Earthly Fathers

Hi, this is Roy Jones with ManTalk 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.

Welcome to Masculine Journey. We are glad that you're with us this week. And Robby, we're on an eve. This is an important eve. At least for the people in this room it's an important eve.

Of course. It's Father's Day Eve, actually officially. Yeah, it's Father's Day Eve. And it's a big holiday from what I understand.

It is. We're going to learn more about just how big that holiday is when we play our first clip in a minute. You know, Father's Day Eve, we even have to mention a woman there, right? We do. We do. Yeah. I'll let Caroline sort that out with you.

The Carolina girls, right? Yeah, I'm not taking the bait on that one. So, the topic this week, Andy, it's your topic.

No, I'm just messing with you. It's a holdover from your topic like a month ago, right? When you suggested we do the impact that mothers made in our life. And that was a great show that we did back then. So, this is going to be the impact that fathers make. Now, last week we did the Heavenly Father. We're talking about the Heavenly Father.

So, this week we're going to be talking about our earthly fathers. And so, it does bring me to my first clip. This first clip is a comedy bit.

It's right at about two minutes. We're going to listen to it. And there's a point.

We're going to teach from it a little bit. But I want you to get the humor in it and then also think about what he's actually saying as he talks about the popularity of Father's Day. Father's Day is the worst holiday in the world. I've done the research. I already know.

Let me tell you something. Mother's Day is the second most celebrated holiday in the world. Christmas is first.

So, that means it's Jesus, then your mama. You know what Father's Day fall at? Number 20. I can't think of 18 other holidays. Do you realize Halloween is number six? Does that mean ghosts and goblins go before fathers? Arbor Day is number 13. I don't even know what that is.

I just know it comes before me. That's crazy. Columbus Day is number 16. Celebrating Columbus Day is like celebrating somebody finding money in your house. Where you get that $50 from? I discovered it in your kitchen.

Ridiculous. Now that is funny. It's a comedian and his name is El-Siddiq. I think that's how you pronounce his name. It's S-I-D-D-I-Q if you want to watch the rest of it.

It's only a couple more minutes. It's funny, but also it's sad when you really think about it. I don't think he's being false in what he's saying. He's done research and Father's Day is number 20 in the holidays.

That's not an accident. That's one of the things I want to talk about. The enemy has been after fatherhood for several generations. It's always been about dividing us from our Heavenly Father, but also dividing us from the families internally, from the earthly fathers.

The importance that the father has. It really hit our country pretty hard back in the Industrial Revolution when men had been working at home. They'd been doing crafts. They'd been a blacksmith.

That kind of thing. They'd worked out of their house. Then they went and had to work away from home. Then that began the whole thing of dad not being around.

Then that became normal. As you get into the 60s, we had some great TV shows like Father Knows Best. Things like My Three Sons where dad was a smart guy that brought wisdom to the house. Then the 70s hit and every dad was an idiot for the most part on sitcoms. Really, just watch a sitcom for a little while these days and see what role they have dad play.

It's usually a buffoon of some sort. It's been designed to take dad out of the house in one way or another. I interviewed this really brilliant pastor out of India one time. I had just come back from Jamaica in that mission trip that I did there. Talking about how there were no fathers in any of the homes in Jamaica. He said, well, the shrewdness of Satan convincing the slave owners in those island countries when they were essentially run by the slave owners was they would not allow a man to stay in the home.

So they ended up breeding like they would breed livestock because they knew that to take the father out of the home would breed slaves. The idea of the orphan spirit is you're being bred to be a slave. That's pretty powerful. I've never forgotten it. It is powerful.

So you take the father out of the home and you end up with this orphan spirit which is the slave mentality. I can attest to that, too. As many of you know, I was a police officer for almost 15 years. I saw a lot of horrific crimes committed. Most of them were by teenagers around the age of 16 to 18.

They were committing armed robbery, murder, things like that. A common denominator in all that was the father was absent from the home. You start doing the report and nine times out of ten, it was a high percentage.

I mean, it was in, if not the high 80s, low 90s percent. If a crime was committed by a teenager, the father was not present. Andy, you had something you were talking about with some of the social programs.

Well, yeah. I think you mentioned the government won't give grants for home ownership if there's a father in the home or even support for a mother. So you're encouraging the father not to be there.

