Rhett: 0:00

Imagine a world where every conversation feels like a genuine connection with authentic people. A place where you truly feel like you belong, and where everyone can hear the table. Friends, welcome to MT. Justin, here we are back from Idaho. We had an incredible trip. Do we want to talk about this? Do we want to talk about this in today's conversation? Because, you know, we talked about the uh the risks and the calculated risks. Okay, and one of the things in the conversation was I referred to what happened last year of getting on a side-by-side ATV, if you will, going up the side of a mountain and then hitting some moments where we had to get out. And, you know, and then there were some not-so safe moments in the year before. And and so as you were presented with this opportunity uh this year, a little nervous going in after hearing from you. I didn't know whether or not you were wanting to do this. And um anyway, so but yeah, you chose to do it. Now, I'm alive, truth be told, this year's path was nowhere near compared to how crazy and dangerous last year's was, to be honest with you. Um, it was a lot I mean, uh, you if you had a four-wheel drive vehicle, you could have driven this. Yeah. So it wasn't that you know, at the end of the day. So I don't know, but even even that to say, you know, you want to talk about that experience. Oh man, yeah, there's so much we could talk about. Obviously. It unleashed the animal inside. Yeah, so it for those let's bring people up to speed. If you're just now listening for the first time as a friend today, Justin and I were in Idaho. Um, I have an opportunity to, and it's so I'm so grateful to be on staff at this church in Idaho. And and so we're up there for a men's retreat or a men's advance. Yep. And uh Justin was the guest pastor, and you you spoke and you did sessions, and then you and I led worship together, and and so God did some really cool things and some moments with some men uh there in Idaho. And then there was one day where we had some free time, and we went up and we were like, we're in the mountains, we're up in Ketchum, Sun Valley area, a little bit north of there in the Sawtooth. Yeah. Um Sawtooths, those are the name of the mountain ranger. Sawtooth Mountains, yeah. And um, and so we're at this camp, and that one day we had the freedom to go about and have a good time, and people went fishing. The guys that went into town to go shopping got made fun of. They did it. Rightfully so, and we probably would have been those guys.

Justin: 2:23

I'm glad we aren't now on the other side.

Rhett: 2:25

And then there was the guys who had all the uh side by sides, and there was this one great guy, GJ, shout out to you for bringing a ton of side by sides for guys who didn't have them, and we all jumped in them and we we went crazy. A little bit of the wild side of the men came out.

Justin: 2:38

Yeah, well, I didn't know that you know, when we talked two episodes ago, yeah, just talking a little bit how nervous, like that was a nervous part of me because I was listening to you talk. Yeah, because yeah, because it was a nervous trail. But also, let's be clear, it might not have been what it was before, but you're still driving up a mountain and there's nothing if you go off that road. Yeah, like you're still falling off a mountain.

Rhett: 3:01

Yeah, we I think I think at the base camp level, at the base camp level where we were at the at the camp, was like six thousand feet. Yeah, we were already crazy. And we were like, by the time we got to the top, we were like 9,000 something feet.

Justin: 3:14

Yeah, we were closing in on 10. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty wild. And so what I didn't know is Clay, the pastor, was gonna let me drive. I thought I was gonna be like in the passenger seat.

Rhett: 3:26

I was I honestly, like, I was shocked that Clay was like, oh, come on, man, jump in here. You got this. Me too. He was like, No, man, I'm gonna pull that bougie out of you real quick. He said, You're you're driving.

Justin: 3:36

And so I was just making sure I understood. Is it gear shift? Is it just no? Is automatic? Okay, here we go. You guys had already taken off.

Rhett: 3:43

Yeah.

Justin: 3:44

We did. So I'm cranking up and I'm like, I'm gonna be the slow guy in the back. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Rhett: 3:48

You went before us. No, but before I did, yeah, I did. Yeah, you did. You were ahead of me because I wasn't driving. There was another guy driving, and he was nervous that he was driving me. He even told me he said, dude, I want to go too fast. I'm kind of nervous.

Justin: 4:00

All I know is me and Clay were the last. Y'all took off. Oh, yeah. I was there learning how to drive it. I didn't know.

Rhett: 4:07

I had that. I I have okay, not to disagree, but I disagree because the guy that had this satellite phone was in the very end, and that was Paul, and we were right in front of him.

Justin: 4:17

Were you behind Paul? I was behind all of you guys. Y'all already left.

Rhett: 4:20

Okay, so after we came together. Okay, so we finally came. Okay, so you went at you went in front of us once we had like a midway stop and restroom break and stuff. And then you must have got in front of us at the end.

Justin: 4:31

Even before that, because I ended up throttling it, and I realized with Clay, he's okay. I kept asking for rules. He's like, There are no rules. Yeah, no rules. And then finally I kept asking, and he gave me a rule. He said, Do not fall off that mountain. Yeah. I said, got it. I said, So I can go as fast as I want.

