November 1, 2024 • 38 mins
What if your heart and mind were truly prepared to serve others and align with God's work? In this episode, we promise to unlock the transformative power of intentional preparation, as we explore how it can enrich your service experiences both in your local community and in broader outreach initiatives. By sharing our journey, we aim to inspire a deeper understanding of how preparation fuels our engagement with others and leads to profound growth.
Throughout the discussion, we connect the dots between biblical teachings and real-life scenarios, revealing the importance of being ready for service as an act of worship. Using examples like Moses' preparation of the tabernacle, we highlight how readiness shields us from distractions and spiritual warfare, empowering us to fulfill our calling. Facing challenges such as illness and unexpected disasters, we underscore the critical need for preparation to navigate life's obstacles, ultimately leading to transformative experiences as we serve.
Through prayer, gratitude, and active listening for God's guidance, we emphasize how spiritual readiness enhances our relationship with God and the communities we serve. Let’s prepare our hearts and minds together for a life-altering impact.
We have BIG plans at Foxhole Symphony and sure could use your financial support. Would you prayerfully consider a small monthly contribution to support us in our mission to catalyze transformation in the hearts of men? Support Our Mission
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Foxhole Symphony, a podcast about the
transformational value of men inauthentic community In our
foxhole.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Men are equipped to build relationships that foster
belonging, accountability andgrowth.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Stop believing the lie that you can thrive in
isolation and instead join us onthe journey from broken to
whole.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello everyone, they call me the Maestro and we are
back in the foxhole where weactively pursue belonging,
accountability and growththrough authentic relationships.
No masks, no agendas, just ironsharpening iron.
Mark and Steve are back at itin the foxhole and today they're
discussing the prep worknecessary before we serve God
(00:48):
and his kingdom.
Well, it's go time, soeverybody, open up your favorite
notes app and find a comfychair.
We start in three two.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hey, welcome back to Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
I'm Sarge here with my goodfriend Mark.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hey, good bro, good crispy morning.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Checking in here from New Jersey, where it was a
crisp 33 on the way out today.
Yeah, my Corgi loves it and me.
I got the flannel line jeansout today, baby.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh man, I tell you, well, yeah, I mean for me.
So it's.
You know it's in the 80s inFlorida and you know, the other
morning it was below 80.
It was, like you know, mid 70s,frosty and I'm and you know I'm
(01:42):
going to be heading up nextweek up to your neck of the
woods and we have theopportunity to, to serve
together.
I'll be coming up for work andthen, you know, spending a
weekend.
We'll be staffing a Markmanweekend so that, although I am
I'm a little anxious about theweather and the cold and you
(02:02):
know the, the, the 30 degreeevenings and, uh, I think I've
got, I'm going to be one ofthose, those people that has,
like you know, three check bags,you know, for a weekend, cause
I'm going to need a lot all yourlayers a lot of layers, but you
know I've got to.
Uh, I've got some, I've got somepreparing to do.
You know there's, there's somein a lot of ways in a lot of
(02:25):
ways and um, and so I knowthat's what we wanted to talk
about this morning and you knowwhat it looks like to prepare
our hearts to serve Right and um, you know we've we've done a
lot of serving over the yearsand I and you know I've been
reflecting on that and we've hadeven a couple of episodes about
it, and you know the the numberof ways we've talked about
(02:47):
mission trips and feed the needand you know all these different
things the Markman weekends,men's weekends.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Band of Brothers yeah .
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I can honestly say as I look back, you know, there's
been times where I feel likeI've really intentionally
prepared, and sometimes we'veprepared together, and other
times, especially in the earlyyears, there wasn't a whole lot
of preparing, it was just justrun, just go.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, it was more show up and throw up for me.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, like you know, I could
easily sit here and say like notevery serving opportunity
requires preparation, and Ithink that that's true.
It doesn't necessarily requirepreparation.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, but if and when we take the opportunity to
prepare, it's a total gamechanger.
It's a total game changer If weactually intentionally take the
time to prepare our hearts andminds for what it is we're
stepping out to do.
(04:02):
Would you agree?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, good Lord, yes, absolutely.
It's analogous to my life inthe Word, where, early on in my
walk and my journey, I'd readthe Bible.
I told this story before on thepodcast, where you know I did.
Oh, you do the Bible in a year.
Okay, I'll do the Bible in ayear.
(04:24):
It was like Woodstock.
What, what, what, what, what.
What is it, ezekiel?
What are you so angry about?
Right and on and on and on, butyear after year, day after day,
moment after moment, as Iinvested in understanding the
word.
You know, I love the history, Ilove to know about the people
(04:45):
and the places and and thedemography and the food they ate
and what was happening aroundthem.
So, all of a sudden, you getimmersed and you realize how
rich and beautiful.
Now, all of a sudden, the wordfor me has an entirely different
meaning, because I prepare, I'mpreparing, I'm investing, yeah,
so that's, that's my heartabout preparing for weekends
(05:07):
like this.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And even before we get to the preparations, can we
just take a minute to just talkabout serving, just in general?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Absolutely.
And then I have two questionsto help us get started.
Okay, go ahead Talk about theserving.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think there's there's
some things to mention and youknow some of this we've talked
about in the past.
But you know, you and I many,many years ago, you know, we we
embarked on experiencing God.
You know, with you know,blackabee's interactive course,
(05:43):
right, we should do that again.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, the idea of joining.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
God.
I've been connecting with hisson, richard Blackabee, and I'm
going to, I'm going to invitehim on, and so we're going to.
Oh, that'd be great.
Yeah, I think he'll come on,and so we'll save that.
We'll save that, but it remindsme, you know, we talk about it
all the time because we both.
It's resonated with us both theidea of joining God at work,
(06:08):
right, and even when we weredoing Feed the Need years ago,
or, you know, I was leadingmission trips, I remember
constantly encountering thisidea and hearing from people as
I asked them why are you going,you know.
Or why are you coming?
Why did you come and bring yourfamily to feed the need?
You know, why are you, why doyou want to go on that mission
(06:31):
trip?
And so often I would hear, oh,it makes me feel good.
I'm not judging that, but I dowant to challenge those of you
(06:51):
that maybe have that mindsetthat it's a whole lot more than
that.
That.
That that's.
That is not why we're called, oreven, dare I say, commanded,
because we are to to serve,right, to love our neighbor.
We're we're, you know.
We're commanded to worship andand serving as a form.
We're you know we're commandedto worship and serving as a form
of worship, and you know allthese things.
So it's, we're commanded to doit and it's not to feel good.
(07:12):
Now the fruit and the result.
There's nothing wrong with-.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
No, I was just going to say that's a product.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right, that's not, that's not the why, right.
And so if you're, if you'resitting there and you're
listening, you're like man.
I feel far from God.
I would say go, go, serve,right, Like serving, stepping
out and serving is an act offaith, it's an act of worship,
and God responds to that.
And so I just want to encouragepeople like you know, even if
(07:41):
it's the smallest step, ifyou're caving up, you're on your
couch, you're, you're in a rut,find some place to serve.
Go love on somebody, get youknow.
And why?
Because it takes the focus offof us, and so if we do it to
feel good about ourselves, allwe're doing is putting the focus
back on us Right, exactly which, which is the exact opposite of
(08:02):
you know the why.
