Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1357 | Al Robertson Goes to Prison & Finds a Robertson Family Surprise

Episode Date: June 17, 2026

Al, Jase, and Zach reflect on Al’s powerful visit to a Louisiana prison, where hundreds of men gathered to hear the Gospel and a group of fathers prepared for a long-awaited visit with their children. Al talks about following in Phil’s footsteps through prison ministry, the unexpected Robertson cousin he met behind bars, and the hope men can still find when they choose a new future for their families. Jase also shares the wild story of a duck hunter whose run-in with an alligator became the rock-bottom moment that sent him back to God. In this episode: Isaiah 61, verses 1–11; Matthew 5, verses 3–16; Luke 4, verses 18–19; 1 John 4, verses 7–21; Hebrews 3, verse 6; Hebrews 4, verse 16; Hebrews 10, verse 19; Hebrews 10, verse 35; Hebrews 11, verse 1; Hebrews 13, verse 6; Leviticus 2, verse 13; Psalm 37; Ephesians 1, verses 20–23 “Unashamed” Episode 1357 is sponsored by: https://www.bruntworkwear.com/UNASHAMED — Get $10 Off at BRUNT with code UNASHAMED #Bruntpod #sponsored https://unashamedgold.com — Get a free 2026 Gold & Silver Guide and a no obligation consultation! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Chapters 00:00 Al Heads to Prison 09:58 Prison Fatherhood & Second Chances 14:50 Those Crazy Robertson Eyes 19:18 Freedom for Captives & Isaiah’s Promise 24:14 Al’s Prison Message Takes a New Direction 30:05 An Alligator Fight Changes a Man’s Life 34:35 The Source of Love & Confidence 41:40 Salt, Light & the City on a Hill 46:44 Choosing Your Forever Family — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We are waiting for Zach. Zach's gotten to where now, I mean, like, just basic things like when we start showing up on time. Well, my favorite line of the morning was I'm running 10 minutes late. We're starting 10 minutes late. We're starting 10 minutes late. So, you know, 10 minutes. 20 minutes.

Compared to eternity. Maybe he had an eternal mindset. Well, I used to, like, give him a break, like credit because it was like, well, you know, he's running our company that does all our podcast and all that until he came on after his vacation. And he's like, well, I thought y'all were taking off with me. I was like, are you running this or not? I mean, like, we know we have to keep working. I thought you're in charge. I guess not.

If you don't even know when we're working, I don't know. But anyway, well, the Lord's in charge. That's what we're dealing with. So we've got a studio audience here today from Texas, Canada, Texas. So we're working. Two brand new dripping wet Christians, two were baptized yesterday. So welcome. They're not literally wet.

They're not dripping wet. They're dry now. And Evelyn, who wound up knowing who Mia was. What a joy. We crossed past. Yeah. What'd you say? 2018?

Eight years ago. Yeah, yeah. And I got to pray for you. And so, and you're doing quite well. Such a joy. She's doing amazing. She's giving us the double thumbs up. What are you, 12 years old?

Seven? Seven? I always say older because it makes them feel like, oh. She's seven. So we're welcome these guys into Unashamed Studio. But we, they were there yesterday, and they had actually emailed me because we had met at a marriage retreat. I was supposed to be there for the baptism, and somehow that dropped. that dropped through my net.

And so I was whisked away yesterday. I preached and I literally walked off stage, walked outside, got in a car and took off and went to prison. How you wound up in prison? I wound up in prison. They finally got you. They got me. They caught me.

What did you do? I just had to share the Lord, Jays. So they've been after me for a while. Ever since dad crossed over, I don't like tight spaces. I'm very claustrophobic. So I'm not crazy about going into, you know, confined spaces. But I feel like lead that I have to, because dad used to go a lot and speak in prison. And so I feel like I need to go because they asked me.

Well, for our long-time listeners, that was a joke because I have said this many times. I spent two years in prison. I say that all the time. People like, what are you in for? I was like, oh, I went in voluntarily. share Jesus I turned myself in yesterday yeah well it's like I just got asked

to share to on a weekly basis so once a week I would go in there but I was so like you because I thought the first day I went in you know you it's very I mean I know you've seen TV shows and movies watch the dateline whatever they don't open a door until they close a door you're waiting

And that door, when it smashes, you know, makes you jump. But after about the third door I went through, not door, just, you know, meh-hmm. You know, well, I looked around for the guards, and they didn't come through the doorway. They're going. They're like, you're on your own. Good luck, buddy. And that was, that was quite a nerd. So it was really, it was great because, as we both joked when we came in, it was a captive audience.

But it, so there's half the prisoners, 1,200 men in this facility. First of all, to show you how my mind was not working yesterday, I thought I was going to a women's prison in Tallulah. So we get in the car and I'm like, so I just go to Tallulah, right? And they're like, no, we're going to the men's prison in Homer, the opposite direction. This is how awful I was yesterday. So it's been a long weekend. So we go there. There's 1,200 men here.

