SPEAKER_00 0:00

Men. Welcome to the most important podcast that you'll hear in a long time. It's the Men's Leadership Community Podcast, and it starts now.

SPEAKER_09 0:16

Well, Obi, here we are at the movies, and we're I can't believe we're already on week six. This is crazy. Great lineup. Yeah, go ahead, Jason.

SPEAKER_06 0:26

Real quick before we get into it, I've got you you mentioned brother Joseph so far away. I've got a guy that that works for me that's on a three-month mission um in Sapasoa, south of Oracle. And he's on he's on the call for the first time this morning. I'd like to introduce him if you don't care. Yeah his name's Austin Pritchett. He's 25 years old, a young man that I know that God put in my life. Um he says that God put him in his life. He he lost his father to at an early age. And it's just been a great, great mentoring thing. But God's called him to mission. And I just w wanted to introduce him and and you know I hopefully he can update you on on what he's doing, because it's really amazing. But he's on a three-month uh which was a big step on a three-month mission right now. So where were you saying? He's in Sapasoa, which is in South America.

SPEAKER_05 1:35

Okay somewhere.

SPEAKER_06 1:37

Is it Austin? Are you on there? Austin on? Yeah. There he is.

SPEAKER_09 1:42

Austin? Good morning, great to have you with us, Austin.

SPEAKER_06 1:45

Good morning.

SPEAKER_09 1:46

Yeah. So you're in South America. Where are you at exactly? Peru. Awesome. Okay. So we got we got Austin and Peru and Joseph in Uganda. You guys say hi to each other from across from across the world, real quick. Uh brothers in mission with one another. So really great to have you on this morning, Austin. Yeah, and what else going on with you in Peru?

SPEAKER_07 2:08

Yeah, so right now I'm uh helping a pastor here in Sapasoa with his sports youth camp. Uh his heart behind it is to reach out to the younger kids because there's a lot of gang activity, drug cartels to try to reach out to the kids to traffic them. So kind of to show them a better way of life to take care of their bodies, but also to have a typical background behind it. Um he goes basically from six in the morning till ten or so at night. So in the morning session, he has six thirty to eight, and we have about twenty-five or so kids to show up, and in the afternoon it's four to six, and that goes on with about ten to fifteen kids. It just depends with their school because our school system is set up different here. Uh one session goes from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon, the other session goes from one to six in the evening. And then every night there's a church service that he also, of course, pastors over. So he's constantly wanting to make a difference in his community here. But him and his wife left a pretty good job in Lima Peru, which is the capital of Peru here, to go to Sapphasoa because Gafgall are hard to make a difference here. And just seeing how faithful God's friend and everything he's doing here. I mean, it's not uncommon for him to be anywhere in the streets of Sapphasoa and kids run up, even young adults who he's health impact, just give him a hug or say hi.

SPEAKER_09 3:44

That's awesome. Hey, do you guys so do you guys have a website for the ministry down there that you can put in the chat for guys to be able to take a look at what you're doing? Yeah. Yeah. If you don't mind, if you can just grab that link, you can just put it in the chat and then guys can just click on that and we can get a look at what's going on for you. Yeah, we do clean wanna support you, Austin.

SPEAKER_06 4:06

Yeah, go ahead, Jay. If you can't find it, Austin, you can just send it out in the WhatsApp to where I sent you the message this morning. So if you can't find it and put it in the chat, you can put it in the WhatsApp.

SPEAKER_09 4:19

Yeah. So great having you with us this morning, Austin, and great to hear about your ministry and what you're doing down there. And we would love to hear more about it, especially after you get back, to hear maybe a report on what all happened down there when you get back. That's awesome. Yeah. And a big uh hello to Joseph, obviously in uh Uganda this morning. And for you guys that don't remember, Joseph is working with an organization called Educare. And Obi, if we have Joseph's website, you can put that in the chat underneath Austin's. Uh, and guys, you can check out what's going on globally around the world in the name of Jesus Christ this morning on a Friday morning call. Because it's not just happening on your computer, but it's happening all around the world. And it's really beautiful when brothers in Christ get together and start actually boasting in the Lord about what's happening in the world to serve other people, which is really the heart of the movie this morning, Obi.

SPEAKER_08 5:14

Oh man, I'm I'm so excited to get started and really excited when we see the gospel actually transforming the lives of man and reaching across the world, just like we were commanded to do.

SPEAKER_09 5:25

Absolutely. And we got one more new guest this morning. Just want to introduce my brother Big E, uh Eric Willis. And Eric, if you don't mind, you said you have a guest that's joining us this morning. Do you mind introducing him and then getting him to say something about himself?

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Sure. This is Ezel Clark. My son started a men's group at our church, at our church called the Inter Session. And it's guys that come together, they share their hearts, and they have a jam session together. And so Ezel was one of the first brothers to come and just an accomplished, well-educated brother. So, Ezel, would you introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_09 6:03

We'll see if he's on. Is he on his phone or something?

SPEAKER_01 6:06

There we go.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Maybe he can't hear us from the crazy. There we go. I'm unmuted. Hey Ezel, how are you? I'm well, bless you. Hello, gentlemen. Um pleasure to meet you all today. My name is Ezelle Clark.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

I'm a I'm a licensed clinical social worker. Um and a therapist by trade. I'm also a baritone vocalist and I am a play keys. Right now I've been working for uh this this agency called Safe Haven of Terran County. They provide the county, and we've actually expanded to other areas in the state. We've since changed the name to the Archway. Um but I uh we run a partner abuse intervention and prevention program group. I work with men, um, work with men who batter their partner their family member partners and family members have been doing that for about 10 years. Also been working for um uh first Presbyterian Church of Dallas as a contract therapist out there for about ten years, just working with the homeless population on uh trauma-informed, uh, depression, anxiety, substance use, and and I just recovered from all past hurt and and things of that nature. And uh it's just a pleasure to be with you all today.

SPEAKER_09 7:20

Well, it's great to have you on and talking again once again globally, right here at home and all the way around the world. Just the different things that are going on that God is reaching out through men to touch the lives of others and as Ella, especially what you shared right there. Probably one of the most powerful things uh that you can hear is somebody that's actually reaching out to the men that do the battering of their wives and seeking transformation in Jesus Christ in their lives. We hear a lot about the recovery for the women that have been beat up or that have been abused, but boy, to hear about somebody that's doing ministry to to bring in the transformation of Jesus Christ to the lives of the men who actually have that rage and that anger inside of them and see transformation happen in their lives. Uh, really great to hear about that this morning, too, Izelle.

SPEAKER_08 8:03

Yeah, and it actually, this is the first time that I've ever heard of anything like that for me. So that is great. And something I hadn't even thought about. So, man, great. Keep up the keep keep up the work, brother. Keep up the good work.

SPEAKER_09 8:14

Anyway, anyway, for Izelle, Joseph, Austin, any of you that the MLC can be involved in helping you further your reach to more men to be transformed in Jesus Christ, please let Obi and R know, and we will do whatever we can to get the MLC involved and help you guys out for sure, sir. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, we yeah, here we are. Guy that definitely needed some transformation in his life. And like like I said, Obi and you too. I mean, this this could be, you know, about you and me and probably 10 other guys on the call, if not all 31 or so that are on the call this morning. Just different roads of the hero's journey to transformation in Jesus Christ. This being a true story, a biography of Father Stu. So, Obi, go ahead and jump us into this real quick with a little background and some trivia.