We talk about it. It's to your point, Chuck, on the sonship talk at boot camp about the whole story about the nun that goes and gets Mother's Day cards and everybody wants one. But then it comes to Father's Day and nobody wants one and this is from a prison.

So you can tell the effect. The mothers had that impact on the kids but the father didn't. And the net effect of it was lawlessness and just lack of direction and all.

Thank you. Yeah, it's been a calculated thing from the enemy from generations and generations back to the garden. Honestly, it started with wanting to separate us from our Heavenly Father and realizing that if I can continue to separate families, how much more power do I have with those individuals if I disrupt everything that's going on in their life? And so I want you to kind of think about that and we're going to talk about Father's impact and we all have different sides of that story.

I think this will be a little bit different show than Mother's Day for us a little bit but we're going to go ahead and hop kind of into it. But Robby, you have the actual next clip if you want to talk about it because we're talking about, yeah, we're talking about 60s when the dads were wise. Yeah, so this clip is from the TV show Bonanza and back then fathers were portrayed as being full of wisdom and highly regarded and respected.

And so this is Loren Green playing, you know, of course, Ben Cartwright in the series. And what's happened here, if you know there were three brothers, there was Hoss, Little Joe and Adam. And Little Joe and Adam are teasing Hoss, who's kind of a big guy, and he's had a dream that he was going to become governor.

And so after he's had this dream, his brothers pick on him and then the father has a great deal of wisdom. Now, well, I'll just talk about it after that. Now, Adam, that's where you're wrong. See, I told these folks I was a man of the people. From humble beginnings, I rose to great heights. And you know something, brother? You are absolutely right.

It's honor to give it to Governor Hoss Cartwright. All right, what's going on now? Nothing, Dad. Burn it, Hoss. God damn it, they just won't take nothing serious, that's all.

These boys are ribbing you again. Oh, well, Puck, my drip-deeves are governor. Now, that's the biggest whopper of a dream I ever heard in my life.

What's the matter with that dream? Hoss, I'd like you to do something for me. What's that, Paul? I want you to go by Jake Townshend's cabin. Has he moved back up there on Devil Wind Hill? No, no, no, I got a letter from him. His uncle is staying at the cabin for a little while, and he'd like one of us to go by and, you know, see that they've got everything they need. They? Yeah, his uncle finishes there with his granddaughter.

A young lady by the name of Amanda, I believe. Well, now, wouldn't it be more neighborly if we all went by? Yeah, I think Adam's right, Pa. You know, it gets pretty dangerous up there on Devil Wind Hill, that wind blowing one person alone. Not Joseph. Joseph, you don't really believe that that wind could blow your brother Hoss away, do you? No, you've got to have a little more faith in your brother, Joseph. Just as I have faith in you. And me? I have so much faith in you that I know deep down that you are going to stay here and clean up all these stalls.

And I know that you're going to have the south fence fixed before sundown. You see, Joseph, that is what is known as faith. That's right, Pa. Man's got enough of it, he can move mountains when in time. So, you know, my dad had that kind of wisdom, and certainly had that kind of respect for my brother and I. And to tell this story that went along with it, that was just a treasure that my dad was, one time my little brother pulled a knife on me, we were Boy Scouts and we had the little pocket knife, you know. And I thought this was, you know, a serious enough offense that I would go tell dad, even though I was a couple years older than Mark and not terribly scared, but I thought this was really bad that he would think about doing such a thing.

And of course, you know, my dad comes into the scene and he's like, okay, you know, what's going on? And Mark denied it. I didn't pull a knife on him, I didn't, I didn't. And so my dad says, okay, well, we're going to see who did what, you know. So you're saying he didn't, you said he did, so Mark, I want you to pull down your pants and Robby, here's the belt, right? And I want you to, you know, give Mark a whipping for what he's done, right?

What an opportunity, you know, there it was right in front of me. I had the belt, I had my brother's rear end and I went at it. And then, of course, he had me take down my pants and he said, all right, Mark, you know, Robby's not only lied about you pulling the knife, but then he beat you with that belt, so you give him all you got. Of course, he had nothing, which I've always thought spoke really, really well of my brother, right? But it also showed that my, the faith that my dad had in both of us, right? That he could resolve this by this type of wisdom.

And then he just said, you know, Robby, you can go, I'll talk to your brother. But in so many ways, my dad, you know, you would see that kind of wisdom in his behavior. But also more than that, I always knew.

