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_04 0:16

Well, we're going to continue with our 12 best practices. We are nearing the end of that. Here's our roadmap. Yeah. We made it to 10. We're almost there. The dozen.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Steve McNeese asked me last night, he goes, What are we on? Number 32?

SPEAKER_04 0:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

We are. What are we on? Number 32 of our 12 best practices. Number 10.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

The hero's influence, guys. Um, we've talked a lot about you know our hero's journey, but we talked about generous giving. We talked about what it means to be healthy, what it means to be mentally healthy as well. We talked about whole life wellness. We but you know, we talk about influence. When we're talking about influence, I sent a little thing yesterday about what that is, about how you know it was given to us with a purpose. We were all created with a purpose, each will, each and every one of us. There's a whether you like to admit it or not, whether you think we you do or not, you do have influence in your life. And we're gonna talk about what that means. And you know, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

There's a big deal out there today, you know, in the over the last several years when you're talking about the rise of social media and this and that of influencers, right? So there's a a rise in influencers, but we're gonna talk about this in a little bit different way. What is one of the things, Obi, these the the rise of influencers uh on social media has that's different than what we're gonna be talking about, especially with a guy like Nehemiah? What are some of the what are some of the differences between the influencers that we we have now surrounding us everywhere on social media versus uh in the hero's journey, leveraging your influence like a Nehemiah?

SPEAKER_04 1:56

Well, you know, first of all, one of them they're trying to sell you something most of the time, uh, and then they're trying to get gather clicks for themselves. It's it's an inward, uh, self-centered thing.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah, Jeff Pressler just typed humility. You know, I hyped humility, but uh the influencers of our day are they they're usually self-serving, wanting to get more followers, say how many followers they have, how many clicks they have. Um, you know, so I I I think you just said inward focused, right? They're leverages, they're leveraging influence inwardly for themselves versus maybe a difference is Nehemiah was leveraging influence outward, but for the benefit of others, right?

SPEAKER_04 2:38

Yeah, listen, so why don't I start with Nehemiah uh two, 17 through 18? I know Nehemiah is probably not one of those books that you run to. Um, it definitely is not for me. It's not one of those ones that you just pick up and just read recreationally.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

It is, you know, I I would argue when it especially when it comes to uh faith-based leadership, this is probably one of the key books of the Bible to read. This is this is a guy who is, you're gonna find out, wealthy, powerful. He's in he's in a very high position, and yet he leverages that in a beautiful way during a time where things were not going well. So if you want like conflict management, conflict revel rev resolution, uh how to be a wise leader, you know, and leverage your influence during a difficult time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:27

Yeah. Well, no, yeah, I'm I'm telling you guys, these this is not one of those books that I was taught to, you know, uh, I just didn't have that insight into it. So it's not one of those books that I gravitated to that I didn't know. And now once you start, hopefully, once we start reading this, it's gonna change the way you look at it, and it will become one of those books that you run to and that you read.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Right. And Jeff Jeff Pressler's already getting ahead of us a couple of slides, but we'll get to in just a second, Obi. Also, one of the things that we kind of just skip over is in faith-based leadership, it always begins with prayer. And we get this great example from Nehemiah, Jeff. So, no, don't stop, don't stop.

SPEAKER_04 4:06

No. Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in, Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, Let us start rebuilding. So they began this good work.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yeah, and it's just a just a glimpse of the influence that Nehemiah had on others to gather them together and get them aimed, right, at the same target and put all their efforts together to accomplish things that they none of them thought that they could do on their own. All right, so a bunch of lone wolves. Well, we can't get this wall rebuilt. Well, you have Nehemiah is gonna come in, he's gonna teach them that they're not lone wolves, that that that Yahweh is with them and really influence and gather them together to do great things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:02

All right, here we go. The words of Nehemiah, son, I hey, I just want you guys to know that I practice this, okay? I practice this. So here we go. The words of Nehemiah, son of Hechaliah, in the month of Kislev in the 20th year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

That was awesome, Obi. Great job.

