343 | Breaking Chains, Being Strengthened in The Forge, and Multiplying Your Discipleship Efforts (Alex and Stephen Kendrick)
Episode Description
Alex and Stephen Kendrick of Kendrick Brothers Productions have created some of the most influential Christian feature films, including WAR ROOM, FIREPROOF, and COURAGEOUS. With their new movie about to hit the box office, Alex and Stephen share what God is teaching them about discipleship, sacrifice, and being forged into stronger men and fathers.
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Alex and Stephen Kendrick of Kendrick Brothers Productions use their passion for storytelling to spread the Gospel and share stories of hope and redemption throughout the world. With Alex as the director and Stephen as the producer, they have co-written nine screenplays and several books. They each have six children and reside in Albany, Georgia, with their families.
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· God does things for us, with us, in us, and through us— in that order.
· Don’t let pride stand in the way of your growth.
· Every step you take in obedience to Jesus qualifies you to help someone else take that step.
· The fire of a forge strengthens you through heat and pressure.
· One man choosing to disciple another creates a multiplication effect that spans generations.
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Podcast Intro: [00:00:01] Being a great father takes a massive amount of courage. Instead of being an amazing leader and a decent dad, I want to be an amazing dad and a decent leader. The oldest dad in the world gave you this assignment, which means you must be ready for it. As a dad, I get on my knees and I fight for my kids. Let us be those dads who stop the generational pass down of trauma. I want encounters with God where He teaches me what to do with my kids. I know I'm going to be an awesome dad because I'm gonna give it my all.
[00:00:38] We mainly follow one man pouring into one young 19 year old. But it's a group of seven men pouring into seven younger men, and they call that group the Forge. Which means you're being strengthened through heat and pressure. That's what the fire of a forge does when you're making a sword, an arrow, a knife, or some tool of some sort. And men need that. Men need to be put through heat and pressure in their integrity, their discipline and their spiritual lives and their responsibilities. We get stronger as a result of it, and we hope that when people watch this film, The Forge, they're going to be inspired and stirred.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:01:11] Gentlemen, welcome back to DadAwesome. My name is Jeff Zaugg. And today, episode 343, we have Alex and Stephen Kendrick joining us. And you guys, you realize this, we've been in this summer series DA+3, DadAwesome plus three, this summer group guides. Where we've been doing short episodes and featuring my top five takeaways, and here's ten discussion questions that allow you guys to just kind of jump in to grab a few other dads, that's why we say DA+3. Grab a few other dads, and have a conversation about the Dad life, using some of the questions that we provided. We've done seven episodes, maybe eight, maybe it was eight in the summer series. Now we're jumping back into some interviews and we have some more just fun, exciting things happening this fall. We're gonna be featuring some other incredible fatherhood ministries. So, that's all coming up. But today's conversation with Alex and Stephen Kendrick, this is an example of me saying, grab a few other dads. So I had a chance to pre-stream this film about 3 or 4 months ago. I watched the film. I know that the release date is coming up August 23rd, a week from the release date of this podcast. They actually in Northeast Florida, where I live, there's, they're releasing it the night, the day before that, the 22nd of August, this film called The Forge. This whole film is around intentional fatherhood, around discipleship, about men pouring into younger men. And it just highlights so many things that we believe in deeply here at DadAwesome. So what I'm doing is I'm inviting men to go see this film with me. Just a really easy example. It's not a heavy lift, it's a light lift of the DA+3. Except for instead of trying to find 3, I'm trying to find 30 men, DA+30, 30 men to come join me to watch this film at the theater here in Northeast Florida. So if you live in this area, send me a message, let me know. But what I'm encouraging you guys to do is listen to today's podcast and consider, prayerfully consider rallying some men to go see this together. It's a really light lift in a way that you can say, hey, I care deeply about and you're going to have to take my word for it because you haven't seen the film yet. You didn't have a chance to prescreen it. Take take my word for this. Guys, rally some men to go see this film together and it will kick off at some deeper brotherhood, some deeper conversations. So, I'm excited for you guys to be a part of today's conversation. Today with Alex and Stephen Kendrick, they've released so many other films. You guys, you guys know about Overcomer, War Room, Courageous, Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Flywheel, there's even others. They've just devoted their lives to sharing stories that matter, through the film industry. So excited for you guys to be a part of today's conversation. This is DadAwesome, episode 343 with Alex and Stephen Kendrick. This week on DadAwesome, we are so thankful to have the Kendrick brothers, got Alex and Stephen Kendrick joining us. So welcome to DadAwesome.
