Space Invaders After Hours

Hey, this is Mike Zwick from If Not For God Podcast, our show.

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But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Starts here, now. Oh, yes, it does. And we are space invading today on the masculine journey. In case you missed the original show, we want you to know that we're carrying on the topic of space invasion. And the way this actually got started is Harold and I were discussing the joy of having your significant other invade your space when you're trying to have your quiet time. And, you know, you're all prepared to get with God, and then they come mess up your whole world, and then you're in no position to get with God, and your space has been invaded. And the obvious conclusion you may come to as a result of that, that maybe, just maybe, you know, I was posing that I was trying to be with God, you know, because maybe this has to do more about me than it does more about God. And, you know, like, whoa, where does that leave me? And so... Well, on that, Robby. Yes.

Remember, objects in motion will stay in motion until something is acted upon it, which is the disruption. So, like there, you would have continued on with whatever was going on, and yet God's like, no, no, no, no. Robby, we're going somewhere else. Absolutely. And obviously, it's quite often our pose or our pride that is somewhere in the middle of all that. And so, how fun. We've had an opportunity to talk about a lot of things, but we have not yet had a chance to talk with Art. And when you miss out on Art, you're missing out on the other perspective. So, Art... Yes, I'm here. I'm ready. We understand that you have reflected on all the above, and you now have something in part.

I do, yes. This topic didn't really speak to me. All I had when I came in was an old man joke, another old man joke. I meant to tell it last week, but it slipped my mind. It's funny how that happens even at just about three scores old is all I am.

It's already happening. But the joke is that Harold has a senior GPS in his car. This GPS, it gives him directions on where he's going to go to, and then it tells him why he wanted to go there. Because he forgot. He forgot when he gets there. And it replays often. Yes, yes.

And that's a total disruption when that happens, too. Like, where? Why did I come here? Like, you know, I know that there's a reason I'm here, right?

That's really good. Senior GPS moment. Yeah, that was last week's joke, but I told it this week, and I put something together here and thought of, in listening to the guys that kind of came to me that, you know, time is a great disruptor. It disrupts our plans, things we wanted to do, the people we wanted to become, all of it. It gets by fast, and a lot of times we don't accomplish everything here on this earth that we set out to do, but hopefully we then go to a better place after our time here is up. You know, that's really profound, Art, because clearly that goes into effect every hour. I didn't get the things done I wanted to get done this hour or every day, the things I wanted to get done this day or the things I wanted to get done this week. But somehow or another, apparently, God had other plans because I have a feeling I had all the time necessary to get done what God wanted done today, and so that's an often opportunity, right, to see if we could get on the same clock.

That would be an interesting opportunity. So, speaking of being on the same clock, we have here Jim's study in this, which I think is spectacular, actually, and he came at it. It totally disrupted me with this clip because I thought it was completely off topic until, like, oh, it's completely on topic and so beautiful.

Well, that was almost an accident. When the topic was disruption, I had several ideas, and then I looked again and said, oh, it's about space invaders, and I took that literally, which is not my normal first reaction, but since I did Men in Black a couple weeks ago when I was last here, and I forgot how much I love that movie, I went back to Men in Black, and this is Z talking to the new recruits, and if you haven't seen Men in Black, why not, even though Harold hasn't, but he doesn't watch new movies, right? Oh, he doesn't have a microphone. I can talk all about it. Don't give him one. We're good.

This one's in color and a talkie. That's true, but it's not new. Don't get offended there. You've got the best of the best that are applying for the job to become Men in Black. They have been recruited. They have been recruited. They don't know what they're recruiting for.

Well, actually, he sort of does, but not entirely. He's got a clue, but not a big one, but this is a challenge for the best guys around, and Z comes in and announces that, and they start with a written test and get through that, and where you're going into this, you'll hear the introduction by Z, but you're going to be hearing a loud buzzer, and that's starting a going into a live scenario with live rounds with all these guys that are expert marksmen and what the government, as he puts it, the best our government had to offer in training, and then you got our hero. And so there's a lot of shots, lots of shots all by the the military guys, and then you hear a slight pause, and there's one shot, and that's our hero, and this is kind of the disruption that is a good one for him. My name is Z. You're all here because you're the best of the best Marines, Air Force, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, NYPD, and we're looking for one of you, just one.

What will follow is a series of simple tests for motor skills, concentration, and stamina. Edwards, what happened? Hesitated. May I ask why you felt little Tiffany deserved to die? Well, she was the only one that actually seemed dangerous at the time, sir.

