Why Men Need Healing w/ Dr. Bob Schuchts

October 17, 2024

Why Men Need Healing w/ Dr. Bob Schuchts

October 17, 2024

In this episode, I'm excited to welcome back Dr. Bob Schuchts, founder of the JPII Healing Center and co-host of the Restoring the Glory podcast. Dr. Bob is a renowned author and spiritual leader, known for his transformative books Be Healed, Be Restored, Be Transformed, and Be Devoted. Today, we dive deep into the power of healing, specifically for men, and how the upcoming Restored Men’s Healing Conference is set to impact men’s lives.

In this episode, I’m excited to welcome back Dr. Bob Schuchts, founder of the JPII Healing Center and co-host of the Restoring the Glory podcast. Dr. Bob is a renowned author and spiritual leader, known for his transformative books Be Healed, Be Restored, Be Transformed, and Be Devoted. Today, we dive deep into the power of healing, specifically for men, and how the upcoming Restored Men’s Healing Conference is set to impact men’s lives.

👉 Register for the Restored Men’s Healing Conference (In-Person & Live Stream)

We kick off the discussion with the story behind this new men’s conference, happening from November 14-16, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and what inspired Dr. Bob to create this event, modeled after his successful women’s conferences. Throughout the episode, we touch on several key topics, including why healing is so crucial for men, how we often ignore pain or trauma, and the father wounds many men struggle with.

We also reflect on personal stories about how Dr. Bob’s ministry has shaped my life, and how Jesus’ healing can help men confront the issues that have long held them back. Dr. Bob shares how essential it is to move past pain, addictions, and emotional wounds in order to lead healthier relationships and spiritual lives.

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  Well, welcome back to the pew everybody. I am your host, John Edwards, and I’m excited to be with you today because we have a special treat. Today we’re going to have another guest on the show and it’s a guest that’s been here a couple times before and In fact, he’s going to be soon like one of those hosts of saturday night live the five timers But uh, he’s joining us for the third time.

This is dr Bob shoots many of you have heard me speak about him, uh frequently and often because he has been such a mentor and and has had such a great effect on my own life. But if you don’t know who Dr. Bob shoots is, he’s the founder of the John Paul, the second healing center. He’s the author of several books, including be healed, be restored, be transformed, be devoted.

You can find all those on his website at John Paul, the second healing center. org. He is also the co host of the popular podcast, restoring the glory, which you can find on any podcast platform out there. But most importantly to me, he’s my friend and I’m so excited. Uh, to have him joining us here again today.

So Dr. Bob, thanks for being with us and thanks for joining us on the show again. Hey, John. Thanks. Uh, always good to be with you. And I’m excited about, uh, the endeavor that we’re about to embark on. Yeah, me too. And that’s, that’s a great place to start. I mean, one of the reasons I wanted to have you back on today was to discuss that, you know, we’ve got, uh, coming up in a little less than a month now.

the first restored men’s healing conference, which is, uh, you know, a new initiative of your ministry and apostolate the John Paul, the second healing center. Uh, you’ve always had these undone women’s conferences that your daughter Carrie and a few other ladies helped put on. Um, but you know, you, you had come to me a few months ago, or actually it’s been a, I guess about a year or so and mentioned that you wanted to do something for men and.

So we’re going to have the first one of those. Um, I guess it’s November the 14th through the 16th at Christ the King parish up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That’s a Thursday through a Saturday. And I’ll be joined by Paul George. Another great friend of your ministry and of mine, uh, is a, as the other presenter, and we’re going to be presenting these, uh, healing conferences for men moving forward.

And I know we’re both honored to. To be asked to do it and to work alongside you dr. Bob. Yeah, i’m excited for it. John Uh, just to give a little history that some people know probably a lot of people don’t know how we met and uh, It was when you were doing the the virtual conferences catholic virtual conferences And we were doing a series on healing And, uh, you had to fill in for somebody for the, for the role and it just turned out to be a great providence because, you know, we were talking about healing and, uh, I didn’t know your story and then in the middle of it, uh, you started sharing some of your story and, uh, just so powerful and we’re looking forward to having our, uh, Uh, people who attend the conferences, uh, really experience you and Paul.

I’ve known Paul for 30 years and, uh, go way back with him. And you guys have known each other for the last several, and I just think it’s going to be a great conference. I do too. I’m so excited for it. And, and. You know, I’ve always been drawn to you and your work since that, that, you know, meeting that you talked about, I remember you were so kind and you said, I want to keep in touch and I want to continue to talk.

