Boots To The Ground:

Free-for-all Friday Truth Talk Live advice for an uncle who's got 24 hours with his nephew before his nephew goes off to the army.

That's the show today. I'm the uncle so excited about what's happening. You're going to love the calls.

You're going to love the action. It's all right here. You can still DM me on Instagram or follow me on Twitter at Stu Epperson or at Stu.Epperson on Facebook. Go to our Truth Talk Live Facebook page, but this is advice to a young man, maybe from some of you who've been there and done that, as to how I can encourage him in the next little bit of time I have with him before he ships off to represent our country. Grateful for all the calls this hour. Grateful for you joining us for this special podcast that you can listen to right now.

Administration and the Act Council. Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together.

Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. A talk show that could take you all over the world in less than a matter of a week's time, like going to Israel with that wonderful ministry, Joshua, and what they're doing to take relief into the Gaza, into victims of all kinds of terror. Amazing ministry they're doing in Israel. I hope you enjoyed that. Yesterday we went to the storm at sea in Israel. That was 2,000 years ago with the Lord in how he calmed the raging storm on Wednesday in the word. We've had some great programs this week, and it's always fun to have you with us.

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The toll-free number is 866-34-TRUTH. Hello, Graham fam. Hello, Brad, who I met on my way into a haircut today. He's a new listener of this program. I'm giving him a shout out, and I'll shout you out too, like my buddy Jamie who's listening right now. Coach Jamie, God bless you, my friend. His granddaughter just got a goodie from the Truth Gift Pack here at the Truth Network World Headquarters.

We love it when young people come in and give them Bibles and give them goodies and listener cards, and thank you for listening all week long. I have a nephew who goes to the army in three days. He ships off to the army in three days. I have 24 hours to spend with his nephew. This is not hypothetical. This is not some allegorical third-party illustration.

This is real. I have 24 hours with my nephew, and the clock is ticking. If I can get him over here, he's running all around, he's getting ready to go, but he's going to spend hopefully some quality uncle time with me, with little cub, with a family. What do I talk to him about?

Anybody, everybody. What do I say to my nephew? I got 24 hours with him. He goes to the army in three days.

72 hours, he will be head shaved, he'll be putting on the fatigues, he will be hitting boot camp. What do I say to him in the next 24 hours that I have this limited time with him? This is what I want to talk about today. I want to dedicate this show to him today. I want to tape record this show.

I want to play this show back. I want to send it to him, and I want you to call in and give me some advice on what I should say to him. I'm asking for a friend. The number is 866-3-4-TRUTH. Some of you have been in the army.

Some of you have had nephews, children, kids, parents, cousins, spouses go to serve our country in the armed forces, maybe the Marines, maybe the Coast Guard, maybe the Air Force. I want you to call me and tell me, 24 hours is all I have. Take him to the airport, he's gone. What advice do I give my nephew in the next 24 hours I have with him?

What would you say to him? Please, let me know your thoughts, let me know spiritually. I want to cut to the chase here. There is a lot at stake here.

The kingdom of God, souls that he could impact. I want to speak into his life. Of course I'm going of course I'm going to go there. Of course I'm planning on going there, but I want you to go there with me, and I have a show to do today, and I want to maximize every minute of airtime with your advice. What do I tell my nephew on his way to the army?

I got 24 hours, actually really less than that, with him before he ships out. 866-3-4-TRUTH. 866-3-4-8-7-8-8-4. Your host, the one with all the advice, the one with all the answers, the smart guy behind the mic is asking for a friend. I'm asking for your advice, for your wisdom, and I will not shoot you down, and I will not cut you off.

And Grayson, we're not going to hang up on callers, although I will ask you to be as quick and pithy as you can, because I want to get as much advice from you as I can. I'm going to get my Truth Network pin. Oh, we just got these pins.

They're nice. I really like these pins. I'm a pin guy.

Are you a pin guy? I just love giving them out to people. They're like, give them to someone.

They're like, wow, I like that. Gave one to Gus. Thank you, Gus, for delicious meal today at the Mayflower II in Rural Hall. I gave him a new Truth pin. I signed the check. I said, Gus, thank you for partnering with Christian Radio.

I say that to all of our wonderful partners. And I said, Gus, this is your pin. He said, Stuart, that's not my pin. I said, Gus, this is your pin. And he took the pin. He liked it. He said, I like this pin. And it kind of matched the beautiful blue marlin that is hanging in his lobby, the new Truth Network pin. I have my new Truth Network pin out.

