Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 704 | Phil Married Miss Kay So He Wouldn’t Get Charged with Kidnapping & the ‘Druggy Buggy’

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

Phil and Al remember the mixed reactions the Robertsons got from New Yorkers during their visits there. Phil theorizes on what happens to our consciousness after we die and gives his thoughts on his own legacy. Guest Bryan Rucker gives some insight into his work with Celebrate Recovery and how his past uniquely qualifies him for it. Follow the link below and hear his powerful testimony on "Unashamed" episode 530!  In this episode: Psalm 90 https://philmerch.com – Get your “Unashamed” mugs, shirts, hats & hoodies! Show Hollywood we're willing to show up for great movies with a strong Gospel message. Get your tickets to "The Blind" TODAY: https://www.fathomevents.com/theblind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEae5jN70iA — Hear Bryan Rucker’s full testimony! — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed. It's very quiet here, Dad. I don't know. Something seems missing from the Unashamed studio. Oh, Jase. Oh, Jace. That's exactly right. We sent him off to New York City because he fits in so well there, just like you. We're hoping he'll come back with some fresh stories. Do you think some things will happen to Jace in New York that he will then regale us with on his return? If you get to New York and they're lucky enough to get out of there, you will have some memories that are indelibly marked on your brain. So I remember back in the day when we were having to go for the show

and different things we were promoting. And we were going up there, what, every three months or so, we were making the trip to New York. Last two to few, we would are just walking down the sidewalk, getting out of one ring, getting in another or something, going for some interview or something. But I noticed little crowds of people would gather up there. Yeah. You stood out there. Even a bunch of rednecks from Louisiana going up there, you know. Well, you know, you go to the last, one of the last things we did was that we actually were promoting Blaze.

I don't know if it was, maybe it was the podcast. And we were in Times Square, which is this massive screens. They thought Jace was a homeless guy, so he was escorted from the building. Yeah, he got escorted out famously. I got back to Trump. He was the owner of the Trump Hotel, so Trump sent us some few letters, you know. He did. This was pre-president, but yeah, he took care of us.

And Willie had some change put into his coffee, a fresh cup of coffee, thinking he was in need. So I guess you're the only one that really had a homeless story in New York, although a lot of people recognize who you are. New York is one of those kind of cities where a lot of people come from around the country. So a lot of you, Heartlanders, you come to New York, and then you see Dad there. And it was... I wouldn't live there.

No, I wouldn't either. I just wouldn't do it. So you said, I don't know if you remember saying this, we're in Times Square, and you're looking around because it's just giant screens. Remember that? Oh, yeah. Giant screens. I mean, like building size screens.

Oh, I know. And he looked around. And you said, Al, everywhere I look, there's gyrating humans. Yeah. And that was your line. Yeah. And it was like, welcome to New York, Phil. Yep.

But anyway, that's where we had to go to promote this show and do all this stuff like that. So, Jason is there. You know he's going to have some stories. when he comes back. Because everything that can happen to someone usually happens to Jace. And so once we get his embellished version, it should be fun next time. So, Dad, I was thinking, I woke up this morning, I was, you know, spinning in my prayer time. And I thought about Psalm 90 for some reason.

I want to read it and get your take on it because, you made the comment when I came in that when you look at me, you realize you're old. and I feel the same way about you. So apparently we're both older men now and we're getting old together. But Moses wrote one Psalm, possibly a second one, but they're not sure. But we know he wrote this one. And it's a doozy. And I want to read it because it's really interesting, especially kind of where we are in life.

So it says Psalm 90, Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations before the mountains were born. Or you brought forth the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying return to dust, O sons of men, for a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Just a few hours to him. Verse five, you sweep men away in the sleep of death. They are like the new grass of the morning. Though in the morning it springs up new by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger, terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before us, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath. We finish our years with a moan. And here's what got me thinking about it, Dad. Verse 10, the length of our days is 70 years or 80, if we have the strength. That means that I'm 77. The length of our days is 70.

I'm past that, Al. or 80, I may make 80. If you have the strength. Yeah, yeah, I'm almost there. You're almost there. Yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger, for your wrath is as great as the fear that is due. You teach us to number our days aright.

Yep. That's interesting. That we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, O Lord, how long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfize us in the more. morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us for as many years as we have seen

trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. I love that idea of generational. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. And he does. He moves forward and he establishes his. his work. Yeah. But the good news is any way you slice it, if you've gone under the knife and they put you to sleep, you're there and your eyes closed.

And I had that done on this back problem here. Yep. And what I learned was 1001, I'm back and saying, y'all, is y'all going to get on this thing or what? When are we going to start? They said, we're done with it. The surgery's over. No time passed for that hour that took them to do that.

