Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 677 | Phil’s Life Story According to ChatGPT & Which Robertson Is Most Easily Offended?

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

Phil has a habit of saying whatever is on his mind – and often regrets it! The guys answer a burning question about the Robertson brothers, and Jase explains one of the things about Phil that he’s appreciated since he was a boy. The guys look at the similarities between the story of Abraham and Sarah and the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Plus, Zach reads the surprising interpretation of the Robertson family history according to ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot! In this episode: Luke 1, verse 5 through Luke 2, verse 52; Matthew 1, verses 18-25; Isaiah 7, verse 14 https://philmerch.com – Get your “Unashamed” mugs, shirts, hats & hoodies! "The Blind" hits theaters this fall. Get updates, trailers, behind-the-scenes moments, and special opportunities here: https://theblindmovie.com — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Y'all know we've been working on a movie called The Blind, which is the Robertson family origin story. And I'm excited to tell you that the trailer, the teaser trailer, rather, is finally here. And you guys can go watch it today. You can go to theblindmovie.com. All you have to do is put in your email and you instantly get a link to watch the teaser trailer. And you guys are getting first look at it, right? So go there to theblindmovie.com. Put your name in.

I'm excited for you to see what we've done. It's a beautiful story. It's going to be amazing. And if you go to theblindmovie.com, there's also going to be some giveaways. We're going to have some contests. A lot of the cool stuff there. That site is going to be kind of our hub for everything that we're going to do in the communication with you guys. So please go to theblindmovie.com and sign up today.

I am unashamed. What about you? So it's almost about the. miracle of internet or television. I don't know which. So yesterday we were doing podcasts. And so I was sitting, Jason, where you're sitting, because you're in my chair, my normal chair.

And Zach was here behind us at this desk. And in one day, now it's like I've been teleported here to Zach's lair. And so he and I are here and y'all are there. I mean, to the audience, I know there's been a podcast or two in between, but to me, it just feels like we teleported. It's amazing. We had dinner last night. We did.

And the same day, we talked and had a podcast in the morning. We did two podcasts. We did two. Yeah. So, I mean, am I the only one that finds that amazing that you can just be in one place the next day or halfway across the country on the East Coast? No, I think you've just finally realized that if you get on a plane, you can go to destinations and have this happen.

It's a phenomenal. It's not a big of a deal. Well, I was excited about it. Tess, you've lost your wonder. What happened to your wonder? At one time, you would marvel at something like that. Now you're just meh. I was excited about air travel, you know, when I was like eight.

I thought, wow, this is crazy. We're flying. But since then, no, it just, the only air travel I'm looking forward to is the kind without any kind of mechanical combustible means the spaniard that I converted by way back when I was teaching him how to blow a duck call he was about 14 15 and and loves a duck hunt and he's you would have if you had talked to him the last thing you would ever think was when you're asking what he does for a living fly jet aircraft. He's now in the pool, city to city, and he was in the military. But now he's graduated

out, and so he flies all over the United States. He flew helicopters too, Dan, for a long time. He flew helicopters. Yeah, he was in the military. You know, it's funny. So he was, the Spaniard was, he was young. And so, you know, like I said, he loved, obviously was led to Christ, which is great. But he was also one of those kind of kids that, you know, he wanted to try to get in to the inner circle. And he wasn't sure how you would do that. And so he figured he'd need to marry him. And so Jay had just married Anna.

So really the only one available at the time was Alex, because she was a little bit older than him, but she was a teenager as well. So he went to Jay and he said, I need some advice. He said, you know, you know Alex's favorite place to eat? And because I'm thinking about asking her out. You know, of course, you got to think about it.

He doesn't even know who Alex is, but he's thinking this is his way in. So Jay said, well, I think she likes the olive guard. He said, I can handle that. Yeah. But that didn't work. That relationship didn't work out. He married a young lady down in South Louisiana.

She's in the... She's a nurse practitioner. She's an amazing person. Oh, yeah. But he did well. Kudos to the Spaniard. I call him the Spaniard. I'm not quite sure why.

Oh, I remember why. He told us he came from Spaniard royalty. Yeah, that's what, he's not from Spain. He's, but he told the story about his ancestors after, after a ruling Spain. Yeah, he said, you know, I came from Spanish royalty. Yeah. Ever since he told you that story, which everyone doubted, he became known as the Spaniard. Yep.

That's all you need is just your end. So he stays in touch. He has done that. That's been, he was converted, I'd say, 15 years ago, maybe 20. It's probably been almost 20. He is one of my favorite. But he flies the jets that you're riding on. That's the type jets he runs.