SPEAKER_04 5:48

I knew that I was gonna mess him up if I didn't, you know. Uh so did you guys know? I know you know you you saw those names. Man, names had such a significant thing back in back in those days, you know. It really, it really did make you or break you. So uh a couple of names to to remember. Hechaliah means wait on Yahweh, Nehemiah means Yahweh comforts, and Hananiah means Yahweh is gracious.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

That's pretty some pretty cool stuff. So Nehemiah's dad, Hechaliah, right? Always, always wait onto Yahweh. Don't get started until Yahweh's leading the way, uh, which really, you know, kind of sets the stage for who Nehemiah is. But then look at this: the guy who's gonna leverage his influence for the benefit of others, his name means what? Yahweh comforts. So you can already tell that when we're talking about leveraging your influence on the hero's journey and utilizing Nehemiah as a key example of that, that it is outward flowing for the benefit of other people. Nehemiah's been blessed with great wealth, we're gonna find out, great position. He's a powerful man, but all of that is gonna be utilized in order that Yahweh might comfort others through him. And do we stop and do we think about ourselves that way enough, Obi? Whether it's in our homes with our wives and our children, or in our workplaces or with our friends, that we are, you know, on the hero's journey, but we are men that Yahweh wants to utilize in order that he might comfort others through us. Just stop and think about that for a second.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Yeah, that's a beautiful thing, Andy. I I want my children to one day say that my dad was a man who comforted, um, that they could that they could come to because my dad knew what to do, he knew what to say, and it was always Christ-centered, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:40

What a different way, though, of talking about leveraging influence versus the way that the world talks about it today. The whole purpose, meaning, benefit of us leveraging our influence is that others might be comforted by Yahweh through us. I just I I I said it again. I'm sorry, that's like three times, but it's a huge one.

SPEAKER_04 8:00

Yeah. So Nehemiah just here's the here's you know, here's this. Let me go back here. Um, you know, they're talking about the wall of Jerusalem being broken down and its gates have been burned with fire. And so we continue.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

When I heard these things, I Hey, by the way, Gunner Gunner said I'm known as Heckleriah. By the way, there are gonna be some hecklers, Gunner. Just hold on. Yes, gunner. There's gonna be some hecklers in the story, Gunner. Just wait.

SPEAKER_04 8:25

Man, we man, you guys are on fire today. Uh when I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourn and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said, Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants. The people of Israel, I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses. Remember the instructions you gave your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you for if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen, chosen as my dwelling, as a dwelling for my name. They are your servants and your people whom you redeem by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man. I was away.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

And by the way, I was cupbearer to the king. Yeah. So let me just throw that in. I was uh second in command of all of Babylon, the greatest nation, the most powerful nation at the time. So, what I love about this that Jeff already brought up, Obi, is it, you know, when we're talking about leveraging your influence and being a great, you know, growing in greatness, being a great faith-based leader. Let's look at a couple of key things that Nehemiah has right here, just in chapter one. You've heard it all right there, and how he begins. There's seven things, Obi, that we find in this. And and we've talked about this before, but seven key things that Nehemiah does in order to leverage his influence for the benefit of others that Yahweh might comfort his people through him. Yeah. Right. So these are things that you might reading it, because sometimes when we read the Bible, uh, we just kind of pass over things. We don't really see how important they might be. But look at the first thing on the list, Obi, that a great leader does that wants to leverage his influence. What's the first thing he does?

SPEAKER_04 10:53

Asking good questions.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah. Really powerful. So, and then uh not only doing that, but then he listens actively and compassionately to the story that they're bringing him out of Jerusalem, right? So he asks great questions, what's going on down there? But then he's listening actively and compassionately, uh, so that he's engaging their story instead of just gathering information. We see that then in the third one. What does he do then with their story? They bring him, he's all the way over in Susa, the key, you know, key city in Babylon. They're coming from Jerusalem. Hey, what's going on in Jerusalem? They tell him, and then all of a sudden, what does he do with their story? Because he hasn't been there.

SPEAKER_05 11:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Internalizing the situation. We now it's his story, right? Yep.

