The heart of every man craves a great adventure, but life doesn't usually feel that way. Jesus speaks of narrow gates and wide roads, but the masculine journey is filled with many twists and turns.
So how do we keep from losing heart while trying to find the good way when life feels more like a losing battle than something worth dying for? Grab your gear and come on a quest with your band of brothers who will serve as the guides in what we call The Masculine Journey. The Masculine Journey starts here now.
Welcome to Masculine Journey. We're glad you're with us this week. And yes, I do know I say that every week. And I know I say that every week because we're always glad that you're with us.
And we thank you for joining. And I'm excited about this topic, one, because I don't really remember what it was. No, I do remember what it was. I think it's a great topic. Danny, how do you explain it? And then if it doesn't make sense, we'll have Jim try to explain it and then we'll have somebody else try to explain it. No, that's what we're doing in the group this week because we went back and forth with like three or four different explanations. So yeah. Yeah. So why don't we start with yours because it was your topic. So let's start there.
Well, it comes out of Malachi 3-3. He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.
Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. And yeah, I come across a scripture years ago and it meant something to me. And it was in my one of my daily readings this week and just kind of spoke to me. And when you think about the refining process and of gold and silver and as talked about a little bit in the pre-show that when a refiner is refining fine metals, he's looking for his reflection as the dross comes and they scoop all that out and get rid of that. And so the imagery there is God refining us, getting all the stuff out that's impure, little by little. And that's kind of where the topic was birthed out. Where has God refined us in those processes? Because we all have something that he's worked on and brought it to our attention and that's usually his work and not ours.
So that's kind of where that came from. Yeah, and we have work that we have to do a lot of times, right? But I think another part that's important about refining when you're refining metal and things, you can't do it without heat. So you have to have enough heat to get the impurities to come out. And so if there's a lot of heat going on in your life right now, it just may be a chance for God to try to get some impurities out of it, right?
Maybe he's kind of working on trying to get something out of you and that's his method of doing it. Well, years ago when this came to my attention, I remember praying, Lord, I don't know that I like being in the refiner's fire. And I really don't like being on the potter's wheel. And what he reminded me of was is that if you're in the refiner's fire, I've always got my eye on you. And if you're on the potter's wheel, my hands are always around you. And so that was just kind of a beautiful thought that, you know, even though there's lots of chaos going on, and I think his eye is always on us and his hands are always there no matter what's going on.
And if you're on the potter's wheel, you still have the fire to look forward to. Oh, yeah. That's true.
To solidify what's changed. Yep. So, Jim, would you add anything to that description of the topic? He did a great job. Okay.
That's what I thought. I just didn't hear his before I did mine. Okay.
No, no worries. Yeah, we were in topic competition. We were. Well, you know, we go from having any topics to we have like two or three. And so sometimes they kind of combine into one.
Sometimes they become separate shows. And so this one is just refining. So how have you been refined? How has God refined you in the past? How is he currently refining you? You know, if you have an idea of what that is, right, whatever applies, where you hope that he'll refine you in the future.
So we'll just kind of go from there. And Danny, you have the first clip. Because it just makes sense. It just makes sense because it's your clip. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, it's from the short movie Butterfly Circus. We use a lot of boot camp and it's, I think, as you said, one time, Sam, it wasn't a quote, a Christian movie. But the, the gospel is all through this thing, you know, the redemption and everything. And the scene is where the star wheel is, he's been brought out of this circus where he was really made a sideshow of and it wasn't a very nice environment that I think in this, this master of ceremonies, who is the Jesus like creature in this has got him out of there.
And so they're, they're all the circus performers are performing little things out in this area where these people live. And Will is observing it, because he's just become a member of this crew. And so the, the clip is a discussion between him and the master of ceremonies. And it's almost as though the master of ceremonies turns on him in this, because he says some pretty harsh things to him. And the interchange in between them is priceless.
And we can talk about it on the backside, isn't it? The way they move full of strength, color and grace. They're astounding. But you? Curse from birth.
A man, if you can call him that. God himself turned his back upon. Stop it. Why would you say that? Because you believe it. But if you could only see the beauty that can come from ashes. But they're different from me.
Yes, you do have an advantage. The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. You know, the, the interchange there, he said, because you believe it, you know, he said some awful things to him. He said, because you believe that. And so often, I think, when it comes to God refining us is, God brings us to that place where we're confronted with the thing that we believe that's a lie.
