Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1388 | A Robertson Teen Sounds the Alarm on Pornography’s Grip on His Generation

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

Zach’s teenage son, Bear, joins Jase, Al, and Zach for an honest look at the pornography, absent fathers, and spiritual confusion affecting his generation. Bear proves how standing openly for Jesus helped other young men at his school step forward in faith, and he reflects on the godly mentors who strengthened his relationship with Christ. The guys consider how families can break destructive generational patterns, why Solomon’s legacy warns believers to finish strong, and how Phil Robertson’s preaching still points young people toward the only source of true peace of mind. In this episode: Genesis 1:28; Proverbs 3:5; Malachi 2:15-16; Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; James 1:14-17; James 2:14-26; James 3:7; 1 John 2:13-16; 1 John 4:15-17 “Unashamed” Episode 1388 is sponsored by: 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://open.spotify.com/show/3LY8eJ4ZBZHmsImGoDNK2l Chapters 00:00 Bear’s Podcast Debut 03:08 A Reputation for Destruction 06:25 This Teen Takes a Stand for Jesus 10:10 The Duck Hunt That Strengthened Bear’s Faith 15:15 The Biggest Struggles for Teens Today 18:00 Why Bold Conversations about Jesus Matter 22:03 Strong Families, Godly Mentors & Lasting Faith 27:27 Solomon’s Warning about Finishing Strong 31:58 The Only Source of True Peace of Mind 36:48 Confronting Pornography & Sexual Brokenness 41:02 Desire, Choice & Sin Work Together 45:17 Living with Confidence — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. Jase, you just, you know, you wake up in a new world every day. You're not sure what's happening. We come to the podcast studio, me down here at the Southern Larry, you there at DC HQ. And we thought we were going to have Jill on today because we had Gordo on the last couple of podcasts, which was great. Uncle Si came in because Zach is out doing mission work for our business. And so we weren't expected.

We look up and here's Zach today. Were you surprised? I'm back. Oh, I was shocked. It made me think, no matter what you think of our podcast, we're literally flying by the sea of our pants. We can't figure out where Zach is. I had no idea. And I looked up.

I was going through a midlife crisis. That's what I'm not sitting down. Hey, hey, you're going through a midlife crisis? I'm like, it was something I'm wearing? Like, what? Well, you sent your dad to replace you, and then I heard that you were sitting your wife and your son, and I thought, Zach's going through a midlife crisis. Because nobody said where you were.

Nobody was saying where you are. I was in Oklahoma City. But I got bare with me today. I got him out of camp. He's working at Camp Cedar Cliff this summer with Tim, our friend Tim Brady. It's right there by the Cove. Al, you've been to the Cove. Oh, yeah.

And that camp's been around a long time, right? I mean, that's like long. It's celebrated in their 20th year this year. 20th year of Camp Cedarcliff. No, it's older than that, dude. But it's been around a long time. It was a cove, and then it changed to Camp Cedarcliff 20 years ago. Okay.

Yeah, but it's been around. I got a question, Bear. Is that camp older than you are? Yes, it is. How old are you, Bear? I'm 18. Oh, you're 18. Okay.

And you're, it'll be a senior this year, Bear? Yes, sir. Okay. Senior and high school, which is welcome, Bear, to the Unashamed podcast.

If I'm not mistaken, I racked my brain today, but I've made several mistakes doing this and I'm probably doing it again. But I don't know that we've had a teenager on this podcast. Does that, do you,

Jace, remember a teenager ever being? I think my daughter was on here while she was a teenager. Yeah, maybe so, maybe so. Are you nervous?

No, I'm fine. I think he asked me. He asked me, he was texting me while the guy, like, what are what are you talking about? What will we talk about? I'm like, we'll find out when we get there. Bear, we have no idea. I will say this, Bear, we, your name has been invoked many times on this podcast, mostly

by your dad and your mom, although I have told a couple of bear stories as well, because we watched you grow up. And I will tell you, because I'll just go ahead and tell you, one of the things. things that I said, just my observation of you as a young, like, toddler all the way being a young man, now you're a man. I always thought you had a future in demolition. I could see, like, blowing up buildings or anything out there that needs to be, like, laid to waste. You've had, you've had an ability to do that throughout your, I mean, like, from a very, very, very small child. There's stories about you.

Have you ever thought, what are you thinking about for your actual future? Do you think about, like, destroying things? I mean, maybe. I thought about construction,

but. No, not construction. I'm talking about destruction. Destruction. Bear, think the wrecking ball that's going into a building

where you're the ones in control of that. You're pushing the button. I mean, I'd be pretty good at it. Yeah. I'm going to defend you. I'm going to defend you.

I'm going to defend you because if I had parents that named me bear, what do you think is going to happen? Have you seen a bear operate? No, he's a, you know, Bear, his mom was trying to solidify that he would become an Alabama fan. Which he is. Oh, I see. And he is. Roll-tide. You got a roll-tide shirt on?

All you Alabama fans out there that are hating on me, Jason Zach. Here's your guy. We got the roll tide in the house. And look, he loves them. We were up there during that hurricane. And you know what he was worried about more than anything else was getting to the Georgia Alabama game? He was just, how can I get out of here?

