Word Of The Year 2024

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Welcome to masculine journey. We are glad that you're with us today. And we are continuing our topic on the word of the year. We ended the last couple shows of last year in 2023 discussing the word of the year for 2023, obviously, finishing that out. And we're starting with this show with the word of the year for 2024. And so, Danny, would you help explain a little bit about what the word of the year is? Yeah, it seems I had to ask the first time y'all brought this up. Well, yeah, you're the most recent to ask.

Yeah, so the word of the year, we pray for a word from God to give us for the year, and he kind of unpacks that with us on a journey for the rest of the year. Yeah, yeah. And so we've been doing it, I don't know, probably five, six years. Robby, like 12, 14, I don't know. We've been doing it a while.

How old are you now, Robby? That's how long he's been doing it. Well, he had the word of the day for a while, you know.

That adds up quickly. Yeah, I think his word's overachiever is what the word of the year is. But no, we'll be talking about our words of the year for 2024, and we'll go through it this week and probably finish it up next week as we're doing it, and then we'll move on to some other topics. But we are starting with Danny. Danny, you have the first word to talk about this year. Do you want to set it up, play your clip? What would you like to do? I'll set it up.

My word for the year is adoption or adopt, and God's really just kind of impressed this upon me last week or so, and I've done some digging with it, but I know that there's a journey ahead. And my clip is from a movie, Into the Wild, and it's a scene where I had to look up the names. Chris, who's the young man who's dropped out of college and going on an adventure hike in Alaska. And Ron, this older gentleman, I'm not sure who he was in the movie, but he's Ron. Sam is sharp. He doesn't miss anything.

He's offering to adopt him, and in essence, what he's really offering is to save his life because he realizes he's making a mistake, and so the interchange is, is that proposal of him going to adopt him, and Chris's response. So you can play it. Okay, there is no sound. Or you can't play it. I can't play it.

I'm getting no sound. So much for what you said earlier. Yeah, yeah.

So we'll try it again. Okay. I got nothing. Wrong row.

Yep, that's not good. Okay, hold on. Now we got it. All right, here we go. Well, my friend.

Yep. I had an idea. You know, my, my mother was an only child. And so was my father. And I was their only child.

So. When I'm gone, I'm the end of the line. My family will be finished. What do you say? You let me adopt you. I could be, say, your grandfather.

Ron. Could we talk about this when I get back from Alaska? Would that be okay? Yeah, yeah. We can do that, yeah. All right, Ron.

Thank you. Yeah, essentially, we were orphaned to sin is the concept of the gospel. And the word adopt means to take a child born to other parents voluntarily as one's own child, especially in compliance with formal illegal procedures. And, you know, God essentially adopts us. And he tells us he gives us the spirit of adoption is what scripture tells us. And so that's kind of where I've been pressing into that because, you know, the spirit of adoption is the seal of adoption. In essence, God is saying you're my child. And in essence, I'm putting my seal on you as you are mine.

You're my heir to everything I have. And I don't know where this is going to go, but I know it's kind of cool to unpack. And because there's, you know, a couple of different philosophies when you read commentaries on this stuff and that kind of thing. And I've been kind of digging into that and we won't get into all that. But, you know, to say that you've been adopted by God is huge. And, you know, I know Andy, he's not here, but he talks a lot about the orphan spirit. A lot, a lot. A lot, a lot about the orphan spirit. But, you know, there's so much truth in that that, you know, we are not fatherless when we belong to Jesus. And that is a beautiful thing because it's not something we earn.

It's something that he made possible. And so I can't wait to unpack this over the next 12 months and see what happens. So how many years have you been doing the Word of the Year? This will be my third one. Okay, so what were your other two words? My first one was heritage, which kind of unpacking that a little bit was a year that we lost my father-in-law and then my mother in a couple of months there. But made me really think about where I came from and where, you know, the family heritage behind all that. And then the next year was, my last year was beloved. And so now we're heading into adoption, so not sure.

But they do, it is cool how you learn when you have the privilege of looking backwards. I can't look back as far as Robby and like Word of the Day, but they do link together and God is like taking you somewhere over a period of time. And so that is really cool. One of the things that's kind of cool, you know, at this point in the year we're often, at least I'll speak for me, I'm usually, trying to outthink where God's going to go with the Word. And he may give me some grace and we'll initially go in that direction. And then he takes it where he wants to take it. And he'll take it into a lot of different directions.

And that's the whole thing about doing it. You're like, how in the world could you spend a year on one word? Well, last year was a great example of that because I had beloved and I was excited and I got the Hebrew for all that stuff. And I was settled where we were going to go and somebody said it in pre-show. We took a hard left turn somewhere about February and went in all kinds of different directions.