I have a pad here. I'm going to write down what Eric says to me on what advice I give my nephew about to ship off to the Army. I got 24 hours with him. Eric, this is real. This is real time, real life. You're on Truth Talk Live Free for All Friday.

Grayson, put them on the air. You're on Truth Talk Live. Welcome, Eric. Hello, sir.

Yeah, I served in the Marine Corps. Going in as a young Christian, I would just tell that young man, first and foremost, that you love him and you're proud of him, because that is a big sacrifice that you make for your nation. And I think some people truly underestimate that. But I will tell them that he can truly take the time and pray every single day that the Lord will be with him. The Lord will get him through this. And it's going to be a challenge for him, a big challenge. But, you know, just tell them that you're going to be praying for him, and he'll get through it. Just have faith in the Lord, and he'll be just fine. That's a good word. Thank you for your service, for your sacrifice, Eric.

You're speaking firsthand, man. That's powerful. I'm kind of shaking as I'm writing these notes down. I love it.

Pray every day. You love him. You're proud of him. Thank you for your sacrifice, Eric. You're my new hero. God bless you, man. Thank you for the call. Have a great day.

Yes, sir. Okay, my nephew, I hope he's listening. I mean, you know, I sent a group text to the family.

It's a pretty big family. And I told him, listen, I said, you know, call in for advice or listen to advice. He's going to get this tape. So what you say will be, go from you to here to me, right to his ears. Clay is calling in.

Real quick, Clay, we're bumping up against a break here, but go quick. Well, if you can put me on hold, I've got a couple things that I would like to share, coming on behalf of your nephew. I will echo the sentiment of what brother Eric just said, but here's the thing that is most important.

Tell him to be enjoying every moment of each day that he is giving. Basic training is different these days from when I went through it. Interesting. Enjoy, everyone. I will put you on hold.

I'm going to bring you back. And I got a line open at 866-34-Truth, 866-348-7884. This talk show host has 24 hours with his nephew before he ships off the army. How can I encourage him in the Lord? What advice do I give him? Your calls coming up next. So what do you do if you find out your nephew is going into the army in like 72 hours and you have the next 24 hours to hang out with him? What do you say to him? How do you spend that time?

How do you maximize every minute? You just don't know how much time you have with anybody on this earth. I'm Stu Everson, this is Truth Talk Live, and that's not some hypothetical scenario.

That's real. That happens like right when I hang up with you today, I go to try to track him down. He's all over the place, scrambling, saying goodbye to friends, this and that, and he gets to be with Uncle Stu.

So give me some advice. His Aunt Julie, his sweet cousin, little cub, and others, we're going to be hanging out some this weekend, but it's going to go by really quick, and I want you to weigh in, please. Thank you to Eric the Marine. Great advice. Wow. Thank you to Clay. Enjoy every moment. He's still with us.

He's got a little bit more to share. I'm going to ask him to go quick, and I'm going to give you the number. I just want some advice, some wisdom from you, from some wounded warriors, some weathered warriors, those who've been there, and those that, hey, I don't have a nephew, Stu. I don't have a nephew going to the army in 72 hours.

I don't know. Well, then you can call, and you can encourage us, and you can give me a word, whether you've been there and done that or not. I want to hear from you, and I want to get your advice, your wisdom, because I don't think...

I can imagine that I'm not the only person experiencing this right now. Others have gone through this, and God's used experiences in your life to encourage not just me, but a whole lot of other folks with their ears on to Truth Talk Live right now, including our new friends in the upstate of South Carolina listening to us on the all-new 96.9 FM. Let's go back to Clay, and let me give you the number one more time.

866 toll-free, 866-34-TRUTH, 348-7884. If you want to weigh in with some quick advice for my nephew on his way to the army, I only got 24 hours with him. Clay, how do I redeem the time, like Paul says in Ephesians 5? How do I redeem the time with my nephew? Go quick.

Well, as a matter of words, it's a server's dream. You're going to learn a few things. You're going to learn a few things. I got a clunky connection there, Clay. Call us back when you get in a better spot, please, at 866-342.

Sorry about that. I could tell he was saying, enjoy the process, lean into it, but we got disconnected, and I want to hear back from him when he's got a better connection. I want to hear from you at 866-34-TRUTH.

