Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1099 | Uncle Si & Martin Tearfully Reflect on Phil’s Eternal Impact

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

Uncle Si, Martin, Zach, and Jill rejoice through tears as they remember the man who forever changed their lives—and the lives of millions more. They reflect on Phil’s contagious awe for God’s creation, his bold faith that turned boys into God-fearing men, and the ripple effect of his legacy that will echo for generations. Si shares the moment he knew Phil had gone home, while Martin recalls his first life-changing Bible study with Phil. Together, they celebrate not just the man they loved, but the eternal hope he lived and preached: the resurrection of Jesus and those who follow Him. In this episode: Hebrews 13, verse 7 —  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? We came unarmed. This is beauty of the beast. There's the beauty and I'm the beast. I like the seating arrangement. You like it? You're easy on the eye, darling.

Oh, you're so sweet. Yeah, welcome back to the Unashamed podcast. As you can tell, we have a little bit of a different group here today. we brought the other podcast in, which we were talking about the jokes before. You said, I don't joke on this spot. What did you say? Yeah, I said, well, we can't laugh in here.

It's got to be serious. Yeah, we got to be serious. We were telling jokes and carrying all, because, man, it is a tough day. Yeah. We even preloaded. We brought those, even though Phil said, don't cry. We're going to cry.

I've already cried once this morning. Let's do it again. Let's try to run out. Let's get dehydrated. but yeah man the boss is the boss is home man so what a life yeah so we're the guys will be back at the end of the week but we wanted to get on here and tell you guys that we love you and thank you for all your your prayers and i mean both from the duck car room and unashamed podcast about if you're watching if you're watching that was martin we get martin and my uncle sigh here

yeah and by the way you know you got you got to understand when you're you're you go to the throne room of God and mention our name. Mm-hmm. It is appreciate it. Amen. Okay. I always said, we need the prayers and they need the practice, right? I need, I need, I need to support.

Yeah. I need to support. Well, we felt it. I mean, the response has been overwhelming. So we're here. I just pulled into town late last night. Jill and I did. Jill, welcome to the podcast as well.

Before we started, Cy said this looks like beauty and the beast. And I'm assuming you were the beast. Yeah. And Jill is the beauty. Because I ain't no beauty. I don't know, that's. I've always told everybody when we see our picture.

I said, you've told me that, you know, him boys been hooked with an ugly stick. Very often. Oh, man. I will say, though, I would have had, I would have had Cy wearing the Dickey's jumpsuit over Jim. So I would probably look good in a jumpsuit. Jill walks in a martin. This is actually a lot. Two-piece Dickies.

I know. I didn't know they made that. What did you say when you walked east? I didn't know Dickies made anything like that. And certainly didn't know they made a two-piece. Yeah, I thought all Dickies. It's got to be real comfortable. It looks like it's just.

Are you comfortable, Jill? I'm very comfortable. Yeah, it is. I had a boss that my first job outside of everything was landscaping. Landscaping mowing grass, firebeds, all the things. And he wore a light blue Dickies jumpsuit every day. To mow grass work in the flower busy. He's like, hey, man, it's the easiest thing ever.

So then I had to go buy one. And I was like, I get it. Like, then I was like, but I'm 15. So I can't, this isn't it. But when I get to 60, we're going, we're going full of 16. No. It looks right. But you let me get to 60?

Would you wear one, Si? Did you wear a Dickie's? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I would wear one. Yeah, we did get side of that. That'd be tough on him. He pees too much. That's a hard thing, that's a, that's a hard thing.

That's a hard thing to get it. He says that prostate's like an old leather bag right now. I wouldn't become it when I ain't go to. No, it'd be nice. Oh, Lord. There's been a lot of laughing in the last few days, but there's been a lot of crying, too. We did the best. Yeah, but here's the thing.

The laughter and the crying, okay, is not peers of your sadness. Yeah. Okay. This is celebration. time. Okay. He's done, done his stay on this earth.

Yeah. Okay. And this place is wicked and it seems to be getting wicketer. Yeah. Okay. But that's probably just me thinking, you know, out loud. But I just always, you know, go to the prodigal son. Yeah.

When is this human race going to come to it since it? Mm-hmm. And turn to the Almighty and try it. his way. Yeah. You know. But really two commandments. Love him with everything you got.

And then, hey, come back down and then, you know, horizontally. No, is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Horizontally didn't love your neighbor. He used to big words. Vertically and horizontal. And feel used to say this.

If we could just pull them two off, we would be pretty on a pretty solid foundation. Yeah. Yeah. If we could just get them to start it. Well, he was, he was an icon for sure. When you found, so you said, before we started the podcast, you said that you had a feeling. You woke up someday. Oh, yeah.

No, no, like I do before the phone call came. Yeah. Okay, because when I got up, you know, I just felt totally alone. And that's not true. I'm never alone. Mm-hmm. Because Jay's preached the sermon the other day. The Father's for you.

sons with you and the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. Yeah. So I'm not ever alone. I know, but I felt total loneliness. Mm-hmm. You know, and then all the way to church, you know, I sit down in the pew

and they start preaching. Just, you know, it was a, quote a movie thing, okay, there's been a huge major disturbances in the force. Something ain't right. And I don't feel right, and I'm not, you know. So then Philip called and said, hey, look, Phil passed away at 5 o'clock.

