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Biblical Manhood and Breaking Male Isolation - The Power of the Cord · The Hall Hotline

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Hey, welcome to the hall hotline. I am your guest
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host Paul filling in for John while he's a while
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he's away over the next couple of days or weeks
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Welcome back to day two of me filling in on our
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biblical manhood podcast series If you remember
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last time in day one we took a deep dive into
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the early church We look specifically at men
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like polycarp who you know, they stood before
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the proconsul at Smyrna He faced a flame with
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an unshakable conviction. A polycarp, he refused
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to bow to the empire because his soul was anchored
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in an uncompromising devotion to Jesus Christ.
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And that kind of unshakable conviction, it's
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essential for every Christian man. But here's
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the critical truth, guys, we have to face today.
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Conviction in your heart, it can't survive long
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if you're standing alone in the dark. And today
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we're addressing that quiet epidemic facing Christian
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men across the globe and that's male isolation.
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Look around at modern culture. On paper, men
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have never been connected, never been more connected.
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We have group chats, social media followers,
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sports buddies, our work colleagues. It's not
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something that I'm into, but fantasy football
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leagues and yet under the surface, we have millions
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of men. They're dying of spiritual loneliness.
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We have plenty of acquaintances, but really no
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allies. We have people to watch the game with,
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but no one to confess our struggles to. And when
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life hits us hard and it will, and when temptation
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strikes, and when our marriages hit walls, or
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when doubt starts to creep in, what do most men
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do? We retreat into our own heads. And isolated
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men, they're vulnerable men. And Satan, he wants
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to keep us isolated and pick us off one at a
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time. And to really understand the root of isolation,
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let's look at what King Solomon has to say in
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the book of Ecclesiastes. This is considered
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the wisest man that ever lived. And let's see
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what he has to say about this. In the first three
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chapters of Ecclesiastes, Solomon goes on this
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search for meaning. And he looks at the pain.
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He looks at injustice in the world. He looks
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at extreme vanity of life under the sun. He looks
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at wealth. pleasure, labor, he looks at philosophy.
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And what does he come up with? Okay, he comes
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up with that without God, it's all chasing after
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a wind, which means it leads to nothing. You
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know, remember, like I just said, King Solomon,
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he's a man who has every material possession
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he could possibly dream of, you know, and then
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he shifts in chapters four through eight, he
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turns Solomon turns his attention to people and
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And basically what type of people he observes.
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And he sees in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 4
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through 8, it's heartbreakingly modern, guys.
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He sees men motivated by envy, men driven by
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endless work. And worst of all, he sees the isolated
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overachiever. He says, there was a man all alone.
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He had neither son nor brother. There was no
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end to his toil. Yet his eyes were not content
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with his wealth. For who am I toiling?" he asked.
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And why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? This
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too is meaningless, a miserable business. And
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again, that's Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 8.
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And Solomon, he spots the man who works 80 hours
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a week. He builds an empire. He accumulates assets,
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but he's standing completely alone. He has no
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real heir. He has no true companion. No one to
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share his soul with. Solomon calls this a miserable
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business. Isolation makes even success taste
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bitter. But Solomon doesn't leave us in despair
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or isolation. Immediately after he describes
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this lone man, he writes one of the most powerful
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messages on brotherhood in the entire Old Testament.
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So if we look at Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter
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4 verse 9 through 12. Let's break down the four
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key advantages that Solomon lists in this passage.
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The first one in verse 9 is that shared labor.
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He says two are better than one because they
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have a good return for their labor. When men
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link arms in kingdom purposes, their output,
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and their efficiency doubles. That's a no -brainer.
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If you got two people working on one project,
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you're gonna get it done twice as fast. Two people
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can get twice as much done, okay? Let's look
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at verse 10 about what he says about mutual restoration.
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If either of them falls down, one can help the
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other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no
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one to help them up. You know, in the ancient
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world, if you were walking alone at night, if
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you fell in a pit or broke your leg, you died.
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You know, a wild animal would come along, robbers
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or bandits would come along. In our spiritual
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life, if you fall into sin or despair while you're
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walking alone, you stay down, guys. There's no
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one there set up as guardrails. When we have
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friends, spiritual friends who can help guide
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us, who can kind of bump us along the right path
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before things get out of control, this helps
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instead of going at it alone. And that's, again,
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why Satan wants to alienate us. Our sin, little
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by little, well, it's no big deal. There's nobody
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checking us. Eventually it grows into something
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huge. Nobody sets off to rob a bank just one
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day. That builds over time. One small thing leads
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to a bigger thing leads to another thing. In
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verse 11, let's talk about comfort and protection
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from the cold. It says, also, if two lie down
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together, they will keep warm. But how can one
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keep warm alone? And I think if we look at this
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in spiritual terms, When the cold winds blow,
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men need each other. They need each other for
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spiritual comfort, for spiritual guidance. And
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then in verse 12, we're talking about defending
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against adversary. Though one may be overpowered,
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two can defend themselves. And then a quart of
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three strands is not quickly broken. Now you're
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gonna say, Paul, what are you talking about here?
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I understand two strands is strong. What are
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we talking about three strands? Well, a single
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thread, right? It can snap easily. Easy to visualize
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that. Two threads woven together, that is stronger.
