Ep 1145 ｜ Phil Robertson’s Tragic Diagnosis & His Lasting Gospel Legacy ｜ Guests： Al & Jase Robertson
Episode Stats
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Summary
Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame has sadly been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer s and a blood disease. And today, two of his sons, Al and Jace, are here to give us an update on how he's doing and also to talk about his legacy.
Transcript
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Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame has sadly been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's and a blood disease.
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And today, two of his sons, Al and Jace, are here to give us an update on how he's doing and also to talk about his legacy,
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the times that he has shared the gospel with specifically President Trump, how that went,
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but also just his legacy of boldness, of telling the truth, of bringing people to repentance,
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as well as the love and hospitality that their mom has shown.
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I was really uplifted by this, but also you'll be given some specific prayer requests for their family.
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We'll also be talking about the reboot of Duck Dynasty with the new generations of the Robertson family.
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This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
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Al, Jace, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
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I so appreciate y'all and just truly love y'all's show so much.
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We haven't been seeing as much or hearing as much from him lately.
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Yeah, it's a very difficult question to answer because, you know, we're kind of in the bowels of the new normal.
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And we realize that families across the globe have this same problem.
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Your parents get old and things start going south physically.
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And basically, the diagnosis that was given to us is he has some kind of blood disorder.
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And they likened it to blood cancer where it kind of attacks his bones.
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And so, he's had multiple back fractures and even one in his tailbone.
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And so, he'll have to go do these procedures because they're not really correctable.
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They just do a procedure that makes it stop hurting, which is, from my understanding, kind of giving you the redneck version of what I was told,
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is they're basically just putting cement in his back.
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But your back is not designed to have cement in it.
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Especially for sections that don't have cement.
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And so, you know, you kind of have to, meanwhile, you have another diagnosis, which they said he has the early stages of Alzheimer's.
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And so, they're kind of working against each other because every time he has to go under for a procedure,
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and they say sometimes that going under anesthesia progresses, these kind of mental states, it's like it's harder for him to come back to reality.
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And so, you know, having said all that, it's kind of been stages over the last few months where you, what we call new normals.
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And we used to say that with my daughter who was born with a craniofacial issue.
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She said, well, this is just the new normal because every time something would happen, it would create other problems.
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Because overall, when people say, well, how's Phil doing?
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You know, it's hard to explain that in a one sentence.
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It's overall not great because he looks, what's the best word to use?
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It's kind of shocking when people come visit him.
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We've tried to do everything imaginable in the world to put weight on him.
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He is just literally, his body is not putting on weight.
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And, you know, my answer, Allie, is when people ask me, I say, well, it's day to day, literally, because we see him a lot.
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And so, one day, he may be a little bit stronger mentally and physically than another day.
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And, you know, our podcast audience obviously loves Dad.
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Jason and I just kind of tagged along at the beginning.
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And so, you know, we started noticing it on the podcast, Jason and I probably before anybody else.
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But even now that our audience knows, they could kind of look back and see.
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And so, those signs were there, I think, early on on the Alzheimer's side.
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This physical thing has just basically fast-forwarded probably his decline into that.
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My dad taught Jason and I and our brothers and our family and anybody that would listen that his life was in preparation of the great resurrection.
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And so, he said for years, the resurrection looms larger.
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I mean, like, the idea is that we're not, like, super depressed about it or, like, just devastated by it.
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It's hard to be a part of a man that's always been so strong in your life.
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But at the same time, we realize that the spiritual battle goes forward.
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So, that's just kind of how we've approached it.
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That's why we're still doing the podcast and still talking about Jesus.
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When we went public with this, because obviously something was going on.
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And for people like me, I don't do social media.
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And so I think I forget sometimes that there's a lot of people who watch our family.
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And I just started noticing everywhere I went, like grocery store, it's, how's your dad?
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And it is compounded that times 1,000 when we went public with it.
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And so I realized, okay, we need to go public with this.
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But I will say in that moment was the first time I would say in six months that I felt like his spirit became better.
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And I just really believe, you know, more now than ever, the power of prayer.
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And we're very grateful for that because in all this kind of sadness and debilitating illness that he has, that there's no cure.
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You know, I've had 1,000 people reach out to him and say, well, try this and try that.
