Latest / UNMASKED with Wesley Farnsworth / Ep 30 - Celebrate Recovery Testimony: Robert Jordan’s Redemption

Transcript

Ep 30 - Celebrate Recovery Testimony: Robert Jordan’s Redemption · UNMASKED with Wesley Farnsworth

0:07
Welcome to Unmasked, where we take off the filters and get
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real about faith, failure, and finding freedom.
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I'm your host, Wesley Farnsworth, a dad, veteran,
0:15
author, and a man who's learned that God does his best work in
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the middle of our mess. Each episode will have honest
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conversations with people who've walked through addiction, pain,
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or doubt, and with pastors, leaders, and everyday believers
0:29
who are learning to live and lead authentically.
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So take a breath, pull up a chair, and let's go real.
0:36
This is Unmasked. Today on Unmasked I'm sitting
0:48
down with Robert Jordan, a man whose life is a marked by grit,
0:53
grace, and a kind of hard earned wisdom you don't stumble into by
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accident. Robert has walked through
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seasons that could have broken him.
1:00
Yet instead of staying, yet instead of staying defined by
1:03
what he's been through, he has chosen to grow through it.
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His journey is one of wrestling honesty with identity, faith,
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pain, and purpose, and discovering along the way that
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God can redeem even the chapters that we wish we could erase.
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Robert brings a voice that is raw, humble, and deeply human,
1:22
and I'm grateful to have him with us here today on Unmasked
1:25
to share his story. Robert, thanks for joining us.
1:29
Well, thank you so much, Wesley. I really do appreciate you
1:31
inviting me on Unmasked and to talk about my past, what I'm
1:38
doing, and what I'd like to do in the future.
1:40
So a little bit about me. I grew up in a idyllic upstate
1:45
New York village of 300 people. Beautiful place.
1:48
The center point of the village was the small church.
1:51
Kept me grounded as I grew up into my teens and I was
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graduated high school, went to a Community College, kind of had a
2:00
change of plans in my life and I started farming.
2:04
I rose beef cattle for about 9 years and then I decided to
2:09
return to college, finish college, went on to the
2:11
university State University of New York at Albany, obtained my
2:15
bachelor's degree in political science.
2:18
And then at the same time, I, I really had this draw to serve
2:25
the public and I but I lacked worldly maturity.
2:29
So I decided there's two things that really push me in that
2:33
direction. 1 I lack worldly maturity to do so because I grew
2:38
up in this small village of 300 people and two 1993 was the, the
2:46
attack on the World Trade Center where the explosion in the
2:49
underground garage. And so I decided it was just the
2:54
right time to do it. And so I enlisted in the United
2:58
States, a Navy. And lo and behold, my first duty
3:02
station was Japan. So, so much for seeking out
3:07
worldly maturity. I'd find myself half a world
3:10
away. So nothing was by chance.
3:13
Everything was by design as it always is.
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And the Lord would have me go there and serve.
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I served four years. I really enjoyed serving in the
3:22
military and learning customs. Cultures.
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Ways of life. And then I decided, well, I'm
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going to re enlist, serve another six years, serve 10 in
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total, return to upstate New York, attend Albany Law School
3:37
and then serve publicly. But the second attack on World
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Trade Center occurred and the morning of 9/11, I knew that we
3:43
were at war and that I would stay in the Navy until the Navy
3:47
would no longer need my service. And that would be another 18
3:50
years. So the next 18 years saw me
3:53
deploy multiple times, 5 tours of which took me to Afghanistan.
3:58
I served with Naval Special Warfare, Army Operations Group.
4:02
I served with the Afghan National Security Forces as an
4:05
armed combatant of course. But during my time there, I
4:09
gained a great affinity with the Afghan people, the poor
4:12
children, of course, orphans. And that affinity would last to
4:15
this day. At the time I didn't think it
4:17
would, of course, but as I returned and continued on my
4:22
career years later, I would be at the Pentagon.
4:25
I was a senior Warrant Officer at that time.
4:28
And of all things, I, while I was at the Pentagon getting
4:31
ready to retire after this long, illustrious career, I was sent
4:35
over to an Army base and I was sat in front of an Army
4:40
psychologist, and he mentioned God.
4:43
And it was right then and there that I had this epiphany.
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The Holy Spirit worked in my life.
4:48
I felt it. And I decided to go to seminary
4:51
right there and then in that army psychologist's office.
4:53
Now, if you had told me before I went into that army
4:56
psychologist's office that, oh, by the way, before you go in, I
4:59
just want to let you know you're going to go to seminary.
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I would, I would have said, there's just no way.
5:04
It's impossible. But of course, that's how the
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Lord works in my life. There's all, he's very
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intentional, right? He's always.
5:11
And so I, you know, now I look back and I realize that
5:16
everything in my life, whatever I've done, wherever I've gone,
5:19
whatever I've been involved with, has always been
5:22
intentional. There's always been a reason for
5:25
it. And so I remember going back to
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the Pentagon that day and I, OK, I'm going to go to seminary.
5:31
And I started the process. Now, that afternoon was late in
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the summer of 2019. I retired from the military in
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October, 1 of 2019 and I started seminary later in October.
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So everything happened so very quickly.
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And so I just committed myself to following what the Lord would
5:52
have me do and, and of course, being directed by the Holy
5:55
Spirit, completed seminary, went on to work for a couple years
6:00
with Navy contracting as a, you know, defense contracting.
