Coming Together In Our Weaknesses: Willie Robertson & Ben Fuller
Willie Robertson: What I find is when you share your faith, it helps you become not selfish, because you’re having to think about someone else’s problems, not just your own. It helps you to get in the Word and read, because you want to know the answers so you can help people.
Coming Together In Our Weaknesses: Willie Robertson & Ben Fuller – Episode #408
Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. When things get tough, and it feels like hope is barely hanging on, it always helps to remember we’re not alone. Haven’t we all benefited from a friend or a loved one who reached out, was able to lend an ear, or who was just there for us when we were going through a rough patch? It’s amazing how a little kindness and understanding can bring us back to life. In Ephesians from the Bible, we are instructed to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. [Ephesians 4:32]” We might never know how the smallest kindnesses we show could have a life-changing impact on those who receive it.
Our first guest is Willie Robertson, the CEO of Duck Commander and a familiar face from the Duck Dynasty television series. Willie shares a story about the transformative power of being there for one another—about a minister who showed up for his father, Phil, in one of his darkest hours—and how it inspired a new found faith that would eventually turn his life, and the lives of his family, in a new direction. We’ll also hear from Ben Fuller, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter, who faced addiction in his youth and early twenties. When he lost a close friend to addiction, Ben’s future seemed destined for a similar, dismal outcome. But a family who’d known Ben as a child decided to take him under their wing, invited him to church, and Ben found the hope he’d been looking for all his life.
Let’s begin with Willie’s story.
Willie Robertson: Hello, my name is Willie Robertson. I sell duck calls, I run a company called Duck Commander, I have written several books, I make some movies. Also, probably mostly what I do right now is I go around and speak a lot. I’m a public speaker. And I hunt and fish a lot.
Living Off the Land
Growing up, we were not wealthy. We lived right there on the Ouachita river in northeast Louisiana, so a lot of growing up had to do with the water or fishing. We went barefoot everywhere, and we’d grab our poles and we’d take off and go fishing a lot.
Dad was a commercial fisherman, so we ate a lot from the land. We would eat fish all the time, and then ducks and deer in the hunting season. Crawfish would be in the spring. Doves would be in September. Frog legs in the summer. I remember when we got a pizza, that was like a big deal, because we lived like thirty minutes from town, and so we just didn’t have a lot of that.
A lot of boys, a lot of rough and tumble and fighting and running and building camps and all kinds of stuff. It was a fun childhood, a lot of adventure.
Willie’s Dad Phil Finds Faith
It was kind of a legendary story of my father and mother coming to faith. They met at high school and became high school sweethearts. Dad was the star athlete and ended up getting a scholarship at Louisiana Tech. Terry Bradshaw did play behind him as a backup.
They were very, very poor. My grandfather had broken his back in the oil field, and my grandmother had mental issues. They had seven kids and didn’t grow up with much at all. And so I think athletics was a way to give him something to kind of go after. And that’s where Phil’s life just started really going in a downward spiral.
It just started out as wild and crazy living. The marriage suffered, everything suffered. He had lost his job, he’s running from the law. He was living in the woods. Nobody even knew if his life would turn around.
He was leasing a bar at the time and it was my dad’s sister who made this preacher go see him up in this bar. And my aunt told this preacher, she said, “If you convert Phil, he’ll convert a thousand people.” The preacher just kind of took this bold leap of faith, the message was delivered, and Phil kind of just said, “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”
And I think he hit this low moment like, Something’s got to change. And so he gave his life to God. Mom had moved with us to West Monroe, Louisiana, kind of not thinking she’d ever see him again. And he came dragging up and said he’d changed his life. And thank goodness she forgave him and they kept this marriage together.
What If?
When I think about that, you know, I think, Wow, what if life would’ve looked differently? What if that guy wouldn’t have gone up to the bar and taken that leap of faith? They had a conversation, and then all of a sudden, you see this darkness turn to light. I can look backwards in the past and be appreciative of that, but it’s more looking forward, like, if you talk to someone and they change their lives, all that could be generational change for them, for their children, for their grandchildren. And all that could take place just by telling someone a story. And so I saw the impact of that. And so it just really impressed me.
