03;29;07;06 – 03;29;42;19
Wendell
Welcome to Act Like Men. Men’s Leadership Podcast. This is a podcast designed to be a resource for pastors and men’s leaders as they build out an engaging ministry with their men. We do this because every man deserves an opportunity to become an authentic, biblically based man of God. This podcast is sponsored by Men’s Ministry Catalyst. A ministry is 41st year doing exactly what we just said, guiding church leadership as they build and engaging ministry with their men.

03;29;43;23 – 03;29;57;06
Wendell
Hello, everyone. My name is Wendell Morgan. I am the Executive Director, Men’s Ministry Catalyst. It’s so good to have you here today. I also want to introduce to you my co-host, Dale Eudy Dale Welcome to the podcast.

03;29;57;07 – 03;30;03;03
Dale
Good to be with you. I love this topic we’re dwelling with and walking with today.

03;30;04;11 – 03;30;30;17
Wendell
That’s right. Foundational, as I said last time over and over again. But it is the base from which most things other than our salvation will grow and come from. In our last podcasts, we connected the dots between discipleship and mentoring that was building on the foundation of Dr. Jim Grassi, the founder of Men’s Ministry, who talked about and primarily in his book, The Spiritual Mentor.

03;30;31;13 – 03;31;00;24
Wendell
We looked at biblical mandate for being a lifelong learners and being a follower of Christ, a devoted follower of Christ. We highlighted that every man needs a Paul type mentor in his life. Someone who could teach a model for another man how to live a true and authentic Christian life as he leads himself and his family We also ended by challenging the men to begin to see themselves as a potential Paul figure.

03;31;01;02 – 03;31;23;24
Wendell
So not just finding a Paul the being a Paul for another man, someone they can lead and share from their experience and how they face their own battles. But let me just put a parentheses on this. It’s hard to share what you don’t know or what you haven’t experienced. That’s right. So to find a Paul before you, Paul, in my mind, is as a critical factor.

03;31;23;26 – 03;31;51;16
Wendell
Is this still where you talk today about a couple of other military relationships that are outlined in Scripture, specifically the Barnabas, which is Encourager, the charity, which is the younger man in the faith. These are all important relationships to the Apostle Paul, and he had these in his life Talk about your own experience. They did so well last time about how these relationships are best defined and how we can put them into play in our lives.

03;31;52;09 – 03;32;19;11
Dale
Well, Wendell, again, I think you’re absolutely right that these two other types of relationships really round out what happens in the man’s spiritual growth and development that Paul relationship foundational. But at the same time that Barnabas and Timothy relationship are really very key parts of that as well. Again, the first time that I heard the need for intentional mentoring relationships in my life was at a Promise Keepers conference many years ago.

03;32;19;11 – 03;32;42;19
Dale
And Dr. Howard Hendricks, who’s now with the Lord repeated the theme of his earthly ministry when he was speaking about the need for every man to simultaneously I mean, at the same time, to have a Paul and the Barnabas and the Timothy relationship in their life. And, you know, it wasn’t that he was saying, get one. No, get all three because of that importance in their life.

03;32;42;19 – 03;33;11;26
Dale
And I can still remember him directly saying that you can influence someone from a distance, but you can only impact them up close. And that’s still resonates with me. Yeah. So having looked at the importance of mentoring in our spiritual journey, along with the need to have a Paul guiding us along and to also be a Paul for another man, let’s let’s cover those briefly, those two other mentoring relationships known as Barnabas and Timothy relationship.

03;33;11;26 – 03;33;12;10
Dale
You all ready?

03;33;13;04 – 03;33;16;16
Wendell
I’m ready. Start by where do you find those in Scripture?

03;33;16;28 – 03;33;41;18
Dale
Well, you know, in its chapter for a man by the name of Joseph is brought into this inner circle of the apostles as they ministered. And the apostle soon started calling him Barnabas. They changed his name, obviously, because of what he was bring into the group. And Barnabas truly just means son of encouragement. So this guy must have had the character and the abilities to be with and minister with them.

03;33;42;00 – 03;34;05;12
Dale
But they also noted that he was bringing something else into the mix. And when Paul had his Damascus Road experience, when he saw the light, so to speak, the other apostles were reluctant to welcome Paul in. They knew of him. His reputation was there. But this guy, this Joseph that they now call Barnabas, took Paul under his weight.

