BraveMen S3E66: Scott Erickson - Advent and Jesus - The Back Story

Advent is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas that in the liturgical calendar are Become holy days and and it really means the waiting waiting for the coming of Christ Well, there have probably been a million calendars and and thousands of books written about it But one of the most fascinating books I've ever read About Advent was is called honest Advent by Scott Erickson and it just came out recently And so we just did an interview a couple days ago. We're putting it on right now so that you can grab this book On Amazon Barnes and Noble wherever you get Books with me today on brave men, which is a ministry of Christian men's network Is my partner in crime, Chris shields and Chris this this Book honest Advent is really an unusual take and a new take on on what Advent really is because most of us coming back Let's say out of up more of a Pentecostal or a free form Baptist You know background. Yeah, we didn't really do Advent. No. No. That was something tied to tradition Yeah, yeah, it was those guys over there. Yeah, yeah candles and all that But man when you look into it and you you begin thinking about the coming of Christ and and really looking at it and this book Scott Erickson is called honest Advent um Even in the description we wrote it's a poetic and visual book because he's an artist exactly It's called Scott the painter. Yes the creative. Yeah, Scott the painter the creative see and I love his subtitle to this Awaking to the wonder of God with them then here and now Wow, and I think that that is a perfect platform for the reality of we don't throw out tradition You know what I'm saying we allow it to build a platform For us to go higher and I think often times in my generation. Yeah, you know We miss out on the possibility of going to the next level because we're so tied to all that's just the old school way Yeah, and and there's a difference isn't there. Yes. I mean Because this liturgical thing Classic if you will Really it would start at around 400 AD when the Catholic Church begin to celebrate this and then it's spread to all the other churches. Yes, the north docks Has a 40 day thing and but it really is Beginning to focus on Uh the coming of the Messiah. Yes, really important. So So we throw away old milk. Yes, but you don't throw away the classic things. No, you know of Of faith. Yeah, I mean there's some things that are just immutable, right? Yes And if we're not careful we throw away old stuff like it's old Milk yeah, and I mean just like but it's not the reverence aspect some of the greatest creatives I know that are doing something well known today that are touching Generations or the artists are the creatives that go back and give reverence or homage whatever the definition of word you want to use To what came before them. Yeah, you see what I'm saying And I think oftentimes that's where we miss out on and that's why I love what Scott did here You know getting us to look back the then they hear and the now the the fault You know, and I love how even it's the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. He's the same yesterday today and forever Yeah, he brings it into a real thing like she really had Pain she was in child bearing, yeah, you know when they when they went to You know stay at someplace in Bethlehem, which we know wasn't like a hotel. Yeah, wasn't a motel and somebody goes You know, you can't come in it was actually probably a friend of the family They stayed in the the room the bottom room the lower room in the house which usually if if you got really cold That's where you brought the animals. Yeah, so wasn't necessarily this outside shed Sort of thing. It was uh, and so he brings out these whole things and then what was that really like? Yeah, you know, I often think and you haven't had children yet I've had children and grandchildren, but you've held babies and yes, and uh, so You know, it's kind of like I've often thought about if I were dad and I'm holding the son of God. Yeah The Messiah Would I really be concerned about my grip and would I ever throw him in the air? No, yeah It's like oh my god, then I just dropped could yeah exactly. I just dropped the Messiah You know, yeah, no or think about this one. This is funny because As a first time dad in my son Brandon was talking about it yesterday In his great message at c34 worthy was talking about sneaking in and seeing if his son was the first point You're always concerned about every little thing You know, are they eating the right stuff or they're getting the right food? I remember Lindsay with her first born my daughter She the the water in the bottle like here a bottle of water. Well, it had to be distilled water Or something like that. I can't remember what it was. It's a special special water Well, by the time you get to the fourth child, I just put some water from the tap in there giving the water But you think about sneaking at listening and you go ahead listen is he breathing You don't want to wake him up. You want to make sure he's breathing he is yeah like the son of god. Yeah And Scott Erickson in the book honest to advent brings these things to the front Yes, and my conversation with him a couple days ago. I thought was really good in and we really kind of opened up some things Not only about the book, but advent in and of itself It wasn't just about talking about oh, hey cool book nice artwork because he's an artist. He did some really unique things at But we really begin to talk about what does the advent mean? Yeah, it wasn't me for the coming waiting in the coming