Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 668 | Jase Takes Issue with Toilet Tissue & Phil’s Backwoods Advice for Your Bum

Episode Date: April 19, 2023

Jase has a bone to pick with certain toilet paper companies, but Phil has a crazy solution! The guys name all the reasons West Monroe is a town known for its pungent odors, and Jase gets accused of being an impersonator – of HIMSELF! Zach lays out the evolution of God’s dwelling with and in us. In this episode: John 15 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashame. We were going to enjoy our last podcast. Icky did well by bringing in Frank Turrick. That was a good call. I guarantee you. He fit the unashamed audience. I'm a big fan of Frank. I just, I was so stunned when he brought out the Hollywood heroes. He wrote that book. I knew you were going to like that. When I saw that book title, I thought Jason's going to like that. So what's funny is after he did that, because I browsed through the book. And so he had used the same analogies I saw, Iron Man, Marvel, Wonder Woman.

They all have these supernatural qualities that show a hint of sacrifice. You know, they're going to sacrifice themselves for the good of others, but they're imperishable so they can't die. I'm like, yep, sounds familiar. So then I said, have you ever thought about writing another book on retail? And he was like, what do you mean retail? So I brought up my bed about the toilet paper controversy, you know. I said, you know, Angel Soft Tollet Paper. He's like, I'm not following you.

I said, how did the creators of that toilet paper know the degree of the celestial softness? Therefore, they could name their toilet paper Angel Soft. Are they doing that? because they believe in the celestial beings or are they using that principle? Who doesn't love angels as long as they're friendly? To sell toilet paper. So then I said one of their competitors

noticed that. So they came up with the eternal role. I think it's Charmin that does that. I know it's as big as a wagon wheel. I'm saying it's not eternal. They just used the name. Right. I noticed, Chase, there was a story out last week

that I think it started with some environmentalists, but basically they're trying to get rid of toilet paper in America. And so they're wanting everybody to go to the bidet toilet seats where everything is done sands toilet paper to water cleaning now. Yeah, it's making me nausea cell. But I'm just saying it's a thing, which... No, they're doing that with everything. It's like now some places have the strong.

straw, it's made of paper. Right. But it is literally perishable. It wills in your glass. You can't even finish your glass. By the time you're drinking the last bits of your tea with the new straw, you're ingesting the paper fragments of the straw in with your tea. Yeah.

It's a dissolvable straw that dissolves in the bowel track. And then you're looking for some angels. Bad idea. That's more. satanic salt. I made that connection for you. But I, so he was enamored by my interest. He's like, you know, I never have thought about it.

I was like, I mean, Forever 21, right? And he's like, do what? I was like, it was a brand of clothes. They went bankrupt. But the people that I know, like, he wasn't laughing. I was like, you're not getting the concept. How could a company call Forever 21 go bankrupt? He's like, oh, I get what you're saying.

It was all a lie. It was a lie to take your money. And so they use it in advertising, they use it in the movies, they do all that. And then if you actually say, look, we actually have a being that is imperishable. And he will save you forever. His nickname is I am. They're like, oh, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I'm like, well, you use all his principles in making.

living. Yeah. You sell those principles. Yep. So tell me whose side is better. That's true. No, it's true. It's a fact.

It would kill the Hollywood industry if they couldn't make movies surrounding good and evil or the imperishable or the impossible. Couldn't do it. But if they go to the bidet, it'll end your problem with them because there'll be no more need for angels of them.

Well, I would be fair with that, but I guarantee you they're fighting it. My problem is that. So your sister has one. They swear about it. Now Anna has, my daughter has one. They swear about it. That's what?

You're back on the commode? The bidet. Yeah. So Lisa bought one had it put on to our commode lid, but I'm afraid to use it. I think that's a fair assessment. You know why you're afraid of that? I'm afraid. We were raised in a culture where one of the things, right after the birds and the bees

talk, Phil. remember this. I think I was eight when he gave that and it never left my brain. He also set out all the leaves in a ranking order of when an emergency happens. What would be the best leaf? And the ones you want to avoid for sure. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Had those. Yeah. Had those. You remember that, Phil? Oh, yeah. I mean, Phil's an expert using leaves in ways you've never. I think I may be too old to try the bidet because I've been doing it the same way. I only bring that up because in a moment of crisis, when the urge hits you, sometimes you can't go very far until you've got big problems down your britches and legs.