SPEAKER_08 9:02

What a great, what a great way to start, guys. Uh Father Stu, it's a 2022 biographical drama based on the true story of Stuart Long, played by Mark Wahlberg, a foul mouth boxer who leaves Montana for Hollywood, only to reinvent himself as a Catholic priest after a near-fatal motorcycle accident. And despite facing a dehabilitating muscular disease and skeptical church officials, he finds his calling through suffering and becomes an inspiration to many.

SPEAKER_09 9:33

Yeah, and that line right there, I don't want to skip over it too fast. Finding our calling through suffering is really the core of the movie, but also a huge aspect of our own lives and participating in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, which we'll talk about more and more as we go along, and what a blessing that actually is. Yeah. So, what weird things we talk about on Friday morning to the United States of America and around the world is talking about a group of men talking about their sufferings being a gift from God.

SPEAKER_08 10:00

Oh, yeah. This is totally gonna flip it upside down, and I'm I'm I'm all for it. Embracing his suffering as a spiritual gift, he's ordained uh a priest using his remaining strength to minister to others, ultimately transforming his relationship with his parents.

SPEAKER_09 10:18

Yeah, which is pretty cool. You see that at the end. So this I I love I love this theater poster right here, the most unlikely priest, because I, you know, it's it's I've been in I've been in the ministry now for 20 some odd 24 years now or something like that, Obi. And still, like if you were to talk to my mom and dad and some other there, like he's the most unlikely pastor you would ever run into. We still don't know exactly you know how that went down because he should not have been a pastor. So I just like that phrase there because that should hit most of us. The most unlikely Christian, the most unlikely loved by God, whatever you want to call yourself, you probably are the most unlikely that anyone would think. And yet it's God came specifically for you through Jesus.

SPEAKER_08 11:02

Amen. Um, the film showcases a journey from self-destruction to redemption. It emphasizes that suffering can lead to deeper understanding of love and faith. The film contains unusually strong language for a faith-based film, and Wahlberg said he was initially prevented from shooting a scene in the church because it contained vulgar language. Wahlberg defended the use of language as a way of contrasting Long's pre- and post-conversion lifestyles, and the film was commended by many Catholic leaders. And yeah, I I really like the it didn't shy away from that because that is the reality of our life without Christ. Not just that, not just not just the language part, but as Terry said uh uh a little bit ago, Dave Terry said, um, you know, our life is not PG.

SPEAKER_09 11:54

It's yeah, and and the struggle goes on today. So there are still some of us that struggle with the vulgarity, you know, of life, even while we're in Christ, because an old man is inside of us battling the new man in Christ, Obi. And that's a daily battle that's going on between the old and the new. And I love the way that the movie portrays that in its honesty, instead of trying to sugarcoat things, but we're gonna we're gonna get to that phrase, sugarcoating stuff. Uh, you know, you there's no need to sugarcoat stuff or to say, well, you can't film in this church if you're gonna actually film a scene of a broken, sinful person using vulgar language. You mean we're not supposed to talk about reality in church? We're not supposed to talk about brokenness and sinfulness in church, we're not actually supposed to talk about the hero's journey of why God sent his son Jesus Christ. Because I'm gonna tell you, Obi, if it's not about our brokenness and our sinfulness, then why in the world did he come?

SPEAKER_08 12:50

It's a country club where everybody pretends to be there, everything's okay. There's the harsh reality of sin, and I don't want to be a part of a church that doesn't dive into that head first.

SPEAKER_09 13:01

No, and we use the three words open, honest, and vulnerable. How are you gonna talk about men getting together and being real with one another, being open, honest, and vulnerable, but saying, oh, by the way, sugarcoat your story while we're live? Nope. No, that's weird.

SPEAKER_08 13:14

No, and that's you know, Andy, this is a shameless plug for our open mic. If you have not been a part of our open mic nights, please uh make it an effort, pencil it in and show up one of these nights every month. We have them, and this is a place where you can be open, honest, and vulnerable and ask those difficult questions, ask those embarrassing questions that you may have. And we're we're not we're not afraid to tackle them at all. The film was produced on a budget of four million dollars. Sony Pictures released Father Stewart Theaters in the United States on April 13th, 2022, during the Christian celebration of Holy Week. The film received mixed reviews from critics. It grossed 21.8 million worldwide, making it a moderate box office office success.

SPEAKER_09 14:00

You know, and that's that fits the film perfectly. Moderate box office success, a true story about God transforming somebody's life, ought to be a moderate box office success. We don't want it to be too successful.

SPEAKER_08 14:14

So in this movie, Wahlberg, devout Catholic, first heard about Long Story while out to dinner with two priests, and he ended up funding the project himself after being turned down by several studios.

SPEAKER_09 14:25

Yeah, so I love that about you know, bringing his own his own faith as an actor to what he does in his vocation. And I just wanted that, I thought that was big O because that's what we should all be doing in whatever vocations God has called us into. So many different ones on the call today. Uh, is is Christ at the center, leading the way, even in what we're doing in our vocations? And it surely does for Mark Wahlberg.

SPEAKER_08 14:48

Um, Wahlberg seized his famous fanatical training regime and intentionally gained 30 pounds in six weeks to portray Long consuming up to 7,000 calories a day. That's lightweight. Um, this is the second time Mill Gibson has played Mark Wahlberg's father in a film after Daddy's Home 2 in 2017. There you go. The PG 13 version of Father Stew 2022 was released eight months later as Father Stew Reborn in a recut intended for wider audiences.

SPEAKER_09 15:22

Because we have to cut it down from an R to a PG-13 for him to actually be reborn. There you go. So, yeah, yeah. Crazy. Um, but I do love that. Both Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg, famous for their devoutness and their Catholic belief, and actually very good friends with one another.

SPEAKER_08 15:40

So yeah. Um early in the movie, Stu's mother suggests he find work on an oil rig, and Waldberg starred in Deepwater Horizon 2016 as a worker on an oil rig. There you go. Great movie, by the way. Yep. When Stu first talks to Carmen after attending the church service, he says, Hope ain't a tactic. He says the same line in Deepwater Horizon to John Malkovich's character at the beginning of the film.

SPEAKER_09 16:06

There you go. So we're we're we're repeating or recycling some lines in movies. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 16:12

In the Cemetery St. Wahlberg's character is drinking Yellowstone whiskey. Jackie Weaver, who plays the mother, was in Yellowstone in 2018. There you go. So just a little whiskey.

SPEAKER_09 16:23

You know, we're talking about the retreat coming up, so you gotta throw a little whiskey trivia in there, too.

SPEAKER_08 16:28

Uh the film cast includes one Oscar winner, Mel Gibson, and two Oscar nominees, Mark Wahlberg for the departed and Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom Silver Linings playbook. The real father Stu stated that he was at the moment of his baptism that he just knew he was going to be a priest. When he told the priest who baptized him, the priest told Stu not to worry that it was often the case for adults joining the church, and the feeling would go away after a few days.

SPEAKER_09 16:55

Oh my God. That is like the least pastoral thing I've ever heard anyone say. Like, hey, by the way, guys, that this feeling that Jesus has inspired you with through the Holy Spirit is going to go away in a few days. You'll get over it. Don't worry about it. Like maybe we might want to like jump on that and say, maybe God's telling you something right now.