6:04
And then I left the military all together to start something new.
6:09
The Lord would have me do this to leave the Navy behind.
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And I started working for one of all places, Christian
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Broadcasting Network, Operation Blessing, as a international
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disaster relief operations manager, A wonderful place to
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work, absolutely the finest people dedicated to helping
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those in extreme need after natural disaster.
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And so I worked there for about a year and a half.
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And again, the Lord said to me, I need you to do something.
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And I followed suit and I left Operation Blessing after a year
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and a half to pursue my own calling.
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And that is to serve the poor again in Afghanistan.
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And so now I, I serve those who are poor for those who are at
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risk, orphans, widows, young women, because they struggle so
7:01
mightily under, you know, with current regime.
7:04
And so who would have thought that all this would happen as
7:07
well as I have my own podcast, of course, the the Veterans
7:12
Outlook podcast. And on top of all that I've
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written, I'm working on my 12th book.
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And people say, how is that possible?
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I said, I just don't know. It's not me.
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I, I haven't done any of these things by myself.
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The Lord has done all these things through me.
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And of course, the spirit is within me so that that, you
7:30
know, that directs me to do these things.
7:32
And even even this year again, in the summer of 2025, you, if
7:38
you, Wesley, would have said by, by by the way, you're going to
7:43
attend Regent University again as a doctoral student.
7:48
I would have said, Wesley, listen, I'm nearing 70 years
7:53
old. Why would I want to do that?
7:55
To what end, right. I remember having these
7:57
conversations just this summer with somebody.
7:59
They'd say, Hey, why don't you pursue your doctorate?
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I'd say to what end? And here I am pursuing my
8:07
doctorate now, right? I mean, I, I don't know why.
8:10
I mean, I know why the Lord wants me to do those things.
8:13
So it's interesting because the reason I bring this up the show,
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so people say, I know why you're pursuing your doctorate because
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you want to minister, you want to plant the church, you know,
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these big grandiose ideas. And I, I just say, I don't know
8:27
what the Lord has in store for me.
8:30
So I'm writing my, my 12th book. It's an interfaith book is
8:36
called resolutions of faith. I'm, I'm writing it with a
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co-author. I'm writing it with a woman in a
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land where Christians and other other faiths, especially women
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are, are under extreme persecution for for various
8:53
reasons. And so we're writing this book
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together. And in this book, there's a
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short story and in a short story, one of the characters,
9:02
and it's a minor character, by the way, in a short story, but
9:07
in the short story, this minor character, an older gentleman,
9:11
which just developed. It's it I had, I didn't have
9:13
this character in mind at all, but he just developed that way.
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He has a, in his food pantry, if you will.
9:20
Every day he he prepares lunches for those who are involved in
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foods insecurity, extreme poverty, addictions, afflictions
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in the very heart of this fictional city, right?
9:36
These are prostitutes. These are drug addicts.
9:38
These are people that are forgotten, forsaken.
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But what he does is instead of feeding like this big entree
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where there's, you know, meat and potatoes and vegetables and,
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you know, every day all he does is prepare bag lunch.
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And in the bag lunch, it's just a sandwich.
9:55
And in the bag is scripture, but what he does is he bakes bread.
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And you know, when you smell fresh baked bread, it just that
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aroma, right, of that fresh bread.
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So this aroma goes out into the street as he's baking it.
10:08
And these people from all over come and they line up outside of
10:13
this food pantry because of the the smell, the aroma of this
10:18
baked bread. So they're lured by the smell
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and so he can minister them through just a plain sandwich,
10:25
but he keep but with the also the scripture that he places in
10:29
the bag. So the more I thought about, I
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think, I think that's what the Lord will have me do is be a
10:36
Baker of bread of all things. Can you imagine?
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So I think that's what it's and somebody said, ah, I think he's
10:43
planted a seed and I think, yeah, I'm going to be a bed Brit
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bread Baker. And I think it's the sesame seed
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that he's planted in my mind. So I think that's what that's
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what I tell people now. I think I'm going to be a bread
10:55
Baker after all this. That's what the Lord might
10:58
probably is going to have me do and serve the, the poor in an
11:03
inner city and just open up this idea of feeding them this
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sandwich every day and ministering to them in that way.
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So there you have it, Wesley. That's my story and I'm at your
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service if you have any questions.
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Yeah. I love that man.
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First and foremost, thank you for your service as a as I've.
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Thank you for your service as well.
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Absolutely. As I better myself and somebody
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that's been to Afghanistan, I can see the hard for the people
11:31
that you have. There's such a welcoming and
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humble family or a humble community, and I can understand
11:37
where your heart for them comes. So I appreciate your service and
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I love that you. You brought up the point that if
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somebody had that told you two years ago that you would have
11:47
been going for your doctoral degree or if they had told you 5
11:50
minutes before you walked into the psychologist office that
11:53
you'd be going to seminary, You just said they're nuts because
11:56
I'm the exact same way. You know, if if somebody had
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told me two years ago that my book would be published, I'd
12:03
have said no, it's not even close to being finished yet.
12:07
If somebody had told me last year that my but that this time
12:12
of this year, my book would be out and I would have a podcast
12:16
and I would be preaching that local services, you know,
12:18
filling pulpit and I'd have said they're you're not.
12:22
But yet God moves things and he puts you and he does think
12:26
strategically in your life to align you with his purpose for
12:31
your life. And that's exactly what he's
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done. And now all of those things are
12:35
come to fruition and it's just like they are for you.