And, uh, and you were true to your word and you invited me to come alongside and to experience some of the, uh, Events that you guys put on there the I am prayer training, which was a wonderful life changing experience for me and also found some new friends out of it too and father maliki and and some other folks and grew close to bart and and sister and the rest of your team there, but uh, and then you came here to memphis for uh for be heal or healing the whole person and uh That was a great experience as well, too So it’s been great to walk alongside you and You know, your ministry has influenced my own so much, uh, just by, uh, I remember one thing you said to me in the beginning was John, like, I don’t know that you realize it, but what you’re doing in these men’s groups is allowing a place for men to find healing and, and, uh, and to experience vulnerability and authenticity.

And I had never really looked at it like that before. And, uh, just this idea of healing and who Jesus was and seeing this different part of him through your ministry and the teachings that you guys have, have so profoundly shared with everybody. It’s really opened my heart. To to that being in my mind the greatest need of the church today is this individual healing That allows people to be able to move forward and as you well know, uh, one of the harder Uh, communities in the church to, to kind of get across to can be men, especially when you talk about healing.

Because I know when I first heard healing, I thought, okay, I got the heebie jeebies kind of. And then, and then I started thinking of all the television evangelists that, you know, hit me in the head and falling over and shaking and all that stuff. And so sometimes there’s a, um, maybe a careful. around of the word healing when it comes to men, because quite honestly, we don’t want to admit that there’s anything wrong with us.

And we’ve been told our whole life that we’re just supposed to have this gruff and tough exterior. So I wanted to kind of talk to you today about this conference. It’s going to be for men that, that we’re going to be putting on in a month. And then, you know, we’ll be doing that continually afterwards in the places that invite us to come back.

But I really wanted to invite you today to just talk about, you know, healing and men and why men need healing and. And just your experiences with all those things and, you know, kind of tied into what we’re going to be doing together. Yeah. Well, just for context, both you and I were athletes and you play, you play basketball, I played football and.

You know, I played, we all, we both played a lot of sports, but, you know, part of the attitude of an athlete. As you just get over the injury, you don’t, you don’t nurse it. You know, if it gets really bad, then you have to sit out a little bit, but you hate that. And so, you know, you go to the trainer room, you go to other places to kind of get better so that you can get back on the field, you don’t dwell on the pain.

Right? I mean, the pain is something you ignore, uh, until it gets too bad. So for a lot of us, that’s how we get through life. You know, we get married, we have a family, we begin to work, we begin to do other things and have that same attitude of, well, if there’s pain there, you just ignore it and you just keep going until it gets too bad.

And for both you and I, it got too bad. And I think what is the passion for both of us is that we deal with our pain in a healthy way much earlier. So that we don’t get to the place where we have to sit out of life, you know, you know Whether it’s affecting our family or whatever that is and and so to me, that’s the core of healing the core of healing is recognizing that we’re all struggling with our own sin with our own areas of brokenness in our life and None of us get away from that.

I mean, you know, it’s inevitable That we have that. And to ignore it is to our detriment. But not only to our detriment, it’s to the detriment of our families. It’s to the detriment of the people around us. And so, this men’s conference is geared towards men. You know, it’s, it’s why we’re doing a specific conference for men, because it’s geared towards men.

Both you and, and Paul work with men for years. I have, too. And it’s, it’s, It’s uniquely geared to men in the way that men can relate and I think that’s what’s going to be really helpful for guys Yeah, i’m excited about it, too I mean, we’re going to be going through the four identities and you can talk some more about that.

Um, but also just Why we are the way we are right the other way that we struggle and and where that all came from and you know, uh, You’re helping me uh with a book right now that hopefully will come out the next year or so and we’re talking about a lot of that in There too and Uh, just this idea of, of this brokenness and where it comes from, you know, so many people, you can blow off so easily, you know, okay, the fall, we messed up, there was punishment, we were removed.

I get it, but what does that really have to do with me? And I think that’s where a lot of times in our faith, if we haven’t been taught or we haven’t walked with people that understand it, um, we don’t really get what that has to do with us. It’s sort of the thing that for Adam and Eve, and it’s out there and it’s part of a story in our mind, like any other book, but what it is, is the truth of, of, of our ancestry and what our first parents and all those things.

Just like if I. Act a certain way with Jacob or the kids. It’s inappropriate or harmful to them. It’s going to be something I learned behavior that they pass on to someone else. And so I think that a lot of times we don’t even understand like Why am I the way that I am and why do I struggle the way that I do and even Great evangelists like st.

Paul. I mean, I would say this second greatest evangelist to ever live behind Christ Would say, you know, I do not do the the good. I want to do I do the evil I do not want and so I’d like to just kind of talk about that a little bit about you know There’s two great wounds that men face I believe and you and I’ve talked about this is is this father wound and the wound of inadequacy You Um, that a lot of us combat and, and really controls the way that we act and the way that we react.