SPEAKER_08 17:17

Wahlberg saying Wahlberg shared during an interview that he received a kind letter from a Muslim woman who accidentally entered this film in theaters, mistaking it for Uncharted. However, she loved the film, finding it to be extremely beautiful and uplifting, and thank him for making it.

SPEAKER_09 17:33

Because he was in Uncharted with Tom Holland at the Sound Congress. So she walked into the wrong movie. And I love that though. She got to hear an entire movie about Jesus Christ. So that's fantastic. Well, Obi, tell the guys a little bit about the hero's journey and why that's so important to the MLC and where we get it from.

SPEAKER_08 17:50

Yeah, we get it from Philippians 2, 5 through 11. And uh just a reminder that anytime we do any of these movies, we're always making sure that we're walking through and relating this to our own hero's journey um through scripture. So that we, you know, I mean, we're not just talking about movies, we're not just talking about our even our life, our own life. There's always something in here that always has a reflection of Jesus' own hero's journey from the beginning of creating the world for to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hopefully to one day his return that we wait for him. So it's always here. We always try to point that out through our movies so that you always have something to reference that to in life.

SPEAKER_09 18:34

Well, you know, and Jesus is the true hero, Philippians 2, 5 through 11. And we're all being brought up into his true hero's journey. You know, if you look at Father Stew today, it's about him being brought up into Jesus' hero's journey, and it's about all of us coming together in brotherhood in Christ and being wrapped up into Jesus' hero's journey. Now, one of the neat things is, you know, the hero's journey is going from the ordinary world, you can see it right there, to the special or the unknown. And what's new or interesting or maybe a little bit different, I should actually say, about Father Stu from some of the other movies is the ordinary world that Stuart Long is wrapped up in is a world of selfishness, self-centeredness, narcissism, uh, and his own desires. And the special world, the unknown world that he doesn't know that he's gonna be drawn up into is the world of being other-centered, giving, generous, loving, and caring for others instead of himself. So you're gonna see this massive transformation from the ordinary world, which actually is the world that that we're bombarded with messaging to live in every day. Think about yourself, it's all about you. The universe revolves around you to this now special world in Jesus Christ, which actually says, no, the world is all about others and the greater purpose that God has in bringing you into service through Jesus Christ to change the lives of others in his name. And where that's a transformation that is, Obi.

SPEAKER_08 19:55

And I love that the movie didn't shy away from the where it always leads to. You know, the movie always alluded uh to where that leads you, it always leads to self-destruction, it leads to an ult your ultimate, your ultimate demise in a life that is unfulfilled, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 20:10

So self-destruction to resurrection. I like that. That's a pretty good move in the hero's journey. Now, guys, as we go through the different scenes this morning, we've picked out some verses that go with them. But for your own hero's journey and finding yourself in the movie, uh, finding aspects of your life that have been redeemed in Jesus Christ. If there are some uh scripture passages that you were like, man, in that theme, I I was really thinking about this scripture verse. Be sure to share it with us. Don't be afraid to speak up and say, Man, I was that's a great verse you guys picked out, but I was thinking about this verse, you know, Obi. So we want to see guys maybe involved and throwing out some of their own scripture verses and the way that they saw the movie as it went.

SPEAKER_08 20:49

Yeah, and hopefully, and I know I've heard from some of the guys that it's changed the way they look at movies now. So when they're watching movies now, they're looking for the hero's journey and thinking about that, right? Thinking about verses, thinking about what how that is applied to me, how is that in light of my life, how is that in light of the gospel? So we start with Father Stu. I mean, we start with the fighter. We call this the fighter, these first set of scenes, the fighter, because we kind of get a glimpse into the background and and the brokenness that leads to what drives Stu, right, to to join, to be a fighter, to be res try to be resilient, to make sure that nobody hurts him. And boy, do I mean I watched um I watched Mel Gibson in that role, and I I really it really stirred something within me like right away from the movie. It doesn't shy away from the brokenness. And so you see him trying to uh you see Stu trying to once again try to entertain his father, trying to get some sort of approval from his dad. Yeah. And what does he what does he do? You know, just bashes him down, just and again you get some re get some really beautiful lighting. Effects, which I thought went really well. I could smell the roof.

SPEAKER_09 22:04

I could smell that roof. You could smell the whiskey and the cigarettes and the beer. Stuck to the wall, right? The beer, the blood, and the mud, as Johnny Cash once said. That's what I was thinking of a boy named Sue when I was watching that first scene, you know. Yeah, yeah. That kind of relationship of wanting to make him tough because it's a tough world.

SPEAKER_08 22:29

Yeah, and it, you know, and it leads to brokenness. It leads, you know, it leads to him really almost punishing himself, right? And and how sad was that, you know, when he's saying, I love this man, it's what I do.

SPEAKER_09 22:42

Yeah, what a trip, what a huge uh foreshadowing of the transformation that's to come at the beginning of the movie. I love this man, it's what I do, which is punishing other people for the punishment that he feels inside of himself. And by the end of the movie, wow, is that gonna radically change to the love that he wants to pour out because of the love that he's been given?

SPEAKER_08 23:00

Yeah. Yeah, which ultimately leads to him kind of going to the doctor and and telling the bot, the doctor's telling him, Hey, listen, dude, this is this is not good. You this is this is your body telling you not to fight. He's telling him, you know, um, he's telling them the advice, and of course, he doesn't want to hear that.

unknown 23:19

Right.

SPEAKER_09 23:20

None of us do. We're there are a lot of men of a certain age on this call right now, JB McDougal. And our bodies are telling us different things at this stage in life than they were when we were 20.

SPEAKER_04 23:32

That is the truth. That is the truth as I drink my protein shake trying to be.

SPEAKER_09 23:37

There you go. Yeah. Uh and he's also suffering with great loss, and I think that's something else that's important. But he has no one to help him to process it or to grieve properly, you know. So he has this loss of his brother, uh, that he feels throughout the entire the entire movie, blames his dad, blames God, but most of all he blames himself.

SPEAKER_08 24:00

Yeah. And I really and I really love the that that cemetery scene where he throws his beer at the at the statue of Jesus, you know, and and what a this is a big contrast towards towards the end. And I love what they do here, uh, because you see that they're you know, he he really has no idea who Jesus is. Right. He has no idea who he is. Um, and he gets picked up by the police, and you know, they say the chip off the old block. So I love that they make a reference to this um this the brokenness of his father now becoming his own brokenness.

SPEAKER_09 24:41

Yeah, and at the the very end, we're gonna see a huge transformation of chip off the old block at the beginning, father to son, but at the end, we're gonna see the the transformational power that the son has on the father's life, and the father becoming a chip off the young block, you know, and actually being transformed by his son. So is that were you gonna say something there? Jump in.

unknown 25:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 25:04

Oh, okay. I thought he was, I thought he was gonna say something there. So yeah, and I, you know, that one image right there, especially Obi of him punching Jesus. I don't know if there's anybody else on the call that's actually uh maybe not done that with a stone statue of Jesus, but has done it metaphorically in your mind and in your screaming and in your yelling of why me and what's going on in the world. But I've definitely reached out to try and punch Jesus, and it never goes well. Uh, but the reality is a lot of men have actually done it. And and to be able to share that with one another, uh, that I I love that, you know, he he takes a swipe at Jesus, which by the way, not very bright, stone statue, hurts his hand. Right, but but we but we do this. No, but he's he can take it. Yeah. I think that's the big thing we want to share out of that is Jesus can take it. And you know, that great line that Stu even references in his sermon, Father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. He experienced that in punching the the statue and recognizing. So I thought this was a pretty good one right here. So punch in the wind.