So it's best to know the type tree and to move swiftly as you can. You taught us. You did. I told you. You did. This is a weird segue into going into high. You don't want to walk down through the woods and think. I think you're single-handed.

You can't do it. Yeah, be careful with the leaves that have vines on them. That's your segue right there. Poison Ivy is real. Yeah, it's real. You don't want to go there. And Poison I don't want to. They got one up here called Poison Sumac that Max got into when we first moved here.

And you want to talk about just. Oh, yeah. I mean, his first day at school, his face and everywhere, well, everywhere. I won't say it. I mean, it got everywhere. Well, what I didn't know. until in my marriage life that this stuff is transferable, even if you're not allergic. Oh, you're passing on.

Oh, yeah. Well, you notice how I said that. I didn't notice that until my married life. I spent a day in the woods, and then I got home, you know. Oh, boy. Do what married people do. And the next morning, it's like, what have you done to me? I'll let you fill in the blanks.

Oh, boy. Yeah, poison ivy is transferral. Maybe it did go down that road. I was just saying play it safe because there are some things you don't want to clean. I can't even see Maddie, but I can feel her glowing from over. Yeah, I'm not joking. It's transferable to human contact. So if you and your wife had date night and you had been in the woods and had Poison Ivy,

wherever your hands go or where, you know, it's. You just think about it when you go back in time before all. these latest inventions when it came down to your members of certain Indian tribes, you're in the middle of nowhere. There's not a lot of trees. There's not a lot of, there's no paper, no, no leaves. It's pretty well dust and rock. But in some parts of the country.

That was probably the, that was probably the reason for a move. I'm not sure how they managed all that, but I mean. They moved to where there were some trees. I had to been a trick to it. That would have been rude today or 200 years ago. Yeah. Could have been the early, the streams could have been the early bidetes, I guess. Yeah.

No, I think so. There's something there. How did we, how do we get on this again? I don't know. I don't know. No idea. Jay started with this angel soft thing and it just took me down that road. Well, I mean, there's metaphors in the Bible, and we're in the I-Am series,

and I was just thinking of the many things we use from trees. I mean, there's a paper plant just up the way. I actually, you can smell it if you drive by. Oh, I just thought about that. So I figured out why, because I'm traveling a lot back and forth into Monroe, because y'all don't ever leave. Well, you do a little bit. I don't ever leave.

I'm gone all the time. Well, you are now. That's right. But before you were. So I figured out. because, you know, Rustin is getting a Buckees. Did you know that, Jayes? I don't know what that is.

Buckees. Buckees. Oh, yeah, I know the Buckees. Yeah, Buckees is like a convenience store on steroids. It's like a, it's like Super Walmart. Oh, I've seen it. Yeah, it's, it's a. It's quite the spectacle.

It's quite the spectacle. Have you seen one, Jays? Oh, I've seen it from a distance. And here's why. If you're a recognizable human being, you don't want to go there. I stay away from where people gather. Just because not that I don't love people because I do. It's like, why put yourself in a situation if you're on a trip or travel?

Well, I went once and not even about that, about being recognized, but just the traffic and getting in and out of it is, I mean, it's a convenience store that's the size of a super Walmart. It's unbelievable. But it's a cool concept. Anyway, so they're putting one in. and rusted. And so everybody's, oh, man, why didn't we get one in, you know, West Monroe instead of Rustin? But I figured it out. So if you're coming into, you're coming into Monroe on I-20.

And the first thing, just as you're entering into town, they now have the landfill out there. They put these little gas deals in it out there. And it's right on I-20. So for about a mile stretch, they're venting gas off of our landfill. And it's settling into that area right around I-20. And it's the most putrid, terrible smell that you can imagine. It's just straight methane. Oh, it's just, it's worse than the paper mill. It's awful.

It's pretty bad. It's bad. So I'm saying this. So you're coming. Oh, Monroe, Louisiana. I've heard about that. That's where the dynasty guys were going to run. And then you're gagging for a mile.

And you can't even hold your breath that. So the moral of the story is if you come through that. stretch now. Hold your breath. When you see the sign that says, like the tunnel game, you know. That's right.