Rhett: 4:48

He said, Yes. Because to give people perspective, I mean, you know, you start down, you're like kind of in a valley, and then you're slowly working up, and it's a two-lane road, really tight, you know, side by side, probably at the widest, six feet, sometimes four feet at the smallest. Yeah. You know, and um, and then as you go higher up, you're you're hugging the side of the mountain. And on the right, I mean, there's trees, but then there's I mean, it's a pretty steep fall-off on the right. So if you're riding in the passenger seat, you're actually getting a chance to look off and look down and go, please don't stop and fall. Exactly. You know, and and because you're going pretty fast in the tree limbs that are up there in these pine trees, it's like even some of them are kind of jagged, and you're like, if you just go off a little bit, you I am being impelled. Yeah, exactly. With a with a tree. You know, like there is a crazy adventure happening. I could be impelled because some of those trees are broken due to avalanches sitting on the side. And you come through, and like if you're too close and that tree can come right through the window, which there is no window, it's open air. We had a window. Yeah. So let's not impel anybody.

Justin: 5:49

We had a window in the front, but I did tell Clay, I say, you are um you're very trusting. I'm about to say, yeah, yeah. You're really trusting somebody that I felt he made me feel so comfortable that I just finally throttled it. And I I mean, once I got comfortable enough, I hit the gas as hard as I could. I'm you had to pass this on one of the stops. Rounding the cart, I mean, I felt like Mario Kart. Yeah, it's fine. Because I was rounding these corners and I'm thinking to myself, this is it seems a lot more dangerous, but I feel in full control.

Rhett: 6:20

Yeah.

Justin: 6:21

But if I don't make this turn, I'm over a mountain. But I never thought I wouldn't make the turn.

Rhett: 6:25

Yeah.

Justin: 6:25

They're very responsive. And then I looked at Clay and I kept saying, Are you okay? And he's not, he said, Do you see me holding any O crap bar? There's like the O-crap bar, and he wasn't. He said, Just drive, man. So we are flying through the forest up the mountain.

Rhett: 6:40

The higher up you get, the more loose the soil is, and it's not oil at this point because it's Rocky Mountain.

Justin: 6:45

It's just rocks, yeah, big rocks. And then Clay is just like we're having the best conversation. We're actually talking about ministry. Yeah. And it would hit my head as we're in the depth of conversation. Yeah, there's just stuff flying past us. Like we were going so fast. Yeah. And so we finally caught up to the car. And then I would kind of ride the bumper a little bit because in my mind, all I'm thinking is get out of my way. You're get out of my way.

Rhett: 7:09

That's how I was behind you when I'm behind. I was like slow. Get out the way, bro. You know what? I was riding your butt on the week line. You know why? Because Clay was telling me. And I was like, come on, man. I can't ready left. I was ready to clap. Let's be clear. You have the RZR, which is like um like riding on air or butter over these boulders. Beautiful. And I'm grateful for the one we had because it was fun. But you know, like um, it was more for farming. It was more like the mule. It's like a mule type thing. And then it's it's built, but it doesn't have the suspension that you did. Your suspension was like you could go over boulders and feel like you're flying.

Justin: 7:44

When you're driving a man's contraption that's like twelve thousand dollars, it's not even mine. And it's like, and I would hear rocks hit, and I'm like, Clay, I'm sorry. He was like, No, dude, you're good. Just on the rocks, maybe just ease up a little bit. Yeah. And I would even joke, I'm like, Rhett is like right behind me. I want to go. I said, but I want to take care of your.

Rhett: 8:02

Did you tell him that? Oh, yeah. I was like, I okay, I don't want to get too ahead of herself. That was on the way down because on the way up, the other guy drove me and he was going super slow, and I was like, dude, you're good. He's like, people kept pulling to the side and I was so happy.

Justin: 8:14

Like they were letting me get by. Yeah. I don't know if they were I'm the guest pastor. Those are some of the older guys. Those older guys who own like a 25,000 rig that was out there for the first time. Right there, but like I'm like, I want to get by. And they all pulled over and we took off, and I caught up with the blue, the blue fast ones. Yeah. Those are the guys.

Rhett: 8:33

Those are the guys. Those are the guys who were like riding it. They knew where they were going. They knew where they were going.

Justin: 8:37

So they'd go so fast and then slow down to make sure we're all still caught up. Yeah, that was that was fun. And so, but what was cool is we got to the top of the mountain rhythm, and you did something that I don't think I'll ever forget. Like it was such a cool moment.

Rhett: 8:50

Well, yeah. Okay, so we get out of the ATVs.

Justin: 8:54

And and so it's along the way we get out because there's beautiful views you just don't want to miss. But we finally do get we get to the to the top of where we're going.

Rhett: 9:03

Yeah, and we need to post yeah. I don't know if you want to post the picture that you know of you on the mountain and me too at some point. That way people can get kind of a perspective of how high we were. I mean, you know, you're close to pushing 10,000 feet. In in Rocky Mountains, I don't know if you've ever been on them, but the very peak of the Rocky Mountains, there's no way you're getting to the peak because it's just straight, just rock. I mean, you're talking like 90 degree angles, so we're probably still, you know, a thousand feet or so from the actual top top, because unless you have gear and climbing gear, there's no way you're getting up there. But as far as like the actual like terrain, right, we would get to to where we could all park and look off this cliff and look at the very top of the mountain. And it was just it was like the hills are a lot lesser than the sound of beautiful music. Oh, right, you know, like whatever the sound of music, like it was just beautiful. We are in Switzerland, and uh very Rocky Mountain-ish, but like it was just beautiful, and all the guys are up there hanging out, we're having a good time, everybody's laughing.

Justin: 10:00

It was it was such a man, man. It was, you know, awesome. How many of us were at least 20? I counted them yesterday on a picture I was showing the comer. Yeah, yeah. It was 21, 22 of us.