SPEAKER_04 11:41

We have fasting.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Listen, even before we get there, why do we do why do we want guys to share their hero's journey with each other here at the MLC? Not just so that we can listen to somebody else's story, but so that we might actually internalize each other's stories and be have it become a part of our story. You know, which is like how our friendship really began Obi years ago. Yeah. You know, is hearing each other's story, and now all of a sudden we're a part of one another's story. So Nehemiah does a phenomenal job that I think we forget in this day and age. Leadership seems to be all about power, uh, celebrityism, you know, getting to speak all the time. But he he first of all he asks good questions, then he listens, and then he says, Oh, your awful situation is now my awful situation, and makes it his own. And then three key things that he does with that. What is it, Obi? Say that again, because I talked over you. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

Weeping, mourning, and fasting.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Wow, when when was the last time? Somebody jump in here. When was the last time that you thought about, wow, I want to be a faith-based leader, I want to leverage my influence. So I'm gonna start with weeping, mourning, and fasting as a leader. But this is what he does. He he actually has an emotional reaction to the situation, a proper one. We talked about that during our whole life, health and wellness with healthy emotions. He has a healthy emotional reaction to what he's heard about Jerusalem. He weeps and then he mourns, which he's grieving, uh, that the walls have been torn down, the the temple's been destroyed because of Israel's sin. And then he fasts in order to prepare himself to pray to Yahweh about it. So he prepares himself. So a proper emotional reaction, true grief and owning of the sin, and then fasting to prepare himself to have a conversation with Yahweh before he talks to anybody else about it, Obi.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

And Andy, you've heard me uh saying how much I desire for that to be my my first reaction, right? Because as a man, you know, God created us with that desire to to protect, to build, to, to, to do things, right? But after when when sin fractured everything, so that kind of went askew. So now all of a sudden, even after walking with the Lord for almost 30 years next year, when stuff hits the fan, what is my first reaction? I'll handle it, I can do it, let's see what all I can do until I run out of choices, and then I'm, you know, then, then and only then I turn to the Lord as if he's some like last resort.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

And that even better than that's even a little bit better than what the world normally does, which is well, this was that guy's fault, or this was that girl's fault, or this is that issue's fault. Because it surely wasn't my fault. Somebody else better do something about it, but not me.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

And I hate that, Andy. I hate that. And so, and so we see what a beautiful example of him. That's the first thing that he does weeping morning fasting, and then he turns to the one who can do something about it in prayer.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

What a great statement. So he prepares himself with fasting, and then he turns to get it shoov, turn 180 degrees in Hebrew. He turns to the one who can do something about it in prayer. So he doesn't think that he he is the one to do anything about it, but he believes that if he turns to Yahweh, who can do something about it, Yahweh will be with him and respond. And that's pretty huge.

SPEAKER_04 15:16

And then during that prayer, he owns up the situation, he owns the situation.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

So I understand the stuff that's going on in Jerusalem isn't just their problem, it's now Nehemiah's problem. Uh yeah. Right? And that's what we want to learn to do with one another is own each other's situations, right? Be in it. Remember, we talked talked a couple weeks ago about compassion splank. And the true meaning of compassion is to suffer alongside of or to suffer with. So Nehemiah, who weeps, he has a proper emotional reaction, he mourns and grieves the sin. He fasts to prepare himself in prayer, and then he prays, but then all of a sudden, he doesn't just sit back and go, Okay, now I've well, I I was upset, I grieved, I prepared, I prayed, now it's on you guys. No, now he's actually gonna act.

SPEAKER_04 16:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:08

So so he reminds God of his promises, and then he assesses his influence and resources.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Nice. So seven big things just to think about as a leader. You guys might want to screenshot this, take a look at it. When you're when you're thinking about what does it mean to be an influential leader in your home, at work, and in the world. Here's seven good ways to start. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

Well, um our big idea or you know, the when we're talking about leadership, next level leadership. Um couple of things that you know that were birthed out of what we just talked about, those seven things. Um, it's discovering your influence and resources, and then connecting your vision and passion to the broken walls around you by leveraging your influence and resources intentionally.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

And we're gonna see that move. Nehemiah is gonna make that move now in chapter two. He's going to actually sit down and think about okay, what is my influence and my resources? How can I leverage those? Because my vision and my passion is to rebuild the walls and the temple in Jerusalem. Right? But that's got to be done intentionally. So he's gonna he's, you know, think about this. When was the last time you sat down with pen and paper? I know that sounds crazy, Obi, pen and paper, right? That that's probably the guys that are wearing hookahas and and you know, sketches uh that sit down with pen and paper today and make a list of the the influence and the resources that you have in your life. I think we would be shocked and surprised, I am, when I write them down at how much God has abundantly blessed us so that we might be a blessing to others. And yet, so many things, just because of our culture and and and the world that we're in today, so many things that we take for granted until we actually see them on paper and we go, Oh, I even I didn't even recognize that as a resource anymore. I just assumed that was a part of you know, something I take for granted every day and don't even think about. Does that make do you ever do that?

