Scripture And Mission For Men

Chris Grainger 1:02

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast terming Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, meat episode. Let's get into it. You're gonna love it, fellas. You're gonna love it. Before we get to our guests, scripture of the week this week is Colossians 4, verses 5 and 6. Be wise in the way you act towards others. Make the most out of every opportunity. Let your conversations always be full of grace, season with thought, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Guys, I took some time. I unpacked that scripture at length in our spiritual kickoff episode. So go back and listen to it in your podcast feed. You'll be encouraged by it, I promise you. But that whole acting towards uh outsiders with grace, with thought, the words we use, fellas, it all matters, okay? It all matters so much. And if you enjoy those guys, again, I invite you into this the daily spiritual kickoff at the Lion Within us. So just go to the LionWithin.us and get started with that today. But this one, fellas, I'm gonna tell you what, this is a big deal for the lion. You know, when we started the lion uh years ago, a little over four years ago now, coming up on five, uh having conversations like this with this guest w wasn't even a thought of a thought. Okay, and and he needs no introduction. We you guys, Willie Robertson, uh CEO of Duck Commander, one of the driving forces behind uh the the cultural phenomenon that you guys know is Duck Dynasty. So I just had a uh just a great conversation with Willie. Again, you guys listen to line, you know I got connected with Al, had a r just he's just a personal friend. Just I thank the world of him, love him to death. I've been it been blessed to go on the Unashamed podcast a couple times to actually get to meet Phil and the whole family and spend time with them at their house. It's just unbelievable. So we've been working on this one with Willie for a while, and uh let's just say his schedule is uh is quite demanding. So it took us a while to get to this one, but we finally were able to dial it in and get it locked in, and and we had a really great time with this conversation. I mean, outside, you know, since Duck Dynasty, he is now he's doing so many new things. And he talks about that, and uh, and he's becoming one of the stronger voices out there for Christian leadership and entrepreneurship and ultimately how to live unapologetically for Christ. And I mean, we talk a lot about his book, uh, The Gospel or I got it right here, fellas, turning darkness into a lot into light, one conversation at a time. And that book, phenomenal. So Phil was able to read the manuscript before he passed. That was really big to Willie. Willie, he's he's gonna talk about that. So uh this this book, highly recommend it. It's gonna be obviously we'll have a link out there for you guys. Add it to your list. But I mean, the stuff he's doing now, all writing, speaking, again, uh husband to Corey, father to his children, uh, and he's just consistently using the platform that God has given him to point people to what matters most. And that's why this is just a fun conversation. So I think you're going to enjoy this one. Sit back and enjoy this one with my friend, Willie Robertson. Willie Robertson, welcome to The Lion Within Us. How are you doing today, buddy? What's up, man? How are you? I'm fantastic. I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I'm looking forward to doing having this conversation with you. As I mentioned before we jumped on, I've been I worked with Al a bunch and uh just got got to hang out with Al a few weeks ago. Uh been on uh Unashamed twice, so that was a lot of fun. I was back in at you know, 23, got to ride it with your dad to the studio, so that was a lot of fun too, man. Did you get to talk any on that podcast? So the one with your dad, I did, and here's why. Uh because Jace won't there. But did Jace have one giant? Oh, Jace wasn't there. Okay, now able to speak. It's funny, I was having lunch with Al the other day. He was like, Yeah, man, I like it when you come. He's like, Jace

Willie Robertson Joins The Conversation

Chris Grainger 5:14

is not there, and we get to talk. So yeah, no, it was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with Zach as well. Zach's Zach is man, a world knowledge in that guy, right?

Willie Robertson 5:27

Well, yeah, stuff he thinks he knows, that's for sure. I feel that.

Chris Grainger 5:34

Well, well, I definitely would look at everybody today, so just roast them all, man. Just roast them all. Well, I'm I'd I'd love to talk with you, Willie, just to hear a little bit about you know your your personal walk with Christ. I mean, obviously with Phil, you know, and everything is very public and the blind and all the stuff there. And and then when it comes to you, like what did your own discipleship journey look like? Like, how did you come to know the Lord? Because everybody's faith is their own. I'm just really interested to hear yours.

Willie Robertson 6:07

Yeah, well, I mean, it's as long as I can remember um growing up in it. Um, you know, my earliest memories are when Phil and Kay had gotten themselves, you know, to the Lord and straightened out. And so um don't really remember any of the the bad or any of the past or the stuff we made