Rhett: 10:11

So, yeah, so 21, 22 guys, and we're all up there hanging out, talking. Now, you know, um, I part of me was like, I don't wish these guys would just shut up because I want to just sit here and quiet and listen to the rustling of the trees and just nature. Yeah. And so I was like, hey guys, can we take a moment of silence? And Patrick Clay's like, dude, we're men, just tell us to shut up. You want us to shut up? That's what you you need to tell all these guys to shut up. I think it was Clay, maybe it was TJ. I don't know. And I was like, All right, guys, hey, can we all just shut up for a moment? They're like, Oh, yeah, we can do that. You know, they respond to that. Like in this moment of silence is nonsense to these Idahoans of the what was cool though, yeah, is but yeah, so we never really had that moment of just quiet. So then I was like, all right, this ain't gonna work. So part of me, this is what I do when I'm alone in a place where I feel like I can just let loose, yeah, I scream at the top of my lungs. Now, number one, you might think I'm nuts and you might think I'm crazy, but there are a lot of moments in my own life where I feel like there's just something in me that just needs to let out either anxiety, stress, whatever. I, you know, I don't want to suppress this stuff. And oftentimes we do, because even if I were to scream in my house or yell, let me let me know. Let me clarify, let me clarify. Men don't scream, they yell, according to Clay Ramirez. That's right. And so, but I I I told him, I said, you know, there's this something uh therapeutic I think in our soul that we do not realize that is there when we can just get to a place where we can just yell at the top of our lungs. Yeah. And maybe nobody else feels this way. And and I would encourage you, go drive out as far as you can wherever you are in the country. Yeah, pull off the side of the road and just look left and right to where nobody is and just yell at the top of your lungs. And you cannot tell me that you will not feel better at the end of it. It was backed up like a lot of times.

Justin: 12:00

Psychology backs it up. Even if you can't get anywhere, get the pillow and just put your face in it and scream or yell from the top of your lungs, and you will feel so much better.

Rhett: 12:11

Even if you don't think you need it, you need it. Okay. And so, so I just had this idea that you're referring to, and I was like, I said, hey guys, y'all might think I'm crazy. I don't remember how it all came out my mouth, but it was to the point of, I don't care if you think I'm nuts. Right. I said, I think we should all yell at the top of our lungs at the count of three. Who thinks that would be cool? Let's just do they all looked at me, dude, and you probably even did too. Like, what is he doing? Yeah, I mean, I would love to say, Red, I got your back because I'm always in your corner.

Justin: 12:38

But you weren't. But I oh I was, but I was just like, okay, this is my friend. I'll go down with him. Okay, yeah. If I'm the only one who yells with my friend, I will.

Rhett: 12:49

Okay, but number one, these are men, me men of men. These guys like are farmers, they're they're ranchers, they are they're not the guys that you see sipping coffee in the coffee shop unless it's Westwood Coffee in Idaho. Big shout out to them. Yeah. Uh, but like these, the I mean, like these are burly men. They it's tricky. I'm talking like handlebar mustaches, partying in the back, business in the front, beard, strong, big guys. Get out. I mean, I mean, they're these are guys they some of these own businesses, how high-level executives in farming, agriculture, punters. So go with me here.

Justin: 13:20

You got you got City Boy Rhett over here. And the ethnicity is amazing there because you have a lot of Native Americans in that. So you have just, I mean, white, you have Native Americans. It's so cool. You have Hispanic culture. We just uh it was a melting pot of men up there. Really, it was so fun.

Rhett: 13:37

And so you have me, and I I'm like, you know, they would consider I'm on staff, so I come up once a month and they're a week, I I preach, they know me from that and sharing stories, and so we don't really get a chance to hang out a lot, but they know I'm not like an true Idahoit. You know what I'm saying? Even though I lived there for five years, and and so they're looking at me just much like you were like, Oh, okay, this might be a little weird. But I'm like, you know what? There's something here. You did press directly. And so I said, guys, I said, seriously, at the count of three. You had to kind of take command. Yeah, I did. But it's by right now. No, no, no, no, no. Come on, we're so knowing that crowd, they didn't ask them if they wanted to anymore. You told him I said, We're doing this, we're doing this. That says a lot about who I am and my personality. I don't really care. We're going. It was good. It was in on the count of three, we're going to yell. And I'm saying, don't hold anything back, let it all out, yell at the top of your lungs. And they did. And three, two, one, we did. And I would say we were probably like 70% on the first one. Because some guys were like kind of rolling their eyes, looking like they sold out to it still, though. Yeah. Okay, so we went all in. I said, as long as you can, not just some little wimpy little thing, but like yell and do it as long as you can.

Justin: 14:43

Yeah.

Rhett: 14:43

And then I'll let you take it from there.

Justin: 14:45

Oh man. And then after the after that shout, after that yell, we all are out of oxygen now and we stop. And it's just silence. You kind of even directed us with your hands like like this, listen. And in the silence, you could hear our yell reverberate forever among these mountains. If you picture in the distance, we've got the top of like a point, Washington Point, or something like that. And you hear our scream as if we're still screaming. It's like it's running down, it's echoing off the mountains, and and it I mean 15 seconds at least. Yeah, no exaggeration here because I saw a bunch of men who heard something that they've never heard before. And they grew up around all this stuff. Yeah. And it was so quiet, and you saw like these men become kids. And then Rhett, I'll for I'll never forget you looked at him and said, You want to do that again? And they went, Yeah.

