1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,560 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast, where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,960 God's Goodness and modern-day miracles. We are your hosts, Josh and Shelly Hankins. 3 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:24,360 Today we have with us a very special guest and his name is Randy Henderson. He is one 4 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:30,520 of the guests that my husband actually knows better than I do. I know Randy's wife, but 5 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:35,360 I don't know Randy as well. Randy has been instrumental in our journey through this 6 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:40,960 church and he was just such an encouragement to my husband. The Holy Spirit led me to ask 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,360 him to be on this podcast so he can share whatever the Holy Spirit led him to share. 8 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,520 With that, we'll ask him to open us up with an opening prayer and then we'll get into 9 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,360 it. Alright, thank you Heavenly Father. We do thank you for this time. We thank you 10 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,480 that you are Lord of all and we thank you that we have this time here together that 11 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:06,040 we can share. We just ask that you would guide our words, guide our thoughts and may 12 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,440 this be a blessing to all those out there. Amen. Amen. Thank you. So where would you 13 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:17,320 like to start Randy? Well, I was born in a small town. I don't remember it because I 14 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:23,080 was very tiny. As I mentioned just briefly beforehand is that I had thought of doing 15 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,840 one thing and now I'm just not going to do that because we got other things we can talk 16 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:35,960 about. Absolutely. And men's ministry is one of those things that has always been on my 17 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:43,680 heart because guys just don't do things, especially church guys. And everything is 18 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:50,120 sports related in any, anything. If we would do a men's breakfast and we would have a sports 19 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:56,920 guy come and talk, we'll get 50 guys show up. John Colby. John Colby. And if we have 20 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:04,120 a men's breakfast and Randy's gonna talk, we'll get 20 guys. So guys like sports and 21 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:10,160 that's cool. But there are a lot of guys that don't like sports. I like sports, but I've 22 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:16,640 grown up and I don't have to watch football anymore if I don't want to. I made somebody 23 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:27,000 happy and I made somebody mad. But men like to get together with other men and men as 24 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:34,560 Christians are better when we're with other men. When we have that level of accountability 25 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:39,480 with other guys, when we know that we're going to see other guys on a regular basis, especially 26 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:46,600 outside of church, that makes us more thoughtful. It makes us think more about boy, what am 27 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,560 I going to say when they ask me this or what am I going to say when they ask me that? If 28 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:56,400 I was, you know, driving down the road and somebody cuts me off and I'm leaning out my 29 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,880 window yelling, swearing and giving them the one finger salute and somebody from the church 30 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,080 drives by like, oh, okay, there's Randy. Hey, Randy, how you doing? I'm like, hang out the 31 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,080 window. Oh, yeah. Hi, how are you guys? 32 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:14,880 Sure. Yeah, yeah, I was giving them thumbs up, giving them thumbs up. But having knowing 33 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,080 that, you know, there's other guys going to help hold you accountable is a good thing 34 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:26,640 for guys. And many, many years ago, when I was older than when I was first born, there 35 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:31,160 was a group of guys that we got together with on a regular basis. And back in the nineties, 36 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:37,200 there was a thing called Promise Keepers. And Promise Keepers was basically by guys getting 37 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:43,280 together and being accountable with other guys. And there was a lot of controversy back then. 38 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:48,840 It was belittling to women and things like that. But that was not the case. Could it have 39 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:53,800 been for some guys? Yeah, maybe, because there are a lot of misconceptions. 40 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,160 How would it be belittling to women to have a bunch of men holding each other accountable? 41 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:03,120 They do a lot of different things. But there were people saying in the news and the media 42 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:11,400 that it was men being overbearing, men belittling women and putting them in their place. You're 43 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,680 the woman, stay in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, that kind of stuff. And without 44 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:22,360 realizing that as men of God, you know, we need to treat our wives like Christ treats 45 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:32,320 us. And Christ died for us. So we need to die for our lives. And we need to die to ourselves 46 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,680 for our lives. And that's a very hard thing to do because we're all selfish. We all want 47 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,440 to do what we want to do. So to be a guy where you're going to go home and you're going to 48 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:47,320 yell and scream at your wife and know that these other guys that are friends of yours 49 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,200 are going to see her. And they're going to say to her, hey, how's Randy doing? Is he 50 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,960 treating you well? Is he doing this? Is he doing that? And she's going to say, no, he 51 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,920 was yelling and screaming at me. And then they'll come back to me and they'll say, 52 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:04,480 Randy, what are you doing? You can't yell and scream at your wife. And they can help 53 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:10,320 you to not yell and scream at your wife. Iron, sharpens iron. Iron does sharpen iron. And 54 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,520 please, you ask these was our big, our big verse. And oh, look, I just so happen to have 55 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,360 it on this piece of paper here because I always forget it. But the two are better than one 56 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,400 because they have a good return for the labor. If either one of them falls down, they can 57 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:29,280 help the other one up. But pity the anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 58 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:33,360 Also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how will one keep warm alone? And 59 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,920 though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves and a cord of three strands is not 60 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:46,400 quickly broken. So to have a group of guys and I'm not talking like 20 guys, I'm talking 61 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:52,240 like a small group of guys, five guys, four guys, six guys, where you can talk about these 62 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:57,640 kinds of things, talk about your struggles, talk about your daily grind, things that maybe 63 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:02,320 you don't think they can talk to your wife about. You can talk to your guy friends about. 64 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,800 And you know, there's a lot of things that girls talk about with other girls that they 65 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,560 probably wouldn't talk about with their husbands or with other guys around. So they wouldn't 66 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,680 be able to relate as well. Correct. Yeah, the struggles aren't the same. 67 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,600 Yeah, they're very, they're very different. There are struggles for both sides. They're 68 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,680 not, they're not, I don't want to say that one side is easier. You really don't have 69 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,040 problems like you guys do. Instead of we, they're just different problems. And so it 70 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:32,200 seems really easy to trivialize somebody else's problem from a standpoint of misunderstanding. 