And many of us don’t even realize that that’s where that’s coming from. Yeah. I think John Eldredge, who has done ministry with men for years, talks about, uh, This question that men have, uh, it starts as little boys. Do I have what it takes? And it’s, and it’s really the father, uh, who has the greatest influence in that, and being able to either bless us with you have what it takes, or to curse us by his behavior, his absence, like you really don’t have what it takes.

You know, I don’t have any I don’t have confidence in who I am because I don’t have that kind of blessing from a father, you know, and each of us have had good fathers in ways, and we’ve also been wounded by fathers in ways. And as fathers, we also do the same to our kids, you know, we, we bless them in certain ways and we wound them in certain ways, and we can do that in all kinds of different ways.

And so, just starting there, starting with that identity of being a son. Right? What was it like for each one of us, and we each know our stories, but what was it like for each one of us to be sons? You know, what were the good things? What were the things that blessed us in being sons? And what were the things that didn’t bless us, that left us handicapped?

And so we’re going to deal with that in the identity of son. And, and it is, so it’s something that like, again, I mean, we don’t even realize it, I know sometimes in my life, um, the way that I started to see those things was just, you know, I had a good relationship with my father to a certain extent, but it wasn’t always the relationship that I wanted, you know, in my life, I would have liked to have seen him more.

I would, he worked a lot and two jobs and all those things, but, um, you know, there’s ways that he responded to me because it was the way that he was treated or the way that. Uh, particularly that he was loved and, and sometimes, you know, when, when Jacob has done something particularly, you know, disappointing or something like that, I can react and hear myself say things that actually sound like his voice coming out of me.

And usually in those points, I’m going, man, I, I. I told myself I would never do that. You know, I told myself I would never treat my son that way or react in the way that, you know, that he did towards me. And, and this is what you’re talking about. Like when we, when we’re influenced by those and wounded people, wound people.

And this is why it’s so. Important for for us to do the work of healing, you know It’s not just about going to church and sitting in a pew and saying the right prayers It’s about letting the lord into these places in our life and and starting to ponder and to question Like, why do I feel this way? And why do I behave this way?

And why does this hurt? And where did it come from? And, and I think that’s one of the key things we’re trying to do here as we poke and prod into these identities is trying to give men a starting point. To be able to start looking and saying, okay, well, maybe this is where this came from, or, or maybe I should spend some more time here.

And it’s something that we all have to do, right. Or we’re going to continue to fall to the same things and get more and more frustrated. Yeah. And sometimes it’s not the dad. It’s sometimes it’s a mom, you know, it’s, uh, sometimes it’s brothers, older brothers or, or older sisters or peers, you know, all that’s part of our, uh, identity as brother, you know, both.

With our siblings and with peers and, you know, sometimes we’re not even aware of the things that really affect us and they, and they get into our identity. They get into our, our sense of who we are as a brother. So when we hear that Jesus is our brother, there may be a place where we pull back, you know, and like, I can’t relate to Jesus as a brother or Mary is my sister.

I can’t relate to Mary as my sister, uh, or Joseph as my brother or my, my cousins or whatever. The friends that I had growing up, you know, that, you know, if you think about it, There are certain events that happened, even if it didn’t happen in your family. It happened with your peers that were hurtful and Sure, that was in the past, but we carry it with us.

That’s that’s the key thing We carry it with us into the present and inevitably those things come up in our marriages and our dating relationships and our friendships as adults and then In our relationship with our own children. Sure. Yeah, it’s, I hear it so many times. I mean, I’m out, you know, a couple of times a month doing these, you know, the stuff we’re doing in our, in our work.

And, and I hear men that are just there, they say I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of, of, of the same things of reacting the same way and being angry for so long and being so unforgiving. And, and, uh, you know, I worked with a guy a few months ago and, uh, he was telling me He finally had a breakthrough and he was angry all the time.

And that’s what he asked me to help him with. He said, I’m just so mad all the time. And I don’t understand it. Like I want to be happy. I want to be joyful. I want to, I want to be somebody that that’s just in any sort of moment. I’m I’m at peace or I’m at least have some, you know, a form of happiness in my life, but he said, I’m just always mad.

And so we were praying and working through things. And after a while, it, you know, he just had this realization when we invited Christ into the moment. He had a moment where a kid, uh, basically pulled his pants down on the playground in front of a bunch of people and then slapped him and, and, you know, and, and it embarrassed him and he had done what you said that a lot of men do.

We shove it down because it’s just get over it. Right. And I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to experience that. I don’t like the way it makes me feel. So therefore I’ll just lock it in a box in my soul somewhere. And, and, and hopefully it’ll stay there. Yeah. And it doesn’t. And so this man in this experience, he, he came, he came to realize Jesus showed him this moment and he just started breaking down crying.

