Word Of The Year Revist After Hours

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Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome to Masculine Journey After Hours, and we are revisiting our word of the year as a checkup. I think what Andy said, and I don't know that I like checkups, I don't like doctors, none of that stuff, anyway, but we've been talking about our words of the year, which we pray for at the end of the year and into the beginning of the year, and God honors that, and then we let him unpack them as the year goes on.

And so, in the middle of the year, we revisit them, and that's what we've been doing. So, anybody got anything they want to add to that? I just get a bunch of looks from a bunch of people. Sam, I feel your pain, sir. Anything you would like to say?

Nobody got nothing. He's really letting your pain happen. I mean, really, anyway.

So, therefore, I do what hoes do best. I'm going to play my clip. Somebody needs to call Sam, actually.

Maybe we can get Keith to do that. Oh, he's on the phone. Oh, you're just leaving Danny hanging out there. Yeah, I see how this works. Can you hear Danny, Sam? Yeah, I can hear Danny.

Okay. Yeah, he's just... And ironically, my word for the year was beloved, and I'm not feeling very beloved at the moment, so y'all end up me hanging. I remember that. But, you know, God gave me that word, and one of the things I've struggled with most of my life is just not feeling a part of things.

And, you know, I remember that at an early age, you know, and in school and that kind of thing. I've done a lot of different things because of perceptions and, you know, wounds and that kind of thing. And so God gave me this word, and I love my friend Robby there.

He does stuff with the Hebrew and just enlightens things much better. And so we've done a little bit of that. But the first part of the year has been dealing with stuff with my own earthly father, who he just turned 80. He and I took a trip together a few months ago. It's been a wonderful time, but there's been so much healing this year with that.

And, you know, one of the classic things that I love, if you've listened to me on the show at all, you know I love the Andy Griffith Show. Some of these guys think it's a borderline of sickness, I think. You know, going to go to Andy AA or something, you know, break off some of that stuff. It's not a borderline.

Yeah, it's not a borderline. So, yeah. But anyway, I know far more about it than I care to admit at times. I love the show, and I love the father and son stuff. And this clip is from an episode called Mr. McBeavie. And Mr. McBeavie is a, he's a telephone repairman that Opie meets out in the woods. And Opie has already opened the episode with, Opie has an imaginary horse.

And so he's pretending he's got a horse, and they have some fun with Barney with that because Barney's always the brunt of a lot of different jokes. But he starts talking about Mr. McBeavie, and they think it's just another imaginary character until he comes back with a quarter of that Mr. McBeavie. And Andy says, where'd you get the quarter?

Mr. McBeavie gave it to him. Then he comes with a hatchet. And so things are getting serious, and they're thinking, Opie's stealing or whatever. And, you know, Opie don't steal. I mean, y'all seen this show.

He don't steal. But anyway, it comes to a head in this scene where Andy is pressing in on Opie. And he's telling him, you know, you got to admit, you know, this is a fictional character. You got to let this go. And that's where we'll pick up the scene. And then the scene ends with Andy talking to Barney and Aunt Bea about what it is and what he says about his son.

And that kind of thing is just beloved to me. So we'll play the clip. All right. Tell the truth. Just go ahead and say right out, Mr. McBeavie is just make-believe. Mr. McBeavie is just? I can't, Pa. Mr. McBeavie is a make-believe.

He's real. Opie. Don't you believe me, Pa?

Don't you, Pa? Andy? No. I didn't spank him. Oh. Well, that's good.

Just not necessary. He learned his lesson. Good talking to is the best thing, making him stay in his room. I didn't do that either.

What did you do? I told him I believed him. You told him you believed... But, Andy, what he told you is impossible. Well, a whole lot of times I've asked him to believe things that to his mind must seem just as impossible.

Oh, but, Andy, this silver hat and the jingling and the smoke from the ears, what about all that? Oh, I don't know, Bart. I guess it's a time like this when you're asked to believe something that just don't seem possible. That's the moment that decides whether you got faith in somebody or not. Yeah, but how can you explain it all? I can't. But you do believe in Mr. McBeavie.

No, no, no. I do believe in Opie. Yeah, Andy says there, I do believe in Opie. And, you know, he's talking about believing in somebody. And the way this played into my own heart was that, you know, there's a song that we play at boot camp, When You Run to the Father, and the line that says, I don't have a context for that kind of love. And what I've realized over the past week or so, especially diving back into this word and with Father's Day and all the stuff that's been going on, is to be the beloved son, I have to try to find a context for that kind of love.