How did you come to that conclusion? Well, first I was going to pop this guy hanging from the street light, and then I realized, you know, he's just working out, and how would I feel somebody come running in a gym bus while I'm on the treadmill? Then I saw this snarling beast guy, and I noticed he had a tissue in his hand. I realized, you know, he's not snarling.

He's sneezing. You know, ain't no real threat there, and I saw a little Tiffany. I'm thinking, you know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, a bunch of monsters this time of night with quantum physics books. She about to start some ****, said. She's about eight years old. Those books are way too advanced for her. If you ask me, I say she's up to something, and to be honest, I'd appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it.

Or do I owe her an apology? The real thing going on here is we often get into situations, at least what I saw in this, is we get into situations, and we see the usual distractions, and we attack them, and don't analyze the situation. A lot of times, I think the monsters that we want to kill are just working out or have a bad cold, and the real threat is coming at us and looks totally innocent, and that little Tiffany was an eight-year-old girl with quantum physics books, and in the situation they were in, that was most likely the only enemy.

When you're going into those things, you got bad guys who are normally pointing a gun at you or innocent bystanders, but in this case, the scary ones were not the, they were maybe distractions, but they were going to distract you from the problem that was going to be the biggest problem of all. Yeah, and I loved your discussion about, or we had a discussion prior to the show, how Jesus was often had all those distractions but wasn't interrupted by them. In other words, he still was on mission even though he had all these, what we would think of being distractions. However, he was the ultimate disruptor. In other words, it didn't matter whether you needed healing or you, whatever it was, he was going to disrupt you. In other words, you had something coming in that encounter where he helped you see what was actually going on, right? And what Rodney said was a great illustration.

You're going to keep going in the same direction as long as there isn't something to steer you the right way. And one of the things he did always do, and yeah, he healed those, but he would disrupt just about everybody encountered, though he was, as you said, always on mission. He never had, and they argued with me, but I'm still going to say it on air. Yeah, I don't think he was ever interrupted. He was always doing what the God had for him to do in that moment, whether it's Zacchaeus screaming from the tree or encountering a funeral and raising a son to take care of his mom or turning over tables in the temple. He could be very disruptive, but it was always one that got folks' attention that needed their attention gotten. And he was a wonderful prince of peace, but he was also a rock of stumbling.

And how you have both of those at the same time, only God knows because he's the one that decided it that way. There you go. So, Grant, it's good to have you back with us this week, and it's so great that you're cruising now and you're a Ford Ranger. And so, you know, there's kind of a disruption.

We didn't get to see you for a long time because we love you, and so it's good to have you back. What, tell me what you're thinking. Nothing to do with the show. Okay.

A lot of times, by myself, do not bypass things because it's guided from the Lord if I realize it. Right. Right. It's amazing how easily, right, we set off in the day. This is going to be the day that I make it. And two minutes down the road, you know, whatever happens, and we're off and running again, the lost sheep has found us, you know, his way. So, we're welcoming Danny, who just got back as well. And so, Danny, you know, you've had a chance to warm up. You've got three mics now thrown in your face, and so you've been disrupted. I think they want me to talk. I'm not sure.

Hadn't processed this a whole lot. I've been on call this week, and... Was it disruptive? No, it's always disruptive because it's a different schedule. It's a different thing. But I was thinking about how we were talking about lives earlier.

You guys were talking about how it's a God time. And I was interested, Michelle and I are polar opposites with... Oh, shocker. Yeah, shocker.

I'm the early riser, and she stays up late. Yeah, there you go. But it's interesting how those disruptions are not really disruptions because I think I live on the philosophy that life happens while you're making plans. Yeah, I think that John Lennon thought that too. Yeah, did he?

Yeah, well... You never heard that? That's a John Lennon quote. No, I wasn't a John Lennon fan. Well, you should have been. Just let it be, Robby. That's Paul McCartney, but that's okay.

Well... Kenny's over here. Stop digging. Stop digging. He's turned the pot over there, yeah.

Don't dig anymore. Yeah, but we've had tense moments in our marriage at times where it's just because of disruptions. Ironically, Michelle enjoys Tuesday nights because I'm usually gone till 9, 9.30 or something like that, and she likes the time alone. And it's these weeks when sometimes I don't come to the show and I go back, it's a disruption because I've interrupted her quiet time, just her and the dog. Really? Yeah, so... That's interesting, Tammy.