Rhett: 15:46

That was like all of a sudden these men's men became boys, and you could feel that you could feel the hair on your arm starting to stand up.

Justin: 15:53

I feel that right now.

Rhett: 15:54

After that reverberation, because it sounded like an army. Um here's if I could try my best to put this into words. We were 22 guys, but it honestly sounded like a thousand men running militantly, warfare cry through the mountains, like we were about screaming at the top of their lungs. The villains. Yes. And and it was just eerie silence of us hearing that reverberate, reverberate, reverberate, and go until we couldn't hear it. In literally 10, 15 seconds-ish, some guys recorded it. Crazy. They'd recorded the second time. You could just hear it, oh, just dissipate. But oh, it was just it was a beautiful haunting. It was haunting.

Justin: 16:32

Yeah.

Rhett: 16:32

And even I I mean, my my my hair's on my look, you can see the dill bumps on my arm. So we all looked around and we had that little giggle. If guys could giggle, we were giddy. And they were like, oh my God. I said, Y'all want to do that again?

Justin: 16:44

Yeah.

Rhett: 16:44

Yeah, yeah. And I said, okay, louder this time. Some guys were pulling out their phones, like at this point. And these are guys who are, like you said, grew up, grown up in Idaho and never done this. Yeah. And so it's like, all right, on three, two, one. Oh, we're as loud as we can, even longer. And louder. And louder. So we were 100% in at this point. And then it stopped, and it was even more eerie and haunting. It went forever. Yeah.

Justin: 17:09

Yeah. And you, you there was now the silence that you wanted. Now it was there because everybody, even after the sound went away, there was just a silence of it was almost like you were seeing the display of getting something out. Yes. It was it was like a recovery of just sitting in it for a minute. It was very sacred for a moment. Just stillness. And then it was all the wows of that. I've never done that before in my life.

Rhett: 17:39

I was very sobering. Grown men that we talked about earlier come up, giving me a high five fist bump, hug, going, I I've lived here all my life. I've done this hundreds of times. And I've never experienced anything like this. This was new for me. Thank you. I heard it. Same there. I heard it. I didn't, I didn't do it expecting any of that. No. I literally did it because there's something in me that just loves to scream at the top of my lungs when I'm by myself somewhere. And I wanted to do it. And then it's like, oh, but I can't. But then I was like, you know what? Screw it. I'm gonna get all these guys together and we're gonna do it.

Justin: 18:11

Like I said, it started out with I'm gonna go down with my buddy. Yeah. Until the end, I'm like, that's my buddy. But yeah.

Rhett: 18:20

I know it. 40 years ago, right here. Yeah. So now you know why I hang out with them. Exactly. See, but you know, all that to say, we also had this theme that that, you know, when you and I were putting together the worship set and just happened to work out with that song Gratitude by Brandon Lake. Oh, yeah. And there's that, is it the bridge? Uh come on, my soul. Oh yeah, don't get shy. Don't get shy on me. Right? Like, hold nothing back. Lift up your voice, your voice, your song, your spirit, like everything within you. Why? Because there's a lion inside of those lungs. Oh yeah. So do what? Get up and praise the Lord. Yeah.

Justin: 18:55

That could not have been a better song for that men's advance.

Rhett: 18:59

I've got chills right now. So I'm telling you, so we we had sung that song Thursday night. Yep. We had sung that song Friday morning. Yep. And now we had a chance to apply it outside of a song into real life with a group of men. And I I didn't tie those two together until afterwards. I was like, whoa. Right? Well it hit that's when it hit me at night. It was like something powerful about that. That as a man, realizing there's so much in us that we need to let out aggressively. And aggressively, not in like hurting people, but like just ah, just gotta get it out. God designed that and wired us that way. They had a visual aid to take to the service that night. 100%. And and and before we get to that service on because Friday night, we you know you did such a great job applying that in the worship moment and everything. And I'll let you talk about that. But when we were on top of that mountain, I was like, guys, this reminds me of Gideon. If you've never read the story of Gideon, it's basically opposite of revival. You know, he starts out with thousands, ends up with 300, and they overtake this. Yeah, really, all they do is basically they're standing on the highest point like we were. Yeah. And there were 300 men, right? Encircled around a camp of thousands. Yeah. Got their torches. They had their torches in the middle of the night. They said, Hey, you know, for Gideon and for the Lord, if I remember correctly, they lit their torches at the same time. And all they did on the top of this mountain, like a bowl, if you will, like where we were. Yeah. Imagine I don't remember how many thousands of the enemy were down there.

Justin: 20:30

Yeah.

Rhett: 20:30

But they they raised their voice in a shout, like we did. Yeah. We were 20-something. Yeah. And it sounded like thousands. It did. And when we did that, and we heard that, it brought this, it brought that story to life in a way that I never have before. Because it confused the enemy. They were thrown into confusion. They were thrown into confusion and the enemy started attacking each other because it sounded like millions of people were just running down. And they saw the flames and the torches. They were like, oh, we're we're done. Oh yeah. And they started turning on each other and they annihilated themselves. Yeah. All because of a shout of praise. Yeah. Really. Power of God. 300 men, a shout, and the enemy was defeated. Done. And so we, on a small level, experience I say small level, it's all big spiritually, but I mean like with the 20-something men we had on that mountain, we experienced kind of a small portion or small taste of what getting in the men experienced. Yeah. Hey friends, just want to take a moment and say, if you are enjoying today's conversation, could you do us a huge favor? Would you take a moment and copy the link from your favorite podcast platform and share it with a friend? Email it to a friend. How about airdropping it over to your buddy or your sister right now? Man, that would mean so much to us. Thank you. All right, guys, back to the conversation. And so there's something profound about like just praising and honoring and yelling and just unto the Lord. And that's what we did. And so we took that moment, and you did so beautifully. We obviously uh sang gratitude again. And before we got to the bridge, or right when we were kind of vanting musically, before we would declare, Come on, my soul, right? Don't get shy of me. Lift up your voice. There's a lion inside of you. So get up and praise the Lord kind of moment. You did such a good job, and I'll pass to you on that. Can you can set that up? And then what happened?