When you see those, those you coming in, when you see Millhaven, start holding your breath and don't let go again until you hit them all. If you don't pass out, you're good. But here's why we didn't get a Bucky's.

So that's, once you get to the red lobster, you're good. Red Lobster, you have to make it to the, but here's the problem, those are that. So you catch your breath and you're like, who,

that was rank. And then you hit the Washhtaw River and your I thought, well, this is a pretty river. And then you take another big, deep breath. And then the paper mill hit you. To your point, Jay's. Yeah.

They're making the paper. They're all that. Well, it's a sulfur smell. And we're used to it. But still, it's pretty rank, especially at certain time of day. Our friends that work there, they always told me that that smells like money. Right. That's what that smell.

That's what I said to my lovely wife when I was in the fishing industry. That's right. Man, you stink. I said, it smells like money to me. So here's my theory. Here's my theory. So somebody's coming through and they've had this experience of the landfill. Then they get the double whammy of the mill.

And so they're thinking, do I stop here in Westville? No or not. They're like, nope, I'm going to keep going until I get to Rustin. That's why Rustin got the money. Well, I'm thankful now. That's why we didn't get the Buckees. Y'all brought that up. I'm thankful now that as of about a couple of years ago,

I have lost all every bit 100% smell. Can't smell anything. Can't smell anything. I mean, the house could be on fire on one end and be burning up, the smoke coming. That might have happened. Did you ever get COVID? You're not sure that you did. I don't know whether I got it or not.

I mean, I'm just in a position where I cannot smell anything. Some people lose their taste and smell. I can taste. You can taste, but you can't smell. Can't smell. But that would knock out me smelt on anything coming in on Interstate 20 away. I wouldn't smell that at all. I wonder if we could put some giant, you know those things that hang in your car, the little pine freshener?

Maybe we could put some giant ones of those along I-20 there. Yeah, we need to do something. Maybe we could look into that. Do you think Zach is that? Community project. Yeah. Just like some giant air fresheners right along I-20 there to combat that. We get some of our engineer friends working on that.

We need some redneck ingenuity. Yeah. It's not a bad plan. All right. So, Jayes, we, it feels like we've had a lot of guests on here, ladies. So we have never finished up our I Am series. I've heard a lot of good things because I've been on the road. Right.

And I, uh, speaking. Can you tell us about any of your road? I know you're filming, so you're like sworn a sequence. You know, uh, can I tell you anything of my adventures? Not really, but when one of the, days one of these days what a what a phrase that is one we only have so many days that you're on the earth certain number of days certain number of days well there'll be a day coming when all of a sudden you're going to see where I've been yep and you're going to think oh because boy once

once that damn breaks there's going to be shows they're going to Because you're wondering, how did Jace? How could he have done all this? He's like he's Johnny Cash. He's been everywhere. Yeah. I have been all over the United States of America the past few months. And it's all run together into a big mush in my brain.

So it's very hard to comment on. But I feel pretty good about it. What is your general take of people? Because now you've experienced them in different states, different cultures, you know, different ways of eating and, you know, experiencing life. What's your take now? You've got, you're kind of experiencing life across the fruit and plains. I'll tell you, the most humble thing that's happened to me is I'm surprised at how many people are listening to this podcast.

Because that's the number one thing. I mean, I'll tell you one story. So me and the producer are driving behind my wife and me. K, which is kind of weird. But, and we stopped at a Chick-fil-A. So I'm in line because everybody's taking turns because we're going, we're going to eat something, but we're also going to the bathroom. So I'm like, I'm in line, the producers, you know, in the bathroom.

So she comes out. I was like, okay, here's her spot in line. But this guy says, hey, let me ask you something. Yeah, he said, anybody ever told you you look like that guy on that duck show? I said, I get that all the time. He's like, I figured you would because I'm telling you, you are the spitting image of one of those guys.

I was like, yeah. So I was like, yeah, that's funny. So I just let it go. And so the producer, she's like, you're not going to leave that there, are you? I was like, should I tell him? So I said, okay, I'll tell. So I was like, well, I am one of the guys.

I'm Jace. And he's like, no. Now, but you look like him, but you're not him. You can't fool me. And I said, well, come on, let's take a picture and document this. He's like, why would I want to do that? I don't want to take a picture with the impersonator of a guy. And so then the person behind him said, you're wrong.

