Seasons with Paul Louis Cole

00:05 - Speaker 1 Hi, this is Paul Louis Cole. You're listening to the Brave Men Podcast, excited today about just taking some time. You and I have a cup of coffee, walk through a couple things about seasons, time management, looking at where we're at, and there's seven keys to help us walk through the seasons of life. To measure the season, find out the season, because one of the principles that you and I recognize as we walk through life is you can't change the season, but you can change what you do in the season. You can't change the season, but you can change what you do in the season. That's why I mentioned time management, because time management is never about the clock. Time management is always about us. It's about organizing and controlling our participation in the events and seasons of life. How do we organize and control ourselves? And you've got to measure that against purpose. I don't want to get ahead of myself. That's the seven keys. Hey, thanks for listening to Brave Men Podcast, for tools and resources to disciple your family and disciple men in your life. Cmnmen Christian Men's Network. Cmn.men. 01:21 Just back from Costa Rica, a couple other places on our way to some other events that are coming up, got some emails and texts this morning from the team that's going to Uganda working with a number of men who are headed into Vietnam and and getting, I love over the weekend, always seen, you know, because Marcos, in Brazil it's always got something going. So I'm always getting a photo or a picture of something and a little bit of a headline. Basically, it's kind of how we do it at Christian Men's Network. We're sort of headline guys, but occasionally we like to get into. Well, let me put it this way Occasionally we'll publish the details. Most often you're just going to get headlines. Make sure you go to bravemen, go to cmnmen and get the Brave Men. Motivational email Comes out three times a week. 02:14 The one today. I think it was great. It's about Walt Whitman. Well, it started with that. Here's what it is. Is that this crisis of manhood that you and I sense and feel and know that we're in is not new? I think it's a crisis that started in the garden in 1858. 02:32 1858, walt Whitman, great poet, writer. He wrote an article in the local newspaper decrying the state of manhood. So basically, everybody's wusses. What happened to the men? Where are the men? And of course, this is just a couple of years before the Civil War, which we know there were brave and courageous men throughout the armed forces all across the United States, men who stood for their cause, stood for their country, and so we know that there were men that were strong. We know there were men that were bold. We know there were men that were bold, but the sense of things in that era was man. These guys are just all dandies, whatever the word was. And so I mean that's 1858. 03:37 And is it worse today? You know, a lot of people think it's worse. You know, fatherlessness is worse. Fatherlessness is worse. But where are men? Where's manliness and manhood and all that? I think it's just more amplified. 03:57 I think we're dealing with the same issues we've always dealt with, and it's a crisis. But here's the key right now, for you and I, it's our crisis, it's us. Now, for you and I, it's our crisis, it's us, you and me. It's our crisis and our season to do something about it. And that starts with again. 04:13 I come back to this. I think it's a great illustration. I've always liked it, and that is that when you're on an airplane and they say, hey, in case of an emergency, there'll be an air mask that drops over your seat and put it on you first before you try to help somebody else. In other words, you need to be breathing properly before you help somebody else. Now, I'm not saying you can't bring somebody to church and still be a jacked up mess and that person gets their life changed. What I'm saying is, if you're going to help mentor somebody, if you're going to help grow your family properly, if you're going to be the right man in the right place in your business, then we have to work on ourselves first. 04:59 I mean that that really is the battle, isn't it? It's a battle for the mind, and I think that's where Dennis Peacock, years ago I mean 30 years ago wrote the book Battle for the Minds of Men, and it's been used by. You know, a lot of people have talked Caroline Leaf, whoever it may be, brene Brown, many others, doug Weiss talking about the battle for our thinking. You know what we do. All right, so that's the fight. The fight is our fight first, right? So I don't know if you have a cup of coffee if you're working out I'm actually headed to a workout, so I'm gonna have. I've got my coffee. I've also got my uh, my uh, chuck norris morning. Uh, kick is what it's called. It's a powder thing you put in the drink, and I've got a couple other things I put in there and get ready for my workout, which I do not often enough. 05:57 So there you go time management right, focusing for the purpose of what our lives are about. You know the thing is, is that the purpose of what our lives are about? You know the thing is, is that the kingdom of God is not just about mere talk. This is Jesus, first corinthians. He's quoted oh no, this is Paul speaking. And then Jesus, uh, also spoke about it, and he was talking about. You know the seasons, but you don't know the signs of the times. I'll get get to that in a second. 