Justin: 22:20

Yeah, well, at night Friday, Friday evening. Yeah. Yeah. So Friday evening, I was it was a message I was speaking about labels that have been placed on us. We don't even realize it since we were young boys. So powerful. And so I was trying to open that up a little bit. And uh it began leading to that point of ministry moment. Uh you you did a great job raising up this worship leader at your church, Jared, who gave him that opportunity to sing. I thought he did a such a great job. And so I'm really letting them just have this moment of reflecting on the message as the song's being sung. I didn't even have him stand yet. They're just listening and and letting it minister to him. And then it just kind of hits me that we just had an amazing experience. And traumatically, there are things we've been through that people have never just shouted like that. And and I just I know it to be the case. There's something spiritual about just getting it out. And it recalled the moment that you did with everybody. So that's why, you know, I had everybody stand up and I said, I wanted to bring all the other men. So we had what 55, 60 men? Close. Yeah. Something like that. So including us. 22 of those were there, which meant that 40 getting to be a part of it. Right. And so I, you know, I tried to give, you know, the context to it so everybody was aware. I told him about the shout.

Rhett: 23:42

Yeah.

Justin: 23:43

And I just told him, I said, guys, there's a lot of things that we've suppressed and we've just never claimed the victory over in the name of Jesus. And I explained this the moment where we just shouted from the top of our lungs. And I don't know if I took a line from Gladiator or what, but I said, I say, your voice will echo into eternity right now. What you scream out. And it was just because we also had the aid of the men in that room. There, if you can picture, there's a lot of smiles, the kids coming alive because they remember the moment. Yeah, they exactly. So they're helping it come alive for the men around them. And so the energy in the room was crazy. Very they were receptive already. They kind of already knew where we were headed with this and what you were about to do.

Rhett: 24:26

Oh man, they're getting hyped. And so they're kind of like elbowing the other guys, like, hey, trust me, this is gonna be awesome. You're gonna like this. No, yeah. Just go with it.

Justin: 24:32

I probably had it. And I even had fun with the story. Yeah. Even in this ministry moment I told about Rhett coming up with the idea. We weren't too sure about it. So people are kind of laughing. Yeah. Once again, it's trying to ease them. Yeah. With laughter, it's medicine. And then the music, and we're vamping musically behind you. Yeah. Rhett is Rhett just knows how to carry ministry moments so well. So he's can he's kind of given hand you know gestures to some of the team, like when to build it up because he knows where I'm going already. Yeah. So the band is doing such a great job. And we say band, it was really just a four-piece. It was me, Rhett. It was so picture of a box drum. Two acoustics and a box drum and beyond keys.

Rhett: 25:09

But it felt so powerful. Yeah, it was good. And so just I was holding that lower note on my left hand. Oh, it was so good.

Justin: 25:15

And it was just I gave the countdown, just a shout and just keep it out. And these men just erupted. It was amazing. It was emotional to me. I'm having to back off because I'm about to start weeping. And then all I can muster is to say, like, do it again. I mean, by that time, my voice is gone and I'm emotional. I think if I were to let you know what my shout sounded like, it would have been hilarious. I backed out of the mic.

Rhett: 25:40

It had a big I it was a big crack. Truth be told, I didn't yell. I was right in front of these guys. We they were, you know, we were the front line, if you will. They were all facing us in a small room that's made out of wood, and it's got these wood raptors together. We're right here, and I've just taken in the the amount of yelling toward me. Yes. It was I mean, come on. It was awesome. I mean again.

Justin: 26:02

Yeah, it was awesome. And you're having this moment of it. And then right there, it's just like slow.

Rhett: 26:09

Yeah. Don't you get shy on me.

Justin: 26:11

Lift up yours and they because you've got a lion and inside of it. Because they had uh they had just done it. It brought that song alive. Oh man.

Rhett: 26:22

They're singing, they're screaming, I mean, and God's presence, his word, and his promises, he inhabits the praises of his people. And when men get together and just get beyond their own little comfort zone and get out of themselves, yes, and just oh, like God shows up in the I was like, Oh, ooh, this is you do you can't make this is just um worship God, but yet you received this ultimate, ultimate high you can't explain. You feel the authority of God's sovereignty and majestic nature in the room through these men, and it's like nothing can stop us.

Justin: 26:58

Let's go. It was it was awesome. I'll never forget the moment. Those men, and now even kind of backing it down from the moment I got there, yeah. I was already just confessing, a bit intimidated because I already knew these men that were standing before. Yeah, and you're already you're already thinking, don't know how they're gonna hang out with the Starbucks coffee, you know, as as uh clay jokes with us, the the two metros.

