My First Boot Camp

Hi, this is Roy Jones with Man Talk Radio Podcast. Our mission is to break down the walls of race and denomination. Your chosen Truth Radio Broadcast will be starting in just a few seconds. Thank you.

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 The Masculine Journey. I hope that we have as much fun on this show as we had on the pre-show because we just had a lot of fun you guys missed out on. So if you want to know more about that, just reach out to us and we'll tell you what all we tease Robby and Wayne and each other about. Especially, especially Big Jim. Yeah, and Jim's usually always, yeah.

Yeah. He's got a big target. Jim shaved. I knew something was different about him. You are number five of probably 100 people that have noticed, but what did I shave? Your face.

For the first time in this millennium, I don't have a mustache. Oh, that's what it was. Yeah. That's your face.

Anyway, I'm exactly right. Well, Jordan, trust me folks. You don't want to know everything about all the fun we had. So Rodney, this is your topic. You know, out of left field, you have a topic.

Not out of left field. That was Andy's topic. Sam's pointing the finger this way this week.

So he's giving me credit for something I didn't do, but I'll take it. We were talking last week about sports wounds and it just kind of got to the point where I was like thinking that drink's going to spill soon. But anyway, that's a side topic guys. If you were here in the studio, you'd know exactly what we're talking about, but these guys got things going on. But we were talking about sports wounds and I just got to a point where I was talking about, you know, that first bootcamp and Wayne came up to me and talked to me and said some things. And then after the show, we were talking after the after show and we were like, Hey, that might make a good topic. So we kind of sat around and said, Hey, yeah, what would, what did it look like for us at our first bootcamp? What stood out?

What made us come back to a second one or, you know, stood out for that first one that said, Hey, this is something I'd never heard before. I never realized, never thought of and just kind of left it kind of wide open. Yeah.

And Robby, I didn't get to you on the eaves. How many eaves do we have till bootcamp at this point? Believe it or not, just 26.

So it's bootcamp, E V V V times 26. Yeah. And it's, it, it's built, it's, it's filling up quickly. That's all I can say. That's all he can. That's all I got. I've got a feeling he's going to say a little more.

I would probably probably say a little bit more, but Robert, you have the first clip. So if you want to kick us off and we didn't really say any context other than what did your food, how did your first bootcamp impact you? Right.

And you takeaways. And so my first bootcamp was actually the, the mask and journey's first bootcamp. Yeah, it was. And it was, you know, from my standpoint, sort of a mercy date in that Darren and Sam had come to me, we'd advertise this. I was really concerned, you know, that they wouldn't get enough people at the bootcamp. So I thought, well, I'll come and that at least I'll have one, you know, but actually it was, it was well attended that they were 54 or five.

Right. But I couldn't come until after Saturday after my show. And so when I arrived and, you know, was welcomed by Darren and his, it is, it is boxer shorts. I was, it was an unforgettable, that's how it impacted me.

That's how Darren tended to invite everybody. I didn't have a greeting like that. Yeah, very thankful. So, you know, from that beginning, it just came this gigantic, unbelievable paradigm shift in my whole world. Cause I can't, it's hard to even climb into my brain at the, at the point that I was in my walk with Christ at that point in time that this just opened my eyes to warfare, opened my eyes to a possible role that I had as a warrior, as, as actually using the stuff that I'd kind of felt was bubbling up down inside of my masculine soul, all these, you know, many, many years. And all of a sudden, boy, this came to the surface and I, and I had a sense of purpose that I really had never experienced before.

And the very first night I was there, we watched this movie Defiance. And it's about the, I think I'm going to say it wrong, the Blinsky brothers. The Blinsky brothers, and no, they were never on Saturday Night Live.

That's Belushi. But anyway, these poor guys, I mean, Nazi Germany, you know, they were Jewish, you know, trying to find a way to survive when everybody's coming to the, you know, sending them off into the Holocaust. And so, you know, they start rescuing these people and, and it was just an unbelievable idea. And then, you know, I think as you hear the end of this clip, I mean, I definitely was there with, wow, this has to do with faith.

So go ahead and play it. We will send for everyone who is left alive. If you save a life, you must take responsibility for it. What if we take all of you? There are thousands, how will we live? We will protect you.

You are hiding here in the forest. We will start rebuilding the lives that you have all lost. Everyone will work.

There are no exceptions. And we will become warriors. And anyone else would rather fight than wait to be killed.

Now is your chance. We may be hunted like animals, but we will not become animals. We've all chosen this. Every day of freedom is an act of faith. I almost lost my faith, but you were sent by God to save us. So I love that idea of being sent by, you know, God to save us that, you know, what happened for me at that first boot camp was, like I said, I was awakened to the idea that I'd really never heard before that our life is this love story set in the midst of a great battle. And I never saw the battle that was afoot, nor did I realize that I could play any role in it, and certainly didn't picture that in my Christian worldview. Darrell Bock Yeah, I wanted to ask you a little bit about that. I mean, prior to this boot camp, and you've shared it before, this would have been a movie you would not even envision watching, because it was not a Christian movie, right?

