Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 376 | How the ‘Duck Dynasty’ Producers Tried to Cancel God & the Time Phil Converted a Crew Member

Episode Date: November 7, 2021

Phil recalls the way the "Duck Dynasty" producers attempted to silence God's Word and how he converted a member of the film crew. Guest Bob DeMoss brings Phil a special gift and talks about collaborating with Phil and Al on the "Duck Commander Bible." Phil remembers the time he attempted to share Jesus with a person who was convinced he wasn't going to die. Zach is inspired to break down the verse that fuels Jase's hatred of meteorology. And Zach explains why people should focus on the formation rather than the information. Matthew 16-18 - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So who is the, Zach, you may know this, who is the world's greatest pet detective? That would be Ace Ventura. Correct. Zach is correct. Did you know that, Dad? Never heard of it. The world's greatest pet detect.

I've never heard of either one. Is Ace Ventura. And the reason I bring it up is because we have with us, in Jace's chair of all places, we have the world's greatest Bible detective. Okay. Bob DeMoss. He's a B,

did you know you were a Bible detective? I didn't know that. Yeah. So I've given you this title because we've been trying to, you know, dad and Jace have to have the exact same Bible. Everything's got to be on the same page. But these Bibles that we're using, these Thompson Chamber,

have been out of print for a while. Oh, like 20 years. A long time, right. And so they're not easy to find. Now, many of you in Unashamed Nation have sent us some, and we appreciate it, but they were not exactly the same thing. Some of the prints you sent us, it's like Braille for me, so I could never even read it. So we appreciate your efforts, but you have to have a Bible detective to actually find

one of these. And so Bob was coming through, and he told me he's got something, he's got a presentation, the pet, the Bible detective has been on. on the job, dad, and he has found another. Well. Thompson changed, because this one's three years old, and it's holding up, but it's looking a little bit worn. So there's your presentation. See, what most people don't realize, if you do a lot of Bible reading, which we do, the information where it's located, it's in your, you know,

You go over and over and over it, and you can see the text. On the page. Three paragraphs down on the left. It's when God said, I mean, it's on the spot where you're, whatever issue you're dealing with. You get it in your mind. You know, you say, I can't remember that text, but I know where it is. And you'll turn, you know what book it is. Right.

And you'll turn and you'll look on the second paragraph down, starting in verse 12. You see what I'm saying? Right. and it's way easier because if you get another Bible, the information is not in the place where it was. I've got a couple of Bibles. One is I use it preaching, but I don't really use it. It's just kind of more I like having a Bible up there with me, but I put all mine in my text.

It's easier for me to read in my notes. But it's kind of my show Bible for preaching, but I don't like to study out of it because I like the Times and Change, which we all, people ask us all the time, so I'm going to tell you again, unashamed. We use Thompson chain reference Bible. We use the 84. You're not going to be able to find it. It is a great Bible. It's a great Bible. But they have a 2012. I think so. It's maybe the updated version. They kind of went in and did the neutral pronouns and stuff like that. So I just like the way that I memorized stuff from this one, which is why I like it better. But everybody has their own Bible. Speaking of Bibles, so Bob DeMoss is our, was our collaborator. I found out.

He wasn't a ghost. He was a collaborator. For the Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible, which we talked about last night over dinner, we did this in 2014. Can you believe it was seven years ago? Whoa. We did this Bible. And we didn't actually write the Bible, right, Bob?

No, no. Because the Bible was good like it was. So tell them what we did and kind of the process. Because it was a really interesting. It was probably, along with the devotional we did, the Duck Commander Devotional, it was my favorite project, just the process we went through to do it. Well, I was the associate publisher at Zondervin at the time. And one of my roles is to find ways to get more people in the Bible more often. And to that end, I think, okay, who's in the culture that's got a high profile who are people of faith and who might align with some kind of a modification, like additional notes and so on into the scripture? And I heard about this little Duck Dynasty thing that was like taken off like... sweeping the nation. And so, although I didn't have a beard, I figured, I'm going to put together

a proposal because I love that you guys have five core values, family, faith, forgiveness, freedom, and fellowship. And we said, okay, if we were to take those five essential things that are behind your heart and paired it with the lens of scripture where we look at the top 50, most searched terms in the Bible, which we know that. From Bible Gateway. From Bible Gateway. So we knew what the top ones were. So it might be mercy and love and forgiveness and shame and all that. So we look at each one of those topics shame through faith, family, forgiveness, freedom, and fellowship. And so we also went a little bit deeper because you could get a topical Bible, which would just list verses. So every place the word shame shows up in scripture, you

would have all that information, but it would read like a phone book. It would not be interesting. So we said, well, these guys are living it. So let's take the life application and marry it with the topical. So we have tons of stories. We sat down, Phil in the living room and you had your AK-47 over there. You had your Bible. Just in case. It's actually an AR. Oh, sorry, AR. Sorry, AR-40s. I don't know my guys. I think the AKs may be illegal, so we don't want to get into that. Oh, yeah. Okay. But you had that and then you had your ice team and you had the scripture. And we were sitting there and you would just start telling me stories. And I'd be like, all that actually is part of your life.