And of course we renounced lies and all those things that, you know, you’ve taught so many of us how to do through your ministry, but, um, all the, the anger for 25 years, 30 years of his life. Had gone back to this moment of of something that should have never happened to him um but he never really was able to deal with it and he shoved it down and Bob, that’s a huge point that I think we’re going to try to make to to men at these conferences is Like you can’t do that.

You can’t shove stuff down That’s not the way to handle it and jesus wants to come into those places and do what he does which is to heal Yeah, and you and I and and paul we all we’ve all done that we’ve all done that Had those experiences and shoved them down and kept going and had to pay for it, you know And yeah, whether it’s whether it’s in the way that we relate to people or just in our you know we just focus on work and we numb ourselves out or we have addictions like to alcohol or to drugs or to Pornography or whatever those are those are all medications to deal with our pain, you know That’s the only reason why we get stuck in those things because we’ve got a lot of pain that we don’t want to deal with And now that becomes a further pain that influences our relationships and really does damage to the, to the career that we have, to the family members or friends that we have.

And, and so it’s, healing is, is essential. That’s, Pope Benedict said that. It’s essential. That’s why Jesus came as healer. Like, it’s not a, it’s not a side issue or something for a few people that are really broken. It’s for all, every one of us. And it’s essential in our life. And if we understand redemption, we understand healing because that’s actually what redemption is.

It’s taking those areas of our life where we’ve sinned and had brokenness, had hurt, had pain, and allowing Jesus to transform our lives. And isn’t that, every one of us is for, is, needs that. In our life. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I mean, the, the point is Jesus says, I came so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Right. He wants us to live these, these full and joyful lives so that we can go out and be the people that he’s called us to be. But it’s. As you well know, too, by you and I’ve spent a lot of time talking about this in my own life and own journey and in each other’s, it’s so hard to, to focus on other people and to live as we’re called to as, as Catholics and disciples of the Lord, if we can’t get past our own shortcomings, because the.

The devil gets right in there, especially in that inadequacy thing. And what are you doing? I mean, every time I turn this microphone on, he does that to me. You know, what are you doing getting on there again? You’re going to go tell people how to love the Lord. Like you’re, you’re such a mess. Look at you.

And, and we have to be able to come out those things with the truth of the Lord. And so. Like, I, I really would love for you to talk a little bit about that and, and just where we’re hoping to give men these starting points through this, uh, conference and, and, uh, the things that we’re going to be doing for men now, because I think that’s the, the thing is people want what we’re talking about, but how, like I, do I just say Jesus heal me and then it happens or is there a process or, or, you know, how do I do this?

Yeah, you know, years ago we had men’s conferences through the center. My brother Bart and I and another guy Ken Kniepman did them. And just as guys showed up, we used movies just like you guys are using movies. We shared our stories, uh, and we just invited people to enter into reflecting on and looking on.

And you do it in ways that are attractive to men. You know, that men are drawn to. And that’s why we chose you and Paul, because I know you guys and I know you relate so well to men and have lived it yourselves. And so, you know, part of it’s going to be your stories, you know, each of you sharing your stories.

Part of it’s going to be teaching about these four identities. Part of it’s going to be using movie clips, you know, powerful movie clips that kind of get to our hearts as men, uh, to draw those things out. Uh, and then part of it is going to be. Prayer experiences and conversations and small groups and time for adoration, time for confession.

You know, just all the means of the church, uh, the sacraments and, and bringing all that together for the healing of men. That’s what Jesus does. Yeah. And one of the things I love about these type, uh, places that we’re building. I mean, really, it’s a place for men to come and, and to look around and see. And just like in the groups that we start.

You know, there’s a tendency for the devil to try to make us all feel like we’re the only one who’s broken. Or we’re the only one that suffers or the only one that watches porn or drinks too much or whatever it is that’s going on in our life, the only one who’s angry for no reason, whatever it may be, but coming to these places like that and looking around and going like I’m not the only one, right?

I’m not the only one that struggles. For so long, I mean, really the, the crux of what I want to do when people ask me, like, why are you even in ministry? It’s because I want people to experience the love of Christ and the freedom that can be found. Vulnerability and, and healing and all these things, as we said, are oftentimes considered taboo for a lot of men, but it’s exactly, it’s exactly the gateway.

And the doorway to what it is that you’re looking for, this freedom, this interior freedom and this peace and this ability to love well, I mean, I don’t think there’s any one of us that wakes up and goes like, I want to be a terrible husband and father today. Yeah. Yeah. None of us wants that. None of us, none of us wants the consequences of that, which is, you know, the, the rejections that we experience when we’re not loving well.