Yeah. I said, well, I already knew. I'd already felt it. And I said, like I said, I told you I'd been praying. Lord, he's ready. Yeah, call him home. Yeah. We were all praying for that.

Amen. I mean, I've been selfishly praying for his will to be done, right? Yeah. Because Phil wasn't Phil. Well, his quality of life was not fair. Yeah. Okay. He heard his back doing something he shouldn't have been doing.

He should have let it younger men. But that's my brother. He is doing it himself. And to be fair, if we all had our wish for Phil, right, he would have either gone out chasing ducks or sharing the gospel. Yeah. Right? And I can tell you this, he went down swinging on sharing that gospel even where he was.

Yeah. Because I had moles on the inside. They would tell me, you know, when y'all leave, he walks around with his Bible, right? And just goes and sits, he walks around with his Bible and goes in studies in the place at which they were. And I said, oh, so he's just miserable while we're there. I got you. Like, okay. So even in where he was, he found ministry.

Right? And so that is typical field. but for him to not be on his land, to not be doing whatever he wanted to do, there was mercy involved. And thank God for it, right? Well, he couldn't go out in creation. Yeah.

And that was one thing that I told, Al and Jace, I said, y'all need to just go pick him up and take him out on the land. I was telling him, really. Willie said, hey, look, we would do that, but then we got a fight to get him back in. And I said, I didn't think about that. I said, but I know that, you know, he's going stir crazy.

I said, this is a man that's been his life in God's creation. And I said, for him not to be able to do that, he's going to lose his mind. And I said, and I didn't think about it. Well, hey, because when I went to visit him, first thing he said, he said, hey, get you a truck to go to your house. Get me out of it. I love that. Get me out of here. You know,

I feel about this. I'm tall because I can't help you, brother. No, he won it out there. Yeah. What are you going to say?

I was going to say one of the things I thought was so cool when we got to visit with them. We actually, your sister and I had a beautiful visit with Phil and Kay probably a couple months ago, about a month and a half ago.

And we were up there. And, you know, Phil always drew a crowd. People were all, he always had people following. him, whether he realized it or not. And even there in the home they were at, there was a little man that just was a resident there. He had a sidekick.

He just followed it around. He lost his name sidekick. Jason had to replace it. I said, well, how is Phil doing? He said, well, fine, except for one old boy that's just, you know, he's like a leech. Yeah. Everywhere in field goes, Phil. I'm going, hey, who is this crazy?

You know, you said he was the main character. It's always been, no, no, no. Because, you know, I was telling Martin him, I said, well, it's, it's, I don't, I'm kind of just out of my, you know, I don't even know how to word it. Yeah. I don't feel good. You know, something's missing. I said, I'll use, you know, Western. I said, you got Gene Archer and then you got Frog Millhouse, it's sidekick.

I said, that's being filled. Yeah. You know, he said, hey, no, you're butch, your sundowns. That's it. Bill's, you know, Butch-Catsy, your sundowns, yeah. Well, you got to be the kid, right? You got to be the kid. And you were always okay with that.

Well, no, no, because, you know, because y'all and then, Chris Stain was telling me, she said, well, I feel real sorry for Kay right now. And I said, well, Kay's doing all right. She said, yeah, but you don't, I said, I know what you're saying. I said, hey, you know, we've been together since she was 13 years old for crying out loud. And I said, when they went on their first date, guess who was in the back feet? Yours truly. You were there.

We caught that in the movie, by the way. No, no, yeah. Because your mom said, hey, thank you, brother. I said, I might have hated me in a way because all he ever was doing it. He said, thank you, brother. Yeah. Oh, mama, I'm going on a date for crying out loud. Thank you, brother.

Thank you, brother. Hey, we use that trick with our boys, don't was that. But it's just, y'all, and I look back, you know. So, you know, none of the other family members, you know, affected. Yeah. I guess it's because, you know, we're so close. Ann was hard. Because when I went and visited her over there,

I literally, I believe, with all my heart, the devil was portioned her while I was there visiting. because she was sitting there and she'd be fine, be talking and then just, and I said, if I could get my hands on him and had the power,

I'd kill the devil. I said, he'd be gone. I said, because I was watching him torture my sister because of what she stood for. And I said, I always, you know, I tell everybody, Dan Robertson was the only one

that didn't give up on Phil when he was running with the devil. He said, y'all have no idea how many people he's going to bring to Jesus. And she was right. Yeah. She said, you ought to be ashamed to yourself. That's your brother.

He's blood kin. I got that picture. Look at this picture up here. It might like them made me cry a while to go looking at that. Look at that. While Phil may have been the main. That is a powerhouse. Them are the two people.

Okay, that brought him to Jesus. That's what I was going to say. Why, Phil may have been the main character. There's your two producers right there. That's right. The director was the Almighty. There's your two lead, there's your two executive producers right there of Phil's main character.