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I just, I love, I love how you are just you've given, you know,
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given the Lord your yes and are now being used by him.
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And the idea of of him planting that sesame seed, as you called
12:50
it, is such a fun idea just to think about.
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And I can't wait to see how he uses that to to further the
12:58
Kingdom in the future. But, you know, this show
13:01
Unmasked is all about living unmasked and not letting the
13:05
things of our past define us and not, not being afraid to talk
13:09
about those things because that's what holds a lot of
13:12
people back is they're afraid to talk about the things that
13:15
they've gone through in their life.
13:16
And so they, they put on this mask of I'm fine, it's nothing's
13:20
wrong with me. I'm perfect.
13:21
I'm, you know, so from the outside, that's the way they
13:24
look, but inside they're crumbling.
13:26
And it's all about defeating that thought process.
13:28
So some questions for you is, when you look back at earlier
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chapters of your life, what is 1 moment or a season that shaped
13:36
you the most, whether it be a pain in a painful way or a way
13:40
that just really pulled you towards growth?
13:48
Well, I would think, I think as a child, you know, growing up in
13:58
that, that small village and seeing I grew up in, in AII was
14:07
born in 1959. So I grew up in that really
14:12
tumultuous time of the 60s, right?
14:15
And this always, this has stuck in my mind.
14:18
I remember the Vietnam War era, right?
14:22
The, and all the, you know, the, the demonstrations and, and the
14:27
anti, you know, Vietnam era. And I just remember this one
14:33
particular incident in our, in this little church that I spoke
14:36
of. And I think it was around Chris.
14:40
I, I'm pretty sure it's around this time and we were having
14:44
choir practice and I remember for the first time I saw
14:49
dissent, right, Public display of dissent towards our
14:55
government. Now, I, I mean, as a kid, we
14:58
would watch the news and during Vietnam, that's when it really
15:03
that they would have the newscasters with the frontline
15:07
forces. And it was shocking for people
15:10
at that time, right? But so you, you know, your
15:14
parents would turn off the news when you were a kid, so you
15:16
didn't watch that. But I, So what I'm getting at is
15:19
during this choir practice, we had the, the, the P, the, the,
15:25
the woman playing the organ during the choir practice.
15:29
We, I and I don't remember what song we were, we were singing,
15:33
but I'll never forget this. She was she was playing the the
15:38
organ and in mid song she just stopped.
15:43
So whatever that song was connected her and her son was in
15:47
Vietnam and she just stopped right there and then in the
15:51
church. And she cursed President Johnson
15:55
in the church, and I mean, verbally cursed him with an
16:03
expletive. And I was, I, I mean, that was a
16:10
defining point in my life where I was like, what the heck was
16:16
that? You know what I mean?
16:18
And so, and to me growing up in that little teeny village, that
16:25
was that first moment of descent, that was a defining
16:29
point. And it all happened around the
16:31
military too, because my dad and mom both were veterans of World
16:36
War 2, very patriotic place. And we had, I remember before
16:45
that they were young men going to Vietnam.
16:47
And that's what young men did. They went to war, right?
16:50
But that was the first incident of public display of dissent.
16:57
I'll never forget. I mean, I to this day, I was
17:00
probably, maybe, I don't know, I don't know, 10 years old maybe.
17:06
And here I am, you know, my late, you know, later on 60s,
17:10
I'm 66 and I, I remember if it was yesterday because she said
17:16
that right in church crying. It just hit her.
17:19
I mean, she was just plain and she just like, you know, mashed
17:22
down the keys and just let it go.
17:25
I wow, I'll never forget that. But so there's a point in my
17:30
life that was probably a defining point.
17:33
Now, that really hit me as a kid because although my family
17:39
wasn't and my brothers are, of course, I was too young
17:42
obviously, but but that was a that public display of dissent
17:45
was something that really shaped me.
17:49
I bet. I mean, I, I can just imagine
17:52
sitting in church and hearing that happen, like just the, the
17:55
shock that has to had to have come over you in that moment,
17:58
like what just happened. Yeah, yeah.
18:02
You know, and I think that that actually is a good segue into
18:06
the next question because she was wearing a mask.
18:09
You know, she was she walked into church that morning wearing
18:12
a mask that she was OK. But it was in that moment,
18:15
whatever that song was that she was playing spoke to her and
18:19
that mask came off and she had to let it out.
18:22
And that's what I. Yeah, I mean, it could have been
18:24
onward Christian soldiers. I don't, I don't know what it
18:27
could have been. Whatever that song was, mid mid
18:29
song she just like slammed down the keys of the organ and just
18:35
let it go. And, you know, everybody carries
18:38
it a mask. Everybody has something to their
18:40
story and a mask that they have learned to wear over time.
18:46
What is a mask that you have worn for the longest and what
18:51
was it that caused it to finally start to break that you realized
18:54
I have to take this mask off and talk about it?
18:58
Yeah. So I think really when I look at
19:01
my own military service, I went into the military when I, I
19:08
enlisted in the military when I was 34 years old, which is
19:11
really unheard of. And I obtained rank very, very
19:19
quickly. In fact, I was a in the Navy of
19:23
Master Chief petty officers in E9.
19:26
I was, I was a Master Chief Petty Officer in now I hope I
19:34
don't get the dates right because you know, I think it was
19:37
in under 13 years. So it's very, very quickly, very
19:41
quickly. That's impressive.