I've got one line open. Let's go to Doug. South Carolina caller may be listening to us on the new 96.9 FM. Doug. Hey, how are you doing today?

Fantastic. Thanks for calling in. Are you on the new 96.9, or are you on 105.7 in Rock Hill, South Carolina? I'm on the 96.9.

Oh man, we're so glad. Welcome upstate South Carolina to Truth Talk Live. God bless you, my friend. Talk to me.

Give me some advice. What do you say? First, I want to say I never served.

I came out of high school at a time when there was great peace, and so my sense of urgency wasn't there, but a member of my family has served in every major battle in U.S. history since the beginning, and so I understand what the commitment means. My first question to ask is, your nephew saved? Affirmative. Okay, then we don't need to go to that. Exactly. I'm reminded of David going to the front lines to bring supplies to King Saul, and hearing Goliath shout out and discard, and just the Israelites, and everything, and David reared up and said, I will go against this Philistine, and what the difference is, Saul and his fighting men had been out there in this field for 40 days basically doing nothing but staring across the field, and the reason was because they were seeing the battle as a natural battle. David saw it as a spiritual battle, and so my conversation with my nephew is that although his flesh will feel and be shouting at him that the battle is in the natural, the reality is that God is with him, and as he fights, he fights in the name of the Lord, just like David did. I like that, I love that.

He fights for justice, he fights for what is good and noble, okay? That's so good. And so that's what I would say to him. See it through a spiritual lens, lending to the...hailing back to the David and the war analogy.

Boy, I never thought about that from that angle. I really appreciate your call, Doug. God bless you, man.

Thanks for the advice. I've written it down, it's recorded. I'm going to send this whole podcast to my nephew after this for him to hear. God bless you, really appreciate you calling in, and thanks for listening. Yeah, thanks for listening. Yes sir, thank you.

Pray for him. Hey, tell everyone out there about the new 96.9, man. We're getting the word out in the upstate. I will absolutely do that, man.

I've been loving it. Awesome, praise the Lord. God bless you, my friend.

Wow, how encouraging. My soul is blessed by that advice, and we're going to bring Timothy on in here. We've got a line open at 86634 Truth. I think we got Clay back, so we'll get him after Timothy. Timothy Gastone in North Carolina listening to us on the AM 960 in the new 105.7 FM there. Timothy, you're on Truth Talk Live. Advice to my nephew who's about to ship off to the Army. I got a little bit of time with him.

What say you? Yeah, I served 10 years in the Marine Corps, 2013 to 2023. Thank you for your service.

Yeah, thank you. I'd just say, I mean, I guess it's advice for you as well. I mean, he may or may not fight in a conflict directly, but he is going to go through so many seasons, even in one year, two years, four years. He's going to go through so many seasons, and just one, lean on the Lord. Two, you make yourself available to him if you're willing, and you say, when you feel the need for advice, when you need to know, and you're just not getting the answer, you call me, because he will. He will, and he'll need advice. He'll need guidance.

There's so many times when you have people around you that say they care about you, and you're around strangers all the time, 24-7. It really would help to have another man that says, I'm here for you, brother, especially someone with a close family tie. I'm going to tie this to, there's a book called Raising a Modern Day Night. It's on the focus on the family reading list, and it's all about modern day manhood. One of the things it talks about in there is ceremonies, the significance of ceremonies. If you are able to give him something to take with him, a physical object, or at least a statement like that, he'll carry it all the way through his service.

Rather, it's one year, four years, 20 years, no matter what. What a good word. Wow, man. I don't can't write as fast as you talk, Timothy.

I wrote the name of this book down, Raising a Modern Day Night. Thank you, Timothy. Wow. Be available. Say, hey, you can call me anytime if you get stuck. I love that.

What a good word. More of your advice. We'll get Clay back on. I got some family members that have weighed in. I'm going to read their message right from my phone to your ears through this show, Truth Talk Live. If you want to phone in, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884.

More coming up. Hang on. Having way too much more fun than any Christian radio talk show host should be allowed to have, and I'm getting through my day today on this Free For All Friday edition of Truth Talk Live. Getting your advice on what to say to my nephew. I'm with him for 24 hours. Well, Stu, what's going on?

What's at stake? Well, he shifts off to the Army in 72 hours. He's gone.

He's out. Basic training, all the stuff they do, getting ready and all that. So I want to get real here with you, and you have been so gracious. Timothy, a 10-year Marine.