And it had been an amazing thing. David, you might want to write that down. He actually quoted you. That doesn't happen that often.

It's recorded on air and it's on video. Well, he said someone. I said it was David. So it was you that gave me the credit.

So definitely need to document that. Yeah, it's not happening much. No, he gives you credit just after what you want.

Exactly. I think we have time for another clip before we go to break. Robby, do you mind setting up your clip and talk a little bit about it? And if we don't run out of time, you can talk about it after the break.

Yeah, however it works. Well, we have four minutes. I don't know the – Yeah, we'll make something happen. Okay. So – You always do.

Not four hours. Somehow. So yeah, I've been doing the Word of the Year for lots and they do connect. And you end up with a word that by the end of the year you almost hate to part with it.

You do. Right? And my word last year was being gathered in great faith and I got to enjoy the two weddings and so many different things that God did in uniting me with a new church and all sorts of things.

Just spectacular. And different things in the Word of God that he took me on adventures, all those things. And so for me personally, if you adopt this idea to begin to ask for a Word of the Year, then I think it's highly effective to write it somewhere where you pray in the morning so that you're looking at it to see, okay, God, how does what we're doing today, what you're talking about today, how does that fit into what we're doing?

And that will add to, in my opinion, a great deal of where you're going. And so usually about November I begin to ask for next year because I've been on the previous, you know, I was on being gathered in great faith for a year, you know, the first of December because I got that that long ago. And so this year all of a sudden he came out of left field to me because I was not expecting his word at all. But everywhere I looked was the word vision. And, you know, without a vision the people perish. And I, like you guys, trying to dig into like, okay, exactly how does this fit into my life now that I've been gathered into great faith, you know, what is the vision? Well, fascinatingly, you know, from my perspective, the word evil is a lot to do with vision.

It's a matter whose vision you're looking at because I can assure you Satan has vision too. He has a vision for your life, protection that he wants you to go in. He's got a vision he would like you to adopt. And so as I began to dig into this idea like, oh my gosh, there are visions of seeing things God's way and then there's visions of seeing things your own way.

And so it, you know, in the short period of time I've had the word, it's twisted and turned me all over the place. But at the same point in time my life all of a sudden I started being adopted by other people's visions. In other words, something happened at the radio station where I ended up with a lot more responsibility on a daily talk show that was not my vision.

That was all of a sudden, here you go, Robby, now you're going to help somebody with this vision. And then something happened with our church where all of a sudden I took on a great deal more responsibility of pastoring than I ever have in my life or ever aspired to, right? But nonetheless, you know, it's all part of, okay, God, you know, help me out. But it really cool from my standpoint to be given advanced notice that you're taking a hard left turn. That you went down this particular road and now, just like, you know, we talked about in the pre-show, he is going to expand your comfort zone, Robby.

Yeah. Where you've been comfortable in the past, you know, he's initiating you for the kingdom. You know, what that may look like in your family, what that may look like in your job, what it may look like, you know, in your finances and all those other different things. And so, you know, as I began to think this, what I needed was input. Like, in order to understand your vision, God, I need input. And I couldn't get that out of my mind, like, God, need input.

And then, of course, one of my all-time favorite movies of all time, just I always loved the movie, you know. We're going to have to get to it after the break. I know. Okay. I said, the people are going to go, I've got to hear that. I've got to hear this clip. He's a professional radio guy.

Yes, he is. I'm with the appetite, you know, like, yeah. So what's he talking about? The cliffhanger. I can just think of the movie as number five is alive, but actually it's called something else. Short Circuit. Short Circuit, right, right.

And it's a movie about a computer generated kind of thing that went wild. When we come back, we're going to actually play the clip. Okay.

It will help you see what happens when people catch a vision and they get on fire. Very cool. We'll talk with you when you come back. Not yet, but you know. The greatest things is just being around a group of men that love the Lord and sharing His kindness and His love. All of you guys, I done sat and talked with all of you guys, different occasions, different conversations, and it's all been unique and refreshing. You guys gave me a whole different perspective in life, and you can't hide the true, genuine love of God. You can't hide it. Register today at masculinejourney.org.

Welcome back to Masculine Journey. That is the band Train, and the name of that song is Words, which kind of goes, we're talking about words, but I know it's hard to listen to it, and especially if you don't know the song, you don't know what they were saying, but what the chorus was saying is words, they'll try to shake you, don't let them break you or stop your world from turning. When words keep you from feeling good, use them as firewood and let them burn. And what I wanted to talk about with that was, we talked a little bit last week when we were talking about the words. We're constantly hearing words. Yes, what we're talking about today is hearing words from God, but most often what we are hearing but we don't really realize it are words from the enemy, because the enemy uses words.

