What Are You Grateful For After Hours

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This is the Truth Network. Coming to you from an 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. We're actually grateful that you're with us this week. And if you don't know what that means, a lot of us, we don't really know the true definition of grateful, but we are talking about the question this week, what are you grateful for? And a lot of times we want to take the word thankful and switch those. I can't think of the word I want to use there, but make them mean the same thing. And you can look online and get many, many different definitions. But what we're choosing to say is gratefulness is a deeper thankfulness.

It's at the soul level. It's between you and God, something that you're truly grateful for. And so we've been talking about that and playing different clips from all over the place. And we'll continue to play different clips from all over the place and talk about different aspects of gratefulness and different definitions to some degree. But when we left, Harold was talking about what he was grateful for. And so he thought of something else he wanted to share with us.

So go ahead. I'm very grateful for my friend, Art, because he allows me to be here. My wife does not want me driving at night. She thinks I'm old and feeble.

And I don't necessarily share that opinion. But by the fact that Art comes with me and does the driving back home in the dark, she's comfortable with me coming. And that allows me to be here with my band of brothers, doing what I love to do. We're very grateful for that as well. Thank you.

Danny, you actually have the first clip if you want to tell us a little bit about the clip or do whatever you want to talk about first. Well, so often we miss gratefulness or gratitude by our attitudes otherwise, because we're looking at things on the surface and things aren't going our way. And so that's the way we're and we're missing what's really going on. So I hear you saying we need a gratitude attitude, an attitude of gratitude. Okay.

Yeah. That's a phrase I've known for a while. Anyway, it was new to me. I thought you'd like it because it didn't say thankful.

No, not yet. But anyway, I'm grateful for that. Anyway, clip is from the Andy Griffith Show is actually the first scene of the first season of the Andy Griffith Show. And Opie is not being very grateful for what's going on because his his housekeeper that has you here in the clip, told him a lot of stuff and just loved on him.

And now she's getting married. And and so at B's ultimately coming. But, you know, Andy has made preparations for, you know, make sure Opie look after and that kind of thing. But Opie's not seen it having no part of it because things are not going his way. So he's not very grateful what's going on.

So we can play it. We'll talk about it on the other side. Anybody here know why these two should not be wed? Speak now or forever hold your peace. I now pronounce you man.

I don't know why they shouldn't be married. Opie, what are you trying to do? I'm speaking now so I won't have to forever hold my peace. I'm not supposed to speak. Then why did he ask? Well, it's just part of the ceremony, Opie.

You always say speak, but nobody ever does. Well, I'm gonna. Why did she have to marry him for anyway? Things is going real well. Rose is the best housekeeper we ever had.

Taught me everything I know. Opie dear, I'm marrying Mr. Pine because I love him. Thought she loved me. I do, Opie. You don't catch me marrying somebody else. Fred, you're not losing me forever.

I'll come back and visit a lot. And I want you to be a good boy and take care of yourself here. Don't you go running across that street in your stocking feet. And in the morning I want you to eat all your cereal and don't leave half the milk. Okay, I won't leave half the milk. Good boy.

I'll leave all the milk. Now, Opie, that's enough. Now, Opie, I'm your pa and I'm telling you to hush up. Well, you told me I could speak now or forever hold my peace. Well, now I'm telling you, if you don't hush up, you'll be forever holding the seat of your britches.

If he starts to wheeze. Now, Rose, Opie's not your problem anymore. Well, you know, I mean, ain't bees coming and he'll be took care of?

I know, but she isn't due here for several days. Are you sure you don't want me to stay on? Yeah.

What's this? Nothing, Wilbur, just nothing at all. Now, Rose, you know you can't send Wilbur off on the honeymoon by himself.

