How Are You Spending Your Summer After Hours

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A entrenched barricade deep in the heart of central North Carolina. Masculine Journey After Hours, a time to go deeper and be more transparent on the topic covered on this week's broadcast. So sit back and join us on this adventure. The Masculine Journey After Hours starts here, now. Welcome to Masculine Journey After Hours, and we're glad that you're with us this week.

And we are talking about the topic of what, Andy? What are we talking about this week? Talking about what are you doing for your heart during the summer. Vacation time and time to get outside a bit more than you are limited to. I mean, when you're limited to the winter.

We've had a long winter spring that's been cold for a while. And what are you going to do with your time and are you going to invite God into that and allow him to go after your heart? Because I think it's important coming out of the winter season and particularly, you know, these last few years of what we dealt with with COVID to go after and get some adventure, but also get some rest and let God shepherd your heart. He knows what you need more than you know what you need yourself.

That's good. Yeah, that's really what we're talking about is what are you doing this summer to restore your heart, right? And walking with God in that. And so it may be different answers at different times, right? But that's just walking with God and asking those questions consistently.

It's not like you ask him at the beginning of summer and he says, well, here's your plan for the whole summer. That's not usually the way it works, right? That's a good point. Yeah.

It's more constant touching base. You know, okay, God, what about this weekend? What about today? What about, you know, is this what you want me to be doing? Yeah, for sure. Eldridge talks a lot about just asking about everything.

Should we take this vacation this year? Right. He tells a story about, you know, God telling him no and they were really kind of upset about it and then they had some big forest fire going on during the time that he was supposed to be at that place. That's core to the Walking with God book.

He was going to write a book on hearing from God and here he got a real life experience to walk with God through. Absolutely. That's great to do that. I know, Sam, you've mentioned it before that usually like when you don't do that, you know, ask God, you know, should I buy this car? Right. And he doesn't say yes or no or you don't ask him and then you check engine lights on for a year. It's still on every week.

It'll come on tomorrow. Yeah, until you reset it. But that wasn't, the point of it is, is like, I mean, it's true. Like, you know, I've struggled with that. Sometimes I do things on my own without asking and, you know, it doesn't necessarily, it might work out, probably won't though. But like most recently, you know, I prayed pretty hard about, you know, hey God, do you really want us to move out of our apartment? We've lived in for four years.

Take my daughter out of, you know, the military academy that, you know, we feel like is doing pretty well and move into a whole other county out in the country. And, you know, ultimately he said, yeah, and everything just kind of fell into place. My wife went with it, which was a shocker, but you know, she did. And so I think it's very important that if you're not doing that and you're sitting there listening to this right now and you're like, yeah, try it out.

I mean, I promise you, you know, God won't ever disappoint you. Yeah. How well has it gone when you haven't asked? Not well.

Where are you at today? And, you know, all those decisions you go, I wish I would have made that one. Yeah.

Not to do a commercial for orphan spirit, but this is the whole thing we're talking about is living independently, you know, from God and not giving, getting his advice on things and really pressing into him for sure. We almost made it two weeks. It was served up on a platter there, you know. It was. Yeah. The Hebrew to throw in since Robby's not here. We're missing Robby. We're missing Jim. Who else?

Harold, Art, Wayne. Yeah. Lots of people. Lots of people.

We're missing them. Anyway, you have the first clip. Kenny, you want to tell us a little bit about your clip? Yes. I picked a song from yesteryears. Okay.

But it was one of the theme songs that kind of grabbed me when I was younger. Because when you come in, when you're growing up, it's hard when you're getting on that transference of faith. Yeah.

What's your parents try to instill with you and then really getting that relationship with God going on. There's a lot of confusion and when I heard this song, it seemed like it put the finger on something I needed to listen to. Mm hmm. So we'll play the clip.

Then I'll break it down a little bit more. Yeah. This is probably what, 50 years old as well. 45. Probably. Yeah.

It's about that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So we'll go ahead and play it and we'll come back. Yeah.

Now you're climbing to the top of a company ladder, hope it doesn't take too long. Can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter? Come a day when you'll be gone. I understand about indecision and I don't care if I get behind.