But you couldn't get out, could you bear? Nope. The problem is with staking all your passion with the tide is because sometimes it comes in and sometimes it goes out. Uh-oh. You're going to close to home now. I'm only getting close to home. But when it comes in, it's, it's, that.

there and they're ready to play. I believe it's time for it to head on out. So, Bear, I have confess your sins on this podcast for you. People know. So I think the things they know about is the time you tore up Max's Lego City, because we use that as a great analogy now of what took Max, five days to build you destroyed in 10 seconds. So we had a whole thing on that.

And then recently, what's been the, we got, we wrecked the truck. I was like a year and a half. go. Yeah, well, it feels recent to me because the window still doesn't roll down on the left side, but that's a whole other deal. We got, then you got a speeding ticket. So we're, oh, and I just got my insurance premiums in. Oh, wow.

Wow. When the granny said, when you got teeny, when you got the kid, that's all you got it. And I know, I was like, whoa, it hit. But Bear's a good kid, too. He's doing a lot. He's pretty active in ministry, you know. Tell us a little bit about what, what's going on at Owen High School. He plays football there, but they also got a good group of you guys that are pursuing Jesus.

Tell us about that. No, yeah. So I joined the FCA group there, which is Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And we just have a great, like, district leader. He's awesome. His name is Jared and just great dude. And so I was the only dude for like the first year. I was the only dude in the FCA.

It was full of a bunch of girls. I was the only dude. Is that why you went? No. Not necessarily the end of the world there. It's okay. No competition, fishing in a barrel. No, but no dudes were really stepping up at my school, and I realized that there was a crisis, you know, and no one really loved Jesus.

And so I joined the FCA and started right there. And for a while, I was one of the only students that was speaking. And then later on, some more people started stepping up. And now I think we actually, the guys outnumbered the girls now, which is great. You know, and for the longest time, I thought I was like, man, I'm the only dude Christian at my school, but I think after I kind of was more open with my faith, a lot more kids there were open up, well, or a lot more open with their faith as well. Like my friend Carter is probably my best friend, like, is super heavily involved with the FCA now.

And he's a great dude. We hold each other accountable. But like, just we're building that, that relationship that's centered on Christ and just really trying to push for, for, like, loving each other, loving Christ, you know. And I think a lot of these kids at school, they don't, they don't, they haven't grown up in homes like me with a Christ center family. So they come to FCA, you know, because they call themselves Christians, but they're never like really living it out. And then I just try to love them, be there for them, you know, and pray for them. And so it's gotten really big. And now we're doing last year, we did a bunch of Bible studies at my house on Thursday nights. So we'll be starting that up pretty soon. But right now I'm at camp. So I haven't been able to really do anything recently. But, uh, with that, that's been going great, you know. Camp's awesome. I've seen a lot of people coming to Christ, you know. And if you're looking for a camp to senior kids, Camp Cedarcliff is definitely a great camp. I love it.

He's got his dad's marketing skills. There you go. Well, I'll say this, bear, you know, because I give you a hard time when I'm there. You know, we talk politics. We talk sports. But I super admire you the man you're growing into. I love it that you're bold. and you always have been, and not just about your faith, but also what you believe right, our country.

I told the story one time on here when they had one of these no kings rallies, and I look up and there's bear down the corner just, you know, engaging people. And I thought, man, that's what I like to see. But as a guy who, you wasted away as teenage years working for the wrong team being on the evil side, I always respect young men and women who made the commitment to not lose the years. these years. They're so valuable because you're in these settings. You're growing and you're still under the roof for your parents, but you have such an opportunity to do what you're doing, what you just described. So I admire you for that. I'm super proud of you. And, you know, this, that's, this, I'm so glad your own today because there's a lot of young men and women that

listen to our podcast. I run into them all over the nation. And they're younger than you. And they're just like, we listen to your podcast. I said, really? So it's always, my first question is always, do you think Jason is ever going to run our stories? and everyone, not a single person, that's the only thing they say, Jay says, never. Never. The young guys, they love Jace. I mean, that's bare.

I've probably taught, if you looked at the Bible, you said, what passage have you taught, preached on, talked about more than any other passage in the Bible? If you asked me that question, I would probably say Acts Chapter 17. And this guy, I never heard it, but when y'all went duck hunting, y'all got into act 17 and he had like a oh i've never seen that before and it was kind of one of

those moments where you're like you're dripping it as a dab but then like you know you know you want your you boys and your your young girls around other godly leaders because just because you've been dripping it doesn't mean they're catching it sometimes it takes it does take a village you know i think that's why god gave his family god gave us church but yeah we get with jes we i mean we bear got his uh he got in on probably the greatest duck hunting trip of you know at least lifetime. I have to admit, it was something. I mean, it was 10 days. The only day out of those 10 that we didn't whack them was the day I wasn't there. And I left y'all the baton and I don't know what happened. They shot four. And then the next day I looked up and Zach had to go to Walmart

I never saw him again. I've often said Walmart is a black hole. Now it's confirmed. Roads or ice, you know, what are we going to do? We're out here living like men. We're shooting ducks. It's the greatest duck hunting stretch we've ever had. And all of a sudden, old Zach, that yuppie inside of him,

he had to go to C Walmart. It came out. It did. But bear stayed on, but bear stayed on. Bear stayed on. I was there. I was ready for the next round. Yeah, bear stayed.

