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 the Masculine Journey After Hours. We are excited if you've downloaded our podcast or you're. Always downloading the podcast.
We're thrilled about that and glad that you choose to walk with us, at least parts and pieces of us. You never know what you're gonna get. We're kind of like a box of chocolates, and so today I'm hosting because Sam's not feeling well and Robby's out. Recovering from a bad car accident. Andy is traveling doing some hard adventures and some good adventures.
Um this week and so This is it. You scrape pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.
So, but we're thrilled that you're here. We are talking about the hope of renewal. It is springtime. We're all sniffling and have headaches and sinus issues. And the renewal is definitely out there.
You can see it on your dark-colored car if you walk outside in the form of pollen. We need seasons in our life, and that's kind of the point of this. Particular topic is that if you don't have Seasons Then Spring isn't nearly as wonderful and beautiful. It is beautiful because. You've gone through winter.
It is beautiful because you know you're going into summer. I like spring a whole lot better than I like summer. I like fall much better than I like summer. I like fall better than I like winter. And so I'm I guess I'm the transitional one.
I don't know.
Some people maybe are hardcore the other way. You're not the only one. And because of my. Bet towards cooler weather. Summer's my least favorite.
Season. Probably is for me too. I'm happy staying inside in the summer. And if air conditioning goes out, I'm not happy staying inside. Our pastor said something Sunday that stuck with me in a which is rare but no i'm kidding but uh the uh um I don't know if that's a compliment to you or to him or anyway.
We'll say that he's a good guy and you're hard to hear. He said he was driving to church and he saw this he thought it was a dust cloud going across the road. And he said that, um When he got closer, he realized it was the pollen blowing out of the trees. And he said, man, I'll be glad when this is over with. He said, but something kind of just struck him, and he realized that without the pollination process.
then all the vegetation does it survive and be renewed. And we get, I think, 28% of our oxygen from it. And he said, but what his point was, he said, you know, in the seasons of our life, sometimes we don't like the dust God stirs up in the process. And that's very true. Yeah, and in the first part of this show, if if you're just listening to the after hours and you've not listened to the other uh show that acc that accompanied it.
Robby played a clip about you know Soil, cultivating soil and the the processes that go on there, which Art is a is a little bit of a farmer. You kind of understand some of that. And so i if if the sun shined all the time and it were never dark, would that be good? No, no, everything needs to be renewed and we've been. We've been working on farming our soil for a good while over in Davie County, and that's why we grow the best eggplants, right, Robby?
We grow eggs. Absolutely. They are. That's something that I like to believe that we grow the best vegetables in Davie County, whether it's true or not. I'm not sure, which we might talk about later.
I don't know.
Yeah but yeah, it's okay to believe something whether it's true or not. Even if you know it's not true. Was that part of a cliff we were talking about? That was part of a cliff, yeah. Yeah.
From a father together. And so you believe it to be true that Davie County grows the best Aubergine. Aubergine, that's correct. And I've got a second on that because I've been giving last year I gave several to Robby to take home and cook. Um And he likes to be a little bit more.
Go ahead, Ravi. Oh, they were absolutely delicious. Like, they were part of the art collection. They were beautiful. They were beautiful, too, is what he's saying.
But how great thou art, Aubergine. But it has been, you know, it's been for me on the farm there, a little kind of season of renewal. I've got a guy that. Uh it does fixes my lawnmower motors and things and I I had my little um uh ground rover over to him to fix and uh he brought it back and and that's what I was telling him. You know, it's been this season where I had all this maintenance and repairs to have to do.
And so I was just saying that like last week to somebody. It's the season, and now the other thing I'm having, I've had my teeth worked on, I'm going to have cataract surgery. These are all things that we go through and we have to renew them, we have to renew the soil and feed it and add to it. Just like we do with our relationship with God and our understanding of of God and And it's kind of funny. He's one of the youngest.