Rhett: 27:26

I like being in the city and drinking, but I can take both.

Justin: 27:29

And I would have rather to the little uh village city area, but I'm so glad I didn't now. Yeah, yeah, because I got to really just go do that. But these men on that, especially the first message that night, to see God move these tough men and to look among the eyes and see all these eyes just wet. Like I knew I was like, the Holy Spirit is moving in so many lives. Yeah. And to I've never received so many hugs in my life after a message. Like we got to linger. Picture Youth Camp. Yeah, these men became just young boys again. We were giddy, we didn't have to be anywhere. Yeah, so I got to take my time talking. Yeah, we just got to, we just got to hang out. There was no time.

Rhett: 28:14

There was no time. It was like, I mean, it's Idaho time is what I call it. You know, you have heard of island time, yeah. And you got your Hispanic and Mexican brothers and sisters who are like, hey man, we're on a siesta. Let's just go like exactly we're gonna take some time, right? You know, the Idaho has its own time in that men's retreat in event. And it's like, you know what? If we start at nine, we start at nine. If we start at six, like, okay, we're just gonna go. By the way, there's nothing, you're cut off from civilization.

Justin: 28:39

Oh, yeah.

Rhett: 28:39

No, no cell phone service. No, it's satellite.

Justin: 28:42

The only way you'd have a shot is we had in our room, the pastor brought um Starlink so that we could upload notes and all that. Yeah, other than that, the men had no access. Like we were shut out from the world for those days. Uh and so just man, it was powerful. I mean, I I remember four people gave the heart to Jesus that first night. And but then after the service, there were people who came and just embracing. I mean, these men, yeah, it was it was uh unforgettable. Yeah.

Rhett: 29:13

Well, I I know I'm your friend, and there's maybe people think there's an expectation for me just to say things out of um obligation. But I don't say this out of obligation. I say this to honor you, and I told you this. I said, bro, you're made for these environments, man. Like Justin's gift of storytelling. Like, if you if you've listened to any of our episodes, you realize Justin is a storyteller, but he is really like he's mastered the art of being able to tell stories in a way that draw people in, and then all of a sudden you draw them in, they don't even know what, like, why is he telling the story? Like ish, you know, like, okay, that was a great story, but like, oh wow, okay, and then you tie it into scripture and what God's word says, and then how it can that analogy, if you will, or that real life story, how it applies. To where they are in life, yeah, and maybe things that they've experienced and how they need to allow God to move in their life the same, you know. And I won't tell your stories, but and man, I was just so proud of you, you know, as a friend. I mean, I've seen you obviously with us leading worship and doing those kind of things, but to see you in that environment, because not every a lot of people, some people are really good with like a really big crowd. And I t and I'll I'll be honest with you, big crowds are easy. Yeah, that sounds egotistical, that sounds prideful, yeah. But it's a lot easier to speak to a room of a thousand people, in my opinion, yeah, than it is a small group of 50 in a very intimate setting. Yeah, but that's not easy. Yeah, and you were able to do that um in a way that was filled with grace, but in your gifting and to take what God's given you, which you've always been good at, you love telling stories, yeah, but to use that in a way to honor the Lord and to uh inspire these men. And I look back and I'm like, God, the and ple please hear me. Like it when I say the men were eating out of the palm of your hand, what I'm trying to say is they were like leaned in. Yeah, they were like mouth dropped, leaned in, nobody was zoned out. And I was like, man, go, that's my buddy right there. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I was so proud of you. Thank you. And um, and so, and that was just the first night, and then it went on, and then of course, you know, the men's retreat was great and it was an incredible experience. But then even speaking on Sunday morning, you know, to to believers church family, which I was so proud of that moment to get to see how God built things relationally, of how you connected me with Clay, and you met him for the first time in 2017. Then I met him, moved to Idaho, and then we started building a relationship and then passed the baton. I'm to new pastors at one life. I'm coming back to Birmingham, it's still a part of what God's doing in Idaho with Clay, and then to see me then get a chance to re-in, you know, reintroduce, if you will, to you and Clay, and y'all build that relationship, and then to get that invite to come up and then get to be it's just a very beautiful picture of how God had just orchestrated relationships to open up an opportunity to use your gifting to minister to guys, to see a transformation and a catalyst moment for next steps, and then on Sunday to see the response to the message that you brought and the hands that go up to say, Hey, I want to I want to give my life to Jesus and move forward and take next steps and yeah what God's called me to. And I encourage people to go back and watch BelieversCurchIdaho.com. You'll see Justin in his message. I was the week before, nowhere near as good as yours, but you know, hey, you know, we're not comparing God's completely different, by the way.

Justin: 32:30

I don't think that's true at all. I had so many people. First of all, thank you. That means a lot. Mean it. Um it I mean, it does. And then Pastor Clay, just the way he gave such freedom for me to operate, because it is it's my communication style is just different in that way. And it's beautiful. I enjoyed the way he allowed me to say, Man, just take it. You know, and I'm made sure retreat, I got to take my time. Sunday morning, you gotta at least set within two services and make sure it finishes, but still, it went just yeah, I mean, just I'm it just doesn't get old. And to see hands go up like that, you're still up there like, wow, thank you, Jesus. Like this is actually happening. Um but I will say during my time there, I had so many men. And then when I would go basically after the service, um, Pastor Clay will go rush out to get to the front of the building. And then we're talking Sunday morning service. Sunday morning service, you got a thousand people. Yeah. And so he will he jets out the back when uh the worship leader is leading the final song.