of the Messiah Exactly, and I think more than ever with every in the season that we end we need to know that god is here now He's gonna always be with us. He's never gonna leave us and forsake us because this is the season Yeah, that we need to know more than ever. I mean look at the craziness going on in the pandemic Yes, come on man, but god is not leaving us He's still there, and he's not in some mystical outer space island chillin come on man You know he is right here in front of us He is here and the way that you bring him closer is by opening your mouth and say hey god Yeah, thank you for being here. He's not out there on that corona island with a little tree with the lights on no Drinking out of those like Yeah, or coconut. Yeah with a little straw in it. No, he's not. He is it right there next to you And he's waiting for you to call on him. Yeah, it's fantastic, man Hey, brave men is a outreach and ministry of the christian men's network You can find our details at cmn. men cmn. men christian men's network You can write to me at Paul at cmn. men And Really honored today and excited to introduce you to scott ericson He's written a number of books, but the one we're talking about today is advent honest Advent with scott ericson today on brave men It's brave man with paul who is cold Wisdom encourage for the journey You Talking with uh scott ericson. We're talking about his uh his book It's absolutely remarkable about advent And for a lot of people who don't come from a liturgical background, which I didn't uh, I didn't know what advent was But it's basically a calendar thing right leading up to christmas. Is that right scott? Yeah, it's uh A liturgical season so liturgy just meaning the work of the people So it's something that we've invented to help us It give like a framework around The seeming nothingness that is you mean we we create order so we give like this little season to go Let an advent just means coming in Latin. So it's like what does it mean for something to be announced And then for it to take time before it arrives and what is that season of waiting for that arrival wow It's really modeled after like pregnancy, which is you get an announcement whether From a being on a stick or yeah wife, you know somebody throwing up or you know growing you know like something's happening And then you're like oh, I know this thing is gonna come and what is the transformation preparation What happens to you as you wait for that arrival and so It's just a church yeah church calendar like a way of spiritually forming ourselves about what it means to wait and or and anticipate Now you wrote this book and by the way, it's it's fantastic and so You know you and I are talking today. We're basically gonna nail this thing onto our podcast right away So people can grab a hold of it. It's called honest advent Scott Erickson ERI CK S.O.N. In Utah and Amazon and so forth, and you also probably have a website that has all this on it Yes, honestadvent.com nobody had taken it. So yeah right there Yeah, it's fantastic. I know God saved that for you man. There we go Armistadvent.com and I think probably you know the thing that struck me about this Because what you talk about is awakening to the wonder of God Background is your visual artist your performance artist And for the kingdom out of your faith in God And then here comes this honest advent and what it is is really honest. It's like questions you had about Having three children birthing. What does that look like? Was it feel like? What's the texture of it? Was it smell like And you go into that and you went places that people haven't gone before and then you did it visually also Yeah, what was the impetus towards this only what What caused this thing to happen honestadvent? It started Four years ago where we found ourselves in a similar place that we are now which was Post divisive and very long presidential election We had images of serious civil war to just you know destruction displacement Multiple mass shootings Zika virus flint water crisis just a lot of really difficult things and then I found myself in november Coming into like walking into a target into a store and Everything was decorated like Christmas. You know like happens every year All of western society gets dusted overnight with Christmas and I just looked at it all and it was like this feels so Irrelevant to the world I live in right now like it just Not even like the overly done Santa story just even like the stuff from my own christian tradition just the The sanitized and safe imagery like it just stopped feeling like it was even a story that happened to human beings It's just like these other kinds of people doing these things and at least how is visually represented and I Uh my deep question my prayer was just like Does christmas matter to us? I mean like I know that it does but like Really does it like does it have anything to say in this time? Is it just a distraction from reality or is it Uh, a hope for reality. Is it a is it just a sidebar Live or or does my life actually get transformed? Yeah, and you went into this and and a quote one of my One of my personal visual things about life and god is light I grew up on the ocean and the way the light on the ocean and then Lake Tahoe and the skiing and the light on the snow and So light was a big picture, but you went into something else too. And so light is kind of like the light is come John You know kids read it and we hope angels and all that stuff very cool It's why christmas is in the darkest time of the year is not well. Yeah. Yeah on the Northern hemisphere on the Normandy. Yes Australia they're