06:23 But this is Paul. He says the kingdom of God is not just mere talk, it's about living an empowered life. So the kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, is not just about mere talk, it's about living an empowered life. And that's what Paul was saying was hey, I'm about to measure you guys. Which is our first key here in in the seasons of life? It's measure your life. He said. I'm about to measure you guys. You know, are you living truly an empowered life or are you just talking about it? Are you just a poser? I think it's. John Eldredge has some great stuff he wrote about just guys being posers. And I know Brett and man in a Mirror they talk about it a lot because it's part of that whole original writing that Pat did Pat Morley about look in the mirror and measure this thing. 07:18 The kingdom of God is not just mere talk. It's about living an empowered life, and I believe that God wants to empower us in the season that we're in, and so one of the key principles that I'm going to get into the seven keys to your season, but the fact is, the very first part of this is recognize the season you're in. That's what I'm going to help us do. You know, often in the scripture it says in the fullness of time, the arrival of Christ at exactly the right time. Other places we read that God does things in due season. One of the key attributes of God, the Father, is a perfect sense of timing, and everything in our world is based on timing. I mean just the rotation of the globe, the way the atmosphere works, uh, the way trees, uh, you know, clean the air, all the different things there's. There's a rhythm. 08:17 You ever been away? You've been away for a while. I mean like a long time, like a couple weeks, like you leave town for two weeks. Maybe you haven't driven to an area where you live nearby, you haven't been there for a while. I know I drove down a street that I hadn't been on in a long time I mean maybe a year and there were new buildings and there were things that had changed. And there was a new. What was it? It was a new Chick-fil-A and I'm like whoa, where'd that come from? You know stuff had changed. Oh, there was a new H-E-B market, packed parking lot. Just wow, where'd that come from? 08:58 One of the keys to knowing our seasons is knowing that our life is lived in seasons. I remember Bishop Jakes preaching a message that my dad had mentored him on years ago, which was life is lived on levels and arrived at in stages. Lived on levels and arrived at in stages. So know your season. So this whole thing about knowing our season is really key because it's the internal rhythm. You know, think about your human body. That's new. If you're a guy, every five years your body's regenerated itself the cycle of life, planting and harvest, you know. I mean, think about what's out right now. Uh, in our area where I live, which is in texas, are the cicadas I don't know if this is the 13 year cicadas, 17 year, whatever it is and, uh, you know they're in the ground as insects for years. Now there's there's a, uh, yearly, annual sort of cicada, but then there's the. Then there's the gigantic number of them. 10:08 We were up in Oklahoma recently and it was so loud, you know, just walking around just hear this rhythm in the background. It's a background rhythm after a while, and it's a cicadas, and it's a rhythm, and there's a rhythm to everything. There's a season to everything. There's a season to everything. I love the rhythm of the ocean. I love the way that the moon affects the tides. Did you know that? Do you know the moon affects the tides. Full moon, partial moon, whatever it may be, affects the tides, and that's why you can have certain, you know, waves are caused by wind, right, and so you can have waves that come in at the wrong tide or those things are not coordinated and those waves all of a sudden hit stuff that never got hit before because they came at a different season. 11:02 You know, Jesus said this. He said it in. This is what Jesus said in Matthew. He said you can tell the seasons on earth. He's talking to the Pharisees because he's basically speaking to them this is Matthew 16. And he's basically telling them you know all about the seasons, but you don't know about the seasons of life. He said you can tell the seasons on earth, you know when the rainy times are coming, but the true dimension you must have is the discernment to know the seasons of the spiritual. Check that out. 11:43 Colossians 4, 5 says we are taught to walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. In other words, Jesus said, or God says in Colossians make proper use of the season. Jesus said you seem to know when it's going to rain and not rain, but you don't know the signs of the times. You can't interpret it, you don't know what season you're in. So Jeremiah said this the God who gives rain in both spring and autumn, maintains the rhythm of the season. There's rhythms in our lives. In other words, you don't plant if it's the wrong season. You don't harvest if it's the wrong season. How do you know? How do we recognize the season we're in? I believe part of that is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and so what I'm about to share with you includes that Rick Warren says this in Purpose Driven Life. 12:33 Remember that book. If you haven't read it, dude, that is a great book. And then the one he wrote before that, the Purpose Driven Church. If you're a leader, pastor, I thought it was fantastic and very, very well. It's well thought out, I guess, is what it would be Well thought out and practiced. In other words, everything he talked about he had lived. 