying, well, Jesus has already defeated the enemy, so I don't have to worry about it. Right, and that's very dangerous.
That's something the enemies pulled over their eyes. to say okay you know he Yes, Jesus defeated him in the war, but there's a lot of battles till we get to the end of that war. And I was that guy for a long time. I mean, I was a pastor. Then I full Fledge believed that.
That Jesus has fought all the battles, it's all done. Cool.
Well There's a nugget of truth there. Yeah. But part of the ways that Jesus fights the battle today. Is using his kingdom, which is you and me. I mean, it says the kingdom God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Mm-hmm. And that tells me that it We're not only in a battle, but we have to take the kingdom by force by declaring it, by using his authority. You know I'm like you guys. I didn't think I real I thought b b being o I thought it was like a draft and if I didn't you know, I could be a draft Dodger, you know, I didn't really have to participate. And moved to Canada.
Exactly, exactly. And that's not an option. And you know, it's very clear. Jesus talks about warfare. And Paul, you know, he tells you to get get a whole set of armor, right?
And so it must be important to do.
So, you know, definitely, definitely part of the Christian life, the normal Christian life. Yeah, you find it all over Scripture, 1 Peter 5:8. Yeah. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for who he can devour. It's a constant in scripture.
And Darren, you're right, there are some people that say everything that ever happens to me is that the devil made me do it. Who was it? Flip Wilson that used to do it. It used to do that, right? And yes, again, there's an element of truth in a lot of that stuff, but it's not the whole truth.
I'm going to play a clip from The Matrix, and they played this at my first boot camp, and I'll talk a little bit more, which I've talked on the air before about. My uh life in early church as a kid You know, and what I was led to believe and how my eyes really got opened as an adult at boot camp. But part of it was due to this clip. And if you haven't seen The Matrix, it's like, I don't know, 30 years old, maybe longer. But it's a really good the original movie is a really good Analogy to a lot of things that are in the Bible.
They pull a lot of it from there. And in this, they're talking about. Warfare in their own way, and they're talking about whether you want to take the blue or red pill. And as we hear this, you have a gentleman named Morpheus who's explaining the Matrix to Neo. Do you want to know?
what it is. Yeah. The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room.
You can see it when you look out your window. Or when you turn on your television. You can feel it. When you go to work. Uh When you go to church.
When you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. Yeah. What truth? That you are a slave, Neo.
Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell, or taste, or touch. A prison.
Okay. for your mind. Yeah. Unfortunately, no one can be. told what the matrix is.
You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill. The story ends.
You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. Mm-hmm. You take the red pill. You stay in Wonderland. And I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Remember, all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more. I really liked that clip. I was a guy, you know, what I liked about it is it makes you choose. Am I going to believe in this warfare and am I going to go down that road? Or am I just going to pretend, okay, I can do whatever I want.
There's no bad things that are going to happen. There's no consequences. Whatever that looks like. You stay enslaved. You stay enslaved.
Yeah. And to be truthful, I like the fact that you have to choose and stay on the path that you choose. Yeah. Right? You can't go in and out of it.
I mean, I guess you probably could try.
Well, Andy's going to play a clip in a few minutes that actually deals with that. And you can try to take the blue pill with regard to Christianity. and spiritual warfare. it's just not you're you're not gonna go back to sleep and and Just you know, and everything be fine. And just dream nice Unicorn rainbow dreams.
Absolutely. You can take the blue pill if you want. It's just not going to work out very well. Yeah, it doesn't make the warfare to go away. No, it doesn't.
No, it just makes you unaware of it. Right, yeah. And so for me, I grew up in a really good church. They were loving people. And you know, for a church that you would look back and call a fire and brimstone kind of church, you know, kind of thing, they never really preached on spiritual warfare.
Right. Or if they did, like I said, I probably wasn't paying attention. You know, but no, they really didn't. And so when you live in that thing, and you talked about being a pastor, Darren, when you live in that philosophy of the war is already won, I don't have to do anything, and you screw up, well, obviously it's not God that's screwed up, so it's got to be me. Mm-hmm.