SPEAKER_08 26:10

How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

SPEAKER_09 26:22

You know, and this is a really, I thought, a poignant verse to talk about the very beginning with Stuart, because this is actually what's going on internally inside of him. These were pretty on point. And have you ever thought about this though? How long will my enemy triumph over me? How long will the old sinful broken man inside of me keep winning? When will the new man in Christ rise up and have victory over the old man inside of me? And that's what we're after in the hero's journey. And he's gonna experience that, but so are we. There is Christ's opportunity through the power of the Holy Spirit to raise up the new man inside of you that will stop the old man from having triumph over you day after day. So that you're gonna see that in the film. Yep.

SPEAKER_08 27:06

Well, we call this set of scenes the actor because you know he has newfound revelation that he wants to um, since he can't box, man, he's gonna go be an actor. And I mean, he's ready. He was he he even says he was born to perform.

SPEAKER_09 27:22

A star, a star is born, each and every one of us. Here we go. Right? We we live in an age of celebrity. Here we go. I've who on this call has has not, in some shape, form, or fashion, had this exact saying, I ain't trying to belong, mama. I'm trying to stand out. Every one of us at some point in our lives has gone through trying to be a standout.

SPEAKER_08 27:45

Yeah, and I really it was really almost heartbreaking seeing uh how naive he was, right? Um, because he's going in there, he's going in there. Like I honestly, I mean, the way he made he they're making him look is he really does believe that he's gonna go uh see some kind of agent and be like the next big Hollywood star.

SPEAKER_09 28:08

And which I guess if you're if you want to be an influencer today, I guess you can become a star with your phone in five seconds, but yeah, a little bit harder in Hollywood.

SPEAKER_08 28:18

A little bit harder in Hollywood. So you begin to slowly see the reality of life chipping away uh at his dream and really at him coming to terms with his life choices, really.

SPEAKER_09 28:33

Absolutely, and going a little bit deeper into that narcissism, into that self-centeredness, uh, you know, by by m making the move from fighter to actor, we've gone a little bit deeper into that dive into that dive of brokenness.

SPEAKER_08 28:49

Yeah. Um, which leads to him working at this at this little grocery store uh of being a, I guess as a butcher, right? Like selling meat and being the guy behind the the register at the meat section. Uh and finally uh introduced we're introduced to uh Carmen, catches which cat who catches his eye instantly, uh, and then we kind of begin to see that God is using this this woman to kind of begin calling him um to something to a higher calling.

SPEAKER_09 29:25

Yeah. You know, and I love I love sometimes in our own self-delusion about how awesome we are, Stuart uses the photo, the headshot of him as a butcher from the grocery store as his headshot when he goes to auditions. Sometimes we get so lost in our own delusion that we're like, this is a great picture of me, and we we're gonna use that as our headshot. So, you know, Matthew 6, 1 through 4, Jesus talks about Stuarts going into this delusion of wanting to stand out. And the Pharisees did that quite often. They wanted to be seen by others and they wanted to be, you know, uh standouts in what they did. And the reward for standing out, though, is temporary and very fleeting.

SPEAKER_08 30:10

Be careful not to practice a righteousness in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues or on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

SPEAKER_09 30:37

Yeah, and this is a little bit of the journey that Stuart is going to go through from uh fighter, actor, all the way to priest and servant of Christ, and and that different reward that's going on. Well, here's our radio head reference. Uh, if you guys know the radio head song creep, uh, I thought this was perfect for this scene right here because he's a creep. He's creepy. He he is creepy, but he he talking her at church.

SPEAKER_08 31:06

He he really is. It was it was very forceful of him, you know, trying to go after her. He finds out where she where she's where she works, where she where she is. He he's watching her, he's following her around. Not okay, guys. This is not the way to woo a woman, okay? It worked for him, but not that. And I I really love that he begins to it leads him to at to the church, right? He starts going to a church, and you see somebody that's completely out of the element, they've never been to a church, um, loud, obnoxious, sex to this old gentleman, yeah, who tells him you can't fool God. Right. Um, and you know, he he begins to talk to her, and you know, she's kind of asked him, What are you trying to do here? What what is it that you're trying to accomplish here? His his his the whole reason why he was at the church was had nothing to do with the church with God. He really was just trying to woo this woman. That's all he was thinking about.

SPEAKER_09 32:11

You know, and the songs that this entire scene, the song just was going the words from the song are I'm a creep, I'm a winner, right? Uh what the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here. And you had this just juxtaposition, juxtaposition of him thinking he's something and at the same time knowing he's a loser. Man, have you ever been through that, Ovi? Like you think the delusion is I'm really awesome, but at the same time, you can feel deep underneath there's something about you that's really wrong, out of step, and and you know you're broken.

SPEAKER_08 32:43

Yeah, and you know, that I I really thought about that um before the Lord found me, you know, because I grew up in a Christian home, I really did. I I pretended to be a believer. I pretended to, I went through the motions. Um, and that's really how this this scene really spoke to me because that's how I felt like a just a weirdo going to church and just being somebody that didn't belong there, going through the motions, trying to trying to fill my own agenda instead of pursuing the heart of Christ. So this leads to our brother Stu's arrest, uh, but not before actually seeing him in a commercial. I thought that was that was the the the mobs around his mom sitting there watching watching him and he's like, Mom, I got my big break. And then you see him selling mops, which I I mean I I would do it. I was just thinking about that. I mean, I I would do it. I wouldn't be I wouldn't be above that.

SPEAKER_09 33:37

Who wouldn't be proud of seeing themselves on TV, you know, and say, like CJ, CJ put in the chat, it wasn't just his dad that was disappointed in him, it was his mom too. I mean, so he's getting disappointment and disappointed reactions from both of his parents. So that's rough.

SPEAKER_08 33:54

Yeah. So I love this shot of him whenever he gets arrested. I just I don't know. It's a big contrast to how we're gonna see him later on in the movie. And then we again we get to see the the brokenness of his of his dad, the relationship that he has with his dad on here. I don't know if that spoke to you at all, Andy. Uh, but it's it but it really did.

SPEAKER_09 34:18

Well, what spoke to me was the let us acknowledge our sins. He's obviously in jail for drunk driving again. Uh, you know, and and we live in a world where we are bombarded 24-7 with don't acknowledge your sins. You're a victim. Point the blame at somebody else, blame it on someone else. But why in the world would you acknowledge your own sinfulness, your own brokenness? Which is actually the road, right, to resurrection. It's actually the road to God's forgiveness, is acknowledging our sins. God has given us the opportunity and the gift of confessing our sins with one another so that we can receive forgiveness. But the world says, don't acknowledge your sins. You hide that. Show only your best life. And if something goes wrong, it surely couldn't have been your fault. Make sure you point the finger at somebody else and claim victimhood. What man, you know, that is just the opposite of what we're called to through scripture. Is actually gathering together, open, honest, vulnerable. Let's confess our sins, let's acknowledge our sins to one another so that we might receive healing, so that we might receive God's forgiveness, and that we might be transformed and become new men. So, which obviously he doesn't do at that particular moment because the minute he gets out of jail and his car's in the impound, what does he do? He goes to steal his father's truck. So there's a little bit left in the journey, but I thought, you know, check this out. Creeping around, I thought this was a great set of verses. Uh, we got two slides on this set of verses, Obian. We've all been creeps, by the way. Every guy in the car, who's been a creep? Everybody raise your hand. Who's still struggling at times with being a creep? To your wife, to your kid, to your coworker, to the people that you go to church with, whatever it may be. We're still struggling at times with being a creep. And this is what Paul says to Timothy that's so powerful is let's be honest about it, so that God can do something with it.