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But we have a team of doctors working around the clock and doing all this.
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But when I noticed when I went down there, because I had actually called my kids and said,
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look, if you want to see Papaw Phil, you need to do it right now.
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Because I was thinking that he only had a few days to live.
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This was, I guess, right before we went public.
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And when we went public with it, I was amazed because I took my son down there.
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And he was like, well, he's doing a lot better than I thought.
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And so I just chalked it up to answered prayer.
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I will say that most days, despite whatever, if he's in pain or if he's just checked out mentally, there's something.
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And it's really helped us the past few weeks dealing with what we're having to deal with on a daily basis.
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One of the things I said on the podcast the day we talked about it and kind of went public with everything with dad is I remember being so moved because I was the Reagan was the first president I ever voted for.
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And, you know, Reagan got to a point in his life journey where he had Alzheimer's.
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And so basically had to step back from the public eye.
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And when he did that, he wrote a letter and then he read the letter.
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And when you go out and visit the Reagan library, the last thing you do before you go out and visit where his tomb is, is him reading that letter.
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And I just remember sitting there in tears, so appreciative that he explained why he was leaving the stage.
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And I told our audience, I said, you know, dad didn't write a letter because this happened pretty fast.
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He doesn't have to because there are living letters that keep going forward.
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It starts with us, me, Jace, his sons, his daughter, and it continues into everybody he's impacted for the kingdom.
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And so there are all these living letters out there that are pointing back to Jesus because it's really never about us.
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And so in a sense, I have that sort of same piece about his goal and our goal and what we're doing.
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How many podcasts you got going today out of that?
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And, you know, despite all the struggles we've had, we've always used humor as, I guess, a way to cope.
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And a lot of people take that wrong because we, you know, we laugh together, even about things that are not funny.
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But I think it's because we all know, you know, we have each other's back and we love each other.
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I preface what I'm going to say because so for some reason, you know, when you have these problems in your family,
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and I'm sure families identify with this, people get declared the spokesman for dealing with the parents who can become difficult.
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And so Willie and me have actually been declared, we have to go talk to my mom and dad when they don't want to do things that need to be done.
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And so yesterday, Willie and I had to go out there because my mom had a had a fall.
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And my dad, if he's in his right mind, we'll make a joke every time.
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He's like trying to correct the problem now from this.
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In fact, I was getting up on stage, fixing to speak in Kentucky at an event.
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And we have multiple people that basically stay with them 24 seven and sent me a picture.
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And because I was which, you know, in the moment, I'm literally getting up on stage.
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And because I thought it was life threatening because it just looks so terrible on her leg.
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It at me, I was it was to the bone on her leg right at her kneecap.
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And fortunately, you know, they got her fixed up.
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I mean, she has multiple stitches and she's in a brace.
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But so for a small period of time, we said, look, we need to keep y'all up here with us.
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And so we can keep an eye because my dad is day to day and my mom, she can't walk.
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And so we were like and we're feeding them and their food snobs, which is funny because in my family, they taught us to be.
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I mean, they want the best of the best of the best.
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And what's that and what that has evolved to is basically their immediate family cooking for them.
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The greatest meals that we can prepare multiple times a day, if possible.
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So we're like, look, y'all are so far away from us.
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And, you know, because they're just not they're at an age where they're not thinking rationally.
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And so Willie and I had to go out there because my mom was the problem.
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And so because she just she she wants to be at our home and I get it.
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You know, they've lived there 50 years like you can go back, but let's heal up.
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And we're like, we will put an armed guard at your house that will, you know, look over your your dogs and your gun, which we actually did.
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So if anybody, you know, we have an armed redneck nearby and wants to go check out their stuff, you know, but, you know, they're at an age where I'm saying they're not thinking about all these things.
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But after an hour of a difficult conversation, we we had a good laugh about it.
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And because I'm like, Willie's like stayed in the obvious.
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And, you know, Phil doesn't know where he is on, you know, on a given day, which my dad laughs about it.
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I mean, it was a severe injury, but she's really seems to be doing well.
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Well, the most fun thing with them, Ali, is they they have transitioned that humor to us.
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I think it's why we had a successful show on national television last night.
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And so mom's eating her hamburger and she's finishing it up.
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And he looked over at mom's plate and he said, Miss Kay, you had quite the appetite.