No time passed. I closed my eyes out and look, I opened them. I looked around. It's like you'd never left. Like I never left. That could have been a hundred years, same effect. It could be a thousand years, same effect. To you, to us,

the resurrection of the day of Jesus said, I'm the resurrection. You'll sleep. So you hit 75 or 80, bong. You take a nap, 1001, that's all it takes. Your eyes are open if it's 10,000 years. To you, no time passes, it's just 1,000, you're back away. Whoa. What happened?

Yeah, when are we going to? Now, if you're in hell, I'm not quite sure that you have. had a good rest. We don't know what it's going to be like. For that second or two, I don't know. I don't know what it's going to be like, but it's not going to be good. That much we know from Scripture. So here's what I found interesting about this text.

So Moses wrote this over 3,500 years ago. He wrote those words. Yep. 3,500 years have gone by since he wrote those words. How relevant are they to 2023? How relevant are those words? 3,500 years later. Yeah.

And lo and behold, Jesus went on top of a mountain, and there's Elijah and Moses standing there talking it over. That's right. You're like, that means they never were, as we say, dead and with no wreck and there. They just appeared. Moses and Elijah both had a. To God, it was nothing. They had a unique departure.

Let's put it that way. I guarantee they did. So, yeah, and they came back and had this conversation. Sure gave me a lot of hope, though. It does me too. So I read this passage a lot or parts of it when I'm at a graveside, you know, putting someone's body in the ground. Yep. Because it's a great text to remind us that this is not the end.

If we believe. You sleep for 1001. Looking around. You're awake. You said, oh, my goodness. I made it, Lord. This is what you were talking about. it. No time, Pat. It's not like, oh, I tell you what, I hated that I died. You're in Jesus.

Right. You're with the Lord. His power. One second, two with the most. You're back looking around saying, here I am. It gives a man hope for a woman. So, again, we're not trying to rush the process here because, you know, we were just talking about Pat Robertson on recent on a podcast. God gave him 93 years. Yep. So you never quite sure what it's going to. be, but you being in this phase of more behind you than in front of you, I think is a safe way to put it. So what would you say is marked the work of your hands? Because he said, may favor of the Lord rest upon establish the work of our hands. If you were looking back and you're in that sleep place you mentioned, what would you, what would you want people to say, you know, Phil Robertson, here's what I would say about him? What would you say? I see in. I see in

my mind's eye, all the ones. Some shocked me that they turned to the Lord. Some shocked me because they didn't turn to the Lord, but for all of them who did, that I personally work with and pointed them to Jesus. And I see them when they get gray beards and when they return old women. I remember when they were 16, and we had a little session there, you know, and then they gave the life to Jesus. I baptize them down there on the river, just one after the other. In my mind, I see this now. I don't know how many, but there's a lot. A lot.

I just look out across here and say, oh, my goodness, look what the Lord has done. I just made sure they heard Jesus died of the spirit and raised from the dead. So this right there makes this last 10 or 12, 15 years, it just makes it interesting. Yeah, that's right. But I'm looking at it saying, who it gives you peace of mind now. Yeah, and I think we should reflect from time to time. I do too. You know, I think that's not a bad thing, which is what Moses was doing in this text.

And he lived to be 120 years. So, I mean, he lived longer than he wrote about in this text. You know, God blessed him with that. But I would say, Dad, that, you know, I mean, being a boy and watching the conversion, which that's what the movie, the blind movie is about, is you making the, the transition is that there was always something that God had given you some ability to be able to speak to people and impact them. And the evil one had you doing it for the first, you know, third of your life. But once you got that and that turned around, then all those

things became something for the good. It became real. Yeah. And I'm grateful that our Aunt Jan was a prophetess. Yeah. And said you would reach thousands. So yeah, heaven's going to be great to be able to catch up and have those conversations, I'm sure. Anyway, I woke up thinking about that today, so, Dad, we're both getting old. Yeah. We're in more reflective mode, but we're still going forward. And that was kind of probably at the month, probably we're Robertsons, and so was Robertson just died, our brother, Pat, where he just died, so to him.

He closed those eyes. Got just a good sleep here. That's exactly right. He's resting, which is a good thing. And we're very appreciative for his life. And he liked probably somewhere, Robertson, R-O-B-E-R-T-S-O-N. Oh, we're Ken. We're bound to be Ken.

Yeah, some of our Ken came across in the boat. And so they just stayed in Virginia. We kept going. Yeah. So. I bet if you check, I bet he, his, from where he came probably was Scotland. Oh, yeah. Way we did.

I guarantee, I bet he's out of Scotland. Oh, yeah. He's from that same, the McDonald's or McDougals or whatever our original tribe was. I did ask the old guy. I said, well, what kind of Mark did we leave? And he said, good or bad? He said, a little bit of both. I think that could be applied today.