Why, that'd be like putting a pig in a sty and taking away the mud. Yeah. Seems to me there's something wrong with the way you put that. You know, lately I've been grateful for process and I've tried to, you know, live a little healthier lately and lost a little bit of weight, but there's a process to that. And it is a struggle and the struggle is real sometimes. But, you know, life is full of processes and a lot of times, like Opie, you know, there's a process to life and I don't necessarily have to like it. And so, but, you know, in the grand scheme of things, I remember several years ago, I wrote dad a letter for Father's Day, grateful for the things that I have discovered as I've gotten older that, you know, he was doing behind the scenes and I didn't pay attention to that area of my life at that point. So, there's always, you know, our Heavenly Father is always working behind the scenes and a lot of time on the surface, we ain't got a clue what's going on. And so, you know, we're always ain't got a clue what's going on. I always think about the scripture where Jesus and the disciples are going across the stormy sea and they wake him up.

He's asleep in the boat. Don't you even care? We're dying out here. And I've probably prayed that prayer a lot in my, don't you even care?

I'm dying out here. I need a hamburger. Yeah, I need something, you know, so, but, you know, if we open our spiritual eyes to the fact that God is working and he's got a plan and ultimately he wins. So, you know, that's kind of where I went with that. So, thank you, Danny.

Robby, you're actually up next. All right. Well, have fun. I wasn't at a birthday party, not Danny's, unfortunately, you know, last Sunday. And his friends were there. It was okay.

Even Andy. Well played. Anyway, the lady whose birthday party it was had attended this Bible study, which intrigued me. So, I was like, what, tell me about your Bible study. And she said, well, we're doing this, you know, experiencing God.

It's sort of a new version of it. And it's really, you know, been hard. I said, really hard in what way? And she said, well, it's really challenging my faith because it makes such a big deal out of hearing from God. And I'm not so sure I've ever heard from God. And that led to a long discussion between her and I.

And I think hopefully she saw ways that she hears from God, especially through the scriptures. But the next morning, you know, God and I just decided to have a discussion about hearing from God. And he asked me to take a fresh look with fresh eyes at the passage in Deuteronomy 6, which the Jews would call the Shema, which you might know is hear O Israel, the Lord is one, is how that begins. But actually verse three, which is just above that, talks about hear O Israel and the idea of Israel is contender, like the one who contended with God.

And that was Jacob Steele. That's how he got the name was he was wrestling with God all night. And prayer is pretty much that experience for me. It's like in order to get to the place where I actually do hear from God, it requires a battle, right? In lots of different ways.

It seemed to change every morning. And the more I thought about that, I thought about my friend Vinny and how he used to love the scene from On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando, where he talked about I could have been a contender. And so, you know, we are Israel, to some extent, the new Israel, so to speak, not to say that Israel is not going to come back at the end of time, you know, I'm not in that group either.

But I am definitely feeling like I'm a contender. And I love what Marlon Brando says here. And the other part that I want to talk about for a second before we move on to the clip itself, is that so many times when people hear from God, they don't cherish it. They don't believe it.

Right? And if you read the 119 Psalm, you'll see how many times that the Psalmist says, I have to keep your word. And to keep in Hebrew is this deep meaning of cherishing it and making sure that I understand the importance of it. And so to hear from God, certainly through his word first, but actually to hear his voice tell you something or indicate that you're not supposed to shoot the squirrels, you know, as the case may be, that's a very valuable because at that moment is holy. The reason it's holy is you are in God's presence, both in time and space. In other words, to hear from God, you got to be in present time, very hard to get there.

Right? And to hear from God, you've got to be in proximity to him, very hard to get here, which requires being a contender. And so we got to meet that. And then it says in verse three, after I cherish that moment, after I keep that word, then I'm to do, which means obey, which means don't shoot the next squirrel. See, because in order to have and to go into the landlord that God has given you, which is the rest of that verse, you have to hear, then you have to value what he said and cherish it. But then you also have to obey.

You have to do it because if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Well, apparently Marlon Brando hears Brother, especially, which I love this. You know, we are brothers of everybody, and we should be watching out for our other brothers so that they too can be a contender. You was my brother, Charlie, you should have looked out for me a little bit. You should have taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them to die for the short end money. I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.

