The Power of A Threefold Cord: Biblical Brotherhood Ep. 4

There’s a reason the enemy works so hard to isolate men.

In Part 4 of our Brotherhood Series, Duncan, Josh, and Max break down what biblical brotherhood actually looks like — not surface level friendship, but real relationships built on truth, trust, accountability, encouragement, and shared pursuit of God.

The guys unpack:

• The "threefold cord" of Ecclesiastes 4:12
• Why isolation crushes men
• The three types of brotherhood every man needs
• Mentors, companions, and spiritual sons
• Vulnerability, accountability, and trust
• Practical tools for building strong brotherhood
• How encouragement and prayer can change a man’s life

This conversation deals with masculinity, loneliness, church culture, mentorship, and the kind of friendships that sharpen men instead of leaving them stuck.

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better because a triple braided cord is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:12

If this episode challenges or encourages you, share it with another man who needs brotherhood in his life.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated. But two can stand back to back and conquer. Three or even better because a triple braided cord is not quickly broken. You've probably heard Ecclesiastes 4 and verse 12 a dozen times, maybe even put it to memory. But what does it look like when we apply it to our relationships in biblical brotherhood, biblical sisterhood? What other principles in Scripture does it nod to that we need to consider in a conversation like this? And what kind of tools has God given us to sharpen, strengthen, and minister to one another in these types of relationships? I'm Duncan Brann. Welcome to Three in the Fire. As always, I am your host, Duncan Brannon. And joining me on the fiery quest today, if I am the clean shaven Elvin Legolus, then this guy, he must be the bearded axe-wielding Gimli, Josh Davis, my brother. How are you? Hey, Duncan. Come on, man. You missed your cue. That was supposed to be a John Rice Davies. Oh, I'm here.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

I'm good to see you, Duncan.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

And this other chuckling fellow over here now who's beat red. He has been a Samwise Gamgee to many of Frodo Baggins on his quest. Certainly Max McHurder. Welcome, my hairy-footed friend. I'm here to help you and I won't let you quit, Duncan. That's all right, man. How'd I do it? Felt you channel Sean Aston there, man. Great job. We stuffed the intro. Way to go. So excited about this episode, guys, because today we are capping off our four-part series on biblical brotherhood. Starting at episode nine, we kicked this thing off. Um, looking at what biblical brotherhood or biblical sisterhood looks like in our lives. And in that first episode, we talked about the problem, okay? The need that we all have inside of us for spiritual family. And one of the ways that God meets that is through biblical brotherhood. We talked about the problem. We talked about God's cure, and then we talked about his promise when we meet together. Well, in episodes 10 and 11, you'll remember, we started talking about, okay, what are the foundations of this thing? We got the we got the why we do this. You know, now let's talk with the what, but now let's talk about the why we do it. Um and we looked specifically at the foundations of one. You got to have two people seeking the will of God. You gotta have that. If if if you're not after the same thing, how can two walk together in agreement? That's one of the scriptures you brought up, Josh. How can two walk together except they walk in agreement? You gotta have that agreement, both of you going after the will of God. But the other thing you got to have is an unconditional love of God because sometimes you're you're gonna miss it. So, John in 1 John 3, he really groomed us there well, saying, look, it can't just be talk. It's got to be a real practical love where you're giving yourselves, sacrificing, serving one another, meeting each other's needs. And so today we're getting to now the final installment of the how. We're gonna talk about the the types, three types of biblical brotherhood and eight tools. So types and tools is what we're all about today, really putting uh the the wheels on on the car here, basically. And in Ecclesiastes 4.12, you know, and in our opening there, I mentioned, you know, Solomon's brotherhood axiom, the triple braided cord. So it's it really is when you start breaking it apart and and and thinking about, okay, why did he choose this illustration? It's it's pretty stinking cool to me. And the first thing that I that really jumps out at about it to me, I don't think it's any mistake that he chose the triple braided cord, because I think it was a Holy Spirit-inspired nod. Because if it's gonna work, God's got to be the foundation of the thing. And within the Godhead, what do you have? You have three in one. You have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, yet perfect, perfect in unity, all one God, all co-equal worship. We we we know the doctrine there, but it's almost to me like God kind of says, Okay, look, you want to know where to start? Just look right here. Just watch me, eyes on me. Look how we do it. You you never hear the Trinity going, all right, man, no, why'd you do that, Jesus? All right, you know, none of that. You know, God God said, This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. So there's unity in the Trinity. But the uh the other thing is we all have this image of God that we're created in, as Genesis tells us, and we're three-part beings also. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 says we have a body, a soul, and a spirit. Paul said, I prayed God that your whole body, soul, and spirit would be kept to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we're three in one. So there's this kind of pattern of threes that start emerging in the scriptures, and then we get over here to Solomon and a triple braided cord. And I believe the main reason that he chose this framework now, though, is if you have three chords and you just kind of turn them on their side, you got three eyes. Okay. And we can think of it this way. First of all, if you're gonna have biblical brotherhood or sisterhood, you've got to have intentionality. That's the first eye of biblical brotherhood or sisterhood. And intentionality, you've got to have intentionality. And what do I mean by that? I mean you've got a purpose to meet together. You've got a purpose to do it. Everybody throws in, and then you just got to follow through. We're gonna meet at this date, at this time, at this place, and all of that. And then the second thing going with that is intimacy. You can't have biblical brotherhood or sisterhood if you if you're being a hypocrite, if you're not being honest with one another, if somebody's name is not safe in your mouth, if your brother reveals his problems to you, and then you go blab it to other folks and stuff like that, stabbing them in the back. So there's got to be that intimacy. John says, you know, in 1 John 1.7, you know, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So that's the second thing. So we got intentionality and intimacy, and the third thing is interdependence. When you get these first two going, the interdependence starts to happen because people feel like they can trust each other now, and now we can lean on each other. Okay, you're being honest, you're being real, you're not being high and mighty and all this kind of stuff. You're a man that has strengths and weaknesses just like me. So I'm gonna lean on you and I'm gonna defer to your strengths, Josh, about this. You're gonna lean on me about this. I'm gonna trust Max on this. Max has been there, done it, got the t-shirt for us. So there's the three eyes, I think, that Solomon kind of lays out for us in a triple braided cord. You gotta have intentionality, you gotta have intimacy, and you got to have that interdependent. And when you do, you will have a triple braided cord, and it's not quickly broken. The first question, though, that I want to throw out with you guys here is if you look back on the successful brotherly relationships that you have, ones you have right now. I mean, I think this is a pretty good one. So there's that. But if you look back, have you seen the three eyes in place, in play in your relationships? Either, either of you guys. Josh, how about how about you first? What have you seen that?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