No, if I saw him in the cockpit, I'd say. That's not. No, I'm kidding. I love it. I love him, but I make it a little nervous. I don't feel warm and fuzzy. But Phil made me think of the, you know, because the number one question, which I got it just a couple weeks ago,

when we did our treasure hunting event, is how come y'all don't call y'all's parents, mom and dad? I got that question. I'm still getting that question. That comes up from time by time. What was you up with your answer? Which for the record, I do, but just, okay, just I'm going to throw that out there. Some members of the family.

Well, I had a new answer because I said, look, we're not real sure. I get asked a lot. I went through some of the possible answers that we usually give. When we were kids, you know, we had, our house phone was also the business phone. And so you wouldn't say, hold on, let me get my mom. Or, you know, so you'd say. You were trying to sound professional. Yeah, so maybe that.

Maybe it was, you know, y'all weren't Christians when we were little kids. So we just bypassed the mom, dad thing. You didn't earn it. Yeah, yeah, that was a complete disaster in the first few years. But anyway. His first five years, I like that was a dumpster fire. So I had a new answer. I was like, well, we don't get offended that my dad can't call anyone by their real name.

That's right. So that was my answer. I said, so maybe somehow we got, we don't like to give titles as kids, but my dad, he won't call anyone by their name. it's always a nickname. And if you start thinking about it, even with all of us, it's true. Have you noticed that? It's either what state they're from, what country they were, what they look like, some kind of physical characteristic.

Yeah, and so it is weird. So that's why we all have nicknames. So we have a problem with that. Titles and names. When you watch them, I observe them, and I forget who they were because there's been so many Hey, how are you doing a pretty good standing there? You know, Kimberly won't take a picture.

Oh, yeah. So we've taken a picture. But it's, so I just look at those their tendencies as they live. Which would be okay, but when it gets down to family members, it gets a little awkward. When you're like, now who are you? You're like, I'm your grandson.

I'm your grandson. I'm your grandson. but you do have a lot in your defense yeah i'll look into that no i think phil we're we've we've accepted it and moved on it's okay it's okay it's okay don't change the thing i'll forget don't chat we're gonna accept you just as you are dad i give my standard line i remember his face but i can't remember his name mr k who is that you said that's your grandson he's i said okay Okay, I get it. Yeah.

So, fortunately, Zach said this before we started that all members of the podcast team are unoffendable. So it's a prerequisite for being on the podcast. Somebody asked me last week, they said, out of all four of you guys, who is the most easily offended? And I was like, I don't know if anybody gets offended. I don't think I've ever seen any of us be offended.

I would say we're probably the least four offendable people on the planet are right there with it. We just don't, you know. I say it all the time. I just, I don't know if it's natural or what. I just decided a long time ago to not be an offended person. And so I find life is a lot better when you're that way, but whatever. Well, number one, you shouldn't think of yourself more highly than you all. That sounds like a Bible verse.

That is true. Oh, it is. and also, I mean, are you trying to impress people or the Lord? That sounds like a verse. That was a paraphrase of a verse. So, you know, if you're trying to impress other people on how you look or what you do, you get offended when that doesn't measure up your expectations. I've always wondered about the people who are so easily offended,

I mean, over, which I would think was nothing. But they take it so seriously, I'm like, you know, chill out, live it. Well, you laid the foundation by, you know, looking the way you do and seemingly having confidence. So when I was a kid, I thought, boy, this guy, he's not worried about what other people think, obviously. And so that was a good dynamic that you brought to the family. family. So, because it, you know, you were kind of, when you came to the Lord, you found that character comes from within. Yep. And so, I think that was good. Because, I mean, we all had

the, that jokes about being poor. And, you know, when I dated Missy, it was just a hail of persecution from all her classmates about her dating me. Yeah. I was from the wrong side of the earth. In their mind, you were trash. Yeah, they were just like, he's a dumb hick. Yeah. I mean, he just, look at this. He's got long hair and a mullet. He talks real country, and she was just abused.

And she always found it fascinating that I was not offended. I was like, hey, if it doesn't mind. And they were onto something because look at you now. But, you know, it's funny because Jesus laid out a principle. And so, and this happened to me, that shows you about offendability. Because you remember he said, and I don't have the exact reference here, but he said when you come into a place, don't go down front and take the seat of honor,

you know, sit in the back and wait for somebody to take you up front because you might get embarrassed. So I went to a family wedding in our family. And so most of our family was sitting down front because typically you do, because it's your family. And Lisa and I sat down. And then someone came over, you know, right for the thing, and said, sorry, can you guys move because, you know, so and so and so and so needs to sit in your chairs.