He is, that's him. And so they're showing pictures of each other, of me to each other on their phone. in front of me. They're going to the internet for the truth. Oh, yeah. And they're looking at me, looking back at their phone. And he's like, you know what? I think that is you.

It's just strange. It's bizarre. But he said, but I listen to this guy's podcast. That's why I know it's not you. And the guy I'm listening to tells these tales, it can't be true. It was the first time in my life, I was like, look, I beg you. Take a picture with me just in case I am right. He'll validate it now that you validated it for him.

He's going to listen to this podcast right now. Right. He's going to hear and say, they're talking about mail. I love it to bus people, so they see me because I look a lot different than my earlier pictures of promotional stuff. I didn't have a beard. I was thinner. And so somebody will come up and they're not sure. And usually they hear me talk and they get it from my voice.

and they're like, are you, Al? I said, well, I'm what's left of him? And so then they go to, they say, can me take a picture? And I say, yeah. And so when they turn their phone on, because it's gone to blank screen, when they turn it on, there's a picture of me and Lisa on the phone where they've looked us up on the internet because they're trying to figure out of as you before they come and ask you.

But then they still don't know, because in the picture, you know, it doesn't look like you. So that's what's funny when you kind of bust them when they're trying to figure it out if it's really who you are yeah it is well uh the uh Zach you could have just told me that Zach sent me a message i think that's the first time you've ever sent me a message while we're talking he says them to me all the time so tell jace to do this yeah that's funny but uh he went to everybody except for Phil because he doesn't have a cell phone so i just sent it to the unashamed group text so Zach and y'all are wondering why i don't have one this is why So, Phil, you're one of the few people that actually would not be offended if someone sent a text in a group text setting and you didn't get it.

That's right. Yeah, that's probably a good thing. So if Zach leaves unexpectedly, which is all the tech, because you know how busy Zach is. So I appreciate that. Well, I know. All of a sudden, if Zach goes silent, then you'll know that he's left. But we know. you leave in a hurry, I do want your take on John 15.

We've done this I-Am series, and we've had a few breaks with guests and different things. But look, I'm telling you, this is strength of my faith, just because, you know, you hear these people who say, well, why do y'all talk about Jesus all the time, or why do you all keep focusing on the gospel? And you hear these types of statements in a lot of religious environments. But now I look back on that thinking, that would be the last thing you would ever want to say. Because really you will spend the rest of your life on this earth getting to know who Jesus is, as your Lord and say. Yeah. That does not stop.

That is something that you will try to obtain and grasp until you see him again. I mean, it's heavy. And these metaphors that he did use are vast in meaning and trying to grab a halt of what he was actually trying to say. So I'll read it. Yeah. We're doing I Am the Vine, right? Yeah, yeah. And Zach, give us your tape where you've got to go.

All right. So he says in John 15, I am the true vine. and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes or cleanses, so that it will be even more fruitful. And I look that word up for prune,

and it does mean also cleansing, which is very interesting when you think about what Jesus offers us. You are already clean because, of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. That is a very profound statement.

There's a lot of profound statements in this teaching, but that is one. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and whither, such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me, in my words, remain in you. Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. This is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

As the father has loved me, so I have loved you, Now remain in my love. He continues into this saying, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my father's commands, remain in his love. I have told you this so that your joy,

so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this, love each other as I have loved you. Now you look at those texts, what you just said, When you see them put into action after you just heard what Jay said, you get the first Thessalonians chapter five, last few words. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other to everyone else.

So don't go around looking for people to say, well, you harass them. Be joyful always. Pray continually. give thanks in all circumstances. Just think about the kind of mind that would be geared and told to do this. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus,

going back to your point. Do not put out the spirit's fire. You have help when you're baptized. God seals the deal by giving you his spirit. You've got to be born again of water in the spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Well, I don't know about that. I mean, you know, time to change.

Yeah, yeah. No. Test everything. Test everything. There's a lot of information coming and going. Test it. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

You're watching the way you're operating. May God himself, the God of peace. The God of peace, there's Jesus. Sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, body, kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, he will do it. Brothers, pray for us, greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. Get this information here that we're reading in First Thessalonians. Two thousand years from the time it was written. Al, the grace of our Lord Jesus of Christ be with you. I mean, pretty amazing to say when you read these scriptures and you say, look, people, you've got to go through, be careful what you listen to, what you observe, how you reply to people. Look, it has an impact on people.