People living in competition. All I want is to have my peace of mind. Peace of mind.

Do we have it? Do we pursue it? God tells us pursue peace as long as it's possible for us to live at peace with everybody.

And that's very against our world because they want to live in I'm right and prove I'm right. You know, people argue about whether you get fries or not. You know, we went through a little episode with that today.

You know, the order got messed up and it escalated over a little bag of fries. And that's the way St. Moses, he wants to add each other instead of peace. Because we can still our peace with God especially. You won't really find peace anywhere else. You'll find pursuits.

That's what he's talking about. You know, how long it's going to take me to get this ladder? But there's going to come a day when you're gone or I'm gone. I know one time when God challenged me, what was my hundred year plan?

You know, as a young manager, a hundred years, you know, two year, five year plan, but a hundred year plan? Yeah, but we're eternal beings. We're going to exist eternally somewhere or we're going to live eternally with God.

There's a difference. The existence in the punishment of rebellion. The absolute desolate life, because God will be totally out of it. You know, all the neighbors you've got is demons and devils and the reprobates. Sounds like the one I lived in California. You know what, the one thing is...

I was in a rough area. Oh, it sounds like it. But what are we pursuing? Do we really want peace with God?

And how do we do that? That's where we've got to open up that Bible and say, God says, do it this way. You'll find peace or you'll find blessings.

Do it that way and you're going to get heartache, headaches, and it's not going to be peaceful. We're in a war and the only peaceful place, he calls it rest sometimes too. Rest for your souls.

Yeah, and we can't find it without him. That's been my goal is to guard my heart, to keep that peace with God and with everybody around me as far as possible. So what is the scripture that talks about having rest for your souls? I don't know. I'm just asking if you guys know.

I'm sure we'll look it up. There's a scripture that says... I was the only part that was listening to you, what did you say?

Well, that's normal. The scripture that talks about rest for your souls. There's quite a bit in Psalms and of course there's stuff in the New Testament. So just say you don't know. Start talking about the one from the Spirit. I was trying to help you out there. There was crickets, man.

It was. I just figured out of this biblical scholar group you're going to have somebody to go, that's this or that. Well, Jesus invited us. You're wearing a heavy laden. Come to me.

And I will give you rest for your souls. Exactly. I think that's what you were looking for. That's what I was looking for.

I was having a senior moment. That is Jesus talking about, right? Rodney, you got it? Did you just do Matthew?

I think it was. Yeah. There's Matthew. There's Leviticus and Jeremiah have some things on it too. So what does Matthew say?

Matthew is, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Yes. And that's what I wanted to ask out there. If you don't think you're living in the orphan spirit, as Andy would say, right? Or as we'd all say.

I give Andy a hard time, but we all have that vernacular. But if you're living in the orphan spirit, how often do you go to sleep with peace of mind or feel rest for your souls? How often do you wake up with peace of mind, as Boston would say, or rest for your souls, as Jesus would say, right?

And that's probably a pretty good indicator of where you're kind of living, right? You know, that, okay, if I'm walking in God, yes, things won't be perfect. I get that. But I can trust who's leading me. Yeah.

Right? And so I can have, even in the midst of turmoil and trials and tribulation, I can have peace of mind and rest for my soul, right? So when I don't have it, I have to say, okay, who am I really leaning into? And it's probably not God, right? Or not as fully. Or maybe I'm partially leaning in and then taking it back.

I don't know what that looks like, right? But I do know that when I was listening to that song, two thoughts crossed my mind. One, how I long for peace of mind, right?

That's really what I'm looking for when I'm looking for restoration, but just a calmness of spirit, right? And then the other thing I was thinking about, back when I did live in California, and I did live in some sketchy areas of California at times. It's a better area. It would have had a little bit more money, but yeah. But there were only two Boston albums back in those days, tapes or CDs or whatever you listen to. And when my daughter and I would go out and work in the garage, my youngest daughter and I, we always had Boston on.

We always listened to Boston, you know, and so it was always a good upbeat all the time. And so it was a great memory point and really reminded me of why I kind of liked a lot of their lyrics. You know, there was maybe not the whole lyric, but something in it that just really hit my heart. And it's a hook. And this was, for me, it was Peace of Mind was the hook.