Because what Andy said was, I do believe in Opie. And what I realized is my Heavenly Father believes in me far more than I do. And that's what being a beloved son is about, is trying to grasp that concept. And, you know, we joke around here about being God's favorite. That really just kind of hit home this week that, you know, how can somebody be God's favorite?

But God is the only, the only person that has the capacity to make us all his favorite, and treat us like his favorite, and pour his love out on us. And, you know, in the story of the prodigal son, when the son comes home, you know, I read a devotional the other day and the guy was talking about how that story is more about the father than it is about the son. Because the father lavishly pours his love out on a son who has pretty much told him, I wish you were dead, give me everything that's coming to me. And he's run away and he's squandered all his inheritance on riotous living.

And I've squandered some inheritance on riotous living. And then he comes home, broken and beaten. And, you know, we were talking earlier before the show about, you know, being near the pig pen, so to speak.

I'm an old country boy, the pig pen, the waller or whatever, and I woke up there a time or two. But the dad runs and hugs him, gets his best robe and puts on him, kills the fatted calf, and throws a party. My son who was dead is now alive. Now that's that kind of love. And that's what is beginning to unpack. And the first of the year has been about more about my earthly father and kind of sorting through some misunderstanding, I think, that I've had for years. And just getting to know my dad as a friend and as a, you know, that's been really cool. And it looks like we're transitioning.

God says, now I want you to know me that way. And so I'm buckling up for a heck of a ride for the rest of the year. And so, you know, and that leads us to a segue.

We have a guest, Todd, right? That's right. I got it right. That's right. All right. I get points for that.

Y'all write that down. And, Todd, you're here for the first time and you're going to share a story with us. It kind of suits into that, doesn't it? That was a great segue into that. And I will say, too, based off of, you know, what you were just sharing with the prodigal son. I think one of the most beautiful parts of that story is the dad had no idea when his son would come home, right? So what does that say? The dad every day, every day that son was gone, was on that front porch waiting for him to come home.

Just until the day that he did. And, you know, you're talking about your focus this year is our Heavenly Father and getting to know Him and how He looks at us as His children. That's it.

He's waiting for us every day. And, you know, I was one of those who, like we were talking about, lived by the pig trough. And I haven't had the pleasure of working with you gentlemen all year and focusing on a word or a phrase all year.

But if I had the opportunity to do that, I think that would be, my phrase would be, allow for the unbelievable. You know, again, when I was a younger man, I found myself by the pig trough a couple of times and the good Lord has worked in my life. And got me to a point to where at 35 I went back to school. You know, I was a knucklehead right out of high school. And so I kind of worked and did not go and get my college degree. I went back at 35.

I graduated at 40 with a logistics degree. And two days after being offered a relatively good position that I had been working for within the warehousing division with a company I was working for, I was approached about being able to go into full-time ministry. And working with my, you know, talking with my wife about that and making the decision to step into ministry. And we were able to see God work in ways that we didn't know He was already working in our lives. For example, a month and a half later, that potential position that I would have had was cut from a company that cut several hundred positions.

And that was never part of my decision-making process. But the good Lord delivered me through that anyways and solved my family. You know, if I was going to use a scripture to back that up, I think I'd go straight to 1 Kings 19 and then look briefly at Elijah. You know, this is right after Elijah had just had his showdown with Jezebel's prophets. And, you know, he had upset the balance there within Israel.

And she said, you know, I'm coming for you. And it just strikes me as odd that this mighty man that went through all of these works in the name of God would run in fear of another human. But we find ourselves in those places at times, don't we? You know, we forget that the God that we're serving has brought us through so many trials already.

And the one that's in front of us looks like it's really big. But to God, it's just another thing that He's going to pull us through. And so Elijah loses focus. Elijah runs. You know, we discussed about how he stopped on his way out to Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai at a broom bush because there's some familiarity with his history. He knew that Moses had found God at a broom bush. So he went to find God and speak to God at a broom bush. And then God gives him some of my favorite advice in the Bible. And I love this. God said, you know, Elijah, I think you need to take a little nap, have a little snack, reset your focus because at this prayer, Elijah said, God, I'm ready to die.

I'm the last one left. And his level of anxiety was so high at that point, he was ready to kind of throw in the towel. And again, as a young adult and with a family, I have certainly found my places in moments of anxiety. And there have been times to where I found myself at the bottom of the broom bush. And, you know, the good Lord has seen me through that as well. So Elijah goes into the mountain region to Mount Horeb and God takes him in front of this cave and he's on Mount Sinai. And at the foot of the cave, God shows him a mighty wind. And when was the last time that God delivered Israel with a mighty wind?

