I started several devotions for this morning’s breakfast; a Father’s Day chat, and Memorial Day recognition, a direct and forceful talk about a Christian man and his calling, but I have been led to the book of Ephesians for today’s conversation with you. First.. a personal story. I went in recently for a consult on ADHD. I wanted to try some new treatment options, and needed to undergo an assessment with a new doctor. I sat in the waiting room for 10 or 15 minutes, tapping my foot, reading magazines, pacing… until the assistant came and took me to a room with nothing on the floor, walls, or ceiling. The only thing in the room was a rather sturdy looking desk with a monitor and a keyboard. The assistant explained that letters would flash on the screen and I was to press a key each time this happened, except when the letter “X” flashed up on the screen. I began, and the letters came, fast and furious, then slower… then fast again. Here and there I skipped the “X” when I should, but as I got into a rhythm, I found that the “X” would flash, and I’d press the key… just because I had become used to pressing the key. Then, I became incensed at myself for hitting the “X”… so upset that I would mess up the next couple of keypresses. “A” – press, “I” – press, “N” – press, “K” – press, “X” – press… D’OH!!! It seems that this is much like our life as Christians… we naturally do what we repeat. 14 minutes of that seemed like an eternity, and I am glad I didn’t take a blood pressure test soon thereafter. Take a guy with ADHD and put him in a small room, make him do one boring thing, boy I tell you… I’ll bet they had a hidden camera somewhere! Let’s see how this idea of conditioned stimulus and response applies to Paul’s writings.

So, Ephesians… are we going to talk about the fact Paul seemingly wrote Ephesians expressly to demonstrate Pastor Jeff’s [our senior pastor] continued focus on the difference between (and necessity of) orthodoxy and orthopraxy? After all, the book is split neatly in two between “how to believe” in Chapters 1 through 3 and “how to live” in Chapters 4 through 6! Perhaps we will talk about relationships and focus on the gender-specific verses from 22 through 26? It’s always nice to talk about submissive wives, right?

I have a confession to make; we are going to speak about only two verses in Ephesians today… that’s all you’re getting. If you feel ‘jipped’, please show up on Sunday for some preaching that’s far better than what you’re getting now! I further confess that you’re going to get a strong message about what God expects from us as Christians, with the added note that we are to lead in this regard in our homes… by example.

So, here we are in the middle of Paul’s preaching on how we ought to live, and, taking up in verse three of Chapter 5 we read, “..sexual immorality and all impurity of covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints”.  We are saints! Isn’t that cool!? Now, I know what you’re saying… “I know Ron pretty well and I can’t speak for the rest of these jokers, but he’s no saint”. Here, Christ has declared us saints and then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, giving us the strength to live as saints. Paul extends a bit of grace to the Ephesians (and to each of us) by calling them “saints”. Paul states that sexual immorality should not exist among the saints. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? I can already hear some of you thinking, “I don’t sleep with other women, I’m good”, or, “I am a ‘normal guy’ in this regard, not extra kinky or anything”. I don’t suppose that our view changes if we bring in Christ’s view that thinking about sex with a woman is a sin, just as performing the act would be? Not convinced? Okay, let’s “rise above” the laiety and focus only on clergy for a moment. Leadership Journal did an anonymous survey on sex and the American clergy. Of the pastors responding to the survey, 20 percent said they looked at sexually oriented media at least once a month! 38% said they actively fantasized about sex with someone other than their spouse more than once monthly. When asked if in their church ministry if they had even done anything they felt was sexually inappropriate, 23 percent answered yes! When asked about physical infidelity, 12 percent of pastors answered, “yes”, after entering the ministry. When the laity were asked the same questions, the rates almost doubled, across the board. This indicates – to me – that leaders have an issue looking clearly into the mirror and confronting themselves and their sin. Let me give you a bit of a secret about that study. It was done more than twenty years ago, before the advent of the Internet. What do you think the rates are now?

Paul then goes on to talk about greed, and it may seem as though this is out of place, but greed has a great deal to do with sexual immorality. Greed is an appetite for something more, always. Sexual immorality is us ‘acting out’ on this desire for more. Covetousness is greed applied to something another person already has. There was a time that advertising companies would give an honest overview of a product they were proud of and compete for market share. I worked in advertising before coming to Wausau, and we didn’t care if our product was a great one, only that our advertisement was present once we successfully made people dissatisfied with what they had. All we had to do was awaken greed in a person, and have our ad in front of them when it happened.