71 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:40,160 Yes. Yes. And to know that the gods always got your back. And with these guys being godly 72 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:48,120 men, they've got your back. And then taking that from that small group, we took it out 73 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:54,240 to the larger church. And then we helped other guys meet with other guys. We had other groups 74 00:06:54,240 --> 00:07:00,800 to start and to get those going. And as guys, we think, oh man, I'm the only one that's 75 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:06,480 struggling with this. I'm the only one that has these problems. And the more guys we talked 76 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,360 with and the more guys that we got together with, the more we realized, oh wait, everyone 77 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:17,560 has the same problem. And there's two or three problems. And it's every guy's problem. 78 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:23,600 You know, sex, pornography, that's a big problem. Talking to your wife, being able to communication 79 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,600 with your wife. That's those are the two biggest problems for men being able to communicate 80 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,600 with your wife and getting enough sex. And those are pretty much boils down to anything 81 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:37,720 else. Any other problems you have, you know, people say finances. Well, yeah, but if you're 82 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,160 happy at home, your finances don't really matter. You'll get by, you'll find a way, 83 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:43,160 you know, 84 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,400 God always makes a way. 85 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:49,840 He does. He does. And there's some stories we can share next time, but he always has always 86 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:56,800 provided for my family and I have a powerful, powerful wife. And it's, it's, yeah, it matter. 87 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,800 I'd be scared to power you. 88 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,320 Is she gonna listen to this? Oh, I hope so. 89 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,320 Probably, probably, probably. 90 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,320 You better watch what you say. Yeah. 91 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:08,520 Better be careful. 92 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:16,080 It's hard for us to think about how we do things or how, how we are seen by other people, 93 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,080 especially the world. How does the world see, you know, angry, angry men, you know, the 94 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:26,800 guys beating on doors here and there and kicking things down and stuff like that. Those are 95 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:34,520 all things that people see in the world that attribute to us. So we need to have other 96 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:41,320 guys around us to help us through all these things in life. So our work life, our church 97 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:50,080 life. And when I came to South Hills Assembly, oh my gosh, it's pushing, I think 30 years 98 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:57,080 ago. And there were guys here that I looked up to and there were guys here that were very 99 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:02,680 welcoming to me as a new guy in a church. I remember two in particular, Joe Burke and 100 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:09,680 Jim Loises and these guys would be in the lobby every Sunday morning. And Joe Burke 101 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:16,480 was a big guy and he would, anybody would come in, Josh, like you to shake hands, hit 102 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,680 wrap his arms around him, give him a big bear hug every guy. He wouldn't even know the guy 103 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:24,120 and he'd give him a big bear hug. Hey, come on, we're having a breakfast, you know, come 104 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:31,080 on over here. And they actively pursued other men to get involved with the men's ministry. 105 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,000 And I was involved with a couple other groups here at the church, but the men's ministry 106 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:41,680 was great because they like doing men stuff, you know, and yeah, sure, we'd get together 107 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,880 and watch them on the night football game. That was always fun, but the breakfasts were 108 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,200 always really good too. Yeah, not everybody likes sports, but every man likes breakfast. 109 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:58,360 Yeah. Women do too. I'm a little jealous of the men's breakfast. Well, they're good. 110 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:03,960 You should have some sometimes. I do stickers on that. Okay. So you know this. The bacon 111 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:10,600 is excellent. You know I do. You see me leave the pocket hole. But without, without other 112 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:15,480 guys, you know, we couldn't do that. You know, if we didn't have guys that would help to 113 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:20,320 do that and you know shout out to Joey. Oh, yes. He does all the cooking for the men's 114 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,360 breakfast. Sean does most of the shopping for the men's breakfasts. Mike Mendea makes 115 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:29,840 sure we have everything, anything last minute. Mike's got that covered. So if we didn't have 116 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:35,320 a group of guys that did these things, we couldn't survive. You know, we had a small 117 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:40,680 get together just last night and we have a root beer hot dogs and game night. And so 118 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:45,080 we got together, we played games, we drank root beers and we ate hot dogs. I mean, that's 119 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,120 what guys do. Now they get together, they hang out and they do stuff like that. And 120 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,960 we had blast. It was snowy out and there's a lot of guys that didn't make because of 121 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,120 the snow. Yeah, I'm one of them. Yeah, I'm one of them. It's a big sissy. I don't want 122 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:02,480 to go out in it. I'm not gonna laugh. I, yeah, total sissy. I was a little girl yesterday. 123 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,760 You wanted to stay cozy at the home. Well, I didn't want to go drive. You know, I have 124 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,120 that nice rear wheel drive vehicle and I was like, them snows get punky on them. I don't 125 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,080 want to be spinning everywhere in it. So I wasn't born here. I was born in the desert. 126 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,880 We didn't have this. And so I'm not totally comfortable. Even though I've been driving 127 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,040 it for 30 years, you know, I'm still not comfortable in snow. I don't like it. Yeah, 128 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,960 I don't like anything about it except seeing it from my kitchen window while drinking a 129 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,800 hot coffee and hot coffee is always good too. If you can't have root beer, you got to have 130 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,960 hot coffee, right? If you can't have hot coffee, you got to have root beer. So wisdom. You can 131 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:41,560 write that down and quote me on that if you really want to. A thing with guys that I feel 132 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:51,120 more prevalent than with women where we identify as who we are by what we do. Like, hey, Josh, 133 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,280 I'm a painter. How are you? I paint things, you know, and Josh, you'd be like, I'm an 134 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:05,040 AMT things. Yeah. And I stopped people from dying. They're trying to that successful. 135 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:10,440 Well, I hope you're more successful from there. They're dying. Well, no, I mean, honestly, 136 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:15,200 my skill set is, you know, basic life support. And I tease the paramedics I work with and 137 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:20,360 I say I'm not a life saver. I'm a death prolonger. When you're doing CPR, the person is literally 138 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,640 already dead. And I'm just prolonging their death long enough for someone with advanced 139 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:30,440 life saving skills to do something and intervene. So I just how much is the death prolonger? 