With any season of life, but certainly over the last few years, um, the the things that I'm walking through family-wise, um, you know, I I if I didn't if I didn't have real brothers to lean on through this stuff to give me um uh to give me comfort, uh wise counsel, to build me up, um, to speak truth, um, you know, um I'd be a total wreck. I mean an even bigger uh disaster than maybe I already am. But um, you know, like I I just I can't imagine um, you know, because it because there have been seasons where I I've been isolated over my life, and so I know what that feels like in and um you know, but when you when you get to certain seasons in life um are much har much harder and much more difficult than others, and to do those alone and to do those isolated, um those can just crush you. Yeah, and so um yeah, absolutely. Like and and you have to uh you have to be committed. Like you said, you have to be committed um and you and you have to be willing to share what's really going on in your heart. Um and it you know that's just that's just part part of the deal if you want if you re if you really want someone to walk with you through through those hard things, you have to be willing to uh to be vulnerable.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Amen. Max? You know, I I think men have no problem being intentional and also uh counting on one another as far as being interdependent. I I think we struggle with intimacy. I think there is a hesitancy there that even though we are drawn together uh to to have a great kinship, uh and a fellowship, if you will, but um when you start dealing with the the word love and one guy says, Ah man, I just love these guys, right? Then that feeling has to be mutual because otherwise he has just put himself out there. And uh in in the world of man, I may be wrong, maybe I'm only speaking for myself, but it seems that in the world of man, that there is still the hesitancy of that intimacy, that if I if I take it too far, it's misread. And it is interpreted as being something that becomes awkward and becomes something that is unwanted. So that that it takes a while for that love relationship to take place between men. And it typically, like to Josh's point, typically takes place through some kind of trial, through some kind of hardship where and and a guy was so dependable that the interdependency that you mentioned, he was so dependable that you you just came to rely upon him and you came to trust him. And with that, then there was a love relationship. But in the society today, because of, I'm just gonna say it, because of the prevalency of homosexuality, that most men are so uh uh avoidant. They want to make sure that their behavior is clearly defined as being heterosexual, if in fact it is. And so I think that there's still kind of a uh the enemy is you he uses that to keep our relationships from being as close as they could be. You know, the the in the in regard to the three of us, you you could say anything and and I I would feel that I throw it right back at you, right? But if I knew in one moment that there was some struggle or hurt that was going on with you that and you threw something at me, then I I wouldn't do the same thing because the relationship is has been tempered. Uh there have been things that we have been able to go through that allows us to build not just that interdependency that you're talking about. Yeah, but it is a deep trust, a reliance, right? And uh there's not a uh there's not an issue with it until that thing's been tempered. I think we struggle with intimacy.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, and I think like just within within church culture, that it's that like that word intimacy specifically.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

