Ep 1101 | Jase & Al Open Up for the First Time About Phil Robertson's Death & Private Funeral
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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. Jason and I are finally back in the house. Took him quite the week. Took a break. Reed and I have been holding down the fort. We brought Reed in. Let me just start off, Zach. Because I watched about 15 minutes this morning before I left of the last podcast, I guess, with Mac and Mary and Paul. Oh.

And I was impressed. You're like, if something happens to me now, you got it. So you're hosting skills. I mean, he's Al plus. I will say, Jason, it was good. You're never going to watch it, but it was good. It's worth a watch, I'm going to tell you that. But I knew the story. So when you know the whole story, you know all the nuances, I just had to pull it all together. But I'm so appreciative to everybody that stepped in and

This week. And, you know, it's just been, uh, it's been a whirlwind. I, I, I sent a text out today to my, to the siblings. Cause everybody spoke yesterday at the funeral and, uh, just said, you know, like I'm relieved cause we did it and we got it done. But also it's like,

I have this larger-than-life-now perspective of dad. It's just bigger than it was even because we were so in the weeds of everything, Jay says. I'm kind of glad to be back here and talking to Unashamed Nation about it. You guys have been amazing. The tributes. I've only been able to glimpse a little because I've been so in the weeds, but I'm hoping next week to watch more of the stuff that's out there. It's been amazing. It has been. In our time, I guess this is one day.

From the funeral, which we had. Right. Which I think we're releasing that at some point that y'all filmed it. We were going to live stream it with it. You know what? We're going to just kind of have a moment with the family. Yeah. Small, intimate gathering. But we think that we do want. Yeah. We want everybody. It's honoring Christ. It was so uplifting. And I asked Reed this morning when, welcome Reed. Thank you. Sorry, I hadn't already done that. But we, yeah.

We, we wanted, I was like, Reed, what do you think? And, and I don't know, tell what you said. Cause it was, I mean, I just talked about how impactful it was. I mean, it was, that was by far the best funeral I've ever attended or seen, you know? I mean, it just was, it was amazing, you know? And, and,

gospel was preached, we worshiped, we honored and celebrated him. And his whole life was honoring and celebrating what Christ did for him. And it just, I think that was done really well. And

I was blown away. Yeah, I was. Yeah, it was, it was, it was something that the, I had to kind of detach myself because Phil had this famous line that he said many times, when I die, don't cry. You can sing, you can dance, you can do a little jig, but I made, I made it. So, uh, and he was real emphatic about that. So, uh,

We kind of came up with a plan, which was interesting when we met. The plan that we came up with, we didn't really do. We were going to do two services, like one for the family, and then we were going to do a public thing just because the outpouring was so massive, which was kind of shocking, I think, to everyone. I mean, look, I knew Phil's famous, but...

I mean, I had hundreds of texts. So you start getting into hundreds.

I mean, hundreds like it was ringing on your phone like you were at a pinball machine. It caused me a little concern because a lot of them, they weren't in my phone. I'm like, how'd you get my number? Who are you? I had a lot of those. I would just say thanks, but there were several I didn't know either, and I was just like, I knew them, but I had several. So then it got into how if all these people show up,

You know, where are they going to be? Jason was really nervous about that in the early planning stage. So basically what we did, wrong or right, is we just, at the church building where my parents called home, I guess, you know, the very, Al, you made a good point in the funeral story.

the very building that my dad, you know, gave his life to Christ. In the very room, yeah. Yeah, in the very room is where we did the ceremony. And we, it was, we didn't, like, that wasn't the original, we didn't know what we were going to do. Well, so it's like we were just guided to this spot and it hit me the day before when I was, I looked at, you know, walked in there and was looking, we were prepping and, you know, people were rehearsing, they're singing and stuff. And I just, it just,

It was so overwhelming in the moment. I thought they put the gospel symbols up there, which, by the way, that came from your father-in-law. Did you know that? Larry donated that to the church, those symbols. Somebody made them for him. Oh, Larry. Oh, Larry. Well, in any venture, there's a lot of people who start living like the Lord, and they sacrifice and serve, which we had hundreds of people volunteer. Of course, all your family shows up. When we had our little meeting, I guess it was –

I'm not sure when we had that family meeting. It was the day after he crossed over. I think that was on Monday because I was driving. On the holiday, yeah, because our funeral guys were with us too. Well, I remember we were all sitting around, and I think Willie said, well, what do you all want to do for the funeral? Because we kind of had the funeral thing.

Yeah. They kind of went through their bit. And everything that is normal about a funeral prep, we were the opposite. And he's like, I don't think I've ever seen this. So just because you didn't know who was going to show up and how it was going to be. And we kind of panicked at first because even when Phil literally stopped breathing, he

It's like the media made kind of an ugly appearance. They started calling people and the family and calling the place where he was at. And all of a sudden there were people at our gates, which leave it to the media to just make you kind of panic and say, everybody, give us a little privacy here.

So when we had the meeting with the family, I think Willie said, well, what do y'all want to do? And he looked at mom and said, you know, what would you like to do? And the first thing she said was, well, I want all four boys to speak. And so then I was like, oh, no. Because in the moment. Because we hadn't talked about it at all. I mean, what it would be like. Actually, she said, I want all four boys to speak. And you said, no.