Yeah. Or, or the broken relationships that we have. But you know, I, I think there’s a tendency when we talk about a healing conference too, John, for people to say, well, it’s going to be, you know, just a bunch of stories and crying and pain and, you know, looking at stuff. But the reality is it’s a tremendous amount of laughter and joy and fellowship and, you know, that’s what I love about men’s ministry is like, we’re coming together and we’re just being real.

We’re being men. And we’re being with each other and, uh, There’s, there’s such a freedom then just to be, and I never laughed so much as when I’m with a group of men like that and that kind of environment, you know, it’s just like, there’s this great freedom that happens when men come together. We don’t have to worry about what the women are going to think or what, what our wives are going to think, or it’s just being together.

Yeah. No, I think it goes back to what you were talking about in the beginning, like with being former athletes, it’s like being on a team again. Yeah. It’s, uh, that’s some of my favorite memories were not. You hitting a certain shot or making a free throw to win the game or anything like that. Those were cool moments, but a lot of my favorite memories were like, you’re saying on the bus, laughing and picking at each other in the locker room going, man, did you, can you believe what just happened out there?

And all that kind of stuff. And, and you miss that because there’s men, you know, you, you come into. Uh, your life, you go to college, you get a vocational job, you get married and you kind of get your head down in those things. And, and you, you isolate a lot, you’ve got your work friends, but a lot of times those aren’t always authentic friendships.

They are friendships of convenience. A lot of time, they’re not very deep. And so you got the guy at the water cooler or sits next to you in a cubicle, but. You know, you, maybe you share a lunch every once in a while, but you don’t have a guy that really knows you and that’s really holding you accountable and walking with you.

And there’s something, I mean, even Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, right? I mean, he knew that there was something about men walking together and, and. And, and needing each other for that. And that’s what I’m excited about too, is just getting there with Paul and laughing and, and, and just inviting men into this notion of, look, this isn’t some kooky, weird thing where you have to have your guard up, like we all need this.

And, and, and that’s the beauty of it is we’re all broken, We all know each other’s broken. So we don’t have to act like we’re not, we can just come and show up in our imperfections and well, I’m here and I’m imperfect and I’m hoping to be better. And, and then to experience those fellowships and in that time together, the way that you’re talking about.

So I’m super excited about it too. And, uh, just really invite any man out there to come and join us. And there’s a couple of different ways. I mean, I want to make sure and cover that. Uh, Dr. Bob too is, you know, here in the beginning of the show, we talked about it’s going to be at Christ the King in Ann Arbor, Michigan, November the 14th through the 16th.

And yes, you’re all invited if you, if you have the time and the, and the means and the way to join us there, uh, to come from wherever you are and join us. I’ve got a guy that follows our ministry. That’s flying from California all the way to be there for it. Um, and that’s great. If you can be there in person, we would certainly love to have you.

For you to be there. But for those of you that may be listening, uh, that are thinking, well, man, I really need this. And I really would love to be a part of this. There’s also a live stream you can register for that. And so if you physically can’t be there, if money’s an issue or time off work or something like that, it doesn’t have to be an impediment to you because there’s also a live stream that you can be a part of and register for through, uh, the John Paul, the second.

Uh, healing center, uh, dot org website too. And you can join us that way. Um, you know, so at least you’re there to be able to, to hear the teachings, to experience these things and walk alongside us. So Bob, that’s something, you know, you’ve done a lot of these and all the different conferences you do. And I know the live stream could be very powerful for people as well too.

Yeah. Joanna’s actually. You and, you know, the Catholic, uh, virtual conferences that really inspired us as a ministry to do live stream during COVID. And uh, at first we were thinking, well, it’s, it’s a second rate conference. You know, it’s, it’s like, it’s not the same as being there. And there is something about being there in person.

Sure. We’ve been doing live stream conferences now for, uh, Four years, ever since COVID, uh, and we get all the time, we get people saying to us, uh, I’ve been to live conferences and I’ve been to these live streams and I got as much or more this time doing the live stream that I did in the live conference because I could stop it.

I could stop the conference when I was in the middle of something. And I could work, I could just stay with it and not rush past it. And then I could turn it back on and I was so much more ready for the next message, being able to do it that way. And we have testimonies on our conferences of people who have done livestream over and over and over again saying this was really powerful for me to do it this way.

And so if you can’t come, don’t think you’re, you know, like second best. You’re going to save a lot of money not traveling probably. Uh, so that’s an advantage, but. The conference is really powerful live stream, and you’re going to experience that if you can’t go and be in person, it’s great to be there in person.