It's a trigger word, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, they can find that weird. You know, just there's a book called Why Men Hate Going to Church. And in that book, got it read it. Yeah, he's got he he has a story where he says, you know, two guys don't go they don't go hunting, and and when they're sitting in the in the blind hunting, sitting there with their guns, you know, you know, Max, you wouldn't turn to me and say, Hey Josh, I wish we would be more intimate. Absolutely. Like guys don't talk that way. Yeah, and so part of part of it is like just the church culture and the language and the words that we use uh can prevent guys from going there because it just is seems weird.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Um and undoubtedly also a false definition of masculinity.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Well, real men don't do that, right?

SPEAKER_04 13:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Little men don't cry, real men don't do this, and and so forth. So I yeah, I think both of them are working against us. Let's jump into our next segment here, guys, about these types of relationships now that we have. We've established this pattern of threes, really, with God the Father, the threefold image in us, and you know, we we can see it in Rakshak and Benny in the book of Daniel. We got Moses, her, and Aaron on the hillside uh in the book of Exodus, the battle of the Amalekites, Peter, James, and John in the New Testament. So it's all over there. But as we look at the New Testament and the old, but but especially the New Testament, we've got some really cool examples and a pattern that emerges of three types of relationships that we can have with our brotherhood or with our sisterhood, and that being mentors, companions, and disciples, or sons and or sons or daughters in the faith, basically. So mentors. And um on that note, Josh, I think you got this one um in the in the toss-up there. Talk to us a little bit about that and give us some some foundation here about having a mentoring relationship.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, you know, um I I've been I think I've touched touched on this a little bit in previous episodes, but I I feel very fortunate in that I've I've had a lot of mentors uh in my life and in my adult life and through different seasons, there's been different men that have come um in to walk alongside me in those seasons. And I've I've always seemed to have um a mentor that I can lean on um through those different those different seasons and years in my life. Um and the the verse um that we're looking at here in Proverbs 27, verse 9, it says, Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Um and and that's an interesting um verse um there in Proverbs, and it in Proverbs 27, there's there's quite a few um verses there we're talking about um brotherhood, and you're gonna touch on some of those, I think, Duncan. Yeah um but you know um if you if you if you just think about that that verse for a moment um and and what those mean, just think about the context that you know this is written when this is written and in in the culture and in those times, um oil um was was used for hospitality and and uh psalm says it's a symbol of joy. Um and it's so it's most commonly associated with with celebration and blessing or anointing. So oil. Then you have perfume. Per perfume was rare, um, it was expensive, um, and it was associated with honor.