Because Dan Robertson would not get off of Bill Smith back. You kept going back to him saying, hey, take him to the bar, take you've got to go preach the gospel to Phil Robertson. that's all the reason he finally ended up in the bar i'm telling you she wouldn't he wasn't he wasn't going to get off of it and she always said that if he came to know the lord that he would share with hundreds or maybe even thousands but zach what did ben our brother-in-law was oh he so ben my brother-in-law he ran it through chat gpt how many people how many people did phil robertson or how many people heard the gospel or heard of

Jesus through Phil Robertson. Oh, God. And it does the calculations. And it was like, I want to say it was like 40 million people. And it cited the podcast, cited the show, Duck Dynasty, cited all the sermons. You know, I'm going to even say that that's low. I think it's low. I mean, I think it's low.

And I think that number's only going to grow. Even in the state of which we're in. Yeah. Like, I've read a lot of this and you start talking about Phil's ripple effect. And we're not even to the ripples yet. No, no, no. Phil Robertson still got a tidal wave right now. We're still in the first little, the big part of the splash.

We ain't even crested yet to get to the ripple because the ripple is going to extend through my children, through y'all's children, through, and thankful for the world in which we live in for like Duck Dynasty Fast channels. There's a whole crop of children that this thing, because what's crazy is ultimately your mom. and Bill. Yeah. Unbelievable. Which is crazy for me being your wife.

When I look at that picture, you know, they have, there are a lot of the reason that you're the faithful man, but you are, and I had no idea, had I met you two years earlier, we would have never worked.

Had I met Zach two years before I did, he was living in the world, chasing the things of the world, and I wouldn't have had it. And he was just doing God's work going into Alabama getting a roll-touching. You know what I'm saying?

He had to go rescue the loss too, you know? I'm sorry, that's just. But I think about Phil what he did for Zach when he's, you know, so many times we say to our kids, we say things like, be your own self, be who you are.

But I think that's bad advice because what if you don't know who you are? What if you're 16, 17, 17, 8 years old, and you're trying to figure out who you are, and Zach didn't know who he was. That's the problem. That's the problem. None of us know who we are.

Yeah, we don't. And Phil gave Zach an imagination for not only a man that loved the Lord, but was bold in his faith. And I think that changed the trajectory of your life. I thought, I'll be honestly, I mean, I kind of viewed Christianity as a kid as kind of a wimpy thing. You know what I mean? like like like then I'm

but I knew what I was doing I didn't want to live the way I was living and I went on a vacation went to Robertsons and I'm sitting out there on the beach without he invites me to camp Chioka and I went and that's when I really found the Lord but

really sitting under Phil's discipleship I was like oh you can be a real man and still I'll say because like for most people are a real man don't cry. That's bull.

I hope that's a lot of it's bull. You're a human being. I'm a mouse, buddy. You're a human being. Yeah. Sure you cry. You hurt just like anybody else. Like the,

you know, talking about you. Reminds me of when he met Jesus. And the one time, the most important thing he told me. Okay. I'm down there visiting with him. you know on leave

all his rowdy buddies showed up let's go get drunk chase the women you down there with him yeah I'm I'm this is after he's come to know Jesus he he's just he's a babe in Christ yeah you know and when they showed up he said uh

they said hey let's go he says y'all don't understand y'all looking for a dead man you know and I'm sitting there looking and, you know, the story goes on. He said, you're looking for a dead man. I buried that fool.

And what's their response? Oh, no, they're just, they're getting big. He said, you boys go on. He said, y'all don't, you don't know where you're going. You're going to hells where you're going. No, I'm serious. He said, but you're looking for a dead man. I buried him and good rhythms.

Yeah. He said, this is the new me. I'm a new creation. Yeah. And, hey, I don't want. None of, no part with any of you. Get out of here. Well, it's a hard part to think about that.

Like, think back to be a new in Christ. Mm-hmm. You wanted to be bold, but it was so easy to slip back into the old thing. Yeah. Because the old thing was comfortable. Well, don't say because you don't understand. Yeah. At that point.

You don't understand. You've got to, you're new. Jesus talking. When you come out of that water, I've watched you clean the white of snow. and God talking, you're a new creation. The old is gone away. We buried him. That's what's so great about it.

Yeah, we're a new creation, but then here's the catcher. That's your part slipping back. Well, all them people you run with when you was running with the devil, you can't be with him anymore. Yeah. I did the same thing, man. You can't be with him. Actually, you came.

How did you come in to, Because you got, were you working for Duck Commander? Is that how you got into this? Well, so I was, you know, I'll give the short version. Born and raised in church, my grandfather, a preacher at an assembly of God church, a little small one right down, actually right down the road from here. You like me.

I was there, but I really wasn't there. No, I was there, but I was only there to beat all. Because I was the baby cousin, right? So I was there to just beat everybody. Yeah. It was, I knew the verses better. I was faster. I did all. It was a competition-driven environment for me. I got everything but the relationship

of Christ. And then, you know, high school happens. We're not going to list those faults. They're in there. That was before cell phone V.A. They're in there. They're all listed in there. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much you name them, did them. Ended up going to college, going to graduate school, where then you're getting a graduate degree in biology, faith is out. Like you can't. Yeah. Like you,

as much as you want to say, because that's the way God made them, you can't. You've got to be able to explain. Yeah. And what you really do, and now that you look back on it, you're explaining creation.

