Obedience After Hours

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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. Well thank you for joining us on the podcast. We know you chose this, which is what makes us so tickled to be able to go on this adventure with you today, the adventure of obedience and quite often it does tend to be an adventure, doesn't it, Rodney? It was your topic and it's been an adventure, isn't it? It's been an adventure before the show, during the show, and in between shows, so the adventure continues.

So where we're kind of at here is back to where Andy was in 1 John. I went just a few verses earlier into 1 John 2 and 3 through 4 where, by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

And that's just one of those things that when I read that a lot of times I'm like, oh my gosh, look what I have to go do. And really where we're at with this topic is it's not really up to us to go do something. Yes, to follow Jesus you do need to be obedient and we need to be trying to do our best and striving to follow in his footsteps, which is not the easiest thing in the world for us to do. But again, when in John 6, 28 they ask, what shall we do so that we may do the works of God? And Jesus answers that this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. And I'm like, ah, I can do that. That much I can do.

If I'm still doing the works of God and that's where I get – if I obey him and I believe in him, if I do that I get to go live with him forever. I'm buying in. I'm going in on that. Darrell Bock So there you go, obedience.

And so Andy, we haven't heard your – Andy King I'm unclear on what I'm supposed to be obedient about right now. I'm not sure what story I want to share, but I guess – I don't know. I got something going on right now.

Something simple as this. Okay, so my family from Missouri, my brother called me the other day and asked me to come out and – it's something I really hadn't planned on doing. But I have a sense that God wants to do something a part of it.

But I'm like, but yeah, God, I'm kind of getting low on vacation and I really don't – hadn't really planned on it. And it's just something – these are the kind of things I think he puts before us. Because we want – I want to try to – I'm like, okay, if I'm going to go out there, I want to see some results. I want to see this and this happen and, you know, kind of orchestrated for God. And that's not the way he intends us. I think most – when you go and look at the Bible, when he called Abraham to leave his country, to go somewhere, whenever he called, told Samuel – or Saul how to handle the – yeah, and when they defeated him, how to handle the spoil and that kind of thing that Danny mentioned earlier on 1 Samuel 15, there's different stories in the Bible where you have an opportunity to take a particular action for something. So, you know, there's a lot – there's stuff – we don't see the end of the story, but that truly is – it gets back to the bump from the previous show is trust and obey. That's – there's something to the fact that we're not going to really know the outcome, but that we have to step out in faith. To me, that's truly the adventure. That's where our hearts come alive. And I think that's in the power of – we're a surrendered vessel for God to use and where the kingdom can really, you know, become real to us. But I think it's – you know, you still have to do the basics, the obeying his commandments, whether that's, you know, the things encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, you know, love the God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, the pretty simple commandments direct, or just believing on him, all those things are the foundation.

But it gets to the point to where – this is where I'm trying to get, sorry – is that there's an opportunity to really grow in him and experience more of him when we obey him and those things aren't – that are natural for us to go obey him. Darrell Bock So to go right at this, right? Gary Barnes Yep. Darrell Bock So your brother.

Gary Barnes Yep. Darrell Bock So this is not a traditional, like, I know a little bit about your family, so to give the listeners a little more insight, God's asking you to go see this brother. So tell our listeners a little bit about that relationship.

Gary Barnes Well, I mean, we have a good relationship. I've got a younger brother that my older brother wants to go see. This brother has kind of – he's not – I don't believe he's mad or angry. He just doesn't connect with us and hasn't – you know, we can't even hardly keep up with him to be able to go find him and, you know, just to go after his heart and meet up with him.

And then also my brother, he's going through some physical stuff, being there for him and showing that I love him. We've had some combative times in our past. We've, you know, we generally get along. We talk semi-regular basis, but it was just one of those things where it's, you know, you don't – Darrell Bock And what I mean is your brothers aren't all of the same mother, that type of thing, right? Gary Barnes Yeah, they're half brothers.

Sorry about that, yes. Yeah, and – Darrell Bock And if I'm not mistaken, they're even more than that. Like one is from one set of parents, another one from another, and then there's you. Gary Barnes No, well, we're all from the same dad.