SPEAKER_04 16:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Oil, perfume, you know, joy, hospitality, blessing, um, honor. And so that's what Solomon is he's comparing you know, oil and perfume um with uh with wise uh wise counsel, with uh mentorship, basically. And so he's saying he's comparing that and saying that there's joy and honor in that uh and uh and counsel and uh earnest counsel. Um that's if you look at the Hebrew word, the definition, what it what it is is uh counsel of the soul of the deep. Um it's so it's not just surface level um communication, service level talk. We're not sitting around talking about sports. Um it's there you go, deep, it's shared life, it's knowing each other's heart and caring enough um to speak the truth in love. So it's it's a deep soul-level friendship, not just a surface level um uh friendship. And and so what Solomon is saying is that that type of friendship, that type of counsel is going to be refreshing and life-giving to your soul and your spirit. And you know, for me, um well, one of the uh the first mentors I had in my early 20s, um, his name is Tony, and uh and he know he really uh found me in a place in my in my early 20s where I was searching for what does it look like to to be a man? Um and I had started to drift into um the typical things that young men chased after, which is okay, I want to have I want to be super successful and you know have uh you know a lot of money, big house, fancy car, like you know, all that stuff. Um and I, you know, I just started uh my business and and so um and Tony found me in this place, and he he helped me re uh refocus and kind of change my path a little bit. You know, he's he saw that I was walking down, he he himself was a successful entrepreneur, built and sold multiple businesses, um, and so very successful, but also just a real man, like the first real man of God that that um that I had as a mentor. And so, you know, he showed me like, you know, you can be this man of God, high integrity, um, high character, and still be successful, still have a business, and still I'll do the all these things, but it's a matter of you know, your priorities, what's important um and who you are is more important than what you do. And so he really walked with me for the uh for most of my 20s um and mentored me uh through through that season of my life, and and then eventually I met um my wife and he mentored me through that, and and and Tony and his wife, they counseled us through through um through our engagement period, and Tony ended up uh uh performing our wedding ceremony. It was um and everything. And so very just a very important man in my life. Um, but he but he saw something in me and he was willing to invest in me. Um and our relationship was beyond the surface level. And the the cool thing, what I really loved about Tony is every time I would go and spend time with him, I would always come away uh so um refreshed, encouraged, built up. Um and and I'd never really had a relationship with a guy where I felt that way coming away from it. And what it was is because he was um speaking into the deep parts of my soul, and and we and he was asking me questions that went deep, um, but he was also just he was very encouraging and and um in in speaking the truth as well. And so that just showed that showed me a way to to uh to also relate uh relate to others, uh myself, um, and just making sure that I am listening well and that I am caring uh what the other person is saying, and I'm asking uh you know the right questions and good questions, and I'm encouraging and building up and edifying and all those things. Um and uh so he he's a he's a guy for sure in my life, still extremely important. Um and uh and that really kicked off I think my uh my path towards uh you know mentors, mentorship, and just someone that really really sticks out and comes to mind when I think about this this scripture in Proverbs.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Yeah, you know, it appears it appears to me also, Josh, you know, it you know the thing about the oil and the perfume, if it was an act of hospitality, well then you gotta receive it. And you had to continually put yourself in a place to receive the oil and the perfume that Tony was bringing through the Holy Spirit into your life.