140 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,280 I don't really save lives. I just keep them dead longer so someone can save their life. 141 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:42,560 So they're not dead dead. They're just mostly dead. So men tend to identify as their occupation. 142 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:49,000 And what we really need to start and look at is that it's not about that. It's not about 143 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:57,200 what we do. It's about who we are and who we follow. And when we look in the mirror, 144 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:03,040 we see a reflection of us. And I see Randy the painter when I look in the mirror, when 145 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:09,040 we should see, we should see Josh the Christian in the mirror, we should see Randy the Christian 146 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:17,160 in the mirror. And we should identify ourselves as Christians first. And what we do doesn't 147 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:24,400 matter. And as Christians, as Christian men, we need to be welcoming to other men. We need 148 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:30,520 to be the ones that are slow to anger. We need to be the ones that are slow to judge. 149 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:35,080 We need to be the ones that are not flying off the handle because something in the world 150 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:40,640 happened. We should be the ones that are concoined and collected. We should be the ones that 151 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,720 people look at and say, wow, he's not all been out of shape over this thing. How does 152 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:49,000 he do that? And then we can say, well, that's because Jesus Christ was within us. 153 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,040 You're saying we should be the ones to set the example. 154 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,640 We shouldn't be. And more often than not, the example that we set as Christian men is 155 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:01,600 poor. Yeah. And the world looks at us and they say, well, if that's what Jesus Christ 156 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:03,360 has to offer, I don't want that. 157 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:09,440 Yeah. Oh, we'll hardly agree with that message. You know, there's like Muslim countries, they 158 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:17,720 are very religiously political, right? They're they're they're theologian or theocracies, 159 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:25,200 right? And so a lot of their culture is based solely on their religion being the government. 160 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,440 And they look at our country the same way, right? That's how they see it through their 161 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,720 worldview. And then they see that we're a so-called Christian nation, but then we have movies 162 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:40,240 that glorify acts of violence against women, movies that glorify crime, movies that glorify 163 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:45,560 murder, movies that glorify stealing cars and driving fast. And if they look at that, 164 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,240 and this is what our Christian nation is all about. So this is what they equate Christianity 165 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:54,840 to. So they already have it at all is just because of a poor worldview. And we're not 166 00:14:54,840 --> 00:15:00,600 making a good example as a Christian nation, because we're not one anymore. Let's be honest. 167 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,880 We're not a Christian nation any longer. But we should be. And we can get there again, 168 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:10,320 if we adhere to what you're speaking about, if men lead by example again, if men take 169 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:16,560 up the armor of God and put on their helmet of salvation, the sword of truth, right? And 170 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:23,080 they stand the line as an example of what a man should be in America, which is a Christian 171 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:29,600 godly man who doesn't speak out, who doesn't lash out, who doesn't judge, who doesn't react 172 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:36,160 on emotion, but solely upon the spirit moving in him. And I know that you are the only person 173 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:41,360 that I've met that actively is involved in a men's ministry in any church I've ever 174 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:48,360 been to since coming to Christ 17 years ago. And I've been to many different churches, 175 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,160 guests and some of them, but a member and others. And I've never seen a men's ministry 176 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,760 ever, not once. And you're not even the first person to do it here. You said there was a 177 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:02,360 couple of guys and they were they did outreach. And so there is an atmosphere of a men's ministry 178 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:08,360 in this church to start with. And you've taken that mantle, which is an awesome responsibility. 179 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:13,240 Right? How much do they pay you for this? Oh, I get paid the big bucks. Yeah, zero. Okay, 180 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:19,760 perfect. And so you clearly, you know, wow, that's pretty good. You clearly have a heart 181 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:24,440 for this. Otherwise, you wouldn't do it. You clearly have an obedience to Christ in this 182 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:31,480 manner. Otherwise, you wouldn't do it. I've met you. And I know that you are aloof at 183 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,800 times. You're a lot like me. Whereas if you have certain constant reminders, you'll forget 184 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:43,840 something. You bet. And somehow you do this with a fervor. It's almost like spiritually 185 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:50,360 you have the know that this is such an important thing for men, such an important outlet that 186 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:54,680 I've never encountered it before that you are the first person I've ever met at this 187 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:59,800 church that openly greeted me, right? I didn't know who you were then. I didn't know what 188 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,440 you were the men's ministry master, right? I didn't I didn't know anything about you 189 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,880 and you welcomed me and then you invited me to adventure fest. And then there was never 190 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:13,760 a time where I did not feel welcome and warmed because of you. I mentioned that a men's 191 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,240 breakfast that this was this was a church that I could tell was full of the Holy Spirit, 192 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,360 just because of the interactions of the few people I'd met just coming in that you know, 193 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:27,160 a pastor Pete didn't know me and he welcomed me in. Randy didn't know me and he's he's 194 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,200 welcomed me to a place that to go out in the woods and camp with him without knowing if 195 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,360 I'm a serial killer or or what, you know, he knew nothing about me. Randy's up for that 196 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:42,040 adventure. He's up for it. He's you know, quality or caliber of a Christian I was. You didn't 197 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:46,240 know where my faith was. You didn't know where my relationship with Jesus was. You didn't 198 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,960 know where I was in my relationship with my wife or my family. And none of that mattered 199 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,880 to you. Right? The only thing it mattered about is here in front of you in that moment 200 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:01,120 and that you shared the love of Jesus with me through the way that he has blessed you 201 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:06,200 in the men's ministry. And I really appreciated it. I know a lot of people hate getting accolades 202 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,120 and things like that, especially Christian men because we want God to have the glory 203 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:14,000 and not the people. So you know, praise God that he put you in this position and that 204 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,280 you dutifully answered that. It has been such a blessing that you know, I didn't even why 205 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,120 would you even ask me to speak at the men's breakfast, you know, and I don't like sports. 