And so I thought, sure, you know, so we get up and, you know, walk that 80-foot walk of shame to the back of a huge tent. And when I got back there, somebody said, they looked at us, you know, like incredulously, they said, did you just get asked to move? And I said, yeah. And they were like, why? And I was like, because I broke the principal. Jesus said when you come into a place,

don't go sit down front, sit in the back, or you might have to walk to the back. So I was like, but I wasn't offended because I was like, Jesus told me not to do that, and yet we did it. So it was like, and the people afterwards are,

oh, you offended? I said, absolutely not. Somebody needed that seat more than I did. But I mean, that's a better way to live to me than just being walking around offended all the time. Yeah, and you shouldn't, you know,

I think most people surround themselves with people who won't say anything to hurt your feelings or, and that's not real healthy, because I think our family has decided we're going to speak the truth in love, which is another verse, Ephesians, or. And sometimes you need people to say what's true.

I mean, for your better interest, if you know that they have your better interest in mind, why would you be offending? I like when people disagree with me. because that means they have a better idea or a better way or I could be wrong. So that's why I'm not offended at that. Or the way you look, you know, I notice some of these younger kin folks of mine and I'm just, and I'm kidding with one of them.

I'll say, say, hey, little chubby, you know, that's be like a little one of them's about nine years old or ten. She is chubby. Well, I just kid her about it. Ms. Case said, oh, you don't want to do that because it hurts their feelings. The women in our family, they do not like that you do that. And you probably shouldn't do that. That may be taking the unoffendable too far. I'm just being honest.

Ooh, you're skinny. Ooh, you're a little, a little tree. You're right. That is helping people be less offendable by offending them based in public. is this don't comment on weight he's never coming on when it comes to women in size dad it's just it's usually of course this this is coming from dad who at least on two different occasions and i think it maybe it was three at church had said something to young women about you know when they were expecting good night girl i didn't know you was fixing that but baby and she said i'm not and i'm like okay

here we go well i'm thankful i got out of that case did you idiot don't tell a woman, I said, but I didn't know the girl just picked up a little weight. I thought she's going to have a baby. I'm thankful you did that because now I have never since I saw you do that. Never done. I'm in it on women's age or looks or pregnancies. I tell you, we did learn from you, Dad. That is a DED.

I do not ask anybody. And they can have a big old belly out there. Looks like they're fixing the pop a baby out any minute. And I'm not saying one word. Yeah, we learned that in a hard way. All right, Zach, you got something you wanted to tell us what you got over there. Yeah, I got an update. So on the movies, The Blind, we're writing a blur for it.

We actually are going to release September 29th. We'll be in a theater near you. And so we asked the AI chat GPT to write us a blurb for the movie about your life, Phil. wanted to read it to. So this is, let's set this up now. So this is AI. If you were asked AI about PR, Phil Robertson,

here's what you get. We said, write us a blurb for the movie, The Blind. And this is what they said. It's pretty good. The Blind is a gripping biopic that tells the inspiring story of Phil Robertson, the founder of Duck Commander, and the star of the hit reality show, Duck Dynasty. The film follows Phil's journey from a young man struggling to find his way in a

world of becoming the beloved icon of the hunting and outdoor industry. The film takes its title from the time Phil spent in the wilderness where he discovered his passion for hunting and his deep connection to the natural world. Despite facing numerous challenges, including a debilitating injury that left him blind in one eye, Phil never lost. His spirit of determination and faith. With stunning cinematography and a standout performance by the lead actor, The Blind offers a moving portrayal of Phil's life, his family, and the values that have made him the beloved figure to millions.

Whether you're a fan of Duck Dynasty or simply love a good underdog story, the Blind is a film not to be missed. So we didn't have, I didn't know you had an eye injury, Phil. Did you have a... I didn't have a... I didn't have a... Had you hit... Well, I mean, I knew that time you got that rod, you know, pulled from your eye, but I didn't know.

Yeah, that was one thing. It was a piece of wood about that long that had gone right beside my eyeball, went up in my eyeball a good inch and a half and broken off. And Ma, I said, Ma, I got something in my eye. I don't know what it is. And she said, good, grief. Well, how did they know that? she looked into it. No, I meant the AI.

Oh, the AI. AI, I think it, is that artificial intelligence? Yeah. Artificial intelligence knew somehow. How did they know this? Because I was standing there when she pulled that thing out of your eye, but I don't remember any computers being around. No. This was, this was 45 years ago.

