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 Masco and Journey. We are glad to have you with us this week.
We have a really interesting topic this weekend.
So, over to you, Art. No, I'm just getting. No, no, no. Art, actually, last week we were talking after the show because we do actually meet after the show and talk about life. This is where we kind of have our small group, if you would say it in church terms, but our community, as we call it, that we meet together and just talk about things.
And Art asked an interesting question, which ended up becoming. today's topic. And so Art, if you'd like to tell us a little bit about that. Yes, this is my first topic in a while and Uh like before, it just came through me. Just came to me in my daily life, my activities.
I was over at the seed and feed and fertilizer store recently. Me too. Yeah, you know.
Well, and they had, you got those tomatoes? You ready to plant those tomatoes yet there?
So So uh so on the counter they had this uh contraption uh contraption sitting on the counter there that uh Is used to sharpen knives, and I pulled out my pocket knife and I ran it through there a couple of three times and it came out a bit sharper than I had it before. And, you know, I got, it kind of reminded me, kind of reminded me of I've had this probably for about two score and 15 years. I've been experiencing a great deal of angst from the cognitive dissonance that I have of not being live, being able to live up to my idea that a man, a countryman especially, should be able to just sharpen a knife to razor sharp where you can shave your face with it. And I've never been able to do that despite practicing and trying and learning from people and uh watching YouTube videos now, but But finally, there's this device that I was able to use and get a pretty sharp knife out of it. And, you know, I just.
The angst I'm having is, you know, you know, as a man, I should be able to do this. And and for some reason I I just don't get it. I can't do it. I'm not good at it. You know, my father could sharpen a knife.
You know, in the movies people would sharpen a knife, uh, Westerns especially, and somehow I couldn't do it.
So so I had I asked the guys, you know, you know, this has been bothering me, you know, what what can we uh How should I look at this so that it doesn't bother me? What's going on here? Am I not a real man that I can't sharpen my knife? Or is uh Or is we'll I'll have a clip next week which I'll give you a little preview now and say at the latter stages of World War II. Were you a real man if you can Type 60 words a minute and get the general's orders down and sent out to everybody?
Or do you have to be the leader, the commander, the leader of a squad that does amazing things? Do you have to be a real warrior? Or can you be, if your interests, your inclinations are so that into other things, you know, are you also a man?
So I want the guys to kind of define what do they mean when they say masculine journey. What is a man and what What what is our expectations based on Our own experiences on what society says. But for the real answers, we will go to what the Bible says and we will come, we will, they will help me understand it better. Oh, we're all trying to understand it better, you know, because it's something that you never master, you just learn more about it. And so, the part that we decided to tackle today is what were the things you believed growing up?
Either you took them on yourself, as Art said, or society said, or a parent said, or a sibling said, This is what it looks like to be a man. In order to be a man, you have to. Fill in the blank, right? Whatever that looks like, or blanks, as the case may be. Right, and so we're gonna hit this from several different areas based on our own experiences and things that we thought.
That have meant growing up and things that God had to come after and help us see it differently. And so, Andy, you have the first clip. Yeah, so I appreciate you sharing this. Art because whenever Art threw this out last week, I flippantly threw out some answers of what we commonly talk about. But it was a deeper understanding.
Then I began to realize Kind of hit me between the eyes that I struggle with this question, still do. But But, you know, that's the kind of very feeling that led me into this ministry. To be honest with you, I wasn't I mean, I have generalist brothers that are Great in construction, using their hands, all this stuff. I'm just a computer nerd. I'm like a one, I'm a specialist.
I don't have this. realm of mastery of a lot of different things and And I was int intimidated and then, you know, I'm Going through a a marriage breakup or whatever, I didn't love my wife well, that's another indicator. As Darren was saying earlier, you got all these categories, and that's a report card on report card on you, and a lot of men carry that. Like what Art was saying. Lord knows Art.
Most people don't even carry a pocket knife to be, you know, the whole idea of sharpening. And I still don't consistently. And that's usually, I mean, that's what Morgan was like: carry a pocket knife because it makes you feel powerful. you know, not that's not what makes you a man, but it does give you a a certain of understanding that I can take on whatever it takes and a knife is indispensable, right? Unless you're going through TSA.
That gives you a different feeling.
Well, that's a good point. I got one from my Becoming a King retreat and ended up, went out to Vegas, went to this event, and you couldn't take knives in it. I went out and hit it and got it stolen from me. That's right. Absolutely.