Wow. Doug, whose family served a lot of military. Clay, who's called back in, who's a bad connection. We're gonna hear from him. Eric, a Marine. I mean, all these callers are calling in and giving some great advice.

866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Love to hear from my mom out there who sent her kid off to military service. Love to hear your wisdom on what I share with my nephew before he goes to the Army, and I want to give a big shout out to our friends at VineTastic. This is a drink. I will not just drink just anything on the air.

Listen to this right here. I'm drinking this drink on the air. Grayson's got FOMO in there. He's our wonderful producer today.

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And so getting me through on Friday, I got to figure out how to get some of this to my nephew. Somehow, I don't know how, if I can ship it to him at Basic or whatnot, but our friends at, you've heard a little Blue Water, and our friends at Mighty Muscadine, they have come up with a drink that's not based on fluff or a bunch of, you know, sizzle, but based on science. The science of the vine, the muscadine grape, loaded with antioxidants. They put it all in this power packet, all in this one little delicious, I've got the pineapple mango. There's two flavors, and they're just full of stuff that I can't even pronounce. Quercetin, antioxidants, ellagic acid, all kinds of stuff. So thank you to Mighty Muscadine and Le Blue for vine-tastic. More information is at their website, mightymuscadine.com.

They love to hear from Truth Talk Live listeners. Order a case, a couple cases, mention the promo code TRUTH for a special discount for your support of the ministry and for your getting this stuff, and your body will thank you. And your kids, get them off the diet drinks, there's all kinds of garbage in the, you know, you don't even want to know what's in those diet drinks, okay? You have no sugar, but what do you put in your body?

This has none of that stuff, all natural sweetener and no calories, no carbs, no sugar. Vine-tastic. Thank you, vine-tastic, for partnering with us here on Truth Talk Live. So grateful for you on this Free for All Friday, and grateful for the calls. We're going to go to the lines.

I'm going to give the number. If you want to call in, please give me advice on what to say to my nephew. I got 24 hours with this kid, and then he goes to the army in three days. He's gone. What do I say to him? I'm talking from the moment that he comes over for dinner, hopefully tonight, if we can kind of pin him down, he's running around like crazy, kind of getting his stuff together, to the moment I take him to the airport in 24 hours from now and drop him off. Love your advice.

866-348-7884. What would you say to a family member about the Lord? What's important? Your priorities kind of change. Things ratchet up a little bit when your flesh and blood is shipping off. My dad served in the army, didn't fight in a conflict, but there's something that happens in that moment you enlist.

There's a lot of growing up that happens. So those of you who've been there and done that love to hear from you, those of you who have been in a situation, or what advice do you wish someone had given you when you were making a pretty big life transition, which is coming at us fast right here, right now. 866-348-7884. If you'd like to weigh in on our live show, Truth Talk Live, I'm Stu Epperson, and we're going to go to Clay. I think we were able to get him back on, and I think the signal's better. Clay, let's try this out.

Jump on in, Clay. We got your other comments. Very helpful about enjoy every moment.

It's a little bit different than it was back then. Finish your thought, sir. Well, two things that I learned when I was in the United States Air Force, four years, was honor and respect. But when you're with him, you're spending that time with him, just remember that you enjoy each moment that you have with him. Share with him to never doubt or question what's going on, because I don't know if you remember the old saying, with a tough get going, the going gets up. So he's going to learn quite a bit about this, and it's not going to be easy going through basic training. I'm not sure what field he's going in, but each moment that he has going into United States Army. We played pretend war with those guys several times when I was in. We played that.

We did that down at Fort Bragg. But anyway, the most important thing is to just share with him, to encourage him, to let him know that he has people, family and friends, that are on his side. To be there in spirit. You're not going to be there in person, but any time, open up that door and let him know that you're there for him. And just share with him to say, I am with you. I like that. That's very good, very good.

So yeah, you're not alone. You got friends that love you that care for you. Clay, what a good word. Thank you for your service, for your phone call. Let's go to Vin, calling us from Charlotte, North Carolina, 105.7 FM. Vin, you're on Truth Talk Live with Stu, Truth Talk Live with Stu, giving me advice on what to say. I got a little, just a little bit of time with my nephew.

He's before he ships off to the Army this weekend, like tonight and tomorrow. What do I say to him, Vin, in these final moments? Jump on in. Yes sir, can you hear me? Loud and clear.