I was like, I did realize in that moment, I really liked to hunt and fish, and I love the duck hunt. But being stuck down there for three days, four days without any food. Well, we ate what we killed. I brought some steaks. We did that. But, I mean, it got no shower. After about day four, I was like, okay. There's no electricity.

There was no grocery store. We live like men. And Zach did it for about three days and said, you know what, I need to go back to my yuppie lifestyle. But I enjoyed it for the time I was there. I just knew that I'd hit the wall. The ice had melted. I thought, you know what? As much as I enjoyed this, I wouldn't want to live like this.

I'd like to do this about maybe like twice a year would be good. Maybe four days is the limit. You know what I'm talking? No electricity. Look, we get in a room at night. And I'm talking about a room. This thing ain't, I mean, it's a small. It was the old Unashamed studio.

Yeah, it was our old studio. Yeah, and there's a bunk bed in there, and there's a couch. There's two recliners, or two couches in a recliner. And I mean, close quarters. And so, when you, four nights, I'm on the couch, Jace is in the recliner. He's literally sleeping in a recliner. Bears on the other couch and stones in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. And with no lights, no electricity, it's just dark and super cold.

And actually stayed warm in there. But yeah, after that, I mean, that was like four nights of that. I was kind of like, I'm ready to get in bed with my woman. So there was that, you know. Well, and Jay's, Jay's woman sent a word out that he needed to come in home too because there were things that had to be done. So, Jay, you did have to come in and take care of some ice apocalypse business. Yeah.

Well, look, it was when you're right on the edge of something being dangerous, I mean, the ice storm, it brought a lot of ducks, but it was also dangerous to humans because there were trees literally falling everywhere. So as a protector of my wife, I mean, I felt like, well, that's my top priority. So, Bear, I wanted to know what, so what was your experience from that? I mean, you guys, because I know that you and Jay's got it and it's a pretty good Bible study, and was that pretty good? It was the hunting? What was it that you loved about it? It was the best time ever.

I mean, I live for stuff like that. Like, I've never, I like to hunt a lot of my buddies up here, but like it's never like it was down there. And then just like being with a bunch of godly men, you know, it was great, you know. And like dad was saying earlier, you know, it takes a village. And like my dad tells me stuff all the time. But I feel like, you know, I'm like, oh, that's stupid. He doesn't know what he's talking about, you know, being a teenager.

And sometimes I tune him out. And it takes them up. We do that too sometimes. He's stupid. Tell you once that. He wants that money. Then he's a sudden, he's smart. Smarter than he looks.

But it's like, I feel like as a teenager, I just tune my dad out sometimes, which is not good. But sometimes it takes the other men to like, really just like, and dad's in such a great job with putting, men like you guys in my life and just, I think another person I think of too is like Gary, Gary Glenn, like great dude and just my uncle, just all these great men that God has putting my life to pour into me. And that was a very pivotal moment.

I think it's the right. Well, yeah, a very awesome moment my life because I think it really kind of just opened my eyes and really helped me get on, just get more on fire to be more of influence my school. And I really thank my dad to put me in that position, you know, because I really wasn't, I wasn't even supposed to go hunting on that trip at all, but dad, dad told me to come on over. So Gary actually dropped me off. You know, it was the best time I ever, cut a bunch of ducks, you know, and me and Jay's got to talk about Act 17 and just shared a little bit of his story. a little bit of mine. It was great. It was great time.

Probably the best time I ever had in my life. That's awesome. I was going to ask you this. So you mentioned about not a lot of people being very vocal about Jesus or in your high school there. And I'm curious because when we talk about high school, the three of us, you know, we're talking about 30, 35 years ago

for us and so much has changed. What do you think is the biggest issue going on now with like your peers, your teenagers, Is it just, I mean, is it social media? Is it kind of the same old sin stuff that was always around and always has been around? What do you think is the problems or the biggest problem or maybe the best way the even ones been working in like teenagers lives just from your observation there in North Carolina? I think one of the biggest issues, I think it starts off with just like parents. Like there are so many kids that just either don't have dads or their dads are just like not involved in their lives.

at all. I think it starts off of that. And I think social media plays a big part. But just the fact that too is just like lust is just so powerful in teenagers. And now it's just so like pornography and things like that is just so accessible like through social media and all these things. I really think that it's, I think it's probably one of the worst things and the biggest issues in the whole teenager culture is just like is the whole like just pornography culture. And it's really sad because you see a lot of these kids fall into that and it's just dark and it's evil. It's the devil literally. I mean, straight up is.

