Rick Green
Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. Thanks for joining us here on WallBuilders. We're looking at all the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. I'm Rick Green here with David and Tim Barton. Later in the program, Mark Hancock from Trail Life is going to be talking about how they're raising up young men with a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. Guys, we've had Mark on before, had a chance to visit with him in the tavern, and we'll be talking about how they're going to actually start doing constitutional education In Trail Life they're going to use our Chasing American Legends and Constitution Alive and Biblical Citizenship and all that so great, great opportunity to raise up. What Rush used to call them young skulls full of mush? We're going to turn that mush into some good wisdom.
David Barton
You know, it's a cool thing too in the sense that when you look at what's happened in recent let's say the recent decades, it can't be probably more than 10 years where all the transgender stuff has come in and you've blended male and female and you've really lost any concept of gender and, if you will, even some of the stereotypical characteristics that go with gender. And I say that cautiously because people don't like stereotypical stuff, but there are certain things that go with genders that are different from the other gender. And one of the things that has been talked about and I was just reading last night from some founding fathers John Jay particularly, author of the Federalist Papers and certainly the original Supreme Court Justice of the Supreme Court but he was talking about how you have to have the trait of manliness in a nation to be able to survive over time, because you will fight wars, you will be attacked, you're going to have to do some things that you don't want to, and it takes a manly spirit to do that. And it's interesting that I also looked at some Bible verses last night that talk about that manliness, that grow up yourselves like men, kind of stuff. And so there are some distinctions that Bible and history both recognize and we've kind of lost that. And I think one of the cool things about trail life is they're trying to get back to instilling some of that manliness and part of that is getting people out of their comfort zones, particularly if you live in the city. We've talked about it before. In the cities you just don't have the opportunity that you have if you're in the country or if you're out camping or if you're out having to kind of wrestle for yourself for a couple of days. It's just real different. And so in the country you learn about consequences, that there are causes and effects and some things are just stupid and don't work. And in an educational environment of a higher education there's nothing that's stupid, that doesn't work, that they won't keep trying and it's like you lose common sense. So one of the things I really like about trail life is it's connecting a lot of kids who would not otherwise have that opportunity into some real kind of consequential thinking and kind of manliness in a way, and I think it's a real cool thing and we talked with Mark before from time to time. But I think the fact that they're growing is really good. And, man, if you're looking for a ministry, to get involved with your church and you want to do something, help raise some manly young men, and so Trail Life at Church is just a good opportunity to kind of help instill some of that. So I'm just kind of thinking about the interview today and don't know what Mark's going to cover necessarily, but I do know that this is a really good program and a really good opportunity to start getting some of that gender differential back into America. It really does matter in times of crisis and times throughout our history where we're going to need this.
Rick Green
Tim, I don't know. I think David sounds like he thinks there's actually differences in boys and girls. Did that come through?
Tim Barton
Well, I certainly know. As a young man growing up, I noticed the differences. When I was a young teenager I was like, wow, some of this group does not like the other and I like that. I am so glad they look different and it's a good job, God right.
Rick Green
I want to know if, at the ranch, your dad gave different jobs to you and Damaris or you know was there because she's a tough gal man. I bet she carried her own weight there.
Tim Barton
Oh yeah, I think there was an equal opportunity, equal responsibility, for sure, and then, as we got older, maybe it was a little bit different. But yeah, you know my father was not a respecter of persons, or of his children of their genders, when it came to hard work outside on the ranch.
Rick Green
Okay, before we go to Mark, did you do I didn't do Boy Scouts, I did Royal Rangers. There was no trail life back then. Did you do any of that?
Tim Barton
I was a Royal Ranger as well.
Dad, I think you also did Royal Rangers right.
David Barton
Yeah, I was a Royal Ranger, but I was also a Boy Scout as well Blacks and Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and Royal Rangers, so I had a three-for on that one
Rick Green
Well, we're going to find out what the next generation of this is. Mark Hancock from Trail Life with us when we come back. You're listening to the WallBuilder Show.
Break
Rick Green
Welcome back to the WallBuilder Show. Thanks for staying with us Going to share an interview I did over in the tavern with Mark Hancock from Trail Life. And the tavern, of course, is the show I do for Warrior Poets Society Network. The tavern meaning the taverns that the founding fathers used to really spur the revolution to all the. You know the opportunities they had to get together and have those revolutionary strategies and tactics conversations. That's what we do in the tavern with leaders like Mark Hancock with trail life. So, Mark, thanks for coming on.