The warden was telling me this. But only half are able to like do, come to what we were doing yesterday. So half are like in confinement for different reasons. They can't come out of the block. So only 600 people could come and almost 400, that's all that would fit in the room came. So they were very excited to be there. You know, we were late by their standard. You know, they had already been in there a while and they were doing some music.

And then we walk in, they all started cheering, Joe, Jersey Joe. And then I had the McLemore sisters, you know, because they're the ones that do the whole thing. And so we go in there. They're super excited about us being there. So I sit down on the front row. Of course, they got a little section on the front row reserve for us. There's a guy sitting behind me. And so they do a couple of worship songs.

While they're doing that, he leans in to my ear and starts telling me who he is. Turns out he's our cousin. Really? From Vivian. Yeah. Now, I never met him. He's a Robertson. And first, you know, I'm like, okay, yeah, you're my cousin.

But he knows all the right people, you know, all our cousins. And so at the end of the thing, he tells me, he says, he said, what do you think? Because when I got up, I said, well, I wasn't sure I came for a lot of reasons today. Apparently one of my reasons was to meet my cuss. I said, here's my cousin right here. And he's waving at everybody in there all cheering, you know. And he said, what are the odds that I would be sitting on the row right behind you and you're in here?

I said, well, the odds of you sitting right behind me were pretty high because you knew this is where I was going to sit. And you wanted to meet me. And he grinned like, yeah, okay, you got me there. I said, but now the odds of me being here today at meeting you are very low. So it was really, it was, that was great. So we had a whole conversation and I shook his hand. You can't take a picture because there's no phones.

You can't take a phone. So two or three times I was like, let's get a picture. It's not funny. I mean, yeah, I was thinking, yeah, that's the way it is. So you shared Jesus, I guess. Yeah, so Joe got up first. Joe didn't understand. We were riding over there.

and Joe still, you go first and I'll go second. I said, Joe, that's not how this works. I said, this is called headliner and then setup guy. I said, you're the setup guy today. And he's from New Jersey, so. Well, right. I was like, I'm not trying to be like, I said, I'm saying this as humbly as possible, but you're going to go first, and you're only going to go 20 minutes.

So he looks down at me, and he's going. He's going 20 minutes. And he's doing great, but he's going 20 minutes. And I can tell the warden, they're getting a little antsy because, you know, they've promoted me to come. And so he said, there's no clock. He said, can you give me a sign? And I went like this, which would, what would you think?

If you were listening, I'm holding up the peace sign, but also two, which means two minutes. You got two minutes to wrap it up. Well, he goes 10 more minutes. Yeah. And he, so he looks down there finally, and I'm like, I'm getting him the cut sign. He said, okay. And then afterwards, we're riding home.

And I was like, he said, you all have any constructive. criticism and I said, well, one is when I give you the two sign, don't go 10. Don't go 10. That's not times five. And he said, well, I thought, I didn't know what you meant. I thought you meant you'd give me another signal in two minutes when it was time for me to stop. I was like, no, what is it's called collective scene, you know, it's just. Come on, Joe. What that meant. Oh, here's Zach. Zach's arrived. Welcome, Zach to Unashamed podcast. We're so glad you could join us today. Well, I had to go home and get something.

And I walked to work this morning, so I ran down to the house, put on this shirt, ran back. But I caught the tail into that. And yes, two means two minutes. There's no question. If you're walking to work. And you're 10 minutes late, so that works out perfect. You might have to reassess how your life is going if you're walking to a pro. And let me just say something, Jays, when he says this, because I've made that little jump,

it's straight down a hill. It's great walking down to the studio, but that walk back is straight up a hill. I'm talking about a tall hill. The walk to the house is it'll get the calories burning. The walk down is enjoyable. Walk back down here. But I'm back, and I missed the opening. I caught the tail end of the two.

I went to prison. I went to prison yesterday with Jersey Joe, and we spoke there. It turned out great, shared the gospel, and just really kind of. of encouraging them. A lot of these guys are already believers. Obviously, they're there in a setting, in a church setting, but they were very attentive. They were very engaging. It was like a room full of Kurt Livelysses. I mean, they were. Yeah. What's prison you go to? We went to Wade, which is over in Homer, which is the only prison. I didn't realize this.

It's the only state prison in North Louisiana. So they're very full, apparently, because there's a few around the state. And then there's some private, in Louisiana, we have some private prisons that actually one of our buddies owns. But they don't have any other state prisons. But there's a woman warden that's there. It's really interesting. She started in Angola as a counselor and a social worker. And she's worked her way up through the years. And now she's the warden over there.

But she reminded me of Katie, our friend Katie, she's. She's like 4-11, blonde hair, but I mean, full of fire. And it's like, if anybody's going to run the prison, it's going to be her. But she was fantastic, very committed Christian. The good thing about Louisiana, the same with Angola, is they're very open to people like us coming in and shared. And it's done a lot of good with the populace. I mean, it's a way to try to get people obviously out of, not only just out of crime situations, but off of drugs, off of alcohol, better situations. If you're trying to rehab anybody or anything, I think Jesus is the best answer.