It's the same way. Her time's at night, mine's early in the morning, and I've seen it. And I'm familiar with Jan and Harold's challenge, like, oh my goodness. But isn't that fascinating, don't you think, that it's my time?

Yeah. Well, quick story. Back several years ago, I had knee surgery, and I had it during the summer because Michelle's a school teacher, so she was off, so if I needed something. But after a few days, I could drive and anything, but I was still at home and had been at home more than she was accustomed to me being at home. And finally she goes, don't you need to go see your mom or something?

Because I was evidently disrupting her summer. Yeah, Harold perfected that strategy there when he retired. He invaded Jan's dishwasher space, is what happened, actually. We may talk about that later, but Rodney, you're loading for squirrel here, which is distraction. Okay. Squirrel, squirrel.

Go ahead. Dot, got chased at Dot. Well, Jim, you were brought back to my memory. I was like, oh yeah, what Scripture was that when you said a rock of stumbling? But I was like, Romans 9, 33, behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. And I'm like, because I thought about that earlier, because you had brought up offense a lot, and I'm like, oh yeah, a rock of offense.

I'm like, what Scripture? Because I thought about it earlier this week. It's more Beatles. You know, we got rock, we got roll, we got Beatles. John Lennon. Which Beatles was that? I think that's Ringo, I'm just saying.

I'm just saying, I'm saying I don't have one. Click. Click Beatle. Yeah, Click Beatle. Click Beatle.

I was thinking Dung, but I can't say that until the after hours show, right? You're in it. Okay, good.

Knee deep. You have disruptions, because so many of those disruptions we talk about can be bad, right? Because that's what we hate them.

But really, there are so many good ones. Think of, you know, salvation. That's the greatest disruption we'll ever get until we get glorified. Right. Probably tears involved, right? Oh yeah, exactly.

Think about that disruption in your life, and you're like, you didn't ask for it, you didn't want it, you weren't striving for it, you didn't care about it. I've often said the Bible's canonized, because there's this cannonball headed for your head, and that's going to totally disrupt you at the point in time you go, oh no. Okay, yeah, exactly. And when Jesus disrupts, it always meant it for good, right? So that's, it's just beautiful. And he puts his finger right on the button. It's like.

And again, boot camps. Yeah. How many times have we been sitting around, whether it's around the fire or at the end of the night, and just reminiscing on where we got pushed today? Right. What happened today that Jesus came into your life and disrupted you and brought another person to do it? Or just, it was a series of dominoes that happened that got you to some place that you had no idea that you were worried about or needed to even be thinking about, and the next thing you know, you're like, consumed by what Christ is doing in your life at that moment.

And going back to your idea that something in motion is only going to get stopped with something coming at it from the other direction. Yeah. Right? And that's, praise God, what Jesus exactly, you know, what he does in so many different ways, and since you're a little bit out of your comfort zone at boot camp, and you're out of your routine, right? You're not in my time, so to speak. You're now headed off into this place where you're asking God, let me see if I can get a little bit on your time. And there's no doubt in my mind that God has crafted boot camp to disrupt men, especially disrupt them from isolation.

Right. Because you're normally in your pattern of whatever you're doing, and you're comfortable. And when you can, it's not completely dying to self to go to a boot camp, but it starts to get similar because you've given up something. You're starting to give a little bit of your control away and saying, okay, I'm going to take away this control. I want to give it to these guys for a few days and listen and talk and sit down and have deeper discussions about God. And again, that's where the coming of silence is just so wonderfully tuned into all this, where you can go out and you can leave some things behind your phone and other distractions and disruptions and get the one you really want, the one that God has for you. Yeah, it's sort of like, well, I don't have time to go to this boot camp, which to me, I mean, I've been to a bunch of them and that's sort of like saying, I got to take care of my broken down.

Was it a Ford? Yes. Instead of going to spend some one-on-one time with the creator of the universe and getting some answers for the real problems. A lot of people didn't come to that party.

They had pretty good excuses, you know? Yeah, exactly. After the problem, you've got to thank the Lord that you're there, you're alive. And I was just reflecting on it. It's so fascinating to me that this whole thing started because of my isolation, right? Like I was by myself and when I'm by myself, I have control of all of, you know, but when all of a sudden Tammy comes in and invades my space, then all of a sudden, like we're no longer isolated.

