Spiritual Ear Exam

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Welcome to the masculine journey. We are very glad that you're with us this week, and all I can say is, is I hear you. I hear you.

We hear you. God hears you. We're talking about hearing today, if you haven't got from that little bit right there. We're talking about hearing, but the thing I think's ironic is this came out of last week's show. Now, Rodney, you remember the details, you know, because you're like the scribe of the group.

You remember everything and keep it locked in the vault. So tell us the details of how this topic— That's exactly the opposite of what I am, exactly. But it was spiritual eye exam that Sam had a little trouble remembering, which got us to spiritual hearing exam.

Yes, yes, yeah. And I just changed it to ear exam because it was eye, so I put it as ear. You know, I didn't listen. Now, last week I was struggling because I kept trying to say the topic of spiritual eye exam, and I kept hearing in my head how God sees us. And so I was struggling to get that out, and eventually it kind of worked through that. But I had to keep asking Danny what the topic was, and he thought I wasn't listening to him. So Danny, if you're really heartbroken, that's why you're not here tonight.

We'd love to talk to you, and you'll call in, and maybe we'll come see you or something. We'll make it right. Yeah, we'll make it right.

He had another conflict that he had. So Andy, we have a guest on the show tonight, right? Yep, we sure do. And hopefully, Bob, I don't mess up your name, Bob, can cite us. Is that right?

That's right, yeah. So last spring, I don't know, last year I went up to Ohio to a group that does boot camps as well, and Bob was there at the advanced boot camp that I attended. And we kind of stayed connected after that. I connected with the Ohio team as well as a lot of our guys did as well. But Bob, being the adventurous sort that he is, decided to come to our boot camp, and I think he really enjoyed it. We enjoyed having him, and welcome to the show, Bob. Thanks. Yeah, it was an adventure, and I really appreciate it.

I had fun. Yeah, we have our own boot camps up here in central Ohio. We call ourselves the Central Ohio Boot Camp, and we actually have some camps coming up for those who are called to maybe have their own adventure and come up to Ohio if you're around. So we have one in June, early June, and a basic. That's June 9th through 12th, and then an advanced September 8th through 11th, and I believe some of you guys are coming up to adventure to be involved in that one.

So yeah, centralohioabootcamp.com. Yeah, our coming up depends on how well you do on the show tonight, Bob. No pressure.

Always dependent. Of the world, of course. Yeah, well, thanks for joining us. We are talking about this spiritual hearing, ah, hearing? That was bad.

Hearing or ear exam. And so I sent the group just some thoughts, and we've all shared some thoughts this week, but really it's going to, this show's going to be kind of a smorgasbord, I can't really say that word, Robby, you can say it better than I can, of topics. Buffet. A buffet, thank you. On this topic.

Scrumptious. Yes, all those adjectives. But, you know, things like whose voice are you listening to? How do you know that you're listening to God's voice and not the voice of others or the enemy? What keeps you from listening to other people? You know, could it be pride that gets in the way that you're trying to answer the question before, you know, reply to them before they get out with what they're saying?

Right? And so you're already thinking of your reply to what they're talking about, or, you know, what keeps us from understanding each other? Why is, in marriages or relationships, sometimes the communication's so difficult, right?

It's because we have an enemy that's in the midst of it, right? And we'll talk more about that and some other things. And the first clip that we're going to go to is from Jim's favorite TV show of all time, Everybody Loves Raymond. And so he's actually not a big fan, so that's why I love to pick clips from that show.

But in this one, Deborah makes Raymond go to an active listening class, right? He doesn't really want to go. And this has happened before we get to the clip. And he goes, and when he comes home, he's been across the street. His mom and dad's experimenting with it to see how it works. He comes home, and Deborah's having a fight with Allie, their daughter.

And so he enters in, and just see how well he does on listening to the daughter, and then just listening in general, and then we'll talk about it. Oh, hold on. That's not the beginning. Let me go back to the beginning here. Reset. I shouldn't have made fun of Jim. That's what it was.

You are angry because... Because it used to be your toy. Yes. I don't like Michael and Jeffrey. I see. I see.

You think that mommy and daddy paid too much attention to Michael and Jeffrey. Right. Okay. I was handling this.

They get everything. Right. And you're upset because we gave them your old giraffe. I still liked it. But you weren't playing with it. But that doesn't matter, though, because it was still yours.

And you're mad because we gave it to Michael without asking you, right? Right. Well, mommy and daddy made a mistake. And everybody makes mistakes, right, mommy? Yes, yes, yes. You feel better now, Allie? Yes.

Can I have the giraffe? Well, it's broken, honey. I know.

I want to try to fix it for Michael. Uh-huh. You're sweet. Thank you, daddy.

See what I did there? Yeah, yeah. Can't believe it.