And we have to deal with it. You know, as you said, we do have to have our part because it's fight or flight at some point, because I've had God literally paint me into a corner and just either, you know, shrivel up and not do anything or come out, you know, and follow his lead through to whatever it is. And so many things in their life, you know, I remember when I knew that God was calling me into ministry. And I don't have a seminary degree. And I didn't have, quote, the Levitical credentials to be a minister. And I can remember going through a process of being ordained in a certain denomination. And when I got to a certain part of it, part of my past was glaring in bold letters, you know, divorce or, you know, those kind of things.
And so I had already labeled myself as damaged goods. And, you know, God had had me and confronted me with that. And I can remember the day in the place where he says, you let me choose what you can and can't do and where you can go and where you can't go.
And it's been an amazing process since then. Because if I didn't, you know, I would have been like Will, I would have been just kind of on the sidelines and watch things. And I love what the Master of Ceremonies tells him. He says, Yeah, you do have an advantage over these folks. And sometimes those who've walked through great pain do have an advantage. And sometimes the deepest pain in my life has been an advantage in certain situations, because I know what's on the other side of it. And the people who haven't been through that don't know what's on the other side. So it becomes an advantage.
I don't know whether that makes sense or not. Yeah, I think there's a couple advantages you have there. You have the one, okay, I've been down this road before. Right. And so I know that I will get through this, you know, the first time you lose somebody really close to you.
Right. It's devastating. And not that it's not devastating when it happens again. But you know, okay, there will be a season and I will get through this.
I'll never quit missing them, whatever that is, but I will get through this. And I think that there's also, when you have things that happen, you give it something to compare to. Like, if you had something really horrible happen, you can only say, well, what I'm going through now is bad, but at least it's not that. But if I've never gone through that before, then this is the worst thing I've ever gone through. You know, and so there's power in getting past some of that stuff in lots of different ways.
And you get to see God's hand in it when you look at it in the rear view mirror. Totally unrelated. I was thinking about what I was going to talk about. And I was thinking about my best friend when I was in junior high, well, he was my best friend from as early as I can remember. His name was Steve and my son is named after him. And between the ninth and tenth grades, he was killed along with two thirds of his family in an automobile accident.
And that was not something I was ready for. But that is part of the story I'll be sharing when I get to my clip that we were both led by a very great man and Steve was one of the most, I mean, particularly for a teenage boy, is one of the greatest men I've ever known. That was, you know, a little over three years ago, mom died. And that was probably the closest where I'd had grandparents die and everything.
But when you get real in close, it's different. And the great thing about that was I was surrounded by you guys. And some of you had lost your mothers. And y'all were so gracious in walking me through that.
And I've got a cousin who we've always been pretty close. And his mom had died a few years before that. And surprisingly enough, I don't know where his faith walk is. But he was just very instrumental in walking me through some stuff. And he poured some wisdom into me.
And I'm just in awe because, you know, I'm used to, you're used to people quoted ministry. But here's this guy, we used to party and run around together. But he'd been through, he'd been where I was at. And he walked me through several things without even knowing that's what he was doing, I think.
Darrell Bock No, that's good. Danny, when you're talking about, you know, Will's story, you know, and the power of agreements, they seem so minor when you're in it. And the enemy is really good about taking something that's partially true and making you believe the whole piece.
Right? You know, Will had some challenges in that. But he got him to believe that he didn't have a purpose, that he didn't have a reason to be here.
Right, that he was just damaged goods. Well, he does the enemy does the same thing to us with our own different dialogue, you know, and really taking time to peel that back with God and say, Okay, God, what is the deepest truth about me and the deepest truth about you is you're a child of God. So go to masculinejourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp November 21 through 24.
We'll talk with you after the break. What we have at our boot camp is something that makes you stronger and gives you the strength to go on your regular walk with God. It's something that will make you be bigger than you were when you got there. I got away from from Christ and suffer a overdose. And he took my memory at that time. I didn't know where I was, who was who what I was the one so he showed me a little bit of his power there, letting me know that without him, I'm done.
I don't got nothing. And I will be nothing. So I decided to come back and just right now for the first time, like I've been through a lot of things like, as you see me, tattoos all over and everything. I've been through a war. So for the first time in my life, and these on these camp, I've been able to feel that peace in my heart.
I haven't seen my family in over eight years now. But I actually can say today that I'm okay with it. God is with me and he's been dealing with my heart on a way that I never experienced it before.