SPEAKER_04 21:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

And that's the thing about having a mentor. Um, I had companion or um, you know, basically your peer um here in this regard in the scripture is Philippians 2.25. It's one of my favorite scriptures, um, definitely my favorite in this category, but one of my favorite of all. Paul's talking about a special friend named Epaphroditus to the church at Philippi. And he's the guy who carried the message to them after Paul wrote it in his epistle. And he says this in verse 25 of chapter 2. He says, I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus. Now, listen to the description: My brother and my friend. Fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger and minister to my need. He describes this guy, I mean, like he's the bomb, man. He is the whole happy meal. My brother, my fellow worker, my fellow soldier, and my minister. There's four things that this guy is to Paul. And I'm going, okay, he's got one line, one mention in the entire Bible, and wow, what an ep, what an epitaph for him. You know, it's a Hall of Fame mention there. And it's so cool. And whenever I think about this scripture, I think about my dear friend of many years, David Grover. Dave Grover was a guy that I met at church just a few years after Roland and I had been married and Cadra had been born, our firstborn. I met Dave, and Dave was on the praise team. Uh, Roland and I were singing, and you know, Dave played played trombone, and he was just, he was just a normal, very, very plain, very just regular guy, but he just had a genuine love of the Lord. Um, and there was just an instant kinship. You know, he said, Hey, one day I said hey back. And uh, next thing you know, we we started hanging out and started talking. And before you know it, we became covenant prayer partners. We both wanted to deepen our prayer life. And we have been praying together now ever since, over 30 years. We've been praying together. So, needless to say, Dave knows me. And he has been all of those things to me. He has been a brother that's born for adversity, like the scripture says. He's been a fellow worker. He and I have done outreaches together and stuff like that. He has been a co-laborer when my marriage was on the rocks in 13 years because of where I was at. I was so wounded, so beat up from my past. And now my toxicity was affecting my marriage and and threatening it. Dave was one of the guys right there in the trenches, praying me through every day, along with some other folks. Um, but then he's he was a personal minister to me. When I couldn't go the next step, when I felt like I didn't have any strength left, when I felt so terrible about the anger that I had had and that I had shown at my wife. Um, I talk about this in the book, The Soldier Code. Um, never physically abusive and stuff like that, but just emotionally angry and and just being a general, terrible person, just grumpy to be around. You know, Dave was the one who spoke life back into me and saw the real me and kept encouraging me to get the counseling that I needed in the other healing and praying that over me too. So he he's he's that guy, he's my apaphroditis in my life. And I just I love him dearly. And uh again, we're we're still together, we're still going. Um, so Max, I think you had the last one here, and that was a disciple or a son in the face.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Yeah. Um, much like what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy, where he talks to Timothy and calls him his true son in the faith. Um, there was a uh a younger man than I, and he he found me. Um and I can tell you that the it wasn't because uh I didn't I didn't I didn't see myself being a father to anyone in the faith. I I saw myself as a father to my own boys and my children, my daughter as well. But I really didn't see myself being able to be a father in the faith. And this guy, I met him through a fellowship of the sword. He didn't have a good relationship with his dad, never got really mentored or or uh discipled in his church experience, but he was just completely eaten up with this want to. He he he wanted to get the stuff that got he knew God had put in him out of him. And so we we just kind of buddied up as friends at first, probably much like your relationship with Dave. And and then one day he asked me, he said, um, do you mind if I call you dad? And I was like, Okay, wait a minute, man. There wasn't that much difference in the age. There's a there's a difference of maybe 10 to 12 years. Okay. And so I'm thinking biological, right? And he's thinking spiritual. Yeah. And he his his statement to me was that um I like the way that you see the things or that are in me. And that you bring those things out. And and I thought, uh I I did. I did see things in him that maybe other guys had not seen. And so um he he I gave him the consent at first, and I was like, ah, I feel uncomfortable, right? Until finally we got to the place where I I was able to I was able to embrace it and get to the place where, okay, all right, I'll step into that role and I will I mean I'm happy to do it. As a matter of fact, much like what we talked about just a moment ago about intimacy, there was this, there was already a great friendship between he and I. But whenever I I decided to embrace the the the father, right, or him as a son or a son in the faith, then it it deepened even more. And it was weird that that's the case, but it deepened even more. And it brings to mind the passage in 3 John uh chapter 1, verse 4, where John says there's no greater joy, right, than to hear that children are walking in the faith. I'm gonna give an example that just this last week, uh this young man or this guy whose name is Rob, Rob was asked to preach at a church, and I guarantee you that at the beginning of our relationship, if somebody had asked him, he wouldn't have done it. No way, man. I'm not even gonna show up. But I have to tell you that when I watched the recording of that, right? Um my heart was just so full of joy for God was drawing those traits out of him. All that it really took was this the same thing that you guys have done with your children, where you show them a little bit of belief, a little bit of you know, uh encouragement, and all of a sudden they start operating in what it is God had already given them, right? That's beautiful. I I I watched it and I I uh you know immediately wanted to be back in touch with him to tell him he did such a great job, right? And uh, I'm so proud of the the way that he has developed. And that but for me, just as an FYI, is this has been really good for me. Um and I'm gonna throw this element there and we can talk about it later if necessary, but I think that it is it's normal for older guys, much like you do, not me, but I think it's normal for older guys to think that they don't that they don't have anything to offer, right? Uh whenever um when you went to talk to the the mentor, you know, Josh, that that uh it's it's it's sometimes difficult to feel like, do I have anything that I can to offer? But the the paradox to that is that I'm sure that they have said this statement. I sure wish somebody had told me this when I was young, right? Yet whenever they are approached to do that very thing, I believe that we we discount ourselves and think I don't have anything that anybody really needs, right? I just find that to be very uh fascinating, so to speak. That that this is such a crucial thing, right? Such a crucial thing for the communication to be there, the connection to be there, and how we I again speaking for myself, how I tried to avoid it so that I I didn't look in my mind that I would you know kind of shoot a ghost in the sense that um I was going to offer him some value that didn't ever appear, right? Amen.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

