The Enemy's Greatest Hits After Hours

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network.

It's about to start in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. 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. We're glad that you're with us today, and we are continuing to talk about the enemy's greatest hits. But before I get into that, David, remind us about last week's show. What was that about? It was trusting in the Father.

Okay, and so why would we be talking about those two back to back, you think? Because, you know, the enemy likes to take that trust away that we have in the Father. He likes to try to break that trust that we have with the Father. Yeah, and the easiest way for him to do that is for us to listen to him, right, and to follow his lies, right, which becomes his greatest hits.

So the whole concept of the greatest hits of the enemy isn't give him accolades, but what are the things that he most often uses to attack us? And us meaning us individually, but also us collectively, because I think you're going to find that someone's story today, if you listen to the first show or you're listening to this one, someone's story is going to speak truth into your story, because it may be a slightly different word the enemy uses with you, but the same meaning behind it. It's the same context. It's the same attack on your character. It's the same attack on your identity, right, because that's what he's really after is divide you from the Father that loves you well. And so, David, you actually have the first clip in this show.

So if you want to tell us a little bit about it. So this clip's from a movie called Happy Gilmore, which is an Adam Sandler movie. It's when he is a golfer. Well, originally he was a hockey player, and then he became a golfer trying to save his grandma's house. And we come into the movie when he's starting to really be successful at golf and really making some moves with it and comes in kind of, you know, threatening the champion golfer that he's playing against. Shooter McGavin. Yeah, Shooter McGavin. And so Shooter actually hired this guy that you'll hear talking here just a minute to come in and heckle him and kind of distract him essentially.

And that's what the enemy does. And, you know, we'll talk more about it when we come back, but have a listen and we'll go from there. Yeah, and we've had to edit a little bit of this. A little bit.

Just a little bit. But here we go. Hey Gilmore, you suck. Yeah, Jack.

Why don't you shut up? Jack. Whoa. The club went further than the ball.

You're going to need a blanket and suntan motion because you're never going to get off that beach just the way you never got into the NHL. Oh, Jack. So I'm sure you can, you know, use your imagination to figure out what that word is. But you know, what I tend to find out is when you get really, I don't say strong in your walk with the father and the direction he wants you to go, but you're getting into it more. The enemy starts to attack you more and attack your identity or whatever that may be, whether it's the verbiage that was used on this clip or the verbiage that was used on Sam's clip in the beginning or in the first show or whatever that case may be, how he attacks your identity. He's good at it.

And when that doesn't work, you know, he goes a roundabout way so he can get in there and attack that. For me, I mean, most recently, I mean, probably within the last, yeah, within the last 24 hours, you know, one of the things he was really attacking me on was that I wasn't good enough or that I was a failure. And, you know, I didn't have what it takes to be with my daughter.

So a little bit of a story on that. If you followed my story at all throughout the past few years that I've been on the team and on the radio show, obviously I have a daughter that has some behavioral issues that we're still working through. And we've tried, I've tried countless things.

My wife tried countless things. The Mashling-Jerry team has tried countless things to be able to get her to a place, you know, of some normalcy with her. And whereas we've made some great strides and stuff like that, the enemy always comes back and knocks her down a little bit.

And most recently, you know, she had some trouble at school and got suspended and caught a juvenile misdemeanor charge that is something a lot serious than she's had happened before. And the enemy was attacking her and was using that to attack me as he usually does. But, but one of the things he was really attacking me on was saying, you just need to give up. You need to quit.

And I mean, honestly, knee-jerk reaction, I texted my ex-wife and I was ready to sit on the bench and just say, you know what? I'm done. I quit.

Can't do this. Like I've done everything I can. I can't, I can't do this anymore. It's a strain on my marriage. It's a strain on me.

It's making me, causing me to do things that I normally wouldn't do or would have done more in a past life. Like a lot of my wife about things. So I can keep the peace in the house, which was just, let me go ahead and tell you right now, anybody listening and saying, Hey, I'm gonna try to keep the peace in my house and not tell my wife something or bend the truth. Definitely not keeping that peace in the house. It's going to blow up in your face.