But, you know, it was, you know, in the 70s, it was like you. You didn't think you were very dysfunctional until you started explaining your family situation like, well, crap, I guess we were. You know, but it's still – it's whatever those relationships with God puts in your life, it's just being obedient to not let those things – you can just let them die and say, well, that's not really of my concern, and I just don't – Darrell Bock Yeah, let's go there. I mean, so as I'm listening to your story, Andy, you know, just as somebody that knows you and loves you, it's like, man, if Andy's my half brother, I don't know if he's really my brother, you know. I don't really know that we're all that family, and I'm not really all that certain of what family is, but when I happen to know what I know about Andy, right, there's been a world of difference between the Andy that they knew 15 years ago or even five years ago than the Andy that's going to show up on this adventure and the authentic stories that could be told and the advantage – Andy King Absolutely. Yeah, I've shared some with my older brother about this, about, you know, the masculine journey and that kind of thing, and there's pain from the past.

There's very good opportunity to share. I mean, what God had put on my heart when I first heard about this was just simply I've told him about Wilder Hart, but taking him a copy and putting it in his hand and saying, you really need to read this, and even for my younger brother. And not that I, you know – Darrell Bock Well, can you imagine with me just for a second, man, just imagine, your brothers, because I remember what it was like when my brother – I remember when my father came to the bookend, and then you remember when my brother – Andy King Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Darrell Bock Right? Andy King Yep. Darrell Bock And how cool would it be? I mean, I'm just saying for both your brothers, especially the little one who's apparently feeling isolated, and do you understand that isolation – Andy King Absolutely, yeah. Darrell Bock And where that is?

Andy King Absolutely. You know, my older brother, you know, talking to him about it, I mean, he knows, you know, my zeal for the Lord. But he was like, you know, I just – I've never been like that. He believes, you know, he's had his salvation experience, but he just has said, you know, I just never really – and I think that's where a lot of times we get as believers or people out there that we only want enough of God to just get us a certain point, but they feel like that it's – that's for other people, but not for me. But, man, I used to kind of feel that way at times, too, and it's available to all of us. But that is, again, getting back to that obedience of really believing in Christ, not just making a mental assent at Jesus, but I love how the Amplified puts it, believes in, adheres to, trust in.

You know, it's those words that make Jesus somebody – so just some guy that died on a cross and rose again in my head to where I actually am tied to him, you know, on a daily basis, and that I am obeying him on a regular basis. Darrell Bock And so, you know, as I'm just sitting here, you know, listening as your friend, and I'm going, you know, we don't know how much time they got. Gary Barnes That's right.

That's right. Darrell Bock And how much vacation time you got, I get it. Believe me, I do. But I'm also thinking – Gary Barnes Priorities in the family and what's going on in this world today, absolutely, that we need to set aside what the things that we feel are important and make those obedient decisions. And, again, I still haven't made reservations.

I have asked all for work. So, you know, this is something real-time that I'm going through of whether I'm going to move or not. Darrell Bock But real-time, you know, Sharon, because it's real stuff, man. Gary Barnes It is. Darrell Bock And, you know, I can remember many adventures that I made the extra time to go with my father, with my brother, of those things that, like, man, do you think I ever regretted – I mean, not even close to – because those were, you know, and still are of tremendous value.

Gary Barnes Absolutely. We have another clip. We do, we do. And it's from a movie, an old Disney movie. And it's my clip, so I get to describe it. And it's called The Third Man on the Mountain.

Really wonderful movie, which, if you have the Disney app, I can't recommend it enough to you, okay? So the setup is that there's a young man. His father was a mountain-climbing guide in the Swiss Alps, and very specifically, at a gigantic mountain that is called the Citadel, that he was trying to guide some people up. And there was an avalanche.

Nobody had ever gotten to the top. And his father chose to save the man's life, sort of rather than his own, and died on the mountain. And so the young man, his family, you know, didn't want him to get anywhere near the mountains because they took his father's life. So – but his whole life, he's just longed to be on the mountain. And his whole dream is to someday put his father's shirt on the top of this Citadel. And he turns out to get the opportunity with a guy, with a captain that comes in from England. And there's this other man that was on the mountain with his father that has begun to train him on how to be a guide. And he gets a chance to go up there, and he totally blows it and chooses to try to make himself look good so that the captain will pick him to go up the Citadel. And then this sage that's in his life says, you got one more lesson coming. And so as we listen to this lesson, understand that this young man is trying to climb the mountain that took his father's life, and this guide is showing him what really, being a guide, which is what his – what he thought his dream was, is all about. I've been up and down the mountain, and I did everything you asked. Why don't you say something?

What do you want me to say? Did I do well on the climb? Oh, well enough. But it didn't really count. Didn't count?

Why not? Because you climbed alone. A guide doesn't climb alone.

Everybody knows that. But did you ever stop to think what the word guide means? It doesn't mean to climb up into a high place and not fall off, you know.