“If you talk to someone and they change their lives, all that could be generational change for them, for their children, for their grandchildren. And all that could take place just by telling someone a story.” – Willie Robertson
Learning to Share the Bible
I find that people, especially in our society, we really struggle with opening up, just even having a conversation because we’re like, I’ve got enough problems on my own. I’ve got my kids, I’ve got stuff, I’ve got work, I’ve got all these things.
People want to share their faith more and they want to have conversations with people, but they just don’t know where to start. And so therefore, we just don’t bring it up.
Anything in life, the more you do it, the more you know it, you start getting better and better at it and the more confident you get. Then it can become just very natural in your conversations. The first goal is to say, “Okay, let’s try to care enough about someone to do that.”
Whether I’m studying the Bible with someone and trying to teach someone, or if I’m just literally trying to figure out some of the answers to life, I always just go into the Bible and see what it says. John 4 is like a masterclass on how this can happen. Jesus is talking to a woman at a well and in that day and age, He probably shouldn’t have even been talking to her. But He does, and I think a lot of times we can share with someone part of the gospel before we even tell people what it is just by how we treat them and how we show we care about them. And that’s what He does. I love the question He asked her, because I think sometimes we kind of get in our heads and think we’ve got to know all this theology. All He asked her was, “Can I get a drink of water?” Like, that’s where it started, which seemed so normal, even today. Like, “Hey, can I get a drink of water?”
“Whether I’m studying the Bible with someone and trying to teach someone, or if I’m just literally trying to figure out some of the answers to life, I always just go into the Bible and see what it says.” – Willie Robertson
Everybody’s got a story. And for a lot of people, they need to share that story and who they are. Jesus certainly did that with her story. And then by the time the chapter ends up, the whole village had come to know Jesus. She had come to know Jesus. And I can trace that back, it started with this question, “Can I get a drink of water?” And so that’s how simply it can happen.
Being a Living Example
When I talk to people, oftentimes they are way more willing to tell their story and share. Sometimes, it’s the first time they’ve actually dealt with that. And so we get into that and then we see if we can figure out where they are with God. Is there a relationship with God or not?
And a lot of people aren’t sure, so that’ll hold a lot of people back just by not being confident in themselves and finding out where they are and who they are and Whose they are and all that.
And then what I find is when you share your faith, when you do that a lot, it starts fixing a lot of the other problems that you may have in life anyway. So it helps you to not become selfish because you’re having to think about someone else’s problems, not just your own. It helps you to get in the Word and read because you want to know the answers so you can help people. It helps you to be hospitable, maybe you invite people over because then you have a purpose to say, “Yeah, I need to talk to more people.”
“What I find is when you share your faith, when you do that a lot, it starts fixing a lot of the other problems that you may have in life anyway.” – Willie Robertson
The fruit of the Spirit that will come out of your life—which you’re talking about love and joy and patience and peace and kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control—I mean, these things will pour out of your life as fruit would grow from a tree. People see that, whether or not they’ve heard what you say, they see something in you that’s different. That’s what’s coming out of your life because of Who’s living in you. So yeah, I think we can live that out.
Prayer is critical. I think it’s a great reminder of who we are and that connection to God that’s not visibly seen, living that out in our lives, and the acknowledgment to Someone that it’s bigger than us, greater than us, that we can ask for things and talk to and have a relationship with God.
Jesus Listens, May 26th:
King Jesus,
The Light of the gospel of Your Glory is an astonishingly rich treasure! What makes the gospel such amazingly good news is that it opens the way for me to know You in Your majestic Glory. When I trusted You as my Savior, You set my feet on a pathway to heaven. Forgiveness of sins and a future in heaven are wondrous gifts, but You provided even more! You made Your Light shine in my heart to give me the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of Your Face. Help me to seek Your Face wholeheartedly— delighting in the radiant knowledge of Your glorious Presence.
One of the meanings of knowledge is “awareness acquired by experience or study.” Knowing You involves awareness of You— experiencing Your Presence through the Holy Spirit. It also involves studying the Bible to learn more and more about You. Though the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, I can perceive You clearly through searching the Scriptures and enjoying the Light of the gospel of Your Glory.
In Your wonderful Name,
Amen
Narrator: To learn more about Willie, follow him on social media, and be sure to check out his new book, Gospeler, at your favorite retailer.
Stay tuned to Ben Fuller’s story after a brief message.