It's like I never saw that on the show. We heard you pray and exhibit, you know, faith. So I said, we need to at the beginning of the Duck Commander Bible put in those life transformation stories and just tell that as well. And that was life transforming for me. The production company decided when we thanked our God for the meal we were going to have. And just out of biblical reading, I ask you this, Father, in the name of Jesus, through Jesus I pray, amen. So they came to us and somebody said, they're cutting that part out. They're not running that.

I said, why would they not run? Thank you for this food, Father, in the name of Jesus, our Lord, amen. Why would they not, what would they have against that? They said, well, it would make people maybe of other religions. It would embarrass them. And since they don't believe that, I said, but see, we do believe it. So I said, well, we had such a big Hindu audience. Jesus goes out of the prayer.

It was an unknown audience, you know, the Hindus. I said, since you're all going to pull Jesus out. of a prayer, you can just pull me out at the same time. She'd call her to wrap. That's good. They said, well, woo, wheezy now. Well, they have a little meeting. They have a little meeting.

They said, oh, the show must go on. So we'll allow that. So my prayer, after they said, okay, you can pray in the name of Jesus. My prayer was, they said, it's time for the prayer now for your meal. So I said, everyone bow their heads, please. And I offered a proud, and during the prayer, I said, Father, these people are trying to weed your son out that you sent to die for us. And I would pray that you grant them repentance until you burn them in hell unless they change our mind.

And I said, I pray this in the name of Jesus too. Amen. Well, when I looked up, the Femkew was like, their eyes were like, they were like, what in the world? They said, Mr. Robinson, could you do it one more time and maybe tone it down a little? that's what we were dealing with when we were dealing with people coming out of Los Angeles, California, and New York City. Well, I remember, Phil, in the first couple of episodes, you had recorded them, filmed them, and you didn't see it until they were airing. And they bleeped words to make it look like you all were swearing. So that they think that I called them out.

I said, what kind of mine when you finish it? a group of individuals who never used profanity, what kind of mind would insert like you were used in profanity? I said, what kind of mind is that? The joke of it was one of them, they bleeped out, was Corey, who would be the least likely person to curse in the universe, you know, so it was so ridiculous. They only did it one episode. They just had never seen a family group where no one used profanity.

And by the way, the sound man came to me and he said, I'm straining. I know you're cursing a little. Everybody curses. But I'm straining. I've got y'all all miced up and I've got a computer board I'm looking at. He said, but I'm not hearing it. So I found myself straining to hear a word of profanity. He said, after six months, I've come to a conclusion that there's going to be, we all

we do is our speech is vow of the people who are filming y'all. But y'all, you don't care. Why? Well, what's, what's all that about? I said, I'll tell you about that this afternoon. We'll sit down. Well, I told him the gospel of Jesus. Jesus died for you, dude, was buried and raised from the dead. And he's like, whoa. He said, I've never heard that before. He said, really? So I go through the gospel with him, and he was converted and caused me from time to time. I still stay in contact with him. He was converted not because of what he heard, but because of what he wasn't hearing. Why don't you use profanity?

We do. What's the deal with that? He had no idea why. He just wondered about it. Which we made that point before. Sometimes you impact people not by what you say, but what you don't say. or not being negative or not being complaining or whatever. So the Bible that we did is, speaking of versions, it's a New King James version,

which the reason we went with New King James on the Bible is because it's one of the most popular versions out there. And so that's why we went with it. And then I'd forgotten the structure, Bob, but it's 52 days with Al and then 52 days with Phil. So spread out throughout the Bible, dad and I would have these little commentary sections where we would talk about this particular word that had been searched and find it in the text. Plus conversion stories. Well, that's how we opened it. And we hadn't planned that.

But Bob, once he sat down with us in his collaborative mode. He did a great job. Oh, it was awesome. And so he was hearing these stories and he was like, man, the Bible is a book of redemption. Why don't we put that in there? Let's put those in there. So it's a devotional. It's a 30-day devotional.

And you were just telling me your aunt's done the devotional. How many times? Oh, my aunt Despy and Uncle Chris, they've gone through. that probably three times. They just, and they just, fact, I was on my way over and they said, tell, tell them how much it means to them. Because when I say it's transformational, it's inspiring, when you say you're unashamed and you tell like, for example, that story you just did, but also like the one where you guys

were doing on the door knocking campaign and the guys behind you, he's got a knife. Yeah. And he says, ma'am, if this was your last day on Earth. Yeah. Would you be prepared? If you were to die right now. I was a door knocker. We were trying to get the message out.