I'm just thankful and grateful. Register today at masculinejourney.org. You are the potter. I am the clay. Mow me and make me.
This is what I pray. Welcome back to masculine journey. I, I'd love to tell you who sang that, but I forgot to put my notes. The artist was, I think it's part from the song changed my heart. Oh, God is where that comes from. And so I looked at several different versions of that then define that one and I forgot to write down that person's name.
So if you know who that is, I apologize for not remembering and email me and I'll tell you about it if you want to know, cause I'll look it back up. But welcome back. We are talking about the refiner and how he's refined us or how he's refining us. And so that's been the topic that we're talking about in to be quite candid. Refining process is not usually fun. No, not usually. It depends what he's refining you from the breakthrough is amazing, right?
The healing and the restoration on the other side is definitely worth going through it, but it's not fun in the process typically. Unless it's over, then it's time for another one. Yeah. Then it's time to wait on the next one. Or unless you know, it's God. Yeah.
Is the one I'm going through right now has been not just joyful, but fun. Yeah. And it depends on what you're refining from or to or towards Harold. The old saying, when you're up to your backside and alligators, it's hard to remember that the objective is draining the swamp. Yeah, that's true. That's true.
Well, we will continue with my clip, so we'll get on that one. And so this is from the... Because it makes sense. It makes sense.
And because I'm running the board, it makes it easier to do. This is from a TV series called Rings of Power. And it is a prequel to The Hobbit, which The Hobbit was a prequel to The Lord of the Rings in the sequence of the series. And so in this, you learn on how the rings that were talked about in The Lord of the Rings and the rings that was talked about in The Hobbit, how they came to be. That's where the Rings of Power story kind of goes on. And so you're dealing with dwarves and elves and all the things that you would have if you've seen any of The Lord of the Rings movies.
And if you haven't, you have no idea what I'm talking about, but that's what I'm talking about. And so in the scene, we're in... Kazakdum, I think is the name of it. And it's Durran the dwarf, King Durran's domain. And so you have King Durran and then you have Prince Durran, which is his son.
So dwarves are confusing enough because they already look alike, but they also name their predecessors, not predecessors, the people come after them. Dr. Darrell Bock Descendants. Dr. Darrell Bock Descendants. Thank you. Thank you.
Jim, you didn't come up with the big word? Dr. Darrell Bock I had the block. Dr. Darrell Bock Yeah, you did. Dr. Darrell Bock And so... Dr. Darrell Bock I was stuck on, they all sound the same. Dr. Darrell Bock They do sound the same.
They kind of look the same. And so what we have going on here, you have Disa, who is the daughter-in-law of King Durran, is there with a group of people talking to the king and he asked her to stick around. And what he wants to talk to her about is he has had an argument with his son, Prince Durran. Right, so you hear the word Durran a couple of times. It is kind of hard to know which one they are talking about. But in this one it is just talking about the son. But they haven't talked to each other in quite some time. And so I want you to listen to this exchange and then I want to come back and talk about how God refined me and how this clip kind of plays into that.
So we will listen to this. King Durran Is Disa a moment? Are you really going to make me ask? Disa Do you mean your grandchildren?
They're well. They miss tucking your beard of course. King Durran You needn't make this harder than it already is. Funny, I keep saying the same thing to him. Surely Durran knows I spoke in anger. If that's an apology I hear King, try saying it to my husband.
That shouldn't be me who apologises. It was he who caused offence. I tell you he is... Stubborn as a root bound parsnip.
One more quality the two of you have in common. What you call stubbornness. Some draw of skull strength. Oh I imagine it does take strength. To carry a grudge so heavy. To keep your wounded heart so tightly bound it can barely beat. Aye it does.
It truly does. No wonder we can't hear the mountain. It's King is death to the sorrow of his own son. Steal your axe Disa. You want to show true strength. Summon your son to you.
He'll answer. But leave it to him and the peaks of Zaraxagil will thaw before this feud of yours will. So as I was watching that clip a while back I knew it was a good clip it really spoke to me and so I've had it cut for a while on the video form and I had already actually cut a different clip for this show. I don't remember why I cut that clip. I'm still trying to remember and hopefully we'll learn about that before we get to after hours on why I cut that clip.
But then I was done. I had everything done and God brought this one back to my mind and I went back and played it again watched it because it was a video clip and then cut the audio from it. And he reminded me of a lot of his biggest refining. Yes Danny I've had much breakthrough in how I see myself and in my identity and not listening to the enemy on that kind of stuff and that's been some great refinement. For me it had to do some of the biggest breakthrough had to do with forgiveness.