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And so I looked at mom and she said, that's what we're here for.
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And I got so tickled because that's the way they've always been.
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So it's like nothing will change that interaction and that dynamic, which is.
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Yeah, I'll share this story that happened because I was given the bad.
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But, you know, my mom, they're not getting, you know, as fed as much in the word.
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I mean, these people are, you know, my parents, they are warriors for the Lord.
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They have brought tens of thousands of people to the Lord.
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Dad's worn out more Bibles than, you know, I've owned.
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And my mom is the best of us as far as her hospitality and treating every person on the planet like they're the most spectacular person.
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I mean, like we'll go to a football game or, you know, we took her to the Saints game because she's a big Saints fan.
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And she basically hung out with all the people that were selling the concession products, you know, just talking about food.
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We'd be in the Trump Hotel in New York City and she comes over and knocks on my door and says, I want you to meet Elisa.
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He's always had that quality, which is, to me, a Jesus quality.
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And them together is why I think they've made such a big impact.
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But, you know, I was getting a little frustrated because it is frustrating and because you're trying to get them to realize the new normal is that you just be in here talking with our kids and your grandkids.
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If you can just look at this, because my dad's a quarterback famously, and he doesn't like being on the sidelines.
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And my mom, I say this affectionately, she's the diva of our family.
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And so it's hard for them to be in a house, in a room, you know, sitting.
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And so she she mentioned she said, well, maybe you can just give me a sermon or something.
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And I just thought, well, OK, I'll give you one.
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I was I was doing some study about the afterlife because we had talked about that on a previous podcast, Allie.
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And I said, you know, there's you remember that when Jesus was on the cross and he told the thief next to him today, you'll be with me in paradise.
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And I said, there's been books written and everybody wonders, what is this paradise you speak?
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And you probably won't find, you know, five people who can agree on exactly what he meant by that.
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And so that's how I opened the line, which I noticed both of their heads just snapped to me and they were glued to me.
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And I said, but I think we're missing the key point of that phrase.
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What Jesus said is that he said, today you'll be with me in paradise.
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And I said, just think of what paradise is as far as it relates to the Bible.
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And I and I just went on from there, quoted a lot of other verses.
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I talked for almost an hour about about, you know, we get to experience life with the eternal son.
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You know, we have a spirit on the earth and we will do this forever.
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And I really, you know, it impacted them because they've been talking about it ever since.
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But then I realized that, you know, it's hard for human beings to deal with struggles and death.
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I mean, they're they're literally, you know, at the end of their life.
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It's not the it's not the destination, but it's who you go on the journey with.
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I said, if I, you know, because my mom always wants to go anywhere.
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And then she always said, well, where are we going?
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I mean, I felt like the spirit kind of moved me in there in a frustrating conversation.
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And I think they needed that, you know, in the in the moment.
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A few years ago when Phil was on my show, he told a story about sharing the gospel with
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And I'm sure you guys know a lot of stories that the public doesn't know about your dad
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Like, you know, Al, you just said Jace can preach at the drop of a hat.
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I feel like Phil, just from what I know, I mean, he'll share the gospel with anyone at
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the drop of a hat, and he'll do it, I think, in the clearest way that I've heard.
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Like, I've said that multiple times privately and publicly.
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I think Phil Robertson is one of the clearest explainers of the gospel and the most simple
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And I've heard a lot of really good preachers, and I value, you know, the articulateness of
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So I was wondering if, like, any instances come to your mind of watching your dad share
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Well, there's several, but one I want to share is the first time I ever heard him do it publicly,
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other than our church, you know, obviously teaching a class.
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I was very young, and the business was very new.
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And dad used to go and speak at a lot of Ducks Unlimited banquets and raising funds for
00:23:16.360
But it was kind of getting his name out there and getting our duck call business out there.
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But these are usually events where there's a lot of alcohol, and so it's just not the
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But, you know, sometimes he would share, still share, try to share Jesus, but it always didn't
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But we were in New Orleans one time in the Superdome, and we had a booth there.
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Now, Jason, I don't know if you were there or not, but dad gets up, and there's about
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Most of them are Cajuns, you know, from South Louisiana, and Anheuser-Busch was the sponsor
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And so there's a big, huge sign hanging above dad that said, Anheuser-Busch, King of Beers.