And it's not, I think a lot of people think it's just dudes, but it's not. I mean, it's, it's women too. It's guys and girls and, and they, it's normalized, you know, and, and, and even sex in high school is normalized now. And so I think, I think they're, I think they're, they say they love Jesus. They say they're Christian, but I think that they don't, they don't even know he is. and I don't think they've ever had parents to tell him who he is. I think the biggest issue is,

honestly that, just like they're lost. They don't know who Jesus is. Yeah. Yeah, it's like I went and played golf. Last time I played golf, and it was some little tournament thing, and so two of the guys I was with, I knew, but there was a young guy with us,

and I didn't know who he was. So I introduced myself, which said, I'm Jace, which sounds terrible, but, you know, if you're in Louisiana and you're playing, at your home course, you assume people know who you are. But his next question made me think,

I don't think he knows who I am because he said, well, what do you do? And then it kind of hit me. I thought, why would he ask me that? And then I thought, well, it's based on my look, I'm out playing in the golf tournament. What do you do? I hesitated and I said, I followed Jesus.

And he just looked at me. eyes got big and he said, well, I do too. That's the greatest response I ever heard to that question. I said, well, did you have something else in mind? He said, well, I meant what do you do for your job? And I was like, well, that is my job. And he went, well, I meant for a living. And I said, well, he said he is life.

So if you want to live But I'm going to tell you this Bear because you're talking about In the Duck Blind I think you've got to cut to the chase in life And I think that was a perfect question To get into that conversation

Because now We've We've cut through any nervousness Or whatever It's out there And so the rest of the round Was enjoyable And

You know, I have a new friend friend, but it was real. And I just think we need to get in the habit of having those types of conversations. Yeah. It's funny, too, you think about the role of a dad, the role of godly parents. I mean, that's the, that is the thing. You've said this before, Jace, on this podcast many times, that the Bible is a story about how God gets his family back.

and the role of family in the formation of our kids is so pivotal. Genesis 128 was to go make families, go be fruitful and multiply. And that's the thing that I think the devil attacks a lot because he knows that that's the fortification of his kingdom is inside of family units. And you get to the New Testament, you kind of see it playing out with God's new family. And I tell people all the time, you know, like, you may have, you may not have been on that trajectory. Like, I mean, I'll meet dads and moms are like, man, we have not been following Jesus. But you can start and start that process today. But I mentioned this on Sunday because I preached at our church on Sunday.

And, you know, there's that passage in Malachi that is so interesting when it talks about divorce. Malachi chapter 2. and it says the Lord God hates divorce. And I think that's 216, 217. But it tells you why the verse right before it, it says that he seeks godly offspring. And I think that's a big deal with, you know, with, I think youth today. I mean, I think the destruction of the family is,

the family's under assault. And I think that's what one of our colleagues is the church, is to then invite these kids, invite people into our homes. Jason, you guys do that all the time. Al, you guys got your homes are revolving doors well. But, I mean, that's our prayer really is for the restoration of families, a restoration of dads, the restoration of moms, the restoration of families doing life together.

And so it's kind of when you and Bear got a chance to really connect on that, and he was asking the question, how do I, how do I be bold in my faith? I think that's one of the things he was asking you, Jace. The full circle moment for me was that when I was 18, well, I was about 21 before I said I want to go public with my faith. But it was y'all, I mean, you two and Willie, you know, y'all were three and Phil. I mean, the four guys in my life, my dad raised me to love Jesus,

and he's an amazing father, the best in the world. But it was that, that was the catalyst for me, was being around y'all. So it's kind of full circle moment. That duck line was kind of having flashbacks. And when me and Jeff were coming out of the world when, you know, kind of call us to accountability. I was saying about whenever, whenever Bear was talking about, you know, sometimes saying your dad is, you know, just kind of background noise. And I went through the same thing, Bear. But, and then in my case, you know, I kind of had an ax to grind with dad as well, you know, just because of how I grew up.

And so even though he had changed, he had done all he could do. now was serving the Lord and was a good dad, you know, by this time I had soured, you know, and so, and we wound up having a confrontation and I left, you know, I was your age, you know, seven, actually 17. And I took off, you know, just like the kid in Luke 15. But the problem was when I, when I came back and now I, you know, the blinders were off and I'd seen how bad it was, you know, that life. Now I was finally like willing to listen. And so, you know, the next few months for me was this like, you know, and Jeff got the same thing. Whenever he came back, it was just like this full on every day, you know, working together.

And it was like just dad 101 all the way through the process. But the difference was, and I was ready. I was 18. That was your age. And man, that time in the movie about me and Lisa, it's like, you know, it's a two-minute. scene on the porch, but that two minutes represents months of discipleship and questioning whether, you know, had I really even been a Christian, which no, I haven't, you know, I hadn't.

And so in really just deciding that it was going to be a start from that point forward. And the beauty of it is, Bear, I mean, you know, that was your age, 18 years old, and I have never looked back. I mean, 61 now. And every good thing that God has built into my life, even through difficulties, has been because of that submissiveness to him at that age. And so I do think that is the message. And I so appreciate you saying that about the recognizing the breakdown of the family

because it really, we talk about it all the time. It goes back to the original family in the garden. You know, I mean, it's when sin comes in and causes division, which is what happened there between that Adam and E, that first husband and wife, look at how catastrophic it was for the offspring, you know, from the very next chapter with Cain and able and going forward to the flood and the reset. And you just see how sin works and how the evil one does it. And it's destructive.