Set Your Graduates Up For Success
During times of transition and unknown next steps, it is more important than ever to cling to the promises of God and to tune your ear to hear what Jesus has to say. Jesus Calling for Graduates is an encouraging compilation of 150 devotions from Sarah Young’s brand. Grads will find topics such as discerning God’s will, self-worth, trust, support, and much more. Jesus Calling for Graduates is perfect for both high school and college graduates as they embark on the next chapter. Look for a special custom edition of Jesus Calling for Graduates available exclusively at www.faithgateway.com.
Our next guest is Ben Fuller, a contemporary Christian music singer/songwriter from Nashville, who shares the story of a family who showed kindness to him at the height of an addiction to alcohol and drugs, and how it changed his life forever.
Ben Fuller: My name is Ben Fuller. I was born and raised in the state of Vermont. Singing has been one of my biggest passions while growing up on a dairy farm and so all of a sudden, I found myself singing all the time. And in the fall of 2018, I moved down to Nashville, Tennessee, because I wanted to sing country music for a living. God had other plans for my life, and it’s been a roller coaster ride.
Tension Between Personal Aspirations and Family Expectations
Growing up on a dairy farm was hard work, and I was the only son. And so there was a lot of pressure from my father on me to perform and to work harder, and there were always things to be done. 180 black and white Holstein cows require a full time job. I found myself just so busy and I also had a really tough relationship with my dad. He was raised by his father that men are tough and men are strong, and you can’t show emotion because emotion shows weakness. And so there were a lot of times I just wanted to hear “I love you,” and I never heard it. I don’t blame my father for that, because he was doing the best that he knew how.
I had a lot of friends that drank, and it was just sort of a normal thing. But for me, however, I just couldn’t put it down. And I was very good at hiding it. I found myself drinking pretty heavily. At the height of my habit, I was somewhere between fifteen to twenty beers a night. A lot of people that have addictions hold their jobs, they just depend on that substance to get through. That was me.
I went to school for landscape design. I picked up guitar in college, kind of strummed three chords and the truth sort of thing. And started playing bars, restaurants, ski resorts, little pubs here and there and started getting a name out in Vermont and New Hampshire. And so people were showing up to hear their favorite cover songs, their favorite country songs. I basically was like this human jukebox, if you will. And people just loved it.
The Loss of a Close Friend
I met Ryan in I think 2009, right after I graduated college. Just bubbly, full of life. As soon as he walked into a room, everybody knew he was there. And Ryan and I hit it off instantly, and we realized that we also had addictions. Ryan and I used cocaine and alcohol together for nearly ten years.
I was busy working and he was busy working, and we just hadn’t seen each other for a long time. And so I got word that he went to rehab. And December 16th, 2017, I got a phone call from his sister, and he was dead.
I think that that is the thing about addiction, is that so many people try to quit on their own or find other things to take the place of those bad things, like working out or a new job or a new town, or new friends even. I’m just like, What else is there? There’s got to be something more. And so I quickly realized that I needed to change my ways, but I know now I couldn’t do that on my own.
I tried to get sober. It just didn’t work. And I just found myself drinking again and using again.
Leaving Home to Pursue Music
I had never traveled before, and so I honestly was terrified of that. But in the fall of 2018, I realized that I needed to make a decision. I just kept hearing it from everyone, and I was feeling this tug to make the move, so I did.
I sold my house, and I got a job working at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in the fall of 2018. And man, I thought I made it. I played there for a whole year, on Broadway. And along with that, though, came my addiction.
I met the Davenport family only a couple of times in Vermont, and so I knew them, but not really. And I think what’s most important and memorable about the Davenport family from Hartford, Vermont, is that I got invited to their house here in Nashville for dinner. They invited me over just the way that I was, and they didn’t try to get me to clean up my act. They didn’t tell me what I was doing wrong. They didn’t beg me to change at all. They fed me. It was a Saturday night. And I remember having beer cans in my pockets. I didn’t know how long I was going to be staying over there, I needed to make sure that I had some alcohol. And they didn’t say a thing about it. I just think it was so cool how God used them. And then they just said, “Would you like to come to church with us?”