SPEAKER_08 36:15

Yeah, but mark this there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, holy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

SPEAKER_09 36:38

Does that does that pretty do a pretty good job of describing Stuart at this particular point in his life? But you know, here's the deeper thing. I had a 10-year period where this was a phenomenal description of Andy Whaley.

unknown 36:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 36:53

I think that's what's heartbreaking. That's what's heartbreaking to me. I was reading that and I was like, man, somebody snitched on me. Um having a form of godliness but denying its power, having nothing to do, have nothing to do with such people.

SPEAKER_09 37:08

You know, in that line, having a form of godliness but denying its power. During that 10-year period, I was still baptized, Obi. It's not like my baptism went away. I was still a baptized child of God, but I was denying its power and reaching out for something else while rejecting the gift that God had given. Think about that that we do in our lives sometimes. So here it is. Here's the creeping around. Look at these look at these words from scripture describing men sometimes in our lives. This is pretty powerful.

SPEAKER_08 37:40

They are the kind who creep and worm their way into homes and captivate vulnerable women who are loaded with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning, but never able to come to knowledge of the truth. Just as Janice and Jambras oppose Moses, also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected, but they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

SPEAKER_09 38:09

And his folly is about to become clear to everyone. My folly was very evident and clear to everyone, and still is at times today. You know, the new man in Christ is winning more and more every day over the old man, but the old man's still in the death thralls, he's still scratching and fighting as much as he can. And when he when he shows up publicly, Obi, my wife knows it, my son knows it, you know it. Uh, you know, so there's, you know, let's make sure that we're honest with each other about that. Well, we go, we got the fighter, the actor, the creep. So now the creep becomes even creepier. He becomes even creepier in becoming the catechumen, which means he's gonna go through the nine-month process of what it means to be an initiate in the Catholic Church to become baptized. Okay, so and he's doing all of that in order that he might have sex with a girl. Not not necessarily the number one reason to get baptized, guys, just so that you know.

SPEAKER_08 39:06

He's like, I can go through this. Yes, I can do this. Yeah. Because, you know, it came from her saying I cannot date someone who's not baby baptized. He's like, I mean, what's the worst, right? Just water? So so we can see that we start seeing, um we start seeing really the the this next set of scenes where he is going through it. He's going, you know, he he's kind of sitting through the sessions, he's kind of sitting through um uh he even joins uh her Sunday school, uh, and really in a really humorous part where they're the the little kids during Ash Wednesday, they're asking him, Hey, what are you gonna give up, Stuart?

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 39:52

But he says alcohol, and the kid goes, That's easy. You have to give up something hard. And he goes, What, like porn? Yeah, they're well, now you're getting into some stuff that's that's challenging for men to get over without Christ.

SPEAKER_08 40:04

And I'm and I'm really and I I love that they did that, right? Yeah, and so now, and I love the simplicity of this last this last that we have when he's sitting around with a group, you know, and he's talking about confession and penance. Uh, and and and he simplifies it, you know. He's like, Man, you're trying to undo years of wiring, right? Like, um, because that really that's what that's what that's what happens when the gospel meets us where we are. It it begins to the the Holy Spirit begins to undo years of bad wiring, years of bad habits, years of conditioning, right?

SPEAKER_09 40:42

The old man. Yeah. The old man. Exactly. Transformation, Jesus. Romans 12, right? Be can be transformed by the renewing of your mind and don't be conformed to the patterns of this world anymore. That's exactly what's happening is wow, you're trying to undo years of wiring, and he gets it. So this line right here that I love from Carmen, she says, Your cheap cologne cannot cleanse you from the ugliness of sin, Stuart. And boy, what better than to talk about confession, repentance, forgiveness, to talk about needing something better, uh greater, and more powerful than cheap cologne. We need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. So Psalm 51 goes pretty straight to the heart of the catechumen and what it means to actually be forgiven in reality through being washed whiter than snow versus just cheap cologne covering up the stench.

SPEAKER_08 41:30

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from sin, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yea you desired faithfulness even in the womb. You taught me wiz wisdom in that sacred place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have crushed rejoice, hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me to the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your way so that sinners will turn back to you.

SPEAKER_09 42:33

And not only a beautiful representation of father stew, right, this is what's actually starting to happen in his life is he's confessing his sin as brokenness. God is forgiving him in baptism and bringing a brand new life to him. But we're also then going to see, I'm gonna take that new joy and that new spirit that you filled me with. And I want to teach other people that were like me, other transgressors, so that they'll turn back to you and be forgiven and receive the same love and same forgiveness that you've shown me. And Obi, that's really how the the that's the whole point of the MLC is guys uh that we're desperately in need of brotherhood and love from other men that got together so that we can reach more men with it.

SPEAKER_08 43:12

Yeah, not just so that yeah, and it's not just so we can form a little exclusive club and then close the doors behind us. No, we we are commanded. Uh really, matter of fact, the Holy Spirit should, if you're if you're obedient to it, you it should stir your heart to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_09 43:30

And want to turn to others and reach out to them. So we actually get to the moment of Stuart being baptized now. So we have the fighter, the actor, the creep, uh, the catechumen, and now the baptized. You can kind of see the progression of the hero's journey walking through this, and maybe a little bit of your own hero's journey being drawn up into it. And uh, once again, powerful encouragement from his mother.

SPEAKER_08 43:54

I'm getting baptized. Well, why would you do that?

SPEAKER_03 43:58

Why in the world would you do that?

SPEAKER_08 44:00

Uh and I you know, I like that our our baptismal scene, we're always looking for those baptismal scenes in the movies. It actually ended up having to be an actual baptismal scene, so we didn't have to be have our eyes open now to that. But you know, really, this begins something uh, you know, a new stage in in Stewart's life, which which you you kind of begin to see God really, despite the fact that he was just going through this right here, he really does begin to reach out and and there's something that's happening. Um, there's something that's happening here. And, you know, he even he gets to go meet his uh his girlfriend's family, and then he meets the father, and he, you know, he has a kind of heart-to-heart conversation with him.

SPEAKER_09 44:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 44:47

Uh, you know, and he tells him, I expect no less devotion to my daughter, because he sees that.

SPEAKER_09 44:52

Well, and he sees for the first time that Carmen is somebody's daughter instead of his sexual tool uh to be able to get his lust off. And now he's seeing Carmen in a different way of this is somebody's daughter who expects a man that will show her devotion.

unknown 45:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 45:08

And I really like that that was powerful for for all of us in our own lives that are married, is you know, however long you may have been married, remembering the devotion that God calls us to in our wives, and that our wives are somebody else's daughter. And the expectation in that life is that you will be devoted to her and take care of her, not just use her for your own purposes, which is what marriage is taught in America is you get married because you want to get something out of it instead of pour something into it. Yep, transactional.

SPEAKER_08 45:36

Yeah. I love the scene, the confession scene. Um it's easier to list the things I've done right and take up less of your time.