19:43
And yeah, it was very quick. And so because of that and my
19:50
age and being mature, you know, people look used to look at me
19:58
and think of me differently. And so I was put in leadership
20:01
positions there, you know, according to my rank, but also
20:05
because of this maturity that they saw.
20:07
So I had this persona and it carried me into my, as I
20:13
obtained rank very quickly, right?
20:17
And so in fact, when I was a Master Chief or an E9, I had I
20:21
already had served 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan.
20:25
And I remember my, my CEO, my commanding officer called me
20:28
into his office one day and he said, you know, you should be a
20:32
Warrant Officer. And I looked at him.
20:33
I said, why would I want to be a Warrant Officer?
20:35
I'm a Master Chief. And he goes, he just
20:37
specifically said, do you want to go to war or not?
20:39
And I said, yes, of course I do. He goes, well, then you want to
20:42
be a Warrant Officer because you're not going there as a
20:45
Master Chief. And he's, that's correct, right.
20:48
So I put my package together and submitted it to the board, and I
20:51
was selected. And I was selected that October
20:54
and early February was in Kandahar.
20:56
So there you go. And I served three tours of duty
20:59
as a Warrant Officer in Afghanistan.
21:01
So because of that, people looked at me differently.
21:08
They saw me much taller than I was.
21:12
My shoulders were much broader than they are, and I walked
21:16
differently than I then my stride took me.
21:19
So after a while, this persona overtook me.
21:25
And so even though I've been the head, I was carrying around
21:29
these demons. I was a flawed individual.
21:32
I became bitter, angry. I had rage issues.
21:37
I couldn't seek help because to do so that would have shown
21:44
cracks in this armor or this persona.
21:48
If that guy has problems, what about me?
21:53
Right. That's the problem.
21:54
I was that guy that people looked at.
21:58
People wanted to be around me. People, yeah, they used me as
22:01
this example, right? I would go places, I would go to
22:05
commands. I would go to school houses, I
22:08
would visit commands. It was, you know, I, it was just
22:12
overwhelming. People would like, that's that
22:15
guy, you know, that's him. And as much as I, that was nice
22:21
of them, but it really started to weigh heavily on me because I
22:26
wasn't that guy as that they thought I was.
22:30
And so it started to really work against me.
22:34
So in other words, I remember coming home from one deployment,
22:37
you go to the post deployment health assessment and you go to
22:41
see the doctor and the doctor, are you a threat to anybody?
22:45
And I would say yes. And they'd go who?
22:49
And I'd go the enemy and they'd laugh.
22:51
Oh, yeah, that's a funny one. They didn't know who they should
22:54
have asked me who the enemy was. The enemy was me and my family.
23:00
And so that's why I wanted to deploy over and over and over
23:04
again. And so to get away from my
23:07
family because I was so filled with this rage.
23:10
And, you know, after a while, we don't, we want it.
23:12
We'd rather be deployed, right? We don't want to be at home
23:16
because we we have this fear of missing out and we want to be,
23:20
we let we seek the, the camaraderie of those that we
23:23
spend all this time with, right? You know what I'm saying?
23:27
And so, so when I was getting ready to retire, you know,
23:34
that's when it started to come unglued for me because now what
23:39
do I do, right? And so, as the Lord would have
23:43
it, right when I started to get ready to retire and you go
23:46
through all that checklist and you got to go see this guy, that
23:49
guy, this guy, this department, this, you know, get all these
23:52
checklists signed off that, you know, back to where I in the
23:55
beginning, where I went to this for my health assessments and,
24:00
and mental health screenings. They kept sending me back.
24:05
And I, you know, I'm a, you know, hey, just here, here's the
24:08
paper. Just sign this paper so I can
24:10
get out of here. And they, you know, no, no, no,
24:13
it don't work that way. You got to come back and talk to
24:15
the man. Like, what's all this jaw
24:19
jacking about? You know, that's what my
24:20
attitude was. What's the, all this jaw jacking
24:22
about? I just want to get out of here.
24:23
I'm retiring after all these year.
24:25
I, you know, I just spent 26 years here.
24:27
I want to get out. Why They'd ask me why.
24:30
What's your hurry? Because I want to get out of
24:32
here so I can go right over there.
24:35
I want to get one of these big military job, military
24:37
contracting jobs so I can go to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, right.
24:45
Make all this money, You know what I mean?
24:46
Like everybody plans to do. No, no, no, no.
24:49
You got, you got to, you got to talk to the man.
24:52
Like, what the heck? Come on, man.
24:54
You know, that was my attitude. So finally, when they sat me
24:57
down in front of this Army psychologist, he mentioned, he
25:03
mentioned God and that's when it all, that's how it all played
25:06
out. See, So it was God's perfect
25:08
timing and he said, you're broken and I'm going to peel
25:13
this back for you. And that's when I started my
25:15
recovery. That's when it all came.
25:19
And then I started, I just all fell apart, right?
25:22
And then I had to start both secular, non secular treatment
25:27
programs, a lot of programs with the VA and, and even to this
25:32
day, I mean, I just, I, I'm still in treatment programs with
25:37
the VA and it's six years on. So I go to regular counseling,
25:41
regular therapy, take therapeutics.
25:45
I seek alternative therapies because I have a lot of problems
25:50
which I would never have publicly admitted to, but now I
25:54
do because I want to help others, like through your
25:57
podcasts and my podcast, right? I love that, you know, I think
26:01
that's something that I haven't talked about yet on this
26:04
podcast. You're the first veteran that
26:06
I've had on that's that's gone down this road.