And you're right. We have to be there and help out other people that don't have that so we can show them something better. I always say you don't get to pick the family that you're born into. You know, that's a choice somebody else made. And then you're just there. But you do get to choose your forever family and the reboot, which is a good thing. I think that if I remember it doesn't talk about like that.

in the Bible like generational curses and so of that. It does. And I was talking with a kid the other day who just kind of his whole family just never follow the Lord. And I was like, man, like, you need to, you can be that guy to break that generational curse, you know, and be the one to change your family and, you know, bring your dad to Christ. And I think just, I do think there is an awakening happening in a lot of these kids. And I think that they're, they don't want to end up like their dad or mom or whoever.

it is. And they do, and I think there is like a, like a revolution kind of happening in that. And I think kids are wanting to seek Christ more. And I think they just, it's just the thing, they got to, they got to realize that like, you got to drop everything. You know, you can't, you can't, it can't be like a side hustle for you. I think that's the biggest struggle for a lot of kids, and especially for me, for a lot of my life, but it's just a side hustle, you know, like one foot in the world, one footing God, but that's the worst place to be. And so I think they view it as like, I think, and I feel like I view this too as like,

oh, God doesn't want me to have any fun, you know. Like if I'm a Christian, I'm not going to have any fun. But it's just not true. Like as a Christian, I've had more fun, have more joy in the community that I've been blessed with has just been phenomenal. Like the church I go to has just been phenomenal. The people that pour into me is just phenomenal.

Like the fun I've had and the joy I've had as a Christian versus like living in the world and doing the things of the world, it's just, it doesn't compare. Because everything from the world is just temporary. It always leaves you guilty. It always gives you shame. And it's never fulfilling. And so I have to tell it to a lot of people because I've been there too, you know, just like seeking the pleasures of the world, but it always just leaves you empty. And they say, oh, I can't stop. I can't stop this addiction.

I'm like, no, you can. It's like you can. You just got to love the love. Lord. Like, seek the Lord, seek first his kingdom and his wisdom, and everything else will follow after that. And that's just the truth. I just got back from Oklahoma City and being around the Green family. You know, I just, I'm so impressed with the way that they think about legacy and ministry and even their wealth and how they deploy that. And I mean, just, it's crazy how that whole thing is set up. And we had David Green on the podcast a while back, which was amazing. And so really since I

read that book that him and Bill High wrote together. I've been really thinking about that, studying that, how you, you, what you just mentioned, I was thinking about the, there's a pat, there's a, the story of Solomon. We talked about the, Jill and I talked about this in the Not Yet Now podcast recently, but Solomon is a prime example of, of a guy who, who did have it together, but then he doesn't finish strong. And if you read the end of kind of his story in First Kings 11 where he built the high places of worship. The same guy that built the temple then builds like these high places of worship to Molek and these foreign gods.

Like the result of that, like that, that legacy that he then left Israel is complete and utter like just defeat. I mean, it's crazy if you go just read through First and Second Kings and you get to the end of Second Kings. And if you make a list, like I did in my Bible. I have a list of all the kings on both sides of the divided kingdom and the vast majority of them, all of them in Israel were evil in the end.

They all did what's evil in the side of the Lord, and most of the ones in Judah, except for about four or five, did what was evil in the side of the Lord. The temple ends up getting destroyed by the Babylonians. The whole thing, then they try to rebuild it under Cyrus, but Cyrus is like, he's not even from Israel. He's a Persian king. He's having to give them permission.

now. I literally think about this, the same guy that was so wealthy and so powerful that he takes the golden shields and he sticks him in the force of Lebanon. He says, come and take it. That same, that same kingdom is begging the king of Persia to let us build our temple back. And then when they build it back, it's not, it doesn't even come close to the one that Solomon built. They didn't even have the Ark of the Covenant. Fast forward, you know, to the time Jesus shows up, and they're trying to expand it. They're trying to make it bigger. only for Jesus to say, yeah, it's going to come down around 80, 70, and then that thing burned to the ground.

That's the legacy of a man who says, I'm not going to finish strong. And so I think it's on us as men ahead of our houses, as husbands, as fathers, as young men coming up, even women that listen to this podcast, you have a calling to leave a generational legacy, not a generational curse. And don't finish like Solomon, you know,

finish strong. Go out strong. No, that's so good. And I love it. I was thinking about that, you know, we had David Nasser on the podcast recently, and he's originally from Iran. And he talked about being a teenage convert to Christianity. First, he was Muslim, but then he really wasn't anything. He was just like a typical teen, you know, just trying to fit in and not get beat up and all this stuff.

But then when a high school buddy did exactly what Bear is doing with this young man and told him about Jesus, I mean, he converts, gets kicked out of his family initially, but then winds up leading his sister, his mom, and eventually his dad to the Lord, the entire family, because of a commitment to Christ. And, man, it was just such a beautiful story. And I was because, you know, they were, it was all wrapped up with having to leave Iran and Islam. But it comes back to that same thing. The picture you just painted was such a stark one because it's about idolatry. It's whatever the evil one can rise up in your life. And Barry, you were talking about pornography and, you know, the Internet now. And that's just it's a new thing that we all use.