So I'm digressing here a bit. But mine is really about, okay, so I had a friend that tells me, you've got to watch this movie, Soul on Fire. Robby's over here shaving with his pocket knives, not even a straight razor. I'm impressed, Robby. Is art impressed?
That's the question. According to how sharp the knife is. That's nice, Robby. Robby's got blood coming all out of his face. Just a flesh run.
Just a flesh run. But this movie, Soul on Fire, that he suggested, it was from the area I grew up in. It touched on the baseball team. I mean, there's an announcer, Jack Buck, that helps this kid who got burned, who was playing with fire, and about burned his house down and ended up carrying all these wounds from the burning all his life. But Jack Buck was this baseball announcer that invested into his life.
You don't hear all that. And then this kid is growing up and he's had burns 100% over his body. He's done this miraculous thing. They gave him 0% chance to live. He lives and then he's able to walk and he's somewhat, he's functioning.
I mean, and he meets this girl in in in college and and they hit it off, but he didn't he didn't feel like he felt like he would be rejected for his wounds and he didn't push on through and take risk with her. And then he comes comes back later and she rejects him. And this is a scene after that. He's talking with his friend Mike. Um, and it's John O'Leary is the guy's name, if you want to look it up in the story, but um, it's just their dialogue about this thing of not pushing through.
Well, I paralleled it, we're all. not risking because of our wounds. To me, a big part of what makes you a man. is will whether you're willing to risk or not. in whatever category.
And that's easily just kind of making it just giving a one-word answer. I think it's much more than that, but that is a big part. And this is where I was stuck for years, as I wouldn't risk in a lot of different ways. Because it felt like it was easier to not do something. And then you don't have you won't get rejected, and it's kind of like what he's going through here.
So we'll display the clip. Yeah, the girl had told him that she really just liked trying to be more of a sister. She thinks of him as a brother. Exactly. Yep.
Yeah. What's up with you? I already have four sisters. All right, thanks for clearing that up. I took your advice and I asked Beth out for a date.
Dude, I gave you that advice like a year ago. Take it it didn't go so hard. I don't know what I was thinking. I knew better. I knew.
Chumps this. That's it, I'm done. Done with what? All of it. Love, relationships.
This heart is closed for business. Have you ever even been on a date? Like one single date with anybody? Did you even go to your prom? Do you have a point?
Just that, you know, you swearing off love is a little like me saying, oh, well, that's it. I'm done sailing around the world by myself. Me never even having been on a boat being the point there? I get it. Before you decide that you hate sailing, Don't you think you should go out on a few dinghies?
No. Yeah. I'm done.
Well, I tried.
Okay. And so that's that's a big part of My story and the fact that I didn't Um, I didn't date a lot in in high school. I was a big man on campus when I was in the fifth grade in Missouri, but I moved. to North Carolina and and it was just intimidating. And I didn't hit it.
I had lots of guys, friends, but just didn't hit it off with the girls. And I was telling the guys, it wasn't, I was a little bit older then, but you know, I didn't, I didn't pursue. Um I would pursue through other people. You know how it is. Go ask her if she likes it.
Yeah, right, exactly. And. And you know, I ended up um You know, even with my wife, she's always felt like I was quiet. And you guys hear me talk on here. I have plenty to say, but.
Whenever You were intimidated by something like a relationship like that, or making the move that I did and getting into a new environment or whatever. You know, I was fine whenever I was comfortable and I controlled it, it seems like I controlled it at that age or whatever, but something new, instead of pushing through, and being shepherd or by a father to had a risk. I mean, I just it made me feel less of a man because I didn't pursue and risk. And I always just felt like, Oh, I'm just not I'm not a good looking guy or whatever. I found out later there was a lot of uglier guys than me that were getting the good girls.
It was a matter of whether you had enough confidence in your in and to talk, you know, and and to and to risk.
So Yeah.
Well, thank you, Andy. Hopefully that made the point. It it does. And I mean, take it from the guy who was the ultimate risk-taker. I mean, uh most of my life I was I was that guy.
Um and I still had the same questions. Yeah. Do I really have what it takes? Am I really man enough? All of those things.
And so it just goes to show it's not about one thing. It's It's about a whole conglomerate of things that go together. Yeah, and so you part of that you had growing up was, well, you got a risk or you're not a real man. And so we come back and we're going to talk about more of those things we believe. Go to masculinejourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp in November.
Um 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. You will always remember. Carry on like an evil despair.