26:08
And I love that you, you've broached this subject is, you
26:12
know, when you're in the military, you have this
26:14
camaraderie, especially when you're deployed overseas, you
26:17
have this camaraderie that is very, how do I say this?
26:23
It's unlike anything that you can find stateside.
26:26
There's, there's, there's that brotherhood that kind of forms
26:28
while you're there. And when you come back stateside
26:31
and you're preparing to separate from the military, you are
26:35
essentially preparing to say goodbye to the, to this
26:38
camaraderie, to this family, to this brotherhood that you've
26:42
come to know and expect. And that can be very, very
26:46
difficult to, to, to come to terms with.
26:49
I think back to when I left the service.
26:51
You know, I, I hung up my uniform on Friday and I went
26:55
back to work on Monday with the military as a civilian, but now
26:59
out of uniform. And in my mind, I was still a
27:04
member of the service. I was still one of them.
27:06
I was still, you know, the staff Sergeant in the Air Force, but I
27:12
wasn't seen that way because I was now in civilian clothes.
27:16
And so I wasn't treated the same.
27:17
I wasn't talked the same, you know, when I was around the
27:19
service members. And so that transition can be
27:23
quite difficult because it it's a different mindset all
27:27
together. And so you do have to take off
27:29
that mask, if you will, of what you were and now have to come to
27:34
terms with that's no longer you, that doesn't define who you are
27:38
now. And now you have to step into
27:40
this new role, this new identity.
27:44
Yeah, You know, I once, a few years before I retired, I
27:48
attended a a Master chief's retirement ceremony, and I'll
27:54
never forget it. He said during his retirement
27:56
ceremony he served over 30 years.
27:59
And he said, you know, come, this was on a Friday, as most
28:02
retirement ceremonies are. He said, you know, come Monday,
28:05
I won't know what to wear, right?
28:10
And I was like, wow, you know, that that's that's so true.
28:17
I mean, you don't even think about.
28:19
That you don't, You don't that's.
28:24
Right. Yeah.
28:27
And you know, you just. And when you're, when you leave
28:32
the military and you go to work for as a contractor or DoD
28:37
civilian or whatever it is that you do now, your role is one
28:41
thing, right? Not 14 things to do.
28:46
Well, you just have to do one thing in accordance with your
28:50
contract. It's very different.
28:53
I mean, you're like, what do I do now?
28:55
One thing, right? And so it did the adjustment
28:59
period. It's like, what do I do one
29:01
thing, that's your contract, right?
29:05
It's so there's such, there's such a period of adjustment to
29:09
that. You know, it's not like you, you
29:12
can pick up something else and do something else.
29:14
No, because no, you're, it's the contract.
29:17
Your contract is for one thing, right?
29:21
And so I yeah, it's just, it's just such a just a, a period of
29:26
adjustment. And but it's interesting.
29:29
There's another point in my, in my journey where when I was
29:33
leaving the morning, I, I really decided to leave operation
29:37
Blessing. It went like this.
29:39
The Lord said, I need you to do something.
29:41
And I said, oh, OK. So I put together my letter of
29:45
resignation. OK, I, I get put it together.
29:49
I put it into the scanner, but I send it to the chief of staff.
29:53
I, he's a good friend of mine, right?
29:55
I mean, it's a wonderful company and I'm going to press enter,
30:02
send it. And right before I press enter,
30:06
the phone rings and it's, hey, would you, would you be willing
30:11
to get involved in doing this in, in Afghanistan, helping the
30:15
poor? I mean, there's no way that's
30:19
random, right? No way, no way.
30:24
It can't be. And so yes.
30:26
And I hit hit the button and that was the IT, that was it.
30:30
And so I've been, I work there every day and I, it's all for
30:34
nothing, but it's all for, it's for everything, right?
30:37
It's for everything. And I mean, when I say it's all
30:40
for nothing, it's not for my benefit, It's for everything for
30:44
them, right? And so I just do what I can to,
30:47
to help the poor. I also have an international
30:50
prayer group, which is interfaith.
30:52
We pray for people. We pray for people that are
30:54
really in dire straits, man. And that's, that's it.
30:59
That's all that we can do is offer them prayer and we pray
31:03
for them, pray for intercession. We have various faiths there,
31:07
various denominations. We have people from that.
31:09
Are you not a Christian? But it, to me it doesn't, it's
31:13
OK because these people, they need, just need prayer and
31:17
they're in really desperate situations based upon the lands
31:22
that they live in. And there's their, their, their
31:24
position in life. And somehow they get connected
31:27
with me and I can't tell him. No, How can you say I'm not
31:31
going to pray for you because you're different, right?
31:34
That would seem like that. I would be more of a Pharisee
31:37
then, right? I said, I'm not going to pray
31:39
for you because you're different.
31:40
No, Jesus would tell it. I'll pray for you because you're
31:43
different, right? And so I pray for people from
31:47
all walks of life. You know, we have just such this
31:49
loving relationship with one another who I've never met these
31:52
people, right? That's the other thing, it's
31:55
really amazing. All this is not through me, it's
31:58
because of the Lord working through me.
32:02
You know, I'm just his humble servant, that's it.
32:05
You know, I love the story that you just shared about the phone
32:09
ringing right before you push to enter and saying yes, you notice
32:13
I haven't told the told this story on the podcast yet.