206 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:30,000 Yeah, you did. Man, you and that was a pretty big turnout for me. Not maybe maybe they didn't 207 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:34,160 know I wasn't a sports person. You know, he's built like a linebacker. So maybe that was 208 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,720 it. We told him Terry Bradshaw was going to be there. Oh yeah, I got I have a little bit 209 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:43,440 more hair than Terry and no shade on poor Terry branch. I was a great guy, a funny guy. 210 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:49,400 But you know, I really appreciate the way you reached out and as a direct result of 211 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:54,400 that first adventures fest where I got to sit and you guys all went up to their little 212 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,280 lodge or whatever it was to listen to something. I said, Hey, I just want to stay back here 213 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,960 and I just want to I just want to have a conversation with God and the quiet and the peace and 214 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,600 the stars. And nobody really gave me any flak about it. Like, OK, have a good time, right? 215 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,200 Nobody forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. And I appreciated that too. And as 216 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:15,560 a result of that, I was able to reconnect with God in a way that I hadn't been connected 217 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:22,400 with him in almost a year and lay hands on my son within two days and God removed OCD 218 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:28,720 from him. And so I just want to reiterate that that is the impactful part of the men's 219 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:34,840 ministry is that through the love through the acceptance and through the bonding with 220 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:39,120 other men, I was able to connect with God again in a way that allowed my son to be healed 221 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:45,120 of OCD. That to me speaks volumes for how important the men's ministry is in a church 222 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,520 and a boggle of my mind for more churches to do it. 223 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,960 It just takes somebody to stand up and say, we need to eat bacon together and get the 224 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:59,320 ball rolling. And every every man is equipped differently. You know, we're all all built 225 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:04,960 a certain way. We all do certain things. And for me to to be the guy that just blabs a lot 226 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:10,400 and says, hey, come and eat food with us. That's the way God made me. And he's made 227 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,880 Joey a great cook. So so Joey, thanks for the bacon again. 228 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,800 You're awesome. You're your Browns fan. So yeah, well, everybody has their faults and 229 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,360 we all have to work through them. I actually like a Browns fan. It shouldn't matter whether 230 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:28,480 we're Browns fans or Steelers fans. It shouldn't matter whether we're we're a Christian or 231 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:33,440 we're a non Christian. It shouldn't matter whether whatever or black or white, whatever. 232 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:38,320 It shouldn't matter. You know, we're people. We're all people. And if we can't see people 233 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:43,440 for being people and we can't be welcoming to those people, you know, it's always interesting 234 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,760 to be there in the lobby and and look and see somebody stand there with their with the 235 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:53,040 glazed look on their eyes and they're like, what's going on here? And you're like, I don't 236 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,200 think they've ever been here before. So you go over and you're like, hey, how you doing? 237 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,720 Come on in. Let's where do you looking for? What do you need? And again, some people are 238 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,400 equipped to do that kind of stuff. And some people aren't. My wife is not the one to be 239 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:12,400 out there and say, you know, to be that that vocal out front, I'm not the one that's going 240 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:19,720 to plan a huge event and have all my ducks in the room. I would be the guy out. And that's 241 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,280 why I'm here with a microphone because I'm just black, black, black, black. 242 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,800 But you show up and you get it done with a team. We do. We do. And it is a team, but 243 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:32,720 it does take somebody to just say, hey, we need to do this. I'm tempted to do that for 244 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:38,480 the ladies because we don't they say, oh, we have all these events, but I would disagree 245 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:43,400 a little bit. Yes, she's mad and jealous. And literally, until they came here, I was 246 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:48,080 always jealous because churches had events for women, but it's the same frequency as 247 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,640 it is here. Like it's not like for the men. The men's are every every is as often as we 248 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,400 can make it. Like I think if we could afford it, it'd be one every week. And well, March 249 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:02,000 will be a big month. I think there's three men's events in March. So and again, the 250 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,080 conversation with the leadership group was, well, can we have three events in a month? 251 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:13,520 And so we have a breakfast. There's a conference at another church. And then there's a bowling 252 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:19,400 night. And the guys that want to go for a bowling night are probably not the guys that 253 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:24,480 want to go for a conference. Some of the guys that are going for the conference might be 254 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:30,440 more of a guys that want to just have breakfast. And if we have one event, we'll get a third 255 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:35,600 of the guys. If we have three events, we'll get different guys going to each different 256 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:41,480 event. And and that gives them a choice to do something that they would like to do with 257 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,400 other guys that are from here at the church and get to know each other guys better. I 258 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,720 know Josh, the one thing you didn't really like the van ride, but the van ride out to 259 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:54,360 adventure fast or the van ride to a conference or something like that. I think sometimes 260 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:58,200 is better than the actual conference or the thing you're going to do because you're in 261 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,880 a van talking with a bunch of guys and I mean, all kinds of topics come up, you know, whether 262 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,520 you want them to or not sometimes. Well, to be fair, I wasn't a big fan of the van ride 263 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:13,440 because I just got off a 24 hour shift and I was tired. And I literally just wanted everyone 264 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:14,440 to be quiet. 265 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:20,200 And you know, I had the guy next to me playing a harmonica and I was like, Oh, Jesus, help 266 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:25,280 me. And the other guy in front of him, it was older and could barely hear and he's like, 267 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,680 what, what a lot. And I'm, and I'm, you know, I'm just me. No, no, you were afraid. You 268 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,440 were oblivious. You had the radio on you just did, did, did, did, did. And I just wanted 269 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,400 to bury my head under my sleeping bag. It was rough. So I drove the next year. There 270 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:41,360 you go. Problem solved. Problem solved. 