So this was an attempt at a joke? Well, I just wanted to read you what AI said. What's amazing was it was 98%? really good on target and then but it it took a weird turn into an eye injury yeah i don't know i wouldn't trust artificial intelligence is what i got out of that and it was way too long i mean if you can't say it in two sentences go read a book because it's a because it's a blurb it's a movie blurb that's not a blurb that's a blurby yeah that was pretty long is that a word it's a blurby yeah blurby the plural of blurb. It's many blurbs into one. It's called a blurby. But I will say if you want to know

the real story, we're actually about to start doing some Zoom meetings with our core audience that will be assimilated around theblindmovie.com email this. So go put your email in there, theblindmovie.com. We'll do updates, movie updates. We're going to have some big Zoom calls with some of our fans and audience that want to see this happen. We're going to need y'all's help for sure at Unashamed Nation just to get this thing out there. And we're going to be looking for ambassadors. We're going to have some contests. Some of the folks will be able to come to our premiere.

So we're going to do a lot of stuff. And it's about to get cranked up. So I want to encourage all of our audience here, Unashamed to go put your email in at theblindmovie.com. Just go check it out. And you'll get all the updates. and get to participate in some of these contests. There are a few times, rare, rare times when I was embarrassed about anything,

but having watched a little blurb of my life being putting on the big screen, being put on the big screen now, and the pitfalls of that particular life, that's one, it's very embarrassing to me, so I want everybody to know that. It embarrassed me highly to see. see a little blur about what I looked like when I was falling the evil one. It's embarrassing.

And you hadn't, yeah, and you hadn't even seen the whole movie yet. So, yeah, I'm sure it'll have some impact on you too, Dad. But you know what, Phil, I think that when you see the totality of the whole thing, the verse that comes to mind is where sin increases, grace abounds all the more. And I think that you'll see that. you'll see a beautiful portrayal of the gospel. There was a big change, that's for sure. A mighty change.

It's a 180. Yep. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Your story is powerful, though. I mean, I think that hopefully what people are going to see is that they know you now. Everybody knows the stand that you. I don't know how they're going to get around rated R.

Is it rated? It hasn't been rated yet. So I'm working on that, but we'll see. Well, a lot of that is, you know, how you choose to what you leave in and what you leave out. Yeah. Yeah, I think there's ways to tell the story that we can grab the story without having to get super graphic. Well, wouldn't you all agree that some of your low points of your life in the past, wouldn't you agree that a lot of it sins that anybody commits, it's a little bit,

it's a little bit embarrassing. Sure it is. I'm embarrassed by the whole thing. I mean, I have huge regrets. But everybody comes as has a past. It is what it is. So you might as well tell the truth and go on about your business. Well, that's the thing, Dad.

You just said it. I mean, that relates to, I mean, almost everybody out there in the world. I mean, they have regrets. That's correct. They have periods of their life that they're ashamed about, that they wish they could change but can't. There's a mighty, The only- Stronger people who he'll tell you quickly,

and the last thing I want to see is what I was like back in this and back then and back then in my past. Well, I'm kind of in that group. You know, it's embarrassing. But imagine that if you were a person who's still in that place where you were. And look, you wouldn't go to church. You know, somebody's been trying to get you to a Bible study. You won't go.

But they're, you know, they like to hunt. And they say, you know, you need to come see this movie The Blind. And they don't even know what it's about. And they go in there and sit and watch and say, that's Phil Robertson. That's what he was like. Then that may offer some hope for this guy.

That is why I look in a hurry when I saw the little part of the movie that I was going to be in, playing my life and my past. I checked into others to see if I at least could have somebody else within the same predicament. I started with the Apostle Paul, then looked at Peter's life, looked at Paul's life. I mean, one of them was just a downright murderer, the Apostle Paul. I mean, and he wrote most of the New Testament, and God had him write it. So if you look at it like that, if it helps people come to Jesus, I'm all in, no matter how rough it is, no matter how rough it looks. I made the point Sunday when I was preaching about Peter.

that here was a guy that went from denying Christ three times in a moment where he said he'd give his life for him. Think about this. In only a little over 40 days, then he became less than two months for sure, he became the one that unlocked the kingdom gate. Amazing. That opened the way for the church to usher in to the era that we're now with the Holy Spirit. Oh, you just think about the Lord being the only one that's not. and never held grudges about anybody against anybody, including Peter. I mean, he reinstated him as the way the Bible reads.