And you end up taking on all this blame on yourself, but you share a portion of that blame. But the enemy also shares a big portion of that blame. And that's a dangerous thing to live in because you look at yourself so lowly that I can never rise to God's level. Not I mean, to be his son, to fully be his son and be accepted there. You know, and that's another way the enemy gets you is just to make you think that he's not even there.
And that's his greatest thing he tries to do. Right, and that's the wool that's being pulled over the people's eyes that Morpheus is talking about. And it does enslave us. It enslaves our hearts, it enslaves our minds. You know, there's...
In that same clip, and I don't think he said it in that clip. I'm sorry, Sam, I wasn't paying attention.
Well, it's okay. I was actually listening for this, I just didn't hear it. One of the things that Morpheus says to Neo is he says There's something going on, and it's like a splinter in your mind. Right. Right?
Yeah, that was before this. Yeah. Yeah. And it was just before that. But that was I I think that might be the best line in the entire movie.
Because for those juggle me too. Yeah, I mean, for those of us who knew. God is God, which means, you know, he's bigger than the boogeyman, to quote VeggieTales. And And I am me, I'm not God. And yet there's all this other stuff going on.
And I know it's not all me. And there's something like a splinter in your mind that says there's got to be some, there's got to be something. Life's just not right. Yeah, there's something wrong. There's got to be something different that I'm missing, that I'm not getting.
And I this clip, this movie... the boot camp, the first couple of boot camps that I went to. Those were my, you know, opening my eyes moments to Oh. Warfare is a really big part of the normal Christian life. Um I didn't like that.
I didn't. I mean, I don't wake up every morning going, all right, I get to go fight spiritual warfare. I don't. I I get very frustrated about it. Doesn't mean I get to quit.
What I liked about it at boot camp for me is it made me realize there was that third person on the stage. And there's something I could do about it. I could lean into God more, I could lean into God differently. I could learn to fight agreements. I could learn what those even mean.
You know, there's lots of things that I had on my plate that I could be an active participant in this battle, and I need to be for not just me, but for my family, for my friends, and for all those around me. You know, I know John talked about at the boot camp, John Eldridge, that not all the times in scripture does it talk about Jesus fighting against demons and things like that, but a good portion is about a third.
So even if you'd say a third of my life is spiritual warfare, right? That's still a big part of your life. You know, it's important enough that Jesus, they recorded that of Jesus battling through that. We have a boot camp coming up. It's coming up March 12th through 15th in Royston, Georgia.
Go to masculinejourney.org to register. If you're having financial trouble getting there, reach out, let us know. We'll help you find a way to get there. 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.
Anoint my head, anoint my feet, send your angel. Here on the battleground for your glory, we're taking territory, fighting unseen enemies like never before. We're waging war. Oh, you anoint my pieces. Welcome back to Masculine Journey.
That's Cece Winans, and the song is Waging War. And when you listen to the lyrics of it, you listen to the chorus, it's right on track with what we're talking about. There is a battle out there. You know, regardless of what Church you go to What y what flavor denomination you go to, we all should be preaching the same thing. Right?
And the problem is, you know, a lot of times denominations only speak in certain things. Right, like the one I was in really talked about God's love well, it talked about lots of good things about it. and about scripture, but they never talked about warfare. And that's what I've enjoyed with this team of Banda Brothers, we all come from different religious backgrounds. Right, and so we've all had a different normal that we come from.
And as we share that with each other, we learn and grow. And so that's really cool how that God's put this group together like that.
Well, I think part of it, too, is a lot of us were unaware about different aspects, but. The message What John wrote, what God put on his heart about the masculine heart, it was unifying because we're all men and we begin to see things. It made sense to us. And a lot of us had blinders on in those different areas and uh it just kind of put things together for us, I think, a lot of us. It wasn't just us.