It's the best answer. So we're big fans of brunt workwear. Jace, you've got the brunt marron boots. I think you're wearing them today, right? I am. Well, I have put them to the tests. They're looking worn, Jay's. Swamps, firewood, various fires, and metal detecting.

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You work too hard to be stuck in uncomfortable boots that don't actually hold up. So they built something better, boots that are insanely comfortable and built for any job site. For a limited time, our listers, get $10 off at Brunt when you use the code Unashamed to check out. So just head to Brunt Workwear.com. Use the code Unashamed when you're good to go. that's bruntworkware.com, use code unashamed, and after you order, they're going to ask you where you heard about Brunt. Do us a favor and tell them you heard about them right here on this show. And after we spoke to the large group, about 30 men stayed behind because they were getting the opportunity.

And again, this is all merit base. So if you behave yourself in there, you get these opportunities to do things. And so Mindy and Geriana, I was talking about earlier, the two ladies that run this prison ministry, which is amazing what they're doing all around the state. but they're doing a thing with next fathers next week for a father's day deal so these 30 men had been in a position where they earned the right to have a father's day thing next Sunday with their kids at the prison and so we had a little talk with them about fatherhood you know and so and i just talked about that in particular kind of just off top of my head and then the girl shared with them because their dad has been in prison for 30 years you know and mindy's been on the podcast before if you remember her story. But they told about what it means to get to visit your dad in prison.

So it was just very helpful, and they were just attentive because, you know, they're nervous. Some of them hadn't seen their kid in years. And so it was a great moment. So it was a great experience. I was glad to get the opportunity to do it. And it's, like I said,

it's kind of out of my comfort zone, but that's good because sometimes you need to be challenged to do this thing. Why is it out of your comfort zone? Because I don't like confined spaces. Oh, yeah. And I go to a church or something or go to a venue, no problem. And I go in there and it's just, you know, I'm a little bit, you know.

You struggle with claustrophobia? I struggle. I do too. I don't know. Maybe it was something that happened in our calendar. I know I do. I just don't like being where I can't get out of. I got pasted in my two years because it just became.

Well, that, yesterday, once we, I mean, I rolled. I never even, it was fine. But when I got, when I rolled through that gate, I was like, okay, here we go. When Jill and I went to Rome, or Italy, one of the places we went to was Assisi, which is kind of the birthplace of the Franciscan part of the Catholic Church. And so it's like a whole little town, and they've got cathedrals there. You get the very top of the hill, and they've got this old fortress that's probably, I don't know, 1600 years old. And so you're in one side of it, and then there's the wall, like the, it's the protective wall.

And then there's like the other end of it. And it's probably, I mean, I'm probably wrong. I want to say it's like 500 yards, but that's, it may be PTSD is where I'm saying that. But you walk through the wall and it's a tunnel that's probably about six foot tall. So, I mean, maybe five, 11th. I had to, like, scrunch down a little bit. And then the pathway is probably, I'm going to say about like, you can't fit two people down this thing. And so, but it's got windows in it.

So I thought, I could see the windows and the lighting. So I went down in it. But when I got down in it, then I was like, oh, I can't get, I can't turn around and go back because there's people behind me. And so I were trapped. I was trapped. So I just start booking it to the other end thinking, I'll come out the other end. I've been there. So I did.

I get out the other end and then I get out of the tunnel and I realize that the only way back is to go back through the tunnel. And so then I'm thinking, what if other people are coming this way and I'm going this way? And then I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to get out of here. And so I like muster up the strength to do it. And Jill goes first.

And I said, you just got to go through. You can't stop though. Like you cannot stop. I get down in the tunnel. And I mean, I'm probably not seven steps. And Jill's filming it with her iPhone to put on her Instagram page.

Because you're nervous. Or she just. Oh, she's lovely. She's like, what? She's like laughing. I know who the true producer is in your family. That's, because she saw content and she's like, oh, this is going to be good. Oh, then I was getting mad.

And I was like, let me tell you something. There's a switch that could flip at any moment. And if that, if that thing flips, it's not, I'm. Then she's going to see crazy Robertson eyes. That's what's next. I'm like, you, I said, you need to quit doing that. And you just keep, like, and she's laughing. I'm like, it's funny now until the, the.

the switch flips and then I don't know what I'll do. Like I'm and I was, you know, you get there, you feel it coming. Oh, yeah. And you're like, if this thing, I mean, once it goes past this point, then you can't. Then it's freak out. The first time it happened to me was on a van like that. And Maco and looked up at me and he said, I've seen those crazy Robertson eyes before. I knew you were in a panic mode.

I was like, it's like, man. It's all funny until we wind up going to the nut house. That is not so funny. Take a window out. I don't know what I'll run you over. You're my lovely wife, but I don't know what I'll do. You just got to keep moving and quit making fun. I mean, this is not for, we're not making content here.

