WARRIOR: Slay the Dragon

– All right, dudes, Pastor Mark here, welcoming you to join me for Real Men Wednesday Nights live here, at Trinity Church in Scottsdale or online at legacy.realfaith.com. We’ll try and post it elsewhere, but they’re gonna ban me because I’m in the middle of a special sermon series called Act Like a Man. If you are offended by that, you need to watch it twice because you need a lot of work. In each sermon, I’ll go through the reasons why God made men, why it’s good to be a man, and how to be a man that is a blessing to women and children like Jesus Christ, the God man, who is our perfect example. This is gonna be a fun time. It’s gonna be super theological, super practical, and as always, you’ll get a bit of comedy. So dudes, grab a Bible, grab a notebook, put your belt on, show up, get it together. See you on Wednesday. All right, best night of the week. Best place to be, best guys to be with. Amen. Hey, if you’re new, welcome to Real Men. We’re really glad to have you. And you’re here on a special night. I’m gonna give a talk and I got a special friend, John Lovell. How many of you’re here to celebrate our relationship now with John, hear a little bit from him. Amen! He’s gonna come up later. Thanks for joining us, John. Hey, we’ve been in a little series, Act Like a Man. It was a bit of an experiment, taking a semester, looking at why God made men and why our world so desperately needs men. And it’s been incredible success. Thank you for joining us live, record attendance. Thank you for joining us online, record attendance. Thank you for the pastors that have flown in from around the country trying to see what we’re doing and to start a similar men’s ministry where you are. So today, what I am really excited about, we started this adventure together, and this is our last meeting of the semester, we’ll be back meeting again in January. My wife, Grace and I have got a book called “Real Romance.” It’s all about sex. If you’re married, you’re gonna love it. If you’re single, it’s gonna be a very frustrating semester for you. It’s gonna be a series of things you cannot do. So just take copious notes and weep bitterly. You can do your own private study in Lamentations. All right? So. But why we do this, we build men up to bless women and children. And I wanna thank you on behalf of your wives. And I want thank you on behalf of your children. You are better men than when we started. And God has only begun his great work in and through you. You, as a man, you matter. Your marriage matters. Your children matter. Your job matters, Your company matters. Your grandkids matter. Your legacy matters. Out there, we beat men down. Here, we build men up. And we love you and we’re glad to have you. So my talk today is a warrior talking about slay the dragon. So let me tell you why it is so significant that you and I learn to be men who are both tough and tender. But I wanna really start with strength and masculinity. If you believe the storyline of the Bible, it’s that all of human history is between good and evil, between God and Satan. And everything really fell apart when a dragon showed up and our father did not fight and was not ready for the fight. And I would submit to you that in our nation’s history and in the history of Western culture, men are in a weaker position than ever. I’ll give you some statistics. Testosterone levels have fallen for men 1% every year since 1980. That means we’re like 15 or 20 years from all being Care Bears. That’s where we are headed. In addition, a little bit more, the Journal of Hand Therapy talked about grip strength. How many of you, when you shake a guy’s hand, you’re seeing if you could break him, right? And that you’re just seeing, all right, which one of us is the alpha? And so what they did is they tested, they said that today, sons have weaker grip strength than their fathers. And that men in their twenties have weaker grip strength than their

grandmothers. What that means is if you went back in time and arm wrestled your grandmother, she would whoop you. Okay, so that’s a situation. It’s an overall good test of just general strength. What we’re seeing is literally, the biological, emotional, psychological, spiritual deterioration of masculinity. In addition, how many of you guys served in the military, military vets? Can we thank and honor all who served in the military? Here’s what’s concerning today, 27% of young men who would qualify by age for the military would not pass the physical. 75% of young adults today would not pass the requirements for the military because of psychological, emotional, or physical deficiencies. You watch right now in Ukraine, the Russians invaded, and the Russians, I think are a little surprised that the Ukrainians were up for the fight. And a lot of people are like, which side are you on? They’re both evil people. I’m just making an observation about a good fight. Can you imagine if America was invaded? We would have drag queens, throwing sprinkled cupcakes at invaders, hoping for the right outcome. We’re not in a position of strength. And if you’re offended, you came to the wrong place, all right, so. That being said, in addition, the sperm count for men is down 50% in 40 years. I’m 52, so you just do the math. But in the last 40 years, it’s down 50%. Here’s what I’m telling you, our culture has found a way to literally reduce and diminish masculinity. And unless something changes, there won’t be any men left. In addition, it is a mental weakness of Gen Z, those of you guys who are younger, 20% are seeing a therapist, 39% are in therapy. 42% have a diagnosed medical health issue. 57% are taking medication for some sort of emotional complication. And the big areas are anxiety and depression. And let me just tell you, as an older guy, if you’re in your twenties and you’re tapping out, the future looks bleak. ‘Cause at this point, the hardest thing in your life was this, “Hey, go home, sit on the couch. “We’ll send you money.” If that was your big struggle, you’re doing great. We just live in an increasingly woke world which creates increasingly weak men. And here’s what I’m telling you, that evil doesn’t stop itself, so good men need to stop it. And sin and death don’t stop themselves, so evil men will continue unless God’s men do something different. Now, for those of you men who are younger, this desire for masculinity, this longing for strength, this innate image that you are made in to be like your heavenly Father, it wants conflict, it wants success, it wants effort, it wants struggle. And I’ll tell you what happens in our day, we have lots of counterfeits, everything God creates, Satan counterfeits. Video games, young men, are where boys pretend to be men. It’s not a real battle, it’s a pretend battle. In addition, virtual reality is where boys pretend to be men. And pornography is where boys pretend to be men. so much of the digital world is to appeal to those masculine desires that God made you. To conflict, to conquer, to love, to pleasure. And instead of having to be a man and enter into the world, have the struggle, push through the pain, and then get the prize, we have lots of shortcuts. And what we are seeing is literally, it is diminishing men. So I want to talk about the greatest man in the history of the world. Here we are as men. And the question is, what does a man look like? What should a man look like? What does the perfect man look like? And we are blessed because we know his name. His name is? His name is Jesus. So if you’re new, we love Jesus. We worship Jesus, we follow Jesus. We sing to Jesus. Our allegiance is to Jesus. Our hope is in the resurrection of Jesus. Our eyes are fixed on the second coming of Jesus. And the good news is for us, our God became a man. So now, we know what men are supposed to look like. Good men look like the God man. Jesus is the most significant man in the history of the world. Not just a good man, but the God man. More songs have been sung to him,