And I said, no one is ever home. But then I got to looking carefully, and I would see like an eye in a shade. But the door window. Dad, you don't really have the look for, you don't have a door knocking look. I thought about my whiskers, and I said, you know, I don't think they're going to, I don't think I'm going to be able to do the door knocking over a liquor store. You know, you might have that look. Knocking on the door for Jesus?

No. trust me i'm harmless i have good news no it just didn't work so we had 30 30 stories was this 30 day devotional and they were conversions of people and of course we picked the the colorful ones you know many of them they've been through the years but there's actually one about the guy who came down and sat in your living room and and he said you told him about christ and he said well i'm not going to die so i don't need this right that's right so then they took off down the road True story. True story.

Go ahead and say, tell us. And then what? Within 30 days, he had died after he, I was just trying to. It was a knife fight, wasn't it? Well, he was stabbed to death. Yeah. In a bar. In a bar.

But I tried to get him to see death is always there. The resurrection is the answer to our death problem, physical death. I was trying to get him, but he was the only individual I've ever run across that said, I got news for you. Nobody's going to tell me I'm going to die. I said, well, I'm telling you. And I said, everybody else has before us. I said, so you're going to die.

I said, but I've got good news coming here. But we argued about it for 30 minutes whether he's going to die. He finally stormed out of there. And he said, you ain't putting that on me. So he leaves because he wouldn't admit to the truth that he was going to die. He was mortal. And he could be made immortal if he would turn to Jesus. But I failed at that.

I always thought back. I said, I should have pressed him harder, but I just, you know, he just was. And the friend who brought him said, call me up and told me, said, look, the guy that said he wasn't going to die, I said, yeah, he just did. I said, man, he didn't, he didn't, I said, it was almost like God sent him. He had an opportunity. One last time. Wow. You better deal with it.

That's the old thing about you better be ready, right? And think about it without the resurrection. This would be a lonely existence on planet Earth with no hope. That's exactly right. Because you don't. You never know. Let's take a break. Well, so there's a lot of that in the Bible.

And that's what people have loved about it. I still, Bob, every time I go places, especially if I'm speaking in a church, I always take some with me and people love them, you know, because it's kind of a part of our history in the show and all that. But people have really loved it. So it was the first time we met you, and you and I have stayed in contact. And we've done a couple other project. when you were working at Focus on your second run, we did a couple of things there.

We did a Christmas book. Yeah, I don't think the conversion stories aspect of it. I don't think that had ever been done, had it? Mm-mm. Yeah, I would think. Well, and the idea was the reason we put it at the beginning is before you even get to Genesis 1 and the text of the Bible, the Bible is the story of redemption in changing lives. So the idea is here's 30 people that, you know, except for this one.

guy. There's 29 out of 30 people that lives were changed because of what's in this book. So it really makes perfect sense that it went together. That was a microcosm of thousands. That's right. Since then, thousands. Right. Thousands. And then one of the things I appreciate about Bob is he, so when Lisa and I wrote Desperate Forgiveness, which was kind of our follow up to a new season, the show was over. So we kind of lost our big platform, you know, publishers a little like, you know, what have you done for me lately, you know, kind of a situation. And I was getting so frustrated because we had a really solid book about forgiveness. And it was, and it was, you know, it was a continuation of our story. But then it was all the people we have interacted with, amazing stories of forgiveness. I mean, people that just went through terrible

things with a parent, with a son, with, you know, a couple. And so I was real frustrated. So I sent Bob a note. And I'm like, Bob, apparently, I'm going about this the wrong way, because I cannot get this book, you know, too, I can't get a published. I'm going to self-publish, I guess. And so you said, well, you gave me some advice. And then you said, hey, give me a call because I might have something we could work out. And so you wound up helping us publish it through folks on the family, which has now created a great relationship with us and Jim Davy and all those guys. So I thank you for that, Bob, because that book, we got it out there because of your help. So we wouldn't have otherwise. Well, I mean, that's the thing is that years ago, I had written

a book called, in fact, they brought a copy for you all. It's called The Devil and Pew Number 7. This is a true story that took place. And the author ended up on a New York Times bestseller and it was on the Dr. Phil show and Sony optioned it for a movie. But the devil and pew number seven, the theme of it, because every book, when you talk about the book writing process, you want to say you start with the audience. What is it you want to make or provide for them? Start with the outcome. And then you move towards that. Well, the devil and pew number seven, the true story. Becky Alonzo says, my need for God trumped my need to be mad at God for what had happened to her family through that story, which is a true story. And I thought about that. It's like

forgiveness is the language of heaven. And we need to be fluent in that. Well, having done that book 10 years before the Desper Forgiveness book came along, I'm already in on that because I had lingered two years writing that. And I thought, if he wants to bring forgiveness into into a relationship between a husband and wife, and there's so many ways to go sideways, you take any current event today, people, they're threadbare. We need his forgiveness desperately, but we need to forgive each other desperately. So that's why I was all in on that. Oh, yeah, which is really great. And then as Bob said, his family, he and his family were impacted by your time working with us because you had never seen it quite the way.