Stephen Kendrick: [00:04:18] Thank you. Good to be with you, Jeff.
Alex Kendrick: [00:04:19] Yeah.
Stephen Kendrick: [00:04:20] Looking forward to talking to you.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:04:21] Well, I mentioned before hitting record that I had a chance to watch an early release of your newest film, The Forge. That's releasing just a few weeks from when we air this episode. And my heart and level of gratitude, I cried my way through the film. I'll put, put it out there right away, like it's, my dad passed away four years ago, went to heaven and, just seeing this heart of men who say, I'm going to make sure to pass on the fire that God has put in my heart, I'm going to make sure to pass that on intentionally, strategically. So we're gonna get into the film in a moment. But I want to go back story first, because it's just so fun to hear from you guys a little bit of your backstory and what brings you to today being men who are intentional on the home front, but also that's what you're all about is helping other people, other dads step into God's heart to be loving, intentional dads. Let's go backstory. Tell me about your family. So either one of you, it's the talk about your dad for a second.
Alex Kendrick: [00:05:11] Yeah. So our our father, we grew up in a home. I'm the middle, Stephen's the younger, Shannon is our older brother, so three boys. Our father was a minister. Mom was a schoolteacher, and, our dad was a chain breaker. What I mean by that is the generations before him struggled with those common issues, whether it was an addiction of some type or adultery, immorality, things like that and my dad said, Lord, would you do a new work in my life? And he said, I want to devote my life to You. Would You help me not integrate any of those damaging things into my marriage, in my, in my role as a father? And we are so grateful. So we didn't have to carry that burden of dealing with a parent who was constantly in and out of those strongholds. So, but we're so grateful. Our dad, eventually, when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, has fought through that. And today he is honoring the Lord, even from his bed or his wheelchair honoring the Lord. He prays for us, walks with us, advises us. He's a Godly father. And so, Stephen, Shannon and I, I have six kids. Stephen has six kids, shannon has seven, 19 kids between us. And we love investing in the next generation and the Lord's put that on our hearts. So, so grateful for what our dad did. Just say, I'll pay the price and get rid of all this stuff. Because he didn't, he get the blessing of his father, but he was able to bless us. So now we can make movies where it demonstrates to men, what does it look like to be a blessing to your children or the next generation, and to call them to a higher level of manhood and to ask God, would you guide our steps, order our steps, and protect us and help us be the men you've created us to be? So we love it. So movies like Courageous or The Forge speak to the heart of manhood and what we can do to honor and follow Jesus Christ with our lives, to prioritize Him above everything else, and then to call other men to join us. None of us are going to do it perfectly, but as long as we're heading in that direction to honor the Lord and you challenge, inspire and call other men. We're excited about that. That's what The Forge does.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:22] So what would be some examples of, to help a dad who's listening, be that chain breaker? Things that your dad did or even other examples thar you've drawn from from mentors and other leaders of, you said speaking blessing like blessing your kids. In your case, you sons of His, you were blessed, stopping maybe generational patterns or addictions or things that would cause harm. What would be some other examples of being a chain breaker?