Yeah, yeah, it's a great point out. And think about it, that happened in a short period of time. It's not like there were years that went by of him proving himself. I mean, Jesus appeared for 40 days, and then he was gone, and then within a few days, Peter's up, you know, shucking the corn talking about the gospel. So that was a quick turner. He drew his sword first. and takes the ear off a man.

You said, this old dude, he's not backing up. But now he fell victim to the crowd, and he got out of there too. That's right. When death started knocking at his door, he said, I'm out of here. Which we talked about that. I think that instance with Malkus and the ear is what led him to the denials because he thought, okay, we're not taking over militarily or, you know, forcefully like I thought we were. So what are we doing here?

Yeah. And so he punted, you know, which is a bad thing. So, Jay's blurby is a word. Is it? Yep. It's an urban dictionary word, which it means a mouthful of chaos, misunderstanding nonsense. Well, I was actually, I was actually almost right. When he is talking, it sounds all blurby.

Well, let me, I had to burst the bubble, but urban dictionary words are not actual words. Uh-oh. The linguist has said that's not a real word. It's not a real word. Urban dictionary word is not a real word, at least yet. It may make it into the big dictionary. So it's on its pathway. It's on its pathway.

Well, it should be. Are we ready to talk about the Bible? What are we doing? I was waiting on you. We talked about everything else up to now. We might as well. We had Bible references in real life. We did.

And we were able to talk about work Peter and Paul into into dads, into the line, which is powerful. So I'm excited about it. September 29th. It's going to be great. So we're in Luke chapter one. And I just want to give a little bit of a get us kind of caught up to where we are. Because we spent quite a bit of time talking about Luke's sort of unique perspective.

Actually, it's been a couple of podcasts just on, just on the first four verses. Just because it's such a, Luke's approach is so you. unique. One is because probably his background, he's a Gentile, he's a physician, and he had a specific purpose in mind writing Luke and Acts aimed at someone knowing the story of Jesus. And so he comes out a little bit different than the other guys, and so we talked about the importance of that. And what he also does is, which I think is a real service to not only Gentiles, but all of us now, is he gives us a much deeper background of John. the Baptist's role because you don't get that from the other pictures of the gospel.

Why was he such a unique character? Why was he so special? Because, you know, he was prophesied about not as much as Jesus, but quite a bit. And so he gives us that background into that. And there was something I wanted to go refer back to before we kind of get back where we currently are in the text. And that was in, we talked about this, but there was a point that I had made in my notes that I wanted to revisit.

And that was in chapter one whenever Mary is foretold about what's going to happen with her. And so in verse 35, when the angel said the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. And then, of course, he talks about Elizabeth. And he says, nothing is impossible with God. So we talked quite a bit about that and the idea of the impossible nature of God. But one thing we didn't mention that he says here that I think it's worth mentioning before we just move on, is that this verse really is the first time we see the incarnation specifically referenced that we're talking about God becoming flesh and the uniqueness of that.

Because when you think about Jesus, he's more than just a special prophet. He's more than just, you know, what he offered up. He's more than so many things because he literally is God in flesh, which makes him the one and only unique hybrid between divine and human. And we read so much about it, son of man, son of God. But really, in this, you know, Gabriel just says it quickly as he goes by, but really that's a huge concept. We think about the power of the gospel. Think about how that kicks off. And the incarnation, meaning that that's in flesh is what that word means, God in flesh.

I mean, that really starts us towards everything he did for us, but without him coming here in flesh, we have no opportunity to connect back to him in a relationship. And so I don't know that we flash that out, but I want to mention that. Well, there is another similar happening back to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent. You know, the Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah, your wife will have a son. Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent,

which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past this age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought. After I'm horned out, and my master is, oh, will I now have this pleasure? So she's kind of making a thing about it. the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, was I really a child that I'm old?

Well, I really have a child now that I'm old. Is anything too hard for the Lord? He said, I'll return to him the next point of time. And Sarah will have a son, which it's pretty shocking information when someone gets that. But Sarah was one of those that she laughed about it, but she laughed about it, but she She looked down one day and said, whoa, my belly getting big. And she was 90 years old. Yeah, I mentioned that on the last podcast.

I think it was last one. The similarities between John, the Baptist birth and the birth of Isaac are very similar in terms of old age, unbelievable, you know, something big is happening. You know, there's a huge promise coming. So, you know, in the Abraham and Isaac's story, it was through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned. So the promise that God made to Abraham was going to be fulfilled through Isaac. And you go to Genesis 22, I think it's Genesis 22, when they go to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac, he gets up there and they're walking up to do the sacrifice. and Abraham says, me and the boy, I'm paraphrasing here because I don't have that page open, but me and the boy are going to go up there, we're going to worship God, and then we will return.