All right. Well, let's uh let's kick it over here for our third, our third segment, guys, our our third and final here. We've we've given some great patterns here. We've given folks now the three types of relationships they need to look to build the mentor, the companion, the disciple, or child or child in the faith. Now let's talk about the tools, those things that we use when we get together, the things that God's spirit has given us and and and how we do them. Um Proverbs 27, 17, you know, Josh, you nodded to Proverbs 27 earlier. We know this scripture by heart, iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another. So, well, how do we do it? We got to have these tools, right? And so I want to talk about those tools of how we sharpen, how we strengthen, how we minister to one another. And the first one really that I want to bring out here is Hebrews 10, 24 and 25. It reminds us this, it says, let us consider one another, how to stir one another to love and good works. And then it gives that warning we've probably all heard before, not and but do not neglect meeting together, as some do, but encourage one another all the more as you see the day approaching. I bring this up just because I think we can forget sometimes as believers of how powerful it is just to get together. You might just be getting together to enjoy the game. You might just be in getting together just to have some food. You might be getting together for a Bible story, you might be mixing those things. But I don't think we cannot overemphasize what God can and will do if we show up together with open hearts and we look towards him and go, Would you like to do something here today? Anything is possible. Anything is possible with our God. And that's the basis of the whole New Testament church. Them constantly meeting together starts in the upper room. Acts 2 explodes out of that room, and the church is founded at Pentecost there with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but they just keep doing it right after that, right on into every chapter. They're meeting together, they're breaking bread daily, they're sharing their uh sharing one another's uh uh resources and things like that to meet needs in the community. And then they're praying together, God's shaking the place where they are at. Paul and Silas are praying and the jail is shaken and Philippi and bonds are falling off, doors are flying open. Just us meeting together is a powerful, powerful tool. And God can do anything. The second thing that goes with that, of course, is scripture. And and I think the the important thing here to know is it's not just we want to get together and okay, have a Bible in your hand, you know, but have the scripture in you so that you can minister from it. We've got to spend time as individuals letting God pour into us so that we can pour out. In 2 Timothy 3.16, you know, all scripture is God breathing, profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God or woman may be thoroughly equipped, thoroughly furnished for every good work. Well, that happens as we're getting together, and that happens as somebody else is speaking into my life. But if they're just pulling up poems and anecdotes, you know, cute little sayings from a movie, you know, you know, you know, you're gonna just do something or just stand there and bleed, you know. He's trying to inspire me from tombstone. Well, that might be inspirational for a moment, not near as near as powerful as the word of God that penetrates to soul and spirit. Um, so scripture is gonna be that next foundation, but the next thing that comes with that is prayer and intercession. And and when I think about the power of believers praying together, you know, there's there's so many things that we can go to. You can and look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they're kind of a type for that. And then you've got examples like Acts 4, where the believers are praying together in a place of shaken that I just mentioned ago. But the thing that really jumps out at me is Mark 2, 1 through 5. In Mark 2, 1 through 5, we have the most, maybe the most beautiful picture of prayer, I think, in all of scripture, at least intercessory prayer, praying for one another, carrying one another to God. You have Jesus, he's at a house, he's ministering, miracles are happening, and there's guys outside that have a paralytic brother on a cot for something that they have dragged him there with, and they can't get in. But these guys are so determined that they crawl up the side, I mean, they're Coast Guard. They crawl up the side of the house, they tear the roof off of the place, and they lower Jesus, they lower the guy down to the feet of Jesus. I'm like, that's the brother that I want. That's the guys that I want because there are going to be times where I am a paralytic at some point in my life. I hit a problem and I can't do a thing about it. I don't have the knowledge depth, I don't have the experience, I don't have tools, I've got no frame of reference. Pick your, you know, and most of the time it's a blend of all those. But I gotta have those brothers that will go to the wall for me and go, man, I don't know how we're gonna get through this, but we're gonna go to God, I'll guarantee you that. And if you can't pray, if you're too tired, if you're too beat up, man, I'll pray for you. I will make sure that Jesus hears us today. That just, man, that example just tears me up every time. And and I think it so moved Jesus. You know, scripture tells us there, he saw their faith. He saw what they did. And I think it just blew him away. Went, man, look at the love. Look at the love. Those guys believed in Jesus so much, but they loved this guy so much that they were willing to do anything to get him to the feet of Jesus. And that's what it's like. We get together and we start interceding and praying for one another. Man, again, miracles are gonna happen. The next thing I'll throw out here as we're winding through our tools is burden-bearing. And feel free to chime in on this, guys. Galatians 6, 1 and 2. Okay. It says, brothers, if any one of you is caught in a sin, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, but take heed also lest you be tempted. And then it says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So we're back to that thing of holding one another up, but meeting these needs practically. And this time, it's when a brother's caught in sin. You see it because you know him, and it's not just about confronting him, it's about helping him get out from under the load, bearing the burden. And that's what just again moves me so much. Paul understood how to mentor people. He understood how to minister to people, and he understood that we're going to hit strongholds and temptations that we can't handle on our own. And if you if we have just an adversarial relationship with the brother, which is well, I'm just going to confirm about that because you know he knows he shouldn't be doing it. Versus coming to him and going, Hey man, know that I love you. What's going on here? If we look back at the garden, when God shows up because mankind has fallen into sin, he doesn't come in throwing things around. He comes in asking questions. And I I think that's how we approach our brother. He comes in and God says, Hey, he told you you were naked. Wait a second. Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat? Why'd you do that? You know, and and and I think that he wants us to approach our brothers that way also. Brothers will give us permission if we approach the right way.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Yeah. Because the sin, the sin is the symptom of something deeper. So if you if you have that relationship, um, that that intimate relationship, um, then then you can ask those questions that get beneath the surface. So instead of just dealing with the surface uh symptoms, it's like what's really going on? What's what's really hurting you that's driving you to this?