And I know that everybody didn't have that kind of father. And I don't know what to say about that other, but I always knew my father had absolute faith in my ability to do things. But more than that, you know, I knew I was the apple of his eye. I knew I was his favorite. And so the idea that, you know, this is the year that Robby's God's favorite. I've always accepted that completely because it was just, of course, you know, that was what my expectation, you know. So how cool.

Well, thank you, Robby. We have a boot camp coming up and it's November. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving. So if you don't know when it is, look up Thanksgiving. It's a weekend right before that.

Go to masculinejourney.org to register. We'll talk to you after the break. What we have in 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.

How things been going since the last boot camp? Doing good growing. I've got growing pains. I came up here as a little boy falling down, getting up, and now I'm a cowboy ranger going into adolescent hood.

It's a pleasure to be here. So you're speaking about cowboy rangers. Is that one of the talks that really came alive to you this weekend?

Yep. I don't want to grow up real fast. I had to do that a long time ago. I'm just taking baby steps along this journey and I can't think of any place or a group of guys I'd rather be with because you are appointed and accountable for me to learn and listen. I've got a notebook full of good tools that's going to help me grow. Register today at masculinejourney.org Welcome back to Masculine Journey. That is the Zac Brown band and the name of the song is My Old Man. And he sings about the love of his dad that he felt and he had. And then he also goes on to sing about how he hopes to demonstrate that for his kids. And so it's quite a good Father's Day type song.

I know we used it last year, I think, on this topic. But it's a good one and it's a special one to me. My son Caleb sent that to me a couple years ago when it came out and said, Dad, I want you to listen to this. And it's hard to listen to it without getting moved to tears a little bit. But very, very good song. I'd encourage you to listen to it.

And especially on Father's Day weekend, if that's part of your story, you might be able to share that with your dad. And so we are moving on to our next person to talk about their clip and how that clip means to them. And that's you, Chuck.

So if you want to tell us a little bit about that. The clip that I chose comes from the movie Courageous. And there's several reasons why I chose this clip because, number one, I like the movie.

Two, I was a police officer for many years, so I can relate to that movie. I see that side of it. But the most important reason is what this movie is calling all fathers to be. To be that example, to bring down the Heavenly Father example in their family and just to be the person God calls them to be. And it just reminds me, that's who my dad was for me growing up. There's a part in Deuteronomy that talks about love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and your might. And when I was younger and kind of immature in Christ, I would go to my dad for things. And he always had the response either from the Bible or from God or let's see what God says. And it used to just irritate me.

Of course it did. I wanted a worldly answer, but now that's not what I want. And so he taught me that and he brought me and introduced me to Christ. But I just want you to listen to this clip.

It's one of the Kendrick Brothers plays in the movie and it's the end of the movie. And he's basically speaking to his congregation and he's calling all men. Whether you're a father or not, you have a role to play. Even in the orphan spirit of what we're called to do.

So just listen to the clip. He's got some powerful words here and I'll talk a little bit more about it. I now believe that God desires for every father to courageously step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. But more than just being there, providing for them. He's to walk with them through their young lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in heaven. The father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. He should protect them, discipline them and teach them about God.

He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect. He should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity. Some men will hear this and mock it or ignore it. But I tell you that as a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you. You can't fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value. But the souls of your children do. Some men will hear this and agree with it, but have no resolve to live it out.

Instead, they will live for themselves and waste the opportunity to leave a godly legacy for the next generation. But there are some men who regardless of the mistakes we've made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are and to teach our children to do the same. And whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives, but who desperately need help and direction. That just speaks to me.

It's just what I grew up with. That's who my dad is to me. He instilled that heritage in me, the love for God, the love for Christ. He just put that enemy away that I want to bring it to my children.

And I shared this before the show with everyone, and I'm going to try to get through it right now. But the main thing that my father taught me was just that unconditional love that our Heavenly Father brings to us. Because I am adopted, but this man sitting right next to me is my father.

There's no one that can tell me he's not. You know, when I was four or five, you know, my biological father, you know, and like I said, I use that loosely. He kind of walked out of my life. He abandoned me. He left a void in my life.

And this man right here stepped in. He adopted me. He gave me his last name and taught me what true love and what a Heavenly Father is all about. Because he brought me into his family.