You said something like, you know, well, who are the boys? And she said, where's the common sense around you? Oh, yeah. You're a boy. Well, yeah, she said it in a way like, I want all the boys to speak. But we were in the room. Yeah. And I was like, what boys? I mean, I want you boys. Yeah.

I was getting clarification. I missed that, Reed. That's hilarious. She did say that. She channeled her inner Phil there. Yeah, she was doing some direction. Common sense for crying out loud. And I think I said something like, which made her mad. I was like, well, you realize this will perhaps be the longest funeral in history because we all talk a lot. I was worried about that. I thought, how are they going to pull this off, particularly with you two? Because you guys are now used to long-form content, so we're speaking for 55 minutes. I'm like...

I don't know what y'all budgeted, but what'd you budget for per talk? I told them 12 to 15 minutes. It was my general thing. So we wound up doing it, and you guys will all see it, but we wound up having Jeff and Phyllis go together. And the reason why is because Jeff is mortified. Like, Jeff, he turned just white as soon as his mom said it. Because he is mortified about being in front of people.

And speaking, he's done it because he's not, and he's pretty, he's okay. He was good. And he did great. He was great. So Jeff just turns like white as a ghost. You know, he's like, oh, you know. So in the moment when we were talking, and I figured Phyllis would want to say something too because, you know, mom didn't bring it up, but I thought she'll want to say something. So afterwards, I pulled Jeff aside. I said, what about if Phyllis wants to say anything, y'all getting up together? Oh, okay.

Sometimes you need a buddy. Yeah, and he was like, oh, wow, that would be so good. And I said, well, let me see. And she did. And so they did it together. And it kind of flows through. So at first I was going to kind of like intro everybody, and then I was trying to conserve time. And so I was going to tell the joke.

that I do when I'm out on the road when I talk about Jep being my little sister you know I would always say he was the little sister we never had but then we you know Phyllis found us and so I had a little sister so it ruined the joke so now I say but he needed a sister to play with you know two girls and

And so the fact they were up together, that was going to be my joke that I never got to tell. So I'm ashamed you get my – You'll get to see it. Yeah, so he did that. Then Willie, who turned out to be the most long-winded, so maybe I'll need to edit some of that. I think he went about 30 minutes. It was good. And I might have went 20. Yeah, it was basically I called Willie the comedy hour. He was funny. Yeah, it was funny. And he kept engaging Mom, and then Cy –

kept talking back to Willie throughout his entire... We should have mic'd him up. Oh, I said that. Well, the back story to that was I said, well, somebody needs to maybe ask Si. I said that in the meeting because Si wasn't there.

If he wants to say a few words and somebody reached out and said, Nope, he doesn't. Yeah. But then he did the whole time, which made sense. Look, cause he's the sidekick. He was the sidekick to Phil and Kay through their first, you know, years of dating and probably 10 years of their marriage. And, uh, so that he turned, he turned into the echo, which was funny. And he was on here, right? Didn't do that. We had Cy on with Martin. Um, and he kind of told some of those stories, but, uh,

It was interesting getting all together, too, because that's the first time we've all been together. It was like the core family. I said the core family, which was about 300 people or 400 in that room. We filled up a whole like. And I'm like, I guess we are all related. I'm looking around. And it was loud. I forgot. I mean, when you get like the whole family in a room.

There was some personality and energy in there. It was great. It was like a reunion. That's what several people said. Spring is here. It's actually almost over, Jill.

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One of the things that I wasn't really planning on, because we're also involved in our little area of planning.

I didn't realize how many people who have been a part of the Duck Commander journey would be there, Chase. Did you notice that? Yeah. W.E. Phillips and Sinky and all the old camera folks. Even Jimmy Redd was there. Jimmy Redd. He made an appearance. He came in. He had a nice shirt on. I was like, Jimmy Redd, look at you. And it just was really – it was very touching to me. And so you're right, Zach, for that first – because we all got there early –

So we probably just had an hour just to visit and talk to people and catch up. All my cousins were there. And then, Reed, you mentioned something.

that it was very powerful just about the three days we had to, because it was a holiday weekend when all this happened, a holiday, but everybody was able to come and just tell your perspective of like all our cousins, you know, your cousins, moms, grandchildren, just that ebb and flow of how that went. I mean, it's just been, it's been incredible. My wife said, I don't think I've been around,

your entire family ever, you know? And I was like, I can't remember the last time we were all together. And then we've never been together where it's just, it's everyone I ever knew, you know? Which is amazing because, I mean, I grew up at White's Ferry Road and there was just so many people that were just rock solid. They were just always there, you know? And it just becomes your true church family, right?

And I've been gone for 10 years. And now it's like you come back and it's everyone I could ever think of and not think of all in the same place. Telling stories and celebrating and...