And they get up there and he goes to the sacrifice, and then that's when God provides the substitution. And there's a ram caught in the thicket. God himself provides the sacrifice, and there's a substitution on Mount Moriah where another, the ram died in the place of Isaac, which was foreshadowing of the gospel, where the lamb would die in the place of us. It's called substitutionary penal atonement. Someone dies in our place and takes on the penalty for us. And so you have this moment here where this guy, John the Baptist, is coming, and it does

look like, almost like, everybody knew something. big was happening, you know, because Zachari, Zechari goes in there to the temple. He has the encounter with Gabriel. He comes out. He can't talk, you know, for what, nine months. Right. Yeah. And then, and then all the sudden, he, he, they, they have the moment where John the Baptist is born, and it looks like he's the next Abraham, you know, and, and then he, they, what's his name going to be? Well, the name's going to be what his father's name in, because that's what you do. But it was all, it was all, it. It was all designed for us is to see how these fantastic miracles are happening.

I mean, with Sarah, then with Elizabeth, and then with Mary. I mean, there was some major going on when these things took place. They're miraculous beyond belief. I mean, it's really amazing. I mean, nothing is impossible for God. That takes on new meaning when you're looking at where these people are coming from and how he's saving the world. I hadn't really thought about that, but you're right.

The Abraham and Isaac narrative is actually a combination of foreshadowing of both John the Baptist and Jesus. Yeah, yeah, both are being. Because you get both, right. You see a snapshot of both. You get both of them are fulfilling this. And so when John the Baptist, that's why when, when, when they named him, John, which means God is gracious, it was, you know, he's in there.

And his mother first, they asked, what's his name going to be Zachariah? No, no, no, his name's going to be John. They're like, no, well, we better ask his dad. So then they summon his father, hey, what's his name going to be? And he can't talk. But he's got the tablet. So he writes on the tablet, his name is John. And so I, that's what I read that.

I said, man, what is that? The significance of this name is God is gracious. So we're at the moment where the law has been just accumulating debt for all these years and was never able to accomplish what grace alone, God's grace would accomplish. So that's the foreshadowing. This guy's name is God is gracious. That's his name. And then he's going to be pointing.

to the one who will institute grace and who will who will bring grace and who will i mean the significance of john the baptist can cannot be overstated it's huge no right i think the irony is he repented i mean he he preached a message of repentance in a very fiery way yeah he confronted all kinds of sinful behavior even in the government which is eventually what you know, cost him his life, having his head cut off, because he's, you know, rebuking the powers that be in their marital arrangement. And, but his name meant God is grace. Now you have God is, is, Jesus will be called the son of God.

Now we're up in the, we're up in the ante here. We're on accolades. This is like, whoa. I just think about John's name is God is gracious. When Jesus came, they said they'll call him, Emmanuel, God is with us. So you combine that, God is gracious, and now God is with us. So grace is now with us. Grace is here.

And humanity could not have done this or come even close. It's way, way beyond. You talk about miraculous events going on. It's mind-boggling. So much so that I don't know. You look and read, you say, well, y'all, you accept this stuff and believe these wild things. I said, I don't know how humanity could have made the story up.

You just think about it. Yeah. Write these stories down over thousands of years and they come out here. You look and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Well, to your point, Phil. So like in Mary's song that we skipped over, a lot of people who do not believe that the Bible is reliable, they will go to this very song,

and they say, well, a lot of her song came from Hannah. And so, you know, I was reading this stuff. They're like, I mean, that just shows you. They just made it up. They just stole the stuff from Hannah. Well, then when you go read the story of Hannah and 1st Samuel 1 and 2, all of a sudden, you see why Mary quoted some of that. I mean, just like in Zacharias song that, that Zach brought up,

because we're going to get to that, but, you know, when he has this, and it was actually long or nine months, because you would have, thought that Zachariah would have been able to speak after John was born. But no, they took him to be circumcised. So that was on the eighth day. He still can't speak. I mean, he's just, he's going to be the utterless father. Yeah.