more paintings painted regarding him, more lives devoted to him. More books written regarding him than anyone who has lived in the history of the world. No one is in the same category as Jesus Christ. Christianity is the biggest movement of any sort or kind in the history of the world. Billions today claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. In addition, we are here for one reason, and that is that we are men who want to be like Jesus Christ, Amen. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re here. Now, that being said, we even measure time by his life. BC is before Christ, AD, Anno Domini, is the year of our Lord. There’s no one as big as Jesus. There’s no one as significant as Jesus. There’s no one as impactful as Jesus. There’s no one who is as marvelous as Jesus. And even the greatest leaders in world history have echoed this truth. Napoleon said, and I quote, “I know men, and I tell you “that Jesus Christ is no mere man, “between him and every other person in the world, “there is no possible term of comparison.” What Napoleon said is right, there is Jesus, and then everybody else. There is one man and then every other man. This is why Time that has Men of the Year, named Jesus, Man of the millennium. So what I wanna ask is, what is it like to be like Jesus? What is it like for you to become like Jesus? And I’m gonna use just one scripture, and here’s what we’re gonna talk about, Jesus is both a tough lion and a tender lamb. Here it is from Revelation 5: 5 and 6, “Weep no more; behold the lion.” So we’re gonna talk about Jesus Christ. “The lion of the tribe of Judah, “the root of David is conquered.” That’s what lions do, they conquer. “And between the throne and the four living creatures,” these are angels and divine beings that are worshiping Jesus in the unseen realm right now, “Among the elders,” those are human leaders that have died and gone into his presence. “I saw lamb.” There’s Jesus. “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” Here’s the big idea. Jesus is both simultaneously perfectly continually, lion and lamb. Lion, tough, lamb, tender. The God man is both. And a good man must learn to be both. So we’ll start with the tough, the lions, okay? How many of you guys, you’re the lions, you’re those guys, right? You like it when I yell. The lambs, they’re going to the bathroom right now. They can’t help. They’re triggered. They’re like, ah, that’s bad. Okay, how many of you are the lions? You’re those guys. You’re the lions, right? You’re like, ah, conflict, war, right? Gimme a bad guy. It’s gonna be a bad day for him. You’re that guy. So here’s what we call the lion, The king of the? The jungle. What does the lion eat? Whatever. To the lion, the planet is just Costco samples. It just eats whatever it wants. Nothing slows the lion down. The lion is the king of the jungle. And a lion, I read it, they’ll eat buffalo, wild hogs, and even elephants. Nothing can stop a lion. Some of you guys are more lion hearted. You’re built for battle. You’re built for conflict. You’re built for war. You’re tough, you’re resilient, you’re enduring, you’re overcoming. And if you hear gunshots, you’re running at them, right? While everyone else wets themselves, you’re running at them. That’s what you’re doing. Now, let me ask you this. Think in the life of Jesus, when he was on the earth, times that he was a lion. Permission to speak freely.

– [Audience Member] Flipping the tables.

– So he goes to the temple, the religious guys are ripping people off. Jesus, it says he gets angry, he flips over a temple. And then it says that he made a whip. You know you’re really angry, you’re like, “I’m gonna whip you. But first I gotta make a whip.” And so Jesus is a whip maker. And then he goes around whipping religious people, okay? And if you grow up in a

religious home, this is a great idea. So he’s whipping the religious people, okay? He’s angry. He’s lion. Other examples in Jesus’ life where he’s a lion.

– [Audience Member] When he’s crucified.

– When he’s crucified. How much strength does it take, when you could call down an angelic legion of angels to eviscerate your enemies? And instead, you just harness all of your strength, not to do any harm toward anyone, but to bring salvation for anyone. I’m telling you, what Jesus demonstrates on the cross is a meek lion. And that is power under control for the benefit of someone else. Other examples in Jesus’ life where he is a lion.

– [Audience Member] Tempted by Satan.

– When he’s tempted by Satan, Satan shows up for the fight. 40 days fasting, some of you guys, just think about it, somebody’s like, “I’ve fasted for 40 minutes.” 40 days! 40 days, no food. He’s alone in the wilderness. Our first father, Adam, he was kicked into the wilderness because of
sin. Jesus, the last Adam, has this battle with the dragon in the desert, where our father was cast, because he wasn’t up for the battle with the dragon. Our savior shows up to have the battle with the dragon. And it says that he was tempted, that Satan showed him all the kingdoms and all the pleasures of the world and said, “You will receive these if you do one thing, “you just simply bow down and worship me.” And Jesus held his ground as a lion. This was warfare, physical, mental, spiritual, emotional. His depletion is complete because after 40 days, he is exhausted and overwhelmed, and he fights the good fight. And ultimately, in that fight, it was not Jesus, but Satan, who surrendered and departed, he knew that he was defeated. The point is this, as we look at the life of Jesus, you are going to see him in moments of strength, deep, profound courage and masculinity. Some of the words used to regard his emotional life include “indignant, angry, zealous, and passionate.” So let’s just- We’ll get the team set and then we’ll talk. So let me just make it clear. Who are my lions? Who are my lions? Okay, okay. If you’re not sure, I’ve got a little test for you. Your favorite advice is suck it up, get over it and rub some dirt on it, okay? You’re low empathy, you’re a lion. How about this one? The majority of your protein in your diet was killed by you. That’s a lion. If your vegetarian don’t even raise your hand, you probably don’t have the strengths. Just don’t even try. Your Trinity is Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Sylvester Stallone. And you’ve accepted Chuck Norris in your heart. That’s you, right? You’re the lion. Okay. Now, in addition to the lion, we’re gonna talk about the lamb. I would ask you to raise your hand, but it could be seen as an aggressive move, so we won’t do that. So a lamb, you’re tender, you’re kind, you’re loving, you’re compassionate. When Jesus arrived and John the Baptizer saw him on the horizon, he said, “Behold the lamb of God, “who takes away the sins of the world.” So is Jesus a lamb? Yeah. Let me talk a little bit about lambs. So, okay, first of all, do lambs run to or from a fight from? From, they’re pacifists. They’re pacifists, okay? Lambs, do they live indoors or outdoors? Outdoors. So they’re homeless. Do they eat meat or grass? Grass. So they’re vegetarians. Okay, so, they’re hippies, they’re homeless, pacifist, vegetarians. That’s a lamb, okay? And lambs are so soothing, when you have a kid, and you want them to go to sleep at night, you tell them to count…sheep. You don’t tell them to count

lions, unless you’re a horrible father with a traumatized child. Just count blood thirsty lions. And I’m sure you’ll go asleep in 17 years. What we tell kids is just count sheep because there’s nothing more safe and reassuring than the sheep. How many of you, even when you were in Sunday school as a kid, they’re like, “Hey, there’s a lamb. “Take the cotton ball, glue it on. That’s like, Jesus.” So sweet. So let me ask you this, examples in Jesus’ life where he was a tender lamb?