I mean, it really is amazing just to see the, like we've all said, you know, the outpouring and the love and just how respected he was. I mean, there's, in all the texts we've gotten and everything, I mean, there's so many people that they never met him, they never knew him, but they all have their own individual story of this,

this is how he impacted me. And I remember watching this and I remember, you know, turning my life in this direction because of him. And it's like, man, I mean, even people that, I mean, they never had a real conversation with him. I mean, some of his family never really did too, you know, which is funny, but he just, he was a man of, I mean, he was just a Titan, you know? And I mean, heaven got a Titan, you know? I mean, I've heard that a lot just from people that have texted me and, and, uh, but it's funny. I mean, I was mentioning earlier that, uh,

thinking about the kingdom and eternal life starting now, and we're a part of Jesus Christ's kingdom that he's building now into forever. I mean, you're really, you know, you say things like, you know, I'm so sorry for your loss and condolences, and, you know, I know it's hard. And, you know, you say, thank you. Yes, you know, it is. And I've said that plenty of times, you know, and you say things like, no, you know, we're celebrating. We know where he is, you know, but in the back of your mind, you're thinking,

It's still hard, you know, and it is. But, I mean, you truly feel...

something else when you believe what we do, because it is, um, it is an amazing thing. And he, and we are happy. I mean, he wants to be there, you know, that's where he was ready for glory for 60 years. You know, I mean, he, there was no stopping him. Um, and it's been incredible. And that's the way it should be like your patriarch or your matriarch. I mean, they should lead that way, you know? And I just, I said that to our family that, um,

you know, look, so many people have had lost people, lost kids and lost, you know, people early and just those difficulties you go through. But this was the way you want it to be. You know, you hope it to be is that, you know, your, your matriarch and your patriarchs go first, you know what I mean? Like they live that life and they have that example. And I watched all the reads generation of our, you know, our kids now, Jason, seeing our grandkids and seeing them step into those roles of,

They led worship. Some of our kids, Zach's kids and me and Bobby and Will. That was a proud moment. I didn't break down until then. Four members of our family. I guess they're all in their early 20s. Yep.

Pretty impressive. They were amazing. And the fact that they just stepped into the moment, you know? I mean, and they were, I said, man, were you nervous? And she was like, oh, I was so nervous. I said, I could not tell. I mean, like, you just look like you just nailed it. And I got so lost in the worship, which I rarely do when I'm speaking,

because I'm usually thinking about what I got to do. And I was up next after that. I got lost in it. It was just a praise. You know, it was amazing. I tell you what, I'm fired up more than I've ever been to preach the gospel unashamedly, unfiltered, and without care of what somebody else thinks because that's the biggest thing he inspired me personally to do. You know, I had a situation where, you know, we –

Brighton and I were praying, send us people to preach the gospel to. We got a great church up in Nashville and awesome friends, but you're kind of in a little bit of a bubble when you get to that point, which is great. But we were praying, hey, send people to preach the gospel to. And I was at the car dealership of all places. And this guy, he was...

obviously not a believer, you know, and out of nowhere just said, are you a Christian? And I thought, oh, here we go. I mean, what's the odds of that? You know, I mean, I'd pray on the day before, you know, maybe even that morning. And he said, are you a Christian? And so I've walked through the whole thing and

preached him the gospel and you know he said he was gonna come to church and stuff and and but there was something in the back of my mind where I was like I left a little bit hanging out there because I for some reason I wanted this guy to like me you know I was like hey we would still be friends you know or whatever and which I was trying to buy a truck you know so but yeah

but you know, it just, he inspired me so much, you know, my whole life, but just through this process of, he didn't give a rip what you thought about him. He's like, Hey, this is the good news. And you need to hear this because I love you as a brother in Christ. And I want you to, I want you to get what I got, you know, and just, it fired me up. Oh yeah. Yeah. I did. That was kind of what I based my speech on because, uh,

You know, you asked me to talk about his hunting. Al kind of gave us categories that I don't think any of us followed real closely.

It's a lot like this podcast, Zach. I have copious notes and plans. I didn't follow, but I did think it was interesting because I knew the categories. And you know what's funny? Every category ended up with Jesus. Yeah. Which I knew would happen. Well, I think it's people. As the master. As normal human beings, we tend to compartmentalize our life. Like you have church, and then you have your business, and you have...

But I was like, even the, you know, what's behind all the thoughts when he was running the business and even in the duck hunts. Well, it was all just a platform to get people to consider God, you know, in Jesus Christ. And that's why I said, really, when you think about, I asked a question because people ask me probably that question in the hunting world more than anything. What's it like to hunt with Phil?

And my answer was intense. Yeah. Because most people that come hunting. It's not for the faint of heart. Most people that come hunting with us, they don't have a pleasurable experience. Men feel because they're like, well, they're way too serious. But the intensity. And judgmental maybe. It was not just to do this as well as you can do it. Shut up. Harsh. Yeah.

At the heart of it was those conversations. And I made the point, you know, I've hunted with Phil for 50 years. And do you realize how many conversations that I was privy to in 50 years over three months out of the year? And then you throw in the other nine months we're sitting beside each other in a duck call room.

Well, they all centered around, you know, and I broke it down to the two camps that mankind is in. You're either running with the devil or you're running with the Lord. And there's no middle ground or. So he would always start off those conversations, which Reed kind of touched on it. He would ask, but we'd be sitting in the blind and we'd have somebody there who he didn't know. At some point, he'd say, what's your story?

Well, I know what's fixed to happen. This guy doesn't realize that it's an altar call and you're fixed to confess your sins. Because the way Phil's mind works is he would read a verse that says, you know, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Well, he knows that's to be true. So when he says, what's your story?