It's pretty amazing. You did it. Anything else you need taken care of while I'm around here? No. What? What's the matter? Nothing with you, obviously. Don't go by me.

I'm a natural. Don't worry. You'll get it.

No. You're feeling inadequate because I mastered it before you. Don't give me that active listening crap. Where do you get off listening to me? Never happened again. So, Bob, was there anything in that clip that just kind of struck you?

No, not particularly. So I didn't give you a heads up there, Bob. That's what they were talking about earlier about you just throwing people, putting them on the spot. Yeah, that's what it was.

It was. Well, I wanted to get to Bob, so I didn't forget about him. So, you know, you'll have some other stuff. It's gonna be lonely in September, Bob.

It's not looking good for the home team. Give me a second chance. Well, you'll get a chance to get him back. Oh, yeah.

It's all fair. We'll come back to you, Bob, on it. So, guys, I know that those that are married or have been married in the room kind of realized what was going on with Ray there. You know, what was really happening with that? Was he using good listening skills? I don't think he was listening. I think he was doing a lot of telling to Debra.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He did pretty well with his daughter, but then from there it didn't go very well. He was in a hole and he didn't get rid of the shovel. No, he kept digging.

He kept digging a little bit more and more. Jim, you want to comment on your favorite show? I looked at my watch, and this is my 48 and two-thirds anniversary today, and the only one really listening was her.

Yeah. Well, either her, but the little girl, he wasn't active listening to her unless it happened a lot earlier because she only got to say yes to what he had already decided she was thinking. He just happened to be right, and that's part of what I don't like of this show. It's just so unrealistic because the guy is never right.

I find him obnoxious, but then in this I said, well, I'm going to warm to that some because he reminds me of Sam. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I'll take that as a compliment.

It ran for several years. It's meant that way. Yeah, no, I agree.

I appreciate that. When you listen to that, you listen to Ray who's trying to do something but for the wrong reasons. He's trying to listen because he wants to get a leg up on Debra or he wants to get in better with his daughter. I mean, I think there's no doubt that he loves his daughter, but he wasn't really listening to your point, Jim. He wasn't really listening to anybody.

He was just trying to get his agenda kind of across the line. And I never got to my point because I had to be silly, but my wife and I probably listen to each other less now than we ever have because we assume that we know what the other one's thinking and saying. And it's funny how often we'll have a discussion. I told you that. No, you didn't.

I did. And there'll be enough for my... Oh, yeah, I remember that now, but it gets harder with age. Doesn't it over there? Yeah. Harold, you got a thought on that?

What makes it even worse is when you got a computer nerd with 44 years experience and a second grade school teacher. Guess how opposite we think and talk. Yeah, I could see that.

I could see that. Well, we don't really have time for another clip, so we'll go ahead and talk a little bit more about the topic. So, guys, as you think about this listening and hearing God's voice, I know, Wayne, when we get to your clip, you'll talk more about that. But how do you go about trying to listen for the right reasons? We can talk about all day long listening for the wrong reasons, listening so I can respond.

That's the wrong reason. But we want to be listening to understand. Isn't that really the goal? Yeah, that's the goal.

But, man, it's hard for me to get there. I spent my whole life trying to prove I was right in about every argument I ever had. I was like, the whole goal of having an argument is to win it.

What else is there to do? I'm competitive. I'm competitive in sports. It's like I'm playing a game. I'm going to play to win. This is a game. Hey, okay, we got this fight. Now you're going to lob one over? I'm going to smash it back on you. That's kind of how I played the game. So, for me, I have to get to a point where it's like, where is their heart at trying to understand them and really come at it until I got saved.

There was no chance of that happening. But it's better. I've got a lot of work to do. But it is a lot more rewarding being on the side of something where it's better for somebody else than just your own pride. Yeah, most times people just want to be listened to. It's amazing, isn't it? It's not mouth to nail. It's just a perfect clip, isn't it? It is. That sounds really hard.

That's a great way to go. When I'm doing training with some of the younger builders, one of the things that I make sure I focus on is saying you don't have the authority to respond to somebody, like a client, unless you can articulate what they're saying. Unless you can understand where they're coming from, you don't have the right to respond yet. And so you've got to keep working on that to make sure you understand. And once they know you understand, then you can respond. And that puts you in a position to where they're able to hear you now because they know that you understand where they're coming from. And so listening is an active thing that we need to do. Go to masculinejourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp November 17th through 21st. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving. We would love to see you there.

And go register now. One of my favorite things about boot camp, well, the favorite thing about boot camp is every time I go, I encounter God. And as anyone that has encountered God knows, generally speaking, it's nothing we expect. Real encounter with God out of the blue. He knew what I needed. I knew what I wanted.