Growing Up Around Real Faith

Willie Robertson 6:29

about. Um I guess Chase now had some memories of that, but uh uh mine was not, so mine was more um just watching uh mom and dad be together. I watch and feel um, you know, just had this fire for the Lord and especially for sharing the gospel, studying the Bible. Um so grew up uh with that. We moved down to the river. Um you know, those are some of my earliest memories of when we actually moved down there, and so uh life was great, went to church all the time, um uh developed my faith really early and have faith in God and um I just wanted to wanted to be active and pursue that and um um share the gospel with as new people, studying the word, um uh loving the Lord and um thought I might be a preacher. That's uh kind of where I thought I would end up is being a pastor. I think all of us did. Me, Al, and Jace had kind of around the same time I was older, and he'd kind of come back to the Lord. Um Jason I are pretty close in age, uh, a couple years. And so I think we thought we'd work for the church. I think it was our only way we thought this like we're so excited about this and fired up, we want to do this, you know, um in an even bigger way. And for us, we I guess thought that that meant uh working for our church. That was the best way we thought we could do that. Um and then uh had a little change of plans. Um started dating Corey, who she and I were in the same youth group uh together, and uh pretty quickly we decided we were gonna get married, and so uh but she was gonna go off to college, and so um I decided I would go to college instead of uh seminary, and I thought, well, okay, you know, backup plan, I can always do stuff for the church, and um and end up going to college and then coming back, running uh helping run her family business, uh particularly at Camp Chioka, which is the summer camp that they had still loved it, um started having our kids and um um it was great. We didn't make any money, but we just had a great time to nurture the family, um be together a lot. At the time I I ended up working part-time for the church. I did some I did youth ministry, I did college ministry, um uh 'cause it kind of paired well with the job I had at Chioka. And it wasn't until I was about thirty that uh decided I was gonna go back into the family business, uh, where I thought I would never uh end up and uh kind of pull back down there and so um uh just even gri gained a more appreciation of Phil and kind of his still his faith that he was putting out there and then decided I could probably help a lot with the business and I could help him running that um to take that off his hands and we didn't have to worry about that. And he could pretty much just focus on hunting, which he loved obviously, but also preaching the gospel and uh traveled around with him and really just watched him and watched his message and watched how people interacted with him. Um we were wherever he went, I was there and I would run the booth in the back, and then um um we were able to get the business running pretty well, and that's when the television show came along, and um and then uh from there obviously with the TV and then we flashed into so many other things uh that we wanted to do. And now I've swung back to a lot of what I do is actually going around speaking, uh preaching, speaking. Um kind of took that manner. We lost Phil just over a year ago, and so uh yeah, kinda in the same vein of of doing that and going around and speaking, and then I think the Lord, you know, what I kinda always wanted to do was that was to be able to speak to people, um, which is what I thought I would do through ministry or working for the church, and as it turns out, I'm able to speak to so many more people without being a preacher or pastor um in the lane that God had kind of set out for um for me and not just me, but my whole my family, my siblings, um and now my kids and uh bringing the same thing as well. And so I think I think as a family he kinda had a plan. Uh seems kind of obvious now looking back. Uh I think looking forward it's always hard to see things. Uh that's where your faith kicks in and um you know, yeah, and just really the idea of working for God uh on this earth, however, you know, long we have, um, you know, losing Phil was just another reminder. Uh as Phil would always say of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Uh the the later he got in life, he would say, Well, the resurrection is looming near. Yeah, yeah. He knew he was getting uh close and even on from this earth. And so just the idea to think about how long we have here, you know, I can do the math on even how old I am versus when my father passed away, law of averages. Um not that long, you know, it's not that long that we're here and uh great. And I believe that, you know, eternity starts when we are with the Lord, and so eternity can start here. We're just on this earth. God's got us here working, needing us to, you know, do things and glorify Him. And um and I particularly have really studied and dove into the idea of actually sharing the gospel and winning other people, uh coming from the Great Commission uh that Jesus gave of making disciples of all nations, baptizing people and teaching people uh three particular things that I've dove into. And so that's kind of the message I've had for the last uh couple of years uh since I wrote the book and uh trying to get that out to people and maybe knock down some laws and some um you know, some anxiety about that, or maybe how to do that exactly. And so uh I was able to witness that at a young age, you know, with my father and others that I saw as well do that and uh and then and was able to take that there. So a lot of the things what I do now, uh try to put them in those three, you know, does it fit those three categories? Does it fit? Either making disciples, baptizing people, or teaching people. And a lot of these things will will end up being whether it's at a church or whether it's at a men's group or or whether it's at um you know, a business function that's not necessarily Christian. I love those because that's actually where Yeah. You can find a lot of people. But actually when I show up to places, a lot of people will come that maybe don't even know the Lord or don't regularly go there because maybe I'm in their town or city and they wanna come check that out. So there's there's still that opportunity to actually uh get the word out. Um and then, you know, focus on you know, for us it was faith, family and ducks, uh whatever the the last one can be whatever, but you know, the faith is number one and then our family is um you know number two, and so um about all my family lives right here. Uh we're really close, my kids are here, and so I'm able to see them a lot, pour into them, help them with their with their faith and their the journeys that they're on, and then um help with their families as well. Try to pass down the wisdom. That's what I wanted to do in my fifties was uh just try to pass down that wisdom. I think it's so important to pass that down, especially in this world we're in, where everything's so fast moving and yeah, you know, grabbing and going. I mean, just the idea of the like the family dinner where we sit and talk or cook or you know, hunt together, you know, do these activities together, uh share in that and actually, you know, try to live a life outside of just the computers and texting and fast moving and travel ball and all the things that we you know get ourselves into that take up all our time.

Chris Grainger 14:50

That's right. Well, I mean, the busyness gets it. It's funny, I was when when I was with Al, he's like, you know, I see where I see Willie the most, I'm like, where? He's like, in the airport. He said, We live next to each other, and but our schedules with the speaking, what God's called you to, what God's called him to. He's just like the travel. He's like, so it's really cool when we run into each other in airports and able to catch up and just have that fellowship. I thought that was funny when he when he was sharing that.

Willie Robertson 15:14

That is funny. Well, I that I don't know, that may say more about him because I've been in his backyard for about months uh picking up Lens uh from this ice storm, and so uh uh I see where he lives in Louisiana every day. So he hasn't been there. Uh I've been that burn pile was right behind his house, but uh uh because they live also in um in Florida and Alabama, I'm not sure. Uh yeah, Gulf Shores. Yeah. Yeah, they kind of bounce back and forth and uh they travel a lot as well. But yeah, I think we're all on mission, and I think when we get together it's fun sharing kind of where we've been and what kind of what we're working on, or whether it's a book or um, you know, obviously their podcast and um and I felt like um that was something great that was passed down obviously from the Lord and what we learned in the Bible, but also passed down even in our family of the traditions of those are the things that we feel like are most important. So when we're together, we're not talking about money or jobs or whatever it is, you know, golf or whatever, and you know, we're talking about things that really matter, you know, in the in the kingdom perspective. And um we just did their movie, uh, we were helping with a movie that they put out about their life, and so uh yeah, they're they're that way, um Jason in the same way that you know, stuff that they do for the kingdom of God. Now our kids are, you know, obviously the same way. And actually both of Al's children uh technically work for me. So yeah, it's kind of a so I get to see everyone keep up with the uh with the family through uh uh through our jobs or whatever it is, but mostly talking about you know what we do in the kingdom and um and how exciting it is and sometimes hard, but always exciting and you know, something new.

Chris Grainger 17:06

Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean you're doing such great work and making making you know just a huge impact for it. I mean what when it comes to putting all this together in a book like The Gospel, I mean what to how did that project come to fruition? What what what did God lay on your heart for you to want to go down a path like that? Oh man, that was a fun one.

Willie Robertson 17:25

That was um well, it was um golly, the genesis of that book was so interesting how it all came together. Um I wanted to capture a lot of the stories that I've had. I you know, I think as your kids get older and they're you'll tell a story or they'll hear something, they'd be like, I never knew that story, you know, and you're like such a huge part, you know, of my life. And