Stephen Kendrick: [00:07:45] Well, our dad heard the gospel when he was a teenager. His father was not leading him to Christ. His mom was praying for him. She came to Christ as an adult, and so she, with childlike faith, was taking these little kids to church with her. Our dad hears the gospel, comes to know the Lord, and then he began to hang out with good men, read good books. At the time he would have been on podcasts like this, you know, if they existed. But he was so hungry for information on how to be a good dad. At the time, Focus on the Family was just getting launched. James Dobson actually had these reels, these film reels he was shipping to churches to introduce this concept of winning your children's hearts, disciplining them well, training them to live for the Lord. And our dad would show those reels at his church time after time. And he's learning those principles and began to read those books, and then would come home and would practice intentional fathering in our lives. And so part of the chain breaking is, you really need Jesus's help to change your own heart and mind. And then our dad was in Scripture saying, God, teach me how to be a good dad. You know, I wasn't given that example. I'm kind of driving in the dark here. I don't know what this looks like. And so as he's reading Scripture and applying that to his life, God, the perfect Father of all, was coming alongside him, helping him to not only love us and provide an example of integrity and truthfulness, but to humble himself and repent and ask for forgiveness when he blew it, you know. And we loved him for that, that he would be transparent and honest when he realized he was failing or stumbling in an area of his life. And so, but then in addition to that, he forgave his dad. And forgiveness is a key to breaking chains, because bitterness will tie your heart right to whoever you're bitter with. And Jesus says, when you're judging other people and condemning them, you will then struggle with the same stuff and be judged for the same stuff later on. So part of breaking that chain for men is for them to forgive their dads, and their dads don't deserve it. But even as God, through Jesus, has forgiven us by His grace, it is a gift, we are forgiving something to somebody they don't deserve. Not only does God forgive us, but then He calls us, hey, forgive other people. And that father wound that so many men have. They've got that knife in their heart that their dad placed there, whether it be through betrayal or negligence or anger or abuse or whatever it is, when we can pull out that knife and give it to God and forgive our dads, it frees us up, it sets us free, and we can move on and break that chain. And our dad did that. And because of that, he left a new example for us.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:10:40] Just even that little snapshot of what you guys just shared, like, adds so much like, oh, from the films that you've created, that I've watched, I'm like, oh, I see how these threads pass themselves forward into your deep passion, your work. I know that one of the first films, the projects that you guys worked on was as kids making, I believe you described them as chase them down, beat them up type fun at home editing, right? I'm curious what are like what are the elements to a good story? I know you could teach a whole master class, we could spend months on this. But just in short, what are some of the elements to living into and creating a really good story?
Alex Kendrick: [00:11:16] Yeah. So that's that's a great question. And that's stuff that we go through almost every day of our life as we form movies, write them. So first you want to introduce characters and make the audience care about those characters early on to identify at least part of their own lives with a character. So for example, in The Forge, we want every person watching the film to see themselves on the screen in some way through some character. Oh that character's like me, or I struggle with that issue. And so when you're engaged, now you care about what happens to a character, to then go on the journey with them as they hit unexpected hurdles or, or fight through a transformation in their lives of some way so that by the end of the journey, there is some sort of transformation or change that they desire. So in The Forge, we want our, our, our viewers to watch the screen and say, okay, wow, I resonate with that. Or that's like me or that character's like me. And by the end of the film, they walk out thinking, I want to go deeper in my walk with the Lord. I want to disciple someone else or I need to be discipled. So we want to also, as Jesus did, we want to challenge them in a direction that helps them grow. So yes, entertainment, you know, we we all love entertainment. It's like eating a dessert all the time. But at the same time, as Stephen, Stephen says often, and I love it when he, when he does this, you want a meal to not just be delicious, but nutritious. So get your protein and then get your nutrients, but also enjoy dessert, but that's at the end. So a good film also does that. It's not just sugar. You know, we want you to watch it and have emotional and engagement. And as you're watching I can't wait to see what happens. And then when you're watching, what goes on with the characters on the screen, you're thinking, I want that. I want to grow just like that. I want to invest in other people just like that. And so hopefully when people see The Forge, when men especially see The Forge, they will be stirred and challenged and inspired to say, Lord, help me prioritize you and be devoted to you more than anything, and then pull in other people as they walk with me.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:18] Wow. I, as I've been walking with a group of dads for I mean, this has been a deep passion for over six years of helping dads, and I've just been so, what a gift for me right on this journey of DadAwesome. We talk a lot about peaks and valleys and that a good story, living into a good story that our kids can be proud of, of like my dad lived into a good story. It's going to be full of, of these moments of valley moments and peaks. And then they'll be another valley. And I know that you guys, both of your personal journey of living out, being married and raising kids has paralleled with some of the films that you've created, and the peaks and the valleys have actually inspired what's moved you towards through, through courage. I can't remember, so when you stepped into counseling was like, I'm going to go see a counselor because I need to grow even though I'm exporting this on, you know, major screens. How would you, or could you each share an example of like, this paralleled my personal life with a mission of helping others on, on, on screen?