heading out surfing going camping I know Can we even imagine what if christmas happened if incarnation happened in the southern hemisphere like what It would be anyways. Yeah, it would be fantastic It would be anyway, it would still be a palm tree with lights, which of course isn't that a corona commercial. It's totally it's uh It's actually what I actually love. I love that whole visual But you went somewhere else uh in your art And in talking about this sky you went into vulnerability Tell me about that and how that played out Well, what every human being ever has come into the world through vulnerability meaning weakness When a baby comes out. It needs care. It's not self-sustaining It needs it's attached to other people and vulnerability the definition of vulnerability means to take one One's armor off. It means to like it makes make yourself Open touchable to let your guard down and so And having witnessed that three times live And that kind of crazy moment and then what occurred to me was that All humanity all human beings come through vulnerability and this unseen holy mystery Invisible holy mystery who then became visible came through the same route we did which is through vulnerability. So if uh my real question is is uh Christmas a memorial service or is it a birthday party? Is it something that happened once long ago or is it still happening today? And if you go to church and ask the kids whose birthday is it they'll say it's Jesus So we know we actually believe that it is a birthday party So where where is Jesus to be found? And I would say that Jesus is still incarnating through that same avenue which is vulnerability our vulnerability. Yeah Yeah, our hope is found in the very messy participation of human weakness. Yes I always say yeah, participation is a great word. Uh, I think a lot of time you wrote that you wrote that so Okay, there we go Well, yeah, I mean that's your phrase got it, but it is is so on so good I mean, I think sometimes a lot of religious talk can be just about observation and I really think the move is Observation to participation instead of orthodoxy. It's orthopraxy. You know, it's practice. It's the participating And that's what incarnation tells us is that if God If God just wanted to give us a bunch of list of things to do You know, he could have showed up any number of ways could have made a holy pamphlet and had it double-sided and laminated at FedEx You know, well, he sort of he sort of did give us a list. It's called the first covenant, right? Yeah. Yeah But he wanted to show that like Because I hear I mean here's like let's step back for a second is which I think is I don't really think our real question is is God real. I don't I think that's what we think our question is like I grew up In a culture that like to have debates, you know, they would have They would bring a Bible scholar and an atheist Scientist and then they would debate and the question is is God real or not? Yeah, oh yeah, and I would always be rooting for the Christian one and it wasn't till later on that I actually listened to the atheist And I was like, oh, I have good points, uh, but Like yeah, they all created these things where it was kind of like the Christian or own version of the colosseum Yes, yes, but the the goal was to go let's prove Is God real and so we think like is proving God real is the point and I don't know if that's our deepest question I actually think our deeper question is is God real in all of this like your life my life our life This life that we find ourselves in and Participation is important because a God can be real and be far off and and not involved but to I would say from my experience and my observation and my paying attention is that God is intimately involved In our world in your life my life our life And that and that is where I want to discover in like how in how Christ is still coming in our midst I'm talking with Scott Erickson and the book is called honest advent Honest advent ADV and tea we talked about that and basically what you did is you've got 25 readings is what it says But It's really all interconnected into how does this authentically Touch my life and where you went and you're an artist in your performance artist, but you're also a graphic artist artwork so forth and And you did a bunch of art in here. You've got a baby. You got baby Jesus with an umbilical cord. Uh, I mean how dare you yeah Right? Yeah, I mean he didn't I mean we kind of have this feeling that he came out totally like I don't know Speaking Greek and telling his folks how to handle him yeah, but he didn't the vulnerability was he Came out God in flesh Yeah, and she had to feed him and suckle him and uh-huh wipe his rear end and yeah, and you actually did that I have a picture of him she that's because I have a two year old. I'm wiping with rear ends all the time Multiple times a day That you know, yeah, the what does it say about a god? That's willing to be that vulnerable at the beginning. That's okay. I think you know For god to start the conversation this invisible god to then be seen And let others see him He starts a conversation by saying I'm gonna need you to take care of me for a really really long time Well, I'm gonna come into the world and not be able to do anything myself and I'm gonna need you To take care of me. I mean that what is it What does that say about god? It says a lot of things. It says that god comes in peace that god comes for human flourishing That god comes to participate that god cares about the aspects of a human life the processes of growth. He honors He honors the stages of growth that happened in a