It means to lead others, to help others, to think of others before yourself. The other day, that foolishness on the Wonderhorn, how did it happen? I told you. I was looking for a better way down. I think you were looking instead for a way to impress Captain Winter and your uncle.

Perhaps. Captain Winter was my only chance. He's still my only chance. Then you did a thing to be ashamed of. You were looking for praise and for gain, two things your father never sought. And he was the greatest climber of them all. He could go places other men could only dream of. He didn't die because a mountain was too high, nor for conquest or glory.

Gave his life because he thought only of the man in his charge. Well, there's one thing more. Why are you doing that? I'm going to the top. Teo.

If a teacher can't trust his own pupil, why should anyone else? Where do you think you're going? I'm going to. No, you're not.

Do you prefer to go barefoot or wearing my boots? This is a poor setup on my part. I didn't tell a couple other details. Teo, who is the guide who is the sage in the clip, he has a bad leg based on the, you know, being caught in the blizzard that took the young man's father's life. And so when he hooks up the rope and says, I'm going to go up the mountain with you, he's really showing the young climber you've got what it takes. I trust you. Like, here it is. It's the ultimate badge of honor to be this man's guide.

Believe me. And then his girlfriend also, who has bought those climbing boots for him because his uncle sold them after the shenanigans that happened on the Wonderhorn. And so, you know, he doesn't have any choice but to take her because he wants to wear those boots, you know, obviously. And the interesting thing is that the idea of a long obedience in the same direction, right? And Rodney talked about, like, how are we going to do this?

How are we going to be obedient? And, you know, for example, I felt God has led me recently talking about real time. He goes, Rob, you know, memorize the 119th Psalm. Well, yeah. It's 176 verses. Darrell Bock That's like half the Bible, isn't it?

Darrell Bock Yeah, it's. And we started on this adventure. And oh, my goodness. And I slip and I fall and I slip and I fall and I climb. And I, you know, come around a corner and there he is. And the next time I'm falling down in the valley and I need a rope, and here I go. But the neat thing is every time I, you know, go however many hours or whatever without thinking about it, and all of a sudden, you know, I pick up those boots again.

And I go, okay, well, let's see if we can climb this. And, you know, if it's one phrase at a time, one idea at a time, or however long that it happens just today, like the verse I was trying to memorize is in Gimel. And it's Gilgal, which is the very passage that these guys were referring to. And it says Gilgal, the reproach and contempt from me.

That's what David said. And what he was saying is roll away the contempt and reproach. And reproach means to be disappointed or to see disappointment, which those of you who know my story, Ron, he certainly knows it.

But my father, I felt like I was a disappointment to him. So as soon as I saw this like roll away the reproach, I'm like, oh my goodness, where does this come from? Well, very, very cool passage in Joshua where it, Gilgal, the reason it's called Gilgal is because that's where God said he would roll away the reproach of Egypt. And so interestingly, this whole situation that he's talking here about he'd rather have obedience than he would have sacrifice, you know, is again there in Gilgal. But you may know that the way that my reproach got rolled away, the way that I feel like I didn't disappoint my father, was that stone got rolled away to reveal that the tomb was empty, right? And it says in that verse in Gilgal in Psalm 119, roll away my reproach and contempt because I have meditated on thy testimonies, okay? Well, my testimony says that he died for me, right?

And that the tomb is empty and that reproach and that disappointment in me was in fact rolled away. And that whole idea of Gilgal is right there. And had I not been climbing this morning, you know, had I not picked it up once again after I've dropped it, you know, I don't know how many times, you know, it slipped and fall down, I don't know how many times, then I would have missed out on the whole Gilgal adventure, Jim, so. Darrell Bock Well, if you're in Gilgal, you only have 20 letters to go. Darrell Bock Very funny, 19. Darrell Bock You finished it, huh?

It's the second to the last verse in Gilgal. Darrell Bock Okay. Not totally topical, but you hit me kind of hard there with the reproach because I, one of the most effective things, I was a messed up kid, I did anything I could to get in trouble on a regular basis. I got switched a lot. I had to go out and get my switch to go in and get switched by my dad. And I cannot remember a single thing I did that I got switched for. But the reproach that he gave me when I did one thing that I will never forget was, Jimmy, I'm so disappointed in you, and that I would have taken 50 switches before hearing that.

So, having your reproach removed is a wonderful thing. You guys both did current ones. I had a current, a failure, and a success, so I'll give you my failure.