Stephen Kendrick: [00:14:17] Well, it's interesting that as God is teaching us and pouring into us, He's preparing us to serve Him and use our problems, our brokenness, and His healing and redemption as a tool to help other people and to serve our other people. So when we were on The Forge set, we were telling our crew that God does things for us first by His grace. Then He will invite us to do things with Him. And you know, Jesus says, take My yoke upon you. Let me spend time with you. Come fellowship with Me. So He's doing things with us, walking with us, at the same time He's doing things in us to transform us personally. And then He does things through us to communicate His love and truth to other people. And so that whole picture of His grace, the fellowship, the sanctification of what He's doing in us, and then the call to service. So in our journey, we will see God work in us, a call to prayer before we make War Room. Or He's calling us to full surrender before we make Flywheel, you know. In our marriages, teaching us how to humble ourselves and seek reconciliation, to demonstrate unconditional love when it's hard. And then as we're making Fireproof, we're learning those lessons before and during making the movie. Identity in Christ was something we were discovering as we went into the movie Overcomer. And so and then The Forge, discipleship has been the focus, and we can look back to God sending Godly men into our lives. Youth pastors, mentors, teachers, employers that love the Lord, that were walking with us and teaching us character, how to trust God, how to steward resources well. And then now we're making a movie about discipleship, and we're learning about discipleship at the same time. We're studying the Great Commission. We're studying what does it look like to follow Jesus on a daily basis, and then to invite other people to come along with us and say, follow me as I follow Christ. The word disciple means follower, and a disciple of Jesus is a fully devoted, all in follower of Jesus walking with Him. And as He takes a step, you take a step, following Him closely. And our daily journey of faith with God is an abiding, intimate, fellowship relationship that as we learn to lean in to the Lord every day and say, Lord, lead me. And what happens is when a man surrenders fully to the Lordship of Jesus, it's like the Holy Spirit becomes the hand in the glove of our empty lives, and He enables us to do what we cannot do on our own. He gives us a love for our wives and our kids that we didn't have before. He helps us to forgive our dads. You know, when there's that father wound that's there and then on a daily basis, you know, as as we lean into God, He gives us wisdom to, to be like, okay, this kid needs a spanking. This kid needs compassion, you know. This kid needs a lesson. This kid just needs, you know, playtime, fellowship time with you as a dad. But only the Lord knows the hearts of our children and knows what they need. And so when we lean into Him, He helps us. You know, He carries us through that journey. And we've seen it happen with our movies and with our families as well.
Alex Kendrick: [00:17:40] Yeah. And I want to add this, so and you mentioned this. So I have been in counseling a few times with my wife, right. So we've been married almost 30 years. We have six children, love our kids and love the ministry that the Lord's given us. At the same time, there have been areas and times we're like, okay, I don't know what to do here, and I'm confused or frustrated or my wife is too. So, you know, we go get counseling. Now, most people by default say, oh, he had to go to counseling, something's wrong with him. Well, let me ask you a question. When we send our kids to school or when you went to school, high school or college, whatever it is, you're not going thinking there's something wrong with me therefore, I need to go to school. You're just going to school to grow and learn, right? So when I go to counseling, I'm not thinking I'm going because there's something wrong with me. No, there are areas I need to grow and learn, or my wife grow and learn, and maybe hardship exposes those areas. So when I've been to counseling, my attitude has shifted. I, today, would say, any guy out there watching this podcast, if there's areas you would say I need to grow and learn in this area, go get counseling, just like you would go to school to get a degree. So I am not for looking at counseling as there's something wrong with you. You need the bandaid. No. Go get counseling so that you can grow and learn just like you went to school. So I am for everyone going to counseling. I truly am.