He's called the great liar, the accuser of the brethren. Well, those don't have any effect if words don't matter. As we talked about a little bit last week, the old kid saying, you know, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. You know, words, they will crucify you.

Not literally, but at your heart level, they do. Just think about all the horrible things that have been said to you throughout your life and how those have impacted you, sometimes tripped you up. And so sometimes what we have to get out of the way in order to really clearly hear God's words is to fight against the lies, because if we're living and believing in those lies, we need to let them burn up, let God just extinguish them, right, and to burn them up and get them away out of our life so that they're not having that effect on us. So if you're struggling to hear from God and this concept of getting a word from God, maybe the focus would just turn and say, okay, God, what lies am I really believing and living in right now? Maybe I need to break those and I need your help breaking those to where I can hear you more clearly, right, because the words do make a difference. You know, words of affirmation, they can build you up, they can tear you down, right?

But who are you listening to, because the words are coming at you and you're going to listen to somebody, probably better for us to listen to God than to listen to the enemy, because only one of them has got our good interest in mind, and that's God. And so when we left our star of the show, Robby, as we left, he was talking about the movie Short Circuit and a little bit about that. Johnny Five. Johnny Five. Our hero Johnny Five was actually a robot that they had programmed to just be a super warrior. And so, unfortunately, something happened, you know, Miracle of Movies got hit by lightning, and this one actually becomes alive. And so as he becomes alive, interestingly, all these people that programmed him have no vision to see what's actually taken place. But there's a young lady who happens to be a cook, you know, her name is Stephanie. She begins to interact with Johnny Five there, and she gets, you know, she can see that this thing is alive.

This is not just a computer anymore. And as she begins to get that vision and begin to work with it, of course, number five, being alive and being a baby Christian, so to speak, he needs input. If you think about when you came to Christ, what's the first thing you need?

The Bible, you need more input, you know, disciple me, show me what direction to go. And so this life, this vision that you're given requires input. And as that life goes on, it spreads. And so what happens is Stephanie then, you know, tries to convince Nova that all this stuff's going on. She finally gets one, you know, guy to finally listen to her. And then you hear what happens when he realizes that Johnny's alive. And the whole thing just spreads like fire, because I can assure you, if you watch this movie, by the end of it, you'll be convinced that number five is alive. It's gone. Gone.

Woolly mammals, sheep, source of sweaters. Oh, no, no, no, no, never mind, I see it, never mind, go back to your nuclear warheads. Hey you, number five, what are you doing?

You're going to scare my animals, bozo. Listen, I just called Nova and they're coming out to get you, they're going to give you a tune-up. Tune-up, input. No, take you apart, find out which screw is loose. Apart, undone, dismantle, dissect, disassemble. Dead. Disassemble. Dead. Disassemble.

Dead. Hey, slow down. I got it. All right, this is it.

Now listen close. There's a priest, a minister and a rabbi. They're out playing golf and they're trying to decide how much to give to charity. So the priest says, well, we'll draw a circle on the ground, we'll throw the money way up in the air, and whatever lands inside the circle, we'll give to charity. The minister says, no, we'll draw a circle on the ground, we'll throw the money way up in the air, and whatever lands outside the circle, that's what we give to charity.

The rabbi says, no, no, no, we'll throw the money way up in the air, and whatever God wants, he keeps. Oh, I get it. Is he laughing? Yeah. Yeah. And the joke wasn't even that funny, and I think I screwed up the punchline.

Whatever God wants, he keeps. Oh, you look kind of chagat. It's really true. Spontaneous emotional response. I am alive, yes?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm alive. And when you think about it, I don't know if you've ever noticed this when people come to Christ, but they laugh easier and they cry easier. What they're looking for, the scientists are looking for to see a significant sense of life is when you're around your brothers and sisters, you'll notice that they laugh easier and they cry easier because why? Because they've truly been given vision, and with that vision, they need input.

I think it's a beautiful example of what God does with life and images of it all around if you look for it. David, did you play that role? Because it sounded like your laugh.

Johnny 5-0 sounded like you a little better. No, no, no. I definitely didn't.

I'm pretty sure that movie was actually... Yeah, and that movie I'm pretty sure was made before I was even born. I don't think so. Okay. Yeah, you can look it up.

I've got Google too. Anyway, back to... Thank you, Robby. I'll go ahead and I'm going to go with my clip because I'm running it. It only makes sense.

It only makes sense that I want to do my clip. Well, Robby, I wanted to ask you, before we do that, so you've had words for several years, but most recently, how do you think this word is going to tie into your previous words? Or do you know that more clearly? Not just last word, but the word before that.

Or do you know it yet? Well, interestingly, there's definitely a building process. And so as you're gathered in great faith, which was to be gathered, then you realize that your vision is very limited.