Rhett: 33:38

Yeah, not not to the green room.

Justin: 33:39

No, no, there are no green rooms. No, he's going straight outside because he wants to just greet. And so with me being the guest, he's like, Hey, you want to come? I'm like, Yeah. So we're outside, and you basically have a congregation just flooding the sidewalks, and in that there's only one entrance and one exit for everybody.

Rhett: 33:55

So it's like everybody's coming through this one. There's no escaping.

Justin: 33:58

Yeah, and so at least everybody sees you, but of those, you know, what would be a thousand people, you're gonna have 50, 100 conversation, quick hugs, all that, and you just got a parking lot of people gathered, great vibes. But um, in that, what I was saying at the men's retreat, the men's advance, as we called it, and on Sunday morning, I would have people coming up to me and they said, Well, Rick, you know, because in my message, obviously, people know like that's been my best buddy. I told them how we met each other throwing ninja stars at the garbage can at Twin Gate's East Apartments when we were seven and eight years old. And they they were they didn't think that I had listened to your message the previous week, which I did, and it was phenomenal. That's why I'm correcting what you said. It was not better, it was just me and you operating and who we are. Yeah, because you got very vulnerable. Um, and you guys, I encourage you to go and listen to that at BelieversChurchIdaho.com and you can uh hear Rhett's message, but so many people were telling me they say, God, Rhett got so vulnerable last week. I don't know if you've heard it, yeah, but I never knew he's gone through all this stuff. And I heard the same thing from countless people who were like, I love Rhett so much. I had no idea you went through those struggles.

Rhett: 35:16

Wow.

Justin: 35:16

They impicked they pictured some of it was like you're the pastor, hadn't gone through all that.

Rhett: 35:20

Yeah.

Justin: 35:21

And it uh and they've already loved you, but it's it's like it unlocked another dimension to how they see you. So I would have to submit to say your message was very, very effective.

Rhett: 35:33

It brings tears to my eyes, even sitting here hearing you say that. Hey guys, Red here. Just want to take a moment and say thank you to every single one of you who have taken the time to follow us on social media. Now, if today is your first time to join us for an episode, man, we want to say welcome, friends. It's so good to have you with us. Could you take a moment? Look us up on Instagram or Facebook. You can find us there in an armchair authentic, or you can go on over to X find us there as well in an armchair inf that's armchair inf A-U-T-H-P-O-D. All right, now back to the conversation. It's encouraging because you know there's something about vulnerability, you know. And I it works. I I think maybe in the back in the very beginning when we started doing this podcast, we were attempting to kind of do an interview style, and I was asking you, and we did your story and kind of dove into some things, and we didn't dive into everything. Of course, it was not enough time, right? But yeah, we were still learning how to have conversations and open up and how vulnerable do we get? We want to be authentic, but yeah, we want to. And then uh I shared some things in in that interview, some 80 something episodes ago, whenever it was. And um episode six and seven. Yeah, so a part a part of that journey was a divorce that I went through in my early twenties and I didn't really get into the story of like the imagery of everything that happened when we were on this conversation on the episode of the interview we record on the podcast. Yeah. So I kind of took a little bit of time and I and I told that from a perspective of, you know, I'm not uh I'm not proud of this. Yeah. Um, and I'm actually there's a lot of shame attached to it. Yeah. But in an effort to allow people to understand the type of pain that I've gone through and what I'm preaching and what I'm teaching you how to deal with grief and sorrow and how to move through that, these aren't things that I've just the Bible teaches and that is good practical thing. These are things that I've lived and that I've walked and that I've applied as I'm walking through it. And here's how I did it in giving very specifics to that. Um, and so for today's conversation, obviously, uh we're we don't have time to get into that. But I think, and I shared with you a couple weeks ago, and it was because I was prepping for this message because we were talking about how to overcome difficult days, yeah, how to overcome life's worst moments. Um, and I've had a lot, but that one was a big one for me. And so I think maybe that might be something we want to dive into in the next few episodes, kind of go there to try to help people to gain an understanding, and also as we time capsule this, if you will. Very important for our family that I talked through that out loud so people understand how did he? I know he went through that, but how did he process it and how did God move through that, you know? And and so maybe I maybe not next, I don't know. Yeah, at some point we'll we'll we'll talk about that, not to leave people hanging with that. Obviously, yeah, you know, you can see where we're doing today. God's, you know, he's faithful. Right. But like practically speaking, what was that like to that moment and how did you apply God's word and what was that journey like? And how long did it take?

Justin: 38:29

And we're gonna I think that I think you really honed in on it. We're going to be spending these episodes to make sure that we are saying the things that if we haven't covered the detail we want to that gets covered, yeah, so that our boys, yeah, our children's children, yeah, and those who we consider the listeners who've been so faithful to this podcast, our friends, can always go back and say that time capsule is very important to me. And it's been a tool for me to use in my walk with Jesus.