03;34;05;21 – 03;34;39;29
Dale
Can you imagine what that must have felt like for Paul Everybody else was shunning him or rejecting it. And Barnabas said, Come with me and I’ll show you salt. So in effect, Barnabas became Paul’s Paul, if you will. That disciple then mentored him, and soon Paul was ministering at the same level. They ministered together as Paul neighbors. And it’s clear that Scripture points out several times that they really relied heavily on each other to accomplish more together than they could alone.

03;34;40;10 – 03;35;06;16
Dale
So so to recap, Obama, this relationship is the type of relationship that that’s from a peer to peer perspective. Now, remember that while all mentoring relationships should have accountability built into them, the Barnabas relationship truly focuses on mutual respect, mutual accountability, where two men serve as co laborers. And we’re partners together, if you will.

03;35;06;29 – 03;35;30;27
Wendell
Yeah. You know, I go back to your comment about which is the Bible talks about he changed his name because of his behavior and demeanor. Yeah. I have to think of my own life as someone was going to change my name. What would they change it to? And is it the positive effect of the Jon that Barnabas had on the lives of those around him?

03;35;31;19 – 03;35;42;15
Wendell
Or is it something else? Mean, it’s just a it’s a there’s a look in the mirror to say, who am I today? And how do people how would people see me if they’re going to give me a name change?

03;35;42;22 – 03;36;05;08
Dale
That’s a great way to think about it. And you get a pattern in your life. You to earn the name that you would like to have. That’s a key part of that. And obviously, Barnabas, the fact that he would take Paul in and again, Paul was on the outs but these guys trusted this guy named Bard that they renamed Barnabas and they said, look, you take him and he’s your problem.

03;36;05;12 – 03;36;39;08
Dale
You know, I’m not inflecting just a little bit into what scripture had here. But, you know, guys are you know, Isaac and Barnabas stepped out on the limb, so to speak. To take Paul in and to really just to have him to quickly develop to be that ministry partner that Barnabas, I think, needed as well. So I think I think Barnabas shaped Paul into not only his mold, but then and increased him and took him into new heights that Paul never would have attained had not Barnabas taking him under his wing.

03;36;39;24 – 03;37;03;20
Wendell
You think of Barnabas as the encourager. Paul needed some of that in his life because he was a strict, you know, religious leader who was out to eliminate the Christian faith. And so to have that transformation in his life to become when you read his read the the passages of Scripture that Paul wrote, most of the adjustments, it’s very encouraging.

03;37;04;00 – 03;37;07;00
Wendell
It was so strict guidelines were very strict.

03;37;07;06 – 03;37;31;08
Dale
It really is. But again, if that door had not been opened by Jesus in the first place, you know, Paul Paul would be a second hand worker in this. But I think Barnabas saw something, and that’s the key part, I think, of mentoring relationships just in general. But certainly this Barnabas relationship, we all need cheerleaders in our life.

03;37;31;15 – 03;37;56;25
Dale
And Paul found one in Barnabas. And you know what? I think Barnabas stand in Paul, too. I think there was that mutual respect for each other that developed early on, and they needed each other and I think that’s what we’re talking about, is the spiritual character qualities and the related experience of someone who truly could help a person live out that call from Jesus in Matthew four night.

03;37;57;01 – 03;38;24;05
Dale
Come follow me. I’ll make you a fisher of men. I think that’s a wonderful foundation piece, but window the next chapter 16 we find that the Apostle Paul found a young disciple by the name of Timothy in the town that he was visiting. And Timothy was the son of a devout Jewish mother and a Greek father. And the scripture tells us that those who knew Timothy all said what a fine young man he was.

03;38;24;24 – 03;38;47;25
Dale
And Paul must have agreed because he began to recruit Timothy for the ministry, for the mission, for the travels, for the church planting And ultimately, you ask this question, you know, when a person says to you, come in the leave everything behind and follow me and come and be with me, you have to understand, what was the commitment level of Timothy?