If you try to deny whatever you've been doing, and he would call it cutting up. And he had a little phrase that, you know, it's kind of PG-13, you know. Getting in their britches, that one. You're out there getting drunk, smoking dope. He'd say, I know you've been out there getting in that old gal's britches. And who else would say that? And like the person would be like, yeah.

His gospel presentation, there were some R ratings in some of them. As the Bible is, by the way. Especially in a duck blind. You're out there with men. We would say locker room duck. What's funny is when I've hunted on public ground, you'd be close enough to hear the conversations.

And, you know, Phil will be with us. And it was interesting. You know, they're telling dirty jokes and just it's four little words after every little sentence, you know, and they're laughing and cutting up. And here you have a different count. And it's all, you're talking about that, ain't nobody laughing. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, guilty. But my dad would all, you'd think, well, why would that not be offensive? Because then Phil would tell about his life.

And he would say, hey, I've been commode, hugging drunk. I was chasing, you know, women of the evening. Yeah, and he would have complete sound effects. He did it over and over. That was one of Willie's jokes yesterday, which he landed many funny ones. He said, I know we got a lot of doctors in the room, but my dad could rattle off more venereal diseases than all of y'all combined. Exactly. Exactly.

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And then look, then he would get to their physical death. He would go through that, which they don't realize. I know where this is headed. Yeah, yeah. And he would start, he'd get their thoughts on how do you feel about dying? That's why he came up with all these clever lines. I mean, one that he said for years that I've used that people always laugh at, you know, because it might be a guy who,

You know, sitting in the blind, it works out and eats right. You know, he just thinks he's on top of the world, you know, muscle mania. And he's always like, well, hey, you'll die healthy, but you're going down. Six feet under. You remember the famous story about him working out of the church building and the guy who worked out? Everybody knew who he was because he looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger before Arnold Schwarzenegger was a thing, I guess. It's just the bodybuilder and everything.

I mean, he simply walked by in the parking lot and my dad was like, woohoo. He had his little sound effect. He's like, woo, you got some muscles. Quite the physique. Yeah. Oh, you're quite a special. So he stopped, you know, and was like. And then all of a sudden the chest starts to flap. Like a peacock. You got to put the feathers out. He's like, thank you for acknowledging my presence.

And my dad said, how are you going to get it out of the ground? And he went, excuse me? How are you getting that body out of the ground? Because it's going in there at some point. And he was just looking at him, dumbfounded. He said,

Come down to the house tomorrow. Come on down to the house. And I'll tell you, you know. And the next day he showed up. But I tell, when I tell Phil, I said, well, he doesn't even know where, where you live. He said, if he's serious about it, he'll figure it out. Yeah. And sure enough, he showed up. And what I thought was fascinating about that story is an hour into the discussion. Here's this guy who at one time was, you know, flexing his muscles.

His tears are flowing down his face. It all started in a conversation walking by saying, hey, get the body out of the ground. And so even I thought about bringing this up in my speech about when we had the controversy over the show and all. But I remember my dad's first take on that when they were like, oh, there's a controversy. He's like, about what? He's like, well, he did an interview. He's like, oh, boy, he was asking me the question. He asked me what sin was. I was quoting Bible verses and stuff.

He was like, where would you go if someone asked you about sin? I was like, Phil, I get it. They took the stuff out of the context. But you know what he was so upset about, about the whole thing? He's like, well, they left out the good news. Because I was at that interview. You know, he went through the gospel, and in his mind, he was like, well, you just focused on the bad news. I got to the good news, and nobody ever...

ever addressed that. And so that's what all those, you know, that's what stands out in my mind when I looked at his life as a whole. In the Doug blind, it actually was just the perfect backdrop to have a conversation about what's meaningful in life. And I made a point, you know, when I spoke that I think since Phil encountered God and not in a church religious setting, and I'm using that in quotation air quotes,

It was more just kind of like Paul. When Paul was salt, he's just living, running with the devil. And all of a sudden, he hears the thrilling news of Jesus. He happens to be in a bar. And the one thing that was really hurting in his life was because even though he was just running wide open, he had lost his family. They were separated, and that's why you're having this intervention.

which is really what the Bible is about, God getting his family back. And he was so thrilled by it. I think that thrill, and God used that in that moment, it never went away, which is why he continually talked about it. And I was going to do an illustration, because one of his favorite songs was B.B. King, The Thrill Is Gone. But he lived the exact opposite of that. The thrill never left in Jesus. That's right.

And so I think it was an interesting way to depict what he was thinking. And then when I went to the duck calls, I kind of did the same thing. Like all his ideas weren't to sell duck calls. I mean, obviously he was like, yeah, this is fun. We're making money doing what we love. But it was always some connection there.

to something about God that he thought was cool. I did a couple illustrations. One of them was with the pintail whistle because I was there the first day when he realized he had a whistle that sounded like a pintail. He wasn't saying, oh, we're fixing to sell thousands of these. He was like, I discovered the use of a body part that

That nobody has discovered. God gave us a uvula, and then I went through his little speech about that, which he's given many times. Which is the little, Phil would say, the piece of meat hanging down the back of your throat if you're listening. That's why I always did that. Look in the mirror. Open your mouth. You see that little piece hanging there? You always wonder what that was for? It used to sound like a pentagon. Flutter your uvula. Well, my point was, and I think people, they were having a hard time wrapping their head around because that was his mindset. He was like,

That's why God gave you a uvula. And I figured it out. It's a pintail. He was so excited about that. It was because of the connection with God. It makes great conversation at the end of the day. And so that's kind of how he lived his life. Everything was a platform. The funeral, I think you guys did such a great job with...