Why Willie Wrote The Gospel Book

Willie Robertson 17:53

you realize how quickly things just get left and they they don't get passed down, and so I thought, man, I need to write all these stories down. And um about the same time I was um I was at a conference, um, and to be honest, I didn't even know that it was Christian. I thought I was speaking, but I didn't know exactly what it was. Um I was just doing one little segment of this conference, and uh, I think about television or something, and um and they had some breakout classes, and there was a speaker. Now I never heard of this guy, which says more about me than him, but uh his name was Lee Strobel, and I never heard of him. And he was doing a class on evangelism that I was interested in. I didn't know who he was, but I was interested in evangelism. And it was like an hour-long uh class that he did, and I was fascinated. I was taking notes, and later when I met Lee, he said, I didn't think you were paying attention because you never looked up. I said, I was taking notes the whole time. And uh and he just threw out a couple ideas there that I hadn't really thought about, like um kind of like the ministry of evangelism, like uh and how perhaps it's lacking in even churches where we don't really focus on the art and how to do that. Like we have a lot of ministries, but actual going out and just sharing the gospel, I think besides just a general share our faith, you know, how would you do that? How would that look? And so uh so went back and actually taught with a particular group I was meeting with, uh as a church group at the time, and we didn't have that. And then uh the pastor called me about a month later and said, Hey, you you want to start that? I thought, well, I guess I stepped into this. What if I wanted to open my phone about it and then I'm going. And so then really started almost like you were like teaching a college class on it. Like it was almost like how would what would that what would that look like? And so then I started studying and um not just the Bible, but also like how would you teach that or whatever to to other people? And um and I will say it's you know, sharing the gospel is it's more an I think it's like an art form. It's not it's not science. Uh and I think we've done that in the past as a church. We we make it into a science, like if we write down what it is, put it on a track or put it on in a book, give it to somebody, they should read it and they should understand it, and then they should do it. Um you know, even if you tell the same you can tell the same thing, and I'm not saying the message changes, I'm saying you could tell somebody something and somebody may go, that's it, I'm in. And uh you can tell another person the same exact thing, and they go, Nope, not interested at all. And uh there and it may be for them, it may be some other way that that needs to open up for them to for them to hear that. Um like like if I said, Hey, you can become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and you can be part of a church, you know, and that these will be a family that will help you through life. And a lot of people hear that and go like, oh, that's what I need. I need community, and that's really appealing. But to another person, they go, Oh, that's the last thing I want. I hate church. I was hurt in a church, I was, you know, and then so the idea of a church may be what to some people may be awesome, to others may be um painful, you know, even to think about being a part of that. So um, and then I I'd I'd read a scripture where Paul says, you know, pray that I may proclaim the mystery of Christ even better. And so even Paul was praying that he could get the mystery of it out better. Like I don't think anyone knew the gospel more than Paul and the experiences that he had. However, I know that he probably was he couldn't understand why people would, you know, why he couldn't gain some people, and so he was still praying actively for that. So anyway, I listened to the thing with Lee. I talked to the church, I started this little class, and then in that class, uh, which was Sunday morning, like after one of the services um that we would sit in, and people just come in there and they had all kinds of questions, and a lot of people just wanted to learn how to share, what to share, where do you start? Some people came in that were just straight unbelievers. Uh somebody just sent them down to our room and uh it was a fun room to talk to people. And this this happened to be around COVID, so I wasn't traveling, and so I was just home anyway. And uh in Louisiana, our churches were for the most part going. And um yeah, so it kind of it was almost like the book started writing itself because I was able to hear kind of where a lot of different people and where they thought and uh how they thought about it, and so started putting this book down. Um originally it had a different title, uh uh it had something to do with evangelists, I think, and um I mean Corey actually found that word. She it was a Real word. It's an old word that means someone who shares the gospel either publicly or personally. And it it used to be like it was common in England and in America.

Evangelism As An Art Not A Script

Willie Robertson 23:13

It was a common term. Not necessarily like a pastor. They would probably be called a pastor or preacher. These are people who just share they were just known for sharing the gospel. They were called known gospelers. Someone like a Phil Robertson. He's not a preacher, he's not a pastor, but a lot of people knew that he shared the gospel, uh, no matter what. And so um, and I was like, that's perfect. And so uh so we had the title, and then at this point, and then the the subtitle was uh Turning Darkness to Light, One Conversation at a Time. And uh that actually came from uh I was doing a marketing thing with my uh product I have for Fluck Commander, um, and it was this this kind of this uh scope thing that you can click a button and when it gets kind of dark it'll it would light it up and so the I was looking at the ads for it and it said turn uh darkness to daylight or something, and I thought that's it. That's the subtitle of my book. And the one conversation at a time, the first chapter starts off particularly about Phil's life, because it just struck me like had that guy not went and had that conversation with Phil, had Phil not become a Christian, my whole life is a whole completely different life. I mean, completely different. And I thought, wow, I mean, that's how important that conversation was, and that's how important I think the sharing of our faith is. Um Phil he did preach that message to Phil of the Good News. They Phil did respond. He did eventually change his life. Kay responds, Kay changed her life, and had it just affected our family, it would have been worth it. Nothing else happened, no duck honesty, nothing. If it would it just kept our family together, which completely changed my life, Al's life, Jace's life, um, Jeff's life, our whole family's life, but Jeff probably wouldn't have been around. Um so I realized, wow, that's a huge thing. And so as I went forward, I thought, I mean, now hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been impacted in some way by the gospel through our family, through podcasts, television, movies, and all that. And I could trace all that back to that one conversation. Like we can trace it all back to ground zero right there. But then I thought, man, who knows when you're talking to someone, just the generational change that can happen. It just it really impacted me, and I thought, wow. And so it's and so then write the book, go through