SPEAKER_09 45:46

Amen. Amen to that. Yeah, like why don't we just talk about the stuff I got right this week and we'll be done quicker?

SPEAKER_08 45:52

And I just I really do love the rawness of that scene that where it really shows you that God meets you where you are as you are, right? Um, because uh it really it ends up really pointing to really the root of the brokenness of Stu. When he says, the last thing I need is another father to fail forth. You start you start seeing now, okay, now we're getting now we're getting to the root.

SPEAKER_09 46:21

Yeah. And why he has a problem with God.

SPEAKER_08 46:25

And why he has a big problem with God. And he goes to this bar, um, and we kind of see this Jesus character that sits besides him and kind of talks to him and uh, you know, tells him, kind of forewarns him, hey, don't drink and drive, you know, that's a Jesus character.

SPEAKER_09 46:45

I love this. He, you know, he's he's still got the tough guy in him, and Jesus is talking to him at the bar, right? And and Stuart's like, I would, if you weren't already so effed up because you can see all the scars and markings all over Jesus' face, he goes, then I would F you up. And Jesus says, somebody else beat you to it. Yeah. Wow. That was a pretty powerful line from Jesus. Like, sorry, I've already been crucified. Somebody else already beat you to beating me up, you know. And then he says that line, you've got to learn the hard way how to live in the light. And that was that was a poignant line for me. Uh, you know, especially to share with other men. You know, in a in in American cultural Christianity, we're taught that when, oh man, when you come to Jesus, all of a sudden the light goes off and the you know, the choir bells start ringing and birds fly in front of you, and then everything's easy from then on out. Well, that's not how it went down with me when Jesus grabbed my heart. It it was hard. Uh, you know, and it it it took um some some you know crashes into the wall a couple of different times, uh, you know, and still happens today, but you know, I love you have to learn the hard way how to live in the light. Yeah, and and yeah, go ahead, Jeff.

SPEAKER_05 48:00

So I've always heard that, and and like I know we we joke about the prosperity gospel and all that, but has anyone that's ever actually walked in their faith had that kind of experience?

SPEAKER_09 48:13

Yeah, well Yeah, I I think it's a I think they gotta lie about it to to try and affirm you know what they're putting out there, Jeff.

SPEAKER_05 48:22

Yeah, I think I mean best case scenario, someone like you feel like it's gonna sound bad, but best case scenario, in your shame, you will hide the reality of that. When God starts cleaning the closet out, it's not pretty. And and that's something that that I think we definitely need to be honest about because that's where the devil wants us to be, is in that shame. And so like it really is like the the the brochure. I don't I don't know that I don't know anybody's put that in a brochure really that that this is what Christianity looks like. I've got he's really returning to the faith and he's getting really get starting to get closer to God, and all of a sudden this chaos is occurring in his life. And I'm and I'm like, to me, I look at it as someone who's been through the chaos, has been through the the closet cleaning some and goes, man, this is great. This is like this is this is progress. This is these are good things. He certainly doesn't feel like that in the moment, but like that's that's a really that really is a poignant line. I I really appreciate the the pointing that out.

SPEAKER_09 49:31

Absolutely. And you know, in American cultural Christianity, Jeff, we want Easter Sunday without Good Friday. We want the resurrection without the cross. Uh Tim Keller once said he was a pastor up in New York area who's passed away now, but he said, you know what the the the greatest problem is with believing in the resurrection, Obi? You have to die first. And there's Galatians 2.20. I've been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave his life for me. So it it it if you ever hear about a relationship with Jesus Christ that doesn't go through the cross, it's a lie. It is as yeah, as Paul said in Galatians, it is another gospel that we did not preach and let it be cursed.

SPEAKER_08 50:20

Correct. Because hey, newsflash, uh, the cross, it's not an easy thing. I will tell you that.

SPEAKER_09 50:27

It's not and that was that great line from Jesus. He says, You bring a tough guy to his knees the first few times he feels shame, been there, still feel shame every now and then when you're brought there, right? Then rage, for any of you that deal with anger issues like myself, but then eventually relief. And Jeff, that's what you're getting to. I think that's the real point that Jeff's getting to is man, when Jesus finally does the convicting work through the Holy Spirit of cleaning out the closet of the heart of the sin and the brokenness and of the shame that the devil wants us to hide and live in, there is great relief because now you've gone through the cross and on the other side is resurrection, on the other side is brand new life. And that's really Romans 6, OB. What Jeff, what we're getting to, Romans 6 is what does it mean to be united with Christ? Well, it means being put to get put to death in our baptism and then raised to brand new life and all that that entails.

SPEAKER_08 51:23

What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like this. For we know that our old self is crucified with him, so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. The dead as he died, he died to sin once and for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God in the same way. Count yourselves dead to sin, but a life to God in Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_09 52:21

And this is what Stuart is about to find out, Obi. And here's the beauty of it. Our baptism is valid because God does the work on us. The question is, are we taking hold of the benefits of this brand new life in Jesus Christ of having been put to death and resurrected once again? And Stuart hasn't fully grabbed hold of that baptism uh grace and that baptismal gift yet, but he's about to, but he's about yeah, and Andy, you know, yeah, you know, that last scene, that last uh slide that we showed on the pat on the previous slides.

SPEAKER_08 52:55

Um, I really got um I really got a thought about Paul whenever uh the Lord tells Ananias, I must show him how much he must suffer for the sake of the gospel.

SPEAKER_09 53:08

Oh, yeah, good one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 53:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 53:10

How much he must suffer for the sake of the gospel to deliver that good news to others, not for himself. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, now he is the wreck. So we get to the scene of his big wreck uh here with his motorcycle, right after he's been talking to Jesus, and the last thing that Jesus says to him is now don't go driving. Yay.

SPEAKER_08 53:31

And what does he do? Right? The same thing that we do a lot of times when when the Lord tells us to go over left, we go right twice as fast. Um which he which has an accident, and during that accident, the the the there becomes really another really the a baptismal scene. That's what I thought about a lot because that that the really the dead the the old stew is put to death. Uh and so we begin to see the the a new stew come come to life after this because he encounters he sees Mary and she tells him, My son, he died for you, he died for Stephen. She calls him Stephen, she doesn't call him Oh, his brother Stephen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's saying he died for you and for your brother and for Steven, yeah. Um, and so he we, you know, again, he's he's sitting there ready to to pass away. The nurse tells him that there was significant trauma. Call call his people. If you need anybody to say goodbye to him, um, go ahead and call him. And he wakes up. Carmen comes in, puts a Bible and a rosary on his hands, uh, and you know, she begins to pray for him, and his mom tells him, Well, what are you doing that for? You know, she kind of but he comes to, and we begin to see that something's happened. Something has happened to Stu. He hasn't just woken up from a wreck and a coma. He's he's something. Something bigger.

SPEAKER_09 55:05

And he hears, and when he's walking on the crutches, he hears Jesus' words again. You ain't owed nothing, but you're getting a chance. And really, what a what a great kind of uh man of the world definition of grace, right? Because we're not owed grace, but we're getting a chance through Christ at it, uh, which is really beautiful. And I want to go back to Jeff Pressler's statement just a minute ago. When he's in there, it says there was significant trauma to the head and the vital organs. What if that's actually how we understood baptism? What if that's actually how we understood Romans 12, one through two of being transformed by the renewing of your mind and not being conformed to the patterns of this world anymore? That Jesus' work on us has caused significant trauma to our head and our vital organs. Like it says in Ezekiel 37, he's gonna reach into your chest cavity and pour pull out that dead, cold heart of stone and replace it with a beating heart of flesh. Like, what if actually being transformed in Jesus Christ has some trauma to it, Obi? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 56:04

And he's powerful. It is right, because now we're gonna we're we're flatlining, and uh the person that's gonna wake up is a brand new creation.