Maybe not be right away, but it will. And, and that's another thing that God does is he takes those lies and he shows them for what they are, but the enemy wants you to believe that. So that way you start breaking down and start isolating yourself from God.

And then you can start pulling you back. Cause ultimately, like we said in the first show, what, what is the enemy here to do? He's here to steal, kill and destroy. Right. I think the beginning of that scripture says, be a sober mind. We talked about anger and how, how that wasn't necessarily what the part of the story was, but they use that because anger is not a sober mind either.

We're not taught. I mean, I don't think they don't, yes, drugs and alcohol are a big part of that too. They don't, you don't want to be drunk and you don't want to be high on drugs because you know, your guard is going to be down, but anger is part of the sober mind to emotions in general. When emotions run high, I think you're at your, one of your most vulnerable spots where the enemy can just say, gotcha, let's go. So that, that, that was where I went with that clip.

Might've went a little bit different direction. One thing I do want to say though, is whoever's listening, you're not alone. You're not by yourself on this. We've all been there. We're all going through it still. You know, I'm not anywhere close to being super strong in my walk yet. I'm still a work in progress.

We all are. But you know, God is definitely the answer and don't let the enemy win. Well, Paul himself said that, you know, I'm still pressing on.

I'm not there yet. Yeah. And, and you know, this was later in his ministry that, you know, we were in a battle, a struggle all their life until God finally calls us home. Yeah. You know, cause Satan is relentless. If you can give him one thing, he is relentless.

You always come back and look for another opportune time or another angle. He can play on you. Yeah. Whereas tactics doesn't necessarily change.

They've been the same for, I think you said, you know, since the beginning of time, basically with them, he gets creative with it though. We'd have to ask Harold. Yeah, exactly.

But he's there. Harold was that chiseled on the tablet though. Yeah.

Did Moses bring that down? But yeah, he just, he gets very, uh, I mean, you know, he's very creative and very good with his imagination on how to get those lies across from you and really hit you where it counts. And, and you might not see it coming and you might see it coming. I know for me recently, I didn't see it coming and you know, um, my good friend, Sam, uh, you better record that cause I don't say that often.

I'm kidding. Um, he is one of my best friends. He spoke some, some echoed some words that, um, you know, I knew to be true, but it wasn't hearing them at the time. So Sam, thank you. Um, you know, that was definitely God laying it on your heart to call me.

So I appreciate that. And you're not going to share how you gave him back some words today then like you shared before the show. Well, we're on air and I can't say those words. We just cut.

We'd officially be on the last show. We talked about some of that, but you know, I think there are times and I want to clarify something that, you know, we, we talk about as we get closer to God, you know, that the enemy ramps up his attack and there's truth in that. But the opposite is not true. If you say, look, I'm not really going to enter into this relationship with God, I'm just not really gonna push forward into this. You're still going to get attacked, right? Because at the end of the day, whether you want to recognize it or not, God loves you and sees you as his child, right? You may be his lost child, right?

Or the child that's not nearest to him yet, but you're still his child and he can still hurt God's heart by attacking you. And that's why he's going to do it. He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about me. He doesn't care about Jim or Rodney or any of us in here. He doesn't care about any one of us. He cares about hurting God.

And so whether you're close to Jesus or you're not doesn't change the fact of what's going to happen to you. Otherwise, how would you explain what keeps happening to you? You have an enemy that keeps attacking you. And he wants you to, like I said earlier about being the quitter, he wants you to quit. He's not going to stop attacking you even when you do quit. He's just one that able to keep on attacking you and then you don't see it for what it is and able to fight back. Basically, you're an easier target. Yeah, 100 percent. And you're the one out of the, and not the 99 that God is pursuing most. So he's going to do his best to keep you down. You know, at my first bootcamp, besides the fact that I was not going to stay, one of the things that I took from that and, you know, I'm a firm believer of it.

And if nobody else is, it's crazy to think that is Sam said at the very end of it, when he was doing his closing remarks, doing closing remarks and stuff. And we still say at bootcamps now is when you leave there, you have a bullseye painted on your back. A target painted on your back.