kind of my personal journey, which is and actually it's the way when I talk to someone, it's kind of where I start, which is where they're at in life, what their journey looks like, um ups and the downs. And a lot of times you gotta deal with the past. Um I in the book I talked about John chapter four, the woman at the well, where he where he goes into her past and um and it's kind of uncomfortable, I'm sure, for her. Uh and and then she's freed from that, you know, and in fact, so much so she goes back to the to her village and says, Y'all gotta meet this guy. He told me everything I've ever done, which to me would have been a negative, not a positive, but with Jesus, that became a positive. Because I think she was freed up from that, because everybody probably knew her story anyway. I mean, it's a small town. Um, and so she was able to do that, the entire village comes to the Lord. Uh they actually meet Jesus, they come to the Lord. So she was one of the first people to actually go out and share what she had learned from that encounter with Jesus, and that's the idea. Now, about this time is when Phil is starting to slip, you know, mentally, and we realize something's not right with him. And I desperately wanted him to read the book. Because I was like, Phil needs to see that what he believed in so much in life and what he spent his whole life doing, I at least want him to know that that came through with me, and this is what I'm putting out there. So as soon as I had it written, wasn't in book form yet. It was just it was printed on a uh we printed on the office on a printer, and I fired down there to the river uh where he was on his recliner, and I was like, This is Willie's book, and they read it and he sent me a message um like that day he had read it quickly, and he said, That's the best version of how to share the gospel I've ever read in my life, and this is what cracked me up because he knew the way sometimes Phil could get a little hardcore. And then he put uh dot dot dot and you were so nice about it, which I thought was I think Phil knew sometimes what he did was characterized as nice, um, but he knew that I went through to make sure that I wasn't I wasn't trying to offend, I was just trying to get people to understand it in a little bit different way than how he did it. It feels more hell hellfire and brimstone. I think because from where he came from, like he had lived such a rough life. I think he had this more like, you know, you gotta get out of this or whatever. And so the perspective I had was like even talking to people who maybe go to church and maybe but they just may have never figured this out, and so just trying to make the case for um here's the message, if you need to respond to it, but then you need to take it to someone else, and here's why, here's why it's important. It can change someone else's family, it can change someone else's children, it can change I mean, it can change the world. And so people have been doing that, and so um, yeah, so that's kind of how the book got started. Then and and there was also a a guy I met um who helped me with the book as well, and he had seen me do um because I'd done the which I did this in my class, I'd done it on a whiteboard where I kind of write it out, and it's what I used to do on paper. If I'm sitting with someone, I just write it out on paper. And I just jot it down, and I have this little thing, uh, how I do it on paper, and um he had seen me do that and said, I've never seen it like that. And he and he said he said you should put that in a book, because I've never never seen anybody quite lay it out. Uh it's kind of simple, but it kind of makes a lot of sense. And uh uh and then like when I would write on paper with someone, if I'm just sitting there studying with someone, then I would give them the sheet of paper. And so as they go away, I don't know if I'll ever see them again in my life, but it's they have something to look back to. Uh right, right. Where they go, Oh, what was he, you know, you know it is. You're going, what was that verse he said, you know, what was this? And so and I write down I jot down things about their past or uh their relationship with God, you know. I thought I said, Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Uh there's a guy I'm picking up with actually uh tomorrow. Um and I'm gonna ask him, he actually is very sick, and so I thought, like, better better get this to him. Um and I'm gonna write down where that is, and so if he tells me, yeah, I have a relationship with God, or I don't, you know, because don't I just write that down, no relationship. Or yeah, I have you know, when to start, you know? And well, it started when I was seven. Okay. Well, how old are you now? Yeah, fifty. How's it been since seven? And a lot of times it's hard I haven't thought about since I was seven, and so yeah, you gotta kinda figure that out. It's no different than asking people, Hey, are you married? You got any kids, where do you live? I mean, these are normal questions that we asked. So I just put those in the spiritual time and uh if they want to hear it, great. If they don't want to hear it, fine, you know. Uh right. My job is just to get it to 'em and uh they want to hear it and learn more. And sometimes it'll take, you know, sometimes it takes twenty minutes, sometimes it takes two hours, sometimes it takes two years, and sometimes it takes twenty years. Um didn't initially respond to the gospel. You know, it took him about a year before he finally came back um to hear it again because he had done gotten us up in even more trouble. And so we kind of like that, you know, people need to you know, I think um you know, Luke chapter 14, Jesus says, you know, count the cost. If you want to follow me, you need to sit down. He actually literally says sit down and think about this. You know, I think sometimes in the modern world we uh man, they they got this thing so quick, you know, it's like a you know, boom, bang, you know, and I don't know that people understand what exactly they're getting in on. And um Right. Because like I say in the book, you you know, I think people may feel like, well, I didn't know I was supposed to tell other people about this. I didn't know that was part of the deal. Because no one ever told them, like, no, you need to fill this with other people. Well, make the case. What what if it maybe it's not just part of the deal, what if it's the whole deal? The whole deal is about you got it, great. Now go give it, you know, give it to someone else. And so um, so I wanted to talk about that and talk about what that looks like to actually follow Jesus to actually be a disciple. And I think Luke will think and give you a lot of insight on that as to you know, if you're gonna fight a war, wouldn't you consider, you know. I mean, we're doing the same now, right? Even in our country today, we're we're we're trying to consider is this worth it? You know, is this war worth you know, what's gonna happen? Is it worth the do we have enough people? Do we have enough stuff? You're gonna build a house, you're gonna want to build half of it, and then run out of money, and everybody's gonna come by and laugh at you. Which I see have happened in people's lives. They're like, I mean, I'm following Jesus Christ, and then you know, six months later, yeah, look like they are, and then people are going, yeah, that's what I thought, you know. And so these are the things I think that as we live and trying to make these ideas practical, uh, we can again fall under making disciples teaching people on baptism. We're falling under that is to get them motivated to actually go out and share their faith.