SPEAKER_09 56:13

Yeah. And that's when Carmen tells him he doesn't promise that our stories will make sense, but he does promise that they will find their greater purpose. And now Stuart is running into that aspect of his life uh of what it means to be the wrecked. Uh, and we've all been there, we've all been the wrecked, we've all been through that baptismal moment of waking up and becoming new, and what it means to lay down that old, old self, Obi, and and take on uh the new man in Christ.

SPEAKER_08 56:42

So I'll tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their hearts, having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

SPEAKER_09 57:03

Pretty good description of Stuart beforehand, before getting wrecked, and now a very different way of living after being wrecked.

SPEAKER_08 57:11

That, however, that, however, is not the way of life you learn when you heard about Christ and were taught in him, in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by his deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

SPEAKER_09 57:33

Yeah, the old self before God wrecked us, and now the new self after God wrecks us. So pretty cool to think of God's grace, God's forgiveness, baptism as getting wrecked. Oh, yeah. Very different way of talking about it.

SPEAKER_08 57:48

So now we have what we call the offering. Um Stu has kind of felt something. The Lord has called him to something. You see him early in the earlier slides that he was kind of going back to the wreck site, knowing that he should have been dead.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 58:05

And he's excited to go meet up with Carmen. And the first time I watched this movie, I was really happy for him because I thought he was gonna propose to her. And um, he tells her that he's gonna be a priest. And man, she's as shocked as I was, I will tell you that. Um and so this causes a lot of heartbreak for her, of course, and a lot of anger. Um and then he, you know, tells her that there's a reason why God let me live. And and so he begins to apply to to be a priest, and I love the scenes that he sends, he sends a pack, an envelope with cash and an IOU and a note. I don't know, just just his character, right? He doesn't know any better.

SPEAKER_09 58:57

Yeah, on that the the rejection letter that he gets. Uh you you're a pugilist and a criminal.

SPEAKER_08 59:05

Yeah. Why would we let you be a priest? Uh, so what does he do? He marches back in there because he's a fighter, right? He doesn't give up easy, he doesn't stay down. Um, and he really kind of speaks the gospel back to yeah, he really does, right? And and how's how many times I've thought about this because how many times the church does that? It was a really big callback to the church because I think a lot of times I know in churches that I've been a part of, man, you kind of expect people to clean up and to to show up to clean in a certain way before you show up to church, right? We don't want the we don't want the broken.

SPEAKER_09 59:43

No, no, no, no. And you know, in in this moment he's calling the church to confess its sins. Because the church has sins, because the church is run and filled with broken and sinful people, just like you and me, Obi. We need to confess that also. So if the church doesn't celebrate a person's capacity to change, then what does it stand for? You know, and then he asks that great question, really a great question for every guy on the call. So, what's he expecting me to do with his grace, huh? And that that is a question every man on the call should be asking of Jesus this morning. So, what are you expecting me to do with the grace that you've given me? And the the uh Monsignor's response is is he expects you to spread his word and advance his kingdom. As a husband, as a father, at work, in whatever vocational role you're in, at your church, in your neighborhood, in the voter's booth, whatever you're doing, and whatever role you're fulfilling, spread his word and advance his kingdom. That's all to do. Yeah. So great, great set of verses here then. Punching with purpose, because now Stuart's finally gonna punch with purpose in his life. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:54

Um, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to the get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I've preached two others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:23

Yeah, and I love that right right there. You know, you can see in Stuart now fighting with purpose, you know, punching with purpose. He's becoming a very different kind of fighter now. It's not that God's changing him uh in his personality, Obi, to no longer be a fighter. He's now redirecting with greater purpose why he had that fighter inside of him and what he's actually going to fight for now.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:43

Yeah, and you know, so you see um Stewart get accepted um to to uh what is it called the the the seminary seminarian, yeah. And you kind of start seeing this conflict between um him and then the other you see him right here, I I forget his name, Andy. He's stuck he's studying to be a priest with them protagonist, not really a protagonist, you know, but just somebody that really um I thought of the prodigal brother when I thought about him, when I saw when when I saw him, you know, just angry that God would have some mercy and and call somebody such as Stu to take up the the the mantle, right? To take up the call. Uh and and you kind of see kind of a glimpse of that because uh Stu's asking him to play whenever they're playing basketball, you know, he's immersed himself so much into the word that into studying that he's missing really the big picture of what it means to be called to serve. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:48

Um and he tells this, yeah. This one line, no one wants to hear the gospel from the mouth of a gangster. Um, somebody very close to me said this to my mom when they heard that I was gonna go to Sun Mary and give up my former way of life and and uh really you know go after what it means to now share the grace that I've been given with others. Somebody very close to me actually said this to my mom, and my mom actually said these exact words back to them, said maybe he's exactly what they need to hear.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:20

So and I hope yeah, and I hope each and everyone that way, you know. Yeah, and I hope each and every one of us hears um hears that. Maybe that's exactly what they need because God created you with the way you are, with your aptitudes, with your set of skills, the way you look, the way where you live, because that's exactly what the the people around you need. That puts you.

SPEAKER_09 1:03:44

Go back to what you said about Paul a minute ago. Who wants to hear the gospel from a murderer? But God said that's exactly what they need. They need to hear the gospel from the mouth of somebody who persecuted the church. Now, in that radical transformation, we get all these amazing letters from Paul about transformation because it actually took place to somebody that didn't deserve it, shouldn't have gotten uh that gift from God, and certainly shouldn't have been the main one preaching about it.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:13

Yeah. Um, and I love I love the the when he gets the when he gets a chance to address the the the church, right? Uh just the way he begins talking, like a you know, I mean he he's being himself, right? Because God doesn't God doesn't remove you from it the way you are. He re He uses you despite you. And and I just love the let's it's all God's grace. You just gotta let him, he'll do the heavy lifting. Because that's what he, you know, that's that's what he knows, right? Um and and and of course, you know, his the other guy, um, I like to call him Felipe. Uh he went and kind of told him to kind of get him in trouble that he still had feelings for Carmen. And so he went and he goes and tells the monsieur uh, you know, that you know he may have feelings for him. But I like that he when he addresses it, and the last time when he tells him, teaches teaching priests to rat on suffering men, they're getting closer to Judas and Jesus. So I love how he's even how somebody that just commend is teaching him, right?