SPEAKER_04 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

And then you have to be a safe, a safe person, you know, in that in that person's life uh in order to go there.

SPEAKER_03 38:59

Yeah. And I and I think I think if you have the burden bearing, that type of willingness, and you will approach that way, then we can get to it the accountability. Accountability is the next tool. And so we have to meet together. We got scripture, we got intercession, prayer, we got burden bearing. Accountability is the next, we gotta have accountability. We got to have a brother, like Proverbs 27, 5 and 6 says, says that open rebuke is better than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy. You know, Solomon's saying here, I don't want a guy who's just always smooching up on me and just going, uh, you, oh man, you know, you're just great. You got no problems, you got no flaws. Y'all, how do you how do you always just do it so great? Now, if if if he sees something on me, sees something in me, sees me mistreating my wife, not handling my kids right, living a duplicitous life, he he jumps in and he says something. And he's and if I'm if I'm bullish about it, if I'm prideful, he's hey, hang on a second. Whoa, time out, bud. Don't speak that way to me. Come on, you know I love you. Don't don't dodge me. Be real with, come on, be real with me. Tell me what's going on. He's willing to press. He's willing to go deep. Jesus getting in Peter's face. Jesus getting in James and John's face. Do you want us to call down fire? Guys, you do not know what spirit you are of right now. What are you thinking? So we gotta have that accountability. Three more as we as we wrap this thing up here. Encouragement. You gotta have encouragement. It's it's it's lifeblood, it's oxygen. You gotta have encouragement. And I think the encouragement, if we're, if we're, we should sow three times as much encouragement as we do the other stuff.