100 percent. Any time that you're walking with God or doing anything, even if, like Sam just said, whether you're close or not with God, you have a target on your back. Yeah, he's after you just because you were made in God's image. Right?

Whether you want to recognize that or not doesn't change the fact you're made in his image. Yeah. Yeah, it's clear that that's what happens. Rodney, do you want to share a little bit about, you know, we couldn't really use your clip this week for various reasons, little technical difficulties on it. The technical difficulty is that it's really a, let's just say we use the word raunchy clip. Dark and raunchy clip, yeah. Yeah, it's from the Breakfast Club and I knew where I kind of wanted to go when you came up with the topic and I'm like, I've struggled mightily to try to figure out a clip. And at the very last moment, I was clipping something for Jim. I'm like, oh, I can go to Wing Clips.

I went out there, looked at all the stuff under the topic. And this was the only clip that I knew anything about the movie. I'm like, oh, I know that.

I listened to it. And I'm like, yeah, that's exactly the clip that would really jump out and speak into this. And I'm like, boy, I don't know if we could use that.

But I'm like, well, I'm going to cut it up anyway and then find out when we get here. It is the Breakfast Club and they are in their library sitting down on the floor having a discussion. They've kind of gotten over the awkward I don't know any of these people. Now they all know each other and they're starting to speak a little more freely. And Molly Ringwald kind of comes in and says, hey, what would you do for a million dollars? And that kind of kicks off the conversation.

The conversation goes into sexual connotation, which, you know, where else is teenagers going to go? One connotation. It was direct. Well, I know. Which is why we're not playing it.

Yeah, yeah. It was connotation we could have played it. It's really, like you said, dark and stuff. So it's one of those things where if you watch that, but that's what really jumped out because the people in there have all their little different characters that they're playing. But that is pretty good makeup of what you're going to find in most schools, most work relationships.

You're going to find it in the church even. Everybody's got different takes on some of this stuff, but it was a sexual context. And you had was it Ally Sheedy? Yeah. Was the one that said that, wow, you know, she's like miss sex, right?

Oh, I'd do this. I'd do anything and all this stuff because she's trying to get something out of Molly Ringwald. And she gets her in a trap where it's like, well, if you say one thing, you're a shrewd, right?

A prude, I guess, or whatever that. And then the other side, you're bad sexually. And it's like, well, you're one of the two now because if you say yes or you say no to the question, it kind of traps her.

And everybody's sitting there talking about what they did and don't do. And basically, she's lying the whole time, Ally Sheedy. She's like, well, no, I'm just a compulsive liar.

As you find out about her later on, it's like, but that's the devil. He's coming after you. He's working that really, really hard. I just need to get some exposure. I'm going to try to find something about you. And he has used that in my life as ways when I was younger that, you know, whether it's something sexual or just, well, everybody else is doing it.

Why don't you do it? Well, it's okay. You can lust.

You can do all these things. And next thing you know, you're just, oh, yeah, that's just normal. And it's a place that's hard to get out of. It's a very strong pull. And even though after coming to Christ, I have way more control, I don't have total control.

It's still there. You know, there's things in that realm that you're watching a movie and all of a sudden there's a scene. And you're just like, oh, man, really? You know, part of you is saying, oh, yeah, watch that. Part of you is saying, oh, no, turn away. And that's kind of what was going on in that Breakfast Club scene. One says, turn in.

One says, turn away. And it's hard to get through that. And really, for me, that I have found there's an underlying tenet to all my sin that I think there's a lot there is the fear of man. It's, well, what's he going to think?

What's she going to think? And I put a lot of value in getting that pat on the back, that attaboy or somebody thinking that I'm better than I am. And I've had to really break down those barriers and walk through that and say, this is who I am. And one of the biggest breakthroughs was going to that first boot camp and listening to the men talk about their moral failings, but who they are, yet the truth of the gospel. And it's just like, okay, I see how you did it.

