Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:07 I love that. We've talked about the fact that we all have arenas, right? And I like, I like what Lenny and Ryan were saying about some of them were building, but some of them built for us, you know? And, but the reality is every single one of us has arenas that we're in, we're called to uniquely face those as who God's created us to be. Right. If I try to be one of you in my arena, I'm going to fail. Right. And what if God actually specifically called me who he created me to be wired, the characteristics has given me to that specific arena for a reason. So let's get really practical and personal, right. Grace ops has a five-star charge in your personal life. How has the five-star charged to you in your arenas?
Speaker 2 00:00:46 Yeah. And as we answer that question here in a moment, I, I also want to put in there, I was thinking about the concept of, you know, we look at it at this quote as the man in the arena and we got a lot of ego maybe in pride in the man, right? Like we think that, you know, I'm the man, all that stuff over time, but really maybe the way God looks at it in a bit more of a biblical perspective is the men in the arena. You know, it's, God's always wanting us to do this in the plural plurality, which is kind of cool, kind of goes along with our band of brothers concept, right. It's not just about me and what I'm doing, but it's about what we're doing together. So me and my band of brothers, we want to be in the arena, encouraging each other in the arena.
Speaker 2 00:01:29 Right. Like Linda and I have been doing that with each other for years. All of us at this table have been doing that with each other. And, and so, you know, what, what is the richness? We, you know, we've come up with this kind of like the essence of biblical masculinity through the five-star charge, you know, that it would be biblical lessons and values that would we keep driving over the next decade or two into this thing and do what God wants us to do with it. So I don't want to just keep going and I could go right now and write into my answer, but like, what are you guys? That's a good question. I mean, w what are we, how has the five-star charge personally helped us on the battleground of our arenas? Like, and, you know, to fight those battles, because I know in my life to say yes to the Lord, you know, you've watched me here in this middle, little, tiny place, little tiny town speak, crazy mad faithful.
Speaker 2 00:02:22 When I was called a co-leader and people hated us. And we've had 200 people, 300 people at times, we had 30 people at times, I've had three people at times, whatever, you know, had offerings out the, you know, for a new church, like, you know, 15 years, we're just seeing all kinds of things. But through the, all these years, it's just been, just be faithful in the middle of nowhere, uh, be okay with being hidden, be okay with when God wants to reveal, be okay with God, what God wants to do. And that's been my arena really for 15 years of just building character and stuff. So that's not my answer. I was just, I'm just kind of padding away still, but we have, this is a great question. What do you guys think about? Well, I've been thinking
Speaker 3 00:02:58 About a five star charge. I've been thinking about it a lot over the last couple of days. And Gary know, for this podcast, we've had some honest conversations, you and I about some of my journey that really, really, if I wasn't careful could have took me out, you know, because I think in all of our lives, there are people that are just, uh, in opposition to us. And some of the people that are, I think are in opposition to me, they're really not. It's just, they carry a voice. And sometimes that voice turns into a spirit of accusation. And so I remember a time where we just got annihilated Tracy, and I like, it was a full on blown attempt to check you out, stop us, you know, cause I think the enemy would rather us stay stagnant and not move forward or move backwards, but not move.
Speaker 3 00:03:56 And so we were at a place where we didn't move. And I think the whole thing on war, where, how do we maintain hearing the voice of the Lord or the voice of wisdom or the word in the middle of the battle? You know, how are we going to prioritize our time? And that's what that charge is all about. And so one of the ways that I feel can help others the best is if, uh, when you're offended that you really look to the mission that lies in that person, rather than the man or the woman that offended you. So I'm much more able to forgive and go forward because I believe in that person's mission, but I may not like the guy or the gal, but I believe in their mission. And I think that's what Jesus does with us, man. He believes in us look at our character, look at how many times we could offend the Lord. Right. But he never looks at that. He'll convict us, but he puts that vision in us and he says, I love what I put in Lenny. I love what I put in Brian. I love what I put in. Right. I love what these guys heard me put into them. So therefore I'm able to kind of go through it a little bit easier.