32:16
So this is a this will be the first time, but I had something
32:19
very similar happened to me actually with this podcast.
32:22
It was a Wednesday night and God said, and I want you to start
32:25
this podcast and I said, Kay, but how like I'm unemployed.
32:30
Like I'm sitting here now 7. I think at that point I was just
32:33
just over seven months of being unemployed.
32:35
And I said, God, how am I going to do this?
32:37
Like I don't have the money for it.
32:38
I'm willing, but I don't know how.
32:40
Like you're going to have to provide because I'd, you know, I
32:44
don't know how. And the very next day, I kid you
32:49
not, the next day I had an envelope handed to me from an
32:52
anonymous source via a third party that had the money in it
32:56
to start my podcast. And so I love that the example
33:02
of just, I don't say that to to boast or anything, just like you
33:05
don't share the to boast. You know what the, the phone
33:08
call before the button, but it's an example of if you're
33:11
following the Lord's calling on your life and you're saying yes
33:14
when he's telling you to do something, he will provide.
33:17
And I just, I love that example. So, you know, as I think through
33:22
your story and just conversation that we've had, you've walked
33:26
through a lot of things in your life that could have left you
33:29
feeling bitter or hopeless or, or even isolated with the
33:32
changes in your life and the your service and everything.
33:35
What was a turning point in your life that really helped you
33:38
believe that change was possible?
33:44
Yeah, I went to, I went to a, a Celebrate Recovery, which it's a
33:55
12 step recovery program, right? My first one, I went there not
34:03
knowing much about it. I thought, well, it's for
34:06
Alcoholics, perhaps they're drug addicts or something.
34:09
But it was at our church. I didn't really know much about
34:12
it. And so I said I'll just go and
34:15
see what it's about. So I went there and it was a
34:17
testimony night and it was a, and I don't really, I don't
34:21
remember. This was six years, I six years
34:24
ago. And again, everything happened
34:25
right when I retired too, right? So, so I go there and they were
34:29
having a video testimony and the video testimony was Jeff Stoltz.
34:34
Now Jeff Stoltz, he is, he's a motorcycle missionary.
34:38
If you're, if you're aware, Jeff Stoltz is an incredible guy and
34:43
I didn't know who Jeff Stoltz was or is right.
34:46
And prayers to Jeff Stoltz because he just had major
34:49
surgery, cancer surgery. And I love Jeff.
34:52
I've met him. He's been on my podcast.
34:54
I met him a couple times. Just a wonderful guy.
34:56
You talk about a disciple for Christ.
34:58
I mean, Jeff is it man. But Jeff looks the part as as as
35:04
a motorcycle missionary. I mean, he is, you know, tats
35:08
and leather and long hair and beard and Jeff looks like, you
35:14
know, something from Easy Rider, you know what I mean?
35:18
Anyway, so I'm sitting there and OK, so they got worship and I'm
35:22
enjoying the worship music. And, you know, all of a sudden
35:25
they they start this video testimony and I'm listening to
35:28
Jeff's testimony and I'm like, what the heck is this?
35:32
Like what? What is that?
35:35
You know, and then I listened to his testimony and it is so
35:40
powerful. You know, I'm thinking, man, if
35:47
if somebody like Jeff can be redeemed and put, you know, put
35:55
back together, I guess I can be too, right?
35:59
Because, you know, I mean the things that I've done and the
36:03
things that I that have been done to me and the thing that,
36:06
you know, the heartache, heartbreak, the trauma, the near
36:10
misses, all those things, the sins, the transgressions, the
36:17
Lord has. What I tell people is this.
36:19
The Lord has put me back together by a single stitch.
36:24
So I've been mended together by a single stitch.
36:29
And that single stitch is grace. That's what it is.
36:33
And over time, that single stitch is it gets woven back and
36:39
forth, back and forth to you know, but it's not immediate.
36:43
But if you, if you allow yourself to be mended by grace
36:48
and you allow yourself to work, work your treatment and with
36:53
accountability partners, a sponsor, regardless of what your
36:56
affliction is, grace will heal you eventually.
37:01
But you've got to surrender to, to our loving Jesus.
37:06
That's it. You've got to surrender.
37:10
You know, if you when you do that, all things are possible,
37:15
you know? Absolutely.
37:16
I love. OK, so if you're listening today
37:19
and you've been listening to my podcast for any length of time,
37:22
you've probably heard me mention Celebrate Recovery.
37:25
Yeah, at least once, if not twice around every episode
37:29
because I'm just a huge believer in the ministry.
37:31
I too have been a part of it for about 6 years now.
37:34
And I want you to know that this was not planned.
37:37
I did not know that Robert was going to bring up Celebrate
37:39
Recovery. And if you're watching it, the
37:42
recording of this episode on YouTube, you probably saw the
37:45
big smile that came on my face because it's just such a
37:48
powerful ministry. Yes, it is.
37:52
My first night attending was also a testimony night and I've
37:56
heard Jeff's testimony before and it is a powerful 1.
37:59
So I just, I love that you brought that up and, and you
38:02
mentioned, you know, you've mentioned your past not being
38:05
able to define you and not not defining who you are today.
38:09
And you talked a little bit about that.
38:11
You know, that's something that many struck many listeners, I
38:15
think, struggle with the fear that their past disqualifies
38:18
them. And So what would you say to
38:20
that person who feels too broken or too far gone or too ashamed
38:26
to believe that God could use them because of what they've
38:29
done? Right, OK, that's a great point.