human life And that and I think what we alluded to before is that god ultimately is Before even says anything saying I'm here to participate I'm here to in mesh my life into human lives and into the human history. That's why we're still talking about it today Yeah, yeah, I'm not yeah, he didn't come as a Buddha that we can't touch Hmm, or um, you know, it says the government will be on its shoulders, but you know Muhammad basically basically imposed the system of government He came very vulnerable to say um, I'm fully connected with the human experience It's it's an amazing thing. I and uh, I love the way you walk through a number of different things I went hit and then you blew up some stuff, which is great You really screwed up a whole bunch of Christmas plays It's great because you blew up the whole piece about no room in the end Yeah, it's a little later in the book, but I I look I absolutely just dug it because I thought Gowley man, this is the type of stuff we need to blow up. Yeah, tell me about that the whole the whole thing of Because we do the whole no room in the end and yeah, you know, the same keeper is a pretty bad guy Yeah, right There's actually not a mention of an innkeeper at all there in the chapter assumptions I run through That there's no if there's no no mention that Mary wrote on a donkey. There's no mention that Uh, a star was overhead when Jesus was born There's no mention that there was an innkeeper There's no mention that Jesus was in a stable as he was laid in a manger But that could be any number of places and actually the room for in Isn't like a la quinta like we think about it's An inn actually that word actually means like the visitor room at a relative's house Wow, and and so actually and and it says in the It says in the text that Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem and they were there Until the time came for her to have a child so what like what I I talk about is like Here's how we think of the story that Mary and Joseph are like Trying to get to Bethlehem as fast as they can because this baby's gonna pop and they show up to Bethlehem Late at night contractions happening and they're like we got to deliver this baby Where's can we do it and like no room no room no room and finally one and I got a stable and that and and then they deliver This baby comes out in a stable and animals watch and there's hay and all very clean and But this is actually none of this is true. This is all propagated by Pagents that are like 28 minutes long at churches with low budgets like it's and it's fine It makes it exciting. It gives us some movement stuff. Hey, no, no, no, no, wait, man Don't know they're all of us. I've seen really huge big budget things. That's true. That's true handles and donkeys and Like Mary odds or something. Yeah But so actually most likely how it happened is that they went to Jerusalem or sorry Bethlehem all of it was like a family reunion Brought about by the Roman Empire and they were there for a long time hanging out with their family and yet The writer says There's no room for them in that visitor room and and so It doesn't give us much but it's saying Not everything was cool and I go are you telling me like we're both gentlemen? Are you telling me that there wasn't an uncle or a cousin who'd be like oh cousin Mary's pray yeah, take my bed You telling me there wasn't one gentleman there like it's alluding that there was something Going on in a family dynamic And then that's where I go to is like hey one of the things that we can find how this story because I will say this like this book is less about how did the birth happen two thousand years ago, right? It's more about a book. It's more about going. How is this happening now? Yeah, like that's the only that's the reason as a as a Bible teacher One of my news is is like the only reason we tell these stories is because they're still Happening today if they weren't happening today We wouldn't tell these stories, but they help illuminate that yeah happen back then, but it's still happening now Yeah, one of the ways that we find Yeah, and one of the ways that we can find it's still happening now is that how incredibly difficult it is to be in a family dynamic Like there's all these expectations about who you're supposed to be how you're supposed to act Whether or not or how you're supposed to get pregnant how you're supposed to get pregnant You know how how how you're supposed to be viewed by others and your family name all this honor and stuff like that And I can tell that I know you and myself and probably everybody listening Families were have as you get older. You're like these are a lot more complicated than I thought it would be Yeah, and and and that chapter specifically I was trying to Write to friends of mine or people I know or even myself to go like There are maybe times because of how you're evolving or transforming or what you conclusions you've come to that may leave you Uninvited to the family or maybe it may leave you saying please don't come to Christmas this year and and going That dynamic was there in the first family and God provided a room and God will provide a room for you to like the giver of your incarnation the giver of your existence Will make a space for that existence wow because God is involved in your life and it may look really different than what you expected It may it may not be with the family you were born into but it may be strangers along the way It may be like random shepherds who come in or angels Songs people international travelers who give you gifts along the way. Yeah, all of these things, but Yeah, I mean the the