Now your life's no longer enough and life's like you. Carry on by yourself. Every piece where you are ready to rest. Don't you cry, don't you cry now? Welcome back to Masculine Journey.
I have no idea why we played that bump. Stop crying. Yeah, yeah, stop crying. I'll give you something to cry about. I was looking around the room, and I'm thinking, it's a good thing that went a hairband because you guys could still enjoy it.
Wow.
Well, brought me back to my youth, for sure. Yeah, no, that was Kansas, and it's got a good message, right? It does. And that was Jim's bump. Jim was unable to be with us.
And so we wanted to honor him and still play it, but I have no idea why he actually chose that one.
So maybe you can tell us next week. I I I I think it was, you know, Keep going.
Okay. Even if you feel like a wayward son.
Okay. You know, keep going. You'll get there. And there'll be peace when you are done. You are.
And you'll be a real man. That's right. Lay your weary head to rest. That's right. Yeah.
I feel all of a sudden like on Sam's shoulder. And I won't cry anymore. Yeah. Wow.
Otherwise, your dad will give you something to cry about. Day by day by day by day. Anyway, to decode this, you have to go and listen to a bunch of pre-show other shows that we've done. Like the last 400. Yeah, right.
Yeah, you can listen to that.
Well, our somewhat host, the topic maker of this week, Art, picked Robby to go next on his clip.
So Art can't tell you what the word of the clip is in it, but he likes it. Yeah. Well, the word, I bet if you forgive the word, you'll understand the movie anyway. It's Super Californic Expialedocious is the word that is brought out here. By Mr.
Banks. And the beautiful thing about this movie is we later found out the story behind the movie in this movie Saving Mr. Banks. And so you can see that there was a daughter that was deeply wounded by the original Mr. Banks, which was the purpose of Mary Pompins.
And the reason why I chose this clip was. You know, I thought about the topic of like, well, gee, when I was 12 or 13 years old, what did I think a man was? And of course, I thought that was my dad. You know? And my dad was a very upwardly mobile active with General Motors Division and Buick Motor Division of General Motors.
And we lived in. you know, Flint, Michigan, and he had climbed the corporate ladder and very successfully And that was what that appeared to be.
Somebody that was able to. you know, climb their way to the top and be the boss and Whatever else that might look like. And so. Yeah, you know That really, until I could achieve something like that, I didn't feel like I was. A real me.
I didn't feel like I was meeting my expectation of what Certainly my father thought I should be anyway. And again, that was my understanding of what my father thought, not necessarily what he thought.
So it's fascinating.
So I'd seen this movie when it came out actually in 645, somewhere like that. I mean, sadly, but I was old enough to do that. And at the time, I had no understanding of what this clip was. But then I used to take my kids to Disney World quite often in a van back in the day, and I would watch this movie, or listen to it actually, in order to stay awake, 'cause we would drive late at night, the kids would be asleep. But I would listen to this scene over and over and over again, and I would bawl like a baby because I understood That I had actually chased something that didn't exist.
And so as you listen to this, I want you to know a couple of things. Obviously, it's from the movie Mary Poppins. And Mr. Banks. He had two children, James, Jane, and Michael.
and they had these tuppins that they were going to feed the birds with. And There was a big hoo ha at the bank. They wouldn't give him the tuppins and there was a run on the bank. That means everybody tried to get their money out of the bank. And as a result, mister Banks gets fired, which ends his like what he thought it was going to be to be a man.
what he'd chased his whole life. And as he's With the help of other characters in the movie, realized that being a real man in this case was actually being a father. to his children. and that all these other things were to some extent a a a distraction of how important his actual family was. And so as Z is getting fired and the and the big boss You know, he thinks he's going nuts because he uses this word that he thinks doesn't exist.
He calls out to the man, you know. It just turns out that you yourself don't exist.
Well, the tragic thing, and I think that really made me cry when I listened to the clip originally. Was the way they fired him in those days? Is they literally would put their fist through your hat. You know, you had this image that you were portraying, the poser look of a banker, was you wore this type of hat, a bolo hat, I think it was called, and they put their hand through it, and they took his umbrella and they flipped it, you know, upside down. And all these images of what it was.
to look like this. In my father's day, and he had a uniform at General Motors where he had to wear this hat, look like Frank Sinatra. That was part of it. He had to have that on every day. He had to have a white collar, had to have a certain type of tie.
It was all part of the deal. Yeah. And when I went to work for the Crown organization, then I had risen up to the top, but in order to do that. You had to wear a certain type of coat and tie. And you had to have you had to carry a daytimer, and you didn't just carry any daytimer.