271 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,840 But it was afforded, right? And there was a ride and I didn't have to drive. And that's 272 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:51,680 another detail that you added to make it easier for people. It's just not my cup. But he doesn't 273 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,480 mean it isn't good for everybody. And you were just, I think you're outstanding in what 274 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,960 you do for the church. You're outstanding for you do the men of the church. You are 275 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,840 a very, very recognizable face of South Hills assembly. 276 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:07,840 Sometimes that's scary. 277 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,640 It is. Yeah. No crimes for you because they'll, everyone knows who you are. 278 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,080 For better or for worse, I guess. Yeah. Absolutely. And, and everybody knows who your wife is. 279 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,520 So you got to be in your best behavior because she will find out immediately. 280 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:27,680 Yes. Yes, she will. Yes, she will. But I wouldn't have anybody else. So apparently she wouldn't 281 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:33,960 either. Well, maybe every now and then. But God has said that we have to love each other. 282 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,840 We don't have to like each other every day, but we do have to love each other every day. 283 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:43,160 It's commitment that makes that work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And there are days where she doesn't 284 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,680 like me today. She doesn't like me today. So, but she loves me and that's okay. 285 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:55,120 Two days. My wife doesn't like me. I'm actually almost certain it's 50 50. 286 00:24:55,120 --> 00:25:01,560 I think some days it's 70 30 one direction and 70 30 the other direction. So, but as 287 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:08,840 guys we need to find out and that's that's the hard part. That's the hard part. 288 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:14,720 You know, when we're we're equipped certain ways to do ministry and that's completely 289 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:19,800 different than, than a marriage. Yeah. No, no. When you're when you're ministering 290 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,520 to a group of men, it is completely different because women do not speak the same language 291 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:28,800 as men. They don't hear the same language as men. They don't see the things that we 292 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:34,800 see and vice versa. No. And that's why we why we look like idiots to our wives and we 293 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:39,240 don't understand why our wives don't understand us because we could say the exact same thing 294 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:44,480 and hear two different things. And I think it's important for us to realize that never 295 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,360 do we mean something horrible. Right. We don't wake up thinking, hmm, how can I stick it 296 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:54,920 to my wife today? Well, I know I won't undo. I won't wipe the snow off her car. 297 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:59,200 I'm a learner. Right. Nobody wakes up with those thoughts. I don't say nobody. I bet 298 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,680 there is somebody out there. But for the most part, a good, willed Christian man and a good, 299 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,280 willed Christian woman do not wake up with thoughts of vengeance in their mind about 300 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:11,400 how they're going to get their spouse. That's a little off topic for the men's. And again, 301 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:18,880 I want to reiterate that the men's ministry that you do here is phenomenal that it exists 302 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,720 at all is phenomenal. Again, you don't I don't know if you realize how many churches you've 303 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:29,160 been around and gone to, but this is a rare breed to have a men's ministry to be so consistent. 304 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,440 The women's ministry that I've seen here is about consistent to every church I've been 305 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,680 to where they do something like once every two or three months. And I know my wife has 306 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,000 stressed that she would she's even making a little face right now, but she gets a little 307 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,040 jelly about the every every month thing with the men, you know, and well, there was a guy 308 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:50,640 pastor, Pastor Greg Nass, and he's the guy that started adventure men ministries. And 309 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:56,280 that's where adventure fest came out of. Adventure fest is a is a one year annual event. It's 310 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:01,480 a weekend of camping and and fun and fellowship and doing all kind of man stuff, mountain 311 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:08,840 biking, kayaking, hiking, climbing, throwing bicycles, the Huffy toss is a standard event 312 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:13,880 there. So that's always a fun one who can throw the Huffy bike the furthest potato, 313 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,440 canons, archery. I mean, there's there are all kinds of things that go on adventure fest, 314 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:23,520 but Greg Nass told tell a group of guys when he would be speaking, he'd be like, what is 315 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:29,920 your passion? What do you like to do? Make that your ministry? And if you do that, then 316 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,720 you'll you'll you'll love ministry. And we do have a good church here. And you know, 317 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,480 I can give kudos to South of the assembly. It has its faults. Every church does. There's 318 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:42,880 people in it. You know, that's one of the faults. People are people are flawed. Yeah. 319 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,640 There are churches that they'll let you do things and they'll let you try things. And 320 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:52,040 at the time I'm one of those guys I like to do model building. And I was like, I'd like 321 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:58,240 to do a class to show guys or other people, anybody how to build models. And they're like, 322 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:04,760 sure. So they let me have a class on how to build models. So I had a class of six people, 323 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:09,440 old young men, women, and taught them how to build a little house. So we all built little 324 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,120 houses and it was fun. You know, it was it was great that a church let me do that. And 325 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:18,880 from that, I got to meet a couple guys and we're friends of this day because of that 326 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:24,000 kind of stuff. So find something you like to do. Find a guy or two that like to do that 327 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:29,560 too and do that. And then Josh, if there's something you like to do, come to Randy and 328 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,880 say, Randy, I like to do this thing. I'm like, okay, well, how can we make an event out of 329 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:37,640 that? You know, and we can we can make an evening out of it. You know, we I like to play games. 330 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:42,520 My family likes to play games. My son-in-law and daughter, they probably got a hundred 331 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:47,600 games in their closet, you know, and they're always buying more Christmas between my three 332 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:54,280 kids and their significant others and us. We got nine new games. So let's play games. 333 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,800 I'm like, hey, guys, you know what, let's play games here at the church. So we played 334 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:03,080 games here at the church, you know, and was it the games that was the most fun? They were 335 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:08,120 fun games. Yeah. But hanging out with the other guys laughing, joking and and just sharing 336 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:14,080 with each other was great because I like said, iron sharpens iron and you can't be stodgy 337 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:20,080 and you can't be down when you're having hot dogs and root beers with a group of guys. 338 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,200 It is tough. Now, Josh mentioned that you have an amazing 339 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,560 testimony. So can you give us like a brief little testimony because I have not heard 340 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:34,640 it yet. And on my listeners have any there, I'm sure. Wow. I could probably I guess I 341 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:40,240 could share that with you. I was a good Catholic boy out here in in in Western Pennsylvania. 