And that's the name of the actual song, so they knew it was a hook, right? Yeah, because you're saying lean not on our own understanding. And that's where we have to really go back to that dependence thing again, back to God. And it's something that's easy to say, but it's hard to walk out all the time. But the more and more we submit, the freer we are.

It's just the exact opposite of what you would think. It's like, no, I have to do all these things to go fight for myself. And it's like, no, the more you give, the more you become free, the more you can really live in that freedom. And the word for me has been contentment. I never knew what that word meant until a few years ago. But all of a sudden, it's just one of those things that just dawns on you. You're like, wow, these things that used to really bother and irritate me.

Yeah, they still bother and irritate me sometimes, but not as often and not as much. And that amount of contentment keeps growing because my walk in Christ keeps getting nearer to Him. And that sanctification process that isn't perfect, but it's so much nicer to walk through all that and not have to worry about all the things that I really thought I really wanted, I thought I needed.

I just don't need Him as much anymore. If I don't get my way, if something doesn't happen, somebody doesn't call, somebody doesn't say, good job, okay, I can go on. I get upset that things aren't right in this world, in my job, in my marriage, in my family, or things of that nature. Sure, I do, but in the end, I just return back to Christ and go, you've got this, we can walk through this together.

And you just have to say, okay, I'm willing to follow. Yeah, probably the thing like it was with me is you have all those things going on, but to Kenny's point, it doesn't take your peace. And it doesn't take your joy.

Right. Those are two powerful things that help you maintain. Obviously, there can be a disappointment in any of those, but do they wreck your day? Do they wreck your month? Do they wreck your year?

Used to, I could say yes to all of those, but now that's fewer and farther between. Again, not that you don't have those days, but you walk more consistently in that contentment that gives you that peace. And then you realize, once you've had a taste of it, you don't want to give up that for some crazy, unfulfilled desire, or somebody not doing something that you thought they should or whatever. Yeah, and you guys are talking about praying for a trip and all this stuff. I was just doing that today because I made a plan. So I had an event on one weekend, and then after that, I was going to go out of town on a trip. And everything was kind of set, but there was this little, hey, we may change plans and go with these other guys. We're going on a bird hunt in October, and it's like, oh, they got changed to go to that hunt because they connected and said, wow, yeah, they get a lot of birds up there.

We're like, man, that sounds exciting. Well, now I have a trip to go do over an event that I want to go do. At the same time, I can only do one. So that was heavy in prayer about this because my heart wants to be in both, and I can't. So it was like, well, where do I really kind of end up landing on that? So I'm having to make my decision here today and tomorrow as to what do I really want to go do. So it's one of those things where it's an opportunity to kind of live that out and just see where my heart's desire is, how I can fulfill everything that I need to in adventure, in the larger story, and other things to make sure that, okay, where should I land in all this?

And I don't think there's an absolute right and an absolute wrong. It's just where am I going to end up? Where am I going to go? Just when I make that decision, just don't look back. Yeah.

Well, Chuck, it's actually your turn with the next clip. If you want to tell us a little bit about it. It's from the movie Home Run. I haven't actually watched the movie, but this clip really spoke to me just because it kind of touches on my word of the year, which is arise. We spoke about that.

But it's really about just overcoming your fears and putting them away. And the clip shows a little boy, a little league baseball. He steps up to home plate. He's ready to bat. He's got a bat in his hand. He's ready to hit. But when the first pitch comes, he just winces and kind of pulls back. And he's scared. He's letting his fears kind of overtake. He'll never hit the ball that way.

I don't care. He's up at the plate, but he's not ready to actually act. And so the coach calls a short time out and speaks to him and gives him a little pep talk.

And it really encourages the kid and gets his focus replanted. And that's kind of where I've been. You know, I've stepped up to the plate many times, but it's been on my own. You know, not necessarily with Christ by my side or with God by my side saying, what do you want me to do in this situation or what do you want me to do on this vacation or, you know, where do you want me to bring you in this trip or whatever. And so, you know, I did that not too long ago.