Chris Grainger 33:28

Yeah. And I'm so glad you you you mentioned earlier about sometimes if it takes two minutes, ten, twenty minutes, two years, or twenty years. I talk to a lot of guys, Willie, that they get really concerned. I think maybe concern is not the right word. They're hesitant to share the gospel because they they're not seeing the immediate impact, right? They want to plant that thing and see the see the fruit right there, and that's almost holds them back. Or there's just a a level of of unconfidence. Like, what if I start sharing you know spiritual stuff and they ask a question about a verse that I have no idea about? Maybe they want to talk about Ezekiel and that would just make me faint, right? So I know guys that are that way as well. So we'll be here encouragement to guys that are trying to, you know, to not it's not always about planning to see it, seeing the the harvest

The Excuses That Keep Men Quiet

Chris Grainger 34:16

right there, but then just being faithful in what the opportunities that God has put in front of us.

Willie Robertson 34:23

Yeah, that's one of the problems that when I address that uh for sure. So it's like we disqualify ourselves. So we want to disqualify ourselves from actually like that's not one, is that my is that my mission? And I, you know, was Jesus talking to us when he said that, when he said go make disciples and baptize people and teach people, was that to us, or was that those, you know, 11 that was with him? Right. Was that just for them, you know? Um and because a lot of you know, because I talk about what exactly is our mission, uh, what is your mission? And so when I talk to regular dudes, they say, um, well, I'm trying to try to go to church as much as I can. That's usually always at the top. I try to go not even go to church. I try to go to church. Try to go. I try to go as much as I can. I try to be a good person. And I mean that's that's that's fairly common, right? That's what most people are like they'll see me and say, I need to get back in church. Um don't really know what that means. But um so that is not what Jesus said. In fact, that's not even in the that's not even in this this that's not a mission. Right. So you've watered it down, and if you're on the wrong mission, if you're thinking that's what it all is, because if you're if you've got this down to where well I need to be sitting somewhere for an hour a week, I think that's what it means to be a Christian. You you missed the whole point. Like, geez, I know. I it's not one hour, it's every day, it's every every hour all the time. Um and so uh I've been trying to get people to not think like that and think about it, you're going to mission. So other disqualifications that that men will put themselves in is they'll say, Well, I don't know the bi I don't know the Bible well enough. So I'm not a pastor, I don't know what I don't know the Bible, I don't know what it says. Now to that one I go then, okay, it's a big book, it's an old book. So, you know, how long have you been in on this thing? Well, twenty years. What have you done to help learn the Bible better? And oftentimes it's nothing, you know. Uh it's a guy that maybe he says he wants he's a duck hunter, but he you know he doesn't go out and duck hunt. Which is weird. That's what happens with I feel like people so let's say a guy's been in he goes to I've got a church every Sunday. He's like, I'm a Christian, but it as you're sitting in a building, you're you're just sitting there watching someone else, right? You're not really doing anything. You just sit somebody else is talking, somebody else has studied, someone else is laying out the illustrations, someone else is coordinated generally worship, they're singing, they're playing instruments, um you're just sitting there observing. It'd be like someone saying, Oh, Willie, I'm a I'm a huge hunter. Oh, what'd you kill this year? Um, nothing. I don't ever go. You never go. I thought you said you was a hunter. Well, I watch you on YouTube, I watch you on TV do it. I'm like, well, that doesn't mean you do it, you're just watching someone else do it. So, um, so if you say you don't know the Bible, then I would, you know. In fact, in the one of those classes, a guy told me one time, he said, I don't have the gift of studying the Bible. I said, That's not a gift, that's just that's a discipline that we do. And so I think we need to to learn more. But when I share the gospel with people and go through a Bible study, I would say I probably use seven scriptures. That's it. I don't I'm not trying to get them to I mean, they've got a whole life to learn Jewish history and all you know, the big old book and and we can learn a lot from it, but the initial phase of it, there's no way. I can only about seven thoughts about all I can keep in my brain as well. And so I keep it pretty simple. Um Jesus, um most of it's in the New Testament, and there's just things that I've committed to memory. Um I've studied every aspect, all those conversions, if you will, in the New Testament. What was said, what was done, what happened, and uh and I'll read them some of those to to see if they uh like like for instance uh like an axe like Philip runs into the Ethiopian uh in a chariot and he says now the guy had been worshiping in Jerusalem, worshiping God from Ethiopia, and he was reading the book of Isaiah, and I probably would have missed it. I probably would have thought this guy's he's fired up. He's not just a not just a believer, he's a fired up believer. Um we said that's the guy who went to church, now he's at the stoplight and he's got his Bible out reading it. You may not ask that guy any questions. You may say, He's Amen, brother, you know. And I think that's that's a mistake that we make as well. We don't we just ask bad questions. Like we ask people, do you go to church? You know, that's our question usually. And I don't know if we're wanting to hear yes or no. I really don't like do we want to hear yes? Because if we hear yes, then we just go, oh, sweet, awesome. Just move on. Right. Or do we want to hear no so that we can invite them to where we sit and then hopefully they'll come in there and hopefully they'll hear something and they'll see how awesome this thing is. When a lot of people will walk into our buildings, Chris, and they don't they don't understand what exactly we're doing. It's weird. You know, it's we're we're crying, their eyes are closed, and they're you know, they don't we have a whole nother language that we use that a lot of people in the world they don't understand. They don't understand the good nature of the they don't understand what the Holy Spirit is, they don't know what the book of Matthew is as opposed to the book of Malachi. They they have no idea. Uh we know that because we grew up in that, but we're hoping they'll they'll see that. And uh so when he sees the guy who's coming from Jerusalem worshiping, when he's reading the book of Isaiah, he asks an awesome question, which is do you understand what you're reading? Which the guy says, How can I unless someone explains it to me? Right. That's a layup. When someone says that, I'm like, Oh, buddy, let's go. And it said he started with that very passage in Isaiah, which is important, why we should know the word. What if he'd have what if Philip would have gone, oh shoot, where is Isaiah? Hang on, I don't, you know. But he knew that you know he knew it well enough to know he could start right there. And all it says is he taught him the good news of Jesus Christ. Uh so I know from other passages, I know what that meant. He told him that Jesus died, was buried, and was saved. And then they see some water. Uh he says, There's some water, watch them to be baptized. He gets baptized and goes along his way. Uh very simple. Uh now he goes to Ethiopia, and I know today Ethiopia is uh a predominantly Christian nation. Right. There's like 80 million people there, so that's how big it can spread, and that's how big it can get. So that's one way we disqualify ourselves. I don't know the word. Uh I'm too shy. Uh I don't know that we should, you know, um, I'm not comfortable with this. You know, we we all kind of things that just kind of say, I don't I don't feel like doing that. Um, you know, if you're if you're kind of if you go to church a lot, you're kind of maybe you'll say, That's not my gift. Uh things in other areas or whatever. Uh I think everybody should even if you can only start with your own story. Uh if you can only start with, well, here's what he's done for me. That's the blind guy. Jesus healed the blind guy. They came up and said, Hey, who healed Jesus? I don't know. I was now I can see. Who did it? Jesus. That's all I know. And uh if you can just start there, you start there. But I think once you start, once you once you realize the importance of it, once you get into those conversations, it will cause you to study more, it'll cause you to read more, it'll cause, you know, when someone asks you questions, you'll want to know the answers. Uh and sometimes, Chris, I just jump into things because, you know, uh, I was doing this the other day. I thought uh I was cooking something, and I thought I've never cooked this before, and I thought, you know what? I'm gonna just try it, and no matter what, I'm gonna learn something or it's gonna be awesome, and I'll start on that journey, and then I'll get past the uncomfortableness of I don't know how to cook this. Right. And I just bang, I read a recipe, I had a recipe, I read it, I watched something on YouTube, I may call somebody else, how did you do that thing? And then I dive into it. And then once I do that more and more, especially with like cooking or hunting, the more I have that experience, the more I become comfortable with that going on. Right. Because I know it's like other things. So if I you know, like cooking, I love to cook. So it's like once you cook, once you can cook a lot of base things, and you can start going into other things and um and I see something now or taste something I like and I'm going, I'm gonna try that. And I really did the other day. I said, I'm gonna try it and we'll see. And uh and it turned out good. And I'll add that to my list of things that I know. And so sometimes I think we just have to start the conversation. Yeah, I think God will nudge us to, you know, hey, say something to this God. Just like that Ethiopian, the Holy Spirit moved Philip to go there. And I think there's so often that we we have a nudging to say something, and a lot of times we just don't. We suppress it and go, uh, or you start overthinking it and thinking, well, I don't want to. And the other idea is that you shouldn't mix these things, you know. I don't want to be um, you know, well, I can't do this at work, or I can't, you know, right. Right. I think that's just a lie. That's a lie from the devil. If I were the devil, I would say, uh, here's the deal. How about you can become a Christian? Just but keep it to yourself. That's your personal, you know, that's your personal relationship and keep it personal. Um, well, that's a fantastic deal if you don't want the message to get out. And for some reason, I think a lot of us have bought into that. And I think the language that we use is important. Like, like even saying I have a personal relationship. Well, generally when I hear something personal, I'm like, if someone said, hey, that's personal, I'm gonna quit talking about it. Because even the language, or even saying, uh, you go to church or I go to church, we don't go to church. We are the church, we don't go there. Right. If I go there, well, then I'm gonna leave there, right? And then I think people feel like once I leave that place, once I leave the church that day, that morning, well, now I'm into like my regular life. And it's somehow that becomes a different life than what I did on Sunday morning. And I'm telling you, that's not it. You when you start separating those lives, going, hey, this is what I do in normal life, and it just starts a bad pattern of, you know, your kids will see that, they'll be like, Mom and daddy don't act like they do. Sunday morning, they act differently than they do on Fridays, you know, and uh and that can that can just cause or create a whole host of problems as well. So I think even the language that we use is is important and uh the terminology we use to be able to do this and be serious about it.

Chris Grainger 46:27

Is there a better conversation opener then than do you go to church? I mean, what what do you think would be the most effective way to try to get the conversation going so that we can actually you know we don't want to be confrontational, but you gotta get the conversation started. So any any advice there? Well, sometimes you can be.