God’s standard for behavior and sin are absolute, and Paul states that even a hint of these things must not exist among the believers. With the statistics we’ve heard and the knowledge of the truth, it’s clear that strong medicine is needed. In order to raise children that are moral and behave in a saintly manner, we must each act in that manner. Children’s behavior is more ‘caught’ than ‘taught’. We must remove from our homes every form of immorality and every hint of sex and greed. I challenge you each to do the following this evening. Sit down – as a family – around the dining room table with your DVD, music, or media file collection in the middle. Then, read Philippians 4:8 aloud and separate the movies into two piles, one to keep and one to toss. Each time you find yourself rationalizing a movie with a phrase like, “there are a couple ‘things’ in it, but it has a good story or moral”, place that movie in the “toss” pile. The way we explain this to our kids is as follows. We all like brownies, right? I’ve made some brownies, chocolately and thick… still warm, and I have some ice cream to go with them; want some? Inevitably they yell, “yes”! And we say, “ah, just one more thing… in all of this chocolatey goodness, we’ve mixed in just a teeny bit of cat poop… but don’t worry, there not much bad stuff and overall, the brownies taste really good”! Their faces fall, and they walk away… every time. Cat poop isn’t the loss of our reward after arriving in heaven, and yet we have a stronger reaction to it… wow.

Why do I think that this verse speaks so strongly about a zero tolerance for these things? Well, beyond the simple and clear language used, the next verse brings it home in a big way… let’s cover verse four; “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”. The word for ‘filth’ here is the same root as “disgraceful” and means anything about which we ought to feel shame. The word “moron” comes from the word that is translated “foolish talk” and in this context does not mean someone who is mentally deficient, but a person who is morally deficient. Crude joking means “to turn easily”, or, to have a quick comeback. Again, in context, this means a quick comeback of a sexual nature. The ability to turn anything into something sexual should not be a skill of ours. We don’t joke about sex for the same reason we don’t joke about God… it’s a sacred subject.  God’s standard is absolute and it includes moral purity in thought, speech, and behavior.

So, how do we do it? At the end of verse four we see that the opposite of greed and lust is to give thanks. What does giving thanks have to do with purity? Remember when I said that to trigger greed we had to become dissatisfied with what we have? A person that is giving thanks doesn’t have the time or inclination to be dissatisfied. A thankful person is inoculated against greed. Eve was tempted because she was made to be dissatisfied with “everything but the forbidden fruit”. If we complain about the job we have, the wife we have, and so on; we are not merely dissatisfied, but we are questioning God’s wisdom and sovereignty in our lives! Do you trust God, or don’t you? Let us focus on giving thanks for what we have, the fact that we are in the Light, and live as though we are.

Fast-forward through forty-two years of history, a couple of trials, countless encounters with consequence, many jobs, and several years here at Highland. That brings us to late March of this year. Late in the afternoon on a Sunday, I got a cryptic email from a man I didn’t know on Facebook. I brought up his profile, and with his picture on the screen, Justina walked by the computer and said, “That man is your brother; no question”. Soon after, I got a call from a pastor in California and he asked questions about my birthdate, where I was born, and so on. I asked him what he was getting at, and he said, “I think I am sitting next to your birth mother, and she’d like to talk to you. Can she call you right back”? Five minutes later – after 42 years – I was speaking with the woman who gave me life, and then – in what must have been a heart-wrenching, almost impossible decision – gave me up to someone better prepared to raise me. Long story short, my family and I will have the incredible privilege of meeting my half-brother, his wife, and birth mother face-to-face when they visit our home in late May for a few days!

So, what does my life story have to do with anything? Well, today I am writing about other people who have been adopted; and what that adoption looks like. I don’t mean Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, James Michner, Edgar Allan Poe, Malcolm X, Moses or even Jesus (all of whom were adopted), I mean each one of us that are ‘Christians’. Each of us have been adopted by God, as sons, into His family. Galatians 4:1-7 reads

“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”.

The word adoption (huiothesia) means “to make, a son”. It defines a legal transition of rights and responsibilities from one parent to another. Adoption was common to the Romans, though it was very expensive and formal. Romans of high standing often adopted sons to carry on the family line. In fact, in the first 200 years of Roman society, seven of the ten emperors inherited their positions through adoption. An important note in Roman law is that if a slave were adopted (only the free could adopt), the slave was made free through that adoption and inherited the rights of a son. In Roman law, sons that were adopted could not subsequently be “given back”. All of these intricacies were understood by Paul, as evidenced by his use of these specific words; and these words would have been well understood by his audience. We have been adopted by God, from our father Satan, given the rights and standing of a free person in His kingdom, as contrasted to our bondage and slavery to the law before that time; and it was expensive. It cost the life of God Himself on the cross, in the form of His Son, Our Saviour.