SPEAKER_04 18:13

Yeah, it uh especially in those times whenever um my heart you know my heart gets discouraged because there's something that I feel like I should already have. You know, um it's it's it's easy to focus on that stuff and not on the vast amount of things that the Lord has blessed us with.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

It's the compared oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah, no, no. I was just gonna say it's it's the comparative culture that we live in. I mean, we're bombarded by it everywhere about comparing what you have to somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Absolutely. And and forgetting all the unique skills, gifts, talents that God has blessed every man on this call with that are different from one another, that we can utilize in actually serving each other and bringing influence. You know, I'll just a quick example again of last night, Obi, uh, is you know, Dave Hart loves he loves to cook. He wanted to prepare the meal for everyone, right? So that they could have a great time at the happy hour. And look at the influence of just preparing a good meal so that 19, 20 other guys didn't have to do it. You know, Steve and Tim, when it comes to the retreat, Steve and Casey with the barbecue, and Tim and Greg with the breakfast. You know, they utilize these skills and talents, things that they're passionate about and love to do, so that other guys can sit around and talk about Christ-centeredness with each other instead of having to worry about cooking the food. And I forget, I think we forget sometimes what a gift that is to utilize those skills and talents in that way.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

Well, uh Andy, I'll never forget, you know, the first time I met Greg, the very first time he came to the retreat, he just came up to me and saying, My name is Greg. And then Elliot's like, This is my brother. And I was like, Oh, wow, you remind me of Denzel Washington. And he's like, I what can I do to help? And I was like, brother, what what what do you like to do? What can I do? He goes, uh, I was in the food industry, logistics, I can do all of this. Let me let me do all of this. And man, just to watch him, and I was talking to Tim last night, to watch him do what he does best and doing it as if doing it for the Lord, it was a beautiful thing, right? Uh, and he loves doing that. He takes such pride in that, and that's somebody that understands what God has called him to do and recognizes that, and now realizes that it's been done with a purpose, and he's he goes at it.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Well, and yeah, and you bring up Tim and and and I know Tim's on this morning, and and Tim and Marie but believe in in the resources that God has blessed them with, including their home, uh, you know, and hosting so that people can gather together and talk about Christ-centeredness and faith-based leadership. And Tim, do you mind just jumping in real quick and sharing just your thoughts on why you guys believe that your house is a gift from God and that you want to utilize it, open it up in order that people can gather together?

SPEAKER_03 21:06

Yeah, I mean, both Marie and I believe that everything we have is given to us by God for a purpose. And so opening up and using the resources we have so that we can bless others is kind of central to the way we think. And so whether we're doing fundraiser dinners or Christmas parties for MLC or what hosting our kids or grandkids, it's it's you know, it's kind of just what the way we think.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yeah, no, it's awesome. And and Tim knows the appreciation that we have. Obi, last year we had our largest Christmas party ever because uh their home is prepared for that and they're gonna do it again this year. I put Tim on the spot last night. I said, You're gonna host a Christmas party again this year, right? Uh yeah, yeah. But because you recognize these gifts, these resources that you have, and you love utilizing them, leveraging that influence for the benefit of others. That's what I think is key, Tim. Yeah, thanks. Awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

All right. So continuing to read, Nehemiah 2, 1 through 9. In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Now, can we stop there real quick? Why why in the world does he say I and I was the cutbearer to the king? And why is he talking to us about his job of bringing wine to the king? You know, we're talking about he has this huge position, Obi. Why is this position so influential? What was the cupbearer's job? Well, he tasted the wine. For what purpose?

SPEAKER_04 22:38

Just to make sure that he was checking for poison.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Yeah, make sure it wasn't poison, Chad, which probably meant you were the most trusted man under the king because you're tasting his wine. And actually, I think we skip over that a little too quick. That was so you go, oh, he his job was to taste the wine, and if it was poisoned, he died. Yes, but that also meant he was the number two man in charge because he was the most trusted confidant of the king, because he was putting his life on the line every day. And when he did that, Obi, then that gave him not only great position, but also great influence.

SPEAKER_04 23:15

Yep. He had the king's ear, which is a big deal. Um, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before. So the king asked me, Why does your face look so sad when you're not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart. I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, May the king live forever. Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?