Speaker 4 00:05:19 Yeah. I would say that the, uh, repaint probably a little bigger picture for me. Um, part of my prophetic history right. Is, uh, includes a bow and arrow. Right. And it's just something that was spoken to me a long time ago. Um, so that, that thing always comes up into me, um, and reminds me of a purpose and reminds me of a target that I have, you know, an aim, a purpose that I'm serving. Um, and I look at, I look at what's kept me in the arena and how the five-star charge helps me do that. Right. Um, is because the five-star charge for me has become a point of aim, right? Like not that I'm going to accomplish it in this lifetime. Not that I'm going to perfect it in this lifetime. Um, but I'm in pursuit of it. You know, like I, I use that thing as a target, as a point of aim.
Speaker 4 00:06:12 Um, a point of reference for my life, uh, to say, man, you know what, like, am, am I, am I honoring God? Like with my lifestyle, you know, uh, let's be honest. Am I honoring God with my speech habits? You know, am I, am I honoring God with, uh, with, with th with my gate? You know what I mean? Like, it, it reminds me on a daily basis when I do start failing. And I'm like, man, is that honoring him? You know what I mean? Like my honoring him right now, when, you know, my eyes are wandering or my mouth is getting on top of me, you know what I mean? My is getting loose. My emotions are coming out, you know, whatever, whatever it is, you know, like want to be aggressive, all these different things, you know, affection, you know, where eight men am.
Speaker 4 00:06:53 I, you know, it keeps me, it keeps me tender, you know, it reminds me to stay tender, you know? And, um, I like, I like what you said, Lenny about, you know, uh, the arena being our family, you know what I mean? Like that's the biggest arena, you know, as the family, because sometimes we get out of our daily arenas, our work arenas are mission-driven arenas and we come home and bring that fight right into the family. You know, like we bring that stress with us. We bring our irritation with what's going on in the world, you know, uh, with us home rather than, um, treating our families as a different, um, different part of our arena and probably the most important part of our arena. It is the most important part. You know, those are your, your kids are the greatest disciples you ever make.
Speaker 4 00:07:35 You know what I mean? Your wife is the greatest partner you'll ever have, you know? Um, and so it keeps my, my heart tender, you know, and, and war is that thing that constantly reminds me to renew my mind every day, like get in the battle, get in the fight on the spiritual end of, of, you know, God like just positioning myself, um, in the identity that he's spoken over me, you know what I mean? And, and allowing myself to be in the presence of God to remind me of that so that I don't drift too far from it and start, start getting into all kinds of other stuff, because now, Hey man, I'm like, I'm not sure who I am anymore. You know what I mean? And that's a dangerous place to be. Um, you know, and I can go on and on about the five star charts, but my point in all that, is that what it, what it's done for me in, in my pursuit.
Speaker 4 00:08:20 And, uh, just staying in the arena is it's allowed me to develop a target to aim for, you know, it's allowed me to, um, just have this point of reference of saying, you know what, God, like, I'm never going to master this thing. We call Christianity. I'm never going to master this thing. We call holiness or the pursuit of righteousness, like, but I've got this target and I'm just committing myself day in, day out, uh, to just be, to let my heart be in pursuit of that and let my heart, um, be molded by, um, by your words, you know, by your truth. So, you know, when I was 16, I
Speaker 2 00:08:55 That's when I entered the arena of this, of where I am today at 46. So when I was 16 years old, I that's, when I heard the gospel and I heard the gospel in such a passionate way, it changed the trajectory of my life. You know, I had other plans for my life. I had other visions and other, other things I wanted to do. And then I got closer and closer to God in that first six months to where the arena I entered into was this, I realized when I heard the gospel, I felt the power of the gospel. It was, it was very tangible to me. I mean, I didn't leave this church till like two in the morning. I mean, I went home at two in the morning and woke up my parents who were like somewhat affiliated with the Baptist church, you know, Christmas and Easter, mostly kind of thing.
Speaker 2 00:09:38 I went home and told them I got born again. And they're like, well, you are born again. I'm like, no, I'm born again now. Like, you know, but what I, I remember deep inside of me saying yes to Christ. I, I remember saying like a forever. Yes. And it's like, I'm going to do, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to, I don't know what the Bible means. I don't even have a clue what the book of Genesis is about, but I'm going to follow this message. I heard tonight. I, I had enough to know that and that's really the arena I entered into. And then I think about just my own pride and ego and immaturity and lack. And, but all through the years, what kept me in the battlefield and we've talked about in previous episodes is just the concept of with wise counsel, you can wage your war.