Darrell Bock Right. This wasn't anything Christian. You wouldn't go to go see this kind of movie. I mean, and I was actually shocked.

I was shocked by it. All this was going down, but there I was, and God got my attention, really, because after this movie came clip after clip, and we're going to play some of those on the go today, that we're all pointed at my masculinity and awakening something that had long been asleep. Scott Horrell Yeah, and that's part of what the enemy tries to do, right? As good-hearted Christians, he tries to take you out of the battle by getting you to believe, okay, there's nothing redeeming in some of this. And some of the movies that we use, I wouldn't say the whole movie is redeeming, but there are clips that really speak some clear truth that God wants us to know.

That's why it moves your heart. That's what we talk about so much, but the enemy knows that, and so he tries to mask it, you know, and not let you have that opportunity. Darrell Bock And the use of movie clips at boot camp just was so powerful that it really birthed kind of the idea for this radio show that I was like, you know, we couldn't get the whole effect of the movie clips, but what those stories did were like modern parables. It's like Jesus talking with stories, and through these stories, you know, there was a awakening of things that really felt like I had a place in it. Scott Horrell Well, Andy, we've got time to get your clip in. We've got a few more minutes here, and so we have time for you to kind of set that up and talk a little bit about it, kind of from Braveheart.

Andy King Yeah, so like Robby, so much of what the boot camp, it wasn't your traditional men's retreat, and those are fine, but the use of the movie clips, the Covenant of Silence, where you get to go out and hear from God after a talk is done and let him personally talk to you about stuff, very powerful, but, you know, there's a lot of Braveheart clips in the boot camps, and Braveheart is something I'd seen in the past, but that's a powerful movie when you understand the story that it came from, and then, you know, this clip comes from it, and William Wallace is basically talking to the queen, who doesn't want him to give his life up and die to the king. She wants him to capitulate and give in and do what the king said, and he won't do it, and he's got a quote on there, and I'm not going to quote it, because it's so powerful. I'll just let Sam play it. Scott Horrell Now, at this point, he's a prisoner, and he's going to be executed, and she's trying to get him to give in to the king.

He used a bigger word, which we'll talk about later. Andy King Yes, capitulate. Scott Horrell Yeah, there we go. Sarah, I come to beg you to confess all and swear allegiance to the king, that he might show your mercy. Andy King Well, he'll show mercy to my country. Sarah Well, I swear to him that all that I am is dead already. Sarah It will die.

It will be awful. Andy King Every man dies. Not every man really lives. Scott Horrell Yeah, every man dies, but not every man really lives, and that was one of those things that kind of awakened me, because I had felt something in my soul that said there's more to being a man than what it is.

It's more than a mortgage payment. It's more than being a dutiful Christian, a quote, good husband. I wasn't living from my heart, and I didn't know really that it was an option.

Hey, there is an option out there. There's something to step into, and that really puts it well. How many people go take the essence of who they are to their grave and never shower it out on humanity and live the life that God called us? And I think that's why we have so many problems with men getting hooked on pornography and addictions and midlife crisis and all that is because they're not living in the adventure that he gives them and the calling he has for them and the life.

There's a tyrannical devil that wants to keep us bound into not living in the fullness of God who God created us to be in his image. Dr. Darrell Bock That's great. That's really good. For both of you guys, and we'll come back and talk about it after the break with the rest of the team, break down those two clips and how much they meant, but that statement, it echoes something he says to his men earlier when he's talking about how many of you would want to come back lying in your beds many years from now, and that's what he tells them, and he's not just telling that to give them a speech of, hey, let's get going. He believes it and he lives it.

And his men see that, and that's what makes the difference. Dr. Darrell Bock It's part of his essence. Dr. Darrell Bock It is. It is. And so you have time to go register for boot camp. It's coming up in 26 short days. It's going to fly by. I mean, it's already March.

That's all I'm saying. masculinejourney.org. Go register. We'd love to see you there. God would love to see you there. He's going to do some amazing things for all of us. Please come. I got on my knees this morning to pray for the Ukraine.

True Commentary with Stu Epperson, author of the book, First Words of Jesus. The shelling has begun. The blood is being shed. Communist socialist Russia is attacking Ukraine. So many good things happening there. Democracy, a lot of Christian universities, churches, and yet this assault, it's so sad. What can you do as you see the world falling apart? You can pray.