You don't understand. I could have had class. I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am.

Let's face it. Darrell Bock Yeah, so I am very grateful. I am very grateful that God has, you know, let me hear in his word, most of all, but also his voice and to see what that means to contend.

And sometimes I lose. But, you know, it's still what I'm really grateful for. Dr. Darrell Bock You know, if Vinnie would still be with us, we would have cracked a joke, something along the lines.

Did you really enjoy that movie because it was the first talkie that you got to see? It wasn't just music playing, you know, we would have Darrell Bock You can crack it on Harold. Dr. Darrell Bock We will. Yeah, we will.

Yeah, yeah. So Harold, we used to give it to Vinnie a little bit as well, you know, so it's our oldest sage in the group that we tend to pick on. So Kenny, you want to share with us a little bit about what you're grateful for? Darrell Bock I got such a long list. Dr. Darrell Bock We got time. Darrell Bock We got, you know, Dr. Darrell Bock I'll cut you off if we need to.

Darrell Bock Okay. Dr. Darrell Bock He is trying to keep me from getting to my point. Dr. Darrell Bock You read my mind, Jim. Dr. Darrell Bock Yours was kind of different. Dr. Darrell Bock I think it's, yeah. Dr. Darrell Bock That was interesting too, Jim. Dr. Darrell Bock That gratefulness, that really getting to the depths, to me is getting to the, like you say, it's deeper than thankfulness.

Dr. Darrell Bock Yeah. Dr. Darrell Bock To be grateful to be here, like I am grateful to be here, because I am a survivor of a major accident. You know, people talk about seeing the light.

I felt it when I was hurt bad. You know, I remember my prayer at that time, God, I know I'm at the threshold. You could take me home or you can leave me here.

But I'd love to stay and raise grandkids. That's before my first grandkid. This week I had the precious privilege of keeping my 10-year-old baby granddaughter. Dr. Darrell Bock So he hears our prayers. Dr. Darrell Bock I'm grateful that he does, that he touches our lives and our hearts, and then he blesses me. And I'm thankful for that, because he gives me so much more than I deserve. So that time he refashioned my life because I had a religion. I had a faith, but I didn't have that deep relationship or connection with God.

And he was slowing me down to look. What's really important is the people around us, our families. Is that where we put in our heart? Or is it in our success?

You know, because you can get culture, identity in the business or your promotions or what's successful in that instead of the successful part of the family in that heart. And that's my gratefulness that he let me be here. This is one of many times, because her older sister, 20, you know, at 20, I got to spend time with them and get them on Wednesdays. And that was my day, because God, I seen him answering that prayer. And them little kids helped me through the finish of my rehabilitation from the accident to really stop, enjoy little flowers, little rocks, and just a smile and just a happy meal at McDonald's. Not a joy meal.

That's right. It was a happy meal. Was it a virtual smorgasbord? It was a very good smorgasbord.

But you know, you know, I'm glad, you know, grateful that he loves me enough to discipline me, even if he has to break me physically or any way to really get my attention to really go after my heart and to take my heart and really hopefully plot in the way he wants it to be plied. Thank you, Kenny. I appreciate that. We've made a couple references that you may not get if you're listening to this show and you didn't listen to the previous show. So a couple of the comments came from a previous show. And if you're interested in the whole squirrel analogy, that was told off the air. But if you want to know about that, just email one of us and we'll be able to share that story with you.

It's our first name at masculinejourney.org. My email box is still empty except for junk mail and stuff. So come on, send us an email. You need some friends, dude.

Like it like they're like they're filling up yours. His name is Andy. Andy. A-N-D-Y.

Yeah. Bring it. Masculinejourney.org. That's the only email we have. So go ahead and send everything to Andy.