So, what does adoption require of the adopted? First, it requires that we build a relationship with our new Father. Clearly demonstrated in the cry “Abba, Father”, the joyous cry of a 1^st Century son, running into his father’s arms as Dad returns from a long trip. “Abba”, means “Daddy”! That open, joyous, warm and welcoming relationship that Christ came to demonstrate. “Father”, has the connotation of an elder that teaches, trains, and cares. Secondly, it requires that we develop faith in our new Father, trusting Him to guide, train, and to provide.. Romans 8:31-32 says,

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”.

Finally, adoption requires that we learn to trust in our standing, to truly believe that we are part of the family. John 1:12 says,

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God..”

As I close this note, what does this adoption mean? First, it means that we are no longer slaves to the law. The curtain that kept us from an Almighty God has been ripped in two, and we have a personal and direct relationship with Him (Gal 3: 24-25). Second, it means that we are His sons (Gal 4:6), with an attendant desire to act like one. Finally, now that we’re sons, and moved from the law into grace (and are living with our new Dad), we are heirs of God. We inherit what God has! First His Spirit dwells in us, and finally, we will inherit perfect bodies, with eternal life.

Men, the deposit of the Spirit shows us that we are sons of God, heirs of the eternal kingdom of our Father. I challenge us: do not be faithless and ignorant, learn to walk as brothers of Christ, in the family of God. Dare to walk as sons!

In today’s note, Ron has some time to ride and think, about bikes, luggage, men, and ministry.. and, obviously, produce some Vitamin D in his skin!

Click through to read more.

When my wife and I first married, I had just sold my last motorcycle. We agreed that once the kids were ‘out of the house’ that we would spend our time riding on a new motorcycle ‘across Canada’. Last year – though the kids are not yet gone – she suggested that it might be time, and I jumped at the chance. We bought a 2003 100th Anniversary Harley Fat Boy, and I started riding. Note: “We” did not start riding… that’s just happened this year.

There are people that will tell you that you pick Harley for the brand, for the idea that it’s “Made in the USA”, or for the raw, gritty rumble. I’m here to tell you that we picked it for all those reasons, and more. There is a storied history there, a rich background and nostalgia. It’s clear that other manufacturers build good bikes, and many enjoy them; they just weren’t options for us. Some say that “H.D.” stands for “hundred dollars”, and that you have a money pit once you get one. Well, I wish the limit on a trip to a dealer was $100, and the pit description falls well short as a pit just sits there and doesn’t pull your money toward it. A Harley is much more like a money “black hole”… but again, we’d have it no other way.

On to the story… we had discussed getting saddlebags for the bike, and we started looking around at Harley bags. What we saw were small bags – likely made to fit above the stock shotgun exhaust – in the 550 cu in range. We knew these would not hold what we needed on longer rides, even though we have a T-Bag for the upright. We then started looking at other options for bolt-on bags. Most bags required that you have metal standoffs installed on the bike, or they were ‘throw-overs’ like Pony Express mailbags… neither of these options appealed to us. Then – cue sound of angels singing here – we found Ironbags (www.ironbags.com). Max builds a bag, from the ground up, on a piece of fiberglass formed to the contours of a Harley, using Hermann oak tanned leather, vegetable dyed, with metal hardware and many options. These bags are a work of art, are larger than stock Harley bags, come in various shapes and sizes, and are generally cheaper “per cubic inch” than Harley bags. We are overjoyed with the result and recommend anyone in search of saddlebags to Max.

So, the ride. It made sense to me to have the bags put on in the shop, if possible, and Max agreed to let me help (even though he must have known this would take longer). I began my ride at 08:30, 48 degrees. I was ready: I had an Under Armor Cold Gear layer, a t-shirt, jeans, and a leather motorcycle jacket. I took County Road O down to Highway 29… so far so good. A few twistys, sun’s out, I’m pretty warm… yeah, at 45 mph. On 29 things changed… a friendly warm 48 degrees in the sun at 65 mph becomes a bone-chilling sub 25 degrees. After two hours of that cold, I stopped in Chippewa Falls to warm up (I mean, have a snack) and then made the final run down 53 and 93 to Eleva.

I arrived at Max’s shop and immediately noticed the clean, simple lines and surroundings. Max has been doing this a long time, and it shows. The brackets, the install, the design approach all belie many years of learning and refinement. It was my honor to see Max at work. This is where nostalgia is built! Max and I put on the bags in around an hour, greased them one more time, chatted for a bit, and then I prepared for the ride home.

I decided to take Hwy 10 back through Marshfield to 13 and finally 97 through Athens. The slower speed caused less wind chill, and the day had gotten warmer. It also gave me a chance to stop at the High Ground Veteran’s Memorial for a few minutes (www.thehighground.org). I got home and showed the bags to the family at around 15:30. Overall a GREAT ride, successful and enjoyable.