And those two were rarely the same thing. Register today at masculinejourney.org. For me, describing boot camp, when I heard the stories from the stage that the other men had, and then during my prayer time, I'm getting a download from God on where my life is and how I have wounds, and I have a place in His story. To know how I heard from God is one of those things. He really does communicate with us.

Register today at masculinejourney.org. Oh, yes indeed we know that people will find a way to go no matter what the man says. And love is fine for all we know, for all we know our love will grow. That's what the man said.

So won't you listen to what the man said. So Andy, that was your problem. You want to tell us a little bit about it? Yeah, I got it by default. Nobody else submitted one, so that's rare that we don't have multiple bumps submitted, right Jim? It is. And I was doing other things than bumping today.

That's right. But anyway, I couldn't think of anything. I thought it was a good song, though. Well, you are the man, so say what you mean here.

I mean, I took it as, I tried to get from the lyrics whether he was really talking about God there or not. And there's some things that indicate it and some things, just listen to a man that has wisdom or whatever. But that's what we're talking about, is listen to what, there's a lot of wisdom out there, listen to what the man said. Yeah, thanks for that.

I know that was really enlightening right there. Just listen to what the song said. I appreciate it. I like the bump. Robby, this is, it's time for your clip.

Okay. Well, I did actually, since it was spiritual ear exam or spiritual hearing exam, I think to hear with your spirit is different than hearing with your ears. And, you know, it's one of the neat things that we get to do is hear God's voice in all sorts of different ways.

And so there's a movie coming out actually May 8th that looks spectacular. It's called Noble and has to do with a lady whose last name was Noble who saved thousands of Vietnamese children, arguably millions as a result of her heroic actions. But in her younger life, she was seriously wounded by the Catholic Church in so many different ways. And you'll get a picture of that in a second as she was losing her mother to tuberculosis. And she was in the church praying for her mother diligently, which you'll hear that prayer. And because I think she's Scottish, you hear through her accent, what she actually says is, I want to be Doris Day.

I want to travel to America. That's what she's saying. And it's her mother that's dying of tuberculosis and you can hear how the preacher, or excuse me, the priest responds to her. I'm sorry I've been asking for too many things. You don't have to make me like Doris Day if you don't want to. I don't have to go to America. I'll stay here. So long as you don't let me love me, ma'am doppy.

Sure you won't, God. It's time for you to go on home now, Christina. I don't want to go home. That's as it may be, but your daddy's waiting on you. God told me to stay here. He says he's going to kill my ma'am if I stay here. That's enough nonsense. God can't cure everyone.

You're expected home. So, I mean, that clip just kind of hit me right in the heart as I heard that priest tell that young girl who said she'd heard from God, that's enough nonsense. And it speaks directly against, in my opinion, the childlike spirit, which it's only the childlike spirit that's even going to have ears to hear spiritually. So the word, as you might guess in Hebrew for here, is Shema. That's why they say it is Shema.

Like they want to hear from God. I mean, that's the whole thing, right? And there's this story told, I love this story, about this little boy. He was on the beach and there was a great big huge naval ship headed towards this island. And it was like an aircraft carrier, a giant thing. And he was standing on the beach just waving like he was waving for this aircraft carrier to come over. And, of course, this man comes up and says, son, you know, that aircraft carrier isn't coming up here because he goes, oh, yeah, he is. He said, oh, yeah, he's coming right over here. He says, well, you know, why are you waving? He said, because the captain's going to come out and wave it. And he says, no, that aircraft carrier isn't coming over here to wave at you. And he said, oh, yeah, yeah, he is.

It's my dad. Well, that's the point. You know, that there and completely is the point is that it is our childlike spirit that believes that dad wants to talk to us. And to me, it's critical. And the worst thing you can tell somebody is enough for this nonsense because there is actually everything else is nonsense. Here's the only thing that makes any sense.

You know, clearly. And so, you know, I love, love, love people that there's nothing that turns my heart more on fire than to hear somebody at boot camp say they heard their new name. Or they heard God say he wanted to go in this direction with their life. Or they heard, you know, that he wanted to work on him on this struggle.

Or wherever it is, if they had that, that stuff, Sam, and you know this. That changes their life, not just for a boot camp, you know, but as they grow in that relationship with God and they begin to enter into that place of conversational intimacy with God is life changing. Absolutely. Bob, you've probably seen that, I would imagine, through your boot camps as well, or being up at ours, how God moves through men. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I love it.

I was able to be on the leadership team for our last basic back in the fall. And it was so neat to hear some of the guys that say, I'm not hearing, I'm not hearing it. And then all of a sudden they come back, you know, with that look in their eye of, like they just bawled their eyes out. Like, yeah, it finally hit me. And you're like, oh, man, it got them.