SPEAKER_02 23:44

This is again pretty huge. Not only was he cut bearer to the king, second in command, but why were you not supposed to look sad around the king? Well, you weren't supposed to, you weren't supposed to make the king upset. You weren't supposed to make the king sad. And very easily, if you brought the king into a bad disposition of heart when you weren't supposed to do that, what could the king do to you? He could make it so that he's not sad about you anymore. You know, so two huge things. Not only is he tasting the wine, but he's also sad, he can't hide it. Uh, and then the boldness that God gives him through the Holy Spirit that when the king asks, he actually says, Here it is, because he could have been killed for telling him why he was unhappy. So he's putting his life on the line over and over again, trusting in in Yahweh, trusting in the Holy Spirit, that God is with him and God is going to do something about the situation through him.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

Amen.

unknown 24:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:41

Continuing, the king said to me, What is it you want? Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild it. Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, How long will your journey take? And when will you get back? It pleased the king to send me, so I set a time.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

So here's here's a huge aspect. Go back to that one real quick. Remember one, he prays again. So this guy's in constant prayer, like you know, Paul tells us in Romans and Philippians, be constant in prayer. This guy is constantly in prayer over the leadership decisions that he's making, over the ways that he's carrying it out. Uh, and he says, So if it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favorite sight, let him send me to the city of Judah. Here's another thing. Did anyone tell the king what to do? Did anyone give the king ideas of what the king should do without actually making the king think it was his idea, I guess. But here's here's Nehemiah again, being very bold and saying, Here is what I need. And you weren't supposed to do that with the king. So he's filled with the Holy Spirit, he's filled with the boldness that God has given him, he's found favor, and the king responds, right, with this simple question is why that's a big deal with the queen sitting beside him, because the queen is also nodding along to the king, saying, Give this man whatever you want because he's protecting you every day. The queen understands that. But the king simply asks, they they ask together, well, how long will your journey be and when will you be back? So Nehemiah not only leverages his influence to be able to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, but makes a promise to come back. So this is also like serious leveraging of influence and leadership because he's actually putting a plan and a timeline in action. He's not just hoping this will take place, he's intentionally and actively saying, Okay, I gotta go down and get this done, and then I will come back to my position here. Yep. So let's look at a couple of things on that just from the beginning of the the first couple of verses after this next slide.

SPEAKER_04 27:00

I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah, and may I have a letter to Aseph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beans for the gates of the citadel, by the temple, and for the city wall, and for the residence I will occupy. And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my request, and the king also sent army officers and cavalry.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yeah, so the the boldness of by the way, if you could write some letters, I need this, this, and this in order to get this done. So he is he not putting pen to paper and writing down not only his position, but the resources he's intentionally asking. He's going to carry it out. I mean, this is a you know, this is the epitome of influential leadership.

SPEAKER_04 27:53

Well, not only that's in the entrepreneurial spirit, right? Um, risking action, you said that, leverage his influence, setting a deadline, and asking for resources.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

I mean, these are four huge things. I I don't know if guys I'm gonna go up, Tim, since we already called on you, kind of in your leadership role in the business world, what do you think of these four aspects of Mia Maya's leadership? Just in uh an influential leader risking action, leveraging their influence, setting a deadline, and asking for resources. Yeah. Like to get something done, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

Yep. Although I probably probably in my business career would have said, I'm telling people what to do.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Yeah, yeah. Well, he's gonna do that too. We're gonna get to that in a minute. Uh yeah. But you know, I I think we we've come to a point with our culture uh in in this almost normalized victimization that we're like, well, there's nothing I can do about that. Why even sit down and think through it? And here it is. You gotta sit down and think through it, and then you actually have to risk the action and and you know put it into motion, Obi. You know, we yeah, I love your phrase. You like to talk about men of action. Well, here it is. Yeah, so these are pretty big ones.

SPEAKER_04 29:11

Yeah, I want to be a man of action. That's always a prayer, you know, that we um are perpetually transformed by the gospel and put that into action.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Let's know that throw Steve McNeese under the bus real quick here. Steve, what do you think about some of these connections with your role? Uh, especially when you're talking about projects within the programming world in order to get things accomplished for a business.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I mean, you gotta have a plan, or it's just, you know, you just flounder if you don't have goals and deadlines, especially in projects. Development projects are typically, you know, long-running projects and you have to break them up into smaller achievable goals. So, you know, you're progressing along that timeline. If you just hit a development project with no plan, you'll develop for years and never get anything done.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

Yeah. Yeah, but we almost we almost have this uh normalized fly by the seat of our pants now, too, you know. Um and and and a haphazardness. See, when we talk about authentic manhood in the 21st century, Obi, what I'm trying to get at is uh biblically authentic, godly men don't do things by accident or haphazardly.