the whole experience, you know Going back 100 years before when Daniel gets taken captive And then he tells the dreams of the you know the king that we can ask her and and then he He Begets put in charge of a school of the magicians which we come the magi which bring the money So Joseph has money because he's just a stone nason. Yeah And he's able to use that money to take his family away for four years the interconnectedness of this yeah Is is I think where where what you bring about the wonder of God with us Right now Yeah, in the messiness of our humanity because that's how he arrived. Yeah Yeah, and we find ourselves in Lots of messiness right now. Oh goodness Uh, you know some and a lot frankly a lot of it we ourselves really create COVID but we should create a lot of stuff out of it Yeah, for ourselves Hey, this is Chris. I want to take a moment right in the middle of this great conversation To let you know that the brave men podcast is a reduction of the Christian men's network worldwide and the global fatherhood initiative Christian men's network has helped pastors and leaders disciple men for over 40 years You can find all the resources for mentoring and fatherhood at cmin.min That's the Christian men's network at cmin.min Christian men's network has a youtube channel with inspirational videos There you can find the innovative new study Monday night men when you get there make sure you click subscribe Monday night men is a fresh resource for men and pastors as a pastor You can follow up the 30-minute study with a digital meetup with your men for prayer discussion and teaching Some churches are using the videos as part of a group meeting As an individual in large energized and build a strong mindset This 13-week study will be on youtube and facebook get your books and materials at cmin.min That's the Christian men's network at cmin.min Stop what you're doing take your phone Tablet or computer and like us on facebook follow us on instagram and follow us on twitter unless you think You'll lose the podcast and that case Make yourself a note That's the Christian men's network or Paul Lewis Cole Now let's get back to this powerful interview between Paul and Scott Erickson Hey, tell me about you said you said something really fascinating you said uh Revelation is a hard gift to receive Yeah, because we don't come to christ Become a follower of Jesus Christ by information We have to find out but the information isn't what it's it's a revelation of Christ But you said it's a hard gift to receive. Why'd you say that? Hmm. I was actually Meditating on this today because I'm speaking at a church on Sunday about it about Right like the it says like that you know the angel delivers this message to marry And then immediately she and it says your relative Elizabeth is also pregnant like Like and she and Elizabeth is like past menopause, right? So it's like whoa and then marry immediately gets her things and goes and visits Yeah, and I was thinking about that because it was like yeah because um To have an exceptional experience Uh, that's that transforms you that changes your life is incredibly lonely Hmm. It's an incredibly lonely experience to have something just happen to you Uh, I remember I remember like after high school I went and lived in Europe for a year. I worked Learned French made friends traveled had unbelievable experiences and then I came home And all my friends were still there and they were like how was it and I was like I don't know how to talk about it and they're like cool. Okay. Good. Well. I'm glad you had a good time You want to go to a movie and that was that and I realized I couldn't talk about it with them It's not that they didn't care It's just that they Their lives had still gone on in mine had been different and it was only later on when I found other people who had Traveled lived overseas that I could talk about these things I found some solidarity in my loneliness because to be transformed in a way Like I think Mary was like yeah, I want to go see if this true But also I need it she was like I need to go talk to some people who've talked to angels Hmm Wow because I just did And I don't know what to make of it And I need to talk to another woman who's having a miraculous birth because I don't know what to make about mine The cost of revelation is that it's gonna transform you But it's gonna transform you in all the ways that you maybe didn't want it to Like we think of transformation of like I would like to transform my wardrobe or my you know I would like to do more sit-ups and change my abs or I would like to you know, there's all these ways but like Divine transformation a divine revelation is is going hey everything's gonna be different And mostly the things that are gonna change are your best late plans like for Mary it was like yes How I'd like how I'd like to get married how I'd like What I want to name my firstborn child Yeah, that this is great stuff how how I would like the community to think about our family in the All of those things and and yet she still said let it be so according to your word and it was like There is a cost for transformation, but saying yes to it Well, it is some of the deepest human stories we have and we still tell those stories today Wow And so if you want a revelation if you want a transformation be ready to change But be ready to also enter into the deepest experience you can in the world Yeah humbling humility. It's it's the it's the the whole concept of a small door can lead to a large room Yeah This is this is we're talking I'm talking with Scott Erickson the book is called honest advent came out I