He probably is the youngest guy here now. Yeah. So we all need that renewal every day. Yes, we do. Sam, who's not with us because he's not feeling well.
today had produced a clip from The Series Game of Thrones, and none of us have watched the Game of Thrones, but we understand what it's about. Um and Sam had pulled this clip because of the Just how perfect it is for this topic, actually. And in the Game of Thrones, there's. This idea that winter is coming, and that part of that idea is. That there's this evil force that is always out there and it's always lurking and it's ever before you.
And that's part of what you hear. You do hear something about the seasons, you know, the seasonal part of it as well. But most of the time, when you're going to hear it in here, and it I I'm just going to tell you right now, it's a montage of people saying winter is coming. And there's There's a point, and we'll talk about it in just a second when we get done playing this clip. It's short.
And winter is coming. Winter's coming. Winter is coming. Stocks are all right eventually. Winter is coming.
Tell Mod Tywin. Winter is coming for It's a thousand leagues from here to the wall. And winter is coming. Because they are the nights of summer and winter is coming. You're a long way from home.
Winter is coming. Winter is coming! Both known. that winter is coming. Mm.
Winter is coming. But winter is coming. And winter is coming. And so the point there was that we can focus on winter all the time. We can focus on the dark seasons of life.
We've all got different seasons in our life, and if it weren't for seasons, we would probably go crazy. Number one, but but We all know. those folks that focus always on the negative. They they only see what is not going right. They only see what is bound to go wrong before long.
That that sort of pessimistic spirit And I admit, I call that Tuesday. You know, I mean, sometimes I am that guy, I think. And most of us that are that guy, sometimes we say, well, I'm just being real.
Well, are you? But the point here is It's good to know. That there are dark seasons coming. It's good to know that we've gone through dark seasons and come out. Um But if we focus on that all the time and not Think about the hope of renewal.
That, yeah, winter is coming, but what does that mean? Spring is coming behind it. And so If we don't think about that, that life has Difficult seasons. and all of us have been through them. very dark seasons sometimes.
And if that were all there were... we would all be hopeless. But we have hope. Because Jesus came and gave new life, gave renewal, gave restoration. and promises to do it daily.
And so Winter can be last night. And spring can be Now Um to that point, but I'm going to play another clip here in just a second. From I do want some clarification on something you said. Did you say everyone in Hawaii is crazy? They don't really have seasons.
So that's what I heard. Yeah. I am going to abstain from answering that question. There's a possibility that could be true, yes. Um But I, yeah, that's, I guess I never thought about it like that, but They've got to have some sort of.
They're normal.
Well, yeah, it goes for well, you can climb a mountain and get cooler temperatures if you need them. I mean, they have night, they have volcanoes, those are dark times. They're fairly well lit. Yeah. Do they have rainy and dry season there?
A lot of places. Yeah. They do have s monsoon seasons and stuff like that. I talked to one of the a lady that was out there when we were out there and she said it was so weird coming to where there was snow and it was hot. Yeah.
So well, for me, Hawaii's hot if you're down at the seaside, but eighties all the time is boring.
So this next clip is coming from one of my favorite stories of telling my kids growing up, reading the stories to them, watching the movies with them. But this comes from the Voyage of the Dawn Tredder. Um it's Prince Caspian and Lucy and Edmund and Eustace. um in this clip, along with the coolest dude in all of Narnia, which his name is Reapy Cheap, and he's he's the little mouse figure um that's very, very uh valor um full of valor. And so in this clip, Eustace has been a dragon because he was Henri and Aslon turned him into a dragon in essence, or allowed him to continue to be a dragon after he kind of turned himself into one.
And he began to learn some things.