Speaker 2 00:10:22 And so, you know, having wise counsel, right? Like Lenny's one of those guys in my life. It's like, Hey, I wanna, you know, I've called him a few times over the years, say half, like bro, I'm at the end. I mean, I'm at the end, forget the whole thing. Like, I'm gonna go start a company, a shoe company or something, just get out of this stuff. Right. Like get away from all this. Uh, I don't want to be in that arena anymore. Right. And I love Teddy Roosevelt's quote, you know, that the man in the arena doesn't know, um, what it's like to be. Uh, he knows that he knows either great victory or great defeat, but he's not like those cold timid souls that know neither of those, you know, either victory or defeat. And it's, there's not a play at safe zone with God.
Speaker 2 00:10:58 Right. And there's like, so it has a lot to do with your, your call, your assignment, how you're waging a war. But if you're living comfortable, like what's the Braveheart quote, right. All men die, but a few men really live, right? Like, I mean, that's what we're talking about here. The men in the arena or the men and women in Rena are men and women who are alive. They said something. They said yes to something greater than themselves. And so the five-star charge has the component of, I think of the component of honor, I think of the component of Liberty a lot too, because Liberty is, is when I understand biblical Liberty, I realize, and this is something that's very hard to get to the mindset of a 21st century, Americanized church culture, the word Liberty in the Bible means I'm a slave to Christ.
Speaker 2 00:11:45 I'm free to be a slave, right? Like we like the word Liberty. Like I'm free. I can do whatever I want, you know, free Jesus set me free. We're free. Indeed. All that kind of stuff. And that's true. He set us free from darkness. He brought us right into his kingdom, his sons and daughters. We have all kinds of titles, but I think of that responsibility I have of walking into his Liberty, like, am I honoring the sacrifice? He paid on the cross. I'm bringing that to my arena battle every day. Am I honoring the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross? Because Hebrews there's that freeze in there that pierces right through me that when we, when we sin or we overlook his sacrifice, we're like spitting on it, like trampling on it with our feet. And I'm like, oh my God, that scares me.
Speaker 2 00:12:29 That scares me. That puts fear in me, like good, healthy fear. Like I want to walk in Liberty in a way that honors God. So, you know, when it comes to honor, like, you know, Malakai's like, you know, Melika is dealing with this priesthood and I understand the current pre-cert because I'm, I am a corrupt priest. I get it. Right. Like I've said yes to God and been a whore, I've said yes to God and didn't follow through. Right. But God gives us his grace to train us, to, to actually reach the outcomes and the goals he set. So first and foremost, why do I honor God, because I actually am required to, um, the Bible should tells him I have to. I mean, Malika, that was his challenge is like, if I'm your father, where's my honor. Right? Like, so these things that I've committed myself to, and you can learn more about the five star charge on our website, gray sops.com.
Speaker 2 00:13:18 And you can actually go on the website and sign it. You know, we have a whole new website that's launching from this episode recording any day now, but you might be listening to this a few months down the road and you can go to our website and learn about the five-star charge and get connected to it in a very personal way and build your band of brothers. We got all that stuff there. So that's why, you know, I kind of think about it throughout the days. Like these, these things kind of, um, haunt might not be the right word, but they, they linger over the cover over me, like energy, right? Like the power of the holy spirit just covers over me. And it's a grace to run in the arena and it's like, run, build your life in a way that honors, you know, walk into Liberty as a sleeve, be a sleeve that, that brings a smile to the heart of God. Right. Bring his gift of salvation and do something with this song. You know, it's a beautiful thing. Right. So that's what it means to me.
Speaker 3 00:14:15 Yeah. Brian, when you're talking, I, I can't stop thinking about all of our first responders out there and police officers and everybody who protects, you know, and I've been a chaplain police chaplain, like you I've been a police chaplain for almost 27 years. You know, putting ourselves in a position to really help our, our first responders who go out and actually see nonsense and then have to make sense out of it. And now you can't make sense out of it, you know? And so I'm thinking of their arena, look at that arena, you know? And so I'm, I'm wanting to say to all the first responders, Hey, listen, when you go home, when you see your wife, when you see your loved ones, just be reminded. They're not the public, they're not the public, they're your family. So I think the five star charge goes into every single profession that we could do. And I thank you for coming up with this, obeying the Lord, you guys obeying the Lord to see men walking, this five-star charge. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:15:29 That's amazing. Well, you're welcome. I mean, it was you and Ryan and I, and, and uh, Kansas city, a lot of times out here somewhere. Remember, and then Ryan. Yeah. Ryan and I actually, one time we took a trip down to Kentucky to meet my in-laws halfway. Cause that's kind of a ritual we do every summer or whatever, traditional or whatever. But, um, and then we just drove the whole six hours back. Remember we just cut away at the charge of what words that we're going to choose. How, how, how do we Polish this thing? So, I mean, this is like some rich, you know, we didn't Google this stuff and come up with it. Right? Like, like we, we were to carve this up out of a mountain man. A lot of discovery,
Speaker 3 00:16:06 A lot of, a lot of pain. That's a good word for it. A lot of pain. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:16:12 All right, Adam, bring us a fix us, man. Do what you do.