Mark Hancock
man, rick, it's awesome, so glad to be with you here today.
Rick Green
Always, brother, I've enjoyed having you on Wall Builders Radio, but to have you here in the tavern and talk we're kind of over in the corner of the tavern talking about the revolutionary strategies and tactics of restoring. Today, manhood and you guys at Trail Life are doing an amazing job. I've lost count now how many troops you've got, how many kids are involved, but I am so thrilled that you exist and I just love hearing the updates and the positive reports. For people that think that chivalry's dead, manhood's dead, the American dream's dead, they just aren't paying attention. You at Trail Life, we at Patriot Academy now coming together to work on the patriotism part of this and restoring these things, I just say thank you, thank you for what you're doing and your entire team. You give me hope, brother.
Mark Hancock
Well, thank you. I mean the enhancements that we're getting from Patriot Academy. You guys over there drew some of our badges, our citizenry badges, and of course we recognize the exceptionalism of this country like you do. We're just thrilled to be working with you guys on stuff making a difference in boys all over the country.
Rick Green
Well, and you get what makes for exceptionalism right. There's a lot of people that maybe they think freedom alone is enough and they think it's almost like a license for licentiousness Just do whatever feels good, that makes you free, and they don't understand the discipline and the guardrails necessary for freedom to actually exist. And last, and that's what y'all are instilling in these boys. So I guess let's start there just kind of the story of Trail Life. And if a guy that's watching this right now decides to start a troop, either for his boys his own boys or the boys in his church or whatever, what to expect from that and why would they want to do something like that?
Mark Hancock
Yeah well, trail of the USA started about 10 years ago. And the Boy Scouts it was clear that they were kind of abandoning a lot of their traditional values and we knew it was going to be difficult for churches to get engaged with them because of the direction that they were taking morally and in so many ways they were abandoning some of their original underpinnings. And so about 300 folks across the country got together and said, hey, what would this look like for somebody to reinvent Boy Scouts for a new age, with a conservative Christian, unapologetically Christian values? And so we started on January 1st 2014. And since then we've grown to over 60,000 members for all 50 states. We've got 1,200 troops functioning. It's what you would expect from an outdoor organization. You know uniforms and handbooks
Rick Green
In 10 years. You said 2014,. Right, so that's only one decade and you're already at 1,200 troops and 60,000. Wow, that's remarkable.
Mark Hancock
Yeah, we're kind of going one step deeper. What is it you're talking about in terms of exceptionalism? We're restoring foundations for what it means for a boy to become a Godly man, to be a good man. That used to be part of our culture. It used to be inherent in who it is that we were. We didn't have to say, we have to remind people we were a Christian nation. We woke up every day. That's who we were. Now we have to kind of insist on that, and so we're restoring those values. We have a four-step proven process for turning boys into Godly men. So we talk about these four steps. We actually guarantee them. Rick, you would like this. It's a money-back guarantee for churches that start Trail Life Troops. If those boys in your church that are active in Trail Life are not becoming Godly men, you get your money back. I was a youth pastor for years.
I never could have been like that.
Rick Green
Results-oriented
Mark Hancock
Absolutely, and so we really believe in this proven process that we've developed and it goes through everything that we design. It gets back to the core of what turns a boy into a godly man. That, looking deeply at that process because you just don't wake up and become an exceptional individual any more than you just become an exceptional nation because you declare it such it really is something that's deep in our structure, in our character development, and that's what we're focusing on. We're unapologetically Christian. We're not just an outdoor organization that's kind of having this Christian kind of thing going on. We are, at our core, a Christian ministry that uses the outdoors to turn boys into Godly men, and I think that's the hope for our country too.
Mark Hancock
Man, everything, so many things you just said we could talk about. I mean first of all, just the fact that it's not an overnight thing, just like with a country. It takes sewing in and building that and refining that and that, iron sharpening and all of those things. Same thing with a good man.
Rick Green
And I couldn't help but think, as you were saying, that you know, George Washington had his rules of civility, that he, you know, literally, just as he learned from men that were godly men, and he would write those things down and then remind himself of those things even as a young man. And then William Wilberforce, I mean you probably know this he said it wasn't just slavery he wanted in, he wanted to have a restoration of manners. He felt like that was the two things God gave him basically of morals and bringing that back, the things that make a society where you want to live. And that's what you're raising these young men to be, it's what both of us raised our boys to be. It's so important because and Boy Scouts did such a great job of that for so many decades- they really did.