Rhett: 39:01

Yeah. And so I I shared that. And I don't know what service they have online. I don't know if it's the first or second. I felt like honestly, I did a better job telling that story in the second. Um, but either way, you know, I did the best that I can with my own humanity and allow God to move through it. But um But yeah, so I appreciate you saying that. It means a lot because I here's where I was going with this. Um the devil, like when if you've got an overcoming story and you're not proud of what that is, you know, drugs, alcohol, you know, whatever you name it, like whatever that is, that's not my story. But whatever is a point of pain in your life that you're not proud of, but yet God moved through and you've overcome and now you're on the other side. The last thing that the devil wants you to do is to share that. Oh, yeah. And I didn't want to share it. I was like, I don't, I mean, come on, man. I'm a pastor. Quote, you know, yeah. There are some denominations in in theology out there that would say you that you have no right standing on a platform and talking about God's word. Yeah, you're not qualified because you haven't lived a perfect life. Yeah. You've got some mistakes and you were married before, and you know, you know what that means. You've committed adultery and and all that, right? Now let's finish up this service so I can get to shoney.

Justin: 40:10

Yeah.

Rhett: 40:11

Right? And if that's you, I I feel sorry for you on that side of things. I I really hope that you know, you know, you you grow in your relationship with the Lord and you see that even the criminal on the cross still like I mean, was he that's right, he went to heaven. You know, Paul, two-thirds of the New Testament. I mean, you might as well cut that out of your vocabulary because that man right there who was teaching Timothy and who was teaching all these guys and even corrected Peter was the same guy who signed off on the murder of Christians. Could never be trusted. I mean, how can you trust how how was he qualified for ministry? I mean, you start looking at that lens and you're like, wow, okay, nobody's qualified. Exactly. Exactly. That's why that's why God himself had to come down. Exactly. So that's why I tell people, like, God does not call the qualified, he qualifies those he's called. So, like, if you've given your relation, you know, your life over to Christ, guess what? Now you're called. Oh, yeah. You know, none of us are qualified for it. Christ is the only one. And so, anyway, if you're on the other side of that and you're condemning me and you think whatever you think, I have a lot of grace and mercy for you, and I pray God's opens up your eyes. But for that very reason, it makes it hard to share those things. Yeah. And so the devil's like, ah, you know, they're not gonna respect you, they're not gonna love you, you're not love you, but they're not gonna accept, they're gonna be like, who are you? You know, whatever. But then, but it does the opposite, man. It does the opposite. It really does. You show some people your scars and you tell them the pain behind that scar, yes, and you show them, hey, but this is what happened, right? I'm not proud of it, but yet here's what God did in his faithfulness through it. And I'm on the other side of this, not because I'm great, but because I've just been faithful to show up and here and allow God to move. Man, it just it does the opposite. And I'll tell you, man, I I you you kind of know that, but then you have to fight that struggle of being able to share your struggles. And I I guess at the end of the day, there's wisdom in how you do it and when you do it. I don't think, you know. Um, this was like 27 some years ago, you know, my early 20s. I'm 48 now. You do the math. I mean, that's a long time ago. Yeah. And uh that's just a story that I can't keep from sharing. I need to share it more. And so I'll be more I'm gonna be very intentional with maybe one of our next conversations to share that. I think it might I think that would not for me, but for others, you know.

Justin: 42:23

Yeah, it will, it's amazing how God will use so yeah. Whoever we're talking to now, yeah, and hey, hey boys, uh listen to this. God is using your story, he will use every bit of the pain that you've gone through. Yeah, there's nothing you've done that has gone too far that he can't redeem and use. Yeah, and so that's the beauty of taking our testimony. The first testimony that we have is, and I'll share more about this later too. But the first testimony we have is that moment we have with Christ. Yeah, but we got what we need to remember is the Bible says he is the chief cornerstone. The builders rejected it. Didn't look like something that they thought it was gonna happen, but Jesus is the chief cornerstone. So once we build that first testimony, yeah, uh, all the other stories and testimonies, meaning you're gonna face test to overcome, and they become testimonies, yeah, are gonna be built on that one thing. And so every mistake, every failure, uh, whatever it is, those become stories built on the chief cornerstone. And if it's built on that rock, it will be used and God will use it. And that's why you can, that's why I can stand in a crowd and share a true story. And even though it still shocks me because it's just cool to get to be used as a vessel, yeah, you know that it's all the power of God. That's why you can say something to somebody and there's tears. And then when you ask if they'd like to receive Jesus, they'll raise their hand. Still blows me away, but at the same time, it's not uh blowing me away because the power of God can do so much more than we ever thought thought is possible. So he will use the most tragic story that you've ever been through, and he will turn that pain into purpose. And that's a great place to end. Amen.

Rhett: 44:17

We'll continue these stories and we'll continue. And Justin, okay, so I know we're in the middle of this conversation and I'm looking over at our technology and I'm recognizing that um I made a slight mistake on how we're recording this. And so my hope, I know we're recording it, but the the digital quality might be a little bit different because if you're a techie or a nerd, you're you know, the behind the scenes is I'm recording both of us on the same track. Right rather than you and I having our separate tracks. So hopefully I'm not louder and you're hopefully it's mixed out. Okay. So raw. It's raw. God you so the authenticity is I was looking at this going, wait a minute, hold on, we're recording, but yet we're not doing it the way that we normally do. So we're really on one channel, is what I'm trying to say. It's okay, nobody else can know. So they're like, well, it doesn't matter. I would have never known. But like anyway, um hope you've enjoyed the episode. Next week, we'll be on seven checks. Hey friends, thank you so much for joining us on today's conversation week and week until our next episode of drink next Monday. So until then, we hope you have a great day. Stay safe, and we will see you soon, right here with your friends, ladies and gentlemen, and