So, yeah, just the look and the satisfaction on some of the guys' faces when they've heard God speak to them when they were not expecting it is pretty amazing. So it goes to kind of prove you God can meet you anywhere if he can meet you in Ohio. That's right. Of course, I grew up in Indiana, so saying that is just because you're next door neighbor.

Ba-dum-bum. Exactly. We got hills here. You got hills. We know.

We just have corn. Yeah. They're called speed bumps. So, Wayne, while you have a microphone in front of you, you want to go ahead and talk about your clip and set it up? Yeah, it's kind of actually following along with, you know, Robby and his topic there. This clip is from the movie Venom, Venom and Eddie. Venom is a alien sludge that needs a symbiotic host to survive. Like a gummy worm. Well, he's fluid.

It's more like a licorice, I think. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, they've had a life together, and then, you know, Eddie has to walk around with his voice in his head.

And, yeah, we'll just go from there. Eddie. I want to hear another word out your mouth. Eddie. I want to hear it. Eddie, I am sorry.

That was his last time on record ever. There's no more any words for his victims or, you know, they were gone. The clues of outstanding bodies we've lost forever is completely… I didn't mean to. You didn't mean to? I said I'm sorry. You didn't mean to, but you did it. I mean, you just decided, I don't know, that's it, you did it. You know, you didn't even think that we might get caught, we might get killed. No, you don't think about things like that, do you?

You just think about chickens, and you think about you, and you think about what you want, and you think about you. Let me remind you of something, Eddie. You were a loser before I came along. You were nothing. I made you special. Oh, you made me special, huh?

Well, let me tell you something, right? Before you came along, I had a life. I didn't have chickens, all right? But I had dreams. Yeah, I had dreams, and I had a fiancé, and I had a really successful TV show. Ah, but you destroyed all of those things by yourself.

Yeah, but, you know what? I rebuilt my life, and now I just want to live it. Good night. And how did you build this new life? Excuse me? Well, who found the clue on the wall so you could be this big, shiny hero? Who found the clue?

Who? Wow. Yeah.

No, no, no, this is not about being a hero for me, man. This is about wanting to live in peace. Do you understand what I'm talking about? Yeah, so, right, we hear voices in our head, and they're not always ours, right?

Our thoughts. You know, Jesus told us, you know, take your thoughts captive. You know, this is kind of one of the things I've been talking about for a while now, is the reality of a lot of what we do in discipling others and getting them to understand that, yes, you do hear, you can hear God's voice, but there are other voices, too, right? You know, how do you know it's not your voice, or how do you know it's not God's voice, or, you know, the enemy's? And ultimately, it's diving into, again, that childlike heart that we can hear the voice of God. We have these conversations, these arguments with ourselves a lot of times, right? You know, I can't believe I did that.

Hey, you're an idiot, you moron. You know, that's one of the things we talk about in the boot camps, is that third person, you never talk to yourself in the third person. It's one of the ways you can hear that voice and distinguish that it's not yours. I just love the reality that we can, that we can hear the voice of God and the change that that makes when you do that act of listening. You know, the other day I was praying with a guy and had something happen that I had never had happen before, but while I was praying, it was like this needle sticking me in the back of the throat all of a sudden, and I could not pray, and I heard Father distinctly say, stop praying. Well, what I didn't know was there was a third man there that was praying with us, you know, in the Spirit, and he said that during that time, whenever I was praying with this man, he was praying for the man as well, but as I started to get this scratch in my throat, he realized something was going on, and he started praying for me, and Father told me, stop praying. Let him get done what he was doing.

I didn't know he was doing this. I didn't know why until after we had these conversations. But in that act of listening, I could have kept trying to pray, and I would have kept struggling with trying to pray. So it makes a huge difference in the way we walk if we believe that we can hear his voice, right? Yeah, and we've done shows on hearing God's voice, but as we close out this particular show, how do you know you're listening to the right voice?

That's part of the question, right? So when you throw a couple things out there, I'll throw one out that it's going to be convicting but not condemning, right? If you're hearing attacks on you, that's not from God, typically. If you're being confronted with truth in a loving way, then that could be the Father speaking to you, right?

The enemy doesn't usually act like that. One of the keys for me, and you reminded me of this, I heard exactly the same thing from God. And there was a little more after that, but I will say, I mean, he said, stop praying now. And I was under attack by a spirit of confusion because I was praying against that. And he will, but when he says something, you know it's not you. And then you can test whether it's the enemy because the enemy will always be lying to you. And there are times when I absolutely know it's God.

There are other times when that might be God, might be me. It's usually easy to spot the enemy, but he's an excellent liar, so not always. And Bob, your boot camp's coming up when? Your next camp? June 9th to the 12th. All right, we'll talk to you next week. Bob, hopefully you'll stay on for after hours. All right, thank you.