38:33
So the first thing is you need to, you need to surround
38:38
yourself with a community of, of faithful believers, right?
38:44
Then you need to get into a recovery program.
38:48
The next thing you should do is once you're comfortable and
38:51
you're ready as a as an adult, you need to be baptized.
38:56
And the reason that is is because you need to be washed
38:59
clean of that sin and that brokenness.
39:02
You just got to you have to do it because that's really what
39:05
baptism is about When you're baptized as a child, your
39:08
parents want want that for you, right?
39:11
But as an adult, that's a conscious decision.
39:15
And when you're when you're baptized and washed clean,
39:19
that's a that's that's a is symbolic of being born again,
39:26
being raised up right. It's just it will really, really
39:33
change the way you look at yourself again and then enter
39:37
into communion with the Lord. So in other words, our church
39:40
here in where I live in Virginia Beach, we offer baptism in the
39:44
Atlantic Ocean. You get washed clean, man.
39:47
I mean, you, yeah, you get washed clean.
39:50
But the point is, is it's that symbolic.
39:53
When you go under the waves, you have to trust somebody to pull
39:56
you up under or pull you back up, right?
39:59
So it is, it's kind of it's it's I, it's, it's that symbolism of
40:04
that trust of being immersed in right.
40:09
And then being brought back up right.
40:11
Now if you remember, if you know Scripture.
40:14
John baptized Jesus, right? So that's important #1 #2 take
40:24
communion as often as you can. Our church offers weekly
40:28
communion, and the reason we do that is because we need it,
40:34
brother. We're not free from sin.
40:37
We need it. We have to go up every week and
40:40
just bare ourselves to the Lord and say, Lord, we love you and
40:45
we fall short. We're not perfect.
40:48
There's no perfect people allowed in our church.
40:50
Meaning we're all broken. We're all sinners, right?
40:56
And so we acknowledge that. So we go to, we go to the Lord
41:00
every week and say, Lord, please forgive me.
41:04
But thank you, dear Lord, for forgiving me, right?
41:09
And that's why it's so important that you do those things.
41:11
And once you do that, so here's a good and I was talking to a
41:14
gentleman, a friend of mine last night.
41:16
And I've known him for a while. He's a brother Christ.
41:21
And out of the blue, he just, he asked me in this conversation,
41:26
she says, is there something you want to ask me?
41:30
And I, I really didn't know what he was he was asking.
41:33
I mean, what, what was that a reference to?
41:36
And it was about something in his past, right?
41:40
And he said, there's something in my past that if you knew you
41:48
wouldn't want to be my brother. And I said, brother, you're a
41:56
new. You're a new person in Christ.
41:58
What? Whatever that is, it's no more
42:01
right? That's behind you now, brother.
42:04
See what I mean? So there, there it is, right
42:06
there. When you're washed clean by the
42:10
with the blood of the lamb, you're washed clean.
42:13
White is snow. You know, that's what I would
42:16
tell people. Put that stuff behind you.
42:20
You know, you're, you're forgiven.
42:21
You were forgiven before whatever it is that shattered
42:25
you. Yeah, you know it.
42:27
You mentioned a good point there of of you know, when you when
42:29
you're baptized, you know, and you, you've accepted Christ into
42:33
your life. You know, Christ forgives you
42:35
and you're your sin is no more, right?
42:38
It's no longer a part of you. You're white as snow as you, as
42:41
you mentioned and what scripture says.
42:43
But there's another layer to that.
42:45
And that additional layer is you also have to be able to forgive
42:50
yourself. Human nature is it's it's easy
42:54
for us to say, yeah, we're forgiven.
42:56
Christ has forgiven us. He died on the cross for our
42:58
sins. But there's, there's still the,
43:01
the flesh side of us, there's still the enemy lurking there
43:04
that doesn't want to let you forget.
43:06
Whatever that hurt, that habit, that hang up, that addiction,
43:08
that pain, whatever it is, they don't want it.
43:10
He doesn't want to let you forget it because as long as
43:13
you're holding on to it, you're still within his reach.
43:17
You're still, he still has that foothold.
43:20
So since since you've brought this up, I'm going to ask you
43:23
this question. What would you say to that
43:26
person that says I understand that I've been forgiven by God,
43:30
but I can't seem to forgive myself?
43:33
What would you say to that person?
43:36
Yeah, what I would say to them is this what they, what you need
43:40
to believe in is that within you is the Holy Spirit indwelled.
43:50
And so they that should cast off any doubt that the Lord doesn't
43:56
love you and that this is not real, so that the powers of
44:01
forgiveness resides within you, not outside of you.
44:06
The Holy Spirit is in you, right?
44:10
That's the promise that the Lord gave to us, that he left that
44:15
with us. That friend that he talks about,
44:18
it's within us all. The Holy Spirit is there.
44:22
So knowing that now most people don't know that they hear about
44:26
the Holy Ghost. When I was a kid, I was scared
44:29
to death of that. When I heard, you know, the Holy
44:31
Ghost, man, I was like, man, where's that Holy Ghost man?
44:34
He's coming at me at night or whatever.
44:36
You know, I didn't know. I mean, like a kid, right?
44:38
We don't know. We hear about the Holy Ghost and
44:40
we're, I was petrified of that. But it's the Holy Spirit, which
44:46
is our friend. He's inside of us.