Hello? Okay, yes sir. Basically, I can tell you is that if he's born again in Jesus Christ, that no matter what happens, God has his back. And never forsake the Lord. Stay with him. This guy's going to be paired with people he's never met before. Then of course, he's going to be told to take orders, and he's going to be yelled at possibly, you know, because of basic training boot camp.

Yeah. He's going to see things he has not seen before in a civilian life. We have a lot of things going on out there in the world, a lot of situations where we have wars, and the threat of war. So he could be deployed anywhere. Just tell him to obey orders, but never give up on God. Always keep in mind that God has your back.

I like that. Because it is, this is not a game. Military is not a game. And we know that you could end up dead or injured or whatever, just as we just had three servicemen come back from the Middle East that were killed in that drone attack in Jordan, I think it was in Jordan.

Yes. Yeah, so it's not a game. Do what the drill instructors tell you to do. Don't play games in boot camp.

And even after that, it's not a game. He's going to be a man, and he'll do well and pray that he's paired with some good people, but young men and women that are doing the same things that he's doing as far as in boot camp, wherever he's doing, but he has to obey orders. That's really good.

Chain of command. And I tell you, and let him know that you all will pray for him and that you will stay in contact with him no matter what. Okay.

Yeah, that's a good word. Thank you. I sure will. And I like that. I love that. Vin, I love that statement. God has your back. I mean, that's something that we say things like that, but man, when you're, you know, we're not, he's not shipping off to some pharmaceutical job and I'm not knocking that career or, or, you know, he's not going off to law school or he's not going off to, you know, to, to do a paper route or to take on a sales job and, you know, somewhere he's going to the army.

I mean, this is game on. And like several callers said, this is not pretend, this is real. And so your words mean a lot, Vin. I want to hear from you.

What are your words? What, what advice would you give? You just joined us getting advice.

You're doling out advice to this host today. Cause I got 24 hours. That's it with my nephew, the clock's ticking. And then in about 72 hours, he ships off to the army. So this is our last time with him this weekend. He flew into town to see some other folks. We're trying to get them to the house. So that may be that 24 hours is kind of like shrinking.

That may be like 18 hours, honestly. What do I say to him in these final moments to make a lasting impact? What advice would you want to hear? What Christian advice should I give him as an uncle that loves the Lord, that loves him?

So what are your thoughts? 866-344-TRUTH. Weigh in at that number right now. Just have a little bit of time left on this program.

866-348-7884. I got some comments from family I'm going to read in a second, but first I got to go to Tennessee and listen to Jason. You are on Truth Talk Live, my friend. Jump on in here. Yes, hello.

How are you doing? Hey, fantastic. Thanks for calling in. So I'm going to be the voice of defense. I would like to applaud your nephew for his desire to serve, not knowing if he's a born-again Christian, if he's a believer in Jesus. He is a professing believer. He is a professing believer. Okay. It doesn't mean he doesn't struggle, you know, and that doesn't mean that there's not going to be a lot of temptations ahead of him, but go on, go ahead, Jason. Thank you.

Yeah, well, we all struggle because we've not reached perfection yet. What I would like to put out there is that, you know, our young men and our young women in our churches and our families in America, most of them have a desire to serve. I would say that we've not done a good job of disciplining our children, because our service should foremost be an army of God. The Scripture is clear that when we are born again, we are taken out of the army of darkness, and we are adopted into the army of the Son.

Yeah. And our business, like Christ said, should be about the Father's work, and the Father's work is not going off to war in another country, serving bankers' needs and big money and the military industry. Our business is about getting souls saved. Okay, wow.

We need to focus on getting our sons and daughters into the ministry, into seminary, and into work that is wholly dedicated to what's most important. Okay, hey, we got to take a break. Jason, thank you for your call. Wow, what about his thoughts? What do you think, folks? 86634 truth. One more segment, one more bits of advice from you. Please phone in on Truth Talk Live. Don't touch that dial. Okay, it's crazy.

It's nuts. I'm living my life out on this radio show, literally texting my family, trying to coordinate. I FaceTimed my nephew during the break.

He didn't take it. I mean, this new generation. What do we do, folks?

I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk Live. It's free for all Friday, talking about whatever you want to talk about. But right now, what's hot on my mind is my final minutes, my final time, which is narrowing rapidly with my nephew. He's leaving for the Army in literally three days, 72 hours. He's gone to the Army.