Yeah. So we're going to take a break. And I guess to continue our theme, we brought in a next generation of our leadership today. Our old friend Brian Rucker is back in the house. And so we're going to talk a little bit of Bible with him as well as what's going on in his life. He shared his story the last time he was on the,

podcast and had quite the reaction, I think, to that. So we'll talk about all that when we come back on the other side of the break with Mr. Brian Rucker. Welcome back to Unashamed. And Brian, welcome back to the Lair. Good. It feels good to be back, especially sitting in Jason's chair. I mean, this chair hadn't looked this attractive in a long time. I've been as quiet as it is.

You have to be argumentative and tell a lot of stories if you're going to sit in that chair. I could try that. I'm pretty argumentative sometimes. Now, I have to say, so I give Jay's, you know, I throw him under the bus on a regular occasion, but since he's not here, I can say something good about him. Yeah. Because I don't want to get in the big head if he's here. No, absolutely.

So you've got to keep him humble. But Jay's, what he brings to our podcast is a huge component because, one, is he never runs out of stories, which is fantastic because we're doing a lot of talking. Two, Jace has a unique look at everything. at the world, at scripture. I mean, he always has, and I've always appreciated that about him because no matter what I look at and think about it, because, I mean, I've spent my life study in the Bible. I always learn something from Jay's. He's got a different twist, a different take.

And so I appreciate that about him. So don't tell him, unashamedousand that. I said anything good about him when he gets back, but I'll just tell you that I respect him. He's my younger brother, but I really respect his diligence and study in scripture. So he's pretty good. Oh, yeah. And he helped lead you, right? That's what you told the story because he was one of the first ones you talked to at Duck

Commander. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I always enjoy listening to him speak and preach, too, because he uses that unique perspective in the way that he shares the gospel too. Right. And so. He really does. I know we had him come speak at CR not too long ago.

I think a little bit before the last time I was on the podcast. and he talked about loving it and everything. Well, everybody there loves it too because, you know, when you deal with a lot of, you know, new Christians, people that aren't necessarily churched up, you know, you need a guy like Jace or like Phil that come in and just give it to you very, very different than what they're used to. So, you know, it's funny.

I hadn't talked to you since this happened, but a couple Sundays ago I preached. And so Lisa was gone because we were having Jep's daughters get married. So they had a lot of wedding stuff on that Sunday in a bridle, whatever they do. And so I didn't have anybody at home because normally I'm off to meet them or go do something. So I'm leaving the back part of our building, which is where a lot of Sierra folks come and kind of congregate there. It's the smoking section. It's a smoking section.

That's right. I'm trying to be nice about it. Yeah. It's a smoking section. which I love stopping by their vision with their bike because that's where I park. And so I was leaving where there were three guys sitting out there and it's hot. It's, you know, June, Sunday in Louisiana. So they're hugging that little bit of shade this next of the building.

And they're waiting on somebody to come get them. You know, because I know a lot of people, they can't drive. No driver's license. They got issues. We have the druggie buggy-buggy running. There you go, the druggie. So they're waiting on to come get them. I guess they were off running somebody else.

And I said, you boys, it's hot out here. I said, y'all need a ride? and said, I know you're probably expecting them. They were like, well, yeah, they're coming at some point. But I said, well, I got room. I got nowhere to go. I said, you don't want to ride? Yes, sir.

So they piled it. It was three guys. And so it was really interesting because we hadn't even gotten out of the parking lot of the church. And they start peppering me with question. Right. Which was great. I mean, you know, not just what I just preached, but also just stuff that had always been wondering about.

And so they're staying over at Monroe, which is probably about a 15-minute drive to get over there to where they are. And to his 15 minutes, a Q&A, Q&A with the pastor, you know. And it was great. And it was really interesting because the reason you made me think about this is that one of the guys, he's a big guy. And he was from somewhere down South Louisiana. So they're living in a recovery house over Monroe because they're trying to get off

of drugs. And so that's one of the things that we offer here is we have these houses where men and then also women can live, have structure. and deal with, you know, trying to kind of normalize back to life without being addicted to something. And so it's a really cool thing. So this one guy, his, it was interesting because we were talking about, somebody asked me about the show. And I said, well, you know, y'all know, y'all meet us now. You see us.

And we're just normal people. And there's really not that big of a deal. I said, but people think it's a big deal. This guy in the back, he was like, well, it was a big deal to me when I came here because I loved watching y'all. and now I get to meet with you guys and listen to you teach. And I said, really? And it was really interesting because hearing his perspective of because of the show and all that, that was one of the things that drew him to want to come here to get help,

he told me, which was really interesting. And so I thought about you because I thought about that without us ever discussing it, and it was kind of pre-show when you first came or the show was just going on. That really was your draw. Yeah. Originally, not just us. But I'm saying when you got to this area, you went to work for us, almost by accident you talked about it last time you were on and then all of a sudden it was like

you became part of that world because then you were on the show and you worked for us and all that so it was it was kind of a full circle moment for me just to realize that and I should do that more I mean that was just a happenstance because they happened to be there and I just happened to have time to take them right but I thought man they need that more because to them that was a big deal to just have 15 minutes of conversation where they could pepper me with questions about the Bible, you know, and so. Well, it's like a built-in icebreaker, you know what I mean? Because a lot of times, you know, vulnerability creates connection.