We're trying to get out of a tunnel. That's the objective. I had the same experience, Zach, when I visited the last time I went to the USS Alabama, I took the grandkids, and there's a submarine behind there, and they want to go down the sub, and I knew better. I just thought this is a bad idea. And as soon as I got down there, and then people started coming in behind me, I did just what you did. I mean, but I just borrowed my way right out of there.

But I had to go the length of the whole sub to get out of the other end because there was a whole bunch of people behind me. But I was like, never again. All these illustrations makes me think of, you know, being born again, new creation, being set free. I've been reading the sermon on the mount so much because we're studying James. And there's so many similarities. So it's weird that I didn't know. you was going to the prison yesterday, but I was reading this last night. This is Isaiah 61.

Of course, he's looking forward to what Jesus is going to do, because you just had all the chapters about the suffering servant. Right. And 51, 52, 53, 54. And it says, 61-1, the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up

the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners. And you could throw in being trapped, Zach, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn

and provide for those who grieve, But just, if I just stop right there and read that sermon on the Mount when he said, Blessed are the poor and spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of him. Blessed of those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. You see these same lines here. In fact, Luke chapter 4 actually quotes that.

it's way closer to what it's saying here. But it goes on to say in verse, at the end of verse three, it says, they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planning of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Verse six, you will be called priest of the Lord. You will be named ministers of God. You will feed on the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of their shame, my people will, will receive a double portion. Instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance. So they will inherit a double portion in their land. An everlasting joy will be theirs. For I the Lord love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness, I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

And you get down to verse 11 and it says, for as the, or let me read verse 10, I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as the bride adorns herself with her jewels,

which makes you think about being married to Jesus, being the bride of Christ. For as the soul makes the sprout come up, and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. And I really thought that's what Jesus was representing in that sermon on the mountain, James is echo. And there's a new creation that's happened. And the best thing someone that's in prison or trapped in a tunnel can realize is there's a way out.

Yeah. There's a new creation that's been launched. noticed that about the soil and the dirt? Because I thought, at the end of the day, we are dirt. That's where we came from. And he's like, yeah, but I'm going to have a new crop of humans. It's just really powerful. That's good. And sobering.

So it's like, that's kind of the meaning for why you go to prison. So I'm sure you guys have noticed by now that inflation is real. If you've been in the grocery store lately, if you bought anything for that matter, prices have skyrocketed over the last several years. And this is one of the things that a lot of people don't think about when they plan for their retirement savings. They don't think about how much money would that actually be worth in 20 years from now. A lot of folks are looking for ways to diversify their savings with real assets like gold and silver. And that's where Freedom Gold USA comes in.

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to be eroded away by inflation? And the money that you put aside, it may not be worth as much in 20 to 30 years. So just think long and hard about diversifying into some assets that really will hold their value in times such as these. And right now, they're offering a free 2026 gold and silver guide and a no obligation consultation. All you got to do is call AAA 411 1845 or visit unashamed gold.com. That's triple 84411 1845 or visit unashamed gold.com. Learn how diversification may help protect your retirement savings. Well, it's interesting you said that, just because so I was I was kind of, so I preached yesterday and it was out, it was the lesson out of 1 John.

And it was really funny because we've done it on the podcast, but we're also preaching that at our church. And so like when I got to my text, which is 4, 7 through 21, which is the section of God is love. Yeah. That was the section for me. But we had spent so much time immersed in it.

Like normally, I'm a process guy, so it takes me a while to process through, to get a sermon together to preach. But I just sat down and I always start out with prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me through what I need to say. And I read the text, and it just, boom, it was just there. Like, all of a sudden, I just started writing. It was just all right there.

But yesterday, so I couldn't decide, I thought, should I just do this sermon again? Because I'd just done it. So I just waited to decide until I got there. I had the notes. Joe did his thing and did well. And I just thought, I got up there. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do. I mean, literally I was like, am I just going to like talk to them, just straight up,

tell them a little bit about my place when God, you know, when I found God and God found me, or do this lesson? So I get up there and I just looked around. I did the old just pause, you know, which is sometimes effective because people are not sure where you're going. But I looked in their faces and they were intent. I mean, they were ready for something. So I just decided to tell them about my moment of when I got to a problem. place where, you know, by my own hand I was there, but where I knew I needed Christ.

Yeah. So I just did my testimony. And I didn't do my lesson, but I had just done it. So it was all there in the love of Christ. But I just remember when I was looking, normally if you see an audience like here at a church or something, you don't really pick out faces as much, maybe one or two here or there. I don't know how you are when you speak. But it's more just like a mass of people as opposed to an individual.

But I was looking yesterday because they were so intent. And I could see in so many faces like they're at that place. They're here. They don't want to be there. They want to go home. You know, they want to get out of here. But they also realize that whatever they did to get in here, there's something wrong in their life. You know what I'm saying?

And even if they found, even if now they're searching for Christ, they still know when they get out, they got to face all the stuff they left. You know, so it's really interesting in that point. And so it's about, why not being sort of a testimony about opportunity? It's an opportunity to do the right thing. And that's kind of where it took me in the process. Well, I think that's his point. Yeah, I think it is too, yeah. When you're broken or trapped and you realize it, you know, I played in a golf tournament this past weekend, which you're like, what's that got to do with anything?