I'm going to challenge you sometime today, this week, get on your knees, maybe even with someone else and pray for the Ukraine. Pray for peace. Pray for God's work there. Pray for healing. The power of prayer is one of the only powers we can embrace right now. And pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ that are under much fire there as the war has begun. True Commentary with Stu Epperson, author of the book, First Words of Jesus.

Available now in bookstores or go online to firstwordsofjesus.com. Welcome back to Masculine Journey. So, any of you guys know who that was? Randy Travis. That's exactly right. You're exactly right, Andy. Danny, Andy, Danny. You know, yes, C. Robin. I think Dandy is the word. Yeah.

That song was not Randy Travis singing it at my first boot camp, but that song was played at my first boot camp, and I couldn't find the right rendition. And I kept stumbling upon Michael W. Smith, and I don't really care for him a whole lot. And so, I know some people in here do, and so I just kind of refused to play him.

And Sam gets his way. Yeah, kind of. But no, but I had not heard the Randy Travis version. So, I thought that was kind of cool. But that was a song that really spoke to me at my first boot camp. It was one of the things that they had to sing, and they had to sing it on Saturday and Sunday. And I had not really heard that song before back at the time, and so it really just spoke to my heart.

And I could feel myself feeling those words as a person sung it. And so, that's why I used it as a bump in for this week. Yeah. So, back to the topic at hand. Rodney, we're talking about? First boot camps.

Exactly. For some of you, it's been a while. It's been a while, yeah. Well, for Masculine Journey, we did our first one in fall of 2009. It was when we had our first boot camp.

And then the first one that I think I did. Robby so graciously attended for you. Yeah, the mercy date. And he's been on a lot of mercy dates with us since then.

Sam, I was thinking about what Robby said about the first time he met Darren. Yeah. I'm really thrilled that I met him in Colorado, where it was way too cold for him to be out in his underwear. You would hope. That's always the hope, yeah.

He was fully dressed when I met him, or otherwise I might not be here today. Yeah. For some of us, it's been many, many boot camps, right? I had this conversation with a friend of mine, my best friend from college on. We were talking about boot camps, and he was surprised that as many as I've been to, it's got to be between 20 and 30, somewhere in there.

I don't know where that's at. God continually shows up and shows me new things every boot camp, right? You can't out-give God. You can't out-plan God. You can't say, oh, I've gotten enough from that God. And for me, it just continues to peel back the layers.

I must be a huge ogre, because there's been lots of layers they've been peeling back. You said it. Yeah, I know that. I get that. I get that.

So going back to those first couple of clips, anyone else want to chime in on those clips before we move on? Anything that moved you in it? I think stirring the masculine heart towards a fight, towards there is an enemy that we have to go after, that was one of the big stirring thoughts also, because coming in, you know, masculinity was on my heart. And what is that? What does it mean?

Because it was not what I had been told by society and everybody else that was influencing me up until that point. Very good. For the movie Defiance, Darren had called me right after he'd watched it. He and Sheila went and watched it.

He's like, this is a boot camp movie. And I was like, okay, you know, and then I watched it. And it was like, oh my gosh, this is a great movie because it's a true story. That's a really cool thing that four guys that were considered outcasts and outlaws to some degree, you know, like not the highest in their society, and actually one of the lowest people in their society, the way the story is told, end up rescuing thousands, you know, and just how amazing that is. And they're not necessarily Christian in the movie, but you see God's hand through the whole movie.

And that's what really cool, that God uses who He uses or chooses to use. And that's why we do mix in the clips because God gives you the eyes to see what you're supposed to get out of it. And there's just stories that each one of us is going to take something a little different away from a clip to the talk and apply it in our lives.

It's going to be a little different for everyone. But that's what's great about being in abandoned brothers like this is that you get to then share that. And you go, oh, I didn't see that. But then you may start seeing it in your life after that. Yeah. And how can you not be moved by Mel Gibson, you know, in the Braveheart movie, you know, and I remember hearing that line and thinking, I don't want to just die. I want to really, really live and find out what that means in my life and what that adventure means. Right.

And like you said, Andy and Ravi, it awakens something in my heart. Yeah, not and not just to be wild and crazy and just go do whatever you want. But it's in God's will. How what does that look like? That is just a something to ponder because we're never going to get it perfect. But it's it's wonderful to stretch and work for that.

It's definitely more crazy than anything that you'll he'll chart off on. Well, it's up to you now for a clip. We're up to your clip.

Oh, we're gonna go with mine. That's what I just said. Yeah. So this one is from the movie you 571. It's a World War Two movie where Germany had this enigma coder that allowed them to send messages, decode them, and then constantly be changing their codes all the time so that the enemy had a very hard time ever figuring out what they communicating.