Stephen Kendrick: [00:19:10] At some level.
Alex Kendrick: [00:19:11] Yes, I am for everyone to go. So if you're a dad and you're thinking, I don't want anybody to think there's anything wrong with me, don't let pride stand in the way of your growth and your nurturing your wife or your kids. So if you're, if you are hitting some hardship, you can say, okay, we need to grow here or to learn something about this, or my wife or my or my kids. So let's look for the proper counseling and go. And the perspective is we're going to go to grow and learn and ask the Lord to help us. So, if anybody says, Alex, have you ever had to go to counseling? Yes, a number of times.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:45] To grow. To grow.
Alex Kendrick: [00:19:46] Yes. To grow and learn. So, so it's not, oh, there's something wrong with me. No. I want to keep growing and learning, and so we embrace it. And you should to.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:56] So good. You mentioned, like, pride could keep us from taking that step, just to kind of leap into the film The Forge. There are so many things that could keep me from saying, I'm not qualified to help other young men. I'm not qualified to help. I feel that actually around even dad ministry, like, my, my oldest is 10, who am I to help with intentional fatherhood and lead this ministry Dad Awesome? And I think discipleship is a category. The enemy, the accuser would want to stop every dad listening, right now, every man, and say, nope, that's not for you. That's for somebody else who's more arrived. And maybe as just a backdrop, before we talk about the themes of discipleship from The Forge, would you, would you guys just give a flyover? What's the, what was your prayer, your hope, and what's the essence of of the film?
Alex Kendrick: [00:20:41] Well, discipleship is about inviting someone into a relationship with you to hang out with you. And and you're just saying, follow me as I follow Christ. I'm, I'm taking a step and following Jesus, and let me show you what I've learned. It rapidly speeds up someone's growth when they do it, in a relationship, and it rapidly speeds up their growth when you're not just telling them what to do, but you're showing them what it looks like. Many people are auditory learners. They can drive down the road, they can listen to this podcast, and you're going to learn a lot of things through that. But when you can sit in someone's living room and they didn't just tell you to have a quiet time at home, but they say, hey, let me show you how I have a quiet time. Let me show you. I sit down in this chair, I get a cup of coffee, I open up my Bible, I pray, and here's what it looks like. And they walk through their journey. Well, we can do that with anything. Here's how I repent. Here's how I do a devotion with my kids. Here's how I play with my kids. Here's how I balance a checkbook, and here's how I change a tire. You know, anything that we know how to do, we can pass on to someone else. And the way discipleship works is, every step you take in obedience to Jesus qualifies you to now help someone else take that step as well. And so the woman at the well, the only step she had taken, was to believe Jesus is the Messiah. And then she runs out and tells her whole city. She's qualified to do that. She's not ready to start a class on the Messiahship and the Old Testament, you know, the differences in worship, like that. But she had taken a step and she immediately passed it on to someone else. So Jesus said to His disciples, come follow me. It was that invitation in discipleship. Come hang out with me, watch me, listen to me. And every step that I take, I now have provided enough information for you to be able to take that next step. When we obey the Lord, every time throughout our lives, we obey the Lord, it immediately expands the number of people we can reach and impact, because there's that many people who have not taken that step. And so don't act like you're an expert on something where you haven't obeyed God in that area. You know, part of that discipleship process is us pointing people to Jesus as the ultimate example. We're teaching them to read, obey His word, walk with Him on a daily basis. But when we step in with them and we're hanging out with them, praying with them and saying, hey, I don't know everything, but let me tell you what I did last week. You know that God, God's brought a breakthrough in my life in this area. It expands our ministry impact and we can help them take that next step as well.