I think honoring Phil's legacy as not, you kind of mentioned it. Phil, when you read through the comments, and I keep up with it more than y'all do, but like in just the online response. More than we do. Yeah.

I'm none at all. If you've ran one, you keep up with it a lot. I'm none at all. If you've ran one, you've kept up with it. Somebody's got to keep the ship, you know what I mean, going. So, yeah. So, you know. But I'm just looking at the response. Thank you for doing that. I appreciate that. I'm looking at the response, and I'm thinking,

I mean, I don't even know how many millions, hundreds of millions. I mean, maybe billions of views have seen the gospel through the content that Phil was on just in the last few days. I mean, it's just been incredible, the response. And then it hit me.

that this man, Bill, my uncle, your dad, your granddad, was not a paid pastor. He did not pastor a church. And when Jill and I were in college ministry, they'd always come in and say, man, I feel called to be a pastor. I feel called to go into ministry. And I'm thinking, you know, and everybody said that. And I'll say, if every one of you becomes...

or goes into the ministry? What happens to the marketplace? And what Phil embodied was the kingdom of God outside of the building. And every time, have you ever heard Phil say, I'm going to church? I've

I've never heard him say that. Oh, he wouldn't say it. He would chastise us. Yeah, if you said that, he would chastise you. Yeah. Well, that's why I told you. My whole conversion, I mean, I wrapped it up in there because it was true. When he preached for the first time, which was seven years after he came to the Lord, in a church building. I didn't know if you remember that. What?

I'm not sure I was even there. Well, the only reason I remember it is because a week later I came to the Lord. Right after that. I think I was gone. I think that was during my prodigal. Because I thought he was nervous about it. And, you know, because I was, you got to remember at that stage of my life, I was 14 years old.

I was still, even though my dad had been a Christian for seven years, and I think you maybe, I can't remember which brother talked about that. No, I think you did. It was bumpy. Yeah. I said Willie said that. And I really, I'm glad you said that. It makes me think of that verse in Galatians 4 where it says, until Christ is formed in you. You know, there is a process. I was talking about the transition to transformation. That's what you said. It was a good line because, yeah.

What's fascinating about the way God works is he uses you despite you being immature in him as you're growing and learning. And Phil just, you know, he never stopped sharing Jesus. But as he got older, you started seeing more of the love of Christ and the character of God, even in his life.

Last few months, I mean, he was doing things that were downright syrupy, if I may say, with the grandkids. Oh, yeah. Even our wives. Which was not his personality. It's not his personality. The verse I thought of on that is, because y'all didn't, and our families like this. I love this about our family. No one is going to get up there and paint the picture that's not real of who Phil was. Yeah.

and you kind of mentioned this, that Jesus is the main character. Phil was a sinful man, like the rest of us. But it's funny how you'll take the flaws of a man, and we make fun of that. We laugh at that, but we laugh at it because we truly believe that love covers a multitude of sins. Well, exactly. And so the man's life, whatever flaws he had...

We're just swallowed up by his love for God and the grace of God. And I think you see that. I mean, that's the kingdom. No, that's right. That's why I read the text in 1 John, which if you watch the funeral, you'll see the way I did it. I centered it around the verse, which is hard to wrap your head around, that whoever wants to

to live in Christ must walk as Jesus did. And as a young Christian, when I read that, I thought, well, that's impossible. I can't do that. What does that mean? But if you read the whole book of John, so I chose a chapter which kind of went with our theme, and I didn't even know what the theme was, with the worship songs and love one another and there's no fear in love. Everything was so compartmentalized, but the Holy Spirit was obviously working because it all blended so well. Exactly. I thought, I've ran

randomly come up with a verse that backed up the songs because Phil, he had a lack of fear. You know, Reid mentioned that, you know, even having the conversation with, he was a car salesman or whatever, you know, there is a fear that comes up. That's why people don't want to have difficult conversations. Yeah. But when you look at what Jesus' life was about, he had very difficult conversations. ♪

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The Tomorrow Clubs are hoping to do just that. They're hoping to bring Christ-centered summer camps to 30 communities around the world. The Tomorrow Clubs camps are more than just a fun experience. These are like a powerful launching point for people to get into Christian discipleship. Many of the kids in these areas meet Jesus for the very first time at a camp. I want to tell you about Ksenia. Ksenia fled the war in Ukraine twice, carrying the weight of fear, grief,

the loss of some of her close friends. And then last summer, she decided to attend one of these Tomorrow Club camps, and she met Jesus for the first time. And that moment changed everything for her. Today, Ksenia is actually a leader in the groups, and she's sharing the hope of Christ with other kids. And so these summer camps are the primary way and the primary

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He didn't care about making people mad, glad, or sad because he did every time he had a conversation with them. He spoke the truth in love. That's what he did. And so I made the point that, Phil, after a while, it hit me that this is God living in him. This is Jesus living in him. And I said something I thought might be controversial, but I was like, I know we're calling this the funeral. I was like,