way that we do it and we presented it. And so, uh, dad said this morning when you first got here is that I love an honest man. Because at the end of you, said, you know what? I think my family and I need to, you know, recommit our lives to, you know, what we've been talking about for this. And then that, the neat thing about working on a project with spiritual content is you never leave that void. I mean, you're always going to, that's when God's going to work on you. And so we actually baptize Letitia, your wife, own in the woods on an episode of In the Woods. You Remember? Because we showed the Bible study and then we were baptized.

And then your daughter was baptized as well. And then Danny and Bobby are my last two, the youngest two, need done. When they go on down the river. Well, one of them said it. They told Bob they were like, hey, y'all all got baptized down there, but what about us? And Bob's like, well, we can probably work something. So, Phil's still down there. The river might be a little cold this time of year.

That seems like that. I don't know about that. Of course. And then the famous. teal swat. The last great till hunt we had was the day Bob and his daughter were here, we were filming something for that Christmas book. And remember, they were out behind the blind watching. You observed the till. He observed it. That's right. He thinks every tail hunt is like that. I said, Bob, that was like one every decade that's like that. Remember those huge bunches

were coming in, 75, 100? Bam, bow, bow, bow, wow. It was something, but Bob was there for that. We're coming out with another book, and it's about a lot of what Bob just said about people who pass judgment on others. Right. And they're guilty of the same thing they're charging someone else with. Right. There's no forgiveness. If you made a mistake 200 years ago, we're never going to forgive you for that. And we will hate you.

And being bittered and divide people over. Yeah. That's the basis of our next book. Which we're going to talk about on the next podcast. Uncanceled. Uncanceled, which is really good. So, Zach, I was going to ask you, you said before we came on that Jason inspired you for something. So I want to hear what you got.

Because we were talking about last time on the podcast we were in Matthew 15, I think, in 16. 16. Yeah, they were in 16. So what's your inspiration? We want to hear this this morning because. Well, he got on the whole kick about the first. weather reporters, right?

In Matthew 16, where where was that earlier here at the beginning? It says, yeah, the Pharisees and Sadducees came up. By the way, I read the NASB, so I don't use the NIV 84 version. So I'm the only one I think doesn't. But I grew up reading that. So I still, when I, sometimes when I'm preaching

and if I'm quoting scripture, I always quote in the 84 NIV, but I read now because when I did some masters, M-Div courses, they had us use the NASB, so that's what I transitioned to. But anyways. I use that when I study too, Zach, because that's a good version. You know, I use different. Yeah, and I like the ESV as well.

No, I was looking about it because I was thinking, what does this mean at the end of it when he talks about the sign of Jonah? We didn't really talk about that when he says that evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign will not be given except for the sign of Jonah, and he left him and went away. But I went back and read that whole context again. And I found something really cool in here, you know, of kind of Jesus' argument here, which is so it's interesting what he's saying.

He says, the Pharisees and Sadducees came up and testing Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. So they want to see a sign, which, man, well, I think our culture can certainly relate to that. And he replied to them, when it's evening, you say. say that it will be fair weather for the sky is red, and in the morning, there will be a storm today for the sky is red and threatening. Do you not know how to discern the appearance of the, excuse me, do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times? I think Jesus is making a point here that they had all the capacity to make

predictions about things using, you know, this kind of Western logic or just, you can look at, they didn't have any problem with information and discerning it. What their problem was, which is this whole thing we've been getting at it, in this whole text of Matthews, they had a heart issue. And I was thinking about that verse in Romans 1. I think Phil quoted it yesterday on the last podcast that men suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. That's how truth gets suppressed.

And I think that's what Jesus is getting out here with these Pharisees, is that their heart was wicked. It didn't matter. You could give them all the right information. It didn't matter because they had the right information. They had the scriptures, but they continued to deny the person of Jesus. Now, I was just thinking about that in our current cultural climate, you know, how we tend to have to have the right information.

We think we need the right information when really what we need is a heart change. Well, going back to Phil, what you said about what the producers of Duck Dynasty did, they were just, as Zach was saying, suppressing the truth, which was that you were saying in Jesus' name for their unrighteous acts. That's correct. So that was in their heart, and that's what came out of their heart, was to not allow you to do what was in your heart. Yep. And to suppress truth.