But as the church comes more together, the vision can be expanded by people with other giftings. And I think that's my sense of how this is going to build. Clearly, I've seen it as a pattern. Like, this is going to be a jump off the other word. And so it'll be interesting to see where that actually goes. But that's my initial sense of it, yeah.

Okay. Well, thank you. This year, for me, I'd prayed a little bit about the word. But last year's word, as I shared a little bit last week, was family. And I had a few things happen with family towards the end of the year last year that kept me kind of engaged with that word.

I lost my brother, and my grandson's been pretty sick and been in a pediatric ICU off and on since December 20th, and just trying to figure out what's going on with him. And so family was very much on my focus. And honestly, I hadn't really prayed much, a little bit, about the word of the year.

And so we're coming to the radio show last week, and so we usually meet for dinner ahead of the radio show, those of us that can meet and spend some time together. And I was in there, and God gave me my word. I was pretty certain it was. I wasn't sure, but it got confirmed a little bit later in the week of what it was. And so that word was generosity. And I knew it was the word because, A, I would have picked it for me. Yeah, hey, how could I be more generous?

That was not what I would jump out and go do. That's just not me. And so I'm like, okay, I know it didn't come from me, God, but did it come from you? Because the enemy can also whisper some words at us.

He does that, right? And so it was confirmed later when I was asked to preach on an upcoming Sunday, and I was not given what the topic was. It was sent to me, and no one knew what my word was but me at that point. And I'm preaching on serving. And serving is another way of generosity. When you serve, it's out of a generous heart, right? It's the same kind of thing. It may have a different final meaning, but at the end of the day, it's got the same general meaning, right, that you're serving. You can serve reluctantly. That's not what we're talking about, right?

But serving lovingly is a generous thing. And so I was like, man, I know a lot of movies. I know a lot of TV shows. I cannot think of anything.

I'm just racking my brain, racking my brain, trying to think of it. I go to YouTube and put in YouTube clips on generosity, and I get everything other than what I want, things that don't even relate. And so I go to my old standby when I can't find it anywhere else.

I go to Wing Clips, which is a service where they help people find clips for sermons. And so I looked at it, and there was one on there on generosity, and it was from a movie called Brian Banks. I'm like, well, that's kind of a weird name for a movie.

It's somebody's name. It's not really the name of a movie. And then I watch the clip, and it's such a good clip. And then I read up on the story about the clip, about the movie, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I've got to watch this movie.

So I just get the clip yesterday, right, and I cut it, and I get it ready, and I'll play it here in a minute. And then I found where the movie is at, and I go and I stream the movie and watch the movie, and it was an amazing movie. It was quite a good movie. It was a true story. It was really good. I thought it was a good movie, a very wholesome movie. I don't remember much cussing or anything in it, which is surprising these days. But it was just a very, very good story. And it had some God moments in it, but not very clearly.

You have to kind of look for them, but it's implied throughout it. And so anyway, when we pick up this clip, and I'll come back and talk more about my word. When we pick up this clip, it's where Brian has been in prison, wrongly in prison for rape. He gets out. He's met a girl. He would like to take her to the museum. And his mom and dad say, you know what, I'm just going to play this in the after hours because we have two minutes.

So this is a good thing to say. You know what, if you haven't watched or listened to our after hours, go to our after hours and listen to it. You can get to any podcast location, Mask and Journey After Hours. When I said watch, you can watch us if you'd like to do that. I don't know why you'd like to. Looking around the room, I'm not sure I want to watch you guys. But no, if you would like to watch us, you can do it on Facebook. You can also do it on YouTube. We're broadcasting live right now. So you can do that any Tuesday when we're recording. And so you can watch us record the show if you'd like to do that.

We go to either one of those. If you have an upcoming topic you'd like for us to try to take on, send us a topic. You know, we'll look at that. You can do that at any of our e-mails, maskandjourney.org, our first name ahead of that. So it would be David at maskandjourney.org. Not Dave, as some of us like to call him, but David at maskandjourney.org. Robby at maskandjourney.org. Just fill in the name if you'd like to reach out to any of us. But we would like to share more about that.

But if you want to listen to my clip, which I know it's burning at your heart to know what it is, you're going to have to listen to after hours. So go to maskandjourney.org. We do have a boot camp coming up. It's coming up the first weekend in April. I think it's the first through fourth if I'm remembering right. Is that right?

No? Danny, when is it? You've got it in your phone. We'll look it up. It is coming up. It is at our website. But we don't know yet if it is an advanced boot camp or a basic boot camp. So we'll be posting that here soon to let you know what that is. The fourth through the seventh.

I had part of that right. So April fourth through seventh. But we'll talk with you next week. Go love somebody well this week.