03;38;48;07 – 03;39;18;15
Dale
Well, he must have been really committed because he allowed Paul to circumcise him so that he wouldn’t be, in a sense, to the Jews who lived in those regions. You know, and again, the ultimate expression, I guess, of putting some skin in the game, if you will. But Timothy Timothy was connected and he was committed. And I think that’s what helped Paul and Timothy really bond together and both mutually benefited from their relationship as well.

03;39;18;25 – 03;39;50;27
Dale
They truly needed each other. Timothy needed Paul’s wisdom and instruction, and Paul needed Timothy’s dedication and his youthful exuberance. Also, Timothy as his personal representative several times to churches and Paul one to be reunited with Timothy, asking him to bring his personal items to him while he was in prison. Paul needed, desired wanted and just, you know, cherished, I think the relationship that he had with Timothy as well.

03;39;52;03 – 03;40;17;19
Wendell
Well, they were definitely connected. They were close. And it sounds like there was a deep brother relationship between the older Paul and the younger Timothy. Were you there for your younger brother kind of mentality? And I, I think that’s awesome. Those are great reminders that all the spiritual growth and ministry are done in the context of a relationship.

03;40;18;16 – 03;40;42;29
Wendell
And those relationships provide truths They provide encouragement and they provide accountability. Those are really important as we think about how am I going to grow and become the man God created and design me to be the guy, the man he thought about before he put the world together. And so I’m 139 and lead me to the other in my mother’s world.

03;40;43;00 – 03;41;00;18
Wendell
Why? Because he had a plan for me. And that plan can only be developed in the context of a relationship with a Paul, with a Barnabas as the encourager and accountability with the Timothy. The report Our Life Into It sounds like a great combination. This is this closes.

03;41;00;28 – 03;41;01;08
Dale
Well.

03;41;02;25 – 03;41;32;07
Wendell
This has been awesome. Well, these last two sessions have brought some really great truths men who are serious about spiritual growth need to find a Paul. I know in my life I had several. And without the Paul in my life, I would not be the man of God that I am today. I am indebted dramatically to them. And then we grow best by showing others the way I think of Barnabas sincerity with Paul.

03;41;32;08 – 03;41;55;18
Wendell
I mean, he was learning how to share his faith in a way that people could accept and receive And the Timothy of the Barnabas were really critical to him. And one last point, Dale, that you talked about, I think throughout the piece, transparency is really critical and it’s critical for cleaning out the closet in your life that you don’t want anybody to to go into.

03;41;56;00 – 03;42;01;09
Wendell
It’s also critical to overcoming temptation when I know I can’t.

03;42;01;20 – 03;42;32;20
Dale
I think that is a key part, Wendell. You know, and again, it’s worth noting for a sign of moment here, the whole crux of spiritual growth keeps coming back to our honesty with ourselves. It’s certainly cleaning out all of the sin closets, if you will, for Christ but keeping them cleaned out, too. You know, the James one passage of that wise man that walks by the mirror, takes a good look and makes the corrections That’s the wisdom that we want to, you know, really teach men to have.

03;42;33;29 – 03;43;03;14
Wendell
We spend so much time going back to the mirror on our physical how we appear, not necessarily what we look like, but how we appear to others as opposed to how we are with others. And that’s a big one as well. Bill, this has been great. I, I pray that the men who are listening will be challenged to find a Paul to find a Barnabas and to find the Timothy.

03;43;03;23 – 03;43;31;19
Wendell
Hmm. As to get actively involved, every one of these takes time, it takes risk because you’re in a relationship. But the reward is unbelievable. And it’s exactly the way God designed us. This is. This is the great deal. Thank you. Thanks, as always, for sharing your leadership, your insights and your experience are tremendous. And we thank you. Thank There’s additional material on spiritual mentoring in Dr. Jim Grosse.

03;43;31;19 – 03;43;55;15
Wendell
His book, The Spiritual Mentor. Go to our website, Men’s Ministry, Catalyst, Dot org, forward slash resources. And you can find this along with many others that are listed there. Just a reminder, though, episodes are launched on the first and third Thursdays of every month. If you’ve not yet, subscribe, please just saw our website. Prior to this episode, we do release notes to go with it.

03;43;56;05 – 03;44;13;20
Wendell
Thank you again for joining. You are the reason we exist. I said that as we started. I’ll say this when we do all of this for pastors, of leaders, of men because every man deserves an opportunity to become an authentic, biblically based man of God.