Let's take another break. So to your point, Zach, the chapter earlier, you remember the same group of people were, you know, they were whining about the disciples not washing their hands before they ate and saying it made him unclean. And then Jesus makes the same point you're talking about. He says, it's not what goes into your body with the dirty hands that make you unclean. It's what's in there already. It's that heart. Yeah. So he made the same point both times in a different way, to your point. Plus up to this point, up to this point, they were still saying in their hearts, who is this guy? I mean, who is this person that's going around saying what he's saying,

he's the Lord of the Sabbath, and he's without sin. Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? He asked them that in John 8. Right. Because he said, if you follow my teaching, you'll know the truth, and it'll set you free. and they're like, set us free from what? We're not slave to anyone. He said, yeah, you are.

So he told him about sin, but leading up the prelude about who he is, that's why right before he gets to the point on what he's going to do, die, be buried and raised from the dead. Before that all came about, he brings in his church that will be established, which is basically the kingdom of God. Peter's going to open the door to it in Acts chapter 2 when they say, what do we do? Because Peter reminded them, he said, you kill the author of life. You've killed the Messiah, but God is raising from the dead.

They were just devastated. These same people in Matthew 16, when after Jesus died was buried and raised from the dead, it was a complete new ballgame. You think about this at the end of that little passage here in Romans 6, I mean, Matthew 16, the sign of Jonah is just that. It's the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. Jonah was in the belly of a well for three days, which is kind of this symbol or this foreshadowing of Jesus

who was in the belly of the earth for three days and was resurrected. So if you think about the context of what he's getting at here is what they're saying is, give us the right information. If you give us the right information, give me the sign. signs so that I can see it. So then I'll use my rational faculty to look at the signs that you're providing. And then I'll, you know, based on logic, I'm going to make the right choice. And Jesus is like, no, you won't. You won't make the right choice. Because you can, you're making the right choice when it comes to the weather. But when it comes to the times of the sign, you, you guys aren't

seeing it. He said, I'm not going to give you any sign. You want a sign? Here's the sign. The sign of Jonah. You're going to see it. When I'm, when I come out of the ground, that'll be the sign. And they even and He reminded us of that when we talked to the Corinthians. God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs. He's alluding to what he was wrestling with. Matthew recorded, Mark recorded it, Luke recorded it, John recorded. They just said, show us another sign.

Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is what Jesus said. here's what I'm fixing to do. And he told him, he said, we're going up to Jerusalem. And these people I'm arguing with, they're going to hand me over to the Romans and they're going to slaughter me. I mean, everyone was looking at each other saying,

because that's the first time he said, here's my mission. Here's what I'm going to do. Well, that's why I'd ask him just a little while earlier. Who do they say I am now? What are they coming? And they just went down the list. The disciples, well, some say you're John the Baptist,

Some say you're one of the prophets, you know. What about you, though? Who do you say I am? And Peter was the one that said, you're the Messiah, the Christ, the son of the living God. On this rock, I'll build my church. And by the way, Peter, I'm going to give you the keys to open the gate to the kingdom of God, which is what they had been hollering about. 133 times, I'll bring that up again.

The kingdom of God is mentioned in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are many to this day who are still waiting on the kingdom, and here we sit, a couple of rednecks and old Bob DeMoss from up the country. We're members of the kingdom. We're trying to get them to see it. It's like pulling teeth. Yeah, well, if you can get a city slicker like me, you can get anybody. All types are brought in.

That's right. From the homeless to the Bob DeMosses, the Bible makers, and all in the rednecks, you say, they all come together under one head. It's a beautiful thing to watch, isn't it, Al? It is. And, you know, Zach, one of the things I like about Jonah as the foreshadow, you go back and read Jonah. By the way, it's a great reads.

Well, it's only four chapters, but it's an amazing story. And Jesus is the one that made the comparison of three days in the fish and three days in the earth. But Jonah, it's almost like God has a sense of humor because he uses a, as a reluctant, a person as there was on the planet, to go. preach to these wicked people. Look, the people that he went to preach to in Nineveh. These were the ones in history that when they finished a place, it was a pyramid of skulls. That's when they went in and wiped somebody. That's how vicious they were. So the whole world hated these people. And so did

Jonah. And he was like, I don't want to go. And he did everything he could to not go tell them that judgment was about to come. It's not going to do any good. Right. He was like, and so then after he the fish spits him out, he's on the beach, he's all bleached out, he's lost his hair, he looks terrible, he's preached the message that God told him to preach, and they start coming to repentance. And he's sitting there mad because he's wanting fire of judgment to fall down on these people. Burn them all. But Jesus compares his message, because the message was the same, and the way he did it

to this reluctant person, and is such the opposite of Jesus who came here, knowing what would happen to him. You know, there's a really interesting sidebar on this whole story. So when I was working at Focus on the Family making a new Kids Bible, the Adventures in Odyssey Bible, my son Danny said, well, what if you were to have like a map of the Old Testament times and have key events marked on the map? So we did, we pulled it together, and then they wrote the town of Nineveh. And I'm looking at that, and I'm thinking, wait a second, why is it inland like, like a hundred miles or some numbers. They long walk.