Uh, great to have that time of sharing with the other guys and all those things. But the live stream is really powerful too. Yeah, that’s a great point. I didn’t think about that. It’d be sort of rude if somebody stood up in the middle of the live conference and said, Dr. Bob, can you pause a minute? I need to contemplate.

Right. He said, Yeah, yeah. Now you’ve got that, that, uh, that ability to do and the safety and the security of your own home and go through it at your own time. And, you know, some people are, are in a place where they’re just not comfortable being around a lot of people yet, and they’re, you know, introverted folks or whatever it may be.

And, and so maybe that’s the right path for them is to be able to, to kind, uh, deal with those things at home. Especially people that are dealing with a lot of trauma and wounds to be able to, to sort of receive that and allow themselves to react whichever ways that. That the Lord needs to, to have them, uh, you know, process their own healing.

So that’s another good point of it there too. So I’m super excited for this, Dr. Bob, go ahead. Yeah. And the guys that are there, you’re going to have access to the live stream also after you leave for a couple of weeks. So also know that, that you’re not going to be. Cheated out of that opportunity to go back and process and do that too.

Yeah, that’s a great point. So for those of you, uh, that, that may not have caught that, if you go live, you’re going to get access to the virtual streaming. Of the conference for a couple of weeks. So you can utilize the same thing, go through it. Um, I’m just, I’m really excited for it. I mean, so to lay it out for guys that may not know what it’s going to look like or how it’s going to go, you know, we’re going to start on Thursday evening.

Um, there’s going to be a music leader, so we’ll have music there alongside of us. Um, you know, on, on the first night, Paul’s going to lead. The teaching and I’m going to do a little bit of witness and emceeing and Paul’s going to teach. And on the nights that, um, Paul’s emceeing, I’ll be doing some of the teaching and sharing.

So each night you’re going to get a little bit of both of us and, uh, there’ll be opportunities for confession and, uh, for adoration and, you know, Tom for sharing and fellowship. And there’s just going to be so much. And what I love about this is it’s not just a, a one or two hour thing. We’ve got a couple of days to spend together and to really, uh, allow the word, the Lord to work through our lives.

And, and in a, one thing I want to say to people is I’m, I’m really excited about this too, not only to be a part as a presenter, but also to see what the Lord is going to do in my own heart and in my own, my own life, because that’s Paul and I will be the first ones to admit that we need as much healing as anybody else.

And so. I’m looking forward to jumping in the waters there with everybody else and seeing what the Lord wants to do in our lives as well. Yeah. And, and your listeners know a lot about you and some, some of your listeners know about Paul. So, but just a little more about Paul, Paul was a college athlete, uh, and then he was the chaplain for the New Orleans saints for a while.

Uh, and he also has written a couple of books, uh, Holy, Holy Grit, uh, is one of his books. Happiness something on happiness how to be happy rethinking happiness. Yeah rethinking happy rethinking happiness Yeah, so if you if you want to look up paul, uh, he also has been a consultant to men for years, uh, working one on one with men.

He and his wife have done marriage conferences, uh, and he and they were involved in, uh, he’s a speaker for, um, for the Steubenville Youth Conferences for a number of years. And so, a lot of you guys may have been exposed to Paul also, uh, but if you haven’t, he’s just been Great. Easy to relate to. Uh, he and John have been good friends since they met, uh, ran into each other in the airport, bringing me all that Cajun friend, uh, food.

We’re going to be better friends. I enjoy all that Cajun food. He brings every time he comes up here, but. Yeah, I’m excited for it. You guys are both Southern boys, but he’s, he’s a different kind of Southern than you are. Oh yeah. He probably could wrestle alligators and stuff. I hadn’t made it that far yet, but, but yeah, I’m excited to be with him.

And Bob, I just, I really appreciate it. I’ve told you this privately a bunch, but just, you know, your work and what you do and just how many countless people that you’ve helped, uh, anywhere I go, uh, and I know this is probably going to embarrass you, but, uh, I’m going to do it anyway, but like everywhere I go.

I run into priests that just, you have worked with you and men that have worked with you, women that have worked with you, families that have experienced the work that you guys have done. And so to be invited, to be a part of that is a serious, tremendous honor for myself and for Paul. And, and I’m just so excited to be a part of the team and, and to really try to follow in your footsteps and to try to give an avenue for men to find healing, because I just, you know, another thing that we’ve talked about before.

I really believe that the changes that we’re looking for in the world, the, the, the, the work that needs to be done to reorient the world back to Christ has to begin with men. If it doesn’t, we’re going to be just kind of treading water and not getting anywhere because men were made to be the spiritual leaders of their families.

And if we’re not living in that role, Families start to decline. They start to go by the wayside and we can’t be those men if we’re not dealing with the things in our own hearts. And I’ll often say, you know, for men, we’re always looking for a battle and it’s easier to pick up a broad sword and go out there and whack something out there.