We're using it to be on this podcast today. You know, I'm having trouble here today trying to get it all hooked up and I'm about ready to curse it, you know. And then I do curse it when it destroys people's lives. But it's a choice. You're so right in the simplicity of you get to choose whether you're going to be addicted to something or you're not. And if you choose Christ and you get the Holy Spirit, then you have the bonus of divinity that lives in you and shows you and guides you. And I love what you said. Isn't it nice bear to be able to lay your head down at night and be at peace?

Because, you know, you're serving Christ and you're helping people and you're not just trying to hide. things from your parents or from other people. I mean, that's what Christian Living is about. And you can do that as a teenager. You don't have to wait until you get older and hope you survive, you know, some bad years. You can make that choice now. Whether life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand, the high protein yogurt

Oikos Pro is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash. Oikos Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high protein and contains no added sugar because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits. It's about being able to bounce back. OICOS Pro. Feed your strength. Visit Oikos.Ca for more details. Yeah, I think people, they're like, oh, I'll just have fun now and then later on I'll give my life to Christ. But now you, you know, I keep thinking, there's this this sermon that Phil did a while back, I think it was a Texas or something a while back. And I always listen to it. I always sent it to my friends and talks about peace of mind, you know, and everybody wants peace of mind. And he talks about

everybody wants peace of mind. No one doesn't want peace of mind. Did he say, peace of mind, the rarest of commodity? Yeah, he did. He opened up the sermon doing duck calls, and he's like, that was for the ladies. It was pretty funny. And then he goes, and he shares a little bit about his testimony, about seeking the world. And then he's like, I served the devil for 30-something years, and then now I serve God. I didn't turn back since that day. But anyways, he's talking about peace of mind. And this is so true.

It's like the only way to have peace of mind is through Christ. It's through Christ and through pursuing Him. And you can't have one foot in the world and one foot in Christ. You've got to be all in, you know. Even reading James, I was reading that the other day. It's like, what is faith without works? If you're not like pursuing Christ, like doing things for Him, not like, what is your faith?

Like, what is faith without works? Donuts in a parking lot and things like that. You don't do that. Well, hey, I'm a sinner. I messed up. You know, I'm not, I don't want to see here and y'all, you all think I'm a perfect Christian. You all know, y'all see me grow up. I'm the farthest thing from a perfect Christian, you know.

I'm a sinner and I will never sit here and tell someone to look at me and this is who you need to model. I'll know, look at Christ, you know. I'm just a nobody. You know, I'm just trying to tell people about Jesus, you know, like, and what he's done in my life and what he can do in your life. And if you are struggling with a pornography addiction or whatever substance addiction, like you can be freed from that.

You can. And the Lord has freed me from that. You know, and he can free you from that. But you've got to give your troubles to him and lean not on your own understanding, but lean on Christ. And not only that,

lean on the body of Christ. Walking with Christ without a god of community in your life is almost impossible. If you're not in a church or in a Christian community, that can pour into you, it's almost impossible to pursue Christ. So I think leaning on Christ and your brothers and sisters and Christ is what's going to truly give you that peace of mind and truly help you get through these addictions. That's how it helped me. You know, leaning on my dad, leaning on people like you guys and so many other men and my wife that have really helped me

be somewhat of a decent guy today. But those, me not leaning on my own understanding and giving up my pride is the reason why I can lay my head down a night and have true peace of me. mind. Yeah, that porn stuff is, I think that's like a, I mean, we had pornography when we were growing up, and it was not like what you guys bear experienced, because if you were exposed, had access to porn in the 90s when I was in high school, I mean, it was, you'd have to like seek it out and find it, which we did, you know what I mean, or somebody would have a magazine or whatever, but now, I think, with the phones, and, I mean, it is, it is the epidemic of our lifetime with young men and women. And I do think it's, the church still hasn't fully, I mean, we haven't come to grips with the cancer that this is.

I mean, it's one of the reasons why, you know, I'm so glad that Covenant and I is partners with us on this podcast. They're one tool, right? I mean, but like it is a, it's a massive epidemic, particularly with young people. And you see it sweeping three. But, you know, when we were in Louisiana, Al and Jace, when we have, planted a church right there. Would you call it a church plant? What would you call that right?

I mean, it's kind of a church plant right there. It was kind of a reconstruction, yeah, because there had been some folks there, and then they kind of dwindled down. And so we kind of breathed life into it with the new start. Yeah, we went over there and led that effort for a number of years. And, you know, it became really, it was right on campus. So it was a lot of college students, you know, Jill and I with Ben Melissa and some others, we took that on.

And I think what shocked me very, you were young. I guess you were just a little kid at the time, but you were right here around all of that. But one of the things that kind of hit me early on in that ministry was I thought that if you're going to do ministry with young people, that the deal killer, kind of like the bait and switch, you know, like you got to, once you've got to tell them kind of the rules, you know, the limits around. human sexuality, that was going to be the one that was going to be a hard sell on college campuses

because that's the time you're supposed to explore your sexual freedom. And what I learned was it was quite the opposite. And I was kind of shocked by this. But by the time that these kids had gotten to college, and they were 18 years old, Bears age, they had actually been exposed to so much pornography and they were just sexually sophisticated and had done so much and seen so much and were just living in that brokenness of what that is you know what I mean that they were to to breathe a a true godly design for human sexuality to show them that from the scriptures and from what God has created in the creation order it was like that was like life giving and it hit me that, man, we don't have to be ashamed of any of the gospel or God's design.