Not that there's not a creator. You're just explaining how he created it. And so, but that's just, that's looking back on it. So anyway, just living for the world. And I ended up.

working at Tyner Petrus, Tee Outdoors, got invited to, from an employee there, to go to Phil's house church, of all things. And, of course, I knew Phil. I mean, I knew who Phil was, Duck Hunter from Western River, Louisiana, but it's kind of like, he was kind of like this mythical creature. Because you never saw him. I mean, you knew you could find him at Whiteford. You knew you could find him at Wifee Road, but who wants to go to a church and find him? Like, that wasn't really on the top of the list of things to do as a heathen either. So, you know, but ended up down there.

Didn't really know what to expect and walked in. And there was Phil and his recliner with his Bible open and like, come here, sit on down. You know, I was like. He goes straight to the Bible study. Oh, straight into it. And then when we got done, he told me, he said, you got a minute? And I was like, yeah, I got a minute. What's up?

He was like, let's take a ride. I need to go do something over to land real quick. And I was like, Okay. That's the hook. Yeah, he got me because he knew my biology nerd. Like, he knew, like, this boy's in all this. It's like, I was telling them this earlier.

We got to the gate, and, you know, he killed the four-wheeler, and he unlocked the gate. And that's when he knows he's got you. When you get to the gate on his, where else are you going? Yeah. Because you don't, I don't know where I'm at. You don't even know where you're at. I don't know where I'm at. Smartphones, Life 3.6.

65, my friends, none of that is going on. Like, we're still chasing snake on an O'Kee. Like, you know, and so. He had your attention and you just didn't really acknowledge it enough. Yeah. So that's why he took me over there. You got phase two. Yeah.

And when he killed the deal, he said, now, Martin, do you know Jesus? And I was like, like any good heathen. Yeah. I also knew what he was asking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the answer to that was unequivably. know. Like, no, I don't know Jesus. What did you say in the moment? But I said yes.

Of course. I'm like, man, this guy got a 22 rifle. It looked like him. I mean, I don't know if we're starting to make a Netflix documentary or what's going on here. Because Phil kind of cared to tell. And he said that. I'm ready for a gunfight or a Bible study. So you made a good point what I go about that you do about Jesus, but you didn't have a relation. Oh, yeah. That's the biggest problem with people. Absolutely. I could have quoted you half a John at that point.

It's personal. But I didn't know. It's a personal. You've got to have a personal relationship with a Savior. He died for you for crying out loud. You don't get no personal than that. And Phil was good at cutting to the chase on that, which is what he was doing with you. Yeah, he ripped that apart.

And at this point, say, I still didn't work here. So like, I just, but that was my first introduction to the gospel in its simplest form. Yeah. To be fair. That was the one. And that was, he was the first person that shared it with me that it made sense. Because he, he was, he was, we were the same. We were rednecks who loved nature.

Yeah, yeah. Who chased ducks. We were the first, he was the first one on common ground with me, I guess, that, that our minds kind of thought the same way. We ticked over the same thing. What he said meant something to you. And it really started a thought process, but I didn't think that because I went back to work, went back to school, you know, doing all my things.

and then eventually Willie takes over the company while I'm working there, invites me to play golf, and the next thing we know we're playing poker, and we're doing all these things. And then I end up working here. And Jace is actually, I actually, Jace was the one who brought it all home for me

because I just asked Jace one day in a duck call room. Well, I call it a duck call room, but then day it was a metal building right by Philling Kay's house. And it was me, Sy, Sa, Jason, and God went in there. And I just looked at Jace and I said, I need to know more about Jesus, man.

And he said, well, it's about time. And I was like, I was like, what do you mean? What do you mean? What are you going to come? Yeah. I said, well, I appreciate you going to let me burn before you, you know, you shared with him. And he said, no, man, I don't figure it out if I brought it up to you, you'd run. And he said, was I accurate on that?

I said, yeah, I'd have ran. I would have got away from it. Yeah, I'd have thought of anything. I said, but I'm not ready to run. But you were incubating it all the time being around. Well, when you're around these guys, you're around Jace, Cy, Godwin for eight hours. Well, he wasn't in there eight hours, but when he was in there. Were you slacking on the job, Cy?

No, he just napped a lot. He was taking a nap. They never run out of dreams. I can't tell you how many times I walked in a Phil in Kay's house and you were on that blue couch. Jason and all of them got mad with tell Phil, hey, you need to do something about your brother, y'all. They're sleeping. But they didn't. They said, hey, leave me along.

The beauty of it is. Leave them alone. They didn't have to say it. That's what made their relationship with Christ so beautiful, was they didn't have to say it. You saw it. It was lived in action. It was done every time I bowed my head,

because what people don't realize, and I don't know how much y'all have talked about it on here, y'all are like a thousand episodes in. But Phil or Kay and Kay cooked us lunch every day. Every day. Every day. And I mean, you find one. every day.

The only time you didn't get lunch by them, they were out of town speaking somewhere at a beast feast or something. That's why everybody that went to work down there a year later was morbidly obese. Yeah, the Duck Commander 50. Because we didn't understand to not go back. Yeah.