Look, I'm going to tell you the worst, because the way this thing works, you have a partner and you're playing your own ball. Four ball. Yeah, they call it four ball, but you're like, you're doing it together, but you're playing your own shot. And so it's like, I played as well as I can play. I mean, I shot probably, if it was just my ball, maybe three over, which is pretty good. Yeah, because you said your game's been a bit crappy.

Oh, yeah. And he probably shot a couple over. But together, we shot four under. Yeah. That's pretty good Yeah So, but here's my point You know, I was playing pretty good

And I get to 18 And I thought, I'm pretty sure we're going to need a birdie To finish in the top three Which I was right because we finished fourth Which was in the money, which was acceptable But still, I wasn't really sure that You know, making a birdie But you won this tournament last year?

Well, two years ago we played in it And it's taken me a couple months because I don't have any time to practice, but any moment I've had, and I've gotten better. And so we get on 18, and I'm like, I own this hole. I've been hitting the right to left shot all day, smoking my driver, aim right, launched that thing, and I looked and I thought, oh, no. It didn't go left.

It wasn't like I hit it bad. I mean, I'm now, I've left not only the golf course, I'm in the neighborhood. I'm in somebody's flower bed. You're playing like me now. That's been to say. But you know. I've been a few houses over there.

Here's my spiritual application. I've had a few humans before, so it could be worse, Chase. Look, in my spiritual application, my adrenaline's pumping. I'm thinking we got a chance to win this thing. And then it hit me right then at that moment. I'm out. Because, I mean, the best I'm on there now, watcher. It's a long part about the best.

I'm probably going to do is a bogey. That's not going to do any good. So I'm like, it's just a really helpless feeling. So I looked at my buddy. Just imagine how your partner felt. Hey, buddy, you need some water? I'm over there now as a caddy. And it was almost embarrassing as well.

I'm like, you can do it. And look, I'm apologizing. You can do it. I'm apologizing. I'm a pause like, I'm sorry. I just blew it out. But I thought, Then it kind of hit me in that setting about the beatitudes. I thought, this is the place where you're just, you're off the, you're off the, you're out of the game.

Yeah. I am fully reliant on my buddy here, who made a great part, you know, because now I put all this pressure on him also. And I was like, because he was kind of disappointed, he didn't make a birdie, but I was like, I was out of the, I mean, you're solo here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just, but I do think what came from that with my attitude, it was now I was fully, my eyes were open to being thankful, to being sorry for my mistakes. And I think that's kind of what Jesus's point was about your heart.

You kind of realize that, you know, we're just, we're acting in life like we got it all together. So I said all that to say the most powerful thing that happened in this, leading up to this tournament, is we got a practice round, and I didn't have any time, so the time I could do it was not with my partner. So I was like, I'm just going to go by myself and play. Well, I go out there and there was a women's tournament. So I had to wait in line to get a tea time.

I'm by myself. Got to wait for the tournament. So I go when I thought it was my tea time, where there were two guys that were in front of me. And I was like, when's y'all's tea time? I was kind of like, I don't want to be behind two people. And they're like, well, just play with us. I was like, okay, great.

well we start playing and this guy's acting like he knew me which it's not a big deal because I was on a TV show I just you're well now Jay I just assumed but then I thought he had his son there which I thought okay it's good we're playing and we get to about the second hole second third hour I said something spiritual because I thought we let's let's see where they're at forget the golf you know because then it kind of hit me maybe God is going to use this. Orchestrating. And he's like, yeah, I was wondering when you're just going to get around to that.

Well, then that kind of took me back because I mistakenly thought that was conflict. And he said, you know, last time you talked to me, I wasn't in a good place. And I thought, oh, no. I didn't even remember I know this person. And evidently, we've had a Bible study and he didn't get into the details. And he said, but boy, do I have a teacher? testimony now. And he's like, I hate that I didn't come to the Lord back then.

He's like, but I have now. I was like, oh, wow. And the fact that he was saying this in front of his son, I thought, well, this is good. And I said, well, just give me the, you know, give me the, because we're playing golf, it's hard to get into a long story because then you got to hit a shot and you're interrupted. I said, just give me the overall view. He said, well, it all started when I was duck hunting. he said, I knew y'all's family, and I'd heard the message,

and I knew what I was supposed to be doing, but I was out duck hunting, but just, you know, smoking dope, getting drunk, whatever, he went through the long list. I'm just doing my thing. And he said, but I like the lifestyle. That's why I always respected y'all. He's a big duck hunter. He said, I'm duck hunting, shot two wood ducks. I go to cross a beaver run that I've crossed a thousand times to pick up the ducks.

and he said when I went to step in he's like I thought I stepped on a log and he said my feet went out from under me it's like I ran into a brick wall and he had waiters on so his waiters are filling up but he looks up and what he thought was a log was an eight-foot alligator that he stepped on and he said I'm not saying I blacked out but we had a tussle And he said, whatever happened in that tussle? Everybody's worst nightmare, a tussle with an alligator. He showed me a scar on his leg.