Specifically you've heard me talk about on the show a lot. I had an older sister who was incredibly mean to me and not just a sibling thing. She was 26 years older than me. She was an adult when I was born. I mean she was quite incredibly mean just verbally abusive. And so we had a very tough relationship for many years and then when my dad died she kind of pulled away from the family altogether and so I never really talked to her again. She withdrew from the whole rest of the family.
And at that point I was 21 years old and so fast forward I moved down here gosh many many many years later when I was in my 40s and 50s I don't know whatever it was in 2007 when I came down here I'd have said do the math but I was older. God started waking me up in dreams about my oldest sister and he kept telling me very clearly in the dreams you need to forgive her. And I'm like I'm not going to forgive her God. I don't want to forgive her. I don't even talk to her anymore. What's it really matter?
What's the point? And at the same point I have no relationship with this person and I just I don't want to and I'm not going to do it. Well enough nights of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep and hearing God say you need to forgive her. I said how am I even going to forgive her. I don't know how to get a hold of her. I don't know where she lives. It's been at this point you know probably 30 years well 20 years since I talked to her anyway. I have no idea and I don't know who to be safe to talk to her because she's not she had some mental issues as well.
You know I mean she wasn't going to hurt me but I don't know if there's any point in it. And God just listened to every excuse and he said forgive her. And I said how am I going to do that. He's like well you can pray. I'm already talking to you.
That seems counterintuitive. You know I didn't say that to him because I wanted to you know sleep again eventually. And so no I just sat there and I said okay I can pray and honestly for the first time in probably my life I really truly prayed for my sister knowing that I probably would never see her knowing that you know what's going to be the outcome of this. And what ended up happening for me in that forgiveness was it let loose of the hold on my heart that Desa is talking about takes a lot of strength to hold on to this thing that really compresses and confines your heart this unforgiveness to have in your heart. And once I forgave her through the prayer because I couldn't pray for her legitimately and mean it without having forgiven her. And so I realized that as I prayed for her there I was forgiving her for stuff she'd done in my life. The power she had over me left.
I hadn't been around her in 20 plus years but she still had power over me because her words still had power because I had not forgiven her and I was holding on to it. And there's other examples you know when I've been betrayed in different through friendships through relationships and things like that you know as God has called me to forgive those people initially I'm very stubborn you know I could be right there with King Durin you know I could be holding on to that because I hold on to things well. But I've learned over time to kind of listen and say okay God I don't want to but I know you have something in it for me.
You know and I could sit and argue and say well do I have to you know I'm right here. Well you can be right and be in bondage. And that's what it is and so I've really learned over the years that as he's called me hey it's time to forgive I don't hold on to things as long. You know things I've held on for years are gone I don't have any of those that I really know of.
You know and the things that happen now I have a short shelf life. You know I may get angry and then it passes but my heart is a thing that's been freed up. My sweetheart has a saying that reflects that relationship with us. You can be happy or you can be right. And for somebody like me that puts a lot of emphasis on being right I mean with 40 plus years of being in computer programming and systems analysis I had a focus like a laser beam on being right.
And so oftentimes when you can't make something right you're going to be unhappy. One thing I would like to add is if you're like me and you love the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and so forth if you like to read read the books the movies are great I love them but I'm telling you what if you like to read token has a way with words that's just unbelievable. I've often expressed it that when he had me walking through the meadow I could smell those flowers.
He's got a beautiful ability with words. So if you'd like to read get the book one of the things I love about the new series is Tom Bombadil is in it. I was very disappointed he got left out of the Lord of the Rings. He is in it.
He comes in in season two. What did King Durin and Prince Durin form Durin Durin? They did and they were hangry like a wolf.
They were hangry like a wolf. That's why he's always mad. Yeah.
Go to masculinejourney.org to register for the upcoming boot camp. What is it Jim do you remember? Right before Thanksgiving. It is.
Danny do you remember what it is? November 21st to the 24th. That's right.
Which is right before Thanksgiving. You are both exactly right to use Robby's terminology. What prize do we win? We'll get back with Robby when he gets back. We do miss Robby. We miss David. We miss Andy. We miss all of our brothers that aren't here. And we miss you and so we hope you're doing well. We would love for you to come to the boot camp. Go to masculinejourney.org. If you need financial help please let us know and love somebody well this week. This is the Truth Network.