It's not. Jonah got spat up on the beach. Right. And there's Nineveh. So he's just going to, you know, he just had a long, a multi-day journey in which to change his mind. I had never seen that. Yeah.

Because so often, right, we have this conversion experience or this aha. Yes, God, your way or the highway. And then we get a little bit of a little space, a little distance. And then it starts to wear off. And then we start to like, well, I don't. know about, I just thought he was vomited on the land. Boom. There's Nine of a and he preached. But he had a lot of opportunity to be tested on how serious he was about proclaiming what God told him to do. Yeah. And he didn't want to do it. I mean, there's no doubt. Let's take another break.

But that happens a lot, Zach. And we talked about Hebrews. Really, the whole book of Hebrews is about the foreshadowing of Jewish law and the temple and everything and how it all pointed to. And we're to Jesus that he now would fulfill all those things. He is the high priest. He is the lamb. He, you know, all of it. You know, he is the curtain because it's been ripped, you know, so now everybody has access.

So it's all those things from the Old Testament, which is why you have to look at the Bible in totality. Most people don't understand that. They don't ever go to the Old Testament because they're like, well, you know, that's old stuff. That's the old law. That doesn't concern us. But you miss all of this laying the groundwork for who Jesus is and what He did.

I mean, it's all part of that same puzzle that comes together, which is pretty powerful. Well, it still speaks to the condition of all humans. I mean, you know, there's like these certain themes that just kind of run through the Bible that they're from start to finish. And I think one of the big things that I talk about a lot is the human tendency to focus on the things of God, I said this last week, rather than the God of the things. And I think that's the big thing that's going on. here in this Matthew 16 story is that you got these people that are focusing on the information

that they can get from God as opposed to the formation. It is really more about formation than information. You can give somebody the right information, but at the end of the day, we're going to do what we want to do. And I think that's one of the areas in the church that we've not really hit on is the level of desire. And a lot of people listen to this podcast, you know, they're like, man, I got the right information, but man, my heart's still pretty wicked and I still want to do all the wrong stuff. And I think that what Jesus is offering is more like an apprenticeship. He's offering a

formation of, to change you and change who you are. And he does it. I love that, how he ends that whole thing with the gospel itself. He does it through the gospel by us. Not only did Jesus die, John went in the belly of the well, stayed for three days, and came out. Jesus went in the belly of the earth, stayed for three days and came out. And then we, just like Jesus, that's what baptism symbolizes is we are, we're buried in baptism with Christ, Roman 6. So we're reenacting his gospel. We die under the water symbolically and then we're raised out to live a new life. So we actually participate in this same gospel that Jesus is proclaiming right here. Yeah, that's beautiful. It's a beautiful story. And the results were the same in Nineveh as they have been since Jesus

was resurrected. Because those people repented. I mean, the message of God worked. Even through a reluctant messenger, the message was still powerful enough to impact people. So I thought it was interesting to close out that section of Matthew 16 that he tells the disciples to be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And, you know, the idea that it's a little thing put in, but then it grows, you know, through the dough is the concept. You got to watch these guys because if you don't. recognize it for who they are, you'll let a little of that come back in, a little of that

legalism, a little of that. He mentioned that when he said, you dillensily studied the scriptures, and you think by them you'll be saved, but the scriptures are about me. Me. And you miss me. And you miss me. That's exactly right. It's profound. It's amazing, really. So we've talked about this, and I mentioned this yesterday, that we kind of, we're in the

bash mode of the disciples because they're not getting it still. In fact, the Canaanite woman, as we talked about in the last podcast, she gets it before they did. She got it. He said, this woman's a great faith. They come back and they say, it's because we forgot the bread. That's why he's talking about the yeast. I mean, I totally missed it. So the disciples are, every

time they're challenged with something for Jesus, like, okay. You know, they don't get it when they're trying to figure it out. So he kind of chews them out. And then he says, how is it in verse 11? You don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread. Get off the bread.

Be on your guard against the east of the Pharisees and the Saddies. Then it said they understood he was not telling him to guard against the yeast, used him bread, but against the teaching. So it took a while, but he finally penetrated, you know, their view of what was going on, which sets up where he's going. The very ones who were chosen by him that saw the miracles, that heard the arguments, when Peter and John ran to the empty tomb, he said, I'm going to die. I go up to Jerusalem.

I'm going to die, and I'm going to be buried and raised from the dead in three days. Yep. Peter was arguing with it. That's never going to happen. Right. I mean, the very thing that saved the world, Peter's sitting there saying,

ain't going to happen. Down at the bottom of chapter 20 of John, they still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. All the way to the tomb, they were still saying, how could this be? going to happen. It was right there in front of them. I mean, literally in front of them.