So I wanted to mention that.
And the act of joining God atwork, right, like again, if you
feel far from God, like God's atwork, he's moving.
First of all, he's at work inyour life, whether you see it or
not, Amen, he's at work allaround.
And so you know the act ofserving, of stepping out of
(08:25):
ourselves, of doing something,you know, making a sacrifice.
It requires a sacrifice, right,it requires giving up of a
resource, maybe it's money,maybe it's time, maybe it's your
talent, whatever it may be, andthat act of worship, that act
of giving, that sacrifice is,you know, god honors, act of
giving that.
That that sacrifices is, youknow, god, god honors.
(08:45):
And so, anyway, I wanted tojust state that right up front
that you know that that that'sjust, it's a good practice
because we're commanded to do it.
Why we're commanded to do it?
And and and, and, the result,and the and the fruit.
And there's many that we're notgoing to really spend the time
to get into, because what wewant to talk about is how to
(09:09):
make the most of it, how tomaximize that act of faith when
you're going to go do it,because you could just say, you
know what, I'm just going to godo it, and not every act of
faith like I'm going to go.
You know, my neighbor left hisgarbage can out and was
traveling and we've got an HOAand I look at his garbage can
sitting there for an extra day.
I'm like, oh, he's going to geta letter, let me just go bring
(09:30):
the garbage can up his drivewayand put it by the garage door.
Save him the aggravation of aletter.
Like that didn't require a lotof preparation, right, and it's
just a a little act of serviceand kindness, and you know that
that's it, right, just loving myneighbor Um, but that's.
Those aren't necessarily thetypes of things we're talking
(09:50):
about, right?
No, uh, it's, it's the it's.
It's the slightly bigger things, the slightly larger
investments of time andresources and what God might be
calling us to Um and and so,yeah, you, you mentioned you had
a couple of questions.
Well, yeah, you mentioned youhad a couple of questions.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, yeah, but first , you did a great job.
That's setting the tone.
Your foundation is perfect.
I think I could summarize itfor me in saying that God wants
your heart, but he also wantsyour hands and your feet and
your mouth and your eyes.
Right, he wants all of you.
So if you have to put yourhands to work for God, it's okay
.
You know that.
The, the, why serve.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Not only is it okay, not only is it okay, I, you know
, again, it's, it's an act, it's, it's an act of worship, and
you know, there's, you know, Iwas asked the other day what's
the difference between beliefand faith, and and I had to
really think about that, right,and so maybe we'll do an episode
(10:48):
on it, but in thinking about it, the answer is action.
Like I can believe somethingwithout taking action, but faith
requires action.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Okay, James, there you go.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Right, right, yeah.
So you know that's thedifference between belief and
faith.
And so you know, in taking thatstep to act, it enhances and
increases our faith.
So, going back, if you are in acrisis of faith, one of the
best things you could do is act.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Right.
One of the best things youcould do is act.
Amen, right.
And coming from brothers whohave a bias for action, this is
so easy for us to talk.
I'm just thinking about peoplelistening, going.
What the heck are they talkingabout?
It is easy.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I'm in my living room , it's easy for us to move, but
for guys like us not so easy topause and get way ahead of it
and prepare for that.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And that's the great segue.
So, by the way, I shouted Jamesat you, which I apologize, but
I was talking about James sayingfaith without works is dead.
So a little biblical referencethere that we both abide by.
We love that.
Why serve wasn't one of myquestions, but it's a great one.
One of my questions was whyprepare?
(12:08):
Doesn't the Holy Spirit justtake care of it?
And I can tell you I'm going toanswer that question.
For me, for P1 experiences, itmarked men In the beginning
prepare.
I was like I got this.
What could they possibly ask meto do that I'm not prepared to
do?
Stand up, talk, you know.
(12:30):
Witness, I'm ready.
Worship I'm ready.
Give my heart, I'm ready.
Holy Spirit's there, I'm there.
We have everything we need inthe kitchen, the formula's made,
the recipe's good, stir up thepot.
And I learn now.
So it's 13 years later from myP1 and first serving opportunity
(12:52):
, to realize that the prep.
Why prep, holy cow?
What a blessing.
It is a week before staffing, aweekend to slow down and listen
for God and prepare.
So why do you prep?
Why even bother?
Why do you do it?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Well, there's a few things.
Let me start by just going backto the idea that serving is a
form of worship.
And in Exodus 40, god takes 34verses to tell Moses how to
(13:34):
prepare the tabernacle forworship.
And Moses follows hisinstructions exactly Qubits,
yeah, right, right.
And so here we are, thousands ofyears after Moses and the
tabernacle, and you know, itremains a command Number one,
yes, um, so.
So that's the first reason, um,but it, it, it remains a
(13:56):
command for, for, you know,various reasons.
And so, um, you know why do Ineed to do it?
Well, a couple of things.
One, when we join God at work,there's going to be some warfare
, and the bigger the callinglikely, the bigger the obstacles
(14:18):
that are going to come our way.
And so that's one of thereasons why I need to, I need to
prepare is to protect my heartand mind, um, from the, the
onslaught, from the attack ofthe enemy, which is all
circumstantial, but has has, has, you know, has certainly rocked
(14:44):
my world in the past and evenkept me from, you know, from
joining God at work, and and,and and serving.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So that's the, that's the first thing talking on a
Wednesday night, so excitedgoing to serve together on
Friday and we're ready to rockand roll.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And you called me early Friday morning and said I
can't, I can't, I can't get up.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I'm done.
Right, you got in 24 hours.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You got deathly ill Yep Flu or just something.
You sounded like you know you.
You were cooked and that was it.
You're out, Yep.
You had prepared, You'd doneeverything.
So, yes, Dude, my house flooded.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
My house flooded.
I'm in Africa.
You're in my house bailingwater with my wife, like I mean
you know, forget the flu.
I mean you know forget the flu.
Like I mean you knowdevastation right.
So I mean it runs the gamut.
Everything from you knowrelational stress to you know
(15:59):
natural disaster.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I mean all kinds of things.
Real life, Real life.
You know what?
I have now categorized all thisreal life stuff into the noise.
That's my catchphrase foreverything else that's going on
around me that isn't centered onChrist.
Is the noise.
There's political noise,there's social noise, Lots of
noise, right, that's out there.
There's my life noise.
There's all my checklist ofthings to do.
But let me come back to some ofthe great things that you were
(16:20):
bringing up.
Some of the great things thatyou were bringing up this
investment that we're talkingabout, this, the value of
serving, we're just, let'ssimply agree, high value, high
and a command to do that to us.
So we can cite chapter andverse and then why prepare?
There's good reasons and we'lltalk about it, but the real
(16:43):
thing that jumped out at me isyou tend to want to prepare for
something when there's somethingat stake.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
The question I think we could ask each other, and
I'll ask you right now, is Sarge, what's at stake with a P1?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Oh, man, I mean so much.
And it's life-altering, right?
Yes, the potential impact islife-altering, both for me I'll
speak for myself Both for me,for me.
And when I say life altering, Imean heart change and
(17:24):
transformation, healing thatleads to life altering impact,
relationally, missionally,anything and everything that God
desires to do in me and throughme, not just on the weekend,
(17:45):
but coming out of the weekend.
