Rooted or Rootless? A Raw Conversation for Men | Kingdom Authority Podcast with Pastor Aaron

In this powerful and unfiltered episode of the Kingdom Authority Podcast, Pastor Aaron shares a deeply personal testimony about the importance of being truly rooted in Christ. With honesty and vulnerability, he opens up about the struggles many men face—feelings of failure, inadequacy, shame, and the constant pressure to measure up.

Drawing from Colossians 2:6-7, we discuss how the condition of our root system determines the fruit of our lives. Many men are trying to produce healthy fruit while neglecting the roots. When our identity is built on performance, success, ministry, work, or the approval of others, we find ourselves exhausted and defeated. But when we are rooted in Christ, we discover our true identity, purpose, and strength.

This conversation exposes the lies that tell men they are failures and reveals how those beliefs impact our marriages, families, leadership, and walk with God. Pastor Aaron shares how Jesus meets us in our brokenness, restores our foundation, and calls us to live from sonship rather than striving.

This is a message for every man who has ever felt like he wasn't enough, every husband trying to lead, every father carrying hidden burdens, and every believer who knows there must be more than simply surviving the Christian life.

Colossians 2:6-7 reminds us that as we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, we are to continue walking in Him—rooted, built up, established in faith, and overflowing with thanksgiving.

 If your roots are healthy, your life will be healthy. Stop striving and start abiding. Christ is not looking for perfect men—He's looking for surrendered men who are deeply rooted in Him.

#KingdomAuthorityPodcast #PastorAaron #Colossians2 #BiblicalManhood #KingdomMen #RootedInChrist #IdentityInChrist #ChristianMen #Faith #Discipleship #KingdomAuthority #JesusChrist #MensMinistry #WalkInChrist #Sonship #ChristianLeadership