And so whenever people feel like they have a pretty good understanding of who you are, before you ever have that first word said to one another, it just allows for that rapport to be built quickly. Right. And I know for me, you know, like you said, I came and I knew about the show. it had just started getting going. But I really didn't watch it much. And then I ended up working there and everything.

And then, you know, in being a counselor, you know, working in the addiction field, as soon as I started meeting with clients and they drew that connection, they were like, oh, wow. And it just really helped me a lot in my career just because, you know, that was something that people could say, you know, it was a starting point to be able to talk. And yeah, all the people in our sober living homes and at Celebrate Recovery, it's a known thing. Like, hey, I'm going to WFR, the Doug Dynasty Church. The Dynasty Church, that's what they call it.

And I don't mind that. I mean, a lot of people say, oh, that's terrible. You shouldn't, you know, the church should be named after a TV show. But it's a way to connect to people. God has used the show for us to do what we're doing now. So I'm not, you know, I'm not ashamed of that at all. So, Brian, since the last time you were on, and told your story.

So the folks at I Am Second, which we've done several of our stories on their website, which is I Amsecond.org, I guess. I think that's right. Or maybe.com as well. Incredible testimonies of people. So some of the people that work there, Angie and some of her team, they listen to our podcast. And so they were blown away by your story. And so she reached out to me.

And she said, do you think Brian would be interested in? doing a nine second for his story. And I said, I don't know. I mean, you have to ask him, but I'm sure that man will tell the story anywhere because he does it all the time. Yeah. And so since that time, you have connected and did a recording for him, which I'm sure will take a few months to produce. So it'll be a while for it's out on their website. But tell us about that experience. It just so happened that dad was there when you recorded, which was kind of a weird. I just saw a record coming. It was kind of an odd coincidence that when they take you to

us to film your story for whatever dad was doing something, I think, for the movie. I'm not even sure, Dad. We do so much stuff. I'm not sure either. Well, that was the thing. It didn't look like Phil really knew. He just had the Bible open and was like, here it is. Oh, Dad, when a camera rolls, everybody pretty much understands.

Dad's just going to say what he's going to say. And then you make that work. Yeah, yeah. Edit it however you need to. Whatever you're working out. Here's what Dad's going to do. I think it had something to do with the movie. Zach were here he would know.

but I knew that they were filming it because we're kind of doing some cross-promotion with I am second and the blind. Yeah, yeah. And that was part of the reason while I was there too, you know, just because it's such an amazing thing that God has done through the last name Robertson.

You know what I mean? Because the blind essentially feels conversion story. Well, you can trace that down and then here I am. Yeah. And that was something that I talked. about whenever I did it was just how for me being able to trace that back, especially because I don't know any family lineage, right, but I can trace my faith back. Yeah. To where it's started. You know the moment. You know the time. 100%. And even with, you know, Bill Smith,

you know, coming to feel like that moment, if that doesn't happen, there's no Brian Rucker here today. Right. And that's just a, it's a very humbling and awesome thing to see. And be able to be a part of. But yeah, which those people at eye on second are just awesome. Angie reached out to me. I went over to Dallas and filmed. And it was actually kind of funny because I get there and Phil's in there filming. And they were like, hey, we didn't tell Phil you're coming.

So we're going to kind of surprise him. And I was like, have you ever seen Phil surprised? Because I haven't. Can he be surprised? I was like, can you surprise the man? I don't know. And so they were like, well, we're going to get it on film. You walking in.

I'm like, all right, here we go. They're like, what do you think he'll do? I said, he's probably going to hit me with a thumbs up and say, oh, Brian. Yeah. But, man, that was really cool for me too because I walked in. Phil gave me a hug. I was like, man, here we go. There we go.

We're ready. Let's take a break. So what was it like? because I remember I was there and kind of helped them put together our original I am second because originally they wanted it to be dad and me and somebody else in the family. Yep. Jeff. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, actually, it was dad and me and Reed. And so because we were talking about being a prodigal. But I felt like that at this point in time, it was important for Jeff to tell his story, you know, because the show had just started, and I felt like that's better than me telling mine because I'm telling mine all the time. So I encourage them to put Jeff in that slot into my slot. And so I just kind of helped them pull that together.