You know, in, in my home, in myfamily, in, in, you know, in
the workplace, wherever it maybe.
And so that that's what's atstake.
And, to your point, that is, forme, probably the biggest reason
why I need to prepare because,uh, if you know, I need to come
(18:08):
before the Lord, offering myheart and mind, saying Lord,
what is it that you want to do,right, um, and what is it that
could get in the way of that?
What are the distractions, whatare the obstacles, what is the
sin in the way, what is the,what is the?
(18:31):
You know what in my house needsto get cleaned up?
You know what is the work Ineed to do in my life, in my
heart, in my mind, before I caneven think about serving
somebody else.
It's the old, it's the oldairplane analogy Put your own
mask on first and then help theperson right.
Good, good one.
I've got to put my mask onfirst.
(18:52):
Get some God oxygen right in mylungs and, you know, get right
what needs to get right.
My relationship with God is my.
Am I in right relationship withGod?
Am I in right relationship withothers?
You know and and and.
When I do that, theeffectiveness factor is
(19:16):
exponential.
It just skyrockets.
Exactly.
You can't even see the top.
Yeah, if, if I'm, if I'm notright, if I right now I'm
blocked, how much can God use me?
It's like any tool, anyinstrument.
If you have a fork with oneprong left on it, it's now
(19:36):
enough and you're trying to eatspaghetti.
It's going to be a challenge.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
There you go.
You just got very Italian on us.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I mean, you know, come on, forget about it.
If you got something you couldlike stab, okay, right, but you
know you got something you needto like twirl and right.
I mean, listen, it's just, it's, it's going to be a challenge,
so yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Wow, that was a great question for you.
I love that and I would saysimply, what's at stake are
men's hearts.
I still do that.
Ron Hutchcraft, that RHMMinistries devotional every
morning and his website isanewstorycom a new story.
I say it like Ron now, and Godbless him.
(20:22):
I love that.
I'm right, I love that oldcodger, but every day he says
this calling for us is to bringother people to know Christ.
What's at stake is potentialtransformation.
That's what this weekend coulddo.
It has the potential to betransformational in a man's life
(20:46):
and I don't want to stand inthe way of that, so much so that
I want to do everything in mypower to be prepared for God to
use me.
You know, my prayer about theseweekends is transparency.
I got to get off the front line, get back up, be transparent,
be a light.
(21:06):
That's what my goal is on everyone of these, and that's not
easy for me all the time becauseof pride and various other sins
.
So, ultimately, I want to be asprepared as I can be to watch
God at work because, as I havesaid before on the podcast, I
(21:29):
have seen miracles happen at aP1 experience, and who am I to
stand in the way of that.
Maybe God has a plan for mejust to be a wallflower, to be
present, to be praying, donothing, say nothing, lead
nothing.
Just be, be a representativethere of God, show strength,
(21:56):
show solidarity with men incommunity.
I'm ready for that, but I'vegot to prepare to do that.
That's not how I walk.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right, and let me just say this too, because I
think this is important.
Going back to where we startedabout sort of the selfish nature
, Like I want to feel, I want tofeel good.
It's a very different thing tosay I want to change through
this.
God, I want you to work in meas much as whatever it is that
you're calling me to.
(22:23):
That's not selfish.
That's a beautiful act ofsurrender and worship that God
honors.
I mean, that's hopping up onthe operating table saying God,
work in my heart too.
Because the flip side of that isthis paternalistic mindset,
like I'm going to rescue thesepeople and and that's, and
(22:46):
that's not like.
So, going back to your pointcause I agree with you, I'm, I'm
, I'm right there with youwhat's at stake is the hearts of
these men.
Now, what, how?
That the hearts of these menare not going to get rescued by
me.
Now, God might use me, right,but he, he is, he's, he's the
rescuer, right, he's, he's goingto do it.
And so, again, it's this, this,uh, slight shift in perspective
(23:12):
that I just want to call out,because sometimes we can get
caught up in thinking I've got,I'm going to go.
Do this.
Same with missions.
Right, I'm going to go to thisfar off land and save these
people, or you know, whatever itmay be, it's like no, no,
you're not.
You know, and God, God'ssitting back on.
Really, okay, you know when.
(23:33):
When you know, let me know.
When you're going to, let me be.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
God, I think your flight might be delayed yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
So right.
So it's, it's, it's.
Neither, uh, I'm going to feelgood or I'm going to save.
Right, it's, it's, it's.
It's this space in the middlewhere we're we're offering up
our hearts and minds and ourhands and our feet to be used so
that God can do what he wantsto do.
(24:01):
And you're right, the stakesare high.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Oh, dude, just the word.
Thank you, first of all.
I couldn't agree with you more.
But you just said we'reoffering, and that's a question
I think we have to address here.
What do I have to offer?
If you're sitting therethinking about why could I serve
, what do I have to offer?
Like, really, god's going touse me, really God's going to
use me An emphasis is mine, butthink about this, please.
(24:27):
If that voice comes in yourhead, in my opinion it's the
enemy, and he's trying to justmake you unsure and insecure
about what you might bring thisweekend we're going to serve on
would be really quiet if we allsat around waiting for God to
you know, do something there heuses us.
(24:48):
What you have to offer islocking arms with your brothers
and showing men who don't knowthe value of authentic community
what it's like to walk with abrother like Sarge, like I have
in my life.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So please, if you're asking that question, what do I
have to offer?
The answer is much.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh, absolutely.
And if you're asking thatquestion, I would say, um,
definitely, get out and serveand God will show you exactly
what you have to offer.
Yeah, just just step out.
Just step out and and he'll,he'll show you.
And, um, uh, and, becausethere's there is a uh, there's
something to explore about youridentity and and again, who God
(25:32):
is and who you are in in in him.
Um, if that's what you'rewondering, right, you have
anything to offer.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And I think the the.
The second sentence in thatsame thought for me, bro, is
well, can't someone else do this?
Isn't you know?
Like really me, like can'tsomeone else go serve?
And the answer is absolutelySure, they can.
God can use anybody, but hewants to use you and me.
So you just said it Get up, getoff your tuchus and go out and
(26:05):
serve, and if it's a garbage cannext door, it's valuable.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
God cheers and dances , equipped to do what God was
calling them to do.
And uh, and he did it anyway.
And he called them anyway, hereminded them over and over, and
over and over.
(26:30):
Right, I mean you know, fromMoses, through the, through the
disciples, you know thefishermen.
I mean I just you know, and,and all over the place, all over
the place, uh, you know, david,my goodness, um, yes, there's
these, these 12 guys who didn'tknow what to do with each other
too.
Plenty of examples.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So let's shift gears as we get closer to the end of
this conversation about thebattleground.
That's another word that poppedinto my head about this
(27:09):
preparation and what we'reheading for.
Going into battle and Iobviously don't mean, like you
know, a new war, but if you'regoing into spiritual battle, you
need to be prepared.
There's work to be done hereand that's a beautiful part of
this.
I can tell you that, as withany workout that I do or anytime
I'm trying to improve myphysical self, right, there's a
goal at the end of it.
I do X reps.
Right, you're doing soul con,and there's reasons that we
invest in these things to betterourselves.