12:57 He writes this the center of his premise we are here for the purposes of God. Our seasons have a cohesive thread, a consistent backdrop and, no matter the season, we are here by the plan and design of Almighty God. Here's what Paul told Timothy, because one of the constants we have in life you remember I just talked about driving down the street and all of a sudden stuff's changed. You know what's constant in our lives. I know, you know what this is it's change. Change is the only constant we will have in life. Seasons always change. Here's what Paul said 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Paul said this to Timothy preach the word of God, be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. 13:51 And I go back to John Wooden. I mean John Wooden's whole thing was the prioritization and planning. He would plan his season, his practices, in fact, he focused on short, high-impact practices. He didn't have long practices. He had expectation of what we're going to get out of it and he would schedule it that way. And, of course, his great quote was failure to prepare is preparation for failure. He taught clear expectations, consistency and preparation. So I'm taking some of these things. 14:26 This list is actually from a book called Daring, daring A Call to Courageous Manhood, written by my wife's husband. That may take a second. You cannot change the past, but you can change the future. So we decide to change our future by not limiting ourselves to our past, because decisions made while you're looking back will not take you forward. I think this is a great illustration of seasons. You know, timing is a critical ingredient in success. 15:08 Right, 1951, how many people have hit a home run in? Uh, I mean my grandson, right, he's? Uh, he's 12, just turned 12. But when he was 11, you know, a couple months ago, he had a home run out of the park. He's the only young man that did it. In the entire it was a World Series thing, 36 teams, and he was the only one to hit one out of the park, and I didn't see it. I saw the video of it and I called him and said hey, great hit, kaysen, he goes. Yeah, I hit it out center field. So in other words, he was telling me how long it was. But the fact is that 1951, october 3rd, bobby Thompson comes to the plate. This is in the World Series against the Dodgers, and it's the Giants and Dodgers subway series, because it was back in the day when they all were in Brooklyn and New York and he hit a home run, won a game, won a series. A lot of guys have hit home runs, but he did it at exactly the right time and it's historic. 16:23 So here's seven keys. First, measure your life. Now, the problem is for most of us is we measure ourselves against someone else. We measure ourselves against Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. We measure ourselves against what somebody else is lying about. Usually, if we measure ourselves against others, it's the sin of comparison, and it happened to Israel over and over. It's why they said hey, we need a king, we need a king. They were measuring themselves, not against the Word of God or who God was in their lives as a father. They were measuring themselves against others and it leads to pride, misgiving, arrogance, despair, anger, rage, pride, I mean just or you look at it this way, you go hey, you know I'm not living a perfect life, but at least I'm not as bad as that guy. 17:28 So, number one measure your life. And what that means is against the Word of God. Where am I in the fight to be a Christ-like man? Whose story in Scripture do I most resonate with right now? Am I standing like Daniel, or am I in fear like Saul? Am I praying like Jabez, or am I praying like somebody who's just about to go down the tubes? Am I running like Jonah or am I running like David? Right, david ran to the battle. Jonah ran from God. Well, david did try to escape in a cave, get away from God. God was always there. So which way? Which direction are we running? Measure your life. 18:15 Bill Parcells was a coach here. Well, bill Parcells is a great coach in the NFL, but he coached in Dallas, in the area where I live, and I remember somebody said hey, it looks like you guys are having a great year. You know you got a good team. And he said well, here's the reality. The reality, the reality is you are what your wins and losses are. In other words, your record tells you who you are. 18:40 So measure your life. Where are you on the scale of the word of God? I think for most of us, we want to live a better life, we want to be a stronger of God, we want to be more deeply a man of prayer. Well then, do that. Put it on your to-do list, make it a habit of your