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And dad gets up, and he does his duck call demonstration.
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Of course, all the people out there are drinking their, you know, Budweiser's and loving it and
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all that feel good on a duck call, you know, and they're talking.
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And then all of a sudden, he reaches into his bag, and he pulls out his Bible, and it
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And he looks up at that sign, and he says, you know, Anheuser-Busch, he really is the
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Back in the day, boys, I used to drink many a Budweiser, but that led me down a bad road.
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And so everybody's looking like, what's he doing?
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And he said, he held up his Bible, and he says, he may be the King of Beers, but let me
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tell you a little something about the King of Kings.
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And then he just shared the gospel with this group.
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Of course, they hid their beer behind their legs, you know, under their chairs, because
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all of a sudden, we done broke out into a church meeting here in the Superdome.
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And I just remember him walking off stage, and it was kind of a moderate applause.
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And a guy was standing there that sold duck calls, and he said, Phil, you can't mix up
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And I remember him saying to this guy, he said, did you not hear what I was talking about?
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Dead men coming out of the ground, sins being removed.
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He was like, without Christ, there would be no business.
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And so I think that set the culture for not only our company, but our family.
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And so everything we do, you're right, is a fruit that comes from being a part of him.
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He has a talent about saying very blunt things that people seem to not be that offended about.
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And I think maybe it comes from his past, which was so broken.
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And he's so transparent about and vulnerable about.
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I mean, they made a movie about it and he was fine with it.
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But, uh, you brought up Trump because I mean, I got to hear that.
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And, and, you know, the tone of the conversation, of course they wanted our support, but then
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he was asking more about what can we do, you know, as, as political government officials
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He said, no, I know, I don't have to ask you whether you're a sinner or not.
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I'm, we, we know, you know, what you, what you've done.
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And it, it, it, it was kind of a, but it was a, it, it wasn't a tense at all.
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And he's like, Hey, you're not getting any younger.
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He was actually kind of predicting actually prophecy about.
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He was like, Hey, somebody, you know, they're, they're going to try to kill you and all that.
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So it was, it was actually really profound when I think back on that.
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And he shared the, the story of Jesus and he, he wrote it down and he had the, uh, what's
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the phrase he always uses for the symbols, uh, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphics, like the arrow
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pointing down and the cross and the tomb and the arrow, you know, coming back and the
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And so you can kind of figure out what that means about Jesus came to earth.
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He went to the right hand where he's at right now.
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And so he handed the paper, uh, to president Trump and he's like, you need to move on that.
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This needs to be the core of everything you do.
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So I'll say all that to say this one tidbit of the story.
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So later on, he came to Monroe and I forgot exactly what was going on, but my family got
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It was when he was running in 2020 when he lost, it was that.
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You could not stick another person in the Monroe civic center.
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Well, while Willie, I think was introducing him, my dad was standing behind him and president
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Trump pulled out of his pocket that same gospel presentation that my dad had given to him
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And he's like, I still, I want you to know, I still have this.
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So I thought that made the story more powerful.
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And that, you know, you can say what you want to about the gospel, but people don't just
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Uh, and I thought that was, uh, uh, a very proud moment.
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And of course, in dad fashion, when he shook his hand, he had written a few more verses
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And when he shook Trump's hand, he handed him that, you know, it was one of those handshakes
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where you got a little something in your hand and it was a few more verses just to consider.
00:28:56.220
Well, you know, fast forward to him, you know, surviving that assassination attempt.
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That's why it didn't, didn't shock me that all of a sudden, you know, he started talking
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He, uh, uh, but he felt like God had raised him up for this.
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And I thought, well, it makes sense to me from where I'm looking at the sidelines of this,
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uh, encounter with my dad and understanding the gospel and really what people like us,
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And, uh, I, I, I think he found his way, you know, with, with.
00:29:30.880
You know, relationship with God in some capacity to your point, my dad has always had the same
00:29:36.140
passion when he shares Jesus as if just some guy that somebody brought that nobody could
00:29:41.580
do anything with that they would say, well, you know what, this guy, he's got nowhere
00:29:48.720
He had just the same passion with that guy sitting in his living room next to dad's chair
00:29:53.140
as he did speaking to the president of the United States with him.