And he's here in town in North Carolina just for a few more minutes, literally. And don't even know if we can triangulate dinner tonight with him. But we're trying to work that out and maybe play some ball. I got a banged up calf. I don't know how much good I'm going to be, but I can maybe hit the three, just stand behind the line. I don't know. But what advice would you give him?

What advice would you give me to give him? Supposing he's not listening, but I am. Grayson, you can be my witness. Look at those notes.

I've got it crammed in on my Friday right there on my calendar. I've written everything you've said down, and I'll read those back to you. But call in and give me some advice on what to say to my nephew. We just have a few minutes left in the show. I will take every call that comes in, and I won't cut you off. And I really appreciate Jason who called in from Tennessee, took a little different perspective. The number is 866-34-TRUTH. It's toll-free, 866-348-7884. This is a live national call-in show.

You don't have to use your real name if you're a little bit embarrassed or you're shy, whatever. But I am asking for a friend today, preferably a Christian friend or someone who's been there, been through this, and who's had, maybe been in the military, maybe haven't, but you have some thoughts, some insights on what I should say in these final moments I get to spend, which I'm excited about. I'm very excited about seeing my nephew, hanging out with him, and talking to him about his next journey, which is the army, which is game on. He leaves for basic, literally, in three days.

I got 24 hours. What do I say to him? What would you say to your nephew if you only had a little bit of time left? 866-348-7884. That's the toll-free number nationwide. 866-34-TRUTH. Now I have another nephew who has some military experience, and he's listening right now, and thank you for your service, bud.

I'm proud of you, and he's a real inspiration to our whole family. He says this. Now I'm going to give you this, and I got some folks trying to get in. Let me give the number for you if you want to weigh in.

866-34-TRUTH. Hang on. Let me read this real quick. He says this. Don't allow people to peer pressure you.

That's a good one. Do everything with excellence. People will see your character when you always give 100% when it counts during training evolutions, when it doesn't count, even on your off time. That's a lot of off time, you know, a lot of idle time. What do you do during that time?

How do you redeem that time? It can be dark, so seek good Christian brothers and sisters to surround yourself with. How about that advice? Now that's a couple of you have said something along those lines. Finding Christian brothers.

I mean, does that not make a difference? Don't parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents pray that their youngsters will find godly peers? I mean, where am I today if it weren't for godly friends who took an interest in me, who God put me with in the locker room, on the court, off the court, in my, you know, in my time playing ball and coming through school that really discipled me. Thank God for those friends.

Many of them are listening right now to this show. I love it. Understand this is just for a season. It won't last forever. Be prepared to grow in your patience and your character. Study army history. Know your chain of command in the big army, in the big army, you know, capital B.I.G. army and at your unit. Be professional.

This doesn't mean in a way that you look and present yourself, but also in doing your job well and knowing the technical stuff inside out. Now see, that's someone that's been there. That would be from one of his cousins, who's also my nephew, who contributed to our wonderful group text. Hello, by the way, to my family, Diep Squad, that are listening on our Truth Network app for some of them and don't live in an actual market where they can hear, but I can shout out to my sweet niece, Karenna in Raleigh, 105.7 FM, and Olivia in Greensboro, 97.7 FM. A little bit of heaven on 97.7, and all of my other family, little cubs listening too in this area, Christiana, and so many other family members that are also going to hopefully be hanging out with this nephew if we can connect. I got 24 hours with him and I want to give him some good advice. I want to give him some good uncle time. I want to encourage him in the Lord.

What do I say to him? Call me now and tell me at 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Now what we'll do with this program is, with all your calls and all the comments and all the great contributions, and I'm really spoiled. I'm thinking out during the break, Grace, and how spoiled are we to have such amazing, austere listeners who care enough to call? They're talking to me like they're family, and they are. In the body of Christ, we're one in Christ. We're going to be spending eternity together. We're all on a journey, and you come to these moments in life that are really moments where graduations are like that.

You've got a little bit of time. You're all together. It's kind of like we're all here. There we are right there, but then suddenly the funeral's over and everyone disperses, or the wedding's over.

You're like, you know, I might not ever see those people again. And so Paul, in chapter five of Ephesians, just gives some brilliant advice. I want to read it to you. He talks about the darkness and the light. He talks about a whole lot of things, and it's that wonderful passage on being filled with the Spirit.