You get an Eagle Scout and you go. Man, I'll hire an Eagle Scout on the spot, without looking at anything else on their resume. That's the way it used to be, because it was a person of morals, a person that would follow through on their commitment. And, of course, they've thrown all of that away. You guys have restored that, and that gives me great hope for the future of our country, because without Godly men, we're done and we have a dearth, a vacuum of leadership in the country, and you're teaching leadership skills to these young men as well.
Mark Hancock
Absolutely. You know, boy Scouts are for a generation and given us presidents and senators and astronauts and civic leaders and war generals and all these wonderful men they were churning out, suddenly decided that that magic sauce just wasn't, wasn't. They were going to hang on to it. It was kind of like when coke yeah, I had new coke, I don't know if you remember that time they came out and do coke yeah, it really cost them and say, yeah, why change the formula? You've got something good going on here. But they stepped away from it. They walked away from it and it left space for an organization like Trail of Faith.
And I've got to tell you, rick, I don't think that Boy Scouts ever could have made a turn to go back to their original founding. They were founded in a culture that was—the Christianity was assumed. If you're talking about values, you're talking about the Bible. You know. If you're talking about values, you're talking about the Bible. You know, now 58% of Americans no longer believe that God is the source of morality or the Bible is the source of morality. Well, that's our culture today. But Boy Scouts was founded in a culture that that was the assumption. So they didn't declare in their founding they didn't secure that truth and that's who they were, so naturally they drifted.
Well, we were forged in the fires of this kind of cultural war, so we have secured who it is that we are. We're proud of who we are. We have no intention of changing. If we did something, a lot of people say well, how do I know you're not going to do it? Voice cast it. Well, if we did that, there'll be no reason for us to exist. We exist because we, we are different. We are setting a higher standard, an exceptional standard, and because of that we are growing. The numbers are just exploding, whereas other outdoor boys organizations are just plummeting in growth.
Rick Green
You're literally designed to withstand. The onslaught is what I mean. It's like they can accuse you of whatever and they can say you should be doing all these. You, from the beginning, like you said, have been forged, and they can say you should be doing all these. You, from the beginning, like you said, have been forged, prepared for that which, honestly, is attracting families like ours and others that we're going. Yeah, that's what we want. We want somebody that's willing to stand firm.
Mark Hancock
Well, here's the thing, you know I have given up on the notion that I'm going to be universally loved. Maybe you still hold on to that. No, thank you. You know, it's more likely, rick, that you and I will be burned in a public square someday than have a statue built for us there but that's so true, man we're doing the right thing, you know we're doing the right thing, we're living how do we live any other way in front of our sons? Yeah, other than to say you know this, sons, this you know. If you can imagine the discussion I had to have with my boys my boys when we decided to leave Boy Scouts, to sit down with them my older son's Eagle Scout and to sit down and say listen, guys, we just can't do this, this isn't who we are, and to walk away from that storied organization that we as a family me and my two sons had just enjoyed so much. I was never a member of Boy Scouts, but I would attend because we homeschooled our boys. You don't drop them anywhere. So we're active.
We had a great time in that organization. But to have to have the conversation with your son is to say you know, at the time they were like 11 and 13. And to have to tell them why, talk to them about the moral decisions that were being made there. I said we just can't do this. This isn't who we are. And I'm so proud of my son.
He got an email from the Boy Scouts after he didn't re-up again, he joined Trail Life and then went on to get our highest award, the Freedom Award. But he got an email from the Boy Scouts that said hey, listen, we noticed that you got your Eagle Scout, but you haven't joined. Yeah, the Eagle found I forget the name of the organization you haven't joined us. Can you tell us why? And my 13-year-old son, rick, I'm so proud of him. He said, dad, I'd like to respond. You know, are you okay if I send them an email back and tell them they're asking me why? I said, of course, son, they're asking you. But you know, be polite, be kind, be respectful. And he slept on it. This is the philosophy major. I mean he could said Dad, you know I've prayed about it and I've written this response and I'd love for you to read it and tell me what it is that you think. So I'm expecting, you know, pages of stuff and I open up. Rick has got three words on that page His answer to Boy Scouts and why he didn't re-up.