342 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,840 We've had a lot of Catholics, you know, in the church, including Pastor Rick. Yeah. Pastor 343 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:53,120 Pete Watson. Well, Pastor Pete's Italian. So that's a given. Yeah. I wasn't odd Catholic. 344 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:59,680 I will say that I read my Bible. I asked questions. I once asked the priest, what why do I have 345 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,640 to confess to you? It says here in my Bible that I could confess to the Lord. And he's like, 346 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:10,080 three hill marries, go get going, you know, get out of here. So I was an abnormality even 347 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:15,400 then. Trouble maker is a troublemaker. Yeah. My wife would agree with that too. Trouble 348 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,600 maker. So confession was one of those things. I was like, this just doesn't make sense. 349 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:27,440 And then there was a situation where my brother was getting married and the girl was not of 350 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:34,840 the Catholic faith. And they wanted the priest to be there with her pastor so they could get 351 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,880 married with both of them being there. So that was pretty good. That's pretty cool. But the 352 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,640 priest wouldn't be there. He said he wouldn't be there. And then he said that, well, you 353 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,320 needed to get a letter from the cardinal or the pope to say that you're allowed to do 354 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:51,040 this because you're married inside of the faith. And I'm thinking, well, God's a bigger guy 355 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:58,360 than these guys. And if he's okay with it, then they should be okay with it. But you 356 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:03,320 know, they've got their reasons. So they've been doing it for 1000 years. So I guess they 357 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,320 have some good reasons somewhere along the way there. But that was another one of those 358 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:11,320 things to me that's like, hmm, that's interesting. So then I was able to, when I went out to 359 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,480 the art institute, I left my little town of South Bay up there, which was very small at 360 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:25,800 the time. It's much larger now. And I went off and got to meet people that weren't from 361 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:32,280 my school that weren't from around. And I met a guy named Tim Walker. Tim Walker introduced 362 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:38,400 me to Petra, which was an early, early Christian band, which was pretty cool. So I got to know 363 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:43,280 Tim Walker and he was one of the first guys that told me about Jesus Christ. And I was 364 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:48,840 like, well, this is, this is pretty cool. And it was one thing led to another. And I met 365 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,360 this girl of the art institute then after Tim Walker. And she read her Bible all the 366 00:31:53,360 --> 00:32:01,160 time. And she was cute. And I was like, this girl's pretty nice. And eventually, I wound 367 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,680 up chatting with her and trying to get to go out with her. And she wouldn't go out with 368 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:12,440 me because I was not a Christian. And I was like, well, wait a minute, I'm Catholic. Isn't 369 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,360 that right? And this is kind of getting into our story. And maybe she should be here for 370 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:23,320 this. But but to face it to say, she wouldn't go out with me. But she gave me her Bible. 371 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:29,200 And she told me to read that Bible and that Christ loved me. And that impacted me because 372 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,640 I saw her reading her Bible from time to time. And before classes, after classes, I would 373 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,760 see her reading that Bible. So I knew it meant something to her. And I know I had a Bible 374 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:43,600 that my mom gave me. And that meant something to me as good as that was. And I said, huh, 375 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,880 there's supposed to be something, something to this. But if you if you have any questions 376 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,840 or if you want to go to church with me, you know, and I'm thinking, what's a chance for 377 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:56,960 me to get with this girl? So yeah, I've got a church for you. And we went to a little 378 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:04,160 place called Wildwood Chapel up in Alequipa, PA. It was a true Pentecostal church dancing 379 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:09,120 in the Isles kind of church. So I was like, huh, but that was different. That was different 380 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:15,040 from being Catholic. It was very different. Yeah, it was kind of neat. I'm okay. This 381 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:20,120 is very interesting. So things proceeded. And I asked more questions. And and I was 382 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:26,560 starting to think myself, hmm, there's something to this. And when it came down to which I 383 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,080 was going to go to church with her again on a Wednesday night, I'm thinking, you know, 384 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:38,600 Lord, all right, I've read stuff in this book of yours. And we've talked. So how do I get 385 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:45,960 to know you better? If I want this relationship with you, how do I get to know you better? 386 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:54,400 So I picked up Sherry, we went to this little church and the pastor gets up there and he's 387 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,520 all right and blah, blah, blah. And we start singing songs and and the songs are about 388 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:03,720 getting to know him better, getting to know Jesus better, getting to know God better, 389 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:09,480 getting to be a I'm like, wait a minute, wait, hold on a minute. So then the pastor gets 390 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:15,640 up after the worship and he's like, you know, my sermon is about getting to know Jesus better. 391 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:20,840 And speaking of that, there's somebody here that's thinking to themselves, I need to know 392 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:27,400 Jesus better. And I'm like, well, yeah, that's me. And before my cherry knew this, I was standing 393 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:34,440 up going, hey, that's me. And I will come on down. So I went on down and and that was 394 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:42,000 all there was to it. So I got set up by God. And Jesus was like, oh, we're going to get 395 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:49,200 this one today. And he set me up good. He said it was it was without a doubt. I mean, the 396 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:55,440 words that I had in my head, I mean, came out of three different people at that at that 397 00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:01,360 church on that night. And as soon as they said, who is that? I was like, it was obvious. 398 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:07,000 I mean, I was like, I don't see anybody else here. It must be me. And then from there, 399 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:11,080 that girl was smart. And she's like, well, you still can't see me, you know, because 400 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,560 you got to have a relationship with him before you have a relationship with me. And I got 401 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:20,400 that. And I got that. But I convinced her eventually, because we've been married now 402 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:26,120 for over 30 years. So I think I might have proven my case. And again, I love her and 403 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:31,840 I love her every day. We don't like each other every day. But loving each other every day 404 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:32,840 is the key. 405 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:38,680 Mm hmm. Yeah, no, I mean, it's ridiculous to compare love on a daily basis, because yesterday 406 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:43,160 I'm pretty sure I made her mad. And today she might love me more than she ever has in 407 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:47,800 her life. There you go. And so I'm not saying she does. You know, she might, I don't know, 408 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,520 I didn't ask. I'm really bad at interpreting her moods. And that's why she gets mad at 409 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:56,640 me. And then men are like, well, this girl at work, though, she she's always nice to 410 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:03,400 me. And this girl at work, she's she always looks nice. And my wife, she was all ready. 