And if you coming out of that, you need to be known so that people will recognize Jesus when they see him. We're there to resent it. I would say it's everything. I love the word abiding. Four things come to mind. Genesis 1 was the garden, which is initially the place where heaven and earth met. That's where God dwelt with his people. But we chose to eat God's fruit in God's garden, but without God, which cast us out of the garden.

Then you moved to Exodus 25, verse 8, when they built it. the mobile temple called a tabernacle. The purpose of the mobile temple, according to the words of the Lord when he gave the instructions to build it, was so that he could dwell with his people. Move forward to 1st King's chapter 6, verse 12, and he gives instruction to Solomon on building a permanent temple structure for the purpose of dwelling with his people. Jesus comes on the scene in John chapter 2, says, if you destroy this temple, I'm going to rebuilt it in three days.

They did destroy the temple. He did resurrect the temple in three days. Moved to the very end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 21. And this is what it says. You mentioned this a few weeks ago. He said he came into this new city and he said, I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. So the point is that God wants to dwell with this people.

So I think this concept about abiding with God, I think it was in the narrative of Scripture from Genesis all the way to the end of Revelation. No, that's interesting because so Zach with the idea, I think of a relationship, which I think is really interesting, especially when you get into this idea of a garden, which he talks about here, he kind of puts it in that vernacular when he's talking about the idea of fruit, plants, that type of thing. but he went to the idea of starting with guardian relationship, but then showing how that the people of God sort of had that, lost it over time, but then it gained back through Christ, which is kind of interesting take on that. I hadn't thought about it quite.

Avoid every kind of evil, he told the Thessalonians. Going back to what Zach said, all this information, Jesus is the centerpiece of it all, Lowe. Right. Your view of Jesus. Right. Well, when you add all the other I-ams, he said, I am the gate, I am the good shepherd, I am the way, the truth, the life, I'm the resurrection and the life.

What am I missing? Bread of life. Yeah, I'm the bread of life. All these things, you know, that we do. Light of the world. Yeah, I'm the light of the world. All these things that we use, consume, just to live. that must be translated down to us.

Exactly. I mean, you start seeing how vital this is for a human being to claim this, there has to be a connection to him and God, which is kind of what he's saying here. He's making this example. Do you notice how many times he said, just like me and the father are, so as the father has loved me, so I have loved you.

He's showing this connection with him and the father and now with us in human beings. And you're like, is he saying what I think he's saying? So the necessary implications and inferences of this are, some of them are quite frightening. I mean, this one where it says, if you don't remain in me, you can do nothing. So. And we have the foundation. It says back to the Thessalonian, test everything as you live your life.

Test everything. You're like, well, that's weird. But it sure gave you a different way of looking at the world. Tests everything. Hold on to the good, avoid the evil. That was the purpose of Jesus saying, I am everything. Just trust him.

I'll be there. Right. So he's introducing this idea. I mean, I think most people, when they read this, they think of growth and change. And you see these, you know, because when you think of fruit,

it's usually related in the Bible to some, to character. Let me just think Galasins 522, the fruit of the spirit. Well, these are all character issue. Love, joy, peace, patience. kindness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. And so I think that's normal, you know, to think that.

You know, the fruit, he had just talked about leaving in John 14, where he said, I am the way, the truth, the life. And remember, he starts promising this counselor, this Holy Spirit, this Holy Spirit. So, and then John 15, you know, all of a sudden he starts talking about I'm the vine, and he wants me to bear fruit, you know, fruit that will last. But so I think you get into this religious debate here where you say, where people think, well, if I go out and bear a lot of fruit, I'll impress God. But he's actually not saying that.

He's saying if you're connected with me, fruit's coming. That's it. And that seems like a small subtle thing. thing. But if you're, you can go out and do a lot of good thing. That is a huge thing. It is the thing. Because it, once you lose connection with the vine, which is Jesus, well, you've lost it. That's right. There's, the life is what's producing the fruit. And the life that you're connected to is not you. It, you're connected to the life source. So I really think it's a picture of the Trinity and our friendship, relationship, connection to.