(27:30):
We're willing to do the workand there's so much work to be
done here.
The kingdom needs our heartsand minds and hands and feet
right Sarge, I mean.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah and yes.
And you know, for actionoriented guys like us, the
preparation itself can become anidol.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I mean it's, you know , it's, it's, it's, uh, it is
less about honing our skillsright and getting the getting
the skillset.
I mean coming off of what youjust said, like I don't have
that.
You know, I'm not a.
You know, I've got to work onthat, I've got to hone that
skill, I've got to learn, I'vegot to develop that.
(28:11):
Not that there's anything wrongwith that, but as far as
serving is concerned, it's aboutour heart condition.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
It's about our heart.
So you know, the preparation ismore about soul prep, right
Right Than it is practicalpreparation.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, there are a few practical things you have to do
, right, there's a few forms tofill out and things like this.
But, as with anything else, butfor me, I'm just going to be
beautifully honest I'm like akid on Christmas morning this
week leading up to this.
That's how I feel each dayBecause of what I've witnessed.
I can't wait to see what Godmight do here, and it's one of
(28:56):
the few weekends in my yearevery year now, that I can
actually say that I can go andstep back and watch my Lord at
work and I am willing to doanything to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, Anything, amen, amen, absolutely.
So what do you do?
How do you prepare?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, practical.
This is the practical part forme.
So I get very introspective inthis time.
It forces me to take a look atmyself on a 360 view.
I tend to look in the mirror alot, and I mean literally.
Which can be uncomfortableother than shaving, and I think
(29:48):
you know what I mean.
There's time here for me, notonly because of the, the
biblical work that we do leadingup to this, but I find myself
invested in the Word.
I find myself invested intalking about it to everybody.
I talk about this at work, Italk about it at home.
The preparation for me becomessomewhat all-consuming in that I
(30:14):
feel closer to God through theHoly Spirit in this week leading
up to next Friday than mostother times in my life.
So, steps that I take, slowingdown, listening more, more in
prayer in the moment prayer, ifyou know what I mean.
Where often, as how many timeshave we told this story about
(30:37):
the chair over here in thecorner where I stick God over
there and just say I'll be rightwith you Once I take care of
this, I'll come get you Lord.
If right with you Once I takecare of this, I'll come get you
Lord.
If I need you.
That turns for me.
Now I can slow down and bepractical and you know
persistent about seeking him,seeking him, seeking him and his
voice in my life.
So those are some of the thingsI do as part of this.
(30:59):
How about you?
How do you?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
prep.
So I think you know, a big partof it is just being still,
starts for me with being still,you know, and getting in the
word.
You know, asking God, you knowwhat is it I mean.
(31:22):
What is it?
First of all, praying thathe'll open my, my heart and ears
to hear him.
That's, that's the first thingI mean as far as my, my prayers
are concerned.
I'm, I'm praying that he will,you know, uh, help me get out of
the way enough, remove thedistractions to to hear him.
And um, you know, and then Iturn into just gratitude.
(31:46):
You know just gratitude that I,you know, thanks that I get to
join him.
You know, at work, and you knowthanking him for what he's done
in the past and what I believehe's going to, he's preparing to
do again, and praising him forthat.
You know, you know.
(32:06):
And then you know, as far as theprep it's, you know it's
application, it's getting intothe word, it's praying.
You know, god, what are thedistractions in my life that you
want to clear up?
You know, what are the thingsthat I can't see, what are the
things that you know, therelationships that need to be
addressed?
You know again, is there that Ican't see.
What are the things that youknow, the relationships that
(32:26):
need to be addressed?
You know again, is there sinthat needs to be confessed?
You know, what is it that I cando?
You know, and then it'slistening I mean it's being
still enough to listen and hear,you know, and then the courage
to you know to to respond.
(32:47):
It's it's you know, it's askingthe questions that are hard to
answer about you know, mycurrent state of being, you know
, and and what is happening inmy world and my life right now
and what God might want toeither clear out of the way or
(33:11):
begin to bring up that he willwork on in my heart, or even
begin to heal on the, you know,the upcoming weekend.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, and isn't this beautiful?
We had a call last night whichyou on the uh, you know, the
upcoming weekend.
Yeah, and isn't, isn't thisbeautiful?
We had a call last night whichyou helped lead, obviously, but
wasn't it great to see the facesof these men that you've come
to know and love?
I see them twice a year, oh myGod, sometimes once a year, from
all over the air, come forhundreds of miles.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
To do this.
I want to as part of thispreparation, I want to implore
anyone listening to get out andserve.
Please, just stop makingexcuses and just go do something
.
If God is in it, it'll be goodfor you.
You don't have to have all theanswers in the beginning, like I
(34:03):
would.
As soon as Lord, as soon as youanswer these 10 questions, I'll
get right out there.
No, you don't need to do that,but there is a power and a joy
and an energy when you get witha group of men, single-minded,
each bent in their own waysright, each with sins and
(34:24):
brokenness and working on theirown stuff, and all of a sudden
you turn off your life and youshow up at this camp and you
start to serve.
But somehow it comes together,right that God does it.
God stirs, stirs us, stirs ourhearts, and beautiful things
happen In the simplest ofservice opportunities.
(34:44):
So I just I want to say move,you can do it.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Hey, I've got a closing paragraph from an old
friend of ours, Justin Kemp.
I happened to read one of hisflag messages this morning the
one I missed from the other dayand I thought, wow, this is so
perfect for what you and I aregoing to talk about today.
Is it okay with you if I dothat?
Sure, Shoot, Okay.
Remember you live on abattleground, a world fraught
(35:17):
with danger.
So let me focus you in yourinner being so you can withstand
the evil of comparison, thedisease of insecurity and the
poison of envy.
You have everything you need.
There is nothing you lack, andwhat you have to offer, always,
completely, is love.
(35:38):
So when doubt paralyzes, youfilter everything through this
one question Am I bringing love?
Amen.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Amen.
Way to simplify, baby.
I mean every one of us.
If you're in Christ, you've gota lot to bring, and you know
we've got a lot to bring.
It's going to be great to servewith you and I can't wait.
Can't wait to see what God'sgoing to do and I'm excited to
spend the next week preparing myheart and mind for whatever it
(36:14):
is that that may be.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Me too, bro.
Can't wait to see you.
It'll go fast.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I know it, it sure will.
Hey, thanks for joining ustoday for another episode of
Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
Don't just be you.
Be you in Christ, peace, peace.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Faith without works is dead.
God teaches us that as we walkin faith and trust in him, our
hearts are transformed and weare compelled to do good works.
As we are sanctified and seekto glorify God, we are both
commanded and empowered to dogreat things, and BT Dubs, our
(36:53):
helper, is the same Holy Spiritthat parted the Red Sea, that
brought dry bones back to lifeand rolled away the stone on the
third day.
As we prepare to step intoservice and truly trust in him,
he helps us to move from ourheads to our hearts, and that's
(37:14):
where it all begins.
Thank you, lord, for allowingus to be the hands and feet
serving you and your kingdom.
Lord, please continue to usethis podcast to impact the lives
of all who listen.
I ask that you would bring hopeand healing to each and every
one of them, lord.