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hey guys, welcome to Kingdom Authority Podcast. We are so glad that you chose to join us. We are so grateful. I am always blown away at the response that this podcast is getting. But it goes to show again why we've done this podcast. And it's unusual I'm here by myself this week. The next couple of episodes, I believe that I will be by myself. It's not because we don't have guests or couldn't get them. It's because I believe I have something for us this next couple weeks. It's leading up to something. I won't give the big surprise away just yet. So I want to pray and then we're just going to dive in. Father, we thank you. We thank you that you gave us authority. To walk, you died. You sent Jesus to die for the authority for us to have and give us the strength to have it in Jesus' name. Amen. So a couple weeks ago, a couple services ago, um Tony had got up and opened up our service. And Tony's been opening up our service uh every week and at our church, at Free to Fire Church. And in the process of this, I love how the Holy Ghost works. He had given a word, and immediately it was something that I needed to dive into because it's something I'd been studying out. I know this is a roundabout way to get there, but just ride with me. Over the last uh couple weeks since that happened, I have been stuck in the book of Colossians. He, I know this sounds crazy. He had given a word out of Exodus, but it ended up being in it come out in the way the sermon flowed and the way the Holy Ghost moved. I ended up in Colossians too. Um, and so I want to give credit to him for opening up and being obedient to the word of God and to the Holy Ghost. But I've been stuck in this, and for the next couple episodes, I need to walk this out. The book of Colossians um is one of the most overlooked, powerful books there is that the Apostle Paul wrote. And there's a theme to the book of Colossians. Um and but I want to dive in this episode shortly and briefly in Colossians 2, and I want to start in verse 6. Therefore, why is it therefore? Anytime you see the word therefore, why is it therefore? I want to back up. He says in verse 1, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you. He's wanting to see these people face to face, and he's struggling because he can't get there. And he says this in verse 3. Actually, let's go back to verse 2. That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love. I need you to see that in love. Love is the thing that binds everything together. A mature believer, these are the attributes that when I when I think about a mature believer, I think about somebody that is that is uh compassionate and they walk in humility, they're they're quick to forgive, um, but they're bound in love. When I see people that have this love for all humanity, I I know that they're mature in Christ. Um you know they're they're a mature believer is is they're governed, they're governed by peace and they're filled with the word. You can never be spiritually strong and be biblically ignorant. That's a word for somebody. Paul is saying that they are bound in love, and they're they're to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is in Christ. In whom, now I need you to see this, all hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When we have wisdom as believers, it is through the mystery and the treasures of Christ. You can have human wisdom, you can know how to operate in business, you know, you can know how to operate in sports or work or whatever. But that is different than having spiritual wisdom and knowing how to how to move with people. Um, but he says this in verse 5, for though I am absent in the body, yet I am in the spirit, rejoicing to see your good order in the firmness of your faith in Christ. Your faith in Christ. This is why the therefore is therefore. As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. That verse, verse six, has just wrecked my world here lately. The next couple episodes, we're going to talk about Colossians 2 and Colossians 3. Walk in Him. The next verse says, rooted and built up in Him and established in faith, just as you were taught, abounding in Thanksgiving. How do we walk in Christ? You cannot walk in something. You I say this all the time: you cannot lead where you haven't been. You cannot walk in him if you do not know him. The way you know him is getting into his word and spending time with him. This this being, this received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. That phrase has absolutely been revolutionary in my life through for years, but especially in the last few weeks. Um, as a man, as a husband, as a father, um, I'll leave the church stuff out of it for the moment. If men would get real in their life and have an honest moment, most men feel like failures. They may not want to admit that. That's why we're here to get honest and get true. Most men feel like failures. There's been times in my life that there was nothing that I could lay my hands to that I felt like I was succeeding in. I I several months ago, actually, it's probably been about 18 months ago, I went through a season in my life that no matter what area of my life I I could point at, I couldn't find success in any of them. I felt like I was I was failing at work. I felt like I was failing as a husband. I felt like I was failing as a father. I felt like I was failing as a son. It was during that time that God began to speak to me about He does not make failures. Well, we have failures, yes, but God doesn't make failures. He was teaching me in that process of how to walk in him. Something I've never shared publicly. Um, there's only a handful of people on this planet that knows this. 18 months ago, I woke up twice in within a week with a gun in my hand. I was in a dark season. It wasn't that I had a plan to kill myself. But there were options. If you know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying. It was a dark season because I was I had lost my I didn't lose my identity in Christ. What I had lost was my identity in sonship. I didn't understand what this verse was talking about. So walk in him. It was during that time that I began to reach out to other men of God. Um, there was a few that I, and here's the crazy thing. I have, I don't just preach about these things, I don't just talk about them, I live them. I have a board of directors in my life. Um, you know, we we always have like board of directors for our businesses or our churches or whatever. You should do the same thing in your life. Your life is the most important thing that you get to live. There's a news flash. And I have a board of directors. Well, one of those board of directors is a retired military guy. I'll leave it at that right now. But I reached out and I said, This is what's going on. And he said, tell me about your walk with Christ. Well, you know, I'm a pastor. That was my answer. I'm a pastor. What do you mean? He said, No, no, no, no, no, stop. I don't care about what you're doing at a platform. Tell me about your relationship with Christ right now. Tell me, and this is why this verse has been so, he said, tell me where your roots are. It says to be rooted and built up in him. He said, Where's your roots? It was in that moment that I realized that my roots were dry. Wasn't that Christ was dry, it was my roots were going in different directions. Because if you back, if you go back to what I just said, there was nothing in my in my life, any area that I could touch that was feeling like I had success. When you receive Jesus Christ, you walk in him. That is the source of everything else. That's why it says to be rooted and built up in him. My roots were in other areas. That's why there was not success in any area of my life. Over that six-month time frame, I began to walk out some practical applications. And one of the things was this guy asked me, he said, How many people are you mentoring? And man, I had at that time, goodness, I had a lot. I think I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to exaggerate or overshoot, but I think at that time I had like 18 or 20 young men that I was I was mentoring, and he said, stop. That hurt, but I knew what he was saying. I have no business mentoring anyone if I'm not living it myself. I had to get my roots back and understand my sonship most of all. I think there's times that we overshoot. I mean, I and I'm well, let me rephrase that. I need to rewind, buddy. The sonship part of the gospel is vital. But there's also in you a warrior spirit. You're you're fighting for your daddy's army. My roots were in too many different directions. This passage, if you get down to verse 13, he says this. Paul says this. He said, and you, and you. I had to read that as, hey, Aaron, you, who were, were past tits, dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive together with Christ, having forgiven all your trespasses. I had to begin to understand that what was happening in this season of my life was a Psalm 23 moment. In Psalm 23, he says that I will prepare a table in the presence of your enemy. The problem is we so often as men, we begin to, we know we're at the table. We know that God has set the table, and we are in the presence of our enemy, but we stop looking at the one that set the table, and we begin to listen to the enemy. The enemy will tell you, you are failing at this. This is not going to work out. If they knew, that's that's one that he he catches me off guard all the time. Man, if people really knew the real you. This word says that he canceled all of that. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. All legal rights to you and your life was null and void at the cross when the blood washed over you. The reason I wanted to go down this path. I read an article recently about a Japanese intelligence officer. His name was Hiro Onata. 1945, he was in World War II. When Japan surrendered, Hiro Onada had got a word from his commanding officer before the surrender. He said, Do not surrender, keep fighting, follow the mission. Onada took that serious. For the next 29 years, Onada fought a battle that wasn't even happening. That's what was happening to me 18 months ago. I was fighting a battle that had already won. There are so many men and women. We have women listeners, which blows my mind. Um but grateful. Thank you. Keep listening, send it to your other friends. There are so many men and women that are fighting battles that Christ are in one. I had to go back to that to walk in him to be rooted and built up in my faith in him. Because the greatest, the greatest thing that you will ever hear is in verse 15. He dis disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. He triumphed over them at the cross in the empty grave. This is the this is the the authority that Christ died for you to have. That season taught me how to walk in Christ. That season taught me what Christ died to give me. And I think there I was I was praying about this episode today. I was pretty adamant I wanted to be by myself in this episode. Because I just wanted you to hear my heart in this. I wanted to speak straight to you. With the number of listeners that we have, there are people that are struggling just like I was. There are listeners that feel like everything they touch, they they they don't have success in it. God wanted me to remind you that He does not like failures. Even in this season of this difficulty that you're in, I know you're in it. I know by the Spirit of God some listeners are in this. You're not in the battle alone. I want to encourage you to get a board of directors in your life. Get men and women. If you're a man, get men. If you're a woman, get women. That are Christ following. Not just by words, by words and deeds. Look at the fruit in their life. Find those people and pour in into them. Pour pour your heart out. Get honest with them. As roots begin to grow into Christ. You've got to have nourishment. And it comes from Christ, but it will come often through people. You have to understand how to pull those nutrients out of people. Understand that Christ openly words said. He put the enemy to open shame for you. For you. Understand that. He died to give you authority. The authority is yours. I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. I ask you to subscribe, send it to somebody that is struggling. If you bump into somebody and you know that their life is in struggle right now, tell them to listen to this. Reach out to us. Please get on the comment section. Let us know how we can pray and how we can partner with you. If you're in the Lynchburg, Greater Lynchburg area, we would love to have you in our church, Freedom Fire Church, 409B 5th Street, Lynchburg, Virginia, every Sunday morning, 10 a.m. We love you. Father, we thank you. We thank you for this time. We thank you for tough seasons because we grow in them. God, I thank you, and I'm honored for every listener, every supporter, every sponsor. God, continue to bless them in Jesus' name.

unknown 23:02

Amen.