And that's why he later goes on to say that statement about whatever you ask will be given. I mean, because that doesn't seem to fit, but you've got to remember you're connected to the creator of the universe, the life source, the light source. the light source, the truth source. Well, your possibilities are now endless on what can be obtained. And look, you got a marker, test everything. Test it.

You'll see whether it's good or bad. Well, right. Exactly. You follow it through. I mean, this metaphor is really unique in that line. because you could actually fool yourself and try to do a lot of good things, a lot of fruitful things that we equate. You know, because people say, I go to church and, you know, I pray twice a week or, you know, and I give money. But you could be doing those things and be a million miles away from connection to God.

And so what are you doing? You're just doing things. It's kind of a mechanical view of faith. where you're doing things so that somehow you think you're going to please God. And he's saying just the opposite. I mean, this is so intimate. He gives, of all the other illustrations he gives, I mean, this is probably the most intimate, wouldn't you agree? Yeah, I agree.

So I think we should talk about the growth aspect, and I think we should talk about how changes are made. I mean, and, you know, I thought of an illustration where you kind of see this in marriage where, I mean, let's just say the wife says, you know, I just can't live with my husband anymore. You know, he has got to change. Well, they could go to a counselor and she give a list of things that he needs to change. Well, let's say he goes and changes those things without changing the heart. Do you think it's going to last? I mean, you can comply.

You can do things for a different reason. It doesn't mean you change your heart. But I guarantee you, if he doesn't change his heart and the, relationship, then it's not going to end well. As soon as he feels like, oh, I've convinced her, that's why you see these people in these relationships, especially the negatives with abuse and all. And you're like, why would you stay with a person who keeps beating you or lying to you? Well, they convince them they're not going to do it anymore.

They don't change their heart because you can't find a way to change your heart without Christ being involved. Right. you just can't do it not for long-lasting results right so i think i think that's kind of the point here and it doesn't seem as scary when you look at it in that light he's not saying oh if you don't follow me you're you know i'm gonna cut you off and throw you in a fire and burn you i remember reading this as a new christian and this this scared me because i was like well gee whiz i hope i'm not one of those branches that get thrown in the pile and burned right but he that wasn't as

point the fact is it's like when you read first greebians 13 look i would i would propose that one of the scariest passages in the whole bible is the first three or four verses in first christmas 13 you're like what you're talking about it's the definition of love it's beautiful it's read in weddings but when you go back and and read what paul said he's like if i have these great powers if i can fathom mysteries if i can speak in the tongues of angels. He goes down this list of all these powerful things. He's like, but I have love, but I do not. If I don't have love, I got nothing.

Well, that's scary to me. Yeah. Because all these things we pursue to make ourselves feel good in the faith, what he was saying is if you are not connected, if you're not spending as much time on the relationship and friendship of the Godhead, a focus on Jesus and you're just doing spiritual things without being connected, you've missed it. And I'd always,

I'd heard lessons like if you're not winning enough people, meaning bearing fruit like the idea of that meaning that you're multiplying your faith into people, you're going to be burnt throwing to the fire. You know, so there's different ways. Look, I believe that. I think we were in the school together. Yeah. And I brought up that question to one of the instructors.

And I think he called me a hair tick. Because I was looking at it. Not to be confused with a hairy tick, which is a whole other answer. Well, you know, he might have been, you know, I was young and immature. But because I was thinking, what is fruit or results? This is how, because it's all in how you look at it. You're like, well, if you're in Jesus, you're going to have results. What are results?

Well, some of the results are other people. And that was kind of the point I was making. But I was just a withering barrage of you've missed the point. And actually, the instructor was right. This is God using us, his life source, his Holy Spirit, inspiring. Yes, there are people going to come to Christ because of your witness. But it isn't about you. That's the whole point of this right here.