– [Audience Member] When he wept.

– When he wept. Shortest verse in the Bible. His buddy dies, he goes, and it says, “Jesus wept.” Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Shortest verse in the Bible, “He wept.” His buddy died. He was emotional in a healthy way. And let me just tell you guys, you’re not emotionally healthy, if you’re only two emotions are angry and asleep, right? Jesus has this full range of emotions. Do you know what his number one, I think there was 57 scriptures in the New Testament gospels, that mention his emotions, his number one emotion mentioned the most? Compassion. Compassion. That’s a lamb. Jesus’ like, “I’ve been there. “I know what you’re going through. I’m so sorry. “I felt that myself. I know what that’s like. “Hey, let me walk with you. “I’ve been down this road,” compassion. Other scenes in Jesus’ life where he is a lamb?

– [Audience Member] With kids.

– With kids! Children ran to Jesus. They must have found him to be very safe. Must have found to be- He’s a single guy. He’s a dude. He’s a construction worker. He’s got calluses on his hands. He’s walking long miles in desert terrain. He’s sleeping outside. He’s the first season of alone. I mean, he’s a dude. But yeah, when children saw him, they’re like, “That’s the safest person.” And he’s fun. And we wanna be near him because he is great to us. When it says that children ran to Jesus and sat on his lap like Santa at the mall, you can’t get any more lamb Jesus than that. Any other thoughts that come to mind on Jesus’s lamb? People that are sinful come to him and he forgives them and he blesses them. There’s a woman at the well, she’s been through a parade of husbands. She’s got a very bad reputation. Jesus sits down with her. She was at the well in the middle of the day because no one wanted to be with her. The women would come in the morning when it was cool and Jesus met with her. And Jesus comfort her. And Jesus forgave her. And Jesus saved her. And Jesus love her. And he was the first man that ministered to her soul and didn’t take advantage of her body. He was that guy. And so when we think of of Jesus as lamb, his emotions in the Bible include these words, pity, grieved, loved, his heart went out. He was burdened as, and as I said, compassion. My youngest daughter, her favorite Bible story was the raising of Jairus’s daughter. So there’s this little girl dying. Dad loves her, gets Jesus. Jesus heals her. For like a year of my life, every night, I would tuck my daughter in, read the Bible, and I’d say, “Okay, goodnight.” We’d pray and sing. And then she’d say,

“Okay, now read me the story about Jairus’s daughter.” I was like, “You know how it ends.” We’ve read it every night for a year. That little girl, my little girl, seeing Jesus go to the bedside of a little girl and bless her, is something she wanted to hear every night before her eyes closed as she went to sleep. And it comforted her, Jesus as lamb. So who of you are lambs? Okay,

you’re lambs. Just so you know, it’s kind of fun being here. This is it right here. Like, they’re right here. They’re like… Okay, so I got a little test for you, as well. You love driving your minivan. I’m not done yet, but you have no children, okay? That’s the qualifier. There is a fine print exception clause if you have children. How about this one? You watch lifetime movies… by yourself. Okay, now, there is a girlfriend exception, right? You single guys, you gotta… Okay, so, okay, how about this one? When you’re flying, you have to check a bag for toiletries. Okay, that… lot of product, okay? Some guys are really triggered and offended. We know who blow dries their hair. All right, and in addition, number four, right now, you need a hug ’cause I yell a lot and this is frustrating. Okay, so some of you are the lambs. How many of you grew up? How many of your dad was a lamb? Hey, how many of your dad was a lion? Okay, how many of you, you’re a lamb? You can be honest. How many of you, you’re a lion? Here’s what tends to happen when it comes to being a man. We think you need to be a lion or a lamb. Tough or tender. I told you about Jesus. He is lion and lamb, tough and tenderer. If you are only tough, so let me speak momentarily to just the lions. If you’re only an always a lion, you’re only tough, not tender, you’re domineering, you’re overbearing, you’re high control. You’re intimidating, you’re bullying. You may think that works for you, but it doesn’t work for the people that you’re supposed to love and care for. So I’ll ask you this, am I a lion or lamb? Okay, I hope to be both. But I started lion and I had to learn lamb. And one of the things that did it for me was having daughters. How many of you, you’re a lion, and you had a daughter and you’re like, “Oh, I got a lot to learn.” My little girl, one time, I’ll never forget, I didn’t yell at her, I didn’t raise my voice, I just said her name in a way that was a little displeasing. And she threw up. My sons never did that, okay. And I thought to myself, oh my gosh, I’ve got this superpower I didn’t know I had. I have so much authority that her hearing me displeased completely wrecked her. Oh, I gotta dial down the lion. I gotta figure out how to dial up the lamb with this little girl. For those who are only lions, you could be pushy, scary, and angry. And let me say this, you will justify your strength, your toughness, and your courage. ‘Cause you’re like, “Well I defend and protect.” But here’s what’s gonna happen, you may not let bad men hurt your wife or your kids, but who’s gonna hurt your wife and kids? You. You’re their greatest threat for safety and security. Because if you’re tough for them, you’ll protect them. But if you’re tough with them, you will hurt them. Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. And this is what happens. Men who are only tough, here’s what I find, they succeed in the military. They excel at sports, they generate revenue in business, and they can’t figure out why their wife and kids don’t feel close to them. So they win outside of the home and they lose at home. They’re really good in their professional relationships and they’re really bad at their personal relationships. Some of you men, you need to heed this. Now, let me ask this. So I’ll give you one situation. I’ll tell you a story. So I told you I’m a lion. My dad’s more of a lion. I really had to learn lamb. I’ll never forget. What does it look like to only and always, or almost only and always be a lion? I’ll never forget, I was a little boy, I grew up in a bit of a poor, rough neighborhood. And I’ll never forget, I went to- This kid invited me over to his house. So I went to his house and his dad was drunk, passed out, on the couch with a bunch of empty beer cans around. And I was really little and I thought, “This is weird.” But we went outside to play, so he wasn’t around. And then later on, you know, we’re thirsty. So summertime, boys come in, get something to drink. And I walk in and the dad just kind of woke up, is kind of in a stupor. And the boy’s little sister walks by and the dad, you know, was kind of getting off the couch and his hand