The mascojourney.org. But anyway. Jim, you are up next with the clip of the day. Yeah, I don't know why I called it that, but it is the clip of the day. It's a smorgasbord.

It is a smorgasbord and it is interesting. You have three very different characters in what is my favorite movie, which I get a lot of grief for. It's Princess Bride.

And if you have seen it, you'll know about Storming the Castle. This is the scene as they are getting ready to go up against overwhelming odds and you've got three very different approaches to attitude going back to that and how they're handling the situation. Wesley has been mostly dead all day and he's a little unhappy and an ego is excited and talking constantly. And Fesik is the one that, to me, showed a star say thankfulness. I'm not going to gratefulness. Gratitude. Right. Let her rip. Okay, here we go. I want my arms both. You've been mostly dead all day.

We have miracle max. Make a pill to bring you back. Who are you? Are we enemies?

Why am I on this war? Where is Buttercup? Let me explain. No, there is too much.

Let me sum up. Buttercup is Mary Humperdink in a little less than half an hour. So all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, make our escape. After I kill Count Ruger. It doesn't need much time for Dilly Danny. You just way out of your finger. That's wonderful.

I've always been a quick healer. What are our liabilities? There is but one working castle gate.

And it is Guaradevail. Sixty men. None of our assets? Your brains. Fez's strength. My steel. That's it? Impossible.

If I had a month to plan, maybe I could come up with something like this. He just shook you in. That doesn't make you happy. My brains.

His steel and your strength against sixty men and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy? I mean, if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something. Where do we put the wheelbarrow of the albino head?

Over the albino, I think. Why didn't you list that among our assets in the first place? What I wouldn't give for a Holocaust cloak. There we cannot help you.

What this do? How did you get that? At Miracle Max's. It fits so nice, I could keep it. All right, all right. Come on, help me out. Now, I need a sword eventually. Why? I can't even lift one.

True, but that's hardly common knowledge, is it? Thank you. Now, there may be problems once we're inside. I'll say.

How do I find the count? Once I do, how do I find you again? Once I find you again, how do I escape? Don't pester. It's out of our day. Right. Right. Sorry.

Maybe go. What? I hope we win. And I hope we win when we're, we have gratitude, when we are thankful for the little things.

We win. This kind of came out of, we just got off of a vacation, been sailing around Greece, literally all around Greece, in all three seas in the neighborhood. And I would see, I mean, I loved it. Carolyn and I both had a great time, but you'd see people that were in a beautiful place on earth and having a smorgasbord of food available, literally.

And they'd come in and say, oh, it's so hot, you know, hardly stand this, I'm having a terrible time. And I kind of laughed at that because, you know, you don't have to go outside, you can stay inside and see all the beauty from through a window and in air conditioning. But it really was a matter of watching people. And that is probably what makes me happiest in life and what I'm grateful for is to be in positions where I can meet different people and build relationships, which is all we're going to end up with in heaven, the vertical one and the horizontal ones, everything else is going to be gone. But that's what I'm grateful for most is relationships. And you guys are part of that, even Andy.

Most days. Thank you, Jim. That was interesting. That was interesting, too, Greg.

Thank you. One thing I did want to point out, you was talking about earlier, is that ingratitude, sometimes they have all this beauty, all this opportunity in front of them. And they get distracted. I think that's one of Satan's strategies to us, instead of seeing all the blessings that he puts in our lives every day. Just think. It's our distraction. I know I have to battle myself every day to keep that thankfulness going, that gratitude that, hey, I got an opportunity today. God, don't let me squander it or don't let me get distracted and miss it. I've done that too many times.

The distraction most often comes from making an agreement that we don't realize we make. The people on that cruise, it's a beautiful cruise, beautiful country, beautiful things, and all they have to hear is, it's miserably hot out, isn't it? And then all of a sudden, they're on, that's the focus point. It's more to heat. That's right.