Phil Robertson's funeral happened when he was 28. Yeah. Because I saw a person die. About 12 feet away from where he was. And that person needed to die because I had bitterness toward that person. And that's why I said when he was given his first speech, and since it was so bumpy,

I had some bitterness toward my dad, but mostly how he treated mom when we were little kids, not so much us, I guess. And so I just, you know, there was just trauma, bitter, whatever you want to call it. I'm sure a child psychologist would figure it out. And so I kept thinking. It's why you're the way you are now, James. Yeah, I was like, he'll never last. He'll never last. But what really turned the corner, and I think God used him, when he preached that sermon, I was so shocked.

that the name of it was The Bad News and the Good News. And it was the same sermon that I had heard hundreds of times in the living room that he would share with people. And in the duck blind, I thought, well, he just did the same thing he always does. I was fascinated. I thought, oh, we're fixing to hear. Because I was thinking, we're at a church now. I'm fixing to hear some deep. No, it was just the story of Jesus. He basically told about his past.

And it really had an impact on me. And I thought... Because it was the same thing he'd been living. That's right. You're like, there's no difference between... It's the same thing he'd been talking and living. And I thought, I think I need to look into this. Wow. And he had made a mention about you need to know who Jesus is. So I just, I read the book of John. And I was kind of trying to get around it. I was, I remember just reading it thinking, you know, what does that mean? I...

But the more I read, and actually when I got to John 21, where he, because I was into fishing at 14, that's all I cared about was hunting and fishing. And I thought, now he came back from the dead. Why would he go catch a bunch of fish? I mean, you just got to remember at 14 years old, this was like, why would he do that?

And I thought, because it's the most fun thing you can do. And he did it with people he used to do that with. And I thought, how exciting. Like, he died, and they're like, oh, it's all over. And now he went, and the first thing he did was what I would do. I was like, y'all want to go fishing?

And then it just kind of hit me. They're eating fish with a guy that used to be dead. And I don't know, in that moment, I thought, if there's a way to live forever, I think this is it. And it kind of broke me. And I went in there and I was like, well, you know, Phil, I've come to a conclusion. I think I realize why you changed your life. And he was, you know, of course, Phil was like, yeah, yeah.

I mean, everything was like, yeah, where you been? Yeah. That's what I think is so, I mean, that's so impactful to me. And I mean, you probably don't even realize this. I mean, maybe you do, but,

But, you know, Sadie asked a question on her podcast I was on the other day, which, by the way, I got to say this. Her producer said, reads just like Jace, but spicier. What does that mean? I don't know. That means you're like Phil. You can put that one in your pocket. He's a spicy one. But she asked a great question. She said, how did Phil's example impact your dad and how did that impact you?

And I told it from my perspective that my dad was obviously impacted by Papaw Phil and gave his life to Christ. And then when I wanted to be baptized, I had seen throughout the years of my childhood, three or four times a week, people sitting on our couch, you preaching them the gospel.

They're crying, you know, and having these moments there, you know, and I'm just walking through the house doing my thing or whatever. But I'm seeing this every day, it seemed like.

And you would say, go read the book of John, come back. You need to figure out who Jesus is, you know? And that's how you would start it. And then I come to you and I say, hey, I want to be baptized. And nothing was different. You said, go read the book of John, come back. I mean, it was like carbon copy, you know? And it just... That is funny now that I think about it. And so, yeah, I mean, you may not even have realized that, you know? But it's just, that's so impactful that, I mean, he's...

I mean, I know I'm biased because he's my grandpa, but I mean, to me, he was the ultimate human example of what it meant to live with the Holy Spirit inside of you and live your faith as a Christ follower. I mean, he did not care. He said, I got the Holy Spirit inside of me and I'm rocking and rolling with that. And I want to bring as many people along with me as possible. Yeah, exactly.

Which is why we've compared him a lot on here to John the Baptist. To me, it has that same feel, the wilderness, the out there, the holy ground being where the Holy Spirit is. And it's funny, Jase, my experience was so different from yours, and yet it was another aspect of Dad. So mine, and I just briefly mentioned it yesterday, but...

I was a prodigal, so I followed the bad footstep, like what I saw, what I was raised with, and the evil one got to me at 14. Yeah, and in your defense, even though none of us truly have a defense, I mean, you were five years older than me. Right. And you were put in charge at too young of an age. Exactly. I mean, you basically raised us for a few years. And now you see what happened. But so my experience at 18 was,

to come back home and very much like the story in Luke 15, Dad, his grace and his acceptance and his lack of like...

well, here's the rules and here's the way it's going to be. He just, you know, he just embraced me and I didn't expect it. Like I thought. I didn't either. I was shocked. I know. And I was like, get the rocks out. In our story, Jason's the older brother, even though he's the younger brother. We've talked about this. Well, I was, but it was just so, you know, when you're young. Yeah. From my age perspective, you had done so many vile things.

Oh, yeah. I needed to pay. In my presence. You were sneaking from Phil and Kate. You didn't know. You thought, well, he's back, but he ain't changing. Oh, I was like, this dude. String him up. It's over. Thank the Lord that Jace wasn't the one. But anyway, so dad has this perspective of grace. And so that obviously then has impacted me as a man because then I plugged in to where Jace is talking about. We had this little group of people there together.