He said “you weren't brave” and I thought, oh my gosh, if I'm not brave, how is he going to respond to me If I'm not living my life in front of him in a way that says I have these convictions? You know what is that? What kind of father am I going to be If he's walking away from this organization? They can't have the highest honor in the organization. How is that going to affect our relationship? And so that was just a reminder to me. Man, Mark, you've got to live your life brave in front of your son. Amen. And that's what we've been doing for 10 years. We've been taking this thing on and, like you said, you just kind of got to do it. That's who we are, but it's making a difference.
Rick Green
That reminds me of John Rich. He's a country music artist I don't know if you follow him at all or on social media he's been very outspoken the last three years and he tells the story. He came and spoke at our groundbreaking for the Patriot Academy campus and he told the story about basically being faced with the decision of OK, I see what they're doing to our country, I see what's going on with all the madness. My boys are watching me and I've been threatened by the music industry that if I speak out they're going to cancel me and I'm done. He said they're watching what I do right now. I don't care what anybody else thinks, I care what they think and I care about the example I'm setting for them. He said how could I not stand up? And he did.
He got totally canceled by Nashville and the whole Hollywood and he's huge. He's got a ton of hits, mostly as a songwriter, but also as a performer, and the idea that our boys are watching, they want us to be brave, they want that example so that they can be brave, is huge. And, of course, I love the way God rewards as well. Sometimes in this world not always, but sometimes, because he ends up writing. I forget what he calls it, something about the progressive nature of things, and he goes number one on everything, on all the online things without the record labels, right, yeah, just fantastic.
But speaking of brave, you guys did a Brave Books. Our friend Kirk Cameron, of course, has really been pushing them and done several books with them and now doing a show with them yeah. But you guys did one too. Tell us about that
Mark Hancock
We did! We did the December book. It made a lot of sense. It's called Too Much Tubular.
Rick Green
Too Much Tubular.
Mark Hancock
The theme of this one is around. Tubular is the social media outlet on. Freedom Island, and so I don't want to give the story away because I know you
Rick Green
so even on Freedom Island you got to get the boys outside.
Mark Hancock
Right exactly, so all the characters are running around like zombies and the salvation story is when they're chased out into the woods and they find a trail life family out there camping sitting by the fire just making s'mores. And they're like how come you guys aren't into all this stuff? And so we really enjoy this face to face, kind of. Actually through a comment about can I have another s'more? No, you can't eat too many. Oh yeah, moderation. And through understanding moderation, the point is driven home that you know you got to bring some balance. And consideration, that the point is driven home that you know you got you got to bring some balance. And so they go back and, of course, the whole the island is freed by their actions. Spoiler alert.
Rick Green
Love it, love it.
Mark Hancock
We're the perfect organization to to write the book along with Brave Books. This wonderful people over there, Kirk has become I don't want to say I don't want to say good friend, but every time I see him I just want to be his friend.
Rick Green
But another example, right, I mean, here's a guy that's willing to risk everything and throw away whatever Hollywood career if necessary to be brave, and I love how there's this remnant being raised up to essentially fill the gap or replace many ways in the marketplace these needs. So, just like Boy Scouts goes off the rails, you guys come in and now we've got an even better, I believe, organization for our boys to be involved in. You look at the scholastic thing and the whole textbook and all the ridiculous stuff that's happening in the schools and homeschooling is tripling. Brave Books comes along and you end up with high quality, because that was always I don't know about you, but I was always like Christian stuff is so cheesy, man, we're so bad at this, and it's not that we're bad at that, but we hadn't done it for so long. We'd given it over to the world. They come along, do it in high quality, really well done.
Now Kirk's doing this you know, Mr. Kirk and Iggy and the show, and we're just taking back a lot of ground. Frankly, that we gave over to the left and so good quality stuff is coming back to the marketplace. That has the values that has. You know, the morals and the things that we want our kids to be raised on. So it's an encouraging time. I kind of like the fight man. To me it's like the Ronald Reagan quote about I'm glad I don't live in pale and timid times. I'm glad I live at a time where what we're doing makes a difference. I'm that way. I mean I love being on the front lines with guys like you that are forging a new path. It's exciting.