The Red Sea. You know, part of the Red Sea and then God shows him an earthquake. And when was the last time there was an earthquake on Mount Sinai when he got the Ten Commandments? And then God showed him the fire. And when was the last time that God delivered Israel from fire?

That was when he was leading them in the desert. And ultimately, Elijah found God in a quiet voice. And what God was trying to tell Elijah that whole time is, you know, you may have found me in those things before. Yes, I have been in those things.

I have used those things to deliver my people before, but that's not where I am. I'm always with you. Twice during this journey, this 40-day journey, he asked Elijah, Elijah, what are you doing? You know, you're searching for me, but I think that you forgot that I just provided you food in the middle of the desert while you're taking this journey. I've always been with you. I've always been here wanting to deliver you. And I'm going to do it in ways that you may not expect. I'm going to go to places that you may not have foreseen me go before. And so, for me, that would be my topic, leaving room, God, to do the unbelievable. Yeah, and earlier you shared a very key point that you didn't mention this time that I thought, you know, as far as the marriage that, you know, God gives us in Christ, and then he provided you a help meet, that confirmed really, I thought, as a beautiful union of two minds working as one. Yeah, you know, any of us who have been married for more than two hours can tell you that usually our best ideas come from our wives, right?

And the best ones for our life. And we had that conversation because, you know, again, I went back to school at 35. She had to sacrifice for me to go to school. This was not just a me decision to make. And she said, you know, Todd, you're going to be miserable if you do anything else. And she was right.

It wasn't about the money. You see, my wife was already at the place to where she knew God was going to deliver us. Like Abraham, she didn't have to know where she was going. God said to go and she said, okay. And that was the wisdom that she offered me.

And by doing that, and by us listening to God's will for our family's life, he delivered us in ways that we didn't see that he was going to. Yeah, when we're apprehensive, it's nice to have a help meet that says, let's go. Amen. Yeah.

Yeah. Sam is on the phone with us, I think. Sam, you got anything to say?

Well, I do. How are you, Danny? I'm good, Sam. How are you? I am good. So you probably want to update on my word of the year, I'm assuming.

Yeah, that's kind of the topic, so yeah, that'd be nice. Well, you know, I'm not really sure how this works or how, you know, this whole system goes, so I just thought I would check. Well, normally we submit a clip, so I'm not sure what your problem is. Yeah, yeah, I was late with the clip, would be the technical thing. I was way, way, way late. But that's okay.

I don't need a clip. You know, last year, my word of the year was talent. And what God was challenging me with was to quit hiding the talents that He's given me and to use those. And last year, I was very engaged in those, and it was a great year. And this year, He went in a totally different direction on me and gave me the word family. And I think the reason for that was, in order to really do what I did last year and kind of dig into that, there are times that, unfortunately, my family came too far down the line.

You know, it came after some other things that really shouldn't come after. And so God was trying to, A, get me to recalibrate some things and really focus on family. But then very quickly this year, when we were talking about family, I was asking God, I said, you know, all right, obviously I understand my kids, my siblings, you know, things like that.

And He said, no, you're not getting it. You need to expand your definition of family. And so what He's really been working with me on over the last probably two or three months is really helping me see the people that He brings into my life, that we have an impact on each other's lives. You know, and we are family in a lot of ways. That would obviously include you guys, well, at least most of you guys. It would include you guys.

You know, but it would also include some coworkers. It would include extended family or, for example, like this August I'm going to a baby shower out west in Vegas for my daughter-in-law's brother who's having a child. And so I'm going to go out and spend time with them and extending that family relationship further, if that makes sense. And so it's been a great year of God just unpacking for me. You know, this is who I tell you your family is, not just who you think it is or what society says.

It's who I tell you they are. That's awesome. The family is important and sometimes very challenging. So anybody else got anything they want to share? Big Mark, you want to share? Sure, yeah. My word of the year is from Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.

It's on page 151. And John says, let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it. So I don't know, maybe it's because I'm a Yankee or, you know, from Massachusetts or whatever.

Maybe it's because I'm just a big guy and whatnot. But I just, I feel like the Lord is just telling me that, you know, I just have to let people see the real me, you know. And that's, you know, we just have to let the light, you know, let the light shine out, you know. And then another verse that I live by is from Psalm 16. I love memorizing scripture.