My wife and I took a short trip early part of June and it was probably the best trip that we've ever had together. I mean, you know, before the trip, I prayed before I even booked anything. And it was just like God was with me through that whole step. And we just we had a certain amount of peace in that, you know, and it was all about abiding in Christ and including him in that, you know, trip and just really, you know, fellowshiping with him with my wife. And it was just amazing.

But if you want to play the clip, I'll talk about a little bit after. Tyler, look at me. How many years you been playing ball? How many hits you got before you took one in the face?

15, 20, 50, 60. Probably. All right. So what do you think the chances are of getting hit today? Probably not going to happen.

Probably not. Okay. Get back in there. Step up to the plate. Hit the ball. Nothing great happens when you're all back.

Let's go. Where's Tyler? That's what I'm talking about. Stepping up to the plate.

See, that's the whole thing. You know, like I said, I've stepped up to the plate many times in my life, but I haven't always included God in that process. It's really about getting that, you know, just that right mindset of where we're drawing our strength from, what we're looking to, because when we take our eyes off of Christ, then we're sure to fail. You know, we might succeed for a while, but eventually we're going to fall, you know, and I love the abiding in Christ found in John 15. I think it's 5 and 6 where Christ talks about being the vine, you know, and that's where I have to, you know, draw from. I have to make sure that he is my vine. That's where I'm drawing my strength, my peace, my joy, my gentleness, my patience, my self-control. All of that comes from him. He's given me, he's made me a new creation. I've got to trust in that and allow him to use me the way he wants to use me and not get distracted by all these things of thinking, oh, that's where I need to go and step out on my own and leave God behind.

I can't do that. That's good. That's good.

You guys have anything you want to add? Well, I just kind of like, you were talking about scripture earlier. I was like, yeah, Proverbs has something in here about this stuff, you know, like plans and stuff. So I was like, yeah, I just couldn't remember where, but yeah, I know. But where in Proverbs, a little bit more, it's like, go on the internet.

Well, several times. Yeah. So Proverbs 16, 3, commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. And the other one in 16, 9 is the mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. It's like we all want to just veer away and do our own thing time and time again as the day goes on. And, you know, coming here to do the radio show with you guys is one of those things that keeps me grounded. It keeps me from going astray. It keeps me getting in the ditch.

It helps me get back out when I do get in there. Those types of things that if I don't have that in my life with other believers that God gave to me, it's just a struggle and a fight. I just been working with a guy at work and I didn't know if he was a believer or not. We ended up having one of the most wonderful spiritual conversations about God and His word and who Jesus is and what He did for us. It was just one of those wonderful moments.

We got kind of a lull as we were out in the factory floor doing stuff and it was just a wonderful thing. I'm like, thank you, Lord. You know, it's one of the things I wasn't praying and asking for that, but it was just one of those things He knew my heart needed.

I love those things when He just comes up and like, wow, I had a wonderful conversation about God with somebody that I didn't know was even a believer and it was just beautiful. It really lifts your spirits. It does.

It does. Thank you. Andy, you actually have the next clip, right?

I think I do. So this clip is from A Walk in the Woods. It's about Bill Bryson and a friend of his, Katz, who's kind of like this college dropout funky. Bryson wants to go on the Appalachian Trail and write about it and I think he's kind of going through a midlife crisis thing and he's talking to his wife about it. And so she won't let him go unless he takes somebody with him.

So this guy's a hoot. It's Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, the actors in it. So this is just them being out. This is just not of a major part of the movie, but they get out and they're looking at nature and one of them is appreciative and one of them thinks he's crazy for appreciating it.

And there's this discussion that goes on between them, but I'll talk about kind of the point I want to make after we play it. This is amazing. From here you can see all three kinds of rock. There, you see that layered section across that slant? That's sedimentary. And the dark stuff, the dark stuff pushing up from underneath? That's igneous.

Think volcanic. How do you know all this stuff? Well, there's these things called books.

Yeah, they're like TV for smart people. See, what we're talking about here, Cass, is time, geologic time. Hundreds of thousands of years of enormous shifting tectonic plates. It's like the world being reborn from below while it's being eroded from above.

Well, when we get back, I'm going to buy you a TV. Because nobody gets me about shifting tectonic plates. Well, I do.