And because of that unbelief early on in the, and wouldn't trust the word from God based on the circumstances. That's right. Which seemed impossible. But then all of a sudden, well, when he burst into song, he then, you know, starts talking about, and he quotes a lot of the Old Testament that was leading to the Lord fulfilling, not only redeeming Israel, but also from a spiritual way when you get to it that he would bring light to darkness. But to back up to the, you know, to Mary and Hannah, what I found fascinating,

which I don't know how deep y'all want to go into that. It was really, I mean, I was reminded that 1 Samuel 1 and 2, like maybe you're having trouble with the blind, it was rated R, you know. You start reading 1st Samuel 1, and the first thing, it's like, there's a guy that had two wives and a lot of people who have this same accusation with Mary's song. They say, well, I don't understand why y'all are not supporting polygamy. It's all through the Bible, you know, in the Old Testament. Yep. And what you realize is people who really study the word, you see that in every case it was that way, it was a complete disaster. Chaos. Jerry Springer-like issues happened that was in the culture. So it's not, I think people, they don't realize that the word of God is true, but not everything in the Bible is true when it comes to this is what you should be doing. I mean, if you take the advice of the three guys that were talking to Job,

which I've seen people do, preach sermons. And it was terrible advice. And you want to have chaos? Yeah, they preach it as if like, this is what you're supposed to do. I'm like, no, that's, that's not what you're supposed to do. The way, when you get to the end of Job and guys says, oh, you're three dopey, and I'm paraphrasing, your three dopey friends didn't know what they were talking about, I'm not going to preach you any sermons of stuff they were saying because God already said those guys are idiots. I mean, I'm paraphrasing. Be careful when you preach out of Joe.

Well, just to give you a thumbnail of what happened with Anna, I mean, Hannah, because I do think it's important because I was moved just reading it. And I asked Missy about it. And she's like, oh, it's such a chick flick in the Bible, you know. And which I laugh. Because here's a woman who in there, she couldn't have children. and her, her, I don't even know what you would call that. The other wife, she's just popping out babies one right after another.

And in that culture, that was more than it is now. She was deemed like more worthy and more blessed, yeah. Yeah, more blessed. So she's just. It was all about future, Jason. That was why I was so important. Well, there's a lot of reason. I mean, as I thought about it, back then, you know, it's a,

work. It was kind of like our family. I mean, Phil, you know, you and Kate, they all just put us to work. Well, you know, the more workers you had, better production. And same thing back then. And even from a country standpoint, I think, it's like the more you reproduce, the stronger you are. You know, if you didn't, if there weren't a lot of you, obviously another country would come in, take you over. So there's a lot of reason. But this other wife is throwing haymakers. Not only she having kids, but she's like, well, she's ridiculing Hannah. It's like you're just, you know, you just don't have what it takes. I mean, it's just one ridicule, one offensive thing after another,

which is very sad to read. So then the husband comes in there and he's like, well, Hannah, I really love you. You know, the other one I'm just having babies with, basically, is what he was saying. But he didn't get it, typical husband, because he makes a quote like, Well, you should just, even though you don't have any kids, you know, you realize that, you know, you have me. Well, you know, classic, classic boo-boo. So she doesn't even acknowledge that. And so you see this why she's so sad because really the culture and her, this other wife is ridiculing her.

And our culture does the same thing. You know, when I just, when I, when I fast forward to that to us now, there's so much bullying going on. if you're not, if you don't look good enough. I mean, it's an epidemic with our teenage girls, you know, you're ugly and you're fat, and you're, and it's just driving, some of them in some cases, commit suicide. And so you see this, so she's real sorrowful. But she finally eventually, in her prayer life,

and I think this is why Mary used this, she finally in her prayer said, it's not about me anymore. I mean, she prayed that she would, obviously, year after year that she would have a kid. It didn't happen. But when she prayed that if she had one, she would give him to the Lord,

that's when she found a peace. And it's very obvious in the text. This is in chapter 2, but she's, her face was no longer downcast. Look, this is before she had the baby. And so what I, the point I was going to make,

is that you have prayer, not prayer pregnancy, then peace, because that's the lie that you think. She wasn't getting, you know, she wasn't just trying to find peace thinking that, oh, if I have a child, that all my problems are going to be over. She had the prayer, you know, pain, let's say, pain and prayer. I don't know why all they start with pee, but then she found a peace in talking to God about it and basically saying no matter what happens, I'm trusting you. Then she got pregnant. And so I think that's an important point.

And then she uses the same kind of language that Mary's going to use, which is when you're weak, he's strong. When you're strong, you become weak. And you had this whole opposite upside down definition of the kingdom revealed by Hannah and later Mary, which now we still have trouble wrapping our heads around. You know, if you want to be, if you want to live, you got to die. I was trying to think of all the other ones. But if you want to be rich, you got to become poor.