I mean, scripturally that happened. Yeah, it's it's definitely there in scripture, but some we need teachers and that's what it is, you know. Darren, I forgot to write down the scripture. You might remember which one it is, where Elisha, you know, and the guy, his servant's eyes get opened. Do you remember what book that's in?
I can tell. It's in Kings, but I don't know first or second. But basically, we can paraphrase it, and we'll give you the scripture here in a minute. But, you know, there's, if I remember right, the guy that's with Elijah is worrying about what's going to happen, and it's got all this stuff that they're going to have this great army against us. And he walks him outside and he prays, and the guy's eyes are open to all the spiritual elements around him, the angels and everything that's there fighting the battle on his behalf.
And that's what we're talking about with the opening the eyes of your heart. Is that I want to be able to see all the things, as much as my mind can handle, of what God's doing in my life and fighting for me. Because if you don't see it that way, the enemy will start to convince you that he's not there for you. Yeah, it's in 2 Kings 6. eight through about twenty three or twenty four.
I mean, it's a long section, but I think it's really cool how Elisha is. Very caring for his young apprentice. And Okay. I have prayed like that for friends. I've prayed like that for myself before.
open my eyes, but then I've often said, but don't show me things I can't handle, please. Yes, you know, let me get there. Um I I think if we prayed that prayer in essence more often, it would it would probably help us a lot.
Well, Danny, I have tuned you completely out. We've had Danny on the line with us for the whole first part of the show and with us. Danny, what's on your heart about this topic?
Well, it was no different than me being in the studio. That's true. We just tend to ignore you when you're here.
Well, I was just thinking as as Darren was talking about, you know, Elisha. Interestingly enough, the story of Elisha, you know, he was the understudy of Elijah. And he had his, um He had his moments of he wasn't really sure who he was. Because you know, the time when Elijah was going to be taken up, Elijah kept telling, You stay here. And I'm going on and he said, No, I'm going with you.
No, I'm going with you. I'm not don't want you to leave me basically. And when you go easy, Yeah, he's in a crisis. And he takes the mantle that is now his It's lands it on the river in frustration and goes, Where is the God of Elijah? And either his heart was opened, And he ended up, you know, in a double portion, and now you see him.
you know, with an understudy. And and you know, hey, let me show you something.
So, you know, there there's an example that I just saw that You know, that you know, all of us come to, I think, a come to Jesus moment, if you will. probably more than one if you live very long. The you know, that your eyes are open to Hey, there's more going on around here than just me going to McDonald's at lunch. You know what I mean? And that I can remember listening to there was a series that Derrick David Jeremiah put out.
on spiritual warfare really good. And some of our younger listeners probably ain't gonna know what I'm talking about, but it was on cassette tape right after 8-track, but you know. Um, and it was a really good series. I remember listening to that thing for the first time and I'm going Man. All this going on?
And then you guys were referring to when I entered into this Wild at Heart stuff, And pieces begin to light up and go Oh, that makes sense because that's why this is in place. And I can remember being in the Sunday school class in in the church, actually I'm going to now. And I was beginning to discover, hey, there's a battle going on. And I need to be ready for it. And and we're standing there talking and this lady says, Oh, don't speak that way.
You'll speak things into existence. And I'm going, ladies? Even Paul says his flesh battles against the spirit. I mean, you wake up in a war every day. And I'm like but but but we are so asleep sometimes with the with the fact that There is a war going on.
There's a war going on in me, my flesh and my spirit. And then there's all this stuff going on that, you know, I mean, watch the news. If you don't think there's evil in the world, Yeah, then watch the news. But that and and I love what you said, Sam, I think you you said it, that You know, there's not a demon behind every bush. There's not, you know, not everything is you know you know, demon possessed or whatever they I read a book, and I'll hug.
I read a book one time on discipleship and stuff, and Yeah, the story was these two guys went in his bar. They were evangelizing this bar. And the one guy was one guy was at with this guy preaching Jesus to him at the bar, you know, and everything. And all of a sudden the guy says, Look, If you say Jesus one more time to me. Then I'm gonna hurt you or whatever that means.