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But when there's three strands are braided together,
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they're capable. That becomes a very strong cord.
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And it's capable of hoisting immense weight.
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And in Christian Brotherhood, those three strands,
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they represent you. They represent your brother.
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And then the third strand is the presence of
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Jesus Christ and he's bound between you, okay?
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So holding that that chord together, okay? You
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know and this dynamic of Tight -knit Brotherhood
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it wasn't just a wisdom text for Solomon. It
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was a survival guide necessary for the early
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church necessary for today and yesterday or the
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day before we talked about polycarp and what
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he faced under Roman persecution under various
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emperors. And how did the early Christians, how
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they endure under such severe brutality? They
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survived because like the ancient Greek and Roman
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military phalanx, they lived like that. okay
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in a phalanx formation you know heavy infantry
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soldiers they stood shoulder to shoulder i used
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this example last time holding large shields
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um with their left arm and that meant that shields
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didn't just protect the the own person's soldier
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the own soldier's torso it overlapped to cover
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the right side of the man standing to his left
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and think about that okay a warrior in a phalanx
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he was literally dependent on his brother for
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his life so if the man beside you dropped his
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shield said Guess what I'm out of here, you know
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if you fled in fear that hole opened up in the
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shield wall The whole unit was compromised and
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the shield wall was only as strong as the man
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standing beside you So when the emperor Roman
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emperor Roman Empire conducted persecution against
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the early church Christians they didn't scatter
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into isolation if they did they would have been
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picked off Okay, they gathered in house churches.
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They shared things they prayed for one another
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together in their homes and in prison cells and
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rooted their faith in Christ, being mutually
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supported by one another. Almost like we could
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relate that to a spiritual shield wall, us relying
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on one another to protect our flank. And let's
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talk about your life right now in 2026. OK, that's
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great, Paul, but how does this help me? OK, let's
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look at two questions. The first one is, who
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is in your tribe? Who's standing in your shield
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wall, men? If you find this difficult to answer,
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you're not alone. Most of us struggle with this,
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but here's some suggestions. And we have to move
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past that superficial friendship. The guys you
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talk sports with, the colleagues you grab lunch
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with, the men you wave to in the church foyer.
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These are okay. And I'm not saying don't be polite
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and don't stop waving to people. Just don't be
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weird. Don't be that weird Christian guy, but
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you need two specific type of men in your life,
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guys. You need a foxhole brother. Again, I use
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a lot of military visualization here. You can
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see from behind me, I spent some time in the
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military, so it comes easy to me, but I think
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it also comes easy to guys who played sports
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and just men in general. In warfare, a foxhole
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is where you dive into when artillery starts
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to fall. A foxhole brother, he's the guy behind
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you. He stays in a trench with you when that
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spiritual artillery is pounding your life. He
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knows your deepest struggles. He knows your temptations,
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your financial stresses, and your marriage battles.
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He doesn't judge you. He guards your back, and
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he prays you through the night. I am going to
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give you a word of caution here. Be careful.
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Be discerning. Not everybody has their best intention
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when it comes to you. You need to develop relationships
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with people. They need to take time. You can't
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force it. Trust is built over over time. Okay,
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and then the mat carrier so in Mark chapter 2
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We read the story of four men who had a paralyzed
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friend and they wanted to get him the Jesus But
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the house was packed. You know Jesus is there.
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He's speaking. Everybody wants to get in to see
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him I Don't even like saying this but it's like
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a rock concert where everybody's piled in at
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a front row and you're trying to get up close
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to see your band not the same thing, but you
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get what I'm talking about, okay? What did the
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friends do, okay? They picked up his mat, they
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carried him to the roof, they dug a hole in the
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ceiling, they lowered him down right to the feet
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of Jesus. And that man was healed because he
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had four friends who refused to let his paralysis
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stop him from reaching Christ. And as a mat carrier,
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a mat carrier is your spiritual brother who,
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when you're too exhausted or weak or discouraged
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to pray or continue on, They carry you to Jesus
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on the mat of their own faith. And as we wrap
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up day two of this series, I just want to leave
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you with two crucial reflection questions. The
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first being, how can you benefit today from having
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a foxhole brother or a mat carrier? A spiritual
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brother you can share real life with. Somebody
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you can confess sin to you know and rely on for
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accountability So, you know, how would a person
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like that in your life be able to be a benefit
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to you? And then the second thing I want to leave
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you with is whose mat carrier are you called
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to be right now? You know, who do you know that's
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suffering by stress? Sin isolation or someone
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that needs you to help lift his mat and bring
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him to Jesus, you know Guys this all these relationships
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take time. It takes time to develop trust It
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takes time for someone to trust you to tell them
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that they'll tell you things that are going on
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Okay, but don't leave this episode today without
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taking action God he never created you to fight
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the battle of bandwidth alone. Okay, Satan isolates
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men so he can destroy men break the silence reach
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out to a brother today Text him grab coffee begin
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building that three -strand cord. Join us next
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time for day three as we continue to build foundations
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of biblical manhood. We'll continue to look at
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the early church. Until then, stay strong, stay
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connected, stay firm in the faith. And guys,
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remember what John always says, do it because
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it's the hallway. All right, have a good one.