It took a little while. It's high calorie food. Yeah. It's straight butter and carbs. There was no keto to be found down there. No, no, none of that. But it goes down so good. Oh, I'm telling you.

Oh, man. That was the worst thing about moving up here. Was anybody else buying lunches and everything? Honestly, I think you bring up what we learned. So we, you know, we obviously young, we moved to Asheville, North Carolina, which is a little different than Westminster, Louisiana, to say the least. And we started church there on accident in our house.

But what's funny about that is that the embers from what we learned really from K and Phil started a fire in Asheville. And a lot of it's centered around food. It's centered around, open up your home. It's centered around like doing life with people, having people. There's no limit to, I mean, look at how they lived, how Phil lived his life. I mean, he opened up his life. Well, no, no, because that's one of the things Barton said it, okay.

You know, you know, someone can tell you something about something, but that ain't enough. No. Okay, because then next time you see them, They're totally different. Well, no, like he said, we showed it. You know, because there's been so many crazy things happen that, like, you know, a person be converted,

not because of what he heard, but because of what he didn't hear, sound man. He said, what is it with y'all? He said, I seen, you know, Phil hit his thumb hammering something the other day, and all he said, yeah. He said, anybody else would have said a bad, word or something like that. He said, what is it with y'all? Y'all don't do that. And Phil said, well,

you got a couple of hours. He said, you know, after we get through famine, come on back to house. I'll tell you. Famous last word. You don't need your boots. You don't need your boots. Did you guys ever like, I don't know if you ever did this, but I used to bring people down to Phil's house. Like, they'd want to meet your uncle, and I'd always have to give them a speech. Well, let me warn you. Like, I don't care who you are. Baptist preacher. I mean, you are going to get in a Bible study. Like he's going to see, he's going to assume you're, you don't love Jesus. As the guy who handled all the corporate sponsorships and partnerships from when I got

here, every time somebody showed up, I'd be like, I put him inside about it. I need you to listen. I don't care where you stand. And wherever you think you stand, you're going to get this. I said, and I don't care what your answer is. If he says, tell me about Jesus and you tell him everything you know about, you're going get his version of it too. So I just need you to know he's going to have guns and you're going to be a captive

audience. And if that's cool with you, then we'll go. If not, we'll go do something else somewhere else. Bart, when he said to come down there, he's sitting down in his recliner. Yeah. And I always, as soon as I start to say it on the podcast, but then I said, well, you know, you see on when he's in that recliner, there's an M-16 fully loaded with two 30-round clips hanging right there next to it.

It's a little intimidating. Let's be honest. Yeah. He said, hey, I said, here's the deal. We'd rather have a Bible study with you, but if you want a gunfight, we can oblige you on that, too. I said, he's got an M-16 fully loaded in reach and that Bible in reach. I said, he would rather pick that Bible up and tell you about to create. He's like that.

And, I mean, they had several people show up. Oh, they've had some characters show up. Oh, he spent people at the door without the M-16. He's been careful. I'm saying, hey, there's a gate up there. How'd you get in? He said, oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, he said, you climbed old. Phil reminds me of that, uh, I don't know if you've seen that movie.

I think it's called the prophets. It's got Robert DeVall and, uh, Billy Bob Thornton. And so Robert DeVall is the pastor. He's a little bit older guy. Yeah. And so Billy Bob Thornton, he comes up to that church building. He's got it on a bulldozer. He's going to, he's going to tear down the church.

Like, he's angry. He's angry at the church. He's mad. And he's, I'm taking it. And the pastor, who is Robert DeVall's character, he, He goes up in that tractor, and he yanks him off that tractor and just beats the mess out of him. I mean, works him silly. And then the very next scene, he's sitting on the curb, and Billy Bob Thornton's character is all bloody,

and Robert DeValle's got his arm around him. He said, now, son, I love you. Let me talk about Jesus. That's kind of like the film. Be careful. Be careful. He does love you. I think about what Phil did in my life. Obviously, you know, I'm...

You guys have done all the duck hunting with him, and I did a lot more of the business stuff with Phil and the productions and movies and stuff we've done all over the world together. And one thing that you guys are probably testified to this, that I think what he was able to do that he was uniquely gifted in is that when he talked about Jesus, when he talked about the Bible, he did not talk about Christ as an idea somewhere floating out there in the atmosphere. Every time he would talk about Jesus, it was Jesus in real space and in real time. And he just had a way with doing that that I think it brought it home. And he would say something like, he would say something like, you know, I spent 28 years drunk, high, getting laid in that order or something like that. He said, till I ran into the man from Nazareth who lived on planet Earth. You know, but we're telling time by him for crying out of him. But he lived 2,000 years ago.

So he would phrase things where he was, so you hear this. And, you know, coming out of like a, like you said, you grew up kind of religious. You did too, really. I mean, all of grew up that way. But he had a way of communicating that was, it would cut through all of the religious language. And it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. And I think it was affected. I was going to ask you, Cy, was he always had that ability to tell story like that?

No, no. It's always, you know, there's a song, I'm a simple man. Leonard Skinner's. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, that song, He was a simple man, just a country boy. But okay, he was very intelligent. Yeah.