Stephen Kendrick: [00:23:27] Yeah, I know I want to I want to say this too. There is a difference between just being a Christian and being a disciple. Scripture talks about it like in Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans chapter 6. Salvation is a gift when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a gift. Script, scripture calls it a gift. Discipleship, Jesus says, will cost you. He says, if you want to be my disciple, this is in Luke chapter 9, you must deny yourself, take up you cross daily and follow me. So it's the difference, you might say, and I love this analogy because it helped me. A college will have students that go to that university in the stands at a football game. That's different than being a student on the field as a football player. Now, both are in the university family. Both as students in the stands and the students on the field. But the students on the field are paying a different price in their diet and their exercise and their scheduling and their discipline. You know, you know, there's a higher price, but it brings a type of results that the kids in the stands are not experiencing. So I'm saying you can believe in Jesus and if it's sincere, you can go to heaven. Yes. But to be a follower of Christ where He is the priority, He is not just in the mix of your life, He is what you're devoted to,= and everything else is less important. And you're able to pay that price and say, Lord, would you stretch me, strengthen me, grow me, and guide me and use me for Your glory? He will, and it is a harder road, but the results are far greater. So when we look at discipleship and following Jesus, it does take a man to say, I will deny myself and take up my cross, which means I'm willing to die to other things if necessary, to make Jesus the number one priority and devote myself to Him. And when you do that, the Lord can shine through your life at a whole another level, when you're salt and light. So we're not, we're not trying to discourage anybody. Whether you say, I'm in the stands or I'm on the field, we're not trying to discourage anybody. But discipleship, there is a cost, but we're saying it's worth it. And so, this movie, The Forge has a group of men, we mainly follow one man pouring into one young 19 year old. But it's a group of seven men pouring into seven younger men and they call that group The Forge. Which means you're being strengthened through heat and pressure. Heat and pressure, that's what the fire of a forge does when you're making a sword, an arrow, a knife or some tool of some sort. And, and so men need that. Men need to be put through, shaped through heat and pressure in their integrity, their discipline and their spiritual lives and their responsibilities. Unfortunately, we need that. But we get stronger as a result of it. And we hope that when people watch this film, The Forge, they're going to be inspired and stirred.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:26:12] I love that the the team of men, The Forge, there's a single mom. So Isaiah that one of the key characters, a 19 year old, his mom, is praying and rallying others to pray and that this team of men is an answer to her and her friends and her mentors prayers. And just thinking about that any of us who decide, hey, I'm going to step into this, we might be an answer to prayers prayed for, who knows how long, just by saying yes to, I mean even the example Joshua Moore, the character who owns the the company, he's he's bringing breakfast burritos 2 or 3 times a week and taking a half hour at the front end of his workday to just invest in. It's just so, it's simple, but it took a lot of intentionality. So I just I love how, it just plays itself out. We can be an answer to prayer. We can do it through the daily, not through, doesn't it have to be an extra thing that takes you away from the family every evening. It could be someone in your workplace, which I love. Without giving away the film, I just want to one moment of that team of men who the character Joshua has invested in. There's a side conversation about a deeply painful thing that happened, and, and he says, well, you know, that was me in this, this moment of you realize in a heartbeat that forgiveness has been extended to the millionth degree and, and, and the unlock of generational blessings for because of forgiveness. Could you guys just paint without telling, giving it away, just like how forgiveness in that moment was such a big deal?