Then mom came, was part of that. But it's a whole different thing from watching it and then experience it sitting in this chair because they have this white chair and you used to have dark clothes on, and it's a dark environment. And when you're sitting there, you really can only see lights and their people,

you know, the production crew is out there. they're maybe giving you questions and talking to you, but you can't really see them. So it's a very... It's different. Different. It's different. It's a different way because you and I have shared our stories in many, many settings,

but that was unique. And so I want to ask you about that, kind of what that was like as you were kind of going through it in that setting. Yeah. You know, honestly, it was challenging. And, you know, I almost think it's by design, too, because, you know, there's times when you go and speak, you know, especially like on a stage with a crowd there and, and you share and you share the gospel, you share your story, sometimes you walk off of the stage very, like,

encouraged, almost like, man, like, that went really well, you know, and, and that wasn't necessarily the case. Yeah, because you weren't sure. I wasn't sure, you know, and it was, it was difficult because, you know, for, for most people that speak, especially guys like us, I, the, I, the crowd kind of helps me. So I'll tell a couple of jokes. They start laughing. I'm like, okay. All right.

That can be me. Well, I start by telling jokes. Can't nobody laugh? You know, because it's off. It's silence. So it's silence. And I'm like, oh, boy, here we go. You know, and so it was, it was really different.

It was a challenge. But I, you know, and I talked to one of my close friends, Grant. And he was like, he was like, man, that just means. that whenever it turns out to further the gospel and be great, you can't say it had anything to do with you. That's exactly right. No, I agree 100%. I love what they do. Check them out if you've never looked at their stuff. And it'd be a while for Brian's is on there, but it's well worth it. So another thing has happened since you were last on Rutgers. You've got to talk about you are engaged. I am. To be married, which happened, what, three months ago or so? So we actually got engaged in January. Her birthday is January 28th, and, you know, me, I'm a little bit extra. So I proposed on her birthday.

I had a... So this was your birthday gift to her. Yeah, right. As you. Like, yeah, you're welcome. You know, she's an extremely lucky girl. It's better than me. I said, well, Ms. Kay, I'm getting out of here.

You're in the 11th grade. I'm in the 12th. I just graduated. Been good knowing you. Idi-osom ego. She said, we just... a minute. You ain't get leaving without me going with you. I said, talk to your mom about it. She did. She said, boy, that is so romantic. Oh, man. We should make a movie about that.

That whole scene is, I'm sure all that's going to be in the movie. I mean, I just said, look, I'm picked to leave here. I mean, I'm going to play football scholarship and Louisiana Tech. I said, I could have gone to any college I wanted to. I'll go over there. It's closer to home. And I said, you know, see you later. She said, wait a minute. Hold it. I said, no, that's not going to the way they work. I'm going with you. Well, and it turns out, well, she was 16. I wanted to tell her mama so they wouldn't get me for kidnapping or something.

Yeah, I mean, she... It's a different time back there. It's a different. A little different than today. Mama's 16, dad was 18, just to fill in the blanks. Mom was pregnant with me, which, so there was another reason why she probably needed a little help. But she actually went to. of tech with you.

And so she had to lay out her senior year to have me. Yeah, then she went back to the Russon High School. They got her high school diploma. That's exactly right. All I was going to tech, yeah. And I was, so, Rucker, I was raised by teenagers on a college campus. So it's a miracle that I'm sitting here with you having this discussion. Rucker, I'm just saying, tell you a woman that if you fix the mayor, you know,

tell her to alert her kin folks and her mama and him because, you know, they'll think you're taking her, kidnapping it. Yeah, yeah. Well, she is, she is almost 10 years younger than me. So, you know, there's that. Yeah, oh, yeah. That's scared the daylights out of some of them. Well, so I actually, I went to her mom and dad before, you know, did the whole, hey, can I marry your daughter thing.

Oh, yeah. So you cleared it with them. Yeah, well, her dad tried to dodge me for a little while. I think he knew. That's why I gave that little job to Ms. Cass, you talk to your mom. Yeah, no, I was trying to, I had been trying to get with him since. Thanksgiving. He was giving you the slip. Well, you know, she's his baby girl. You know how it is. And so I get it. But yeah, I mean, I finally had to just say, hey, I need to talk to you. Like, I'd have bought a ring. We just need to have a conversation. But you were a nobleman by waiting until you talk to. So, yeah, so did you, where did you meet her? Did you meet her at the church?

I met her at church. Yeah. So I've actually, I actually known her a little bit longer. Cool story. She came through transformations. So Chad. I didn't know that. Yeah, so she came through transformations. Which is, to those of you listening, that's one of our houses we were mentioned earlier. That's just on the women's side of what we do. Yeah. Yeah. And so I've known her for quite some time and never really thought that she would be the woman I end up marrying. And, you know, there was that, you know, you look back and you can see the little connection moments that I remember she was going to share her story one Wednesday night, of the week at the church. And I had a conversation with her. And apparently, I don't even remember saying it, but I said, she was nervous. And I said, well, it's a good thing. It ain't about you.