SPEAKER_04 30:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

You know, and uh Steve, I think that's what you're getting at is boy, it's it it'll just be ongoing forever and ever if it doesn't have an intentionality of a plan and a deadline. Yeah. Great.

SPEAKER_04 30:41

Continuing, Nehemiah uh two, eleven through twenty. This is eleven. I went to Jerusalem and after staying there three days, I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. By night I went out through the valley gate towards the jackal well and the dung gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on towards the fountain gate and the king's pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through. So I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally I turned back and re-entered through the valley gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priest or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me, and they replied, Let us start rebuilding. So they began this good work.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Yeah, you know, uh yeah, Obi, real quick, let before we get to this one. So he hears about what's happened to Jerusalem back in Susa in Babylon. He hears about it, he asks the good questions, he listens actively and compassionately. You know, he goes through those stages of of weeping, mourning, fasting, praying to Yahweh, asking the king, risking the action, but then he goes, right? He actually then goes to Jerusalem and he sees for himself. And this is another aspect of not only great leadership, but leveraging your influence. He goes and sees for himself what's going on. And I think, you know, it's hard for us uh to as we read this, you know, on a Friday morning, uh, to really grasp. I mean, you've got to think about like a speech from a general being given right now after he's gone and inspected everything. And then it comes back at verse 18 or 17 and it says, Then I said to them, now you've got to see now, kind of this is a pretty hyped up speech in verse 17. Look at the trouble we're in, right? And he's giving this really influential talk, but we don't see it that way just because we're getting the basis of the story. But this is now a great leader giving a great speech in front of others. You see the trouble we're in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, its gates have been burned with fire, we're in disgrace, you know, and he rallies the troops. So he hears the story, he goes and sees, he rallies the troops, and their response is now he's influenced that mass of people to say, let's start rebuilding. And and what we forget is they haven't had anybody rally them to that point until now. They've been living there and just been in the whole victimhood mentality of what can we do? Oh, what can we we can't none of us could do anything about this? But then Nehemiah shows up filled with the Holy Spirit, rallies the troops, and says, Let's get to work. And he gathers them together, Obi. And this is the influence then uh that we're talking about leveraging, is when the walls are broken down, the normalized victimhood is rampant throughout the people that they don't believe they can do anything about it. God sends in a leader filled with his Holy Spirit to say, Let's go. And so that's where we're at right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:17

I don't want to just gloss over that he passed by uh the dunk gate, which my mind was what I was wondering why they called it the dunk gate.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Every gate in Jerusalem had a name for a different specific reason. So but but you would think when it comes to leveraging your influence that once you give this great speech and all the people are like, yeah, let's go rebuild, that then everything's gonna be smooth. Oh no, no, no. No, then Gunnar shows up and he brings Heckleriah with him. And there are always going to be the hecklers and the people that want to get in the way of an influential leader wanting to bless others with Yahweh through what they do, and we're gonna see that then firsthand.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

But when Sambalot the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Gishem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. What is this you're doing? They asked, Are you rebelling against the king? I answered them by saying, The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but it's for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

And that scared them so bad that they ran away and they didn't try to impede the rebuilding of the walls or the temple at all. No. Uh that enraged them. And they tried to stop it at every turn. And that's the rest of the story of Nehemiah, then, is is the influential leader having to continue to get the people moving with one another to rebuild the walls and the temple, right? Not only against the these, you know, hecklerias like Sanbalat, Tobiah, and Gesham, but also the people's own sin and brokenness that shows up time and time again. So this isn't like, oh man, what a great call on a Friday morning. We can all be influential leaders and everything will go smoothly. But that is once again, I think, a cultural result of the prosperity gospel that we spew in this country so much that if you have Jesus, if God's on your side, everything's gonna go smoothly and there aren't gonna be any problems along the way. And that's not true.