Willie Robertson 46:43

Uh sometimes you can just think you just think about the situations. If you there's times I may have to have a conversation with someone. Not not not about the bomb is saying in life. I may have to say, yeah. Yeah. That's that's happening. So uh and sometimes even if it's dangerous for their own life, you know, uh it's amazing how we see people that are literally destroying their lives and just don't, you know, we're like, I don't know what to say. Um well the woman at the well started with can I get a drink

Better Openers And Listening Well

Willie Robertson 47:15

of water? So that's how that one started. Um the whole village comes to the Lord. The conversation started with can I get a drink of water? Now, I think Jesus did he had he had taught her a lot just by being kind to her. They weren't supposed to be talking. They were from two different, you know, two different areas and probably shouldn't be hanging out together. The man, a woman. None of it was right. In fact, she's like, shouldn't you even be talking to me? But I think by showing her the kindness, he had already taught her something that I care enough about you to even speak to you. And then you just simply ask her for a drink of water. And then as that conversation went, she's looking around at the worldly things and going, Where's your pail? Where's your you you know, if you want water, and he starts talking about living water, so he goes into the spiritual, she has no idea what he's talking about, and I think that's important for us. Don't expect people to understand exactly what these spiritual things are, they don't know. And so that's for us, and the more you can see um, then when he got to her past, um, and that's when that's when that's when she kind of gets religious, which is funny. Uh, when I talk to people, it's funny, then they'll start getting religious as well. All of a sudden they'll get religious. Uh, but she's like, Oh, I can see you're a prophet. Um, and then she starts spouting awesome stuff about what she knows about you know Jacob and you know stuff that she's heard. And so you you'll hear that a lot with people. They'll start trying to regurgitate something they heard in church one time, you know. Like, well, I think it's this or that. And so I think the conversation can start with anything. Now, a big part of it, Chris, is you've got to listen. But sometimes I think we talk too much and we can just listen. We can listen when I hear something, like when he said, How can I understand this unless someone explains it to me? So, well, the particular guy I told you I'm gonna talk with, uh I've heard from a friend, I know this guy, but I actually heard from a friend he's having major health issues, he's um he's in so much pain. And in fact, he told his friend, I don't know how much longer I can live like this. Well, when I heard that, I thought, it's is it possible that I can go see him and talk to him? And so when I talk to him, we'll probably talk about his health, we'll talk about where he's at, we'll talk about how he sees life, and then I'm gonna ask him, has he ever thought about does he have any sort of relationship with God? Has he thought about because he's probably thinking about that more now than ever? What's beyond this life? You know, what happens next? And so if we can get in those kind of terms, then we can now again I'm not I'm not just gonna be buying out scriptures at him. I'm just gonna talk to him and show him that I if I show up to his place, I'm gonna show him right there that I care about him. A lot of people aren't showing up to you know, when he gets to places like that, it's uncomfortable and people don't even you almost you just want to be out of sight out of my you don't even want to think about that. You know, I think the fear of death and us getting sick and dying, we just try to avoid that, right? We're like, oh no, I don't want to think that way, it's too sad. And uh so I think when we go in there, um and so we list so I listen, a lot of times people open up or man, my you know, my marriage is in the toilet. You can hear that at work, you know, it's like my wife, I don't, you know, or it can be obviously sinful things. Um so like if you go to Galatians 5, 19, where he talks about the acts of the sinful nature, the acts of the flesh, and he lists them like, you know, like I was playing golf yesterday, and I heard these come up. I heard a couple of things, I'm like, oh, I can send from the floor now. Now, when I hear that, I don't say, you know, he who hath done the, you know, it's like I just thin where I know kind of where it's where it's at. That's why I also enjoy not being a pastor, because I can hear that I I'm able to hear him and I can sum that up, and then I can offer to that as whatever. So when you said we don't necessarily get get confrontational, well we could if they were, you know, if they were like, I'll tell you where I'm fixing to go, I'm fixing to go do this, this, and this, and I may have to confront and say, Man, you're fixing to destroy your life, or you know, this is sin and this is like so it can be any of those, you know, uh and sometimes it can just start with the most basic conversation when I said it could be two hours or two years. You can have conversations with people for a long time. In fact, the guy that I asked, the guy said, Hey, can I go see that guy? And then he starts telling me where he's at. He says, You know, I try to read the Bible when I can, and I was like, ah, he's gonna be able to hear this as well. And so when the gospel goes out, he may actually be the one that obeys it. And so I did that a lot. Like uh there'll be somebody on I'll be talking to this guy, but actually this guy listening is I may be going after him as well. And so I can use this guy as a way to get that guy as well, because they'll hear that. Um and and you're just remember, uh Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, but yet has the power of salvation. So the the the power's in the gospel, it's not in us, and it's not how cleverly we delivered or whatever, but the power's in there, we just gotta get it out to people. So that's where the power's at. Yeah. The matter of, I mean, you know, we can people can see our lives and be like, man, I could you know, I'd rather be like that than the mess that I'm in. And that can be a testimony in and of itself. So um and so I just want to have all these tools and all these all this experience and where I've seen this, I'm like, oh, I heard this one time, a long time ago. Someone came me with this, you know, this one particular thing. And they can be, you know, people are different. They're that's why I said it's more like an art, because people's lives are different, their experiences are different, their problems are different, where they're at, and why I mean people in America are completely different than I mean you think about it. Like a lot of people in America, you start talking about life beyond this earth, and it's so much better. Well, a lot of people in America can go, really? Life's pretty good, yeah. That all the food wants, got a nice place. Well, you go over to Yemen and preach that, you go over to North Korea and preach that, you got to areas of China or Somalia. I'm sure they're going, I hope there's something better than this life. This life is awful, it's tragic. I lost all my children. I got my hand chopped off. I mean, you know, I mean, so it's it's you know, I think people all over the globe, people have completely different experiences, you know, in life and how they do that. So again, the message doesn't, it's still Jesus, it's the gospel, it's what he did for us. Um it's just what is the best way or the best time to to be able to get that out, or you know, when people are searching and looking for that.

Chris Grainger 54:47

Yeah. It almost feels like too, at least I'm feeling it, I'm hearing it for the people I'm talking to, that there's a surgeons. People are looking for truth, and people are looking for you know something that they can put their their their their trust in outside of themselves because the news, the media, politics, all that stuff's just letting us down. Why what do you think is driving that? I mean, I think as it's more and more people are being receptive to hearing the gospel message.

Willie Robertson 55:13

Well, I think a lot of things about that. Oh, by the way, I wanted to say that's why Paul says always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. Always be prepared. That's what I'm saying. That's why we read, that's why we do this, is because we are we want to be prepared. We don't want to be unprepared to give an answer.