And that it's really just God's story with you being the main character. And that was life-changing for her. That's great. So I, you know, but yeah, we started dating. And, you know, I've been, I try to be extremely just careful and thoughtful and faithful with, like, how I conduct myself as a, as a man. of faith today because I've done it all the wrong way. And so I just really wanted to do it the right way. And so we started dating and after a year, February would have been a year. Her birthday was on January 28th. So I was like, I would. And that was kind of the, the blueprint that, you know, I've seen other successful people in marriage follows date for a year. And, you know, so. And so I'm getting married on her birthday then. No, we're going to get married. I'll

October 29th. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So we just... I got to be sure and clear my calendar so I can be there. Oh, yeah, for sure. Actually, we need to have a conversation. I don't know.

Oh, here we go. I guess I'm going to start giving them the slip now. I know where this is going. Let's take another break. One more thing about that before we leave it. So your son, because we talked about your son, from a previous relationship, pre-Christ even. Yeah.

So that's good with he, does he made a relationship with your fiancé yet? Oh, yeah. Like, you know, it's kind of fun. That's a big deal. I mean, that's, you know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, he's, so he's 13 now, and his mom has remarried a couple times and everything. And so I wanted to make sure that he wasn't, like this wasn't that. You know, this was, this was something different. This was rooted in Christ and everything. And, man, he's just such a good kid. I really don't know where he gets it from, extremely smart. We know where he gets it from. Yeah, yeah. And so he, you know, whenever, whenever it got serious and we was. dating and stuff like we would go pick him up when he would visit together and just kind of have them establish a relationship. And then it got to the point where she was going to pick him up without me. And Noah's mom and her, they've had a conversation. And it's really a blessing that me and his mom have gotten to where we are as far as a friendship. And it's almost like

God just worked everything out. And the cool thing is like last night, literally what we did is we all, we're all in different places. She's at her house. I'm at my house. Noah's in Texas at his mom's and we all got on Xbox and was playing the video game together. Yeah. Like just as a way to hang out, do something together even from afar. Well, and it's really neat, Brian, because a lot of, I know there's a lot of blended families that are listening people that both came from one or maybe are experiencing one now. And the beautiful thing about when you have a relationship with Christ is that everything, can be healed to a point where you can function, even though there's from past mistakes or

whatever. And so I think you're a example of that by making an effort, you know, to someone you had a relationship with a long time ago, but now you share something because you share a son together. So it makes perfect sense as a man of God to say, I want to have the best possible relationship I can with his mom, both just as an example to her, but also because that's his mom. And now, of course, you're bringing in what will be his stepmom. Well, you know, it's the exceedingly abundantly more than you could ever imagine. People hear that and they think, oh, well, man, I'm going to have financial success. I'm going to have a nice truck.

But I think it's really about those kind of moments, those kind of things, because I remember a point in time when I would have never thought that that was possible. Yeah. I would have never thought that me and her could be friends and communicate the way that we communicate, I would have never thought that I could actually be a dad without being with her. Right. And, you know, now I see it. And I mean, this is exceedingly abundantly more than I ever would have imagined.

Yeah. And so it's just a, it's very, it's very humbling, you know. So that's actually a perfect lead in to our text because I want to spend a little bit of time in Luke 6 with you since you're sitting in Jay's chair. Yeah. Because what you just described is really what Jesus is describing in Luke 6 in this sermon on the mound or sermon on the plane is the idea of a spiritual kingdom and yet dealing with earthly things. Right. Which is kind of what we were just talking about. And by the way, I just wanted to tell you for our audience to know.

So you received a great compliment that you don't know about. So I was talking with Kellett the other day, who's one of my co-pastor and, you know, my co-pastor and, we preached together and we've worked together for many, many years. And he was commenting to me about being in some of your classes. Because I'm not here that much. I don't get a chance to hear you, but he was talking about you and Derek. And we were just, you know, we're dreaming and praying about next generation leadership. And he was just telling me how good a teacher that you and Derek are and your students of the word.

And so, and this is coming from one of your mentors and one of my peers. And so I just, I wanted to say that to you on air because, I mean, I mean, that's how you stay in this for long term. You know, if it's just personality or love for people, those are good things, but you have to have something to sustain you over the long period of time. And so I love that you guys are students of the word. And even though it's recovery ministry and it's trying to bring people out of darkness into light, the next question is then what?

Because once you're in that light, you have to have some maturity and growth to be able to sustain that life. And so I just wanted to compliment you for that. And Mike was talking about that. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, you got to have the evidence of fruit. Yeah. And in order to live a fruitful life, you have to be connected to the vine.