And I'm brand new, but I was the only one raised in a church. I grew up in church because their preacher took me all the time, and Jan had an influence. So all that came back out, and then all of a sudden I realized it's like, man, we get to do this together. And so, I mean, my whole life has been a ministry partnership

inside the family and mostly with mom and dad. I mean, from 18 to right up until yesterday. And the blessing of getting to do that and all the groups, there was a couple there yesterday that

We used to drive to Alexandria every Thursday night, remember, and have a house church down there with these people because we were baptizing like crazy in hotel swimming pools. I mean, that was just something that the Lord just – it was a wave that came through, and we answered it. And some of the members of that house church were there. They were there yesterday. Which one of –

Kurt's wife, maybe I should mention him because it's kind of embarrassing. She'd come up to me and she's like, I need to tell you something. So I thought we were fixed to talk about Phil. She's like, 25 years ago, you and one of your brothers absolutely destroyed the gift that we brought your mom because y'all were horsing around. And I was like, you sure it wasn't me? And she's like, oh, it was you.

And she said, and I chewed you out. And she said what she told me. And she did. She raised her voice and was like, I cannot believe that y'all are destroying your mom's property. This was a gift from us. And you just have no respect. Well, it must have been you and Willie because it wasn't me. She just said me and one of my brothers. So I'm assuming it was Willie. And she said, I just want to say I'm sorry about that.

She said, I think I killed her. Yeah, it bothered her. I was like, I have no memory. So I had learned forgiveness at that time. If you said something wrong, I was like... You should have been shoot out. I was going to say, good for her. I told her, I was like, but the more I'm thinking about the story you're telling me, I think you did the right thing by getting on me. I was like, there's no reason for apology. I just love that was a weird moment yesterday. Because y'all were like teenagers. Y'all were young. One of my favorite moments.

memories, and this won't be in the funeral. It was when we all went to the gravesite. And so I was like, I guess I didn't know exactly. I knew my mom where she was buried in the general vicinity. And I don't know why I didn't know that they had these plots together. Yeah, I didn't either, Zach. So I'm like, man, you must have missed the memo on this. So I want to tell you about our new sponsor, Rocket Money. It's an app that I've been using, and I have actually discovered this.

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I'm like, I get up there and like Bill, his, his boy, he was laid into the ground, was right next to my mom. Yeah. Yeah. And then, and then there's a one, the marks there for, I guess, later on. But, but of course I, you know, that, that was, I, I didn't get the, I didn't follow Phil's instructions. I did cry quite a bit yesterday and that was one of them. And then you said something that I thought was one of the greatest things ever. Cause there's so many people in that graveyard, uh,

that we do know. Yeah. And you were talking about the resurrection. Yeah. And I just, and I was thinking like,

I used to say, this is the place to visualize that, too. I was sitting there, and I thought, all of a sudden, my mind went to that image, I guess, like a movie. And I could see y'all. It's like Phil and they're all coming out. It's going to happen right here. I'm like, boy, this is going to be something. I used to say when I lived out there, that's what I told the story. Because I did this all the time. Because I was like, this is my neighborhood. All my mentors are there. Now my family's there.

The people that I respected in life were there. I was like, and I used to live next door to it. And I was like, if the resurrection comes while I'm still alive, it is going to be a show. I mean, I'm going right over there because everybody, because it says, the Bible says they're going to come up, you know, first. Well, I'll confess, I thought,

I wonder if it'd be wrong to put a deer cam over on the pine tree facing the three crosses. Look, so when the resurrection happens, I get it. We're all going to live forever and all that. But I would like to see it. And watch the footage. Just a GoPro. Yeah, I just want to watch the footage when it actually happens. I was like, I wonder if they'd give me permission to do that. And I thought, oh, that may be stupid. I did think that yesterday. Man, I do have that image there. I think that was...

Like the whole legacy is wrapped up in that. It's the resurrection of the dead, which does sound wild. Yeah. But it is our hope. You know what I mean? And I don't think it's just a hope. I think when you're in those moments, even when I came in to the room, y'all have been walking with Phil to the end. So we talked about this off camera. So it's a little different experience. I remember going through that with my mom.

Like, I've been walking with her. But if you hadn't seen her in a year and you come into the thing, it's kind of like, so for me, it's a little more shocking just because I hadn't been. When you walked in, and this was, what, a month, I guess, before he died? Yeah. We walked into the facility, and Zach just lost it. Oh, gosh. You know, when he saw him. But I'm glad you brought this up because I did bring this up at the end of my remarks.

was that I really struggled with how much he was suffering because he really started digressing physically and mentally. And it kind of hit me that every time I thought he was completely gone as far as communication-wise...

something would happen usually with the grandkids or the wives or whatever and he would just lift up and say something you know he whispered to sadie you know full strength ahead one moment my daughter started singing one night she just tears flowing flowing down her face and i

He had been, he had done nothing all day to show any signs that he was with us. And he reached out his hand, you know, and held her hand. Well, what is my daughter? Look at my daughter's perspective of that. Yeah. And it kind of hit me that I thought, you know, yeah, he's suffering. And we know that it won't be long.