Meet them right where they areand reveal yourself to them like
(37:35):
only you can do.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it
and invite others to theFoxhole.
You can find us wherever youdownload your favorite podcast.
Be sure to subscribe so youknow when new episodes drop, and
please rate us and commentthere too, as it'll help us get
found by others who couldbenefit.
Find, follow and like us onyour go-to social media networks
by searching Foxhole Symphonyor visit foxholesymphonycom to
(38:02):
make it super easy to find us.
Drop us a line with feedback,questions, topic requests.
Who knows, maybe you'll be aguest on a future episode.
In the meantime, prepare tomove, embrace discomfort and
just be you.
Welcome to Foxhole Symphony, a podcast about the
transformational value of men inauthentic community In our
foxhole.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Men are equipped to build relationships that foster
belonging, accountability andgrowth.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Stop believing the lie that you can thrive in
isolation and instead join us onthe journey from broken to
whole.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello everyone, they call me the Maestro and we are
back in the foxhole where weactively pursue belonging,
accountability and growththrough authentic relationships.
No masks, no agendas, just ironsharpening iron.
Mark and Steve are back at itin the foxhole and today they're
discussing the prep worknecessary before we serve God
(00:48):
and his kingdom.
Well, it's go time, soeverybody, open up your favorite
notes app and find a comfychair.
We start in three two.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hey, welcome back to Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
I'm Sarge here with my goodfriend Mark.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hey, good bro, good crispy morning.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Checking in here from New Jersey, where it was a
crisp 33 on the way out today.
Yeah, my Corgi loves it and me.
I got the flannel line jeansout today, baby.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh man, I tell you, well, yeah, I mean for me.
So it's.
You know it's in the 80s inFlorida and you know, the other
morning it was below 80.
It was, like you know, mid 70s,frosty and I'm and you know I'm
(01:42):
going to be heading up nextweek up to your neck of the
woods and we have theopportunity to, to serve
together.
I'll be coming up for work andthen, you know, spending a
weekend.
We'll be staffing a Markmanweekend so that, although I am
I'm a little anxious about theweather and the cold and you
(02:02):
know the, the, the 30 degreeevenings and, uh, I think I've
got, I'm going to be one ofthose, those people that has,
like you know, three check bags,you know, for a weekend, cause
I'm going to need a lot all yourlayers a lot of layers, but you
know I've got to.
Uh, I've got some, I've got somepreparing to do.
You know there's, there's somein a lot of ways in a lot of
(02:25):
ways and um, and so I knowthat's what we wanted to talk
about this morning and you knowwhat it looks like to prepare
our hearts to serve Right and um, you know we've we've done a
lot of serving over the yearsand I and you know I've been
reflecting on that and we've hadeven a couple of episodes about
it, and you know the the numberof ways we've talked about
(02:47):
mission trips and feed the needand you know all these different
things the Markman weekends,men's weekends.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Band of Brothers yeah .
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I can honestly say as I look back, you know, there's
been times where I feel likeI've really intentionally
prepared, and sometimes we'veprepared together, and other
times, especially in the earlyyears, there wasn't a whole lot
of preparing, it was just justrun, just go.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, it was more show up and throw up for me.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, like you know, I could
easily sit here and say like notevery serving opportunity
requires preparation, and Ithink that that's true.
It doesn't necessarily requirepreparation.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, but if and when we take the opportunity to
prepare, it's a total gamechanger.
It's a total game changer If weactually intentionally take the
time to prepare our hearts andminds for what it is we're
stepping out to do.
(04:02):
Would you agree?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, good Lord, yes, absolutely.
It's analogous to my life inthe Word, where, early on in my
walk and my journey, I'd readthe Bible.
I told this story before on thepodcast, where you know I did.
Oh, you do the Bible in a year.
Okay, I'll do the Bible in ayear.
(04:24):
It was like Woodstock.
What, what, what, what, what.
What is it, ezekiel?
What are you so angry about?
Right and on and on and on, butyear after year, day after day,
moment after moment, as Iinvested in understanding the
word.
You know, I love the history, Ilove to know about the people
(04:45):
and the places and and thedemography and the food they ate
and what was happening aroundthem.
So, all of a sudden, you getimmersed and you realize how
rich and beautiful.
Now, all of a sudden, the wordfor me has an entirely different
meaning, because I prepare, I'mpreparing, I'm investing, yeah,
so that's, that's my heartabout preparing for weekends
(05:07):
like this.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And even before we get to the preparations, can we
just take a minute to just talkabout serving, just in general?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Absolutely.
And then I have two questionsto help us get started.
Okay, go ahead Talk about theserving.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think there's there's
some things to mention and youknow some of this we've talked
about in the past.
But you know, you and I many,many years ago, you know, we we
embarked on experiencing God.
You know, with you know,blackabee's interactive course,
(05:43):
right, we should do that again.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, the idea of joining.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
God.
I've been connecting with hisson, richard Blackabee, and I'm
going to, I'm going to invitehim on, and so we're going to.
Oh, that'd be great.
Yeah, I think he'll come on,and so we'll save that.
We'll save that, but it remindsme, you know, we talk about it
all the time because we both.
It's resonated with us both theidea of joining God at work,
(06:08):
right, and even when we weredoing Feed the Need years ago,
or, you know, I was leadingmission trips, I remember
constantly encountering thisidea and hearing from people as
I asked them why are you going,you know.
Or why are you coming?
Why did you come and bring yourfamily to feed the need?
You know, why are you, why doyou want to go on that mission
(06:31):
trip?
And so often I would hear, oh,it makes me feel good.
I'm not judging that, but I dowant to challenge those of you
(06:51):
that maybe have that mindsetthat it's a whole lot more than
that.
That.
That that's.
That is not why we're called, oreven, dare I say, commanded,
because we are to to serve,right, to love our neighbor.
We're we're, you know.
We're commanded to worship andand serving as a form.
We're you know we're commandedto worship and serving as a form
of worship, and you know allthese things.
So it's, we're commanded to doit and it's not to feel good.
(07:12):
Now the fruit and the result.
There's nothing wrong with-.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
No, I was just going to say that's a product.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right, that's not, that's not the why, right.
And so if you're, if you'resitting there and you're
listening, you're like man.
I feel far from God.
I would say go, go, serve,right, Like serving, stepping
out and serving is an act offaith, it's an act of worship,
and God responds to that.
And so I just want to encouragepeople like you know, even if
(07:41):
it's the smallest step, ifyou're caving up, you're on your
couch, you're, you're in a rut,find some place to serve.
Go love on somebody, get youknow.
And why?
Because it takes the focus offof us, and so if we do it to
feel good about ourselves, allwe're doing is putting the focus
back on us Right, exactly which, which is the exact opposite of
(08:02):
you know the why.
So I wanted to mention that.
And the act of joining God atwork, right, like again, if you
feel far from God, like God's atwork, he's moving.
First of all, he's at work inyour life, whether you see it or
not, Amen, he's at work allaround.
And so you know the act ofserving, of stepping out of
(08:25):
ourselves, of doing something,you know, making a sacrifice.
It requires a sacrifice, right,it requires giving up of a
resource, maybe it's money,maybe it's time, maybe it's your
talent, whatever it may be, andthat act of worship, that act
of giving, that sacrifice is,you know, god honors, act of
giving that.