00:30:01.860
And so I think he showed that passion all the way.
00:30:04.140
And if you think about it, that my dad's probably one of the few people that ever had a conversation
00:30:10.700
with the president and didn't ask for anything, nothing, nothing.
00:30:16.620
Oh, by the way, why don't you get these game wardens off my back?
00:30:20.920
And on the, you know, why don't you talk to Canada and get some more ducks down there?
00:30:29.800
I think that's probably part of why Trump respected him and probably responded as graciously as
00:30:36.540
One, I think Trump, like, is an amenable person.
00:30:39.000
But also, I think there's something about Phil, which I think this is probably true of
00:30:44.440
Jesus, that, like, there's a meekness and humility about their appearance, but also confidence.
00:30:49.900
And not a lot of people, like, have that exact kind of balance.
00:30:54.180
But I think that is part of what makes him so, like, why people receive him so well.
00:31:01.800
And while they will listen, why they will listen to the harsh truths, because even if it is harsh or even if it is
00:31:12.240
I think we could all learn something from that, because I think that's, you know,
00:31:17.040
we all want to be full of grace and truth like Jesus was, and it's hard to do.
00:31:30.860
And they'd be like, well, yeah, Mr. Phil, you know, they'd just start into it.
00:31:37.560
I guess if you thought about it, you took it into your pastor, and they may be offended by this.
00:31:42.120
But somehow, Dad, just being who he was, and maybe it was the whole package, the beard and the hunting and his own story, it just always came across.
00:31:52.100
We always compare it to John the Baptist, you know, because John the Baptist was pretty rough around the edges, and he was pretty harsh at times.
00:32:00.160
He was who he was, and everybody seemed to appreciate that and respect that.
00:32:04.980
Well, that's what's been so different now is I've seen my dad do things here in the last year in a soft kind of way that we've never seen, which my wife had an interesting conversation about this.
00:32:23.120
Because I kind of went through that upset stage, which really my upset stage was during duck season, because, you know, you have to remember, we have duck hunted, and I'm saying my dad and I, we hunt every day of the duck season, 60 days.
00:32:39.700
And we've done that since I was eight years old.
00:32:45.080
Yeah, this year, you know, he went opening day, and he was miserable.
00:32:48.920
And it wasn't that we didn't have a lot of ducks.
00:32:51.520
It was the best day we had all year, but he didn't participate, and he didn't say much.
00:32:56.700
And I was like, after the hunt, I was like, we got off on the bang.
00:33:08.160
You know, I wasn't really sure what the problem was.
00:33:10.980
But so then the rest of the season, you know, was just so hollow, because I literally, on
00:33:17.260
several occasions, would, like, go to speak to, you know, my dad.
00:33:22.860
Because if you've been hunting with somebody that long, you forget that they're not there.
00:33:27.240
So that was kind of when I went through the sad part.
00:33:30.320
And so at that time, you know, my dad was, you know, he told, like, my wife, he loved her.
00:33:44.120
And, you know, it, like, meant the world to her.
00:34:01.280
But I was like, but now I kind of, I think I realized that, too, it's him more, you know,
00:34:07.060
being a little softer in this kind of new normal situation that's that.
00:34:12.100
And it's kind of been a process even before what he's going through now.
00:34:15.760
Because when we found Phyllis, who's dad's daughter, actually, she found us.
00:34:20.760
He showed a tenderness and compassion to her that I had never seen him.
00:34:26.300
And a friend of ours told us, she said, you know, look, you boys, you got raised in a
00:34:32.760
And I thought, you don't know my dad, you know, and she was exactly right.
00:34:41.680
And which, by the way, I know your dad, we've become fast friends since he was on our podcast.
00:34:48.540
But it's, you know, it was something special and unique.
00:34:51.860
And so, you know, God through his later years now is giving him a tenderness.
00:34:55.940
He told me the first time we visited him when he came, moved into town, he looked up at
00:35:04.820
And I mean, it touched me because I just thought, he doesn't normally say that.
00:35:11.940
Every time I'm in town, because at least I travel there, I've been right over there
00:35:18.500
He let me know it matters to him at this point in his life.