And if you never know anything about war, that's one of the biggest things you want to do is infiltrate and understand and pick off enemy communication so you can be one step ahead of them and surprise them. So the German submarine gets crippled, and it sends out an SOS base and says, Hey, I'm a distress signal I need help. And in the area, there's a US destroyer, I forget what it was, but they come upon the submarine first to try to overcome it. And there's a battle that ensues the original the captain, the leader, he dies. So now you got a new commander of the unit, they do successfully get the sub.

But now they're trying to figure out now, okay, I got to keep this up. And then, lo and behold, out of the sky drops down a pilot in a German airplane, and he's flying over the sub, which is a German sub filled with Americans. So you're like, Okay, now what's going to happen here? And you find this battle that ensues on top of the deck where one guy says shoot down the plane, but the guy who's supposed to be in charge, who's now the new leader that's not getting much respect, they don't trust him yet, because of some other words that he said earlier.

But basically, this whole scene is built up around, are we going to get discovered and killed by this plane? And the captain's trying to lead him in the right way. Your commanding officer is a mighty and terrible man to be feared and respected, all knowing, all powerful. Don't you dare see what you said to the boys back there again?

I don't know. Those three words will kill a crew dead as a depth charge. You're the skipper now.

And the skipper always knows what to do, whether he does or not. Aircraft off the port bow! Real sorry, sir. Dropped it out of the clouds. Rabbit, trigger stand by the flak gun. Sir.

It's German. It's like long range reconnaissance. We've been doing way out of here. As far as he knows, we're all playing on the same team.

Everybody wave. We've? Sir, we've seen Dunson. We shoot first. We blow him out of the sky.

We shoot and miss. He's going to radio us in. That plane's going to be nice to our fathers. This is crazy. We're going to get this killed. He's coming around.

He's coming around. It's attacking. Rabbit, do something. Oh, shut up. Rabbit, ignore him. Do something. It's going to strafe us, Rabbit.

It's coming right at us. No, end up. Do something. Get your finger off that trigger. What are you doing, huh?

This is not a democracy. Yeah. So right there at the end, the guy who didn't want to listen and try to take control over the captain got a nice punch in the face for that. And basically from that point, it's like, okay, I want to trust you. But for me, I walked into that camp with the enemy's mask on. I'm a real man. I know what a real man is because society has told me what a real man is. And posing and coming in and trying to always live in something that I wasn't. And so I'm this fairly new Christian for a few years.

I had, you know, listening to Dr. J. Vernon McGee, the Truth Network, and a bunch of people, you know, that are wonderful pastors on there and listening to shows like The Christian Car Guy, Masculine Journey, things like this. I'm like, okay, there's something being stirred in me that says masculinity is the problem with Christianity because men aren't living as Christian men. They're not living in God's will. We're way outside of it. We're not leading.

No wonder we have all these problems. And I'm like, if I don't do so, I just had this overwhelming, if I don't become a man and learn what that is and become a part of that, that's why this message kind of resonated to me, I think, with just listening to the show. Because like Robby, I went to the first bootcamp and I had never even read the book, so I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't know that there was this book and that kind of lined out what they were going to be talking about. So when it hit me at bootcamp, it was all new.

But I knew there was something about masculinity that these guys were talking about that I had to go figure out what it was. And I wanted to go in and pose my way through and walk out at the end of the week. For me to go to a camp and be at something like this and be by myself and not have a group or a team around me to go hang out with my buddies later and do all this stuff, it was really a stretch for me. But I just felt like right there being called just like theirs is, you were being called into something that you weren't ready for. The guy who was his captain, or whatever rank he was, was shot and killed.

He went down with the destroyer. All of a sudden, you're thrust into something that you didn't know existed. And I had to deal with it. And eventually, it's like, okay, go engage the enemy. Yeah.

Thank you. Before you're setting up that clip, one of the things that you talked about was how important communication is. And the enemy knows that.

If he can steal your vision of what a man is, if he can steal... Just try to walk closely with a friend. Try to be married for a little while and see how many communication issues come up. Miscommunication is his greatest tool.

That's one of his ones that he goes to most often. And so if he can miscommunicate who we're supposed to be, how we're supposed to be, even our communication and break that down, well, he's in a place to really win you or get you in a place where you're not effective. I think that's where a lot of us found ourself coming into that first boot camp, just not very effective, not understanding warfare, not understanding a lot of those things. And so we're going to talk about more of that in the After Hours podcast. Please join us for that.

You can download that at any podcast location. But in the meantime, go register for the boot camp coming up March 31st through April 3rd, masculinejourney.org. What has boot camp meant to me? That's a really tough thing to articulate. It's so deep inside me. It's ingrained in every part of me. Understanding woundedness, that's where God really caught me at my first boot camp and also helping me step into healing and restoration from those wounds. It's kind of cool. It's like an onion. He keeps peeling back layers and it's exciting and sometimes frustrating to go there with him. But I enjoy the process and the way God leads me to freedom. Register today at masculinejourney.org. This is the Truth Network.