He said, whatever happened in that tussle? And he's like, this. But what happened was, too, he was, you know, when your waiters fell up. Oh, you're in capacity. You can't get up. And he's like, during, while I'm underwater, hoping I'm not being eaten because this, he said the scrap only lasted a couple seconds. Because he basically, the alligator didn't attack him.

He attacked the alligator and lost. He just got out of there and whatever he did. But he said, I thought, if I ever get up out of this water, I'm going to go back in and make it right. He immediately started thinking of his helpless situation. And it was just very powerful to me. I thought, man, you know, why do you have to get to that point? And he said, then all of a sudden I'd start opening the book. It was there all along.

But everything was making clear sense, the clarity. So long story to get there, but I thought, who cares about the golf? This was powerful, you know. And it just shows you, you never realize when you plant some seeds along, sometimes they come back. Staples' preferred business membership built for busy business owners, because you've got bigger things to think about. With Staples Preferred, get free delivery.

No minimums. Staples Preferred unlocks up to 3% back. Plus 10% savings on print and exclusive wireless offers. One less thing on your plate. Actually, a lot less. Visit staples.ca slash preferred. That was easy. And you get to literally see the water.

Yeah. well that's exactly what was the heart of my message yesterday and I talked about darkness because what I was telling those guys was look darkness doesn't matter once you once you're in once you start going dark and that's the way you're going to live which we've been talking about this in James then it doesn't have a preference as to anything else it just it just takes over that's what it does that's what evil does when you allow an end and so that was what I was talking to these guys about and about the idea of coming to light. But so, so my sermon yesterday, Jase, was, because you said that, when you said that about

the garden, I made a point, because we talk about a lot on here, I'll give you my, I'll give me my big outline. So it was, obviously it's the God's love passage, and that's what I was asked to speak on. So I talked about the source of love. And I mentioned that Tina Turner said famously, what's love got to do with it? I said, but that's the wrong question. The better question is, what is the source of love? Not what does love have to do with it?

Because it has a lot to do with it. Well, and we have our own definition of love in America. We're all right. Well, you know, I made the point. I've never heard this point made before that you think about love and how it impacts so much your life. I mean, all the things you love, and we've talked about this, the Greeks have multiple words for love. because one word for love is not enough for the things you love.

You love golf, but you love your wife and you love your kids. Yeah, we say that flippantly. I mean, right. I love chicken or I love, well, you know, I love LSU. So there's all these different things, but love means something so different, and yet we use it all the time. But you can read, so anywhere, if God is love, you can, whatever he says, his character, you're seeing what love really looks like.

And my point I made was. that if God is love, and he is the original source of love, and he's community, Zach, and you said this before, like he's communal in the fact that he loves the father, son, the spirit, there's love in between them, and then he made us. Love actually came from extraterrestrial. It came from not earth, not humanity. Or supernatural. Supernatural beyond us, and then was delivered to us by the creator himself.

So you see why it's such a core thing in all of our lives. And so he is that source of love. And that's how I started the sermon. But then as I read through the text, it was really interesting because, you know, John, as we talked about, does this circular, you know, logic. And he's already mentioned all these things. But then so it just laid out for me so beautifully in the text when I went back through and read it. Love was sent. That was the incarnation.

And he says all these things directly in the text. because he said he sent his son. Love was sacrificed. He was the atoning sacrifice. That's in this text as well, as well as 2-2. And in that point, Jay's, I made the point that a decision was made in the garden that then led to another agonizing decision made in another garden

to sacrifice himself. That then led to the resurrection, which was in another garden, which then opened up the garden we now live in. Which we are the garden. We are the restorative. Didn't Paul say that we're God's field? Yeah, exactly.

And so I just thought about that. The mighty oaks I just read. I wish I had that text in my mind because that's a good one. Yeah. It comes out of that same concept. I bet that's where Robeshoe got the name of his foundation. Yeah, Mighty Oaks. I bet it is.

But I loved it because then the same word for garden, and you mentioned this on the podcast, is Paradise, which is what he told of a thief. Oh, yeah. We're going to be in the garden, you know. So as this little part is over with, we're going to want to. It's got to be top ten most fascinating statements. You're literally dying, and you're like, hey, later, I'll meet you in the garden. Yeah.

You're like, I need to look into. And I love what you said. Who would think somebody if you were just standing there watching, you'd think they're crazy. You're dying, dude. There'd be no garden. It's over. So love was sent, love was sacrificed. and then the next point was love is secured,

because he used that point about confidence on the day of judgment in this text. And I went back, and it was so amazing. I had never seen them just lined up before. Hebrews 3-6, Christ is faithful as the son over God's house, and we are his house, if we indeed hold firmly to our confidence. Hebrews 416, let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence. Hebrews 1019, therefore brothers and sisters,

since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 1035, do not throw away your confidence. Hebrews 111, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see. Hebrews 136, so we say with confidence the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. I mean, it was like, do you think the Hebrew writer

is trying to tell us something about? That's what's so fascinating about God's love. You can have a bunch of prisoners locked up for a crime they did. And you think, well, it's over. My life is over. And you go down there, share Jesus. They give their life to Jesus. And they can have confidence in that situation.