think it's zonerman. Yeah, zonerman book And it's it's available right now. It's something in fact And it's okay. People don't need to order it on your website, but they can go to amazon or burn you know Amazon's the best Okay, they have a large stock and actually they're printing on demand right now. So it's okay Thank you lots the whole world's on demand. That's why we get But you know, it's so you can get it overnight. So When you're listening to this you've got time to get this and it is a great gift to somebody in particular somebody who has Questions about where they fit or has honest questions about You know where they are in their journey or somebody who's never become a follower Christ This is the beauty of this what I love about this Book Scott is that I could give this to somebody who's just who's not even a seeker because most men in my Experience most men are not seekers. They're runners Most men are seeking truth. They're running And uh, which is why alcohol so popular This is the Another form of running And I can give this to somebody and they could start through this and they could say oh Yeah, what does make sense You know, I'm getting this and uh, and then they would say Is it okay to put pictures like this in here? Yes, and really it's here's the thing There you didn't do anything that was that was uh, not apropos to To the subject And and you're your style of art, you know, like here she is pregnant. She's got the labor pains and it's part of the picture of sacred And Anybody Has been there through the particular if you were able to be there during the Pregnancy phase yeah Yeah, yeah that particular image it's not even she people assume it's labor pains, but it's not even that that's actually like A image I saw my wife just getting up in the morning and she just was like oh my body hurts so bad Oh, that's what hurts so bad and and she just it's like because pregnancy costs the mom yeah You know, it's it's beautiful and joyful and great, but it's also like painful and a lot of bodily fluids and it's very My wife my member third trimester she just would have to like sit up in bed She just had awful Heartburn every pregnancy To be like two in the morning just like trying to like sleep sitting up Because she just was like anytime I lay down it hurts too much and that and that is And that specific chapter is just going like sacred moments happen in our bodies and by But what happens when we make things sacred as we start dismissing the The biological truth about what it's like to be in a body that it's kind of filled with aches and pains and nudity and all that kind of stuff yeah in the air Yeah, real humanity and the patient for me is Is that Jesus is touchable? Yeah, for me as a man a person You know most guys have you know, we're onions, you know, we just have layers and You know for most of us as men though, there is that place where we would like to be touched Would like somebody to know us and would like to be known You know and uh and that's what came out to me in this book honest advent was Uh a god who's there and touchable and real and uh and the whole Even the title honest ab and it's about honest hope, right? authentically following Christ in a real world that has messiness to it and stop Yeah, we make mistakes and that's what I appreciate about the way he pretried You know even the way god inspired men to write the word of god First and second covenant It's just packed with stuff where guys messed up Yeah You know and tipped over and and didn't do it right and then got back up and You know for me that that that's where my hope that's where hope comes up and and hope is uh so powerful. It's what makes faith And great stuff you talk about unease and initiation You make real some phrases we've heard, you know like particularly if you're gonna look Particularly if we've got let's say more of a Protestant background than a liturgical background I did notice I don't know what church you grew up in but I did notice you kind of hit the Hit the Protestant Puritan thing a little bit you grew up in a church without colors or pictures or something I'd just say that Well, I grew up in without a visual language Protestantism You know coming out of the reformation was trying to swing away from this over indulgent catholic and you know juggernaut and And so it makes sense that it pivoted maybe it went too far Uh, and it gave up some things that I think now I think I think there's actually a movement and Protestantism to go oh Oh imagery can be a just like music and teaching and things can be a A way of spiritual formation and so how do we do that right and I you know after I'm dead will make judgments about what all this was but I'm humbly trying to offer a way forward for that um because I think I think a lot of it's been done poorly and so people haven't been interested in it right you know if you didn't think if like If people have experience with churches, but imagine if church never had music and then somebody was like Hey, can I do can we do some songs and people like yeah, let's do it And then they got up and they sang horribly the songs were awful And nobody could follow along after a few times to be like let's not do that. That's not really good You know, but when you do it well, you're like wow that moved us the same things with art usually it's Art and churches are done by amateurs. It's poorly thought out. It's poorly done. So you will go. Oh, okay Yeah, we don't need we don't really need that yeah You know, I grew up. I'm a lot older and you are so I grew up in the 60s in the Bay Area. Hey, Dashburg And that was part of the whole move was