Can I really do that? It took a while, but I am able to be much more open and honest about those things in my life. And some of the, you know, there's lots of places you can go on the Bible on this subject, because it's sexual sins we're talking about all the time, but just specifically the lust. You know, talking about adultery in Matthew 5.28, where adultery, we all say, oh, yeah, it's cheating on your spouse.

Well, it's fornication, it's masturbation, it's lusting, just even having the thought. It's because it's the heart issue, and that's what Jesus is going after. And then in James 1.15, when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death. So that's what is happening, is you're constantly moving to death, because you're going to be separated from God, and you're going to be in the lake of fire, and that's just going to be it.

It's over, and there's nothing you can do at that point. It's get control of the little things. Now, we talked about nip it in the bud in the first show. It's like, the sooner you have a small thing, and you get that under control, the better off, rather than let it become a big problem. And then I love 1 John 2.16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Because that also takes me back to, you know, I should have no eyes. I should. Because if I was to take the passage seriously, poke out your eyes, cut off your hands and stuff, I wouldn't have much left.

Because there's so many things that can pull you into the sexual sin, that boastful pride of life, and that it is not from the Father, but from the world. He could become a clogger. Yeah.

I don't know if I'd have any stubs left anywhere, because everything could be cut off, but I could try. There's a Southern expression for what you're doing now, Rodney. What's a Southern expression? You've gone from preaching to meddling, bud. Well, I'm meddling with me, so I'm okay. I know I need to meddle with me.

And it's been, that's what's really great about the walking and the masculine journey is meddling. Meddling with me, and just, I've got to put it to death. And I haven't, but I know where I've got to strive for.

Well, we all have that struggle. It sins after everybody, you know. It's back there.

Like, the first mention I've seen that really caught my attention was with Cain. It's standing at your door. It desires you. But you, I'll give you the tools, you can master this. If you do what's right, you know, what's your continence, Phil?

Why? You know, like you said, getting to the heart of it. But if we don't realize that we're like Paul, we're in that battle, we're not there yet. God's still calling us to press on. I mean, that's what Jesus said.

If you're truly my disciple, you take up your cross daily. Put these feelings in check and follow me. And that's when I get my eyes off of him.

I ain't fix my eyes on him. I get fixed on that image or that painted picture that Satan throws out there and starts looking at it. There's that enticement, that temptation, and like you say, when it's developed, that lust. And when Satan keeps working on that, you know, he gets that foothold like we talked about.

Drag this on in. Yeah, I've noticed, yeah, I don't watch a lot of network TV unless it's sports. You know, I do a lot of streaming. And so, because I watch primarily NFL football, I get a lot of commercials, you know, during that time. But I've just noticed, even in, I don't see as much commercials or as much regular TV.

I can kind of pick and choose what I want to watch through streaming. But I still find that how easily you become conditioned, because I remember some of the commercials I saw probably two years ago that I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe they're doing a commercial on this. I can't believe that they're talking about this on the air, let alone doing a commercial. I watch the same commercial day. It's like, oh, that's that commercial. It's like if you see it enough, there's something in you that starts to believe there's some normalcy to it. Like it's something that's normal, right? And that's enemy's ploy. If I can keep throwing it out there, the shock factor goes away and all this, and then all of a sudden it just becomes accepted in society as norm. Right?

Right. It's a big, honestly, it's a big mass brainwashing. If you look at most people's story, by the time they get deep into sin, that's what ends up happening. They're deep into sin.

They're like, oh, but back when it started, you find it's just the small things that just trickled and trickled and became a flood. Yeah, it does. I'm sure a lot of people agree with this. Nothing but ego or the spirit, one or the other. Yeah, you can either, yeah. Exactly.

Pride is the biggest before the fall. It is. Well, instruction. Jim, you're up with the next clip. This clip was a long time in coming.

I started early last week and got it at four o'clock this morning. But it is from Officer and a Gentleman. And this is, Mayo is really a self-centered jerk in the movie through this point. And he has basically been caught selling brass that's polished and shoes that are shined to his classmates. And that was a no-no. And the sergeant is trying to get him to quit, basically to give him his D.O.R.