That that sacrifices is, youknow, god, god honors.
(08:45):
And so, anyway, I wanted tojust state that right up front
that you know that that that'sjust, it's a good practice
because we're commanded to do it.
Why we're commanded to do it?
And and and, and, the result,and the and the fruit.
And there's many that we're notgoing to really spend the time
to get into, because what wewant to talk about is how to
(09:09):
make the most of it, how tomaximize that act of faith when
you're going to go do it,because you could just say, you
know what, I'm just going to godo it, and not every act of
faith like I'm going to go.
You know, my neighbor left hisgarbage can out and was
traveling and we've got an HOAand I look at his garbage can
sitting there for an extra day.
I'm like, oh, he's going to geta letter, let me just go bring
(09:30):
the garbage can up his drivewayand put it by the garage door.
Save him the aggravation of aletter.
Like that didn't require a lotof preparation, right, and it's
just a a little act of serviceand kindness, and you know that
that's it, right, just loving myneighbor Um, but that's.
Those aren't necessarily thetypes of things we're talking
(09:50):
about, right?
No, uh, it's, it's the it's.
It's the slightly bigger things, the slightly larger
investments of time andresources and what God might be
calling us to Um and and so,yeah, you, you mentioned you had
a couple of questions.
Well, yeah, you mentioned youhad a couple of questions.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, yeah, but first , you did a great job.
That's setting the tone.
Your foundation is perfect.
I think I could summarize itfor me in saying that God wants
your heart, but he also wantsyour hands and your feet and
your mouth and your eyes.
Right, he wants all of you.
So if you have to put yourhands to work for God, it's okay
.
You know that.
The, the, why serve.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Not only is it okay, not only is it okay, I, you know
, again, it's, it's an act, it's, it's an act of worship, and
you know, there's, you know, Iwas asked the other day what's
the difference between beliefand faith, and and I had to
really think about that, right,and so maybe we'll do an episode
(10:48):
on it, but in thinking about it, the answer is action.
Like I can believe somethingwithout taking action, but faith
requires action.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Okay, James, there you go.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Right, right, yeah.
So you know that's thedifference between belief and
faith.
And so you know, in taking thatstep to act, it enhances and
increases our faith.
So, going back, if you are in acrisis of faith, one of the
best things you could do is act.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Right.
One of the best things youcould do is act.
Amen, right.
And coming from brothers whohave a bias for action, this is
so easy for us to talk.
I'm just thinking about peoplelistening, going.
What the heck are they talkingabout?
It is easy.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I'm in my living room , it's easy for us to move, but
for guys like us not so easy topause and get way ahead of it
and prepare for that.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And that's the great segue.
So, by the way, I shouted Jamesat you, which I apologize, but
I was talking about James sayingfaith without works is dead.
So a little biblical referencethere that we both abide by.
We love that.
Why serve wasn't one of myquestions, but it's a great one.
One of my questions was whyprepare?
(12:08):
Doesn't the Holy Spirit justtake care of it?
And I can tell you I'm going toanswer that question.
For me, for P1 experiences, itmarked men In the beginning
prepare.
I was like I got this.
What could they possibly ask meto do that I'm not prepared to
do?
Stand up, talk, you know.
(12:30):
Witness, I'm ready.
Worship I'm ready.
Give my heart, I'm ready.
Holy Spirit's there, I'm there.
We have everything we need inthe kitchen, the formula's made,
the recipe's good, stir up thepot.
And I learn now.
So it's 13 years later from myP1 and first serving opportunity
(12:52):
, to realize that the prep.
Why prep, holy cow?
What a blessing.
It is a week before staffing, aweekend to slow down and listen
for God and prepare.
So why do you prep?
Why even bother?
Why do you do it?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Well, there's a few things.
Let me start by just going backto the idea that serving is a
form of worship.
And in Exodus 40, god takes 34verses to tell Moses how to
(13:34):
prepare the tabernacle forworship.
And Moses follows hisinstructions exactly Qubits,
yeah, right, right.
And so here we are, thousands ofyears after Moses and the
tabernacle, and you know, itremains a command Number one,
yes, um, so.
So that's the first reason, um,but it, it, it remains a
(13:56):
command for, for, you know,various reasons.
And so, um, you know why do Ineed to do it?
Well, a couple of things.
One, when we join God at work,there's going to be some warfare
, and the bigger the callinglikely, the bigger the obstacles
(14:18):
that are going to come our way.
And so that's one of thereasons why I need to, I need to
prepare is to protect my heartand mind, um, from the, the
onslaught, from the attack ofthe enemy, which is all
circumstantial, but has has, has, you know, has certainly rocked
(14:44):
my world in the past and evenkept me from, you know, from
joining God at work, and and,and and serving.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So that's the, that's the first thing talking on a
Wednesday night, so excitedgoing to serve together on
Friday and we're ready to rockand roll.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And you called me early Friday morning and said I
can't, I can't, I can't get up.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I'm done.
Right, you got in 24 hours.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You got deathly ill Yep Flu or just something.
You sounded like you know you.
You were cooked and that was it.
You're out, Yep.
You had prepared, You'd doneeverything.
So, yes, Dude, my house flooded.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
My house flooded.
I'm in Africa.
You're in my house bailingwater with my wife, like I mean
you know, forget the flu.
I mean you know forget the flu.
Like I mean you knowdevastation right.
So I mean it runs the gamut.
Everything from you knowrelational stress to you know
(15:59):
natural disaster.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I mean all kinds of things.
Real life, Real life.
You know what?
I have now categorized all thisreal life stuff into the noise.
That's my catchphrase foreverything else that's going on
around me that isn't centered onChrist.
Is the noise.
There's political noise,there's social noise, Lots of
noise, right, that's out there.
There's my life noise.
There's all my checklist ofthings to do.
But let me come back to some ofthe great things that you were
(16:20):
bringing up.
Some of the great things thatyou were bringing up this
investment that we're talkingabout, this, the value of
serving, we're just, let'ssimply agree, high value, high
and a command to do that to us.
So we can cite chapter andverse and then why prepare?
There's good reasons and we'lltalk about it, but the real
(16:43):
thing that jumped out at me isyou tend to want to prepare for
something when there's somethingat stake.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
The question I think we could ask each other, and
I'll ask you right now, is Sarge, what's at stake with a P1?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Oh, man, I mean so much.
And it's life-altering, right?
Yes, the potential impact islife-altering, both for me I'll
speak for myself Both for me,for me.
And when I say life altering, Imean heart change and
(17:24):
transformation, healing thatleads to life altering impact,
relationally, missionally,anything and everything that God
desires to do in me and throughme, not just on the weekend,
(17:45):
but coming out of the weekend.
You know, in, in my home, in myfamily, in, in, you know, in
the workplace, wherever it maybe.
And so that that's what's atstake.
And, to your point, that is, forme, probably the biggest reason
why I need to prepare because,uh, if you know, I need to come
(18:08):
before the Lord, offering myheart and mind, saying Lord,
what is it that you want to do,right, um, and what is it that
could get in the way of that?
What are the distractions, whatare the obstacles, what is the
sin in the way, what is the,what is the?
(18:31):
You know what in my house needsto get cleaned up?