Speaker 1 00:16:17 I appreciate all, all the answers because I think it gives us an idea of the arena. Like, I mean, what we've heard over and over again is we all have an identity that we need to stay true to, but we also hit on the price. There's a price to be in the arena that it costs something to be in the arena. And then we've talked about the fact that there's a reward for being in the arena, that we can actually honor God in that he's with us in the arena. And that we, we experienced his presence right in the arena that when we actually begin to build our lives in such a way that it honors him, we begin to experience him. And we begin to see him working in and through our lives. And so I think one of the things we ask each guy, this question, right. Is, are you, or will you apply the five starts charge to your life? Like, I mean, we're asking men, would you consider getting in the arena? Right. So as we think about that, are there things that come to your mind? I mean, if there's men listening to their podcasts, if they're getting towards the end of our time here, what's, what's your charge or what's your call to action to our listeners today guys?
Speaker 3 00:17:20 Yeah. I think call to action. Definitely is, Hey, there's always another play. There's always another down you failed at this one. Get back up. There's always another game. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:17:40 It's simple for me. Are you in the arena? I mean, we're in a day and age where it's kind of frowned upon to even be a man it's there's pressure on all sides. There's pressure on all sides guys, pressure from everywhere. I mean, this is a hard day to be alive. I mean, there's so many things that we could cave to and that's just a simple call to action for me is decide right now, mark, your heart decide right now that I'm going to be a man in the arena. I'm going to get my life reorganized and I'm going to put the energy. I'm going to pay the prices. I'm going to know the great devotions and the great disappointments I'm going to going to be that man. Don't don't live her regrets, man. Kill them. It's a new year. It's a new day. It's a great time to start this.
Speaker 4 00:18:27 And there's no other way. I, you know, that like when I'm thinking about that, right? Like there's no other way for you to, um, to know the God that you walk with and to know the God that goes before you, without being in the arena, you know, um, the experience level of when God shows up, you know, um, that's what keeps my fight. You know, that's what keeps me in the fight is that I know who's walking with me. You know what I mean? I know who's gone before me. Um, and I know that he'll never leave me.
Speaker 1 00:18:59 Yeah. That's good. You know, as we're, as we're thinking about this, while you guys are saying, this reminds me of a story, I heard about a guy named Clyde Beatty. You guys ever heard of Clyde before. Okay. That's all right. Clyde is the guy who discovered he's a lion Tamer. And he's the guy that discovered that if you put a stool in the face of a lion, it'll sit down because it looks at the four legs and goes, I don't know what to attack. So instead of attacking anything, align, we'll sit down. If a student's in his face. Now I'd love to meet with Clyde at one point and go, how did you think that? Like, I mean, and how much braver did you have to have to put a stool overwhelm? The lions choices put the five star charts for me is exactly that it gives me a target, right?
Speaker 1 00:19:40 It gives me some, if I'm going to do something, I can just pick one of those things and take action on it and know that I'm going to meet with God and I'm going to see his presence and his kingdom advance in my life. And so I love the star five star charts. I love how you've all talked about it in your own life and men. What we're saying to you today is we want you to consider doing this. Will you get into the arena and will you apply the five star charge to your life? Maybe it's been an action. Maybe it's been failure. Maybe you've struggled with your identity, but we believe the five-star charge will help you take the next step and living upright and experiencing God's presence in your life. So men thank you for being here today. Thank you for your time. Thanks for being in the studio. And thanks for listening to the podcast today, we'd invite you to take a moment to like, and to share, send it to somebody that you know, or that you care about. And until next time live upright, .