00:35:27.840
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00:35:32.860
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00:35:43.500
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00:35:49.940
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00:35:55.300
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00:36:02.460
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00:36:06.660
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00:36:33.040
So one time the president, while he's president actually calls my dad, I was there, but my
00:36:43.120
And so my dad, we, we've already described how he is.
00:36:48.160
It's like, it's the president of the United States.
00:37:03.080
Like turn that into my icebreaker in the speech, but he didn't do it.
00:37:07.860
And of course, then everybody was like, well, how are you going to call him back?
00:37:16.420
Trump called him back the next day and had a great conversation.
00:37:20.700
We were in the car and really just congratulated dad for his book and just talked about what
00:37:26.940
And, you know, again, I think still just remembering, uh, the impact that who dad was and the way
00:37:40.500
He was like, well, cause he, he understood, but I was getting back to that gospel presentation.
00:38:04.280
Um, I'm curious about, we only have a few minutes left.
00:38:06.900
I'm curious about the revamping of Duck Dynasty, the TV show, like who's going to be a part
00:38:13.380
of it and is it going to be strange without Phil or was that always part of the plan and
00:38:21.020
Well, I can comment on that cause I wasn't sure myself.
00:38:24.800
And, uh, I, I felt like the first time Duck Dynasty happened, everybody was talking about
00:38:32.440
Of course, me and my dad were saying this will never work because they were saying, let's
00:38:38.660
make a show about your family, but we're not going to shoot any ducks because, because
00:38:44.700
all we'd ever done was hunting shows and hunting.
00:38:47.160
To put it in context, we had done actual hunting videos.
00:38:50.980
And, uh, so we're, you know, ducks were like shown in like real life hunting.
00:39:03.480
But, uh, so I, you know, the day they showed up, I thought, well, they're doing it.
00:39:08.800
Well, so I had heard, uh, that there might be a version of Duck Dynasty coming back and
00:39:18.980
But then when I saw the camera show up, I thought, well, they're back cause it's a mighty
00:39:24.940
Um, and so basically what's happened is cause the number one question we get before my dad
00:39:36.540
And another one is size still alive because he's been, he's been dead like four times.
00:39:40.640
That's another, well, I just, there's another recent post saying he's gone on to be with
00:39:51.180
But, uh, so that's not true wherever that's coming from.
00:39:54.080
But, uh, so what I was going to say, long story to say, the question is people say, well,
00:40:01.720
But what they fail to realize is, you know, Duck Dynasty, as much as you realize it's a
00:40:06.560
TV show and they, the TV people plan a lot of what we did, that was our life.
00:40:16.880
Like when the cameras would leave, I would be building duck calls.
00:40:19.580
It wasn't so, well, since then we all have our own families.
00:40:28.880
I'm technically an employee of duck, duck commander.
00:40:34.400
So my face can be on their packaging, you know, but I'm not in the room building duck calls
00:40:39.820
So most of Willie's, uh, kids, I think all of them in some capacity work, work in here.
00:40:51.500
The TV people got wind of that and they're like, well, it's a whole, then they're having
00:40:58.840
Cause I'm officially, I, you know, I get to tell them what to do and whatever.
00:41:05.820
It's like the next generation and, uh, all the family, I think make, will make a cameo
00:41:13.080
I haven't been filmed yet, but they, I had a meeting with them.
00:41:19.280
I know mom's been on episode size, but actually you said my dad, uh, I don't, I guess I can
00:41:33.920
But like in all TV shows, we have no control over the edit.
00:41:42.000
And I could listen to y'all talk all day, but I just appreciate the remembrance of, you
00:41:48.360
know, just the legacy that your dad is still leaving, but has left in how y'all are really
00:41:53.800
his missives and that's a really beautiful thing and something that, gosh, I aspire to
00:42:05.020
There's so many people in this audience and obviously y'all's audience, but this audience
00:42:09.520
I have friends who have heard the gospel for the first time from Phil.
00:42:16.320
Cause like you said, hospitality, that is a huge Jesus trait that, you know, I aspire to.
00:42:22.400
I want to say to your audience that, and I know they love you.
00:42:28.580
You're amazing because not only are you there with cutting edge, what's going on politically
00:42:32.540
and culturally, but also you're a Bible warrior like we are.
00:42:41.380
So what you're doing is making an impact on the kingdom.