just sort of moved near the little girl. And I’ll never forget as the little boy, one of those pregnant moments, the little girl, she recoiled, and she started shaking. As soon as she saw her father’s hand, she was terrified. And I remember as a little boy, just thinking, “Oh my gosh, that father’s hand is the most dangerous place on earth for that little girl.” The sight of his hand traumatized her. And I remember as a little boy thinking, “My daughter’s not gonna be scared when she sees my hand.” So when my youngest daughter was very little, she’s very affectionate, she’s very sweet. And we had this- She probably doesn’t even know what it was about. But when she would be- I always kiss my girls on the head and I’m the affection- I’m the emotional dad. I cry all the time for my daughters. Only my daughters make me cry, but I cry all the time. I’m very emotional with my daughters. And when she was little, I’ll never forget, one day she walked up to me and she took my hand and she rolled it out and she put it on her face. And she smiled at me. She said, “Hi, daddy.” And it started this habit in our relationship. Like I would come home or whatever and she’d be walking toward me and I’d just put my hand out, and she would come across the room and she would lay her head on my hand. And I would kiss her on the head and tell her I loved her. Let me tell you, if you’re only a lion, this is a dangerous place for women and children, right? You need to be a man who’s tough for your family, tender with your family. You gotta defend them from harm and make sure that you’re not the one to harm them. For those of you guys who only, and always lambs, for those of you who are lions, your proclivity, your tendency is going to be you’re going to be too tough. You’re gonna be too tough on your sons, you’re gonna push ’em in sports and work. You’re gonna be too tough on your wife, you’re gonna be too tough on your daughters. You’re gonna be too tough on others and you’re gonna be too tough on yourself. And you’re gonna break some people that God has sent you to build up. For those who are only, or mostly always lambs, you’re too tender, you’re not tough enough. And what happens with men who are lambs, but they’re not lions, I’ll just ask you, do they hurt other people, weaker men, children, women? Do they hurt them? No. But when somebody comes to hurt them, do they stop them? No. So what happens with a man who’s only a lamb, he loves, encourages, is emotionally present, sympathetic and compassionate for women and children. But when the bad lions come, he doesn’t put up a fight. He allows the worst men to date his daughter. He allows the worst men to gut his company. He allows the worst men access to his wife. You men who are only lambs, your tendency is to be too passive, not active, to avoid conflict rather than having necessary and healthy conflict. And what happens to a lamb that doesn’t put up a fight to a lion? They get eaten. And so does the rest of the herd. The lion will just keep eating until they’ve eaten all of the herd. Some years ago I had a meeting with a dad who was a- He was a lamb. Sweet, kind, loving, nice, generous, patient, merciful, big hearted guy. Is that good or bad? It’s good. And he had a daughter. And he really loved his daughter and he was good to his daughter. But then his daughter hit a certain age where boys started to be interested in her. And one of the boys who became most interested in her, he was a lion, but he’s a bad lion. He’s a bad young lion. And he put his sights on her, so he started pursuing her, she rejected him. So he basically started bullying and domineering and threatening and intimidating her. And then eventually got alone with her, and he raped her. Many times. She told her dad, “Dad, I’m really scared of that guy. “I need you to do something.” One time the lion and the lamb met, the lamb father met with the lion, young man. And here’s- The lamb dad was a little scared, He was a little uncomfortable, didn’t like conflict, didn’t really like this kind of

situation. So here’s what he said, “Don’t do that ever again.” Then he walked away. Do you think anything changed? Not with a lion. “Pretty please, stop raping my daughter.” No. So he kept stalking, abusing, raping the daughter. The daughter went to the dad and said, “Dad, he’s still hurting me.” She didn’t share all the details, in his somewhat defense. And he said, “Well, I don’t know what to do. “I told him to stop. I told him.” Never met with him again. Didn’t see or do anything. Years later, this young woman got married and in her marriage, she was really struggling with intimacy because She had been abused and traumatized and it was affecting her marriage with her husband, who really did love her. So she said, “I need to meet with my dad. “And I’m just so frustrated and I’m so angry “that he didn’t fight for me, that he didn’t defend me, “that he didn’t protect me.” She said, “I know he loved me and I know he cared about me “and I know he worried about me, “but he didn’t fight for me.” He was only a lamb, never a lion. So we met and she was just weeping bitterly and she’s telling her dad exactly what happened in pretty horrifying detail. She’s a lamb, dad’s a lamb. Dad didn’t deal with the lion, lion attacked the lamb. So… He looked at me, and I’ll never forget the look on his face, He’s like… He’s like, “I don’t know why she’s angry with me.” Here’s the quote, here’s the quote, you ready for it? “I don’t know why she’s angry with me. “I didn’t do anything.” And I said, “That’s the problem!” Men, if you believe that Satan is real, if you believe that demons are real, if you believe that evil is real, if you believe that there are bad evil, damnable, demonic men who wanna do the most despicable and horrendous things to weak men, women and children, you’ve gotta have some fight in you. You don’t have to be angry, you don’t have to be mean spirited. You don’t need to be a bully, and you don’t need to be thuggish, you just need to get in the way. Because evil doesn’t stop itself. It has to be stopped. And evil doers won’t stop themselves. They need to be stopped. I get accused a lot of being an angry guy. I’ll be honest with you, I’m not at all, but I’m very passionate. Something in me is a defender and a protector. And when I see harm coming to women and children, it profoundly bothers me. Because I know in the world we live in, it is not a safe place for a lamb, be a male or female. It is not a safe place for a woman, it is not a safe place for a daughter. it is not a safe place for a child. And we are now officially at a point, as a culture, that gentlemen, we are the last line of defense. We have gutted the power of the police. We have rebelled against the authority of law We have decided that evil is now legal. And all we have is just a parade of victims and constant trauma and pain. So I’ll close with this. I want you to be a lion for your family with women and children. I want you to be a lamb for your family with women and children. It’s not lion or lamb. This is where we really do need each other. And this is why this male fraternity is so important. The lions, guess who you need to hang out with? The lambs. Okay, the lambs. And say, “Hey, your wife smiles. How do you do that? “Your kids hug you, tell me the magic.” Okay, for those of you guys who are lambs, you need to hang out with a? The lions. You’re like, okay, “How do I have the hard conversation? “How do I hold my ground? “How do I push back? How do I say no?” Like, “How do I defend my family, my business, my ministry?” So I want to close with this. Gentlemen, I hate to tell you this, education wants to androgynize you. Media wants to deceive you. Culture literally wants to castrate you, starting as a boy. Advertising wants to addict you. Government wants to tax you. Feminists want to neutralize you. Woke Christians want to soften you. And God is a father who wants to make you like his son, Jesus Christ. Tough as a lion, tender is a lamb. Amen. Why don’t we do a testimony now, I’ll bring up a friend of mine. John Lovell can come on up and we’ll do a little bit

of an interview, you guys okay with that? Yep. Good to see you brother. Love you man, thanks for joining us. Thanks James. You bet buddy. Sit over there. Thanks James. You guys thank James for me. Thanks James. So good to have you. Thanks for joining us. We’ve got some mutual friends. So tell me, I mean, I use lion and lamb, you use warrior and poet. Explain those two and tell a little bit about what you’re doing and kind of how it emanates from those two big ideas.