life. So measure your life. Don't measure it against others. It'll be a moving target but measure it against being Christ-like. Where are we at? 19:08 Secondly, what I talked about being empowered. Being empowered, that means filled with the Holy Spirit, to have discernment, to have the ability to see issues and see a larger picture. You know we're talking about football, remember. There's spotters up in the press box, way up high above the play, above the field, and they can see things that are going on and they'll call down and say, hey, that safety is pulling out inside every time so we can hit them on an outside shot, whatever that may be, because the perspective on the field doesn't always tell you exactly what's going on in every, every position. A lot of coaches like to be there because they get a sense of the momentum of the game, but they're always listening to somebody who has perspective. So that's what the holy spirit does gives you the ability to get above an issue and have perspective, which allows you then to run fast. 20:14 It's Habakkuk 2.2. This says I've gone to a high place to get perspective. This is Habakkuk writing. He said I've gone to a high place to get perspective so that from that place I can write the vision and we can run full speed toward the goal. Perspective, that's what that. That's what that right division. Make it plain and so that he can read, it can run. That's really what it was speaking of was perspective. Get up where you can see it. So, number one measure your life. Number two be filled with the holy spirit, empowerment, uh. Thirdly and this is you know, these are, in a sense, it's like okay, I know this one Be faithful, be faithful. 20:58 Faithfulness builds character, but let's get a little more granular with it. Keep your word. Keep your word to others, keep your word to God. I think of a friend of mine who found himself in a really difficult situation recently and was sued by some people. They were wrong, he was right, but he went through 20 months of uncertainty. You know what he did during that time Stayed faithful, didn't get mad at God, didn't lash out at people, Didn't go onto Facebook start calling people names. He was faithful. His wife prayed, his family prayed. They stayed faithful. Now they did the things they had to do. They were faithfully engaged, but they stayed faithful Now. They did the things they had to do. They were faithfully engaged, but he stayed faithful and just a month ago was fully exonerated. I mean fully, 100%. It's awesome. Faithfulness in your season births greatness in life. Number four talking about season Ask God for wisdom, wisdom. 22:18 James 1.5 says if you lack wisdom, ask of God, who gives it to everyone, liberally and without reproach. Now, without reproach means you didn't have to go to the right school. You didn't have to grow up in the right family. We were with some great friends yesterday and she was recounting her testimony. She had looked up her family line. He had looked up his. She had looked up hers. His was pretty good, a lot of really great guys. Hers was pretty bad, but it didn't matter. She's got a great ministry and so it didn't matter where she had come from. What God had done in her life is truly remarkable. God gives wisdom to all who just ask. Wisdom gives us strategy and strategy brings us victory. You can't escape from the fact that architect of all of our lives is wisdom. So ask God for wisdom. 23:18 And then, fifth, I think that this might be one of the keys in the whole thing. I have seven principles here, but this might be one of the keys which is, and I'll say it this way, but this might be one of the keys which is, and I'll say it this way think deeply then act aggressively. It's real simple Think deeply then act aggressively. I think Seth Godin said it well when he said hey, there's so many great ideas, there's so many great breakthroughs that people have written, there's so many great whiteboard sessions, powerpoints, but what have you actually shipped? In other words, what's gone out? What's out there? What have you done? Did you build the business, launch the website, marry the woman, etc. Did you start the church? Did you build the car? Did you sit down with your son and talk to him? Did you spend time over and over and over? Think deeply, act aggressively. I love Teddy Roosevelt's quote In a moment of crisis, the best thing is to make the right decision. 24:41 The worst thing is to make no decision at all. Let's say it again, teddy Roosevelt In a moment of crisis, the best thing is to make the right decision. The worst thing is to make no decision at all. All right, those are five things. Now here's six. Focus on principle, not conditions. Conditions will change, storms will change. Storms are normal to life. This is why we're talking about seasons. So you make decisions based on an inner faith and strength, not from an outward changing perspective. Conditions will change. Storms are here and gone, but the external will always be changing. But it's the internal, your principles, that hold you close. Now, inside that, focus on principle, not conditions. 