You know what is the work Ineed to do in my life, in my
heart, in my mind, before I caneven think about serving
somebody else.
It's the old, it's the oldairplane analogy Put your own
mask on first and then help theperson right.
Good, good one.
I've got to put my mask onfirst.
(18:52):
Get some God oxygen right in mylungs and, you know, get right
what needs to get right.
My relationship with God is my.
Am I in right relationship withGod?
Am I in right relationship withothers?
You know and and and.
When I do that, theeffectiveness factor is
(19:16):
exponential.
It just skyrockets.
Exactly.
You can't even see the top.
Yeah, if, if I'm, if I'm notright, if I right now I'm
blocked, how much can God use me?
It's like any tool, anyinstrument.
If you have a fork with oneprong left on it, it's now
(19:36):
enough and you're trying to eatspaghetti.
It's going to be a challenge.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
There you go.
You just got very Italian on us.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I mean, you know, come on, forget about it.
If you got something you couldlike stab, okay, right, but you
know you got something you needto like twirl and right.
I mean, listen, it's just, it's, it's going to be a challenge,
so yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Wow, that was a great question for you.
I love that and I would saysimply, what's at stake are
men's hearts.
I still do that.
Ron Hutchcraft, that RHMMinistries devotional every
morning and his website isanewstorycom a new story.
I say it like Ron now, and Godbless him.
(20:22):
I love that.
I'm right, I love that oldcodger, but every day he says
this calling for us is to bringother people to know Christ.
What's at stake is potentialtransformation.
That's what this weekend coulddo.
It has the potential to betransformational in a man's life
(20:46):
and I don't want to stand inthe way of that, so much so that
I want to do everything in mypower to be prepared for God to
use me.
You know, my prayer about theseweekends is transparency.
I got to get off the front line, get back up, be transparent,
be a light.
(21:06):
That's what my goal is on everyone of these, and that's not
easy for me all the time becauseof pride and various other sins
.
So, ultimately, I want to be asprepared as I can be to watch
God at work because, as I havesaid before on the podcast, I
(21:29):
have seen miracles happen at aP1 experience, and who am I to
stand in the way of that.
Maybe God has a plan for mejust to be a wallflower, to be
present, to be praying, donothing, say nothing, lead
nothing.
Just be, be a representativethere of God, show strength,
(21:56):
show solidarity with men incommunity.
I'm ready for that, but I'vegot to prepare to do that.
That's not how I walk.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Right, and let me just say this too, because I
think this is important.
Going back to where we startedabout sort of the selfish nature
, Like I want to feel, I want tofeel good.
It's a very different thing tosay I want to change through
this.
God, I want you to work in meas much as whatever it is that
you're calling me to.
(22:23):
That's not selfish.
That's a beautiful act ofsurrender and worship that God
honors.
I mean, that's hopping up onthe operating table saying God,
work in my heart too.
Because the flip side of that isthis paternalistic mindset,
like I'm going to rescue thesepeople and and that's, and
(22:46):
that's not like.
So, going back to your pointcause I agree with you, I'm, I'm
, I'm right there with youwhat's at stake is the hearts of
these men.
Now, what, how?
That the hearts of these menare not going to get rescued by
me.
Now, God might use me, right,but he, he is, he's, he's the
rescuer, right, he's, he's goingto do it.
And so, again, it's this, this,uh, slight shift in perspective
(23:12):
that I just want to call out,because sometimes we can get
caught up in thinking I've got,I'm going to go.
Do this.
Same with missions.
Right, I'm going to go to thisfar off land and save these
people, or you know, whatever itmay be, it's like no, no,
you're not.
You know, and God, God'ssitting back on.
Really, okay, you know when.
(23:33):
When you know, let me know.
When you're going to, let me be.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
God, I think your flight might be delayed yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
So right.
So it's, it's, it's.
Neither, uh, I'm going to feelgood or I'm going to save.
Right, it's, it's, it's.
It's this space in the middlewhere we're we're offering up
our hearts and minds and ourhands and our feet to be used so
that God can do what he wantsto do.
(24:01):
And you're right, the stakesare high.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Oh, dude, just the word.
Thank you, first of all.
I couldn't agree with you more.
But you just said we'reoffering, and that's a question
I think we have to address here.
What do I have to offer?
If you're sitting therethinking about why could I serve
, what do I have to offer?
Like, really, god's going touse me, really God's going to
use me An emphasis is mine, butthink about this, please.
(24:27):
If that voice comes in yourhead, in my opinion it's the
enemy, and he's trying to justmake you unsure and insecure
about what you might bring thisweekend we're going to serve on
would be really quiet if we allsat around waiting for God to
you know, do something there heuses us.
(24:48):
What you have to offer islocking arms with your brothers
and showing men who don't knowthe value of authentic community
what it's like to walk with abrother like Sarge, like I have
in my life.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So please, if you're asking that question, what do I
have to offer?
The answer is much.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh, absolutely.
And if you're asking thatquestion, I would say, um,
definitely, get out and serveand God will show you exactly
what you have to offer.
Yeah, just just step out.
Just step out and and he'll,he'll show you.
And, um, uh, and, becausethere's there is a uh, there's
something to explore about youridentity and and again, who God
(25:32):
is and who you are in in in him.
Um, if that's what you'rewondering, right, you have
anything to offer.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And I think the the.
The second sentence in thatsame thought for me, bro, is
well, can't someone else do this?
Isn't you know?
Like really me, like can'tsomeone else go serve?
And the answer is absolutelySure, they can.
God can use anybody, but hewants to use you and me.
So you just said it Get up, getoff your tuchus and go out and
(26:05):
serve, and if it's a garbage cannext door, it's valuable.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
God cheers and dances , equipped to do what God was
calling them to do.
And uh, and he did it anyway.
And he called them anyway, hereminded them over and over, and
over and over.
(26:30):
Right, I mean you know, fromMoses, through the, through the
disciples, you know thefishermen.
I mean I just you know, and,and all over the place, all over
the place, uh, you know, david,my goodness, um, yes, there's
these, these 12 guys who didn'tknow what to do with each other
too.
Plenty of examples.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So let's shift gears as we get closer to the end of
this conversation about thebattleground.
That's another word that poppedinto my head about this
(27:09):
preparation and what we'reheading for.
Going into battle and Iobviously don't mean, like you
know, a new war, but if you'regoing into spiritual battle, you
need to be prepared.
There's work to be done hereand that's a beautiful part of
this.
I can tell you that, as withany workout that I do or anytime
I'm trying to improve myphysical self, right, there's a
goal at the end of it.
I do X reps.
Right, you're doing soul con,and there's reasons that we
invest in these things to betterourselves.
(27:30):
We're willing to do the workand there's so much work to be
done here.
The kingdom needs our heartsand minds and hands and feet
right Sarge, I mean.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah and yes.
And you know, for actionoriented guys like us, the
preparation itself can become anidol.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I mean it's, you know , it's, it's, it's, uh, it is
less about honing our skillsright and getting the getting
the skillset.
I mean coming off of what youjust said, like I don't have
that.
You know, I'm not a.
You know, I've got to work onthat, I've got to hone that
skill, I've got to learn, I'vegot to develop that.