It's hot here and it's hot there. Well, Sam said at the first show that I think, and it's worth repeating, you said it sometime this evening, that you see what you're looking for. If you are looking for God, you'll hear from him. If you're not, you probably won't, even though he's talking. Or if you're looking for something to be grateful for, it's there.

If you're looking for something to complain about, there's probably more of those than the gratefulness for those that have that inclination. Yeah. I thought you were going to share your meteorite story, meteorite story. I couldn't say it. You're right.

That was my Forrest Gump meteorite. If you think about it, that's the original in the Garden of Eden, the fall. Yeah. They were put in a perfect place by a perfect God in a perfect environment.

And Satan points out, man, this would be a great place if you could eat from that tree. Yeah. Yeah.

So yeah, absolutely. I will share that story. It was early one morning because I tended to wake up, but I went out and I was watching the night sky and it was quite dark, so I was seeing a lot. And I said, gee, it's been a long time since I've seen a meteor. And 30 seconds later, God gave me a meteor. And I did what you did. I laughed. Yeah, absolutely.

So Robby, you have the final clip of the show. So go ahead and tell us a little bit about it. Yeah. Well, I was, you know, like all things, I wanted to see what the Hebrew word for grateful was since, you know, if you look at the NIV version that the 100 Psalm is about gratefulness and the 100 Psalm is all about that. But the word in Hebrew is tada. I mean, literally if you pronounce it, it's tada. And that first letter is a tav.

Well, if you look carefully at the letter tav, you'll notice that it's made up of two other Hebrew letters. It's like a smorgasbord, okay? It is.

It is. So if you heard the word dan, you've heard of the tribe of dan, that's what makes up the last word, letter in the Hebrew alphabet. And that dan is a dalad and a nun, which is telling you that it's a judge. And the judge is actually along Rodney's lines, it's an advocate, right?

It's a defensive attorney because all of the people are coming in. The tribe of dan was to judge Israel, Jacob would tell you, but that tribe would always be the last tribe to go out and they were to find the strays, those that God left behind. And so at the end, Johnny's gonna come marching home is what the clip is. And it is going to be that we are truly grateful for all those. And I'm sure you probably share, there's lots of people that you would like to see come marching home in the end. And oh my goodness, how grateful will we be? And so the first line in the 101st Psalm after it says it's a Psalm of gratefulness, it then says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Well, that word in Hebrew joyful noise is actually a war cry. It's hurrah, right? And so here comes hurrah. When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah, hurrah.

We'll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah, hurrah. Oh the men will cheer, the boys will shout, the ladies they will all turn out and we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home. And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home. Get ready for the jubilee, hurrah, hurrah.

We'll give the hero three times three, hurrah, hurrah. Oh the war on grief is ready now to place upon his loyal proud and we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home. And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home. And before you get distracted with that word gay, I just want to point out that if you go on into the hundredth Psalm, and you look there's only five verses, and one of them has to do, we are, he is our God and we are the sheep of his pasture. Well, the last verse in the 119th Psalm, which people know me know I love that Psalm tremendously, and it is in the top section, the very last section, the very last verse in the 119th Psalm says, we like sheep have gone astray, right?

Seek thy servant for we guard or we keep thy commandments, right? And that idea of like man that everybody needs to hear the God, everybody needs to be in that parade for us to really shout the hurrah, right? And anything that we can do to be a Dan, to be a judge out there, to be a defense attorney, to help people to see that way. It's awesome. Thank you. I want you guys to think this, this week, the listeners out there and you as well here in the room, what are you really grateful for? Don't let it end with this one conversation, right? But let's try to have a spirit of gratefulness as we go through this week and go counter against what culture says to be, right? Let's appreciate what we're given and kind of do that. And I don't mean that as a judgmental thing, but an opportunity to let your heart come alive again in some ways that you don't really consider it a way to be possible. And so I'd ask you to focus on that this week and just pray like, God, what am I truly grateful for? But then aside from that, please consider going to the bootcamp coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving in November. Talk to you later. This is the Truth Network.