Well, he does it. And the guy snatches him up, got him up in the air, and his partner walks by and says, And he's trying to cast a demon out of the guy. He's just. Pray in Canada. And his partner says, If he's got a demon, you're on the right track.
But if he's in the flesh, he's going to kill you. And that's that's the reality of you.
Some things are just fleshly, just You know, I love what Darren says. You know, you place Stupid human games, you get stupid human prizes. And I've got a closet full of those. But, you know, the God has to Awaken us and shake it shake us. They go race.
I need you to pay attention here. And I think we call that disruption sometimes. Yeah. But that's enough out of me. No, that's good, Danny.
Thank you. We'll we'll come back to you here in a little bit. Corey, you got something that's kind of on your heart about this?
So for me personally, The ways God really opened my heart was the things that I knew and believed and thought about myself. 'Cause I used to be really bad about self deprivating humor, making fun of myself to get other people to laugh, you know. Because it was really what I thought about myself. And He really said, you know. I need you to stop that.
Because I made you I made you the way that I wanted to, and I made you the way that I love you.
So, you're talking bad about something that I love. and not realizing that the thoughts about myself weren't there, from him they were from the enemy and having to fight against them. with the only Offensive weapon we have, which is the word of God, and I had to start fighting and believing. What the Word of God says about me So Thank you. Harold, what about you?
What what what's your thoughts on the topic?
Well, I fought a losing battle for many, many years. Huh. Um Going back about as far back as I can remember, and that's over eighty years now. I was always angry. I was never more than a hair width away from.
a temper explosion. And one day I was sitting at the traffic light waiting to make that left turn that I hated so bad. Yeah. And it dawned on me That Eighty-one. see in my face right now.
would not realize that I claim to be a Christian. You gotta change. But I couldn't do it. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, and time and and a woman that loves me more than I can say. Oh, I did change.
And uh I'm not that way anymore. But there's a battle that we have to fight. We have to warn it. I went for years not really wanting it. She would tell me, you know, that uh uh how wrong I was acting and so forth.
Well, it was the other person. It wasn't me. They're just stupid. If they weren't stupid they wouldn't have done that. Da da da da da da da da da.
And finally it dawned on me. The common denominator is you. And so once I open myself up, to being changed. Then it's like the eyes of my heart were opened up and I saw me for who I really was. not for who I thought I was or claimed to be.
and I was able to move in a different direction. Yeah, it's kind of a tough thing to see yourself that way, but it's it's a change factor. That's what really helps you change when God gives you that glimpse. But you gotta want it first. And I went for way too long not really wanting it.
I I kind of thrived off the adrenaline rush that came from from being angry. Oh. And I just thought Hey, that's me. That's just the way I am. and it's the way I'm goin' to be.
Well, no. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it it feels at least like empowering. To be angry? Yes.
Right. When you feel like there's no control over anything else, I can at least get mad about it. Especially when you're a little guy like me. Yeah, good point. But any of us, you know, I think uh I know my battle has been with temper a lot.
Um that's why Harold's my hero. Yeah, absolutely. I you know, there's hope. There is hope. Hopefully, I won't be as old as he is before I figure it out.
But, you know, I'm getting closer every day. Yeah. Yeah, well, the same distance. You're the same distance every day. We do have a boot camp coming up.
We talked about that right before we went to break, but it is going to be in Royston, Georgia. It's a beautiful area down there in the north part of Georgia. I'd love to see you guys come down and be a part of that. Go to masculinejourney.org to register. It's coming up March 12th through 15th.
We'd like for you to register here pretty soon so we know who all is coming. If you have any questions on it, reach out to any of us. Our first name at masculinejourney.org. Again, we'd love to see you then. But in the meantime, just let God love on you and love on your heart.
We'll talk with you next week. Mm-hmm.