So, this is his dark season, right? He's been a dragon, and he cannot turn himself back into a boy. And he talks about the struggle thereof, but he also talks about the struggle of the renewal of becoming a boy again. And he'll mention how that feels. But then towards the end of the clip, you're going to.
hear a conversation between Aslan And Caspian, as well as Edmund and Caspian, because Caspian. Has also been living in a very dark season of life. His father was. Murdered. um taken from him and he's lived all of his life with that um, thorn in his side, that broken piece in his heart.
and wanting to get revenge ultimately for that. And so he's lived his entire life and he will say, focusing on what he's lost, rather than what he's been given. And so We're going to play the clip and then we'll talk a little bit more about it. Yeah. So what was it like when Aslan changed you back?
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't do it myself. Then he came towards me. He sort of hurt, but It was a good pay. You know, like when you pull a thorn from your foot. Being a dragon wasn't all bad.
I mean I think it was better tracking than I was aboard, really. I'm so sorry for being such a sop. Mm-hmm. It's okay, it's just Yeah. You are a pretty good dragon.
My friends. We have arrived. Awesome. Welcome, children. You have done well.
Very well indeed. have come far. And now your journey is at its end. Is this your country? No, my country lies beyond.
Okay. It's my father in your country. You can only find that out for yourself, Woodson. But you should know that if you continue There is no return. You know, guys.
I can't imagine my father would be very proud that I gave up what he died for. I spent too long wanting what was taken from me and not what was given. I was given a kingdom. People. Yeah.
I promise to be a better king. You already are.
So, what you hear there is Caspian. You know, struggling with. I want to go be with my father. I do want that. But I feel like I need to stay here and do this and there's the turning in his heart.
Um struggling with what has been taken from him, rather than what he's been given. And while Christianity definitely does not Um make Yeah. Small deals out of the wounds that we've taken, right? I mean, Jesus came to bind up a broken heart. He came to set captives free.
He came to give sight to blind people. He came to bring the day of vengeance of God, ultimately. The sense of fairness that we all sometimes feel. like has been taken from us when we're taken advantage of, when we're hurt. Or something stolen from us, whether it's physical or emotional or.
Um spiritual, but In that time We're not making light of that, but... We can't stay. Constantly focused on what's been lost. And we don't want to, with this. Particular show.
We don't want to with this ministry. We do want to focus on the fact that we've all been hurt, we've all been lied to, we've all bought into the lie. Um we've been wounded terribly, but Jesus has come. to give us something else. Yes, things have been stolen.
And Jesus has come. to restore all that has been stolen, actually. But it's a process. It doesn't happen by itself. Um Ravi?
I can't see you because you're not in the studio, but I would love to know what your thoughts are on that. Or maybe not. Robby has left the building. Might have lost him there. Mm-hmm.
I guess I have to turn the mute off on my phone. And Robby's back. Um That There are seasons. And You can carry on or you can Now move forward and You know, I love the fact that Aslan's right there to guide him and give him. But the dignity of the choice Yes.
But at the same time explaining to him the consequences. Um And and you know, how many times the people come to us and You know, anybody that's been a pastor or a minister of some kind in the church, people come to, you know, looking for God's will in something and. You know, it's just so clear from my perspective. But You know, God can be with you in your choice. Yes.
And sometimes his will is for you to choose, as you told me years ago, and I've never forgotten it. That, um You know, would you want your son to come to you and say, you know, when you When you ask him what he wants for Christmas and he says, oh, whatever your will is, Dad, I'm going to be happy with it. No, you want to know what your son wants. And they do want to see his face light up when you help him in that process of the journey towards getting that. And You know, that's that's what resonates me with me on that clip.
Yeah, one of the wonderful things about this life which is revealed there. God's not going to make decisions for us. And when we're in heaven, I suspect we'll know what's right, and that's what we'll be doing. But here you have a choice. Am I going to choose To do what I want to do or do what God wants to do.
And Am I going to choose to ask him what's what? And will he always answer? No. There are times we've got to make the decision based on what we know of him, not necessarily what he's told us to do. I've talked to a lot of young men as they're getting out of A seminary, Christian college, um, whatever.
And they're trying to figure out What do I do now? Where do I go? Do I go to this church? Do I go to that church? Do I go to work for a ministry?