Mark Hancock
Well, you use the word remnant and we talk about that all the time. You know this rising. There's a lot of people in our culture that believe that girls and boys are the same, but we don't believe that.
Rick Green
Right.
Mark Hancock
There's a rising cultural tide, there's a remnant that's rising ahead of that tide, and I always tell our leaders listen, we're not just building an ark for these boys to escape into. You can certainly feel like here's a safe place where I can put my son. You should, because you're going to be surrounded by men of values and an organization that supports your values. Certainly there is that part of it, but we're also a battleship in that we're rising on a tide in order to manage a culture and encounter a culture and say, hey, this just isn't right. This is where we are, and so that whole idea of a remnant that's rising, not just helping boys to survive in a culture that's standing against them, but to help them turn back that tide itself.
That's the generation we're raising up, a brave generation that can stand in difficult times. I think it may be too late for our generation, for you and I, but this next generation, if we can reach back what it is that we know and put it into them, share with them these ideals of what it is that we know and put it into them, share with them these ideals of conservatism and American exceptionalism and faith and understanding God is for us, if we can put those things into those kids, they can do something big and, like I said, it may be too late for us, but they can create the kind of turn in our culture that's so desperately needed.
Rick Green
Amen, oh, that's so good. So good, all right guys. Culture that's so desperately needed. Amen. Oh, that's so good, so good, All right guys. That's Mark Hancock. Go to Trail Life today. Get started, man. I'm telling you will be rewarded, even if your boys are grown and you know they're already out of the house or gone off somewhere else and starting their families. And now you got the grandkids, it's not too late. What a great opportunity to give back and help restore our nation.
Check it out today. We'll be back. Stay with us here on the Wall Builder Show. Hi friends, this is Tim Barton of WallBuilders.
Break
Rick Green
Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us, thanks to Mark Hancock and all the good work at Trail Life. Super excited about the growth and super excited that they're going to start using some WallBuilders and Patriot Academy material, train these young people on good citizenship and of course, it's never too early. I'm guessing around the Barton House y'all were probably talking about things like taxes and government and the role of all those things. Even when you were a wee little lad, Tim Was that the case?
Tim Barton
Well, I was definitely around those conversations. I think I was fairly distracted by GI Joe's and Lincoln logs at an early age. But yes, you know, definitely growing up all around that, one of the things I thought was so such a deep thought when he talks about his son having three words for a response for the Boy Scouts, and the profound nature of the simplicity of “you weren't brave”. The profound nature of the simplicity of you weren't brave. And thinking as a man in general, but especially as a young man, where you want to be defined by courage, you want to be defined by achievement and success and accomplishment on some level that people look at you and go man, that was so incredible what you did and so bravery and courage. It's part of the DNA of boys becoming men. It certainly should be part of the DNA of men. Unfortunately, in our society we're not seeing enough adults, enough men that have shown courage, that have shown themselves to be brave in many situations. Not to dive back into COVID or other things that we certainly could highlight along the way, but I definitely think that if we're looking for how do we help impact the rising generation, how can we make a difference, teaching young men to be courageous and brave is certainly something that should be high on every parent's priority list for their sons, and Trail Life USA is certainly an organization working to do that.
Rick Green
And you know, I think I mean Mark talks about this, too but you know, start a group in your community. And if you can't do that, I mean at least start thinking down these roads that we've been talking about. How can you raise your young men to be Godly men? What are the things you can do to start giving them more responsibility, getting them outdoors, getting them, you know, any opportunity to see God's creation, I think, gives us perspective on God as well. So just a fantastic opportunity to get engaged and get involved. You know, guys, we've even had the conversation before about we can tell the difference in the young men that we all have an opportunity to mentor. If they have the opportunity to do outdoor things, whether sports or ranching or any of those kind of things, it just really does make a big difference.
So, parents, be thinking about that. Plan some activities like that, and maybe Trail Life is one of those outlets that you can be a part of as well. But at the very least, start giving them that intellectual ammunition, as we like to call it, of the truth. And you can do that by going to wallboulders.com today. Get some good materials to wallbuildersc.om today. Get some good materials, make that one-timer monthly contribution and make sure you share the program. I'm amazed when I meet 10 and 12 and 13-year-olds that say I listen to WallBuilders Radio all the time. I think that's pretty cool. That means we're feeding you good stuff. Thanks for listening. You've been listening to the WallBuilder Show, thank you.