And I don't think God likes isolation, but Danny, what you got? Well, kind of on a different note, there's a story that always fascinates me in scripture is the guy who they tried to get to Jesus and his four friends snatched him up, took him up on the roof of a house, tore the roof off the house and lowered him to Jesus. Now that's a disruption. If you're preaching and a guy starts coming down through the ceiling, you, yeah.

Yeah. But you know, I think about that and I think about the times when I just can't get there. You know what I mean? I'm caught in my own stuff or whatever, but you know, thank goodness I got a band of brothers that I met at boot camp that will tear the roof off to get me to Jesus. And I love those kinds of disruptions.

That's a good illustration. And therein lies, you know, the real opportunity you have in coming out of isolation, right? And in saying, yeah, I, you know, I don't know that I want to be around a bunch of guys for a week. I mean, I get it.

I get it. Especially this bunch of guys. What's fascinating to me is I've heard John Eldridge give the opening talk many, many, many times at the boot camp in Colorado. And he always says is the ironic thing is I would never come to a thing like this. And the reason I would never come to a thing like this is because he wants to isolate.

He wants to do life on his own and that kind of stuff. But it's, you know, Pastor Quartz used to actually say at Calvary, you know, you better get used to having a lot of people around because from what I understand, heaven is not, you know, isolation. It just isn't.

You know, so it's a beautiful picture. But you wanted to talk about, Rodney, and we want to make sure to get this in, you know, how when Jesus comes back, I mean, it will be the ultimate disruption for some folks. Well, that's just it that we were talking about earlier.

There's good and bad. So Jesus is going to disrupt this world one more time when he comes back. And when he comes back, there's going to be two groups of people, the in and the out, right? Those that are in on the in crowd are going to be, this is the most wonderful disruption I've ever had in my life. And you're going to get to see him face to face and it's going to be glorious.

And all the distractions that everything else is going on is going to be centrally focused on him and all this other stuff of what we talk about now. Like, well, will my dog be in heaven? And well, so and so, I mean, Jesus is there after that.

It's all just second class stuff. But then there's that whole group that we really, at this point, you know, pity because it's like, oh my gosh, they have no hope. They are not going to get to live eternally with Christ. And they're going to face the judgment on their own merit and they're going to fall short. So, us that are in that to, you know, use that as the springboard help motivate us to do the things we don't want to do and try to disrupt their lives with the Word of God to evangelize to them and actually speak into their lives.

And as we've seen in our own lives, speaking into those that are closest to us is very hard to do. Darrell Bock Now, I was thinking about it today and I think it's worth thinking about, you know, have you ever wondered yourself? Like, was there a time in your life when somebody stood up for you when nobody else would? Like, somebody stood up and took up your case when, you know, and I had a situation, I mean, it's a long time ago, I was playing basketball and, you know, I was on the second string and I didn't get much playing time and I finally was in a game where they were letting me play and unfortunately, in no short order, I fouled out. I don't know, you're not surprised at this, but I was extremely uncoordinated and I didn't mean to hit the guys.

Scott Horner Banana pants. Darrell Bock Yeah, it was just happening. But, you know, I could not have felt worse because I finally got to play and then I fouled out, you know. And as I was coming out that day, you know, my head had to be down and all this, the coach grabbed me and he goes, man, you played awesome. He said, I don't know why they were calling fouls on you. They were, you know, they were fouling you. Look at your arms.

They're all hacked up. I mean, he just, I'll never forget that moment as long as I live because in what I felt like was the lowest moment in my basketball career, my coach totally, right, stood up and said, look, look, look. That, you know, and he knew I'd given it everything I had.

I mean, I did. Scott Horner How was your playing afterwards? Darrell Bock Yeah, I was out. I fouled out. But in later games, I, you know, obviously never forgot the coach.

But my point is, for those of us who know Jesus, right, there comes a day, man, when the, you know, you could be called out, but your coach is going to stand up for you, right? And you're saying, look at those arms. They're all hacked up.

Right? And the thing of it is, is I can't do that on my own. It's not in isolation that that stuff works, man.

It works in community. Scott Horner And once you're in Christ, you are never in isolation again. One with God is the majority. Darrell Bock And let's, you know, so here come this boot camp, and we can learn how to do it together. And believe me, it ain't so easy. So November 16th to the 19th, we would love to see you. We would love to see you. Come join us. You can go to masculinejourney.org to register for that. And again, listen to more podcasts and all sorts of fun with the guys. Thanks for listening. This is the Truth Network.