If you want to become unbroken, you got to be broken. I mean, it just. If you want to be first, you got to be last. You got to be laugh. But all of it, but all of it right here is being revealed. I wrote this down in my notes that God's, kingdom is revealed in the dirtiest of places. Everything here is an upside down kingdom. And that's the point. He didn't emerge. God's revelation of his arrival did not happen in a temple, but in

Nazareth, which we talked about in the last podcast. When he did arrive, it wasn't in a palace, but in a manger. And the first people he told were not nobles, but shepherds, because everything is backwards in God's kingdom. It's an upside-down kingdom flowing from God's revelation to Mary to her song that you just mentioned, to the humble birth, to the attendance of the shepherds, and ultimately, as we know, to the cross, I mean, I was, to me, when I was reading this, I'm thinking, man, all this whole story, everything is not how it should be, but yet is so much more beautiful and powerful. And that's the strange paradox of the gospel, that Christ's power is in his,

the fact that he condescends, the fact that he puts himself in a human body in the most vulnerable place in a baby. He said, well, how's it powerful? And you're like, that's the, that's the thing. That's, that's the power of it. Just that type of love, you know, that is just, that's what's powerful. And I think that's what draws... men, you know, and women to God is, is that. It's what the gospel is. And so when we say, like Phil says, you know, you said about the movie earlier, how you're embarrassed or you're ashamed of it.

But one thing I know you're not ashamed of, you're not ashamed of the gospel. It's the name of our podcast. That's it. Because it's the power. Because the gospel is the power of salvation, first for the Jew, then for the Gentiles. So there's power in the gospel.

But, you know, what is the gospel? Well, it's the fact that Jesus allowed, humans, God allowed humans to get their hands on him and beat him to a pulp and just pulverize his body and kill him and bury him. And then God resurrected him from the dead. So there's power in that. There's power in suffering. There's power in that type of pouring out yourself. Good point. I don't fully understand that, but it's there. No, but even Hannah referenced Jesus, I mean, the power of the Lord raising the dead, you know, when you read her prayer, you know, how in the world is that with the chaos of

her life? She, how was she able to foresee that and acknowledge that? And my point is, and this is a story that you are both familiar of, familiar with, but, you know, if you hadn't, when you see a woman who can't have kids, I mean, it seems like that is the most painful position for a lot of. for a lot of women to ever be. I mean, just the few counseling sessions I've had, my wife and I, with people going through that.

But I remember one in particular who just, I mean, wouldn't eat, was depressed, and, you know, it was just, and we loved that,

you know, the couple and they're married, they just wanted kids, and she was just devastated. So eventually, years later, you know, she has three.

And so you're like, boy, that's a great happy, happy ending. Not one long after that, she wound up leaving the Lord, leaving her husband, you know, leaving her family. And I was so shocked because I thought, how does this happen? And that's what I was kind of reminded with Hannah's story, was that what we do, and in this situation, no matter what it is, if you put, you know, the sorrow and then pray and, you know, and if I can be pregnant and have kids, I'll find peace.

That's the wrong order. In Hannah's case, in Mary's case, there's a prayer, there's a peace, and you're at peace with whatever God decides, which it just seems like in the case of Zachariah and Mary and Hannah. Once you decide to trust him and put his will first, no matter what the circumstance, it's like then you get then you get the blessing then you're ready because you're broken yeah yeah because to put the pregnancy first is a form of here's another P of prosperity gospel that that that that there's something better than God that if I do the right things that I can get this if I have I do you know I start to pray I start then then I'll get the pregnancy and then I'll

have peace because the pregnancy is what I'm after that you could you could fill in the blank there with the pregnant it could be anything exactly marriage relationships a love of your life, children. I mean, all of it is, I mean, none of that, none of those things will satisfy you. Raising three children is a major chore. Well, exactly. If you don't have the Lord in there, well, you see what happened. Then it was like, well, this didn't fulfill me.

Well, one of these quick kids. Now I have them. I can't set them up. Nothing's going to fulfill you like the Lord. I mean, and that's where true piece comes first. I get to handle one, but three of them, I'll tell you what, my prayers got a hold on me on that one. So we're out of time. But I do want to talk more about this because I've jotted down a couple of notes.

There's a real historical significance about the connection to Hannah and Samuel as well. Yeah, and go read it. I was paraphrasing it. It's first seven. Yeah, it's really, really powerful. It's really very powerful. It's first Samuel 2, 1 through 10. So don't forget the week of May the 7th, we're no longer release on Sunday for Unashamed.

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