Exactly. I mean, when you start comparing it to eternity, what was it? It was just a bump in a road. Yeah. And it's so funny because the girls got up behind us, and they were so good. I mean, Mindy got up and she said. Well, she's a fireball.

Oh, she is. and she said, she told him, she said, look, this is your community now. You're here. You live here. She said, so don't wait until you get outside. She said, you need to start being the hands of feet of Jesus, right here with the people in your cell, whatever. I mean, she just, like, did this challenge to them.

And I thought, man, I never thought about it like that. She's like, this is your community. This is who you are. This is who you are. So don't wait. You literally have a prison ministry. You have it. And I did tell them.

I said, look, if you say I can't do good in prison, I said, half the new Testament was written by a guy who was under state arrest. Yeah. I mean, he was under house arrest, and he wrote half the New Testament. So don't tell me you can't do good things while you're here, you know, which was a good thing for them to hear. So that was love secured, and I love that idea because the insecurity and the fear, because the Hebrew writer closes with that, is where the evil one comes in.

He doesn't want you secure. He wants you being fearful. I mean, that's where he does his best work. And then, Zach, you'll love this one. The next one was love is sanctifying because he said in 413, this is how we know that we live in him and he and us, he has given us his spirit. And so that's that idea about sanctification that happens as a result of, again, of love.

All these are a result of love. And then the last one, which he spends the most time talking about in the section, is love shares because then he says, let us love one another. So that was the lineup of the things because I said, look, if you had all these things that God did for you, and they're amazing, but you kept it to yourself, how selfish would that be? And that was the famous granny quote, if you can't love your brothers and sisters whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you have not seen? So love is always meant to be shared. It's a shareable thing. It was shareable from God to

humanity, and it's shareable from humanity to humanity. Well, that's why on the Sermon on the Mount, when he was introducing this new concept, you know, after he goes through the attitudes, he then starts saying all this stuff, blessed are you when you're persecuted, when people insult you, when they falsely accuse you, all these things, you're like, well, how is that going to happen? Well, that means you're doing something. And then he gets to the famous three things about your assault of the earth, the light of the world.

and the city on the hill. And so then he's like, if you're the salt of the earth, that means you're salty. Yeah. So profound. Yeah. Have you ever tasted salt? That's not salty. And I did a little rabbit hole on this.

The salt was, there's actually a phrase, I forgot where it is, but a simple search, we'll find it. It was referred to as when they made the covenant, the first covenant, and it was the salt. of the covenant because salt there's a lot of people there you know we use salt for a lot of reasons but it's like a preserver yeah and so and how long is the you know god's covenant i just read that isa 61 it's eternal yeah and so the salt i think that's why i use the salt and then you have the light well that's why john would say in him there's no darkness but you can't you're not take a bowl and put it over a lot, you know, a city on the hill,

it's on the hill. It's not in the valley. It can't be hidden. Right. So I think that's kind of James's point. There's John also. It's just, it is, this is who I am. Right.

It's kind of like, that's why I told you the conversation about when we're out there playing golf, the next thing you know, guys telling me about a gator attack and he can get him and getting it. It just went off the rails. We're doing a worldly activity. but there's just so much more that we found in Christ that is way more exciting. Leviticus, look there, Maddie.

Leviticus 2.13. Salt of the covenant. Salt of the covenant. Oh, look, there's a rabbit hole coming later. Because look, I have been. Now Jay's is letting us know early about these. These are rabbit holes to be found later. I don't want to hijack this episode that we,

I was doing his sermon. He sent me the sermon, and I looked down, and he put the date. He had the year wrong. I had 25 instead of 26. So James just quit reading. He thought, I never read it. That's fake news. I'm sure it was great, but I thought Al's gotten to an age where he's sending me sermons from a year ago.

Because it was on First John. I'm like, well, we did that last year. So I just did this. What's bad is, I didn't even realize until I got to hear this morning that I'd done that. The last sermon I preached, Zach, on Mother's Day, when I sent my notes, because I just take a sermon from before, and then I put the new stuff in there,

but you got to watch it because you leave old dates and stuff. It had Easter Sunday on it. It was Mother's Day. So Clay McConnell's like, is this for this Sunday or is this for last Easter? And I was like, what is wrong with me? I'm getting old. All right, well, let me just give you a thumbnail of the rabbit hole

because I want you to study first, and then we'll bring it up. All right? Because this will, this will. This lets you know that Jay's, not only has rabbit hose that he finds just in walking the lands, but he now thinks about rabbit hose he wants to find as he's walking. Well, I took it as a sign.