– Sure, ordinarily I have, you know, my pitch of like, “Hey, this is what Warrior Poet Society is,” but you literally just kind of did it. So I get to be like, you know that thing, the thing you just did. I’m like, that’s it, that’s it. I was a dude getting outta the military. I was on a personal journey and-

– What service? What branch? What’d you do?

– Second Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger regiment. That’s special operations. That’s what I was doing. And went off to war, you know, a good bit of times. And recognized of like on my own personal trajectory as a Christian, I was passionate, was on fire for the Lord. I wanted to not just be good at war, I wanted to actually be good at life. And I noticed a lot of my buddies who were very good and talented at, you know, hunting men, couldn’t hold their marriages together. It is ridiculous the amount of marriages that fail for the special operations guy, to be success-

– Why do you think that is?

– Well I think that because they’re lions and not lambs. And we’re given this false dichotomy as men, that you can be a lover or a?

– Fighter.
– That’s right. You pick, but which one? And I don’t, I don’t like the false dilemma. It’s both. – Yeah, I don’t wanna fight with my wife or make love to some dude. I wanna get- Yeah.
– Yeah, you took that completely wrong.
– Oh, okay.

– Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, this false dichotomy is just terrible because I believe you need to be a fighter and a lover. And if you’re one or the other, you are deficient in both. Because real love protects, right?

– Well, yeah, so like Jesus, I mean, if you’re in heaven, he’s lamb. If you’re in hell, he’s lion. And hell is how he protects the flock.

– Right.

– I mean, this is Christianity 101. At some point the people who are in danger need to be protected from the people who endanger them.

– Right. So Warrior Poet Society grew outta my own personal journey, as this text that you pulled from Revelation 5 was-

– That’s your verse? – That’s the verse.

– So I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know that. I’ve never seen you, I’ve not been online, I don’t know anything. I like you. We had dinner with you and your wife. She’s amazing. You’re a great man. I really like you. I didn’t Google you ’cause I know that they lie about people on the internet and I just wanted to meet you.

– Yes. The internet does in fact, hate me. They really, really hate me because I just say- – Oh, come on.

– Yeah. But they hate you more. They hate him more. Which meant I wanna meet him. I wanna meet him. If the internet really despises him, he’s probably got some really, really good stuff that he’s going on. Because, “Woe to you and all men speak well of you, for so they did to the false prophets.” But Warrior Poets Society, it grew out of my own personal journey. I wanted to be a lion and a lamb. I wanted to do marriage.

– Which one did you start out most naturally?

– Lion. Absolutely. And so your journey has been very much my journey, of like, I remember, I was dating a girl, this was after the military, maybe I was still in. But I was dating her and she was pouring out her heart and she was telling me this thing and I remembered, listen, just listen. Don’t fix ’em, just listen. I’m like, guys, I had the inside track, I knew that already. So I listened. I just listened. Like a good guy right there. And you know, I had also came across this piece of advice, “It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.” And so, I mean, I just came out just pure sugar, you know, I’m going full lamb here. And so I was, I was like, “Baby, that’s so bad. “I just- you know, you just gotta kind of suck it up.” That’s a quote. That’s a quote. It’s a quote. And she was all upset, despairing, despondent. And the line just kind of went dead for a moment.

– That’s a form of birth control right there. – Yeah.
– That is brother.

– We were on that pill. So yeah, absolutely. But I mean she’s in- Yeah just totally dead, And she’s like, “Suck it up? Suck it up?” And then she was a lamb,

– She went lion.

– She went lion, she became a lion. I became a lamb, I was sorry, I didn’t even know why. But I ended up apologizing, I realized, man, I suck at the lamb thing. And so I’ve been growing in that way. And sons did a lot for me as well. And my wife, we had a very tough first two years of marriage and I had to learn how to be a better man.

– Did you get married when you were in the military, before or after? – After. After the military. And so.
– Your wife is great.
– Yes, thank you.

– I mean she is really great. So would you say she’s more lion or lamb? – Lion.
– Oh man, we’re praying for you, brother.

– Yeah. It was a tough first couple years. Because she domineered kind of every dude in this hyper feministic society. It’s just caught up in the air, it’s in the water. People don’t even realize how feministic we are. But she was a man eater and she’ll admit that. She’ll absolutely admit it. She’ll just emotionally kind tax and outlast dudes and you know, she’d just kind of dominate. And that didn’t really go well for us.

– Yeah.

– And I was- I mean I was just a bull in a China shop my first couple years in marriage. I thought I was killing it, I thought I was being sensitive and I was not. I was a punk. And the Lord really had to do a great work in me to teach me how to actually stay married. ‘Cause it’s again, it’s not about just defending ’em from ninjas in the bushes, you gotta actually make ’em smile a little bit, you gotta take ’em dancing.

– Mix it up
– They wanna snuggle, and take a nap.

– Yeah, we’ll do the snuggle thing and guess what, It’s actually quite nice to be a lamb, you know, with the missus, that’s pretty cool stuff.

– So if you didn’t learn these lessons, how long have you guys been married? – 16 years.
– So do you think, honestly, you’d be married today?
– Not a chance. Absolutely not. Not a- Not a chance.

– That was pretty definitive.

– That’s because there’s not a chance… Those were tough two years. They were really tough two years, then it got better. Year three, we’re kinda like, “Hey, we figured some stuff out.” The Lord made us better people. It wasn’t relationship problems, it was individual problems, that we brought into a relationship, right. And so, the love was hot, passion, all that stuff. But we sucked too much as individual people. And we had to grow to actually be able to figure out marriage.

– Yeah, suck plus suck doesn’t equal awesome.

– Nope, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. So year four, figured out better, and then year five we’re like, “We got it!” And then we had kids and we’re like, “Oh, we suck again.” And so we had to become- We had to find a new level of selflessness that would make relationship work. And so we had to keep growing to be more selfless and accommodating and loving.

– So as an alpha, who’s got a lot of guns, how do you grow in being a lamb for and with your wife? Very practical.

– You mentioned guns and I just wanted to pause on that because I just, can we have a slow clap for guns? I really like guns for guns. Yay for guns. Get a bunch. Never give ’em up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so when you said guns, I totally didn’t hear your question. What was it?

– No, it’s… It’s good.

– True story.

– So practical things a lion needs to learn or do to grow in being a lamb with his wife? You said, “We figured it out.” What were the things that you had to figure out, practically, to connect with your girl?

– Ah, such a good question. So, I would say date regularly.

– Like a weekly date?