SPEAKER_09 1:05:21

He's teaching him and with an impact on him for sure. He really does, you know. And this is I I think we shouldn't forget this. This is Paul's own words about himself.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:31

I thank Jesus Christ our Lord who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service, even though I was once a blasphemier and a persecutor, a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst, but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that. In me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus, might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King, eternal, immortal, immortal, invisible, the only God to be the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

SPEAKER_09 1:06:18

I mean, it's just so powerful from Paul exactly what's happening in Stuart's life and in our lives is that Jesus came to save sinners. The chief of sinners is me. So God actually displays his power and glory in Jesus Christ by saving guys like us and then having us turn around and tell other people about the amazing grace that we've received.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:06:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:41

Um, so as we're as we're watching him, you know, kind of go through his journey to be a priest, um, he has an act, he has seems like an accident when he's playing basketball, he kind of keels over, uh, tries to get up, and we, you know, something's wrong, and kind of goes to the doctor and kind of gives him these news that he has this disease um that is going to be degenerative, that's gonna atrophy his muscles until it kills him. And you know, I love that. Well, you could have put some sugar on that um because he gives it to him. I like the doctor says, you don't strike me as someone who needs sugar coating. And he tells him, you know, there is no cure for it. And he's like, hey, dude, you could at least put sugar coat in there. Sugar on that. Um, but you know, you really see the breaking down of a man who had pretended to be tough for so long, yeah, that, you know, really was, I guess, in a way, he was expecting God to um really not walk him through suffering because you know, he you see him come with a real come to face with the reality that he's going to die, and it probably is not going to be a fun way to go. It's gonna be gradual and it's gonna be painful. And and really, I found myself, you know, I want to know why, why here, why now? How many times have all of us been in that situation where we're asking God, how? Why?

SPEAKER_09 1:08:16

Yeah. And he's gonna give a beautiful response to that in our very last line that we'll have in just a few minutes of uh why. He finally figures out why, definitely at the end. But how many of us have been here in this moment where we finally believe we're on track, we're doing what God wants us to do, and then something else dramatic or tragic happens to us, and we're like, why? Why here, why now? I was doing what you wanted me to do. And again, what's the purpose of this? How's it gonna serve your glory? Uh so yeah, yeah, gonna figure that out a little bit more.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:52

You know, I love that as he's talking to his mom. And I think he was talking to his mom, and he says, When God wounds us, he brings us closer to him, which I love that this movie didn't shy away from that, Andy.

SPEAKER_09 1:09:04

Uh, neither does scripture. You know, there's purpose in the pain that God allows us to go through in our lives because it does bring us closer to Christ.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:12

But whatever gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surprise surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ, yes, to know both the power of his resurrection and participating in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

SPEAKER_09 1:09:50

You know, and that both is so important. You know, I want to know the power of his resurrection, stop, period. Right? No, I want to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, so that somehow attaining to the resurrection of the dead. So it's both and it's both the resurrection and the cross. Uh, you know, you you just you can't separate them from one another. And we try, we in our sinfulness and our brokenness, Obi, we're gonna try over and over again to separate the cross and the resurrection and focus only on the glory.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:21

Yeah, and I love this scene where they go to the prison. Um, we call it the priest question mark, right? Uh, because he goes with the um the other priest who kind of has a disdain for him, the prodigal, the prodigal brother's son. Um, and he's trying to communicate with these guys, right? With these with these inmates. And I mean, they they really do give.

SPEAKER_09 1:10:48

It says our mission is to be light and dark places, and the inmate responds, dark. Why? Because we're black, bad, or both.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:57

That's not gonna, it's already not going well for Philippe. It's not, you know, and the stew gets up and he really begins to talk to him at their level, doesn't sugarcoat anything, and gives them the reality of why they're there and why they need Jesus, right?

SPEAKER_09 1:11:13

Why they need him. And why they may need a gangster to actually proclaim the gospel to them, somebody that can actually speak to them about sin and brokenness.

SPEAKER_08 1:11:22

Yeah, and it's it's heartbreaking watching, you know, for me it was heartbreaking watching him uh kind of, you know, this this guy that used to box in and crutches and struggling to get up and even asking the other guy, hey, give me a hand. Um and even more to to see that the church had has told the monsieur to, you know, that he can't be a priest because you know they he's he's he's too broken down. Yeah. Um and leads him to, you know, just a dark place, right? He's depressed and you know, he he goes home, and you know, man, just the scene of him falling down when he's going to the bathroom in his mom's house, really, really heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:07

Um but in the midst of that, the resurrection of his relationship with his father, and now his father learning true love and compassion for his son. Really beautiful. How are we gonna go at this? You know, and he walks in and is picking him up off the bathroom floor. Uh, and you see now Bill being transformed through the grace that's been shown to Stuart. Eh, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:30

Um, his mom uh takes him and dresses him up and takes him to the church where turns out that you know they everybody got, I mean, they protested and they the church didn't want to look good, didn't want to look bad, so he's ordained as a priest, and you know, he actually gets to to fulfill the the calling that God had given him to be a priest. Uh, and I love this line. When no one else gives a um, what do you got to say? God does because he made you. He made you. He ain't giving up on you, never.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:11

No, and you know, and that's the gospel. That that's the good news. God never gives up on us, he's always sending his son Jesus, he's always sending his Holy Spirit to us because of his great love for us.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:22

Because of the Lord's great love, we're not consumed for his compassions, never for his compassions never fail. His mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:37

Yeah, and that's a great description. That brings us to the closing scene right here, and you finally get the purpose of the suffering.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:45

Oh man, you see, he finally gets taken to an assisted, assisted home. Um, and man, people just begin to show, to show up, right? And and he he actually gets to live what he's been called for. Not in the way that we expected, not in the way that I'm sure that he expected. Um, but man, does he uh does he really begin to make an impact? And you see that, you know, when he's talking that his his dad is listening, right? And you see that his father is being transformed by the gospel. And even Felipe, the who goes to confession with him and you know, kind of tells him, you know, I in a way that I've I've admire you because I see that you did what I didn't have the courage to do.

SPEAKER_09 1:14:35

Yeah, and at the end, his dad, na, right, getting getting his life transformed because Stuart has asked him to get baptized. So, but you know, that that that question, why here, why now? Uh, and he this is in his final sermon. He says, to lead you all to find and feel that love is why God is giving me this scenic route to die. What a what a powerful line. Why God is giving me this scenic route to die, so that I can continue to share the love of God with you every day. Wow. Uh, so this is where we get then our leadership bomb for the week. And this is the uh a picture of the actual Father Stu. This is the true Stuart alm.

SPEAKER_08 1:15:17

He said, uh, hear me out. All our outer nature's wasting away, but our inner nature is being renewed every day. This life, no matter how long it lasts, is a momentary affliction to prepare us for eternal glory. We shouldn't have prayed for an easy life, but the strength to endure a difficult one, because the experience of suffering is the fullest expression of God's love. It is a chance to be closer to Christ. Man, and try and sell that on the news. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:20

And boy, does that wrap up his ministry pretty tightly there at the end uh of understanding his suffering for this the purpose of serving others. So, Obi, if you don't mind, say a prayer for us this morning, and then we'll hang on for the guys that want to chat.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:32

Um, Lord, we want to be the men who are thankful um even through suffering, who suffer well for the sake of the gospel, who suffer well knowing that this is temporary, that the battle that we have with our old self will one day cease, and it will be given way to any resurrected body. And that is the hope that we have in Christ Jesus, that because he suffered and because he was crucified, he was raised, and because of that, now we are hopeful and we uh and we uh and we strive towards that every day of our lives. In those moments, Lord, um help us suffer will. Would you do that? We love you, and I'm thankful for each man that's here. Allow us to be transformed by the power of the gospel. In your name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:25

Thanks for joining and listening. We hope that you were truly blessed. Now you can join the live call every Friday morning at 7 a.m. Central Standard Time, and please bring a friend. And to learn more about the MLC, visit our website at the MLC. Have a great day.