Right. You bet. And so, you know, Jesus, the word of God is our connection to deity. Right. You know. And so. You've done well, my man. Well, one of the guys that was in the truck with me, he was talking about wanting to do more service for people.

So, well, that's great. So let me talk to some of the guys. around, we'll figure out some way to plug in. He said, well, he said, some of those guys, man, I have the most confidence in me because he said, I keep going back to my old ways. And I was like, well, brother, you know, part of repentance is to leave that. I said, and it's good to want to do good for other people, but you need to learn from God about how to sustain a life.

He said, yeah, I need to hear that, you know. But it was interesting because even in that little short conversation, there's that struggle of sustaining my spiritual walk. and not going back to the old ways. Right. Because then it feels like you're starting over all the time. Yeah. And that don't mean that you won't make new mistakes either.

That's right. You know, it's never going back. Right. You know, mistakes are a part of the process. You've got to fail to grow. Yeah. And so I think that's necessary. But to go back to what you was speaking on, you know, two Sundays ago,

like a dog returning to his vomit. Yeah. That's a different thing. That's exactly right. or a sow back to the mud. So one thing I want to ask you about because we, Dad and I just were in Ohio, and we spoke at a ministry called 612 ministry, and they based on Ephesians 612. But it's a recovery ministry.

But it's more of like intensive. These people are like, it's kind of like what we do, but it sounds like even more. It's like a discipleship program. Exactly. Yeah. And there's like a year long. But they were describing it. And the guy said something interesting.

And I wanted to get your take on. He said, ministry is a heart-breaking ministry because our hearts get broken all the time because of people we work with, but we realize that a broken heart is something or someone that can really, you know, allow Christ in. And I just never heard it put that way. And I was wondering about that from your perspective because, you know, you invest in people and they're doing so great. And then all a sudden, you know, they go back or they stumble or whatever happens along the way. I mean, does that, would that describe kind of the ministry? Is that kind of a good way to?

to look at it. Yeah, so there's a couple ways I would I would say that is I agree. You know, you know, a lot of times we use the, you know, Jeremiah talks about God being the potter and where the clay. Well, the first thing that you have to do is become moldable, right? Because clay is moldable. And so we have to soften our hearts. And so break your heart, soften your heart, become that moldable thing. Whenever you're broken, you can allow yourself to be filled with something else. And it goes back to even, you know, what we're going to talk about in Luke 6 or even in Matthew, the Beatitude sermon on the Mount is, Blessed are the Poor and Spirit, right? To be spiritually bankrupt, to be at a point of desperation will lead you to a breakthrough.

Yeah. And so I think that's what he's talking about. And that's very similar to how we worded a little bit differently, but basically the same thing. Like, I have to be broken to the point to where I'm and able to be filled and rebuilt through the grace of God. Yeah. I mean, you think about Phil's story, right? Like, you know, we talk about the movie, The Blind. There was brokenness that led to that breakthrough to him surrendering to Jesus.

That's it. You always said you can't help others build unless God has rebuilt you through the process, which is important. Let's take our last break. All right. So I'm glad you brought it up. So I kind of want to generally introduce it. and then we're going to run out of time because we're in our last segment, and then we'll talk a little bit about it in overtime.

But so the, we had set up around the, in Luke's sixth, Luke's version, uh, of the sermon on the mount. And it is the same version. It,

some, you know, we talked about this. A lot of scholars will say this is a different sermon. This was a different presentation because he puts the woes in. Yeah. To kind of counter, you know,

antithetical of the, of the blessings. But there's, there's so much similar stuff. It's basically the same sermon. He just packages it a little bit differently. And so we talked about that in the last podcast. And Jay's had an interesting take.

And so I'll tell you what he said. And he got this from a Tim Keller sermon. But I thought it was really interesting. He kind of took those four blessings and talked about it that how people in the world, you would look at this as being powerful, being comfortable, being successful. And then finally, because it was how people view you, being a celebrity. Celebrity was the word he used. Which I found it was really interesting because when I look at those four terms, I think, well, that's what the world is striving for.

Yeah. You know, that's a, you know, that's a Hollywood celebrity. Right. But then he comes back on the, on the Jesus side and said, but what he comes back with is weakness, sacrifice, mourning, and exclusion. Mm-hmm. You know, it's kind of the Jesus answer to those four things, which is, which is a good take. So what's your take on just in general? on the sermon on the mouth.