SPEAKER_04 36:33

Oh, Andy, and I can I can tell you that this this is one of those, one of those stories that was used to talk about the Lord's favor and how if you are that if you know you do everything right, that the Lord's gonna give you favor with the kings, and he's gonna give you all the trees and the storehouses and all of that without really go keep going, without finishing the rest of the story, uh, you know, and you know, talking about all the trials and all the people that try to stand in his way to keep him from doing that.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Yeah, and the and the bigger issue when you when you read through then the rest of Nehemiah is he has people attacking him from the outside, and he has his own people screwing it up from the inside. Does that sound like any of your offices or any of your roles at work? Or like, man, these people out here keep screwing everything up. Oh, wait, my own team keeps screwing this up, you know, and that's the reality of what he's gonna deal with. Yes, he has God's favor, he is an influential leader, he's been blessed with many things in order that he might actually do his job while he's being attacked from the outside, and things are falling apart from the inside.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

Yeah, well, and and and i i would say that that's another one of the one of his key leadership uh abilities, right? The the this resolve that he had.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Yeah, which is another resolve is another word for grit. We just talked about grit a couple of weeks ago, right? So, and Nehemiah has he has the guts, right? He has the resilience, he has the initiative, but he has the tenacity, right? And that's the resolve, the tenacity to continue to be an influential leader to bless people with the comfort of Yahweh, even when being attacked from the outside and the inside.

SPEAKER_04 38:18

Yeah, and we kind of jotted four of these down in this next slide, assessing the situation firsthand. And we saw that him going through actually not just hearing about it, not just, but he actually went down to the wall and and meticulously looked through everything, you know, went around the whole wall, um, um rallying the troops by creating shared ownership.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Now that's that's a huge one, you know, in that just in verse 17 and 18, which we you don't get to see this great speech. Do you not think that when he says, look at the situation we're in, we are in disgrace, the walls have been torn down? Don't you think he took them through the seven steps that he went through back in Susa? Don't you think he took them through? Are you listening? Uh, are you are you uh owning it? Are are you weeping? Are you mourning? Are you fasting? Don't you think he brought them into that so that they could own the situation themselves, confess their sins, and move forward? That's what a great leader does. So a great leader with influence goes through it themselves and then turns around and brings everybody else through it with them. And that's what we skip over when we read the Bible too fast because we want to get through the Bible in a year. Is like when you read now he's rallying the troops, he's taking them all the way back to the beginning of where he was. Here's where we start weeping, mourning, prayer, you know, fasting, praying. And and that's how you now you're gathering the people with that shared ownership of not only wow, this is awful, but you're getting into a share the ownership of, well, we're the reason we're in this state. Oh, wait, we're not victims. Yahweh's with us. There is something we can do about this, and then you get to that great moment of let's rebuild the walls.

SPEAKER_04 40:08

Yeah, because if it stops right there, then it just goes nowhere, right? It's a bunch of people just feeling sorry and um and and just mourning. But he did, he initiated a strategic plan with a clear purpose.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Now we now now in mind, time set. And by the way, you get the one of you know, you get one of the greatest uh sets of verses later in Nehemiah where it talks about, and he had to post men with spears and swords and shields in between every other worker. That's how much was coming against them from Sam Balat and and you know the other Hekalarias was they actually had to post warriors in between the the masons that were rebuilding the wall. Right? So not only a strategic plan, but a clear purpose, a timeline, and then also making sure that people were protected to do the work.

SPEAKER_04 40:58

Yeah, that's confidently responding to opposition.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

Yeah, yeah. Pretty good stuff. So this is uh this is our big wrap-up today, you know, pretty simple, you know, when you think about it, Obi.

SPEAKER_04 41:09

Yeah. Real leaders make a difference in the lives of others by leveraging their influence and resources.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

You know, and I think that's a question that I want to wrap up with today is be prayerful today, man, in your lives before you walk out the door. Uh, whose lives, not just life, but whose lives does God want me to make a difference in today? Because Yahweh wants to be gracious to somebody through me. And that may begin with your wife, that may begin with your children, uh, that may make its way into your workplace, that may make its way into a neighborhood gathering, that may have made its way last, you know, I know it made its way into last night at the happy hour with a bunch of men gathered together. Is God being gracious to other men through the guys that were listening, talking, sharing? Uh, and there's not a guy on this call that has not been given the influential leadership in Christ at the center uh that can't make the difference in somebody's life today. And it can be something small, it can be something huge.