He had a photostatic memory. He could read two chapters. And if he had made it, he could tell you the whole thing. Yeah. Word for word. You know, that's like he never studied in college. He gave a lot of fish away, but, I mean, you know, he got a degree. He bargained.

He bargained his way through college. Being the type of person he was and spending 90% of his lifetime, that's why I always looked at it. It's so crazy that here's a man that spent his entire life out in God's creation. didn't know him for the first 28 years. With that, that was where that came from. It's just so simple, okay? And when, like you said, I heard him speak so much down.

You know, he's talking. It's like Jesus is right there. Yeah. You know, this ain't religion, okay? And I think that's where we messed up as human beings. We took the word religion, okay, and it's not. The definition, they've destroyed the whole that. God's religion is, hey, love me and then love you, you're a neighbor.

And look, hey, I'm going to take care of everything. I'm going to give you everything first class. All you got to do is follow me and try. Are you going to be trials of tribulation? Of course. You're human. Yeah, you're human. Yeah.

Of course you're going to have that. But Phil and I also's got it too. They have a unique way of saying thing that it, you know. It's sticky. You know, people both smoke so badly. Okay. No, no, that's just a good storyteller. Sorry.

Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about yourself in third person again. I'm sorry. If you're listening, Martin was given a passive against a pointing ad. Because Phil was not a Bible story.

But he used to, y'all put a picture up there for Jan and Phil and Bill Smith. Well, he, I loved, I loved how simple Phil really was, okay? Because he asked Bill Smith one time, said Bill. Bill was a scholar. Yeah, yeah, and Bill was a biblical scholar. Yeah. But he asked him, he said, hey, y'all, I'm doing the best I can, but, hey, when did Michael Hites have stopped fighting all this crap?

You know and Bill said, well, how long did you run it and wallowing it? Y'all and Phil says, about 28 and a half years. He said, patience, Joe. You got to have a little patience, okay? Yo, you've got all this junk that you've got to throw that junk out. He said, then here's the key to it. Then replace it with what you find in there. Yeah, I love that.

I love that picture we put up earlier because it, for me, it has like, okay, you're downstream of my mom who, who, and Bill, right? And I mean, then my mom and Bill go into the bar to chase after Phil because my mom had a, I mean, prophetic word, honestly, that he, of what, what this man was capable of in Christ. And then that. And then her son, me, was the one who benefited from, greatly benefited from. No, no, you're not the only one. I mean, it's just a downstream of just.

Well, I told Martin, I said, I'd like to see the scale, just to scale. Yeah. Of all the people, Phil's contacted and had a positive impact on. Well, buddy, I can hand you my phone right now. You can just go through my husband. And the rest of it wouldn't even be there. Well, yeah, my phone. Man, it's just so wild.

Because of Phil's boldness, it's encouraged other people to be bold about what he did for them. And man, my phone has blown up. And I'm so thankful. Like, you know, it's so cool to hear the stories, to read them. The beauty of Phil was that simplicity. Because we can get bogged down. That's a big book, man. We can get bogged down all we want to in it,

and we can worry about different languages and origins and all the thing, but Phil was so dialed in on the message that mattered. On the simple gospel. The simple gospel, the, and it, golly, and he never, never, if he wanted to say it, he didn't say it. As far as my life is concerned, like, and I can't speak to early Phil, but for the past, golly i've been here a while almost 20 years um you know i and i've heard it you know when you're that close to it you hear it so many time you start laughing and like and i sit there i was going

through my phone watching videos of phil thank goodness like the last five years of duck hunting with him when i would go i didn't hunt i sat there and just watch feel yeah and thank thank god for the the moments to just sit there and watch him because i'm never going to get to do that again until To be fair, it's kind of hard to hunt there because every time I've been down there there's two windows you can hunt out of. Yeah, and Jason Field and then there's everybody in the middle

has got a hole like that big. Yeah, which is fine. And that was great. Even as they got more lax and didn't really care about that stuff, I still just was like... Just watching. Even when he was fine, when he was healthy,

I was just, let me watch this man. Like, let me watch him and see what he does. Because I want to be that. for somebody one day. Not to Phil Schell. I don't want to be Phil Robertson. Phil Robertson was Phil Robertson.

But I want to be Justin Martin to somebody someday the way that Phil Robertson was Phil Robertson to me. I love that. You said it once, would you, okay, and all you was doing was okay, you're sitting there enjoying the moment and learning. Okay, and you was talking about when you watched him,

when he was calling it, Doug. Bill never lost the The wonderment Okay, there's a song of ladies Sayings about I hope you Tell her children Never lose your sense of wonder

Yeah Don't never lose your sense of wonder Oh, that look in his eyes Don't ever get so old That you're just not in all Of what you can see Oh, they're my favorite pictures I got so many pictures of him

On my phone of him Just cutting those eyes watching the ducks I mean, those are the things that I remember. When I close my eyes and think of Phil, those are the things. I see him squated in that corner of the duck, but I don't know how that man, even at his age, could squat for hours on end without a seat in the corner of a duck blind

and be fine, just chilling. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to get up. Somebody would I'd say, I'd say, lift me up and crack my bones before I can move. Oh, you're going to have to call flunks to get in. Yeah. I didn't know this about him how ripped he was, but when we started doing this podcast,

I guess I've been working with Phil on production stuff for almost 10 years. It's crazy, but we did a little show called In the Woods, and the, Jill was there for this. She'll remember she was, it got kind of awkward for a moment,

but we built this big bonfire, and then Phil had to, I feel this awesome intro, Phil, like building the fire. And it was like, you know, the fire of the kingdom. And so Phil's like, he has a whole line.