It took them that long. By the way, in that last little section, I think it's in Luke, that last little section, let me read this right quick. Check this out. What is it, Luke what? This is the last wordage in Luke, 24. He opened their mind so they could understand the scriptures, because up to then, even at the resurrection, and they were like, I don't know about it. He told them this is what is written.

The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. I've been telling you all this ever since Matthew recorded it about halfway through. Mark waited about halfway through. Then he brings it up. Luke the same way, John the same way. So he said, the Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance and forgiveness of sins be preached in his name to all nations. which it has, beginning in Jerusalem in Acts 2, the kingdom coming, the message ringing out from them.

You're all witnesses of these things. I'm going to send you what my father has promised the spirit, but stay in the city until you've been clothed at Pyrr on High. So that's the lead-up to the official unveiling of the kingdom of God. And like he said, we'll be preached to all the nations. It's gone to every one of them all the way. Every nation has heard it. Pretty powerful. Yep.

All right. Let's take our last break. Yeah, I love what you said there about the Jesus opening their eyes so they could see the scripture. I think that's one thing we want to leave out sometimes. You're not going to see the truth of the gospel until the Holy Spirit illuminates your heart and opens you up to be able to see that. And I think that's what Jesus is also getting at, Matthew 16, that you've got the right information. And this is biblical.

you go to like you can't discern apostles in 1st Corinthians I think one or two that you can't discern spiritual things unless you're a spiritual man so God has to open you up to even see what this is you don't you can't discover this on your own

our intellect is too corrupted by by unrighteousness we've already suppressed the truth it was a hard cell 2,000 years ago and it's still a hard sale it's just a hard sell it's just the way it is.

You know, I will say one thing that's really, because we've been talking about this and the application, right? There's the what and the so what? So if Christ has done this transformation in us, the so what? The life change that like we chronicled in the Duck Commander Bible. The life changes, each of us has a story to tell. And the neat thing is these days we have tools at our disposal to publish, whether it's this new series that you guys have here, which is just, I love this, Phil, the C plus gospel, C plus gospel. I love that. But it's lets them know it's not rocket science. Yeah, yeah. But we each, so people who are

watching the podcast or listening, you know, we have stories and there are tools at your disposal that you can self-publish these days and do your own story that maybe, maybe it's not going to be a New York Times bestseller, but can it be a bestseller within your circle of influence? So, have some time, take some time to say, how has Christ changed my life? And it doesn't have to be a heavy Bible study. So, like, Phil, I brought this book, Hazel the Outlaw Mummy. It sounds like, what does that got to do with anything? This is a short story that goes into this question of why do we hold on to things that should have been buried a long time ago. And it's like an Aesop's fable. It's a story based on some experiences that I had, which are just remarkable. The story

I just blow you away. But the point is that I can self-publish this on, I don't need to go get a contract and an agent and all that stuff. Anybody with a story where they experienced some life changed or an insight can now, they have the tools to go do that. And I'd love to see a whole cadre of disciples of Christ telling stories of life change that's unique to them, just like Phil, you say your story, which is unique to. you of your transformation. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard

through the Word of Christ. That's right. And Revelation 1211, they overcame the evil one by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony, the stories they tell, and they didn't love this life so much that they would shrink back, even from death. So if you're willing to be all in and you're willing to share the victories of God in your life. I agree 100%. And there are ways now to get stories and your story out that you didn't have before, which is fascinating. Do you want me to jump into this first? Just a sec.

So, for example, I have a songwriting friend and pastor in Nashville, Tennessee, Bobby Price. So Bobby said, I have this idea for what if Satan had a diary where he kept nothing. notes on how he works to distract us. So he said, well, we're going to, we're going to create, so I said, well, let me help you tell that story. So we create this thing that's called the devil's diary. And this is just a proposal, just like I had proposed to you guys on the Duck Commander Bible. And so within the, within something like this, because this is just an idea, it's not, nobody owns it yet or published it yet. We're like, let's, let's put two different covers. Let's let people decide, well, what cover would make sense. So this is like an inspirational

piece to go get a larger publishing deal versus, say, a self-publishing deal. We have tools at our disposal. And this was just made at a local print shop, you know, in terms of the printing of it. So then we can then take something like that and sell our ideas to producers or publishers or filmmakers or whatever to tell the story. We have tools today that we do. We have tools today that we did not have years ago that we can get people fired up about, I'd like, I'd like to be a part of it. I've been impacted by that. And so it's just really an exciting time to be a believer, to be able to use the power of story and the power of scripture and our own testimonies to convey and not be Jonah about it and not start to say, well, you know, I'm not a writer. I don't know. If God gave you

a story, he gave it for a reason, be a good steward of that story. That's right. Good point. and mentor people. So Jim, I was on the phone with him yesterday before you got here. He's the president of focus. And he was telling me that you had been working some with his son. His son was writing a novel. And he said, you know, Bob took him to dinner and gave him some pointers and, you know, stuff like that and structure. So is there, and I'm putting you on the spot here, is there, if someone had a question from

our audience about writing, is there some way they can reach you? Do you have like a website, an email? Well, my website is Bob DeMoss.com. Okay. So they can go there. It's a little form if they want to send in. It shows you stuff. Yeah, yeah.