You'll hear that referred to as a drop-on request. And because he won't quit, we're going to go through this. But he keeps pointing out how his character stinks and there are problems with him. We'll listen to the clip and chat about it more at the end. Here we go. Mayo, I want your D.O.R. No, sir. You kicked me out of here, but I ain't quitting. Get into your fatigues, Mayo. By the end of this weekend, you'll quit. Wave goodbye to your buddies, Mayo. Oh, I forget you don't have any buddies.

Only customers. You having fun, Mayonnaise? yourself! I don't hear you! yourself!

All right! I hate that I... Oh, get your face all the way down in there. Hunter. You ready to quit now, Mayo? No, sir. Look over there, Mayo. Look over there. Look at her. She decided to stay instead of taking liberty on this weekend.

She may not make it through the program, but she got more heart and more character than you'll ever have. And stop eyeballing me, boy. I done some checking. I looked through your files. I know about your mama. Hey, don't you eyeball me.

Your father's an alcoholic and a hole-chaser. That's why you don't mesh, Mayo. Because deep down in... Don't you eyeball me. Deep down inside, you know that all these other boys and girls are better than you are. Isn't that right, Mayo?

Isn't that right? Now, why would a slick little hustler like you want to sign up for this kind of abuse anyway? I want to fly jets, sir. My grandmama wants to fly jets. I wanted to, sir, as a kid.

We're not talking about flying. We're talking about character. I've changed. I've changed since I've been here. I've changed, sir. No. You just polished up your outfit a little bit.

You just shined it up. All the things that were said to Mayo in there are things I've heard from the enemy. Four or five, maybe six years ago, my word for the year was integrity. And that was my biggest struggle word. That's the one I got hit with the most often. And we were sort of alike in some of the things we did.

I've always been a people pleaser. I'd tell you what I thought you wanted to hear. And it would probably be factually accurate, but it wouldn't be the truth. Yeah, Carolyn asked me, how late were you up last night? And I said, sometime after 1 a.m. Well, it was 6 a.m., but... It was after 1.

Right, it is after 1. It was factually accurate, but not true. And I was a master of that. And my name is James, which is the Greek for Yaakov. We'll get into some Hebrew for probably since he's out here. And Jacob is a deceiver, and supplanter is another name. So, taking the place of someone else.

And I struggled with my honesty a lot when I was younger. And also, I'd take things as long as nobody was going to get hurt. And I'm hoping nobody's hurt. I was telling them, I got a Billy Graham at the Cove pen. I hope they gave it to me, and probably did. But those sort of things... You might be on their wall there. Do not give this guy a pen. Yeah, I saw it on their Facebook page.

This ain't one pen. But that clip was, you don't have the character to be used by God. And that's an obvious lie. I mean, Abraham lied about Sarah.

Jacob, I mean, that was his name too. Yeah, of course. But those are the places the enemy gets me, because I agree with it. And that's the real trick. And something I didn't get until this afternoon, Carolyn was listening to Jonathan Cahn, and I was sort of listening, and I was getting ready to leave. And there was a subtext to this that I didn't really pick up on until then. What Cahn was saying in this was, you're one of two things, you're a warrior or you're a slave. And the context of this clip was, he is being trained to be a naval pilot.

This is sort of the next stage of boot camp. And they're trying to drive him out because of his lack of character. And ultimately, he comes through and shows he has character. But that is available to each of us.

We can overcome our infirmities and became the men that God created us to be. Absolutely. I hear that speaker, Cahn, is pretty good, but I hear his wrath is even worse. That's a Robby joke, because that's Robby's out here. And I love that movie. One of my favorites.

Yeah, Star Trek joke there for Robby. Go to maskonjourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp. It's April 4th through 7th. That is an advanced camp. And in order to go that, you had to be to a basic boot camp. So if you haven't been to that, there's still time to go to the entrenchment. February 23rd and 24th.

Go to maskonjourney.org to register. We'll talk with you next week. And I hope that you love somebody well this week. And listen to the voice of God and not the voice of the enemy. We'll talk with you next week.