And we felt, it looked amazing. Well, he got so hot he takes his shirt off. And he's like 68 years old. Just like, she feels like taking, whoa. Yeah, and he's ripped. He's over exaggerate. Oh, he's like, he was just like, I was like.

And then she's telling me, why are you ripped like that? That's in your family. Oh, no, no, yeah, he's real. I mean, he was, yeah, he was chiseled even at 68, 70 years old. Oh, no, because I was telling, uh, Bartwater in the podcast when we told me, I said, well, he was high in high school. You know, and I said, I actually tried to tackle him one time. He dropped back.

a pass. And you couldn't do it? And while I hit him, and I said, he weighed about 175. I said, but he was like running into a stupid oak tree. I said, he did this little spin maneuver and then through the past to the bull back going out. You know, picked up by 15 yards. And I said, I was so worried of hurt.

You know, I said, I said, just, y'all, I said, he was so strong. Yeah. When he was fishing, okay, to feed his family. you know i come in to visit with him i'll only i'll always stay at fills out yeah and and he he was like popey the sailor man his forearms were as big as martin's right here and then his his biceps were littler and that was just from hauling yeah pulling fish up in them net that he wore a one-inch groove in solid aluminum with a soft cotton rope.

You know, I said the man was... That's a lot of hauling right there. Yeah. The man was stout. Okay. Unbelievable. I want to read this scripture because I actually thought of it last night,

but when you were talking, Martin, just about watching him and imitating him. And I was thinking about Zach when he was first coming into his boldness of faith. He used to imitate Phil's voice. I mean, he would talk like him and I would say,

he would get the one-in-lawers, he would talk like him and I would be like, you're just sounded just like Phil. But now it's so beautiful to me because there was a whole group of you that talked just like them. We were cronies.

Did he ever drop that little? Oh, all of it. I mean, he can still imitate him better than anyone else. I see it. I mean, it became part of me though. You know what I mean? But I think that the point is,

is when you're, I was an insecure teenager. But I wanted to be a man, and this is something that, well, I want to read the scripture, because this is what you were doing. You say that, then I'll say what I'm going to say. Okay, okay, the tag team. The scripture, I'm sorry, is Hebrews 13, verse 7. It says, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

And I just think of how many boys have become men because they are imitating. That's great. Yeah. Bill. Thanks a lot, Jill. I got to go back to the box. Thanks a lot. Appreciate that. But it's true.

And it's, you know. Roll time, baby. Golly. To what I said at the beginning about telling our kids to be your own person. No, no, no. Find someone that is falling after the Lord like that. Yeah. And if you have to imitate them, imitate them.

imitate them. Yeah. The Lord will grow you into your own person, but man, be a follower of someone who is following so close to Jesus. That's the John Eldridge. That's who said that it was the quote.

I think he said it about masculinity. And wild at heart he said it, you don't just become a masculine man. He said, that has to be bestowed upon you by another man. Well, no, because that was my kids. Yeah.

Okay. You know, we had my daughter's 16th birthday and all of her friends was over to house

and their parents come and said do you really is it okay for our kids to come over here and I said well you better ask another question

do you actually want your kids to come over I said because there's no taboo in this house no subject No subject. No subject.

And I said, hey, and when they ask it, they're not going to get a bunch of bull. I'm going to be blunt and to the point about it. I said, so you may not want your child to be here. Oh, man. You know, and that's one of the things that, you know, like Phil, you know, I told Al, a bunch of boys is, you know, get together, a bunch of boys, they're going to be boys. but when y'all all went got drunk okay and they knew what felt about alcohol

yeah because he had problems with it okay and they knew hey you fit get your butt beat and how old were they? They was like 16 okay they also look at they do they get drunk neighbor comes by and says hey I just was with your boys down at the camp over and they all

you know fired up on liquor Well, Phil says, okay, I appreciate you stopping by and telling me. He goes, y'all, talking about Al comes out. Yes, sir. Yeah, he said, hey, you and everybody else in there, y'all, you got two choices. They all hit the road. They don't ever come back to this house again. Or they come down there and take their butt whooping.

And I told Al, I said, Al, you got some friends. I said, because if I'd have been there with them, I said, hey, Al's been nice doing you. to taking the butt with him? Yeah. I'm gone. So I all took the butt with him now. So I've been a flight risk his whole life. I just told him flat out. I said, hey, look, it's been nice doing you, but hey, I'm gone.

I ain't, that crazy man, bearded man, but whoop me. Because we're talking about a chiseled man at 68. So can you imagine Phil Robertson the early 40s? Oh, no. Just a beat. I wouldn't notice with him. So, hey, they come down there. I was scared of him.