you know was visual and And it was mystery becoming real and it was being connected through art and experience and and You know, I love you said now here's the thing that that grew out of that though and that same chapter You make the quote by bringing the gift of your life to Jesus now You can grow in conversation with him about the gift of your life and your eventual death And what's not about And I just kind of paraphrase. I may hatch it and you can fix it, but The feeling I got out of it, which is what this book's really about is producing that The feeling I got out of it was uh, that That my life shouldn't just be about what I'm doing now, but there's there's a hundred years or 200 years of 300 years now And this whole following crisis not just an escape mechanism Get out of here and you brought that out so wonderfully Yeah, I think it's you know, one of the things we say with christmas network is what you do in life becomes history But what you put into motion becomes your legacy Yeah, and our goal we have a hundred year plan with the christmas network to raise up a hundred million fathers Who know how to love and disciple their children So we don't repeat the failure of the life of Gideon It's incredible stuff now Cool. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you for writing a book Scott and and um, I know the pain it takes The birth Honest habit you've been working you worked out for four years Yeah Like every advent would write some more meditations then I finally Signed the deal in april Put it all I wrote Write when everything was in lockdown this year Uh, and of april to may about like five weeks. I just I had eight if we want to get technical I had about eight thousand words and my editor was like I need you to bump it up to 20 And then and then I wrote 25,000 We could put some more graphics in and yeah, yeah, so in I mean some of the Meditations started with like two sentences and I had to take two sentences and make it a thousand word essay But it was a great process. It taught me how to be an author I think there there's a difference between being a writer and then being an author like you can practice I practice writing on Instagram like micro writing and things like that It's fantastic stuff. The book is uh honest advent ADV and T by Scott Erickson. That's with an ERIC KSOM Hey, uh, Scott. Thanks for taking the time and yeah Paul We'll edit we'll edit around your uh Housework there would have Yeah, the grinder in the blower Excellent um well blessings to you man. Thanks for having me and What's that? Okay. See you. Bye Man Advent such a powerful season that I think that we need to go back and Really emphasize so that's why I love the fact that he took the time to write this book Yeah, and it and it's it's powerful. It's uh something and I want to mention again Scott Erickson That's uh Scott Erickson s-o-n And the book is called honest advent and we don't get anything out of it I just I just want it to enlarge our lives and and uh in our appreciation of the coming of the Messiah Yeah, you know, we were we're doing a whole series called stronger right now with about three or four hundred men and and You know teaching thing and we were talking about You know Messing up and and asking forgiveness and God is a God of doovers and fresh starts in new beginnings Which is and Jesus is the proof of that exactly exactly like it's like hey, here's a doover Here's Christ. Yeah, but so and I mean some of the greatest things that you've ever gotten is not it's not something initially that you thought you got What I said some of the greatest things you've ever gotten are not the things that you initially thought you got Okay, I got it. So like for wisdom for example, it's like man Why did I ever work in the job? Why did I go there? I was I with those people yeah, but at the same time in the long run you are so rich and wisdom You are so rich and mercy you are so rich and you know so many different things because you did that And that's the beautiful picture that we learned from the advent season. It's like why am I waiting for this? I thought I should have that years ago months ago. I love the whole thing You know really add that in the coming crisis about hope yeah, and I think we live in a world that that really feels hopeless Exactly, I think the next generation is looking at it and saying okay, my life is not going to be as good as my parents was yeah And uh, so if there's no hope and and you don't have a vision or a picture of the future. What do you do? You just you become an anarchist yes, or you um, I guess become a gamer well guess but who's painting our pictures of our future? Media yeah, you see what I'm saying think about media and how it's changed over the years Look at the media that you had compared to the media that we have yeah Majority of the media we have nowadays is nothing but narrative a narrative of negativity Whereas there was positivity there was good outlooks. We weren't tearing each other down Look at the the way that the world has changed to a place of Negative thoughts negative words when we need to get back to confessions of positivity Yep, no question. You know in images of positivity Yeah, which is why you know, you're working here as building character for you. Yes. Yeah exactly Exactly, you know because it's like when you know and I'll never forget this one of the first interactions I had with you was when you told me you're like so many future leaders don't have a perfect picture of them So yeah, so they don't know what they're looking at yeah, and they don't know what they're becoming and if you don't know what you're