Do I get a job at IBM? You know, all of these different things. And as Robby said, you know, we have those people come to us because we are older than dirt for the most of us. I mean, Harold was before dirt. The rest of us are just right there with dirt.
But That being said, oftentimes I'll listen for a while and then I will kind of give that little piece that Robby did and and I will usually tell them, Look, I honestly do not believe God cares. What you do. right now. in this moment. Go to that church, go to this church, go to that school, go to this school, take that job, take this job.
I honestly don't believe God really cares too much. I think the thing that he cares the most about is that he gets to go with you. Yeah, it's the relationship, not The rules, and that if you don't learn that, you don't really know Jesus. Yeah, and that, and I, you know. Robby.
is truly one of my mentors. Uh and that's the one thing that I think I've learned from him more than anything else is that Um Yeah. It's not so much about what we do, It's who we do it with. It's how God I don't even think he's really all that worried about most outcomes, quite frankly. He knows what the ultimate outcome is going to be.
But I think he knows You know, we tend to think of, well, if I go to this church, I'll learn that. If I take this job, I'll learn that. If I go to this college, I'll learn that. If I marry that woman, I'll get blah, blah, blah, whatever, right? And God knows full well that you're probably going to get about 1% of what you think you're going to get.
But if you stick with him and walk with him through whatever those choices are. You're going to get a million times more than you could ever think or ask or imagine. To quote Paul, That's one of the hardest transitions I think I had to make.
Well you're uh we're through a season of Okay, Lord, where do you want me to work? I hear people say, well, I just want a good Christian environment to work in.
Well, that's kind of boring. It really is. Because where's the excitement in that? But uh but finally I have to come to the conclusion of that this the occurs. that uh d come to the conclusion that The anointing and the blessing of being a Son of God goes with you no matter where you go.
And so therefore Yeah, the choice is mine. But God opens up doors and things no matter where you go. And so I I had to come to that conclusion that, you know, He doesn't really care what I work at at. you know, current employment or wherever. What he wants me to be is to be his son while I'm there.
One of the things that was refreshing for me working in the church Is when a drunk stumbled in, or people came in needing. Help. Because Bye. Those folks were real. Often the people came in.
Uh that were Members, and to some extent, I use that in a derogatory manner. We're just coming in to put on a stove.
So Harold, you've had the longest career working in secular environments and also walking with God and being a Christian and walking as a part of a church community. Oh no. Is there one thing that a person should choose over the other? Is that important, or is it more important? how that decision gets made.
Well, from my experience, uh you can choose But You're not going to be certain. Oh I g I had I changed companies twice.
Well I would I work for three different companies. after graduation from Auburn. And in certain respects. none of those changes were my choice. uh situations arose that were to me intolerable, and I just needed to move on.
And as I got to be an old guy and had more t Years to look back over. I do believe that God was responsible in every one of those cases. Because Each time I viewed it as a negative starting out. But being able to look back is like, oh So that's why I was put here. because God wanted to do this with me or for me.
And uh it's not Easy to see when you're in it. Um whole thing about it's not easy to remember that you're Objective was to drain the swamp when you're standing knee deep in alligators. Right. But keeping focus on on God's will and what What his objective is is the important part. Yeah, I mean uh one of the darkest times of my life, honestly.
was After we started this ministry, and it was flying, and I really felt like it was very, very close to. financially being able to support One person, maybe a part-time person, whatever, in some sort of a counseling role and all of that. And then all of that came crashing down. The beautiful part about that was what everybody did afterwards and the way that. God moved us in different directions to affect so many different people.
um in different ways and and that was Hard. Mm. to hear and understand and know, but it was real. Thank you for listening to Masculine Journey. We want to encourage you to go download our podcast anywhere you get a podcast.
And if you'd like to come to an advanced boot camp with us, we're going to have one November the 19th through the 22nd. Go to masculinejourney.org. Mm-hmm.