What's in this book is the pathway to life. So that was a lot of our ministry was helping folks, helping young people come out of these distorted views of human sexuality, primarily that they got from the porn culture, which is way beyond just like hardcore pornography. I think it filters in the Instagram. It filters into all of the movies and all this. It's the pornification of our culture that has shaped the imagination for how we view sexuality. And people are desperate and people are under the weight of that. I think, better to your point, particularly young people.

So I don't know if you guys have experienced that or not, like the deliberation. Well, it has led to a so spot on. It led to a whole shame culture. And there's a lot of this sharing of nude pictures back and forth. then being out there and then we'll always be there. And so then, you know, we dealt with some of that and our family and just the shame of all that and having to deal with that as a teenager. And yeah, and the other part is, Zach, you and I learned that it also is such an emptiness to it,

that it also really damaged then true dating and true relationships and even people getting married and having sexual dysfunction because of that. And that's the thing about idolatry. Whatever the idol is, it's empty because it's fake. It's not real. It's false. And that whole thing is the same way. And you're searching for that.

And it seems like you're finding something pleasurable. But then you realize there's an emptiness to it because it's not really what God designed us to do and what he designed us to be. And therefore, you see this going on and on again. Jace was, it wasn't a rabbit hole, Zach. It was a. it was a bear cave I did enough bear

I named it a bear cave three days it's a bear and well it has a lot to do with this earthly wisdom that comes from the devil from James 3

and Jason let me tell you what prompted me and then I'll let you describe it because you went to Romans 1 first because you were talking about our nature which is the kinds

when it's all kinds of animals James 3 7 The word, the Greek word is Phusis. 18 times you look it up and there's different kinds of creations by God, different kinds of humans, male and female, Gentile or Jew. And that was what he zeroed in on. Well, go ahead, Al. Yeah, but I want you to kind of give a little thumbnail of that from the Romans one. Because in that one, the Greek word was used for the exchanging of natural relations.

with a man and a woman to same sex. That was his point in that one. But it says unnatural, unphousis. So you start realizing we're all created by God, and there's a process. And James had started that by saying sin as a process. Starts all fine. Every good perfect gift comes from above.

But as you get older, you know, you think a baby, even all this section about the tongue, it can't articulate with the tongue. Their time is going. And once you get desires, as you develop in your brain and deep down in your soul and then figure out how to use the English language,

all of a sudden, you're inundated with the spirit of the world, which is the evil one. And so this choice comes up, which is why he says, you know, when desire, what's the exact phrase, there's a conception that happens. He says, is conceived, which, what does that mean? By your own, each one is dragged away and enticed by his own evil desires. Yeah, but that desire conceives. Yeah, so two things come together. Yeah. Yeah. You have a conception. So you have the evil desires and a choice.

It comes together and what happens. It gives birth to sin, which is missing the mark. So now that you had the desire, chose to act on it, you know, the true definition of sin is that you're on the wrong path. That's the wrong mark. And what's the end result? Destruction, death and destruction, the kind of destruction that you don't want to major in, bear. And so then when you understand this battle, that's why you get passages like First John, one,

because we're talking to a young man, he's 18. I remember being 18. That's why we hit it off. Because you really noticed the world when you're a teenager. Because all of a sudden, I mean, you went from naive. You know, there's a period in your life where you're looking at a girl, not the way that I would come to look at her later. I'm not thinking about anything, you know, sex war.

It's, I have an innocence. I'm naive about that. Then all of a sudden, you start getting a middle school and things change. The girls are changing. All of a sudden, you're noticing how they look and they're developing. Jay's, I remember the day it happened. I can pinpoint the day for me. I was 14 years old.

I was on the bus, and the girl, and it was the first day of school, and we picked her up and she walked on the bus and I looked at her and I had known her the previous year when I was in the ninth grade now we're going to the 10th I looked at her and I was like whoa she had a glow up she had a glow up season exactly she had changed but then so had Al and that was she she came to be my first girlfriend

and it was terrible that's that's what got me into the whole life but the desire at its core was good it's what happened is is this what I wanted to say when I'd never I've heard the term missed the mark and how we define sin that way. And I know it does mean that in the Greek. I've always kind of not liked that because I didn't think it, but I just,

when you said it, the way you just said it, it connected for me, like, no, it is. It's a for a desire, if there's a mark, and I'm aiming at that mark, I'm shooting towards that mark and arrow at a target, it's to miss the mark. And so what sin is, if the trajectory of the arrow is your desire,

which is good, God gave you a desire. Well, I think it's combined with a choice. You have the desire, then you act on it. It produces sin. There's a conception. Yeah, but an evil desire is, like Regulations 5, it's not the desire that's wrong in and of itself. It's if there is an evil desire, and then there's a desire of the flesh, and there's a desire of the spirit.

