The Ultimate Gift, Session 1

Guests: Jordan Whicker, Ethan Severin, Cole Travis

 

The Ultimate Gift is a fictional story about the journey of a young man named Jason Stevens who is the spoiled, rotten grand-nephew of Red Stevens, who leaves a series of “gifts” for Jason to learn, under the guidance and tutelage of his attorney friend Theodore J. Hamilton. Each chapter is a new “gift” that Jason must learn - and, as a young man, you need to learn as well.

 

The Gift of Work

He who loves his work never labors.

 

The story sends Jason out to Alpine, TX to work on a ranch - in the middle of Big Bend country, down on the Texas border - part of Brewster County, largest county in Texas - nearly 4 million acres of land or over 6,000 square miles (little smaller than the country of Israel)

 

The work that Jason got to do was dig fence post holes to put up a new fence - for miles and miles and miles…

• Three of the four of us have used a fence post hole digger and agree - that’s REAL work!!!
• Colossians 3:23 - “do you work heartily as unto the Lord, and not for men”…who do you work for, whose approval do you seek for your work?
• Matthew 7 - the parable of building your house on the rock - may be harder and take more effort, but doing the job well means that the work will last through the storms of life!

 

The Gift of Money

Jason gets $1500 (the wages he “earned” by working on the ranch), and he’s supposed to go out and find 5 people who need the money and give it to them - to see the power of money. He ended up giving away $1800 - he put in $300 of his own money to help others in need.

• You can’t buy happiness with money. Money is a tool that can fix certain problems, pay specific bills, but it won’t solve the problems of the heart or bring meaning to life.

 

The Gift of Friends

It is a wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.

 

“Friend is a word that is thrown around far too easily by people who don’t know the meaning of it.”

 

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence? true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo & withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." George Washington

 

“Friendship involves loyalty, commitment, and a process that includes sharing another person’s life.”

 

• The necessity of friends - especially for guys - we’re not meant to live life in a silo. Sin grows in isolation - surround yourself with good community.
• If you don’t have a friend, start with being a friend.
• Friends are forged, not found.
• In addition to good friendships, a man needs the Word of God to complete them - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent (complete), equipped for every good work.”

 

T4M guys - just a reminder that Training4Manhood is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) ministry and you can make donations either via Zelle (info@training4manhood.com) or by visiting the Training4Manhood website.

Huge thank you to Jared Wood for allowing T4M to use his music in our intro and outro selections.