I mean, it is a scary thing to think about people that are outside of Jesus. You're not connected to Jesus, but it's not as scary as what we do with like a Christmas tree or whatever. You know, this tree's alive, and then we take it, cut it down, and make it look more spectacular than it ever did. We got lights on it and people. I mean, it's a thing. We got candy hanging on it. But what happens as a result from it being separated from the light? source. At some point, because I collect them and I use them for places in ponds for

crappie together, but when you look at it, it looks horrible because it lies. You can make it look as spectacular in the short term. And I think that's the same kind of concept. And it gets so dry that, I mean, you walk by and all it takes is one spark and that thing will go up like a look like Crystal's vacation. So Jason, I was thinking. about in Mark 11, back when we studied Mark, to your point, about what this looks like scripturally, because remember when Jesus is going into the city and he does the triumphal entry in Mark 11, and he goes and he's about to clear the temple. And this weird little thing happens, but it really fits in the context of John 15. The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was

hungry. So in verse 13, seeing in the... the distance of fig tree and leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again? And the disciples heard him say it. It was all happened there. And then they go in and then he clears the temple. This was a weird story.

And then the chief of priests were trying to kill him. And the next morning in verse 20, as they went along, he saw that. the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered said, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered. And so it's an odd story unless you put it in the context of what was happening with this idea of the rejection of Jesus in Jerusalem as he's coming in. And so I think it's obvious the picture is, is the root, Jesus, the branch,

all those metaphors from the Old Testament and all those prophecies of who he was, he's being rejected. He's shown him this picture that if you reject me, you die. And that's exactly what happens in the context of that. So he even gives them this little picture of when you reject me,

you're rejecting the very way you have to salvation. And so I think that was the purpose of that little fig tree instance. Oh, I was no doubt. And I think that's the point of John 15. I thought the same thing. I actually looked up the fruit, the most common fruits used in the Bible,

which I was surprised at number one. You know what the number one fruit is? In the Bible? Yeah. It wouldn't figs? Figs was second. Hmm. Grapes.

Oh, yeah, grapes. Yeah, which makes sense. I mean, but it, it, because I was, I was enamored with this idea. I was like, what, what is he? And even just the pruning process, you read that, you're like, well, because when you see that happening, it looks brutal. It looks like, it looks like when, when, when, some. someone is pruning grapes or because I was looking at all the images, you're like, why would, why would you do that?

I mean, it looks horrific to, you're like, that thing will never survive that. So when you put that in your real lives and the pain that we have to go through, the difficulties, the challenges, well, then it starts making sense. This is not about me trying to impress God. That's never going to happen with whatever fruit I come up with. You know, I can't even, we can't do that. But he's saying, he's not saying that this is not going to be difficult, and this is a trust thing. That's why it's not as scary when he gets down, and he makes that statement about, as the father has loved me, so I have loved you, now remain in my love.

So he talks about remaining in him. He talks about difficulty that seems painful and doesn't make sense, but we all know what happens when, you know, great bushes are pruned. they come back that much stronger. And that's why I went the growth area because it's hard, it's not hard, it's impossible. It's impossible to see anything grow just with your eyes. I mean, you think about a tree during the winter. You're like, well, it's dead.

No, it looks dead, but actually it's still growing. But it's just not a pleasant time. It illustrates life itself. Because, I mean, look, when I first became a Christian, and I was on fire. And what I realized is at some point, it's like, yeah, but you have normal life. I had a wife. I had all these things happen.

And I was just so into just the fruit. And I mean that we said like people come in and all this. You know, I kind of started looking up saying, well, the rest of my life's kind of falling apart here because I'm never here. You know. So what I'm saying is I was more. obsessed with just doing the actual acts and doing the things and I was forgetting the character that God had along with it. And I was trying to bypass the difficulty because being married's hard. You know, raising kids is hard. All these things are hard. Well, in my mind, I was like, well, I'm doing this,

you know, bringing people to the Lord. I don't have time for this. But deep down, I didn't want the difficulty. It was it was more fun just to be free out there and justify, you know, know, staying away from the harder parts of life. And so then some pruning had to happen. You know, I realized that when you make a commitment, you know, with your wife and to your kid, this is just as important, if not more, than all these good things I was trying to do, you know, and I think the Lord does that and reveals his character to you and you put things in perspective.