You needed the one with the red porkskit. It th it it was all a uniform. And when I heard this clip, it hit me on what an illusion I had lived my life into when really. What was important was in the back seat of this fan. Hmm.
So Playtail got There has not been a run on this bank. Until today, a run sir caused by the disgraceful conduct of your son. Do you deny it? I do not deny it, sir. And I shall be only too glad to assume responsibility for my son.
No, not that, Stadion. Um Confound it, Banks, I said. Do you have anything to say? Just word words. Yes.
Super colour fragility X-Biana Turtle! Mary Poppins was right. It's extraordinary. It does make you feel better. What are you talking about, men?
There's no such word. Oh, yes, it is a word. A perfectly good word. Actually, do you know what there's no such thing as? It turns out, with due respect, when all is said and done, that there's no such thing as you!
Impertinent shirts! The man's gone mad. Cold a good! Super califragilistic expialidocious, I'm feeling better all the time. Banks, don't you dare strike my father!
There's the Tuppence. It's the wonderful, fateful super caliphragilistic expialidocious Tuppence. Guard it well. Goodbye. Banks, where are you going?
I don't know. I might pop through a chalk pavement picture and go for an outing in the country. Or I might seize a horse off a merry-go-round and win the derby. Or I might just fly a kite. Only Poppins would know.
So, fascinatingly, you know, in the last. Mom. Um You know, it was a pretty horrific automobile accident. And those same kids. And then we're in the back of that van?
You know, we're in my hospital room. Nine days for a week? And I have a lot of things in my life. But when all was said and done Because at times, you know, you just don't know when you're in those particular situations that, you know. But Thank goodness.
Somewhere along the line I took a little bit of time to go flag. Mm-hmm. And you know, it help it helps center me back to It's still too easy to chase after that. uniform, whatever that may look like in your particular Field, whatever that is, you got one, I promise. And you have certain things that make you feel like.
You know, that you've arrived at whatever level, but that's that is is no different than what Mr. Banks is pointing out. I think it's it's it's spectacular to note. That Um You know, being a dad. Having a dad.
You know, those things are gigantically huge in the kingdom of God. And I think certainly what we experience here, it may, you know. Um What we do with masks and churning. It is. There's a lot of things out there that the world will tell you it is to be a man.
Right, success, but it depends on how you define that success. Right, is it with a checkbook or with your relationships? Yeah, Grant. Not too much love. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Um Harold, we haven't heard from you t today. Uh do you have any thoughts on this topic?
Well, as a matter of fact, uh I do.
Okay. Uh I think far too often We define manhood based on What we don't have. Oh For example, in my case, being around five six and weighing a hundred and sixty pounds or whatever. I'm kind of small compared to the average person nowadays. And yet Aw, that doesn't define my manhood.
Um I define my manhood by being in love with and married to the same little lady that stole my heart. over sixty odd years ago. And uh I no longer consider the fact that I'm short. as being a a problem. In fact, if you look at most of the Medal of Honor winners, Fittest average gas.
Some um Audie Murphy is smaller than me. And so there are different things that we need to look at. to define ourself Or we'll be walking around being ashamed, by something that shouldn't shame us at all. Um my size is totally out of my control. The the genes that I inherited are responsible for that.
And uh I just have to accept it.
So God made me little. But it made me quick.
Okay. and uh being the smallest kid in the group. Oh, I had to use my speed. to get out of fights I couldn't win. I could have lent you some bigger jeans.
Yellow. Yellow jeans.
So anyway, th this is a topic that's near and dear to my heart because I do define myself as a as a complete man. regardless of my s ex exterior size. Yeah, the expectation if you don't Hmm. We're going to talk about next week on the show. defining, you know, what God says.
The man is. Right, and unless you know what God says a man is and you try to aspire to be that, you'll be what everybody else says that it should be. Right, you'll be what you learned growing up. You'll be what the world says. You know, you'll be whatever's on TV next in the new trend.
What it looks to be a man, and that's not the way it works. And we're going to learn more about that next week. If you want to hang on and go to the podcast, we're going to be talking more about this topic on the after hours. Go to any podcast location and you can pick up the Mascone Journey After Hours. If you're already listening to us on a podcast, you know that.
So just keep listening and we'll continue to talk about some of the other expectations we had of being a man as we were growing up. Go to masconjourney.org to register the Advanced Boot Camp coming up November 19th through 22nd.