You know why? Because I'm curious and I love being curious. I like knowing things about the world and reliving it.

Well, I think it's all pretty rock. Oh, yeah? I don't get bogged down in the minutia. I'm above the details. You are? I'm big picture, Bryson. How's that working out for you?

Pretty good. So, I'm not sure I agree with all the science there, but what I do think is funny is you do see the pose from the guy. But really, the point I wanted to make was, got to put this on my heart as I come into the While at Heart message of just, you can experience God through his creation and just being curious is a big part of it. Speaking on things, we've had shows talking about just the wonder, the childhood wonder. It says that's how we have to come to God as a child.

And that's kind of what Bryson was saying there, is there's a wonder about this creation, there's wonder about God. And that's not necessarily what I've done for my vacation this year, but I've done plenty of that, of just being out in nature and wondering. I probably will do some of that this summer. But just my story about what I'm doing with my summer, early part of the summer in May, my mom passed away in December that I've talked about. And my daughter really wanted to go to Missouri where I'm from and see my family. Missouri.

Missouri, yeah, Missouri. But I wasn't sure I was wanting to go, but I felt like God said stay in that, you know, do it for her even if it's not for yourself. And I knew I wanted to go back and see family. And we did, and it was just an awesome time. And it kind of started the year before with mom of really trying to connect to more relatives. And, man, it was just awesome.

There was not, I couldn't imagine the trip went any better. You know, just anything from my daughter. She quickly noticed that there was this place called Wally's there in Fenton right outside of St. Louis. And we went and checked it out. Well, it's like a Bucky's if you've heard of one of those. And that's a big thing for her and her friends.

And she bought a bunch of stuff. Just had a blast there. Just something simple like that. And then Sam and I had planned to go to West Virginia to help out the team from Ohio, kind of team with them on ministry two weeks after that. But I also really wanted to go up.

I've wanted to go up through Kentucky and Ohio and just do some exploring and there's some ball games I wanted to go to, go see a friend. And I just stayed in that, though. That was the one that I didn't know that I was really supposed to do. I'd prayed about the other two, and I began to pray about it. And it was down to the point where it was like no time in between the trips.

I got home on a Tuesday, I believe it was, and was planning on going back out on a Wednesday. And I was like, God, I haven't heard anything. And I woke up the next morning and I knew. I knew that I wasn't supposed to go. And I looked back at it. It was a great relief because I was really tired.

I really needed the rest before the West Virginia trip. And those are the things I kind of knew going in. But I didn't want to assume. Maybe he had something for me. I didn't take it as a no just because it didn't make sense because it was packing three together or whatever. It was just, that's just staying in the presence, or not in the presence, but really staying in the presence of awareness of what he wants and submitting that. Either way, I'm good with it, God.

And the more you get success in that, the more that you have answers to prayer, the more confidence it gives you to say, you know, he really is smarter than me. I probably need to let him make the choices and give me the guidance. So a cool story for this summer. Just going forward, I just hope to, I mean, I've got another family reunion to go to. And just looking for opportunities to experience God. But like you all said, not trying to do too much.

Just stay, just not try to pack so much in like I used to. I can remember the story where, you know, just something simple. We had gotten bikes. We went to the Creeper Trail up in Virginia, rode it. It was really cool. We found another trail, New River Trail, went on it. And when we went on it, you know, I wanted to go the extra mile and kept going.

I wore my family out and it was horrible. And it's just like, slow down, dude. Just experience some rest. And that's really the key. The key is just asking God, what do we need to do this summer? Not what do I need to do this summer. God, what do we need to do this summer? Right.

And include him in it. And maybe that is a vacation. Maybe it's not a vacation.

Maybe it's anything, right? But just walk with him in it. One of the things that you should ask God about this summer, I'm pretty confident, whether you should come to a boot camp, which is coming up in November. Maybe he'll tell you yes and you can go ahead and get registered before anything gets in the way and you can't go.

Because that's what we hear most of the time. Oh, I really want to go and something came up. Well, just book it before it comes up.

Go to masculinejourney.org and register. It's coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving. We'll talk with you next week. Have a wonderful week. This is the Truth Network.