SPEAKER_04 42:11

Yeah, I think a lot of times, I think a lot of times people, you know, especially believers, you know, start thinking that maybe you have to be like the next Billy Graham or something like that, right? Or or you know.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Be the next Dave Hart. Be the next Dave Hart. You just had her in as my, hey, I want to cook for these guys, you know, or or or be the next Scott Ludiman who shows up and gives the biggest hugs. You know, Scott gives the best hugs when he sees you, you know. Uh, whatever it is, show up and be the Dave Foster, you know, who has the wildest questions or the most, you know, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be open, honest, and vulnerable. I don't know this about the Bible. This doesn't embarrass me at all. What do you guys think of that? Be the guy that asks the question that get other men to think and talk with one another, you know, be the CJ Marks that showed up with two friends, you know. That's any of these ways, you know, any of these ways. Every guy on the call, be the JB McDougal that drives three and a half, four hours for something ridiculous. Like, what'd you drive up here for? Well, I got I had to come see you guys. How do you think that made everybody felt that a guy drove four hours from Kingwood up to Dallas just so that he could be with them?

SPEAKER_01 43:24

And for fajitas, too, don't forget.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

And for fajitas, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:27

You know, those were awesome, by the way. They really were.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

They were, you know, or be the TJ Miller that shows up, you know, with his video and creates great videos of of the happy hour and puts them out there so other people can see men gathering. Be the be the Richard Kohler, you know, who shows up at art church and paints a wall for them and uses his artistic ability to bless that worship space.

SPEAKER_04 43:52

Yeah, and I hope it's I hope it's registering with you guys. I hope you're tracking with that, you know. If if you haven't used, if you haven't used that, now is now this is your call to arms. This is this is God reaching out to you and saying, hey, I've given you whatever it is, app talents, it's aptitudes, resources. I mean, maybe you don't have any of that. Maybe you have four-wheelers, you know, and that and that's that's that's what you bring, and you're like, you know, I just want to use this for his glory, you know. Let's let's how can we do this? Everything that we have um has been given to us with that purpose to be men of action. I hope that inspires you this morning. I know it does to me.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

And if you didn't know the MLC even has a comfort dog, I mean, Gunner blesses us by bringing Maggie with him. And, you know, I mean, I'll tell you what, at the retreat, Maggie's a star, but not everybody thought to do that, you know. And Gunner, you bring Maggie, and we all love to sit there and pet Maggie by the fire. And, you know, everybody likes to give her a little too much brisket. But Maggie's a big part of the MLC, and you just never know how you're gonna touch somebody's life. Uh, you know, I do I just think it's huge.

SPEAKER_04 44:58

Yeah, and and hopefully, if you haven't done so, talk to me and Andy. Kind of talk if you haven't gone through your vision, vision, mission, and values, man, reach out to us. We'd love to sit with you. It's one of the hardest things that you'll do, but it's one of the most beautiful things that you will do that'll hopefully will empower you.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

I think one of the best ways you can lever your leverage your influence as a man is share your story with the rest of the guys on a Friday morning call, like CJ just did recently, because that leverages the influence of the radical redemption that God's done in your life, that other men get to hear it and go, wow, okay. Me too, God has done amazing things for me.

SPEAKER_04 45:34

Yeah. Well, I'm gonna wrap it up. And uh, you guys, if if you haven't been here before, we always close out in prayer, and then we have an after party where we kind of talk about um what we just talked about. If you have questions.

SPEAKER_02 45:48

Um Lord, that was beautifully eloquent, OB. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

Thank you so much, guys. Lord, we thank you so much for uh being good to us. We thank you so much for each and every person that's here that's not here by accident. Um, there's a divine purpose that you've given each and every one of us here. You've given us specific sets of skills, aptitudes, talents, resources, all for your glory. And so I just ask you that as we stood here, that my same prayer that you allow us to not just be men who hear your words or who read your words, but men who actually are transformed by the very gospel of Jesus Christ and are then led into action. That we continue uh being influencers in our lives, using whatever resources that you've given us for your glory and for making your kingdom known. Stir our hearts, ignite that fire within us to be able to share our story of redemption, because if you're involved in it, it is a story to be shared. We love you, and it's in the beautiful name of your son Jesus that we pray all of these things.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Amen. 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.