Glad to see a brother here that also. So Psalm 16, I recite it often at night when I'm laying down, going to sleep and stuff. And verse 8 says, I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. And that's, you know, that kind of ties in with, I believe it's 1 Corinthians 10, 13 about no temptation.

You know, the neat thing is I'm thinking about the verse after that says, therefore, right? My heart is glad, but my favorite part of that is my glory rejoices. So, what's your glory? That's your halo, man. You've got to get your halo on. And that thing is rejoicing.

Why? You know, as he goes on to share one of the greatest lines in all of scripture, right? You know, you will make known to me the path of life in your presence. There is fullness of joy.

At your right hand? Our pleasures forevermore. Right? I mean, that is really quite a story. God gave me that, actually, the year that he gave me the word engage for the year. And the way he engaged me was have me begin to memorize scripture. And the first thing he taunted me with was he knew how much I loved the last verse in the 16th Psalm. But it was like, now, Robby, you need to know how you get there.

Right? And you've got to go back to the first verse and come on down. And what a joy that is. I mean, because once, you know, Robby has no weight and I'm kind of a big guy, too.

Until you write, connect with him once you have the Lord always before you and he's at your right hand, then all of a sudden, yeah, there's a lot of weight to deal with. It's amazing, man. I love that, Mark. I do. Almost as much as I'd like to hear Danny say Massachusetts. Say it again for us, Danny. Massachusetts. Yeah, there you go. I don't live there.

I don't have anything right there. I thought there was a T in Massachusetts, but, you know, according to Danny, there is one there somewhere. I'm feeling that belovedness once again. You know what I mean? That's brotherly love.

I see why God wanted to work on this this year. You know, Mark and I go back to a band of brothers we had in Ashboro before I moved up here and joined you guys. And which at times I'm questioning why.

But, you know, we go back a few years and he's a big guy, but he's got a big heart. I can tell you that. So anybody else got anything they want to share? Well, I can go into my word because I didn't have a clip this week. Last week I was, you know, track with my brother Robby and he submitted the same clip from Bonanza or the same, you know, TV show anyway and not the same clip. But that was good to hear. And then I thought, OK, I'll be here this week. And then everything got busy and I never had time to really get to a clip. But my word is breaking.

And I'm still struggling a lot to understand what that is, but a lot of what Mark had to say and went back to breaking the mold. I got to break out of this rut or this paradigm of, well, this is who I am and this is all I can be and be more than that and start to live, live that out a little bit deeper. I've I'm really there's about a month, a month and a half in the last six months that I was just I forgot all about my word.

I didn't do anything. And I was like, hey, we're getting closer to the middle of the year. So I started to reel it back in. And that's one of the things I love about having the word of the year is that you when you start to hear certain phrases and words, whether it's coming, you know, from reading scripture from nowhere else. But you just you have something to go in and keep asking God about. Well, where am I? That's what I'm liking about this, because it's making me work and ask and seek and search because this one's been harder.

All the other words have really come fairly easily and fairly quickly. He shows me something. But this year it's been a lot harder to figure out what this word means and where am I going and what's it going to mean for the least the rest of the year and how it fits in with my past as well. You could have used a breakup clip that Andy used because it was breaking. Breaking something.

Harold? Well, I don't have a clip because I guess because had I looked for one, I probably would have experienced what my word for the year is. My word is exasperation. And it was very clear to me that God wanted me to have less of it. If you look at the definition, it's a feeling of intense irritation or annoyance and it can lead to injudicious action. It's being it's being frustrated or angry because of something that is happening. Somebody on the road that don't know how to drive and got their license out of a box of Cracker Jacks. What do you really think, Harold?

Or in Massachusetts? Something that another person is doing. So it was kind of clear that my 40 plus years of being the angry old man just wasn't cutting it. And interestingly enough. Injuristic? How does that word go?

Like, man. Injudicious. Injudicious. Get a dictionary, Andy. You're about to Google that one.

Well, Harold, we know why you don't get clips because, you know, silent movies don't do well on the radio. I think when you load the dishwasher for your wife, that's injudicious. See, hear the dishes in it? Injudicious. Well, um, well.

What you got? I forgot the clip, too. My word was check it out. Check. When I was, I listened to you guys online before. And then I knew CBC Carolina Bible Cat. And so I came and checked y'all out. And thank God you ain't run me off yet. But I look forward to this next boot camp. This is the Truth Network.