I was a kid. I was very scared of it. As a grown man, I was. Bill had whooped all of them and won. He grabbed him and said, I don't know who you are, but, hey, tell your mama and daddy that I'm the one that whooped your butts for a really drunk. Yeah. Hey, at 30 years old, I'm kidding. At 30 years old, I thought I was about to have to bend over and grab my ankles and take one from him.

And you know what? I was prepared to do it. You know what I wasn't going to do? Run. Yeah. I knew better. or now. You run from a grown man, they get mad at you.

I was like, well, I guess, and it all started with him. It's the old deal, but I know where you live. Yeah, I just, I said, well, I ain't been whooped in a long time, but I guess I'm about to take one here. I thought he was going to line us all up on the tailgate and get every one of us. I love it. You know, I'd tell you what, though, when I think about Phil, yeah, you had that vision of him looking up at the ducks.

When I think about Phil and I close my eyes, I will tell you the word. the one word that pops up in my mind when I think about that man in his life and his legacy and it's the word resurrection. He talked about the resurrection of the dead more than any person I have ever known in my entire life and he believed it to the core. We were on a plane one time. I think I've told this story before. I don't know if y'all have heard it. We're on a plane coming back from South Louisiana. We get up about 25,000 feet in the air and all of a sudden It's just this, I mean, like a shotgun going off. And we didn't know it at the time, but the cabin had depressurized.

And I'm thinking, and then there was this sucking sound. Oh, yeah. And it was very, very scary. And I mean, before we could realize what was going, he grabbed my son Bear, throws him in the seat because he was standing up. And then he looked up at the rest of us and Phil goes, well, boys, it's resurrection time. And I thought, in that moment,

Like his end, like the plane's going down. It feels like, all right, boys, this is what, this is what we, this is what we're doing. And he would say that. The resurrection is looming. He talked about the resurrection of the dead so many times. And so I just want to, I want to, I don't want to end this podcast without us at least acknowledging this, that the body that the body that Phil has left for the moment, he will be reunited with that body. That body, we do believe in a bodily resurrection. Phil preached on it.

He taught it. He lived this entire life on the truth of the physical resurrection of the dead because Christ is raised. And not only that, it will be glorified. Yes. Yes. Okay. That's the thing, because I tell people all the time, I'm big on resurrection too. I said, because, hey, you dummy should need to open your eyes.

Hey, winter's over. Guess what's coming? Spring. I said, oh, you don't believe in dead men raising? I said, hey, you better look at spring coming up, boys. And I said, you better keep your eyes open and be thinking about it. Because I said, hey, it'll do it before you even see it. Oh, I know.

And the flowers everywhere. And the tweaks you have an eye. And I would encourage y'all with that because you think, well, we're sad. I mean, I know I miss Phil already. We've been missing him for a while. This is for us. Selfishly, we're sad. Yeah.

Selfishly, we're saying. Because, hey, you know, he's gone. Like, if you say, why are you not, why are you still laughing? Because we, we have a hope. Yeah. We hold the same faith that they'll help to. And that's in Jesus Christ, who was resurrected from the dead. And one day we do believe that will happen for all of us.

I'll put it this way. Paul Harvey. Okay. Hey, his body, okay, we're going to view it a couple of days here. Say goodbye to him. But, hey, that's his earthly tent. Hey, he ain't there. Okay, I'll tell you about Ecclesiastes, okay?

That earthly tent's going to return to the dust from where it came. But the spirit, that's Phil Robertson. Hey, it's up there with our Almighty were a creator. Okay, because that's what Ecclesiastes says. Yeah. Hey, the spirit returns to God who gave it. And wildly enough Sunday morning. Tom Lowe preached from Acts 3,

basically the same message that the first house church I went to Fields. And, you know, it's awesome. It is. Well, that's why I said, hey, look, when you come down to it, okay, what's the conclusion of this matter? We're disgusting. Okay, hey, the conclusion is, fear God, keep His commandment. Because guess what?

Everything else is a pile of dung. Silver or gold. I do not have. Silver and gold, I have you not. But hey, here, I've got something more important to that that I'll share with you. Okay. And since we're his own resurrection, I'll share it with you. I know the man.

He hung the sun, the moon, the stars. Okay. He also raises dead men. Come on. Okay. because he raised first. Amen. He's first and foremost, okay?

His name is Jesus Christ. He's the Messiah. There's 66 books written about him. When are you going to come to your senses, human race, and say, hey, oh, okay, you're talking about to God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. That's why, hey, I'm never alone. The Father's for you, the Son's with you, and, hey, the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit

indwells you. Okay. Look, that's my team. Okay. That's who I'm going to go with because guess what? He's promised me a mansion,

a robe, and a crown. That's what we're waiting on. And baby, hey, I'm going to take him up on. You're going to look good in that crown.

Oh, no. Tell me. I've already seen you in the road. That's a wrap right there. So I want to thank you guys. We'll be back with Al Jace and we'll unpack everything and kind of let you know how everything's going.

But we're, you know. Hey, this is a celebration. Celebration. Amen. Okay. Phil Robertson is home and at rest with the creator. And whole. Fully whole.

Love it, man. Thank you all. Hey, we don't get to cross that wall. You don't. It's been a nice upgrade. Thank you guys. I can preach too. Unshame ain't the only place.

I thought that in there, boy. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.