Why People Feel Empty Right Now

Willie Robertson 55:35

Like, are you prepared to people with the hope you have? I don't know. I never had thought about it. Well, you're not prepared. Um says always be prepared because you never know when that may happen. As far as the the people, it could be our perception as because we are spiritual people and we see that, and so we're going, wow, people already, it could very well be the emptiness and the um I think the emptiness of what people have seen in the world. I believe there is a lack of faith, hope, and love right now. Um especially in our country, we have lost faith in God for sure. Uh look at the numbers on that. Um you lose faith. When you lose faith, um and think about what else we've lost faith in. Um I think a lot of people have faith in the government. I don't know of what of how much faith people have. People lose faith in the police, they lose faith in the court system, they lose faith. We think about all these areas, uh, big corporations, big entities that we thought, oh, we can put our trust in that. And I think COVID aided in that. I think a lot of us looked up and go, what the heck's going on here? And so we lost a lot of faith. Well, when you lose your faith, then you're gonna start losing your hope. And then you're like, I don't really have hope that this, I don't even have hope in our country, you know. Um, which is something I think, you know, 30 years ago we'd never imagined saying. We'd be like, our country. Um, and a lot of people have lost faith in that. And then when you lose faith and hope, you're gonna lose love. And if you look around what's going on now, there's not a lot of love for each other. In fact, there's a anger towards each other, there's a hatred, there's a bitterness, there's a uh a lack of compassion, even. And the more we see that I think social media's done that the more we see and know about other people and groups of people, then we we know we don't like them. We're like, oh right, these people, they need to, you know, go fall off a cliff. And so that's where we are. I mean, that's where we are in our country, and so then you lose the compassion. So we've got to get back to you know, you've got to love people. And that's from Jesus. Jesus was Jesus was still loving the people and praying for the people and talking about the people, even the people that put him on the cross. And so I think even a lot of believers have lost that, and they're like, Well, it's time to circle the wagons, take care of our own. And so, therefore, I think a lot of that could lead to why people are going, okay, maybe there's something to um, you know, faith, maybe there's something to to Jesus, maybe there's something we gotta see something because everything I thought we put our faith and hope in was you saw that in COVID, like, you know, people are defined by their careers and their jobs, and then it's well, whoa, gone. Yeah. Their money that they had gone. I mean, all this identity that they people wrapped themselves up into, and I mean it was a few months, it just went gone. Right. And the suicide rate goes up. People are lost. They're you know, because that's the emptiness, that's what the world has to offer, and then it's so shallow and it's so temporary, so it's not there long at all. I mean, it's just it's just not there. There's nothing there. Um and then you see sinfulness and all that, and it rises up in people, and greediness, and you know, all the stuff that's going on in the world right now, immorality and sex trafficking, I mean, just yeah, awful stuff, awful stuff. And so um, and I think people will look and say, you know, you'll see this thing swing back and there'll be the faith. It may be hard times to come and you know maybe uh uh uh more burden of that. There may be some judgment in there, some God judgment in there as well. And um, let's say that's that's enough of that. We definitely have read that in the in the Bible. And so um, I think us as believers though, I think we gotta remember, and that was kind of the message of my book. We're not called to be bears of the bad news. And I think a lot of Christians have we think that's what our calling is. We're we're like, we gotta tell everybody how bad that this country is going to hell in the handbasket, which may be true, but we were called to be bears of good news. We're supposed to tell people the good news, not just the bad news. But people are gonna sit down on their computers and on Facebook and Instagram, they're just gonna rant and rave on how bad everyone is, and this group's bad, and this, you know. Um, and we've got to get back to we we're the ones telling people answer, solution, good news, positive news. That's our job. It's not just to be, you know, like Christian said, Dean themselves the ones who are gonna we're gonna tell everybody how bad it is. We've got to tell people uh what can be good and where where we found the goodness in us, which is through Jesus.

Chris Grainger 1:00:49

Amen. Amen. And guys, you gotta get a copy of it because it's a great way, it's a great resource. Hats off to you, Willie. Before we wrap up, I'd love to do a quick lightning round with you. Just have a little fun at the end here. Sure. All right, all right. Well what favorite hobby, what what do you enjoy doing for fun right now, Willie?

Willie Robertson 1:01:06

I mean, actually, uh right now, so it's summer, so it's not hunting season. Uh I do play golf um a lot, but I love working outside, and so I've been um cleaning up um a bunch of limbs, and I love um I have a lot of burn piles, so I'm actually burning out. There you go. I like doing I like working outside and getting out in the sun and working with my hands and working with the land. So uh I was doing that early this morning. Uh I got my fire going as soon as we get done, and we'll be back be back on it again.

Lightning Round Ducks Food And Purpose

Chris Grainger 1:01:38

There you go. What what is your favorite duck call? I'm sure you get this one a lot. What's your favorite one?

Willie Robertson 1:01:43

Uh my favorite duck call. Um, well, I can't, you know, I've got a lot of them. Uh you know, I think something that I'm probably like the duck picker, just something that um they're kind of in close, nothing super loud. Right. Something where you can just make the call where you're trying the ducks are hopefully wanting to come in, but uh, you know, something that's pretty neutral when you get them down in there and you can speak to them really closely. Yeah.

Chris Grainger 1:02:20

That's cool. Now you got the four brothers, rank them for me. Who who blows the duck the best duck call down to who's the worst?

Willie Robertson 1:02:28

Oh, Jace is gonna be the top for sure. Uh uh Jace is the top because Jace spent the most time out in the woods. And so um even growing up, he he was just ate up with it. Mostly I deer hunt, so I'm at deer hunt. I started another company called Buck Commander. So I love to be out uh doing deer. I do a lot of pheasant hunting. I my more of a I I like to be in different I'm not just solely duck, which Jason does. Uh the worst uh I don't know. I mean, I think all of us can blow a I mean we could all call a duck in there.

Chris Grainger 1:03:04

Um pretty good.

Willie Robertson 1:03:05

Yeah.

Chris Grainger 1:03:06

There you go. Okay. Now you mentioned you got a passion for cooking now. What what's your favorite thing? What's what's what do you enjoy on the grill?

Willie Robertson 1:03:13

Uh actually I don't grill a whole lot, which is so interesting. I cook all the meals in my house, so I'm Okay. Yes, I'm I'm the sole cook at this place. Uh Corey, I believe, cooks when I'm not here, I'm not sure. Uh, but uh so uh the uh um my favorite I love cooking uh probably deer uh back strap. Um so I do a uh I think I'm gonna do it soon. I've got something I gotta pull out and uh yeah, we do that as soon as uh kill the first day of the year, we'll do that. Uh which I actually deep fry, battered and deep fry, then I stack it up uh in a pan and steam it in the oven, usually with onions and apples and maybe some bottom. Um yeah, because you think about it I'm killing like usually older, more mature bucks, and so uh I've got to get that thing tamed out or if that likes it. But it's a family's favorite meal. That's what they love more than anything. I make a little horseradish dip in sauce with it, and it's it's a sounds awesome.

Chris Grainger 1:04:22

Now when you think about God, Willie, what what's your favorite thing about him? I just I love asking this question to see where people where where where it lands.