I wanted to read that Isaiah 61 so, so much. But it had a little phrase in there about inheriting the land. And so you think, there's a story in there about the Israelites getting the promised land. Well, when you get to this sermon on the Mount, have you ever noticed? I read it while ago. And look, we've heard that we're so familiar with this that I think we're not shocked by what it says. Yeah.

So here's, we'll all agree that Jesus is introducing a new creation. He came here and said there's a new kingdom. There's a new creation on earth. Yep. And here's what it's about, right? Well, how shocking is this verse in verse 5 of 5, where it says, Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth. Wait, what? Now, we got the next part where it says, verse 12, great is your reward in heaven. Which is it? How do you inherit something you already have?

Well, I'm saying there's something we got inheritance in heaven. I'm familiar with that line. I'm thinking. But he said, we'll inherit the earth. Not some land, the earth. Yeah. So what's funny is Missy walked by, this is just thumbnail of the rabbit hole.

And I said, I've been looking at land a lot different lately. And she said, what do you mean? We own some land. I was like, I know. And I said, just think of all the statements where people say, well, you better, if you have some land, they're not making any more of it. You know, I've heard that. Yeah. but I know the one who does make it,

so he might make some more, but that's another point. And I read this verse to her, and she said, I have been thinking the same thing. So that's when I went on the rabbit hole. And so I said, do yourself a favor,

and here's my thumbnail sketch. Read Psalm 37. Read Psalm 37. I just read Isaiah 61, where he has that, statement and then you read this. So you read Psalm 37 and the next time we get on the true rabbit hole, this is just a thumbnail because it says that about at least a half a dozen times in various forms.

So that's my thumbnail. And it goes in with that same thought of the new heaven, the new earth. Well, there you go. All of a sudden we're thinking, which you're like, why am I here? Why are we here? Why are we going through all this? Why is he making these illustrations about we're God's field, we're God's garden. We understand life and the animal world.

We're in control. It's all this beauty tear. I mean, places like Pebble Beach. Yeah. I'm like, that's not yours. I'm with the one who owns this. And guess what? I'm going to get that too.

Yeah. That's good. So I ended yesterday both my sermon. and my speech at the prison with the idea about forever family. Because that's this idea about, in God's family, we understand love. We get to participate in the divine nature because we are becoming like Christ every day through the sanctifying work of the spirit. So we're a part of this family of love.

And I told them, and it was really good for a lot of folks that are in prison, because most of them have probably came up in a rough situation, typically. You know, it's very, you get in situations, family curses, you make poor decisions. And with some families and with some people that were there yesterday, there was an expectation that were going to be there, which is so sad when you think about it. Yeah. And but I told them, I said, you don't get to choose what family you were born into. You don't.

I mean, you're just born. You're a baby. You came out. You have no control over any situation. You're in a family. And say that family is not a good. situation. There's sin. There's terrible things that are going on. There are terrible things that happen to you. You don't get modeled the right way. All this beyond your ability to make a decision.

But you know what? You do get to choose your forever family. You can either stay in that bad situation and perpetuate it for generations or you can make a decision that I'm going to be a part of something very different and go through a very different life change and then start some new cycle for myself and my family. So you don't have to stay stuck. That's the beautiful thing about the love of God. It's available for anybody to choose because he says in First John,

not only did he atone for the sins of those who believe, he atoned for the sins of the whole world, anybody that makes a choice. Well, that's why I see the similarity to the sermon on the Mount and the prison ministry and what we do. Think about these people. They were poor in spirit.

What I mean? They're powerless. These people, these people, didn't have any kind of power. They are upset in grief because they're dying and they're being killed by more powerful people. And then he throws in this, you know, you're meek. You don't, they're not landowners.

Right. These are, and, but he's saying, look, look at, if you're with me, you're, you're the perfect person to understand what I have and what I'm giving you. Because I thought about that word, inherit the earth. What is inheritance? It's a gift. It's totally, and look at what we do as earthly people when it comes to inherit. We fight and scrap, you know, where's mine?

What am I going to get? And we're singing about getting a mansion over the hilltop. And he's like, I'm giving you the earth. You get the whole thing. And you're going to try to limit it to one neighborhood? And I'm giving you heaven. Yeah. heaven and earth it's yours and it makes me think what phil used to say you know we get everything

jesus has and he's you know ephesians one says all things in heaven and known on earth are under his control yeah so he's giving it to him and it's a gift i love it well we're out of time i do want to remind you guys i wanted to mention this i'm going to be in st augustine florida on june 23 at a men's event uh i don't have the details in front of but if you go to our website al lisa robertson It's got all the details on there. But if you're in the San Augustine area, I would love to meet you and come to the event on June 23rd. So I know that's coming up next week.

Good stuff. Zach, it's always good to have you on the Unashamed podcast. Glad you made it. It's always good to be here. Thanks for being a part of the studio audience. We'll see you next time. I had some thoughts. It's hard to, but yeah, it's a little difficult today getting the word in.

Well, we've got a guest coming on next time, so you'll be able to interact with that. We'll see you next time with an show. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. 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.