It was 9:30 in the morning, and I remember hearing the music through the auditorium doors, and I remember walking in and I immediately surrendered to the sound, to the feeling in the room. I tell people if they would have taken a photo of me from behind, my feet would have been off the ground. In that moment of hearing the music and the worship and seeing everyone’s hands in the air and just feeling the Holy Spirit tangible in the room, it was like, This is what I’ve been looking for.
“In that moment of hearing the music and the worship and seeing everyone’s hands in the air and just feeling the Holy Spirit tangible in the room, it was like, This is what I’ve been looking for.” – Ben Fuller
And from that moment on, I just said, “Well, if you are who they say you are, then fix me. Help me.” Over the course of two and a half months—I mean, the sanctification process is obviously ongoing forever—but my alcohol habit, drugs, sleeping around just ceased.
A New Faith and New Life
That changed everything, that spared me from certain death. I can share now—as thirty-seven year old Ben to the sixteen year old Ben—and say, “Hey, I found the thing you’re looking for, and His name is Jesus. All you gotta do is call on His name.” Romans 10:9 says, “Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and you will be saved.” To think it’s that easy… but here’s the thing: the price has already been paid.
I think that’s the beauty about coming together in our weaknesses and in our struggles, whatever that may be. There’s so much power in that, when we seek the Lord together as a body and say, “Hey, we need you, we can’t do this on our own.” And just for me to hear somebody else speaking like that is like, Wow, that’s me. All it does is allow the next person to just tell their story and to just be weak, and be vulnerable also. It’s so cool, and it’s the opposite of what the world teaches you. It’s the opposite of being big and strong and muscled and a leader and all these things. My Savior, His last few days on earth, He’s washing filthy feet and He’s spending His night with a leper. That’s the Savior that saved my life. It’s like, Man, those are the things I want to see. Those are the things I want to remember, to draw near to, and to try to replicate.
“My Savior, His last few days on earth, He’s washing filthy feet and He’s spending His night with a leper. That’s the Savior that saved my life.” – Ben Fuller
“If I Got Jesus”
The song “If I Got Jesus,” it’s a powerful song. I don’t know if I could write a more honest song. I remember the day that we wrote it, Jeff Pardo, Ethan Hulse, and I were in a room together, and we were just talking about the things that could be taken away from you. Can you have the world taken away from you, and will you be okay with that? Will you be okay with just Jesus? And, it’s like, Wow, that’s powerful to think about because no, I love my truck and I like my new shirt that I got. It’s like, but would it be okay if Jesus is all that you had?
Turning to the Word
It’s amazing how when I don’t open the Word of God, or if I’m not constantly seeking His presence, if I’m not constantly asking Him to guide me, to lead me, to just walk with me, it’s amazing how upset I’ll get, how short tempered I’ll get, how quick I am to forget. And so I really just feel like connecting to Him and being close to Him on a daily basis has just proven more fruitful, just better, all around better days. It’s amazing the peace that comes with prayer.
“It’s amazing how when I don’t open the Word of God, or if I’m not constantly seeking His presence, if I’m not constantly asking Him to guide me, to lead me, to just walk with me, it’s amazing how upset I’ll get, how short tempered I’ll get, how quick I am to forget.” – Ben Fuller
Jesus Listens, December 17th:
Gracious God,
Waiting with You is an act of faith—trusting that prayer really does make a difference.
So I come to You with my weariness and burdens, being candidly real with You.
While I rest in Your Presence and tell You about my concerns, You lift heavy burdens from my aching shoulders. I’m grateful that You are able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine!
As I arise from these quiet moments with You, I delight in hearing You whisper, “I am with you.” And I rejoice in the new strength gained through spending time with You.
In Your energizing Name, Jesus,
Amen
Narrator: To learn more about Ben Fuller and his music, follow him on social media. And be sure to check out his single, “If I Got Jesus,” wherever you get your music.
If you’d like to hear more stories about sharing God’s love, check out our interview with Delilah.
Next week: Lauren Green
Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from Lauren Green, the chief religion correspondent for Fox News Channel. Lauren shares how she’s brought her faith into the world of journalism, and how she turns to God to guide her in presenting each individual’s story.
Lauren Green: You have to be respectful of someone, of a human being. How do you do that if you don’t agree with what they believe? The best you can do is stay present in this person’s story in the way that their heart and their mind needs it presented. I think that’s the best a journalist can do.