I never felt like anything different than his son. He called me his son from day one, you know, and that's what our Father does to us through Christ. And it's just a beautiful picture that I've been able to experience and been fortunate enough to experience on this earth. To have the Father reveal that love to me in that way, it's just very powerful, you know. And it's just, I don't know, I don't have any other words to really say for it, but I'm just thankful for who he was in my life and who he still is. Son, you don't know what you brought to my life, too. You taught me deep things.

It's about your love, your presence, the spirit that you brought. God brought this together. And that's what he does with broken things. Because we're all broken. Where do we take it?

Until we take it to God, there's no true fix. So, thank you. And I thank God for putting you in my life, because my life is so much better with you in it.

And so that was almost breaking news on this radio show, because we just learned about it like 15 minutes ago or 20 minutes ago. Because, you know, we just always, you know, this is my son, Chuck. And he is. He is your son, exactly. And so, I mean, being around you guys, it's like you've been around each other your whole lives. We have, yeah. You know, and definitely feel the father-son feel there. So, it's awesome.

You've got a little Paul Harvey rest of the story there. You do. We do, exactly. Exactly. Well, that blood of God that Christ brought in, that's the eternal family.

The biological things, that's another temporal thing. Just like all our roles on this side of heaven. Well, to the point there, not to jump in here too much, but, you know, you've got the clip supports that about going on and fathering people that aren't necessarily biologically related. That's what this ministry is about. I mean, we're trying to pass on what we've learned.

We've been fathered and we're trying to father others. Not like, oh, I've got all this. But, you know, you have so much perspective that you glean from others, well, you want to share it.

A lot of times I'll just be sharing with somebody and they're like, you can see the light bulb go off and they're like, oh, thank you. And I'm like, no, I'm just passing it on. I got that from somebody else, you know, so. Not an original thought in your head.

Not an original thought. That's right. Oh, man, I'm busted just like Good Will Hunting, right? Yeah, get a dictionary. I know the response. Anyway. Just teasing, Andy. You have lots of original thoughts. Jim, you actually have the final clip of this show, so if you want to tell us a little bit about it, we'll play it. Well, I was asked earlier where it came from, and I can now tell you it came from YouTube. I have no idea who these folks are. Flywheel is what they came from.

Flywheel is what they decided it came from. But I was looking for the Father's blessing. And this came as close to being an interaction with my earthly father as I can come up with.

Well, we'll play it and come back and talk about it. Thank you for receiving him and cleansing him and directing his path. I praise you, Lord, for what you've done in him. Now, Lord, in your name, I bless him with courage, with faith and with integrity. Lord, I call him a man of strength, of love and grace. I ask as his earthly father that you would rain down favor on him, that he would know that he is loved and treasured, that you would bless whatever he touches. This is my son, Lord, and I give him back to you. Lord, I love him. Keep him and bless him. In Jesus' name, amen. I love you, son. Dang it.

We're going to make it three for three. My father's been God for 24 years. And I know none of you guys would believe it, but I was in a lot of trouble as a kid. And I was stubborn and didn't listen. And a father was patient to a point, but when necessary, he would straighten me out and he would do it in a loving way. And he told me not too long before he died. And I'd been a disappointment and I'd apologized to him occasionally, but I'd borrowed money from him that I lost in business and just many things like that. But at the point where, and I was at this point going to Gardner Webb Divinity School, and I'm glad somebody doesn't have a mic accessible right now because he doesn't believe it took. But when I was there, my father was driving me home. We spent some time together and he stopped and sat there in my driveway briefly and said, you know son, I'm very proud of you. And he had said that in the past, but I'd also heard I'm very disappointed in you.

And those two lines are in my brain until I'm home and beyond, I'm sure. Because nothing bothered me more. I didn't get a spanking. I got a, I'm disappointed in you.

And that had far more impact than going out and picking a switch off the back lot to get what I was supposed to have. Take that mic back. You remember when you were in Divinity School, my question that's still burning on my heart, is did they teach you how to put the thermometer in the corn syrup to make sure it came out, you know, without frying to the pan, you know?

I think there's going to be something frying, but I'm not sure exactly what. You are pretty red right now. What I did get from my father, and I didn't have it for a long time, was the integrity, the strength, and the relationship with God that he did mention in that. And that has an eternal consequence, and hopefully I'm impacting others the same way. Thank you, Jim. And we are going to talk more about this in the after hours, so if you don't listen to us typically, go to any podcast outlet. You can get it there. And go register for a boot camp while you're thinking about it. It's coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving in November, masculinejourney.org. We'll talk with you next week.