Willie Robertson 1:04:29

Oh man, I think the I love about God is just that he um he doesn't just look to the past. I think I love the invention uh where he can see the best what we can become and the best in us. Um even we we can't even see it ourselves. So I love that. I love s I love it when people have learned that and they can see that as well. I mean we're all failed and broken and we can live in that while we're in that, but I think God sees the He sees what we can become and especially Jesus once we've been redeemed through him and and uh you know, He makes us perfect. That's just what I love about it. I love that I love that's it, and not it's not this long road of what you have to do and all this. Yeah, like it's been done and let's go and let's get motivated to work for him.

Chris Grainger 1:05:26

Amen. Now what's your least favorite thing about the evil one?

Willie Robertson 1:05:31

Uh the deception for sure. Uh just the awe of the deception and um just so many different distractions and but it's all in ways to deceive and so uh um you know, especially the deception and the even things that seem good like that seem positive that they can be being deceived and distracted, you know. You feel like, oh, I think I'm doing that, you know. Uh I'm going to school, I'm so I can get a job, and so I can you know, these are things that we're like, yeah. So and you can look up and you spend 30 years of your life doing all that, and you're like, that didn't none of that meant anything. And I feel like the one's laughing, go, I got you on that one, you know. Oh, so you can try to, you know, move up the ladder and have more stuff and do all this and just distracted from doing what God wants us to do, and what's really important. What do you most what do you think God's calling you to next? I don't know. I um I never know, man. I I try not to if I try to overplant everything, then I I gotta leave room for the Holy Spirit for God to wear it. And I think a lot of times, man, we plan this stuff out. We're we're like, God's in control, but I can tell you what my next four years are gonna look like. Right. I if you'd have told me twenty years ago, where would I be? In life, I promise I would have I would have woefully underthought where God was gonna help us, even as a family. And so um, you know, I could have been had an average job making an average salary and thought I'd been, you know, doing everything I could do, but you know, God opens up doors and opportunities and you jump through and you look back and go, whoa, look at look at what happened here. And so uh that's why I try and set all my goals to, you know. Um and then also it can go away like that. You know what I mean? Uh again, that's more of the identity. I don't want my identity, I want it to be in God and what his plan is.

Chris Grainger 1:07:44

Hey man. Last question for you is what do you hope the listeners will they remember the most from our time together today?

Willie Robertson 1:07:51

Uh I hope that they start looking into how they can share their faith more. Um what that would look like in their life, whether they're doing it or not, or whether they maybe they can brush up on it. So that would be awesome if that were to happen. And so we get this whole army of people of believers out there. Uh you know, guys said one time when the when the sermons come from the pews and not just the pulpit, that's when the revival can really happen. So uh yeah, that's what I hope they remember.

Chris Grainger 1:08:20

100%. Thank you so much. Anything else you'd like to share today, sir? Okay, got it all in there, man. Great talking to you, Chris. Enjoying it. Willie, thank you so much. I really appreciate all your time today. Thank you. Fellas, how awesome was that. I still can't believe that Willie took the time out of the schedule to come on. So grateful, so thankful for him for doing that. Hopefully you were encouraged as well with the message that Willie brought. And look, if you struggle with the gospel and presenting the gospel, I'm telling you, fellas, grab a copy of this book, The Gospel. It's it's it's very it's he really breaks it down systematically to help give you an idea and a framework to work from. And just ultimately, think about the question of the week that we have this week at the line anyway, is but but how how are our actions specifically reflecting Christ to the people around us? Because that's it, fellas. I mean, we are the church. I mean, we Willie and I we talked about this. We are the church, so it's not just a Sunday morning for an hour thing, but when it

Ripple Effects And Sharing The Message

Chris Grainger 1:09:21

moves from the pulpit to the pew, as Willie said, so where the guys in the pew are the ones proclaiming the gospel, it could change the world. I mean, just think about that one man who shared the gospel with Phil and the ripple effect, and it it hangs in the balance. So it could be one person, it could be your one more that's on your heart that if you share the gospel with them, the ripple effect could change their family tree forever. It could break generational sin. It could just you never know how God could use you in advancing his kingdom. So, guys, lean into that. Just lean into it. If you need support, if you need encouragement, reach out to the lion within us. We're here for you. We'd love to walk with you, we love to just speak life into you and just be a source uh of encouragement for you as you walk wherever you are on your discipleship journey. And you may have been walking with Jesus uh you know forever, or you may be new to the faith. Wherever you're at in your journey, we love to support you. We'd love to encourage you. So the lionwithin.us is where you find us at, guys. Share this one out. I would I would definitely ask you guys to share this one out. Um, hit hit the share button, send it to your men's group. Uh stuff Willie talks about, we we don't want to hold it in here. We definitely want to get the message out. If you listen to us on YouTube or Spotify, comment. We'd love to have your comments. We respond to all of them, guys. So please share your comments with us, connect with us there. Go to Facebook, Instagram, all those places as well. We'll be sharing some stuff from this conversation. But guys, this is all about honor and glorifying God and putting him where he deserves. And that's at the front of everything that we do with the line within us. So just super grateful again for Willie for coming on. Thank you guys for listening. Ratings and reviews help. Seriously, guys, that helps big time. Just sharing podcasts out, whatever it takes to get the message out. Thank you so much. You can also go to the lionwithin.us, sign up for the weekly roar. We have a weekly newsletter that comes out every week, guys. It's not a bunch of jokes. I actually write the newsletter, so it's not you know something that we just kick out. Uh just a simple reflection, but you may be encouraged by it. Again, we're a 501c3 right now as well at the Lion Within Us, guys. So if you like what we're doing and you would like to support just to support the mission to help equip and serve Christian men to be the leaders that God intends them to be, go to the lionwithin.us donate, and we'd love for you to be a supporter with us along along on the mission that we're on, okay? All right, guys. So get after it. We'll see you next time. I'm looking forward to the fun Friday episode is gonna be a lot of fun, okay? Telling you, because we're gonna have this member spotlight. You guys are gonna love this member, particularly you guys who are who are first line of defense out there. I'm not gonna give you any more insight. I can just tell you one thing. It was a fun conversation with him. So you're gonna, I think you guys are gonna enjoy this one. So thank you again for hanging out. Thank you for listening. Have a great day, and you know it's coming, right? Keep unleashing the lion within. It's time to stop battling pornography, lust, and temptation alone. We're done sitting on the sidelines, seeing shame win, and hearing from guys that are fighting private wars with no backup. So we decided it's time to fight back. We have our sexual integrity support group, which is a confidential space inside the lion's den for men who are ready to step into the light and pursue real freedom. This isn't just for guys in crisis, by the way. It's for any man who's tired of the cycle, who's tired of living in secret, who's tired of saying this is gonna be the last time. Look, most guys don't need another app or some rules. They need some brothers to come alongside them to say you're not the only one. This doesn't define you. And freedom is possible. So look,

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Chris Grainger 1:13:14

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