It’s not so easy to fight the battles of your heart, but that’s exactly what Christ invites all of us to do is to go in there and let him fight those battles alongside of us and allow us to become these men that can not only transform our own lives. But the lives of our families and the lives of our parishes and the church and of the world.

Yeah, that’s why we, you know, when we were discerning who to invite for this, you and Paul were men that we could trust as authentic men who are living this. You know, it’s not, it’s not just theory to you. It’s something you’ve both have lived through and are living through and are relating to men all the time with.

You know, it’s like, this isn’t new for you guys. Uh, You’re all the time working with men, inspiring men, inviting men, uh, bringing men into their healing. And so we’re excited as a ministry to, to relaunch this. Uh, you know, I just had so much else going on in my brother Bart that we just couldn’t do the men’s ministry.

And we knew that it needed to be done again. And having you guys do that is really a gift for us. Well, put me in coach. I’m ready to play. Thank you for the opportunity, Bob. And thank you for joining us here today. I mean, I know that every time we do a show with you, uh, no matter what the subject matter, it’s always encompassing healing.

And I get so many emails from men that are just, uh, so thankful for the time that you’ve spent with us and for your knowledge and again, guys, if you haven’t. Explored any, uh, any of Dr. Bob’s books. I don’t know what you’re waiting for. I implore you to do it at just about every show that I do. But, um, be healed is an amazing book and a great place to start.

Um, for me personally, uh, because I also dealt with sexual sin and addiction to pornography and things like that. And had some, I was molested when I was younger and things like that. I, I found be restored to be really helpful with sexual wounds and kind of. Uh, going through the healing process there. Um, Angela and I obviously needed healing.

So be devoted was a great help to us, which was a book centered on marriage. And, uh, you know, Bob, you’ve been open and shared here about the struggles that you faced in your marriage, even as a marriage counselor. Um, you know, I, I remember one time specifically, you said to me, I called you and I said, I feel like such a hypocrite, but I’m telling all these people to do these things and I can’t do them well myself.

And you said to me. John, try being a marriage counselor and struggling in your own marriage. right? Trying to marriage therapist and struggling your own marriage. And so that’s something I’ve always loved about you is your honesty, your vulnerability, your willingness to, to share your own brokenness. And I think, um, it inspires me and I know it inspires so many other people.

So folks, if, if you haven’t checked out dr. Bob’s work, please go and do it. You can get the books on his. website, uh, JP2, that’s II. So JPIIhealingcenter. org. You can also find them other, many other places out there that sell books. I would give his podcast, Restoring the Glory, which he does with Jake Kim, um, a fellow, uh, Therapist and a friend of dr.

Bob’s. He’s also the husband of heather kim the co host of abiding together. They have a wonderful podcast It’s helped a lot of people and then of course all the offerings that they offer there Uh through the center whether it’s prayer ministry training or or the healing the whole person undone Unveiled which is the marriage conferences and now this restored, uh men’s healing conference.

So yeah Bob, thank you so much for the world. Please jump in if I could add two books coming out You Uh, that, uh, we’re going to be especially helpful for men. One is called trusting our father’s provision. And it’s looking at our role as providers. And how do we trust the father in that? And some great stories.

And then how do we become good stewards of what God’s given us? And then the other book is a book of prayers. So you talked before about the renouncing prayers. So we put them all together in a short booklet. They’re going to be coming out soon. So have guys looking for that. Well, I’m excited for both of them, especially that first one, which you mentioned that some places I still struggle sometimes in my own life is, uh, you know, there’s always more room to give it over to God and to trust further.

But. Um, that’s hard for men, right? Because you’ve been told your whole life, you got to do it yourself and you got to make your own way. So thank you for continuing to listen to the Lord and for writing things that men find so helpful. I’m excited for both of those. And then hopefully I can get what we’re working on.

We’ve got another book. We’re doing a partnership with you. Your book is going to be very connected to the men’s conferences, right? Yeah, i’m excited for it So i’m working on it every day. I promise bob i’m trying to get ready to get over to you guys to to publish So i’m, uh, you know it’s harder than I thought it would be but It’s also a great healing experience for me to go back through some of these things and And see what the lord wants to do with them.

So Yeah, it’s it’s Again, i’m honored to be working alongside of you in that project as well, too Yeah, that’s what is it power perfected and weakness. Is that yeah power made perfect power made perfect finding true strength in christ Is the working title for it now, but yeah, it’s it’s about all these things.

It’s about going back to the beginning and And understanding like why do I you’re really talking about the inadequacy wounds and the father wounds and why do I feel? I feel this way and why do I try to overcompensate and all these things? And, you know, really this false idea of the power of power, the world puts before us and where did we lose this power?