(28:11):
Not that there's anything wrongwith that, but as far as
serving is concerned, it's aboutour heart condition.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
It's about our heart.
So you know, the preparation ismore about soul prep, right
Right Than it is practicalpreparation.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, there are a few practical things you have to do
, right, there's a few forms tofill out and things like this.
But, as with anything else, butfor me, I'm just going to be
beautifully honest I'm like akid on Christmas morning this
week leading up to this.
That's how I feel each dayBecause of what I've witnessed.
I can't wait to see what Godmight do here, and it's one of
(28:56):
the few weekends in my yearevery year now, that I can
actually say that I can go andstep back and watch my Lord at
work and I am willing to doanything to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, Anything, amen, amen, absolutely.
So what do you do?
How do you prepare?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, practical.
This is the practical part forme.
So I get very introspective inthis time.
It forces me to take a look atmyself on a 360 view.
I tend to look in the mirror alot, and I mean literally.
Which can be uncomfortableother than shaving, and I think
(29:48):
you know what I mean.
There's time here for me, notonly because of the, the
biblical work that we do leadingup to this, but I find myself
invested in the Word.
I find myself invested intalking about it to everybody.
I talk about this at work, Italk about it at home.
The preparation for me becomessomewhat all-consuming in that I
(30:14):
feel closer to God through theHoly Spirit in this week leading
up to next Friday than mostother times in my life.
So, steps that I take, slowingdown, listening more, more in
prayer in the moment prayer, ifyou know what I mean.
Where often, as how many timeshave we told this story about
(30:37):
the chair over here in thecorner where I stick God over
there and just say I'll be rightwith you Once I take care of
this, I'll come get you Lord.
If right with you Once I takecare of this, I'll come get you
Lord.
If I need you.
That turns for me.
Now I can slow down and bepractical and you know
persistent about seeking him,seeking him, seeking him and his
voice in my life.
So those are some of the thingsI do as part of this.
(30:59):
How about you?
How do you?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
prep.
So I think you know, a big partof it is just being still,
starts for me with being still,you know, and getting in the
word.
You know, asking God, you knowwhat is it I mean.
(31:22):
What is it?
First of all, praying thathe'll open my, my heart and ears
to hear him.
That's, that's the first thingI mean as far as my, my prayers
are concerned.
I'm, I'm praying that he will,you know, uh, help me get out of
the way enough, remove thedistractions to to hear him.
And um, you know, and then Iturn into just gratitude.
(31:46):
You know just gratitude that I,you know, thanks that I get to
join him.
You know, at work, and you knowthanking him for what he's done
in the past and what I believehe's going to, he's preparing to
do again, and praising him forthat.
You know, you know.
(32:06):
And then you know, as far as theprep it's, you know it's
application, it's getting intothe word, it's praying.
You know, god, what are thedistractions in my life that you
want to clear up?
You know, what are the thingsthat I can't see, what are the
things that you know, therelationships that need to be
addressed?
You know again, is there that Ican't see.
What are the things that youknow, the relationships that
(32:26):
need to be addressed?
You know again, is there sinthat needs to be confessed?
You know, what is it that I cando?
You know, and then it'slistening I mean it's being
still enough to listen and hear,you know, and then the courage
to you know to to respond.
(32:47):
It's it's you know, it's askingthe questions that are hard to
answer about you know, mycurrent state of being, you know
, and and what is happening inmy world and my life right now
and what God might want toeither clear out of the way or
(33:11):
begin to bring up that he willwork on in my heart, or even
begin to heal on the, you know,the upcoming weekend.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, and isn't this beautiful?
We had a call last night whichyou on the uh, you know, the
upcoming weekend.
Yeah, and isn't, isn't thisbeautiful?
We had a call last night whichyou helped lead, obviously, but
wasn't it great to see the facesof these men that you've come
to know and love?
I see them twice a year, oh myGod, sometimes once a year, from
all over the air, come forhundreds of miles.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
To do this.
I want to as part of thispreparation, I want to implore
anyone listening to get out andserve.
Please, just stop makingexcuses and just go do something
.
If God is in it, it'll be goodfor you.
You don't have to have all theanswers in the beginning, like I
(34:03):
would.
As soon as Lord, as soon as youanswer these 10 questions, I'll
get right out there.
No, you don't need to do that,but there is a power and a joy
and an energy when you get witha group of men, single-minded,
each bent in their own waysright, each with sins and
(34:24):
brokenness and working on theirown stuff, and all of a sudden
you turn off your life and youshow up at this camp and you
start to serve.
But somehow it comes together,right that God does it.
God stirs, stirs us, stirs ourhearts, and beautiful things
happen In the simplest ofservice opportunities.
(34:44):
So I just I want to say move,you can do it.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Hey, I've got a closing paragraph from an old
friend of ours, Justin Kemp.
I happened to read one of hisflag messages this morning the
one I missed from the other dayand I thought, wow, this is so
perfect for what you and I aregoing to talk about today.
Is it okay with you if I dothat?
Sure, Shoot, Okay.
Remember you live on abattleground, a world fraught
(35:17):
with danger.
So let me focus you in yourinner being so you can withstand
the evil of comparison, thedisease of insecurity and the
poison of envy.
You have everything you need.
There is nothing you lack, andwhat you have to offer, always,
completely, is love.
(35:38):
So when doubt paralyzes, youfilter everything through this
one question Am I bringing love?
Amen.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Amen.
Way to simplify, baby.
I mean every one of us.
If you're in Christ, you've gota lot to bring, and you know
we've got a lot to bring.
It's going to be great to servewith you and I can't wait.
Can't wait to see what God'sgoing to do and I'm excited to
spend the next week preparing myheart and mind for whatever it
(36:14):
is that that may be.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Me too, bro.
Can't wait to see you.
It'll go fast.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I know it, it sure will.
Hey, thanks for joining ustoday for another episode of
Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
Don't just be you.
Be you in Christ, peace, peace.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Faith without works is dead.
God teaches us that as we walkin faith and trust in him, our
hearts are transformed and weare compelled to do good works.
As we are sanctified and seekto glorify God, we are both
commanded and empowered to dogreat things, and BT Dubs, our
(36:53):
helper, is the same Holy Spiritthat parted the Red Sea, that
brought dry bones back to lifeand rolled away the stone on the
third day.
As we prepare to step intoservice and truly trust in him,
he helps us to move from ourheads to our hearts, and that's
(37:14):
where it all begins.
Thank you, lord, for allowingus to be the hands and feet
serving you and your kingdom.
Lord, please continue to usethis podcast to impact the lives
of all who listen.
I ask that you would bring hopeand healing to each and every
one of them, lord.
Meet them right where they areand reveal yourself to them like
(37:35):
only you can do.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it
and invite others to theFoxhole.
You can find us wherever youdownload your favorite podcast.
Be sure to subscribe so youknow when new episodes drop, and
please rate us and commentthere too, as it'll help us get
found by others who couldbenefit.
Find, follow and like us onyour go-to social media networks
by searching Foxhole Symphonyor visit foxholesymphonycom to
(38:02):
make it super easy to find us.
Drop us a line with feedback,questions, topic requests.
Who knows, maybe you'll be aguest on a future episode.
In the meantime, prepare tomove, embrace discomfort and
just be you.
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