But that was part of having a relationship with God and understanding these things. Now, and of course, I think that was, again, back to that Mark 11 text that I read, because Jesus, you said, well, wait a minute, that's not fair to the fig tree because it was out of season, right? I mean, I had the leaves on it, but it wasn't season for fig, so Jesus shouldn't have cursed that tree because, you know, it just needed to wait on it. But Jesus knew that tree looked like it would bear fruit, but it wasn't going to bear fruit. And that's the point is he was making the point that. these Jewish leaders, the ones who they look like they had it going on, but they didn't trust in him. And that's about him knowing the heart. It's kind of like what Willie was on the podcast recently. And we didn't talk about it on the podcast, but he was talking to dad about he has

this grove of Mayhall trees and they're beautiful. They look way better than your trees, dad, or the trees over here in the swamp. I mean, they're beautiful. He's got the little structures on them and they've grown up. I've never seen a Mayhaw tree that looks so pretty. When you get the check on it, no fruit. No fruit. And they've been there for years now, and they haven't borne one single Mayhaw tree. And it's been a mystery, but an old timer came through and said, oh, I see your problem right now. And Will is that, what is that? Now it's been confirmed by not just an old timer, but all these people he's hired to come look at it. It's because there are cedar trees in the vicinity. And apparently if a cedar tree is within a certain amount

distance from a fruit tree, it won't bear fruit because of their two toxins. No, there's a lot of spiritual implications. Oh, I thought about that. There's like, you know, this. It's like you trying to have being connected to Jesus in a worldly environment. Yeah. It's not going to work. Not going to work. You know, it's the same.

It's like the people who come to Christ and they're like, okay, so now what are the rules? Because, you know, that's the number one, maybe not that exact question, but it's always comes back to that. What do I have to do? It's a horrible question because you're still looking at it like, I'm going to do the least amount of possible to have God's favor. Nothing you do is going to create God's favor. This is about his favor. That's why when he said, greater love has no one than this, you know, he goes on to say that he lay down his life for his friends. Well, who's going to be lining up to do that. You know, come to Christ and you may have an opportunity to lay down your life for your

friends. I'm not sure I want to sign up for this. You know what I mean? That just went, this is crazy. I'm not doing this. But he goes on to say his point, which is why we're making a big deal about change and growth, as he says in verse 16, you did not choose me. But we all want to, we all want to believe that.

We want to think that based on my choices, that I have won God's favor. I mean, look, I'm all four people making good choices. That's not the point. But because you make good choices does not mean all of a sudden you've earned something before God. Because he then says this, but I chose you. This is about your perspective on who is the tree. It's not you. I mean, you look up and you're like incapable of producing fruit because you're right next to a cedar tree.

I mean, it's the same concept. He's the tree. I'm just fortunate to be a part of it. And he said, come on in. We're all grafted into his tree. That's the only way we're getting there. So then he says, and appointed you to go and bear fruit. But here's the distinguishing factor and why we're making a big deal of this.

Because he wants and what only matters is fruit. that will last. If you're just out here trying to get fruit on this earth, temporary fruit, there's a million and one ways to do it. You know what I mean? You can have money or power or success or relationships or that hot girl you saw in school or whatever. But it's not going to last.

Right. It's all temporary. And that's what he's providing. So he's basically saying, I am the tree of life. That's right. I mean, you want life, you want meaning, you want things that will last, that's beyond the temporary satisfaction. You realize that I chose you. Yeah.

And you're fortunate to be a part of this. And to have knowledge. Good point. Because Willie had the best of intentions by building a beautiful grove of Mayhall trees. But what you didn't have was the knowledge that if you did it within a certain proximity of this danger, that you'd never bear for. fruit, but he didn't know. And so that's why you have to have connection to someone who knows. But Willie had dinner with me the other day.

Here it is May, which nearly May. Here's April. We're in April. The end of this month, the Mayhawls, they're already turning. But Willie looked at them, just loaded. I had three trees, four or five trees out there. You're all gnarly looking trees. I dug them up out in the woods and put them in my yard.

That's right. And there are, Baron. They're there. Right environment. And you look around, it's so low the ground and there. But you know what? A cedar within five miles. That's exactly right.

What I, here's what I appreciate about Willie's humility. He said, that I'll be down on what you show me how to make that jelly. Yeah. So it's really the important part here. Why you do what you do is Jesus is making that a very important fact. Yep.

You're never going to have love, joy, peace without humility. Yeah. Because what, what is that? humility it's pride or fear you can do a lot of great things and you can pull it off out of pride and fear but it's not going to last yeah yeah humility is what god is after because he's supplying the power and the life source that's what makes the difference all right so we'll talk a little bit more about

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