411 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:11,520 And I went home the other day, and she had on one slipper. She had one red slipper on. 412 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:17,280 I think, where's the other slipper at? And you think to yourself, well, this girl's got 413 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:22,360 high heels on. She's got nice clothes. Now, okay, I'm going back. I'm dating myself because 414 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:27,400 when I was in work in offices, everybody dressed up. So it's a little different these days. 415 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:33,160 But you know, guys who are suits or ties, shirt and tie, you know, girls wore skirts 416 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:40,360 or dresses. And that's the way society was back then. And so you think to yourself, well, 417 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,280 that girl always looks good. And she's always nice to me. But you only see her for part 418 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:50,640 of the day, you're not living with her, you're not doing things for her. And then you compare 419 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,600 to your wife at home. And then you're like, well, this one's better. And then you maybe 420 00:36:54,600 --> 00:37:00,640 have lunch with them. And then they all I understand. And again, it can happen the other way around 421 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:05,720 to with women and men. But I think it happens more often that men are the other culprits, 422 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:10,800 because they get drawn into this imagination, this fantasy that this girl is somehow better 423 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:16,600 than this one. And your wife has little kids hanging off her and she smells like baby formula 424 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:22,040 and her hair is a mess. And she's got one red slipper on, you know, and you think, well, 425 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:27,400 this girl over here is great. But then then you go like, well, I'll go be with this girl 426 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:32,120 then because this girl is great. And then you go with that girl and you get rid of that 427 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,280 one. And then you got all kinds of problems with kids and you got all kinds of problems 428 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:39,760 with this and that. But this other girl, she's nice, right? So then then you get together 429 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,840 with her and then she has a kid and then then she starts not getting her hair done because 430 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,360 you're with her more often, you're with her in the morning now. And then you come home 431 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:54,240 one day and she's got one red slipper on. So you got your back to where you started. 432 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,760 But with heartache in between with heartache in between. And now you've disrupted the lives 433 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:03,280 of children, you've disrupted the lives of other people. My heart goes out to people 434 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:08,760 that that have problems that have a husband, wife, wives that have husbands that abuse 435 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:13,320 them and stuff like that. That's there's no call for that anywhere, anyhow. But to leave 436 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:20,440 a relationship for reasons that are not that drastic. And hopefully I'm saying this right 437 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:26,000 on the radio here, but guys need to be accountable for what they're doing. And if you're abusive 438 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:32,200 to your wife, there's there's no place for that. That can't be tolerated. But women, 439 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:39,240 if the guys just ignoring you and the guys just being a guy, then you guys need to work 440 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:44,840 on that. Just because you're not getting along one day doesn't mean we got to end this. 441 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:51,320 Oh, absolutely. Today's culture is I'm not happy now. Therefore, everything is over now. 442 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:56,560 And nobody plays a long game. You know, you started the conversation with us talking about 443 00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:02,520 promise keepers and men holding men accountable. And it looks like we keep drifting back into 444 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:08,240 that that area. So is there anything on your heart that wants to bring something like the 445 00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:14,480 promise keepers or the Randy facsimile or the South Hills Assembly facsimile of a promise 446 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:20,680 keepers like, you know, like where you pair off the accountability or whatever for a man. 447 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,560 And I'm not opposed to obviously women doing it for women, but we're talking about you 448 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:29,200 and men for starting a program up again, where a man can hold man accountable and iron can 449 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,840 sharpen iron again, other than just this men's breakfast, because those are like feel good 450 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:37,160 moments, right? We're talking about what about like talking to a man like, Hey, Randy, I've 451 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:41,120 been struggling lately and had these dark thoughts about doing something that I shouldn't 452 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,920 do. And he was like, well, man, I'm glad you came to me. Let's read some scripture. Or 453 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,840 you know, I'm not really sure how he was even structured. But is there any plans on on that 454 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,520 coming back or resurface? Because I think that's also very important, especially considering 455 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,840 that it seems to be very heavy on your heart. Yes. I mean, Pastor Peter, he'd love to have 456 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:03,640 our own men's retreat, which hopefully someday we can get that get that going. I think that 457 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:10,000 would be a lot of fun. But ultimately, we think that small groups of men where we can 458 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:15,720 get and you know, when having a game night, having breakfasts, having bowling nights, 459 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,760 those are all to get met acquainted with each other to the point where they like, well, 460 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:23,800 this guy has some similarities. I could hang out with this guy. And then you get to know 461 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:28,480 him better. And then that's what small groups would be for. And you can't have more than 462 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:34,480 five guys in a small group, because then there's just there's not enough time. And when we 463 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:39,080 did promise keepers, we were an abnormal group. And that most groups would meet for an hour 464 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:45,400 and a half or so. And once a week. And that was it. We would meet after eight o'clock, 465 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:49,680 because that's when two of us had kids and our kids would go to bed at eight o'clock. 