But it hit me in that moment. I thought, God does a lot of good work in suffering. I thought about Romans 5. It produces character, produces hope. And we always think about the people who are suffering, but it's like, well, what about all these people that are getting these nuggets? My daughter's never going to forget that. Never. And she has been a warrior through this process. Yeah.

She just said, I want to go in and help Papa Phil, ma'am. Okay. And she's been there every step of the way. And she was one of the ones leading the singing. So it kind of hit me. I thought, yeah, God does some of his best work in suffering. I mean, you think about the cross itself. Because really, sacrifice is a reflection of love.

And so I think Phil got that in the moment. And so I ended the thing telling the last time that we had a conversation, because I didn't even think he was aware. And I was telling him, it's okay. I was like, we're good. Because I thought maybe I need to give him permission. Yeah, I did the same thing. Because he was just digressing so much. But when I said, you're going to meet Jesus, well, he just came too. And he's like, he grabbed my hand and he said, let's go. And I thought, what is he talking about? Yeah.

And then it hit me. I was like, oh, he wants me to take him to him. He's ready to go. He thought you were the guy, Jay. He's like, let's go. Take me. And I said, I'll tell you what. I'll go get him. Because I didn't know how to get out of the situation. And I thought, isn't that what prayer is? Yeah. I was like, I'm going to go.

And on the way out, I told Missy, I said, let's go. Because he started banging the rail, like saying, no, I'm ready to go. Take me. I'm ready. Of course, the next day, you know, he went on. But I thought, you know, isn't that something? And so I kind of used it as a call to the family because I know we had, you know, you mentioned it, 300 or 400 members of our family. And I thought, there's bound to be a couple here.

that might have lost their way and their focus to jesus and so i use that moment saying are you that excited you know to look at your creator and yeah and and be in his presence yeah that and that was i'd say the arch theme of yesterday uh the last you know i i only time i really broke down and cried was the first day dad was in the facility because i realized that now it's like we're we're headed and this has been a few months ago

But I started praying over him. It was just me and him. And I just had my hand on his arm, and I was praying. And I just started crying. I just could not stop. And it took me to say eight sentences. It took five minutes. And so I got through it, and as soon as it was over, he reached out and he patted me on the hand, and he was like, you did good. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Then I went out and cried in the truck, you know? But I felt like that was my...

relief and I realized and so but after that it just kind of became something different and really I want to say something because we're running out of time but you you came that last night and you got in you'd been you all been on vacation we'd spent time with you down there and then you dropped your family off and came right on and

Phyllis was there the last night, and so was Burley, their nurses. And they were just so helpful. Y'all turned into the trinity of representatives. Reed, Burley, and Phyllis, which was quite the trio. And nobody would have planned that. It just happened. But Reed, what you did that was so powerful about being there was secure mom.

You know, you got in the bed with her and she was like, you know, we just get in the bed. Yeah, sure, bro. Okay. And, but just the comfort you brought to her and this, this whole time, so proud of you for that. And it, it reminded me,

of like when you're one of the oldest grandkids, like you realize you have to step into the moment. I mentioned Nan yesterday. She's been great too. But it's like you realize this is my role, you know, but you come into that as a man or as a woman of where you fit into a family. And so getting to watch that, you know, this last few days has been amazing. Well, Kay came in last night. We were all over at Willie's eating dinner and Kay was leaving.

And they wheel her in there. It's like all the guys, probably 15 guys in the room. Reed was in there, and she was like, now Reed's been putting me to bed every night. And I've heard that 15 times. Well, it's gotten weird. Reed's worried about that, about going home. And I know we're out of time, but again, Reed won't say this because he wouldn't want to be bragging on himself. But he literally drove, you know, they had just been on vacation. He drove his family to Nashville, and then in the middle of the night drove down.

And then stayed up all night, you know, with Kay and Phil. And Reed was, you know, there when Phil, you know, breathed his last. And he comforted Kay. And they formed a bond, you know, and he was worried about,

leaving now because she's so attached to him. But I was really proud that Reed stepped up and she's going to be okay. I think she knew that because last night her charge was, Reed's been putting me to bed every night and then she's like, well, I'm going to need basically all y'all. I need chauffeurs. Yeah.

And she's like, he's telling the whole room of guys, like, you guys are now, I think she knew you were leaving on some level. It's like, now the rest of y'all, just know, I'm still the queen. We're out of time. I want to tell you two things I brought today. One is I brought Dad's Bible, which was on his casket yesterday, opened to Matthew 28. I don't know who opened it to that. Probably Grace, who did a fire arrangement.

And so that I brought that as a reminder that it's always about this podcast has been about the word about being unashamed. And I brought this, which was the picture just to show you guys that are watching. And so dad's kind of larger than life anyway. And this is a giant picture that was down front. And then we had the painting of Tony,

that made of him baptizing a woman down front. And it was just the perfect thing as a reminder of what this is all about. So Unashamed Nation, we love you guys so much. You guys have been there for us. We're carrying the legacy now. We're going to be doing just what he trained us to do. It's not going to stop. And so you need to grow where you're planted.

And keep doing what we're doing. Keep reaching people. That's the best thing you can do. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed Podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.