becoming Then what are you doing a man without a vision for this future will always return to his past exactly We don't have a vision for the larger. Yes. Yeah of who God says we are Then we're going to go back to the stuff that people have told us we are exactly and it's usually so much smaller than the vision god Has for exactly so much less so honest advent Really a great look into the coming of Christ and Then at the mid-break you talked about Getting materials and stuff see him in dotman. This is a brave men as a ministry of the christian men's network and the global fatherhood initiative We've got a number of things going on dangerous nations as a huge initiative We're going into Iran with done Vietnam Indonesia, you know an Indonesia we've had over a million and go through our discipleship tools And you know an amazing thing to think that that's happening. So we're looking forward to that happening You know if we go into Iran, Afghanistan and number of these places and we're doing it digitally electronically with people on the ground partnerships It's a multi-level Strategy but it's sustainable and it's a strategy that's going to keep going. Yeah, it's just not one shot deal No, we're going in there with tools resources Got a mission. Yeah, and vision got maximize manhood going into farcey. Yes, I'm pretty fired up about it It's amazing. Yeah, and so that's there's a hundred and twenty million people to speak farcey It's not just in Iran, but there's also one of the stands Courget stand or one of those And in northern part of Afghanistan southern part of parts of Russia So it's an amazing thing So all of that information is at cmd.men. You see what we're doing Recently talking with a square russianel about it. He said man. He said you know you and I talked we did this Webcast thing or podcast and then he said then I went and looked at your sites. It's incredible Yeah, yeah, amazing. What's going on? So that's all that's at cmd.men and The book honest advent Scot Erickson. Yes, right? Yeah, and then what's the thing that we need people to do with podcasts? We need them to subscribe We need them to write a review and we need it to share it with the friend, but only a good review. Yes Yeah, only will ones to say hey Chris is awesome. Who's the old guys? No I like my job And it can't just be your mom. Yeah, no need some friends. Yeah, so I need some friends. Yeah, we need you guys to go on there So wherever you do this so in other words on Spotify Apple all those places. Yes, the place to subscribe. Yes, that way the next podcast coming out like in the December of 2020. Yes We've got nine podcasts coming out and they're stellar. Yes, Brian tome James Brown is the national football league sportscaster This one with Scott Erickson Sam call you. Oh, yeah, he'll song Atlanta. Yes, plus the most amazing thing that That's about the Steve Harvey show. Yes. Oh my goodness, man. That's an amazing story Well, that's what the books called a greater story a greater story. What should we call them amazing Yeah, they blew the title on that. Or can I tell you You know call Sam tell him. I'll call you quick. Oh, it's a title Hey, it really has been great having You are friend here with us on brave men Chris shields on Paul Lewis Cole and that's L.O. U.I.S So if you're looking on social media P.A. U.L., L.O. U.I.S., C-U-L-E. Yes. Finds the Instagram Facebook all that stuff In fact, if you google that my name I'm on there. Yes, and you'll go to his website your website Yeah, that's pretty cool and then also if If you google christian men's network you'll find us there. We've got the YouTube channel. Yes put in Monday Night Man If you google Monday Night Man, you know it comes up number one right now. What come up Monday night man? Wow With christian men's network. That's amazing. It's crazy man. Yes So god's been using it thousands and thousands of men going through the tools and materials getting Discipled having our lives transformed from the inside out man. I'm done with religious junk exactly Can I get an a man a man? So How did it okay subscribe hit the button hit the stars do stuff? Yes, yes and go on social media and find christian men's network. Yep And also tell yes Paul Lewis Cole on Instagram Facebook all those Social media handles we are there and there is content that we put out weekly to bless you because yeah Exactly you have to continue to allow positive thinking to be good stuff put into you for transformation to happen Yeah, it's not a one thing you don't go to the gym once and then expect to have muscles while some of us do well you fell. Yeah Time hasn't worked so far. Yes, no Um and and then tiktok you're on there with some dance videos. Yes, you are you put that out there. Come on man That was supposed to be a secret. I had no idea and Instagram Reels. Yeah, okay. Mm-hmm. All right, so we're not on tiktok Javon rough is you definitely And we love to bond part of our team with christian men's network pastor Javon and his family. They are awesome Hey, christian. It's been great being with you today and it's great being with you our friend of brave men And tell somebody about it Help them be inspired in their lives and thank you to scott arson for jumping in on this thing and for taking the pain Of over the last four years right into book on this tab then it's been great to be with you today on brave men On Paul Lewis Cole remember hope is alive. Hope has a name. Hope's name is Jesus. Come on You've just experienced brave men with Paul Lewis Cole Paul is president of the christian men's network connect with Paul at Cmn.man or write to him at Paul at Cmn.man