466 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,320 So once the kids were in bed, we would head out the door and we would go to our promise 467 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,680 keepers group. And there were nights where we were there until after midnight, we would 468 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:01,360 praise and worship together, we would pray together, we would, we would talk and we got 469 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,480 to know each other. It's funny because there's still, there was one guy there who didn't 470 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:10,960 talk as much as all the rest of us. And it wasn't for, I think it was two years that 471 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:16,520 we were together before I found out that he had been married before. He didn't tell anybody 472 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:23,960 this. And it took him two years of meeting with us on a regular basis. And we all went 473 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:29,880 to church together. We all met with in our group. And we would do, you know, advance 474 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:33,880 at the church together. And we would also hang out with our families sometimes. So we 475 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:38,520 would see each other two to three times a week. So we got to know each other fairly 476 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:43,480 well. And it still took him two years to open up enough to say that, well, you know, I 477 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:48,640 guys, I was married before massive trust issues. Yeah. But guys are very guarded and guys are 478 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:54,320 very quiet and guys don't use as nearly as many words as girls do. And if they've talked 479 00:41:54,320 --> 00:42:00,000 at work on the phone a little bit, they're done by the time evening comes, you know, 480 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:05,680 and the wife, if, if she was not at an office or not with other people talking, she's got 481 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:11,280 a lot of words that she wants to use up yet. Oh, I'm aware. Yeah. Yeah. So we became very 482 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,880 well acquainted with each other. We became very kindable to each other. We're in different 483 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:19,440 parts of the world now. You know, our first group, one of the guys is still close by. 484 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:23,960 We still do things together. Another one's over in India. Another one's on the other 485 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,880 side of the country. So, so we've, we've kind of spread out a little bit, but we'll always 486 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:33,960 be brothers of Christ. That's awesome. Yeah. I would be interested in something to that 487 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:40,800 nature just because I need help as we all do, Josh. I don't just need help being accountable, 488 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,640 but I need, like I've said before, I have a hard time keeping friends because I forget 489 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:50,360 to call people just because of the nature of my neurodivergence. And so somebody else 490 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:54,880 needs to be the bigger person and call me first or I'll never communicate. But if I 491 00:42:54,880 --> 00:43:03,400 have a set day that I can plug into my calendar that I can do every week, then eventually 492 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,960 it becomes a pattern for me. It's not as hard to forget. It's very easy to remember once 493 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:11,040 it's established as a pattern, but it just takes a little bit for that pattern to root 494 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:18,680 hold. And it would be very beneficial to people like me who need been to sharpen him, right? 495 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:22,600 Not just coming to church on a Sunday, you know, and then I only do three Sundays with 496 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:27,640 the men and then I have to sharpen little kids on what, which sounds dangerous to make 497 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,560 these little kids pointy objects for their homes, right? And obviously I don't need that 498 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,440 money, but, you know, receiving in three of these days and you're pouring out a lot of 499 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:41,400 those days and I'm not receiving what I need to all the time. I might receive a good message. 500 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,840 I might receive a good word. I might receive something that's beneficial, but it's not 501 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:50,600 something that is inherently beneficial as me as a man that benefits me as a man that 502 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:56,360 furthers me along in my manhood and to be more intelligent with how I represent myself 503 00:43:56,360 --> 00:44:01,960 emotionally and physically. And so I could be a better husband. I could be a better father. 504 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:08,440 I could be a better son to my parents, right? And so I'm curious mostly for me, right? I'm 505 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:12,840 asking these questions for me because I would like to be plugged in. And so I was just curious 506 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:18,800 if you did make those plans, if you had those plans available. And if so, is there any mention 507 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:23,440 or any way that you would want to, because I think this ministry is great to reach out 508 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:28,560 to other churches and encourage them to do the same things because we're not just the 509 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,880 South Hills Assembly. We're all Christians. We're all brothers in Christ. We're all sisters 510 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:37,400 in Christ. We're all underneath the umbrella of Christ, right? And, you know, a lot of 511 00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:41,360 people get messed up when they want to consider the, you know, hey, we're all the body of 512 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:45,320 Christ. We want the mouth of Christ, you know, we're evangelical. Oh, we're the, we're the 513 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:49,000 either Christ or the Baptist. Oh, we're the feet of Christ, you know, and none of that 514 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:54,120 matters to Christ, right? None of that matters. And so we're all in this together. And I was 515 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:59,320 just asking if you're the guy that would be willing to hook up with other guys and other 516 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:04,560 churches even to just get a Western Pennsylvania going in revival from in. 517 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:11,160 Well, the mouth can't go anywhere without feet to take it there. I think we would probably 518 00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:15,880 know. Well, to answer the question bluntly, no, I hadn't gotten that far yet. I think 519 00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:20,520 if we can get a couple of groups go and that would be a great, you know, and then we could, 520 00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:24,800 we could go from there. But, you know, if that's what God wants, and that's Lord's will, 521 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:29,640 and he's going to bring that to pass and he'll bring a few feet here that will come into 522 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:32,800 the men's ministry and we'll be like, Hey, we can take these, we can walk these over 523 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:36,880 here and we can walk these over there. And if they want to walk me over there and make 524 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:41,800 me blabber, then I can do that. I'm willing to do that. If they want to walk me over to 525 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:46,840 this place and say, Welcome to these guys, you know, I can do that. I can be available 526 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:51,880 for that because that's what God has made me to do. So just pray for feet and wisdom 527 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:57,080 and wisdom. Yes. Yes. But again, we have, we have a good leadership here at the church 528 00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:03,920 and anything that is, is outreach related, anything that is related to getting anyone 529 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:09,840 at the church more involved and help them grow closer in the relationship to Christ. 530 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:14,240 They're open to that. They're open to that. And if anybody has any questions, they can 531 00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:20,800 just say, Hey, Randy, because I'll be running around the lobby blabbing every Sunday morning. 532 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:25,160 Every single one. Well, except for when I'm not here, then I'm blabbing somewhere else, 533 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,600 you know, blabbing somewhere else. Thank you so much for being with us today. That was 534 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:35,160 good. Thanks for having me. We need strong men and to lead us. You can't just go around 535 00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:40,520 all willy nilly. Well, of course, the Holy Spirit guiding everybody, but anyway, if you've 536 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:45,080 enjoyed this episode, we ask that you pass it along to someone else so it can be an encouragement 537 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:51,200 to them. And if you'd like to come alongside us and help with our audio editing expenses, 538 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:56,920 we have a fundraising campaign in GibsonGo.com and just look up God's goodness podcast and 539 00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:05,520 you'll be able to give there. And then we'll talk to you next time.