44:49
And so that should cast off any doubt that you're forgiven
44:54
because he's inside of us. That's that love and grace,
44:59
mercy that the that the Lord has extended to us.
45:03
He's inside of us. So any doubt that you're not
45:06
forgiven, that you can't forgive yourself, He's there inside of
45:11
us. Just start to move forward and
45:16
be washed anew, washed fresh with his grace.
45:21
Once you do that, life is you'll see life completely different.
45:26
You got to shed those. Look at the enemy will bound
45:29
you, you know, just bound you with with with with with burden
45:36
of your sin and that's what he wants.
45:39
He wants to keep you from knowing these things, keeping
45:44
you from experiencing freedom from it.
45:48
He want, He's going to chain you to it because he doesn't want
45:52
you to experience the love of Christ.
45:55
Why would he want that? He wants, he doesn't want to
45:58
relinquish control over you, right?
46:02
But once you realize that the Holy Spirit is within you and do
46:07
you put on the garment of praise, He's no longer yours and
46:13
you now belong to Christ. The evil 1 is gone.
46:16
Yeah. Hallelujah, brother.
46:18
Amen, Amen. Amen.
46:21
Well, Robert, I have one more question for you, but before
46:24
before I ask it, I know there's probably some listeners out
46:26
there going where can I find out more about Robert?
46:29
Where can I hear more from him? Why don't you tell our listeners
46:32
where they can find you online and the name of your podcast
46:35
again? The name of my podcast is the
46:39
Veterans Outlook Podcast. It's on Spotify.
46:42
And of course from there goes to all the major podcast platforms,
46:46
the Veterans Outlook Podcast. And my website is it's Easy,
46:51
it's Father bob.co, Father bob.co.
46:57
And from there, it links to all my other activities, my library
47:02
of books, my philanthropy endeavors, and of course, the
47:06
podcast as well. So, Father bob.co?
47:10
Yep, that's it. And listeners, if you you're
47:13
like, man, I'm not going to remember that.
47:15
Don't worry, I have you covered. I'll have that link down in the
47:18
show notes. Thank you.
47:19
So that you can find it easily later on when you're home
47:22
driving, finished driving or wherever you're at.
47:24
So, So last question for you here, Robert, is, you know, one
47:28
of the things that I love to do to end my episodes is I love to
47:32
leave my listeners with a practical step, something that
47:35
they can do to move forward in their faith and then their
47:39
recovery and in life. So what is 1 practical step that
47:43
somebody can take this week to move forward and healing?
47:46
Connection or honesty, especially if they feel stuck or
47:51
alone. Yeah, well, so few of us
47:56
actually open the Bible, right? We have a Bible, We may know
48:01
where it is, but we've we just open the Bible, open to the
48:05
Gospels and just read start a start with Matthew, right?
48:11
Just just open it up, read the Gospels and just there's so much
48:17
look at we all look for this. We all want a blueprint in life.
48:21
We want guarantees in life. We buy a car, we buy a washing
48:25
machine. We want we want one, we want a
48:28
we want the schematics to it and we want a guarantee.
48:32
The gospels give you both, right?
48:35
It's all there before you. So people go, oh man, I I don't
48:39
know if I can figure this all out.
48:42
I don't know if I have time. Look at you got time to doom
48:44
scroll. You got time to read the Bible
48:47
and what I've tell you is intentional prayer.
48:50
If you're so busy that you can't read the Bible and, and perhaps,
48:53
OK, you're a very busy person, you all got to fall asleep.
48:56
We all have to fall asleep. So 5 minutes, shut the TV off,
49:01
put the put the phone away. But if anything, make prayer
49:07
intentional before you go to sleep.
49:09
And why is that important? Because the last thing on your
49:14
mind before you drift off to sleep should not be what's on
49:18
your phone or what's on the TV. It should be intentional prayer.
49:24
Give thanks and praise for the Lord that is set in your mind
49:29
for the subconscious dwelling in that.
49:32
In what? A good friend of of mine, he
49:35
calls it the night season, right?
49:39
Set that in motion in your subconscious that you're
49:41
dwelling in the Lord, in the presence of the Lord, giving
49:45
thanks and praise. That will start this loving
49:48
relationship with him, which will then lead to reading the
49:54
Gospels to find out more about him.
49:56
Perhaps returning you to the church, right?
50:01
Returning, you know, leading you to a community of, of fellow
50:04
believers. All these things take steps,
50:07
practical steps, but I would say make reading the Gospels
50:10
intentional as well. I think that would be that's my
50:13
advice to you. Love it and can't agree more.
50:19
Oh, Robert, thank you so much for being with us today here on
50:21
Unmasked and sharing your story and your journey through your
50:25
service and just through life. And I know it was encouraging to
50:30
me, and I hope that it's encouraging to the listeners out
50:33
there. So thank you so much for your
50:34
time. Well, thank you, Wesley.
50:38
I really appreciate it. And to your listeners, God bless
50:40
them. God bless them all.
50:48
Well, thank you for joining me today on Unmasked.
50:50
If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to
50:53
follow rate and share it with somebody who you think could
50:56
benefit from hearing it? For more encouragement and
50:59
information on having me speak at your church or events or my
51:03
coaching services, visit wesleyfarnsworth.com and don't
51:06
forget to connect with me on social media.
51:09
Until next time, remember that grace is greater than your past
51:13
and freedom begins when we all live unmasked.
51:17
God bless.