– Yeah, weekly date. That’s a really, really big deal. I spend more time listening. I’m a fixer, and so if you give me a problem, I’m going to- My default setting is I will fix that problem, logically, you know, if like, I’m gonna tackle this and they didn’t want that

– Most women don’t like being considered problems.

– It’s not that, I’m like shoulder to shoulder, baby, you and me, gonna solve this problem. I’ve got a chart and the chart is good. Follow these instructions. But she really just wants me to feel that, of like she’s communicating the whole time what she needs from me. She wants me to be emotionally available, she wants me to be sensitive to her problem. She wants me to really see her soul and to show her mine, as well. Just completely vulnerable before, and that’s extremely difficult.

– Oneness.

– Absolutely. Oneness. And so she wants to know my deepest secrets. She wants to know my deepest hurts. And she wants me to share that with her no matter how weak it makes me feel, because it does feel weak to me, as a lion, to share my weaknesses. I’m like, “No, you hide that in nature or you get dead.” And so I’m like, “Oh, that was very, very uncomfortable.” But if you don’t share those weaknesses, eventually, she’s gonna keep bumping into just this emotional wall, a rift, that will grow as a chasm between you, and you’re gonna lose her. You can’t afford not to. And it’s not- It is a lie from the pit of hell that sharing your weaknesses, or I mean, hiding your weaknesses is strength. It’s not, it’s absolute pure weakness.

– Don’t you think most wives know where we’re screwed up anyways?

– Yeah, but still, they can’t really unpack it as well of like… Yeah, they know where we are, but just our general hurts and what we’re thinking and what upsets us. They can do guesswork and some of ’em are extremely discerning, but we still gotta have the- We gotta talk it out.

– So do you divulge those kinds of things you divulge to your wife, to other people? I.e., guys in your life?

– Some stuff, but I mean, there is a level of access and emotional availability that my wife gets and no one else on the planet ever will and can’t have.

– So does that make your marriage your deepest friendship and relationship?

– Oh, without question. Now you’re just the, like this softball down the middle of like, “So John… “Isn’t this true that you know is totally true, “that everyone else knows it’s true?” “Yeah, of course. Absolutely.” It’s the deepest friendship ever. It’s a covenant. You know, and it’s gone to

such a depth where sometimes I look at her, if I love you, I am you, you know? And I realize we’re still separate, separate humans, as well, but we have that emotional connect and vulnerability.

– So then add sons. So being a lion, then God gives you sons. And you didn’t get daughters, I’m just telling you, that’s varsity. So sons are great, but daughters are varsity for learning how to be a lamb. Explain the difference that being a dad makes as a lion. Learning to be a lamb with your sons. Because usually too, and we have kids, even if it’s boys, girls, they have different personalities, and the way you parent ’em is just a little different.

– Right. And so, the lion stuff’s easy, as soon as they hit like three years old, it’s like game on for daddy time. And all you have to do is you pick up the kid and you body slam ’em on the couch. And immediately of like, “Best dad in the world!” And you just keep body slamming ’em, I guess, until they’re out of the house. And then when they come home, you body slam ’em. It’s like we never really outgrow that. They just wrestle.

– Dude, this is on the internet. CPS is right now, filling out a form.

– I just don’t care. I just stopped caring. I’m censored on YouTube. We have a big following and stuff and now we’re censored and nobody really sees our stuff and on big- They hate us. And I just, I’m so sick of being bullied and boxed in and you can’t say that. And I’m like, “I’m gonna say whatever I want now.” And so-

– Okay, so. So, you know, body slam your son. Anything else?

– Nope, just body slam. That’s all the wisdom that I have, body slam ’em, They’ll be great fighters and they’ll have hardcore therapy costs later on. No, one of the biggest thing is, is I’m emotionally available for my kids. And so I want to be able to have bible discussions with ’em, which we have. I’m affectionate, we hug, I kiss and-

– And how old are your boys? – Eight and ten.
– Eight and ten.

– And then reading time is sacred. So every single night we’re getting together as a family and it’s daddy reading time. And I’ll do the voices of all the different characters and whatever kind of book series we’re going through. My wife’s on sound effects duty and guys read to your kids. It’ll make ’em fall in love with reading. And also just the arts in general, which helps develop that poet side. When they see you really loving reading and getting into the characters and stuff. It shows something, something precious is happening. And don’t wimp out and not do the voices. You gotta do the voices. Best thing ever is to just read to my sons every single night.

– Do it.
– No.
– Come on, man.
– You know, my kids… No, it’s about emotional availability with my kids.
– All right, we just found your emotional line and we weren’t allowed to cross it. – Roar.

– Yeah. So then talk about also the physical protection too and the need for a man to be aware of environments, surroundings, safety for wife, women, children. I’ve heard you have thoughts on this.

– Yeah, so we’re the security guys, we’re the sacred protectors, you know, that’s kind of warrior, poet, and there’s a physical aspect to ’em. My kids knew I carried a gun from the time they’re three. They’ll run up and they’ll hug my waist and then their forehead will hit my gun I carry in the appendix position. So it’s like wack, “Ah!” And so my sons hugged me a little different. They kind of come at me from the side and it’s like, “Daddy carries guns.” They were shocked to find out that not all daddies carried guns. I carry gun everywhere I go. And so that’s-

– What kind of gun do you usually carry?
– A good one. A good gun. I can’t-
– So not a Nerf gun?
– No, not a- No, a real gun. Like a, a stack bodies, killing kind of gun, you know? – Okay. So yeah.

– Okay.
-Agun.
– Okay.
– That’s the lamest question I’ve ever been asked. – What kind of gun?

– A Nerf gun.
– Yeah. Well I’m just-

– He was a lamb all along, guys. He was always- He was a lamb this whole time, roaring like a lion. Nerf guns.

– I will make you peer out your sphincter, you keep going. I feel like we have two alphas, two lions, do we?

– You’re never inviting me back.
– No, I would have you back. You make me look good and reasonable and I appreciate that.

– It’s just, he’s mean. All this bullying. I’m gonna get my minivan and I’m just gonna drive home. I’m gonna hit a vegetable stand.

– Hit Elton John, cry it out. What would you like to talk about? Because apparently what I want to talk about doesn’t really matter. What would you like to talk about?

– How do you make a warrior? Okay, we had talked about that earlier. I thought it was really, really fun.

– Sure, let’s go with that.

– So I was kind of prepared for that, but actually, I had a great time talking about a lot of other stuff. I just, of like, I like you a lot. And I’m like, man, in that friend zone, I gotta mess with him ’cause that’s what I do with friends and I thought I’d be good, and then I wasn’t.

– No, we’re great.