What is, what is, how does it speak to you in a way that you can help other people through this process? Well, so at Celebrate Recovery, um, you know, we, we read, uh, the, we have the eight principles. It's a 12-step program, then the eight principles. And all come right out of the beatitudes. Come right out of the beatitudes, right? And, um, I think that it goes hand in hand because, uh, if, if I'm not at a place of humility, then I'm normally not going to seek something to save me. And so you think about like, blessed are the poor and heart, you know,

blessed are the meek, all those things. It's just in order for somebody to understand that they need a savior, in order for somebody to be able to get to a point of growth, they have to get to a point of submission, right? Because you read all throughout scripture here and you look in the new text, It's like live a life submitted to God. I'm getting ready to do a sermon series throughout the summer on James. That was one of those Kellett things. I don't know if it's a test or if Kelly just wanted me to do it. So I'm going just go with it, but going through James and, you know, there in James

Chapter 4 is live submitted to God. Yeah. Right. And if I could get to a point of submission to the creator, to the name above all names, the King of Kings, then I can allow for some pretty amazing stuff to happen in my life and to be used to the furtherment of that gospel. Right. Now, James is such a good study. You're going to do great with that because it's so practical, which is one of the things I love about it. So we kind of laid out the blessings and the woes in the last podcast, and especially, like I said, looking at it through this prism of things that would advance you on earth versus things that advance you in the kingdom of heaven, kind of the difference of the two. And so Jason made a

pretty strong point, that Matthew in the sermon on the mount, he naturally takes the physical into the spiritual by using, you know, poor in spirit. But Luke doesn't do that. Yeah. He just says poor and rich. I mean, and let you draw your own conclusion. Right. As to what that means.

And so that was one of the things that I felt like was really interesting from Luke's perspective. And I don't know if his was that Greek, you know, prism of looking at this. because, you know, they were very successful and in some ways more so than even some of their Jewish counterparts. And so were they looking at it? Was he looking at it like all these people that have achieved so much in life? He's trying to appeal to them that none of that really ultimately matters, you know, at the end of the day. At the end of the day, it's do you have a relationship with Christ? Yeah, the Greek, you know, and then you also have the Luke was a physician, right? And his primary, the overarching theme of Luke's account of the gospel is to be, you know,

Jesus is the solution or the element to all of your spiritual problems. You know, Matthew is more about the deity of Christ. Exactly. Luke is all about him being the great physician. That's right. And so I think that a lot of that is the reason as to why you see that difference there and how Luke words it and then Matthew. Yeah.

I think there's no doubt you're right. And the nice thing is when you take them and put them together, you get that complete picture. Oh, man. Because you get it from both sides, which is the beauty of studying the Bible because you're getting these different eyewitness accounts and you take and you put them all together.

And it's like, whoa, you get that full picture. Yeah. Derek and I just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago a Bible class on the final week of Jesus. And that's where we just crunched. chronologically went through, broke down the final week of Jesus, the different prophecies being fulfilled, the things that maybe people don't know, and then how that, you know, intertwines with our calendar today, the Jewish calendar. And probably the coolest thing about all of that is taking all of these gospel accounts, looking at them and then studying them in a way to see the differences from Mark to Matthew, from John to Luke, and chronological. psychologically putting out that final week of Jesus.

Yeah. And, you know, by the end of it, what you come to find is, man, just how powerful and amazing God is. That's right. Like, just it's, you know, people that have their doubts, they've, they probably have never really studied this thing. Right. Because when you study it and you look at it and you go and cross-reference, you check

the dates, you look at the prophetic things that were, that have came to fruition. and it is it is undeniable to me yeah um and so that was really powerful just to speak to your point like man when you when you look at all of this together and the way that these accounts are put and everything just the difference in them and you see who their target audience was and man it's it's incredible it's one of the reasons why when i was in school um and jace doesn't share this because he learned how to sleep with his eyes open and so he slept through a lot of I did that too. Did you, do you learn that trick?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're incarcerated, you've got to learn how to sleep light. Nowadays, nowadays I'll keep one eye open. Oh, man, nowadays I'll sleep through an alarm and everything. I mean, how do you do that? I said, I spent a long time sleeping real light. Now I can sleep in peace. That's right.

Peace of mind. Well, but when I was taking Old Testament history and geography, it really was a light bulb for me. to see how God structured it over the course of Jewish history to prepare the way. Yeah. And so by the time I got into the study of the Gospels and the Epistles and the New Testament, the base I learned, which was, I didn't know that much about it. I knew the Old Testament's a lot of stories, a lot of good stories, yet I grew up hearing in Bible class and VBS.

What I didn't know is they were telling the redemptive story of Christ before he came, which makes it so powerful. All right. So we're out of time. man, that went by fast. Brian, it's always good to have you on Unashamed. We are going to talk about this a little bit more because I wanted to talk to you a little bit about this section 627 through 36. Jesus follows up about this idea of love for enemies.

We just got into that a little bit with Jason on the last podcast. So I want to talk about that a little bit in the overtime with you because get your take on it. So if you want to follow us over, it's blazedtv.com slash Unashamed, which is where you subscribe. you get everything the Blaze offers, but you also get our overtime segment. So if you want to follow us over, come on more with Rucker. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast.

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