So when you conceive the sin, you're actually, what it is, you're choosing a desire that, doesn't end or terminate on the mark that is God himself. That's what makes a desire holy is a desire that hits the mark of who God is. And that's why sex is a beautiful thing when done the way God designed it. I mean, for people. Creates families. That's how we all got here. Where I was going with this is 1st John 1 when he says,

I write to you fathers in verse 13, because you have known him who is from the beginning. You know, when you get older and you go through that process, and whether it's you realize you're known by God, there's a creator, and I've missed the mark. And you give your life to him, and you realize that he's been here all along, and I want to end with that. Well, then he contrasts that to young men. He says, I write to you young men. And he says, because you have overcome the evil one. Because that's the more prevalent when you're young, you really.

see, it's like all of a sudden these kids, once you get through junior high, because I remember, we've discovered that, oh, there's sex out here, and we can, there's things you can drink that make you feel good, and we can use four little words, and nobody's going to do anything.

You get to see the lure of the evil one in the world at that age, but since you're so young, this is all like a new thing. It's like, wow. I mean, You almost have the attitude like you've discovered sex.

It's like my parents didn't even know this. You're not thinking rational. You're not realizing that's how I got here. But you're like, oh, wow. And like the pornography and all that. You're looking at it. I mean, look what I found. I have found something that's exhilarated.

It's almost like you ate of a fruit. And then all of a sudden your eyes were opened that you could see it so clearly. Exactly. So I think that's why it characterized. that you know and he goes on to say don't love the world in verse 15 and 16 or anything in it and then he lists that the you know the works of the evil one for the everything in the world the cravings of the sinful man the lust of his eyes and the boast of what he has and does comes not from the father or from the world and we know from Ephesians too the evil one that that this is his

domain and he uses that fear what what we did on the bear uh cave three days days is he uses that fear of death and your survival instinct to prop you up. You need to get all you can get. You only live once. And if that means lying, cheating, stealing to the detriment of other people, who cares? This is all about you surviving, which is basically what he's doing, delaying the inevitable, which is destruction. And so I wanted to read this because, you know, Bear brought up about that peace of mind.

When he gets to chapter four and he says, you want to know what peace of mind truly is, you overcome the evil one and you enter in this relationship with God where he uses you, when he says, in verse 15, if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, and I would argue that that's a public acknowledgement, then God's love lives in Him. God lives in Him and He and God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in Him.

In this way, love is made complete among us. And I love this line so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. Because in this world, we're like Him. So when you talk about peace of mind, that's really what cuts to the chase. When you stand before God, because everybody's going to stand before God, you're going to have a conversation

whether you believe in him or not. Now, you're going to be confident, or you're going to have your head down saying, I got all I got, I got, I did what I could, and now what? So having confidence is a result of having peace in this world in Christ. I think the sexual, the whole sexual thing,

the reason why that one's, it's just like, not only are you sinning against God, you're sinning against yourself. In a way, youth pastor kind of described it to me, his name of Sullivan Brady. He told me, like, when you sin sexually, it's kind of like putting a flagpole up. Like, you may look at it and you're putting up, and it's in front of your face.

It looks straight, but when you back up, like, the farther it goes out, the more it starts leaning to the other side. So, like, when you do sin and sexually, like, not only does it affect you now, but it really affects you later on. as well. Yeah. It's, that's why it's something, that's why he says run from it. Well, and it's going to affect her. Yeah. She's not your wife. Yeah. You know. And that's, I'll close with this.

You got that from the Apostle Paul because First Corinthians, that's what he says, first Corinthians six. He who sends against his all sins a man commits her outside his body, but he who sends sexually sins against his own body because your body's a temple of spirit. Bear my last bit of advice is the only way I found saving myself for marriage. is instead of looking at her physical qualities, I introduced Jesus, and I noticed when I did that, sex didn't happen. When you bring up Jesus at the beginning of the date, that either ended the date or it definitely ended having any sex. It just ended.

It all died. And don't get on a couch undercovers watching a movie with nobody around either. That's another little piece of life. Yeah, that's a good advice. Yeah, I was just going to say, I was like, to the whole thing about, like, viewing women, you know, you were talking about pornography earlier, and I was like, just even with my own struggles, the way that pornography shaped the way I viewed women, it made me view them as something for me, a man to conquer instead of a beautiful creation of God. And I think once I started seeking the Lord and realized, whoa, no, this is not something for me to conquer and realize it's not, it's not about the sex. It's about, like, it's about God. It's all about him.

Everything points to him. And it's about glorifying him. And then I really found a woman that truly loves God. And I'm dating her now. And I think that we've just, like, really try to instill, like, hey, like, let's seek God. You know, like practice seeking God together. So that when we do get married, that we do seek God together. And don't.

Because once you start having, doing sex and being unholy, it shapes your whole view of things. And it, like, it perverts it. It's not supposed to be like that. That's all I was at the same. That's good point. Good stuff, Bear. Thanks for coming on today. Oh, yeah.

Thank you all for having. 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.