– All right. So we had talked about this earlier of like, how do you make someone into a warrior? Since we’re vacillating a little bit too much as a culture toward weak masculinity, you know, testosterone points plummeting off a cliff.

– Do you think woke culture is just producing weak men? – Absolutely, without question.
– Do you think it’s intentional?
– Absolutely.

– What do you think is primarily contributing to just the degradation of men?

– Oh, it’s a whole host of things, but I don’t think the world- I think tyrants would love to be able to control a populace and you can’t possibly do that when they’re strong men safeguarding it. So the answer is, is to make all men weak. And if you make them weak in a feat, you won’t have to worry about staving off reformation or revolution. Particularly, if you take away the thinking tools because it’s state sponsored education. And so you’re brainwashing them and making them pathetically weak. And so they make easy little cogs in the wheel, which you control.

– And hypothetically, you create some medical emergency that suspends all civil rights and force them to go home and be filled with fear, and maybe even medically alter their body, according to what you think might be best, hypothetically.

– Well, gee whiz, these hypotheticals of like, nowhere have we seen anything like this happen, like recently, up to the exact moment we’re speaking right now. Yeah. People are afraid and when they’re afraid they’re like, “Take care of me.” And so we’ll give up all kinds of liberties and freedoms and it looks like we threw our masculinity on the table when we did that as well. And so yeah, we’ve gotta gain that back. What we need is to beat that ancient war drum and become more warriors again. We need to find our power and we need to get our strength back. And so I wanted to take a little bit of a moment to talk about just how do you make a warrior? In the military, when you’re making a warrior, the very first thing you need to do is break someone. Step one, break them. And that’s mentally, that’s physically, but literally crush them. In that process, you’re taking the person that they used to be and you’re making something different. I need the whole man to become a warrior because the whole man engages in war. It’s mind, body, heart, soul, all of it. And if you have any bit of that that’s not converted to be a warrior,

then that is a weak link in the chain, which under stress, duress, fear, combat, it’ll snap.

– Yeah. And so the whole man must be remade and get a new identity as a warrior. So step one, you hurt him, you break ’em.

– But our whole culture right now is to make sure that men don’t have to do anything hard. – Yeah. And it’s- We can’t survive that.
– No, ’cause character can’t be forged apart from trial and pain and hardship and adversity. – Correct.

– So the more we try to prevent, especially young men, from doing hard things, the less manly they will be.

– Yeah, you gotta let your kids suffer. Yeah. If you wanna raise ’em men, you have to show them

the suffering. And yeah, you gotta walk them through that. And so when they’re suffering, get down and suffer with them. Do hard things with your sons and bring them through a rite of passage. Initiate them into a gritty and tough masculinity so that they’re able to stand in front of a world that would like to strip them of their dignity and their strength, to be able to force them to believe lies, and that they would have such spineless constitutions that they would allow it to happen to themselves. And that’s your fault and my fault, dad, because we are supposed to make our sons and our daughters strong in the face of a world that wants to destroy you.

– Any other thoughts? So you break a guy down, how do you build him back up?

– Well you give him a new identity as a warrior, then you bring him up into a team environment, as well. So-

– Fraternity, collegiality.

– Correct. And then you give ’em all some skills.

– And this is exactly what you do in the military?

– Yeah. That’s the way to do it. It’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing in the church, but it’s not happening in most places.

– Right, and I think about even when I was converted to Christianity, what did the Lord do? He broke me, crushed me. I was unmade the day I met Jesus. It was awful, the worst time I have ever been through. And it was glorious and horrible.

– And you were deployed, right? – I was about to be deployed.
– About to be deployed.

– So I was actually not doing any hard stuff at that time. I had not yet even started trying to go for Ranger Battalion when everyone else’s easiest time in the military, that was my toughest time, because the Lord was sealed. But he broke me. Then he gave me a new identity as a Christian. And then he brought me into his team, the church and the Christian brotherhood. And then he gave me a bunch of skills. I learned some Bible stuff and I’m getting better at it. You know, that’s pretty cool.

– So how important is it? Let’s get to that. And I appreciate that, we’re both Bible guys. – Yeah.

– Can you get rebuilt as a man who’s not in the word?
– Not as a good and strong one. I mean, so it depends on what is your measure of a man? – Jesus.
– Well then no, then no.

– Yeah. So what does Bible study look for you? What does that look like for you? Just personally, just just as an example, your time and the word, your relationship with the word of God.

– When I first got saved, I really didn’t know anything. I was just in the military. I was deploying back and forth to Afghanistan or Iraq and I just didn’t know stuff. And I was supposed to be this different guy and I was, literally, light switch went off in my soul, and I was a different guy. But I found a bible at a local chapel and I just read it. Started in Genesis and I went to the whole way through. And when I was done, I’m kinda like, “Oh, okay.” And then I just did it again and I did it again, while I was kicking doors in the desert. I come back and I read my Bible. Like, no one showed me how, I just read it. But now I’m going through the Bible. I’ll do a little bit in the Old Testament and then a little bit in the New Testament. And when I really don’t feel like reading at all, I’ll hang out in Psalms and proverbs to check a block. And that’s not very holy. But some days I’m not very awesome and holy. So you’re judging me, aren’t you? You’re judging me just like this guy, come on. I thought this was a safe space in the tree? No?

– It’s great. What else do you wanna talk about? – [Audience Member] Guns.
– All right.

– Guns are great. Like that’s part of the thing, we’re supposed to be protectors. The world is a dangerous place. And a lot of the folks that follow us in The War Poet Society, they’re gun guys. And that’s because they’re sacred protectors.

– What would you say to the Christian pacifist?

– Don’t be a pacifist. These are deep thoughts. Did somebody need a pen? Someone’s gonna write that down. Don’t do that. Don’t do that, it’s extremely difficult for me to justify a pacifistic perspective. Now, I think sometimes the Holy Spirit may lead you into protecting, you know, someone, and using violent encounter. And sometimes maybe he’s leading you to go the missionary route. You know, I think about Jim Elliot, for instance, a great missionary to the Native Americans, and he was a pacifist. Or at least as far as I could tell.

– Yeah, I mean, he’s a good man, but he did get whacked.

– He did get whacked. But I know his name and that tribe got saved. And so the Lord obviously did something great through the pacifist. But I also know that if somebody is getting raped and I don’t do stuff, something about it, when I could have, that’s evil. And so, the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good guy with a gun. That that’s what I do. And I’m built that way as a protector. And so I don’t carry a gun because I think somebody’s gonna pick a fight with me. You know, I got the pointy beard, you know, people don’t wanna play with that right now. They’re like, “I dunno, the pointy beard and tattoos, “I don’t wanna do that.” They’re gonna go after someone else. I carry a gun every day because what if something went down on my watch, and I could have done something about it and didn’t? I’ll never recover from that. And so I carry a gun because I love everyone else and I wanna protect ’em.