As many of you remember, if you could pull up your knowledge of the Bible as you're driving around, don't try to do that while you're driving. Don't want to have any wrecks out there, but Paul opens the whole chapter of Ephesians, chapter five. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. That's the beauty of the Gospel, by the way. He says, walk in love. That's the imperative, but then he gives the indicative as Christ has loved us. Why?

Because we can't walk in love. You can't do that. You can't live the Christian life, but guess what? Jesus Christ did, and he can, and it's his works that save you. It's his union with Christ that perfects you, that grows you. He's offered the sacrifice to God that you couldn't offer, and God accepted his sacrifice. God does not accept your good works.

He does not accept your efforts. They stink like filthy rags, according to the prophet Jeremiah, but Christ's sacrifice was offered. The only works you're saved by are the works of Jesus, right? And so Paul gives this great admonition in Ephesians, chapter five. I want my nephew to read Ephesians, chapter five. I want him to read verse three, but fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, don't let it be named among you. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting. You think that happens in the army?

You know dirty jokes. You just throw right in, just, you know, drop the f-bombs with everyone else and talk about women like you shouldn't, but rather, this is the contrast of this bad jesting, the giving of thanks. I love that. Verse four of Ephesians, chapter five. Have a thankful heart. Thank you, Lord, I'm here.

Thank you that you saved me. Thank you that I don't have to talk that way, not to look down my nose on those guys, but that I'm here to not be a mission field, but to be a missionary, because you're only one of two. Here's your buddy JD, pastor of the Summit Church, says it all the time, you're either a mission field or a missionary.

Which one are you? But know this, that no one, no whoremonger, unclean person, covetous person, idolater has any inheritance in the King of God. And then he goes on and on. I mean, this goes on, but he says, but you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

What a great statement. Be who you are in Christ. Recognize who you are. Your identity is not defined by the Army or the Navy or the Marines or the Air Force or by your job or by your medical career or by even by being a pastor. That doesn't define your identity, friend, or being a teacher. Your identity is you are light in the Lord.

Walk out what he has worked in. Isn't that beautiful? For the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit that comes out is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

And this is where it gets really cool. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, nephew, but rather rebuke them.

For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Wow. And then he goes on to talk about how Christ has given you light. Awake thou that sleepest. And he says, don't walk as fools, but be wise. And here's the great verse. And this is what I want you to pray for me this weekend.

And you know what? You may not have a nephew going to the army in 72 hours. You may not only have 24 hours with him. You may be going home from a long day's work, a long week, walking in hungry or going to a game or watching something, but this is a verse for all of us. Verse 16 of Ephesians 5, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So every moment of every day. So this time, pray for me.

I'll pray for you with my nephew. I want to redeem every minute of it. I want to engage him on what's really important. Talk about fun stuff.

Of course, I want to find out about basic. I'm intrigued by what he's going to go through in the season of his life. These next few weeks really intrigues me, fascinates me. I'm very ignorant, as you can tell by the show today and the callers that called in. But I want to learn from him.

What's he going to be involved in? I want to take an interest in him, but I want to redeem the time. I want to get from the natural.

This is the goal of every conversation, by the way. You get from the natural, Jesus, Allah, this is water. I'm thirsty, to the supernatural.

I am the water of life. So how can I redeem the time? Because the days are evil. Don't be unwise, but understand what the will of God is. God's will is everything.

How can I provoke him? How can I encourage him to find himself grounded and centered in the will of God? Which means not being controlled by anything else like wine. Don't be drunk with wine.

Don't let anything control you. We're in his excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Be dominated by, be controlled by, the Holy Spirit of God, whose body your temple is. So, your body is his temple, be controlled by the Spirit, and out of that comes Thanksgiving and psalms and hymns and worship. So I'm going to thank Paul, the Apostle Paul, for being our final caller today, and I'm glad I opened Ephesians 5, and I'm sorry I couldn't get to all the calls that are packing the airwaves right now. We can never get to all the calls, but that's what we love about the show, that's what we love about our team, Grace and Nick, and all the wonderful people, DJ and everybody, that Carmen, Christian, that helps us put this show on the air. So my nephew, I love you, I'm praying for you, I can't wait to hang out with you for the next 24 hours, and I'm thankful for the massive amount of prayers going up for you right now, and we'll pray right now. Lord, guide and help us to redeem our time with him and give us a great weekend, and go ahead of him and use this season's life to grow him and to be a great man of God, a great missionary for you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen, and thank you for all of our callers, Lord, as well. Bless all of them.