25:39 Never make a major decision in a time of despair. Hey, I'm selling the house. Hey, I'm doing this. I'm discouraged, I'm depressed. Let me quit my job. Yeah, I'm not going to talk to that guy. Whatever the major decision is, don't do it in a time of despondency. Don't make that decision is Don't do it in a time of despondency. Don't make that decision. Then Recognize the weak moments and stay away from choices that will limit your life or change your course or affect others deeply. It's really key. The time to make major decisions is in the season of strength. That's why, let's say, you're dealing with an addiction of some sort, whether it's alcohol or porn or even an addiction to a hobby. The time to make a decision about what you're doing with that is when you're strong, and then you set yourself up for success in that moment. 26:44 John Wooden said this also things seem to turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out. I love that, I really do. Seasons change. You're either I love my. My professor, lynn Sweet, said it this way he says you're either in a storm in life or you've just been in a storm and then actually you're about ready to head into a storm again. Seasons change. We can't change the season, but we adapt to them. 27:13 And then number seven fix your course. In other words, make a decision. This is who I am. This is how I'm going to work this and live this out and then manage that decision. This is who I am. This is how I'm going to work this and live this out and then manage that decision. Go after the direction that you've set in your life. 27:30 Here's Luke 21. And we'll close with a couple scriptures, and I want to pray over us as we walk through this season of our lives Luke 21. Put your faith in God Before all these things. They will lay their hands on you, persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogue and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake, says Jesus, but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. In other words, here's how to manage that season. An occasion for testimony. In other words, here's how to manage that season. Fix your course, therefore. Settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict, predict or resist. In other words, he says settle it in your heart. Psalm 37, new King James Version. 28:33 Psalm 37. Delight yourself in the Lord. He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him. This is my favorite Psalm, actually. Well, maybe Psalm 46. 28:42 23rd Psalm is up there, right, I don't know. Can you do a top five? Maybe that's not Christian, I don't know. I think there are words, though, that we have in our lives, scriptures that we hold deep inside us and that become part of fixing our course. You may have a scripture right now you're thinking of you go. No, this is the way I chart my course. Here's thought. Psalm 37 commit your way. The Lord trusts also in him. He will bring it to pass. 29:12 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way. And then this is verse 24. This is my scripture. Though he fall, though he messes up, though he makes a mistake, I will not cast him down. I'll lift him up with my strong right arm. The steps of a good man were ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way. The season that you're in right now will change. Seasons change, but what you do in the season right now is what sets you up for success in the next. How you leave one season is how you'll enter the next. 29:58 Father, I thank you for my friend right now and I pray the blessing and anointing and power of God. It is what you said in your word that this life is about the empowerment of your Holy Spirit. I thank you, father, for this time together and I thank you for the Brave Men podcast. Pray for every man who's been listening and we ask you, father, for courage to face reality, to admit need to change, to make decisions, hold convictions. I ask you, father, for courage, strength to walk through this season. And Father, in the high season the harvest it was, father, not to be lax or to think of ourselves too highly, knowing there's another season coming. And Father, in the midst of a storm, not to denigrate ourselves or think of ourselves so lowly that we leave ourselves there and limit our lives. Father, I thank you that you said in the fullness of time things happen. I thank you for your love, your grace and your mercy for my brother In Jesus' name, amen. Paul said to Timothy preach the word of God, be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. 31:24 Thanks for hanging out with me. Make sure you tell somebody about the Brave Men podcast and, wherever you're listening to it, go on there and subscribe. That helps us, helps the algorithm and all that sort of thing, and I really enjoy spending time with you. I really enjoy having the different guests we have on, but I also like these moments where you and I have a time to talk and walk through some things. I pray this has been a blessing to you as we'll walk through this together today. God bless you. Never forget this. Hope is alive. 31:57 - Speaker 2 Hope has a name Hope's cmn.men, your host has been Paul Louis Cole, president of Christian Men's Network. And if you haven't yet, please make sure you subscribe to the Brave Men podcast, wherever your fine podcasts are downloaded. Thanks for hanging with us today. We'll see you next time on Brave Men.