Stephen Kendrick: [00:27:37] Well, in the movie, you are following and tracking Joshua Moore and, and that his, one of his sons died and was killed in a, in a drunk drivers accident. And through that whole journey, you realize the amount of forgiveness that he had to extend to, to someone who had hurt and devastated their entire family. You know, it's amazing how grace is connected to loving kindness and generosity to the undeserved. It has nothing to do with justice. The law, the Bible says, came through Moses, and it's about righteousness and justice. But grace came through Jesus Christ. It's that loving kindness that pours out the heart of God. It's that second mile that you're giving someone who doesn't deserve something. Love and kindness, out of generosity, kindness. And so, in all of our movies, we try to demonstrate not only, yes, you need to walk in integrity, keep your promises, do the right thing. That's justice. But we also try to demonstrate grace in the films. And this is different from secular films. If you notice, the world operates by the law. The law of God is written on their hearts and they want justice. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You're nice to me, I'm nice to you. You're mean to me. I'm mean to you. Jes,us shows up, though in all of His parables and stories demonstrate grace, usually, halfway through the parable. You'll have the prodigal son, and he's, he is totally undeserving because he's, he's squandered the resources and the inheritance, and the father extends him grace out of love and compassion. And people cry when they hear that story. When the father jumps off the front porch and shows compassion and grace, the undeserved kindness to his son. In the Good Samaritan story, the same thing, people are not helping this guy who's in a ditch because he didn't do anything to earn it. He's not buying it. You know, the law would say, I don't have to, in a sense. But this Samaritan demonstrates compassion and grace undeserved. And people are moved by this example. Well, Jesus, the whole cross of Christ is the grace of God. We do not deserve it. And the overwhelming gift of salvation is a gift of grace, because we could never deserve and earn that. And then He invites us and calls us to be people who have experienced grace. And He calls us to go the extra mile. Which is the mile of grace, to turn the other cheek, which is the the cheek of grace, in a sense, is to do that extra undeserved amount which demonstrates the love nd kindness, the generosity of God that we have experienced. And that is when the witness kicks in. Yeah, that's when the eyebrow gets lifted and people are like, why are you doing this? Why are you being nice to me after I was mean to you? In The Forge movie you see a man demonstrate grace for his enemy. And it's overwhelming because, as you said, he has received the grace of God in his own life. And he says, Because God has forgiven me of so much, I have to forgive other people, and it sets me free when I do it.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:30:58] It's such a deep moment of, we all carry something that could be a reason to disqualify ourselves from stepping in with our whole hearts and disliking others and and to not only move past it, but to move towards the person who created the hurt and devastation and loss. I just think so many men say, hey, I'll wait for somebody else to go first. I'll wait for somebody else. And I just love to hear your kind of passionate, like encouragement of, don't wait for someone else. We can step in with, maybe we only know this much. We can bring that much to somebody else. And that the visual, the beautiful visual in the film, The Forge, of this is how it compounds outward and can affect thousands. Just obedience to say, I'll be the first one. I'll go first in this area of discipleship. Can you expound just a little more on that, on that theme?
Alex Kendrick: [00:31:44] So the character Joshua that does this, he shows first grace to Isaiah when he meets Isaiah. And Isaiah really doesn't deserve it, he's not even being respectful. And he extends grace which, which catches Isaiah off guard, and then he draws them in. Offers Isaiah job, because he is looking for a job, then starts mentoring him, leading him to Christ. And then Isaiah realizes how long he's been doing this and the lives of other men, and it astonishes him. And then we see, even by the end of the film, how those men are now pouring into the next generation and teaching them how to the poor into the next generation after that. And so it's this multiplication effect. But it started with one guy saying, Lord, in my brokenness, would you walk with me? Would you help me? And then I'm going to show the grace you've shown me to another guy and then disciple him. He starts multiplying while I'm going to another guy. He starts multiplying, and he does this for a year or two at the time. And so by the end of the film, you see how, wow, we see this multiplication effect happening, because it started with one person who didn't even think he was qualified to do it. And so, I mean, how many of the disciples in Scripture are not qualified? Except that Jesus calls them. Peter is not qualified. Peter falls on his face, sticks his foot in his mouth, and still by Acts, the book of Acts, is doing unbelievable miracles and making an impact for the Lord. So Paul, the same thing, Paul was a walking hypocrite when he's Saul, before he changes to Paul and now he's honoring the Lord. So all of us have fallen on our face once or more many times and are unworthy. But yet Jesus says, because of my love, I'm going to demonstrate to you grace. We're then supposed to say, thank you. AwesomeYGod, you are perfect and loving and worthy because I am unqualified to do what you're calling me to do. But I can extend what You extended me toYothers as I'm walking towards you. Stephen said it earlier, none of us are ever fully qualified. All of us have fallen on our face. But because we serve a perfect SaviorH as we follow him, we can invite other people to join us on that walk.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:33:46] Yeah. Well, Alex, Stephen, I'm so grateful that you have continued to step into the dreams, the passions, the calling God has had on your life. Film after film after film. In fact, I'm going to link, there's an I Sm second video that just kind of even captures some of those peaks and valley moments that I want to make sure our listeners are linked, because it even casts a little more of a backstory for what you guys have walked through. But I would love to just invite you, to pray over the dad's listing right now and pray that this film would awaken that courage to step in and disciple others. Would you pray for us?