What was this power? And obviously it’s, it’s based on a second Corinthians chapter 12, verse nine, which has been a big part of my story in life of, of finding true strength in Christ, when God looks at Paul and says, no, I’m not going to remove that thorn because my power is made perfect in weakness. And so, yeah, I’m hoping to, to, to have your guidance, to write that in a way that’s helpful to men.

Yeah, just to, just to say to the men that are listening, if you look at men’s magazines traditionally, what are they all about? They’re all about power in one way or the other, you know, like GQ, weightlifting, the kind of car that I drive, the kind of money that I make, the kind of athletic ability that I have, you know, just we’re, we’re driven to power, but it’s false.

It’s the way that the world teaches us about power is false. It’s empty. And so what’s true power? True power is Jesus. You know, there is nothing more powerful than the son of God coming as a baby. And then dying on a cross and then resurrecting from the dead. I mean, that’s power, but it’s power that’s dependent on the Father’s love.

And that’s what this conference is all about. It’s about how do we move from the world’s definition of what it means to be a man to living in the reality of what it means to be a man in Christ. And, and John has a, Particular testimony and ability to speak to that and so does paul. Yeah. Well, thank you.

Dr Baba, i’m so excited. I’m ready to go tomorrow. You got me jacked up for this. So For all of you listening, please like consider joining us whether it’s it’s in person If you’re around the michigan area or the ann arbor area, michigan’s place. But if you’re around the Ann Arbor area and can join us, please do that again.

The dates are November the 14th to the 16th. If you’re a parish or a diocese that’s looking for healing opportunities for men, I know that Uh, many diocese and many parishes have had the JP2 Healing Center in for, uh, healing the whole person or, or undone or unveiled. This is now another offering that you can offer for men.

And one thing that you, you all have told us there and Carrie, your daughter has shared with me multiple times is that everywhere they go during the women’s conferences, men Uh, they always ask, when are you going to have something for men? And now, uh, now you have that and you’re able to offer that. So if you’re looking for that, um, we’re, we’re looking at, at, at booking dates now for next year and, uh, into the years to come to, to go to places and to put on these men’s conferences, uh, to promote and to invite men into the healing power of Christ.

So Bob, if you’ve got anything you want to say there or anything you want to throw in as we close out here, please do. Yeah. Great way to start. That would be a few. Wanting to do one in the future, get your priest and get a group of men, small group of men, and do a virtual conference together, like do this virtual conference and watch it together, or bring that group to Ann Arbor with your priest and experience it together.

And then you’ll be on the top of the list to be able to be, uh, places to host. Yeah. Yeah. And this is brand new. So folks, like if you look at some of the other conferences that, you know, That, uh, Dr. Bob and his team have been putting on, they’ve been doing them for a number of years. There’s a lot of people that know about them.

There’s wait lists. And sometimes it can be, you know, a few years to get on that, to get, to get the conference to you. This is launching right now. So if you’re interested at all, you know, you. You can go to the, the JP two healing center. org website and, and submit about it and, and ask questions about it.

And we can start to work with you and your, your parish and your diocese. Cause that’s, that’s the thing. We want to go out and do these things everywhere and invite men into this healing so that we can start to transform the lives of the men in the church. And as we said, we could start taking back this world for the Lord and, and, uh, and help families in the church to grow.

What was that Dr. Bob? Performing, performing an army. Yeah. Amen. In doing it in the right way, starting with the battles of our hearts, right? Yep. Yep. We’re engaging the battle. That’s what this is about, engaging the battle so that we can be the warriors. Yeah. Yes, sir. Well, but Dr. Bob, thank you for your time.

I know you have so much going on and it’s always a joy to be with you. As I’ve said multiple times, I love you so much. I tell you every time I see you probably get sick of hearing it, but I love you. I thank you for your friendship and for your mentorship and just your kindness to me and inviting me into your work.

It’s such a privilege and an honor to be your friend and to work alongside of you. Thanks, John. I love you, too, and I love your family and love the work that you’re doing. All right. Well, folks, for more information about restored men’s healing conferences, or for anything JP2 Healing Center related, whether it’s the books or the other conferences, you can go to JPII.

org. Healing center. org. Again, that’s J P I I healing center. org. Dr. Bob, thank you for your time. I can’t wait to see you next week when we’re together for our team retreat. That’s right. We’re going to have a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah, we are. I’m excited. Don’t wear me out on cornhole. I heard you’re very good at that.

So just take it easy on a beginner. All right, Dr. Bob, God bless you. I love you and take care. Love you. Take care, John. All right. Bye.

 
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