It shows some of the books. I've had a chance to. Because you've written a lot of stuff. About 50. I've collaborated on about 50 books. I don't have them all up. But I still love because we're headed into Christmas, for example. Yeah.

And Phil, that story, the story of the fireplace and your house almost burning down coming on. I mean, that story just pulls you right in. And you have those advent meditations leading up to Christmas. Plus, everyone has a story. of some sort. Yeah. You know. Yeah.

From the least to the greatest. There's a story behind it. Well, and it's interesting because our family has always been a family of storytellers. And it really goes back. I mean, my grandpa wasn't a man of many words, but when he did talk, he told great stories. You know, Paul would tell us those. And, of course, so he told us the same ones many, many times, which helped me remember them. Yeah.

But even my granny was the same way. She told a ton of stories about family and about people. And so me being the oldest in our family, I was kind of the historian and held on to those stories. But they don't do any good if I don't tell them to my grandkids. To this day, Al, they kind of broke it down and said, you're kind of the director of the podcast. Then Jace is the storyteller. And I'm just kind of back over here just throwing out a little information. You're the one they love to hear from, though.

The biggest complaint on our podcast is that Jason interrupts you too much. And then Zach tries to be too smart. But I tell him all the time, I said, Zach's not trying to be smart. He is smart. He's the smartest out of our quartet. He's got to look about him. He does.

What Jace do? Jace interrupted himself yesterday. So that was a first. That was classic. I mean, and I said it at the time. You know that you interrupt a lot when you interrupt yourself and then acknowledge the interruption, which he did. That's like a squirrel moment, right?

Not only did he acknowledge it, he was mad at himself for interrupting himself. So he actually offended himself. I don't know why I keep doing this. He actually, he actually offended himself and then chastised himself. All this happened. All this happened. It was beautiful. It was such a beautiful unfolding of events.

So, Zach, I don't know that you, I don't think you were on the episode, a few episodes back. I read a letter that I had written to my great grandmother when I was six years old in 1971. because it still had the seal on it, you know, when it was male. So I knew how old I was. And in the letter, you know, it was like a six-year-old would write. I mean, I told her I loved her. I was telling her about the cats and the dogs.

And then I said, Jason is still mean, but I guess that's the way it is with little brothers. I wrote this at six. What was amazing? And I read it on air. And Jason is sitting there. I said, what's amazing, Jay's, you were not even two. and I was remarking on how bad

your demeanor was at two. So now you're 52. He was, so he was mean at two years old? Yeah. He was just like he is now at two. Oh,

absolutely. I mean, it's recorded. I said it in a letter to my great-grandmother. I wouldn't have lied to her. And so I told us that mom has been vindicated

because she said from the moment you came out of the womb, you started arguing with her. And you've been arguing ever since. That's what, did she not say that? Storyteller, that's what they say he is. Everybody's got a role.

I've got a, I've got a, see, a 13-year-old boy who likes to argue. And Missy and Mia came in town a few weeks ago. And, of course, Bear comes out. He just starts into his whole deal. And I'm looking at Missy. She's just kind of like her, like just watching him for about 10 minutes of him just arguing. And she said, my goodness, you are Jace Robertson made over. and he asked me later, how am I like Jay's Dad?

I said, that was not a compliment. That was not a compliment. Well, I'm going to tell you right now, I blame your lovely wife, who's one of my favorite people, Jill Dasher. She's made a few mistakes, and one of them was naming him after Bear Bryant. You get what you do. You created that and created another, Jace, by name after Bear Bryant. She's never done that.

That's child abuse outside of the state of Alabama. Lack of judgment on my part, for sure. I should have. All right, we're out of time. Bob, welcome, welcome here. You're going to go build us a Greek salad. Yeah, I'm going to make a lot of bigger. Bob makes the best Greek salads. They're amazing and they're beautiful on top of that. Well, I will tell that, I will say this. When we were working on the Bible, Phil just looked at me as this Bible maker guy. And as soon as he headed forth into the kitchen, and I picked up a knife, my cachet with Phil went up.

You got it. I'm handling the knives. He said, you rose in stature over one Saturday. I'm like, Yeah, okay. So we're going to record another podcast. We're going to bring Gordo in, and we're going to let you go build us to sound. Sounds great. Thanks for having me, y'all. You're welcome. Thanks, Bob.

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