Stephen Kendrick: [00:34:25] Lord Jesus, we praise You and thank you first that You are a perfect, perfect God. Fnd Father God, you are a perfect Yather. And Lord. The fact that you love us in our brokenness, You love us when we fall and You extend forgiveness and grace is just so, awesome, so awesome. And Lord, we ask that You would draw us to You, Lord. That whoever's listening to this podcast, this, this interview, God, would You bless them, stir their heart that they can once again get up and come to You and say, Lord, would You walk with me? Would You forgive me? Would You strengthen me? Would You help me and then help me invest and pour my life into other people and invite them alongside with me? Lord, help me devote myself to You. That's it an acknowledgment that You are above all things, that in our hearts we separate You as more important than everything else, and that we're always ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us. We do it with gentleness and respect. But Lord, would You bless those listening? Would You stir their hearts? And Lord, may we start Bible study groups of forges, if you will? Lord, the the type of groups where we we can invest in the next generation and and be a part of this multiplication effect that You've called us to do. And so, Lord, for those that are struggling with some stronghold, Lord, would You open a door in Jesus name? Would You open a door that they can walk through to get out of that? They can get help, counsel, accountability. Because, Lord, we do need each other. As You've said, the body of Christ is meant to help each other. We're not all gifted the same way. We need one another. So Lord, would You guide us and we want to please you and honor You? I, I pray over the DadAwesome podcast, God would You bless it and draw even more men to it? I pray over the movie The Forge as it comes out in August, God, would You use it to draw men to You at a deeper level? And Lord, we praise and thank You even in advance for what You will do. And may You get the glory. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:36:31] Thank you so much for joining us, this week, for DadAwesome episode 343 with Alex and Stephen Kendrick. Guys, all the show notes, the conversation links, the action steps, and the link to a local theater where you can go and see The Forge, all that is available at dadawesome.org/podcast. I want to encourage you guys, like I mentioned before, I'm rallying the group here in Northeast Florida to go see this film on opening night. I want to encourage you guys, rally some guys, go watch this film and see what it sparks as far as conversation, relationship depth of this, this topic matters. So want to encourage you guys let's be Dadawesome. And being DadAwesome is not just pursuing your own kids, your own wife. It's inviting some other dads in to learn and grow together and be transformed alongside one another. So thanks for being DadAwesome! Have a great week, guys.
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· 8:48 - "Part of the chain breaking is you really need Jesus' help to change your own heart and mind. Our dad was in Scripture saying, God, teach me how to be a good dad, I wasn't given that example. I'm kind of driving in the dark here. I don't know what this looks like. As he's reading Scripture and applying that to his life, God, the perfect Father of all, was coming alongside him, helping him to not only love us and provide an example of integrity and truthfulness, but to humble himself and repent and ask for forgiveness when he blew it."
· 16:04 - "We're making a movie about discipleship, and we're learning about discipleship at the same time. We're studying the Great Commission. We're studying what it looks like to follow Jesus on a daily basis, and then invite other people to come along with us and say, follow me as I follow Christ. The word disciple means follower, and a disciple of Jesus is a fully devoted, all in follower of Jesus walking with Him. As He takes a step, you take a step, following Him closely. Our daily journey of faith with God is an abiding, intimate, fellowship relationship that as we learn to lean in to the Lord every day and say, Lord, lead me. What happens is when a man surrenders fully to the Lordship of Jesus, the Holy Spirit becomes the hand in the glove of our empty lives, and He enables us to do what we cannot do on our own."
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