– So it’s not just for you, the primary thing is to care for others?

– I don’t wanna carry a gun, oftentimes. It can be uncomfortable and there’s inconveniences that go with it. I do it because I love people. I’m a protector. That’s what I’m built to do, you know?

– So for the guys who don’t think as a protector, when you walk into a physical space, you’re home, into a restaurant, out shopping with your family, what is going on in your brain that probably isn’t going on in the mind of a lamb?

– Yes, I’m sizing everyone up, for sure. I’m looking for, you know, threat indicators for bad guys. And so they carry themselves a certain way that is highly predictable. And so you can kind of count those guys. I notice immediately, I can find the good protectors and the bad protectors. It’s every, you know, how they even take a room. The good guy, both are scanning, good guys and bad guys always scan. Everyone else is kind of in their technology or just you can tell when somebody is alert to a room and reading a room of like, I can find the wolves and the dogs. You know, you can find both, the good guys and the bad guys. Just because it, it’s not as fun for me to just dangle that out, I’ll give you one small threat indicator. There’s tons of threat indicators to feel like, all right, who’s a bad guy? And is something about to go down? Is this about to be a bad spot? Bad guys scan differently. Typically, they’ll duck heads. They look and they’ll shift eyes to scan, but their heads won’t move because they don’t wanna be caught. Whereas, a good guy head up meets eye line and oftentimes, when you meet him, you do the good guy, you know, nod. You’re like, “Yo, bro.” And that means of like, “Hey, somethin’ goes sideways here, “it’s me and you brother.” Interlocking sectors of fire point of domination, point of domination, we’ll stack bad guy bodies. You know, we’re gonna get it done, you and me. And so I meet ’em like that. I gotta see, like this whole room is full of ’em. Let’s do the nod, guys, right here. Yo, we got this. We got it.

– Anything else you want to talk about? ‘Cause I tried to run this conversation. It was very complicated.

– I feel like this is such gas lighting. I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know if that’s true. Maybe they have something?

– So, okay, so last one, the poet. Explain that portion, reading, literature, creativity, not just stacking bodies, zombie apocalypse, but what are you reading right now?

– Les Miserables. Absolutely. Victor Hugo. Amazing. I was just reading it by a fire. I had a coffee in my hand and I was just so grateful to God that I was there with my, my bride who is reading, you know, I’ve got no major ailments and life is good and I’m joyful, and everything’s going really well. And I was just praising the Lord while reading Victor Hugo’s, Les Miserables. It’s the musical. I absolutely love musicals. That’s a true story. I do, I do. But one of my favorite movies of all time now, is Les Miserables, the Musical, with Russell Crow and Hugh Jackman. Absolutely incredible, powerful. My wife and I watched that three weekends in a row when it came out, and ugly cried all the way through it. And so of like, but I’m deeper waters. I do write poetry. I just don’t often offer it to everyone else. I want to understand truth. And I’m on that search for beauty and appreciating the world that God has knit together, where every blade of grass sings his praises. And that is awesome. And that’s what the warrior doesn’t see any of it. You know, and if you’re- The warrior understands how to defend freedom, but they don’t know how to enjoy it. And it’s the duty of a free man to not just safeguard freedom, but to actually enjoy it. And so there’s some poet stuff.

– That was good. That was really good. So what about for those guys who feel like certain things they don’t think are masculine because they’re creative, they’re arty, they’re emotional. It seems like the entire creative space has been dominated by the center left, which has a complete lack of masculinity. So for most guys that are healthy males or like anything that looks creative already or emotional, that’s for the women and the dudes who are trying to become them.

– Which is completely backwards. If you just do the smallest cursory survey of history, the great artistic buildings and sculptures and song, it’s men who built these ancient societies. And a lot of what we know about them, we know them from their art. And so no, it is ever so much a masculine endeavor to engage in all of the arts. And guys, if you’re not figuring out why in the world the arts are so powerful, man, there’s a certain part of you that is asleep and needs to wake up. There’s passion, you know… There’s passion inside, and there’s majesty above, and there is beauty all around. And you need to wake up because… Yeah, the stars and skies are declaring the glory of God. That’s part of our job of like, how in the world are you ever gonna become like Jesus if you don’t learn how to worship? I noticed King David, the Bible’s most dangerous warrior, was also its most famous worshiper.

– And a poet.
– And a poet, absolutely. And so yeah, do that stuff. That’s great.
– That’s great. Anything in your heart in closing, just so you’d like to say, share, to guys in the

room, online? Just anything that is in your heart.

– Yeah, I just love that you guys are on this journey. I’m just so proud to be a brother and to be on this journey with you. And man, I’m gonna go home tonight and I’m gonna count my blessings, that I got to spend tonight, here with you. And I’m gonna pray for you, for all of you lions, that desperately need to stop roaring and learn something from lambs, and that’ll save your life. And it’ll save your marriage and it’ll save your kids. And joy is there. And I’m gonna pray for you lambs, that you grow a spine and stand for something. Your pacifism or your passivity is a shameful sin. It is not okay. We should be boldly declaring a gospel. We should be standing for truth. Don’t let anyone muzzle you or silence you or bully you ever again. And I’m gonna be praying those prayers, for you gentlemen tonight.

– Amen. I don’t mean this in any patronizing way, I really love you. I like you, I think you’re a good man. I didn’t know you until yesterday. You’ve got a great wife. She’s happy, she’s secure, she’s flourishing. At some point, I’d love to meet your kids. I mean, I’ll body slam ’em if need be. And we appreciate you. We are praying for you. And you’ve got a new friend and a bunch of new friends in Arizona. And if you ever want to come back, you would always be welcome in Arizona. We’re your brothers and we love you very much. So thank you for your time, my friend.

– Thank you. I count on it. Yeah. Why you do this? Why don’t you pray for ’em. – I’d love to.
– Why don’t you pray for the guys.

– Yup, all right. King Jesus, you are good and we are not. And we thank you for being our bold lion that makes us brave and makes us strong when we don’t feel that way at all. And we thank you for being the lamb that would so gently come to us, that you don’t bring us to salvation with your strength scaring us in, but that you woo us, and you inspire us, and you captivate us. And we thank you for teaching us how to be tender and loving and compassionate. You are all things amazing, Jesus. And I pray your special blessing on every man who is in this room and listening online, that you would just reach out and strengthen them in the way that they need to be strengthened. And those who do not know you, Jesus, I pray that you would miraculously just do a great work in them and change them. Make them just like you, lion and lamb. And that you would bring them into our warrior brotherhood. In your great name, Amen.