unknown 40:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:51

You gotta have that. You gotta lead with the encouragement. You know, this is what I see in you. This is this is what I think you are, this is what you've done, this is what God's gonna do. And and if we do that, then then God's gonna be faithful and we're gonna see cool things. In Acts 13, 15 through 43, the the church that Paul's at, they said, Hey, do you have any word of encouragement? And Paul, Paul goes off for like the next 40 verses. It's like, yeah. It's like, I and I think they're just kind of, hey, I said a word of encouragement, but Paul gives an entire sermon. But when I think about that for a second, I just I get blown away by the fact because he's like, Man, I got so much encouragement. I'm just gonna bowl you over with it for the next five minutes. We need a brother who's gonna wash us that way. Reconciliation, okay, this is the next one. This is number seven on the list. Scripture here is Matthew 18, 15 through 20. Jesus knew if we're gonna have these relationships, brotherhood, sisterhood, then there are going to be times that we are going to rub each other the wrong way. Rifts can happen, sparks can fly, things. Hey, what do you mean when you say that? We can have disagreements. And so Jesus gave us another pattern of three, hello, to how to work it out. If we hit a problem in our relationship, we can reconcile. And the first thing he said there was, hey, if you got a problem with your brother, your brother's got a problem with you, yeah, go to him. Talk one-on-one. Don't make it public, don't go on, you know, X, don't jump on your Facebook and talk indirectly and spout off dumb stuff. Don't talk to a friend over the phone up, go to your brother, go to your sister that you got the issue with and talk to them face to face. Do that first. And then what did he say? If they don't, if they won't do it, get another brother. Someone who knows both of you can see the outside party. And if that don't work, then he said, Okay, go to the church. Get church leadership involved, get an elder involved, get some other folks involved where there's some authority and some and and some more perspective. And he said, now if that still won't work, okay, now you're off the hook. But I think that most believers, we don't do this when the rift happens, and we're just content to just let the relationship go. And God never intended it that way. Last one here. And and I this is this is I put this last because I really believe that if we're doing the other stuff, this is where Holy Spirit jumps in and things can get crazy cool. God starts moving on you, and like Max, you were talking about it, you saw things in the guy you were mentoring. Josh, Tony saw things in you, and he was calling them out. God starts speaking word of knowledge to you about the secrets of your heart, about the calling that he has on a life, the gifts that he has seen activated in you, and then starts just laying them out in this prophetic type manner, going, Maybe you're supposed to do this. Maybe God's calling you to do this. And so he starts calling you out, calling you up to that thing, that ministry, that mission that God has called you to. First Corinthians 14 says. Verses three through four, Paul lays out that the reason, the purpose of prophecy in the New Testament is for edification, exhortation, and comfort. It's not like Old Testament, I'm gonna call down fire on you. It's I'm gonna build you up, I'm gonna help you draw close, and I'm gonna comfort you when you're down. And if we've got those things, those eight tools, and we will start accessing those, I think that we can have amazing brotherhood, amazing sisterhood that gives us that threefold cord that God is looking for. We've gone a little bit longer here today as we're as we're wrapping this series. Um guys, uh still, I just want to say, is there any last thing that you last lick that you feel like you just want to throw in here?

SPEAKER_02 44:51

I want to go back to encouragement and and uh agree with you because I believe that uh an ounce of encouragement is worth a pound of whatever else. Because the the truth of the matter is there is it's such a simple process. It's not always easy, but it's a simple process to come out of a sinful situation. And if one brother is communicating and is encouraging to the other brother, and if he's willing to help him bear that burden, then getting through that process is simple. Again, it might not be easy, but it's simple, especially if there are two of you. And and without it, however, and if it's not done properly, if it's done by somebody who's not sincere, who doesn't have a relationship with the guy, then it's gonna be it's gonna be very um uncomfortable, it's gonna be awkward, and it's gonna be something that more than likely is gonna distance a man from the church or distance a man from the body of Christ, then draw him to. But I do believe that if we if we practice building those relationships and and drawing close to one another, that whenever that issue takes place, you handle it and then the process draws him to, right? The healing draws him closer to the body of Christ and it it deepens the relationship that you have with the guy. It's not that you go out looking for that, but if you if you build the relationship, then yes, it's gonna create opportunities to to help a friend in need, right? Is the friend indeed. That should be in the Bible. I don't think it is. Anyway, I I really do think that these opportunities that when relationships are built correctly, it helps to it helps deepen those relationships as we go through trials.

SPEAKER_03 46:49

Amen. I'm sorry. I my mind just went to you know, oh, because you can tell Holy Spirit what he needs to put into scripture. Okay, that's that's a good thing. Well, folks, we we need we really do need to wrap here. Uh we've we've gone over, but I really did want to put a put a nice bow on this on this whole thing, on this brotherhood package. And I think we've done a really good job chasing this this topic, um, guys. So so thank you for your stories. Thank you for opening up, talking about these relationships, these different dynamics, and and us plowing through these tools. Your homework assignment, folks in our audience, here's what it is. If you ain't got this, go get it. Braid your cord if you don't have it. And now you have a pattern, now you have the tools, now you have a model to follow. So you got no excuses, okay? So braid your cord if you haven't. If you have got your cord, man, keep it tight. Work at keeping it tight. Please like, share, and subscribe, y'all. For Josh Davis and Maxima Werder, I am Duncan Brann. This has been Three in the Fire, a Sentinel Ministries podcast. We'll see you next time.