That's the shortest one. This was another thing that stuck with me. It was 27 years ago, and I was just learning to follow God. And my kids were supposed to come down to go to Discovery Place in Charlotte on Microsoft. I was working for them then. And I mean, it was a wonderful spread of food and free access to this wonderful place for kids. And my wife called me last minute and said, Well, we can't get down there.

Something can happen. I don't remember what. And as I was walking in, I saw three kids about my children's age, and I very clearly heard God say, Take them in. Well, I immediately started arguing with it. Well, they're not my kids.

It'll be pretty obvious since our melanin content is quite disparate. And I started walking their direction, and then I said, No, I can't do that. And I turned around. And to this day, that still bothers me.

What did we all miss out on by that exchange? And I'm sure God's taking care of them in a different way. But I look at that and say, You know, I want to listen and obey. Darrell Bock There you go. So, turning to the world's oldest man, he's got his vintage shirt on, Harold.

Harold Bock Well, before I tell a story, I have a different insight. That reference in First Samuel, excuse me, has been a favorite of mine for many years. And the thing when Samuel says, Well, if you've done God's will, what's this bleeding of sheep in mine ear?

And the sarcasm and the irony there just, I love it. But the thing that stuck out to me that's a little bit different is that the reason that it's better to obey is because if you obey, you're doing what God wants. You can sacrifice what you want.

And so that's what makes it better. And I had not understood it exactly that same way before. Well, my story of obedience is one that you guys are probably tired of hearing.

And God didn't speak this to me audibly or whatever. But I had known my sweetheart almost six weeks, and had gone to their parents' house there for Christmas. And with no prior planning on my part, all of a sudden, I find myself down on the knee, asking her to marry me. Darrell Bock And you've been obeying the rest of your life. Harold Bock Well, the value of that obedience is that we've been married for 57 years.

And she's the joy of my life. Darrell Bock So, yeah. I know you've got another story.

I mean, you've got a lot of years to put those together to add. Wait a minute. We got Danny over here looking at Scripture again. So here we go. He says no. Let's not be disobedient.

I don't have a particular Scripture. I was just chewing on something you said earlier. Darrell Bock Well, chew away. Harold Bock Well, when you were talking about the stone of reproach, it brought me to tears, because I saw something I've never seen before. Because when they rolled the stone away, and there was nothing there, is what God is saying. All the things you say, your dreams, your hopes that are dead and buried, have gone, rolled the stone away, because there's nothing there. In other words, it's still alive. He's still alive.

Our hope is still alive, is what I heard. Darrell Bock Exactly. It is. And it's really like the more I think about that, and like wow. And how cool is it from my perspective that David asked him, right? I mean, I've always admired people that ask God the hard questions. You know, like have I really asked God to do something that difficult, like to roll away this reproach and shame? You know, that's a direct thing that I just think it's a really gutsy move.

Well, I generally ask him for the itinerary, and what things are going to look like, and he just really just hands me a bus ticket. Darrell Bock And away you go, Wayne. You're over there chewing on something. Wayne Jones No. Darrell Bock No.

Yes. Wayne Jones I'm pretty comfortable over here. Darrell Bock Don't look at your phone. Ravi, I'll go to you. Wayne Jones I mean, to me, the definition of obedience, again, we've been talking about it is to, you know, what did Jesus say? Love others, love God, love others.

And what does that look like? Well, you look at the Sermon on the Mount, right? I mean, it's interesting because you don't hear many pastors preaching on the Sermon on the Mount. Like if we would all just learn to look like Jesus, that's the whole reason we're here. That's the reason the world is in the mess that it's in because we don't know how to love each other. I was driving down the road the other day and I watched his two neighbors were talking across the street, neither one of them taking the effort to walk across the street to talk to their neighbor.

And it was amazing to me. I couldn't understand the mentality there. Like we don't love one another the way we're supposed to. And that's the essence of what he's telling us to be obedient. You know, the Sermon on the Mount is, if I were going to ever preach, which hopefully that won't happen, I'm a pastor but not a preacher. I would read the Sermon on the Mount at least the first two or three times I was there because until you get that, you don't have it. The follow-up being obedient to God is loving God, loving others, and you can boil it down to that. It's a precept with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your all, with all your strength. And you know, the cool thing is it is an adventure and not unlike Evan Almighty or in our case on the mountain with their third man on the mountain.

You know, the only way you get to get the bus ticket is if you take it. So, well, thank you for listening. Go to MaskmanJourneyRadio.org. This is the Truth Network.