So what? Nice ride.. no learning. Well, not so. Riding that bike gives me time to do little but be left alone with my thoughts, as scary a proposition as that seems. Aside from obvious thoughts about life, how God created us and the world I was driving through, I thought about bags, that is, luggage. By putting these bags on the bike, I would be ensuring that my rides would be longer, and that I would ‘have’ to take more stuff. Isn’t this much like what Christ did for us by setting His example? By giving us His Spirit? What I mean is, Christ multiplied our burdens… when we become saved a spiritual part of us awakens that was lost before. We become sensitive to things we almost didn’t know existed prior to our conversion. While some things pale, in general, our mental burden is greater; but, Christ gives us the luggage to carry these burdens in. He gives us His word, through which we can view a confusing world. He gives us His example which we can follow, and He gives us His Spirit by whom we are led in our daily walk (if we listen). It’s true that our burdens multiply, but with the new luggage, the carrying is made easier, almost natural. Much as the saddlebags are now part of our bike, Christ’s example and word can be worked into our being, allowing us to carry more and take joy in the journey!

View the Ride Map

Technorati Tags: burdens, cycle, fat boy, harley, ironbags, max, saddlebags, sunburn

WDYSTIA?

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In Matthew 16:15, after asking the rather oblique question, “Who do others say that I am?”, Christ asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am”?

A recent Barna Group research study revealed that less than 9% of all adult Americans have a “biblical worldview”*. In addition, only 19% of “Born again Christians”** have a biblical worldview. Interestingly, these percentages have remained unchanged for almost 15 years.

Among young adults (the “Mosaic” generation, ages 18 to 23), the percentage of people with a biblical worldview is less than one-half of one percent, as compared to near 1 out of every nine older adults***.

What do numbers like these mean to Christians, to our nation, and to parents and youth? Click through to read more…

To get a picture of what this number means, let’s imagine you – the dedicated reader – as a community college instructor at a large college and that you teach five classes a day of a common elective. At 08:00, two hundred students file in to your room and ‘learn’ for 50 minutes. A front row of young eyes fifteen people across, and thirteen or 14 rows deep. At 09:00 this repeats, then 10:00, 11:00 and 13:00. One thousand young adults throughout each weekday, watching you and listening; taking what you say and processing it.

How many of those students entered that room and listened to what you taught through the filter of a biblical worldview? Five or less. One in every class. In that sea of faces, only ONE young person looked at their instructor and filtered every word and concept through a filter of ancient God-given wisdom that was intended for our betterment. And we wonder! We wonder why youth seems ‘lost’ and afraid, always compensating for something unseen. We wonder why suicide rates are up, why school shootings happen, and why there is so much personal pain in the world as a result of poor choices.

Every time I speak about numbers like these, well-meaning (and perhaps defensive) parents say, “Oh yes, but it’s common while youth are ‘finding themselves’ to question their faith. They will ‘come back’ and believe”. They then quote Proverbs 22:6, secure in the knowledge that the child “will return when he or she is older”. Two points there, first, we already know – from this same study – that only one of nine adults ‘come back’, and my second is related, and that is, “Come back to what”? Other Barna studies have also pointed out that a persons worldview is primarily shaped and is firmly in place by the time someone reaches the age of 13; it is refined through experience during the teen and early adult years; and then it is passed on to others during their adult life. Such studies underscore the necessity of parents and other influencers being intentional in how they help develop the worldview of children.

Worldview has a dramatic influence on a persons choices in any given situation. Research indicates that there are unusually large differences in behavior related to matters such as media use, profanity, gambling, alcohol use, honesty, civility, and sexual choices where one worldview vs. another is concerned.

Barna put it best when he said, “There are several troubling patterns to take notice of. First, although most Americans consider themselves to be Christian and say they know the content of the Bible, less than one out of ten Americans demonstrate such knowledge through their actions. Second, the generational pattern suggests that parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview. One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have, and most parents do not possess such a perspective on life. That raises a third challenge, which relates to the job that Christian churches, schools and parachurch ministries are doing in Christian education. Finally, even though a central element of being a Christian is to embrace basic biblical principles and incorporate them into one’s worldview, there has been no change in the percentage of adults or even born again adults in the past 13 years regarding the possession of a biblical worldview”.

Are you learning every day? Do you pass on what you learn? Do you LIVE what you learn so those around you can be affected by it? Are you part of a church that helps you mature in correct biblical learning (orthodoxy) and then mentors you and holds you accountable while you live it (orthopraxy)? You cannot give what you do not have, and there are a majority of people in our country who THIRST for more, and can be given nothing, because most of us have nothing to give.

I challenge you today; hit your knees, ask the Lord to fill your cup, and then pour it out on others. Rinse and Repeat.

- – - -

DEFINITIONS

*For the purposes of this survey, a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.

**For the purposes of this survey, these are people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.

***The other group that possessed a below average likelihood of holding a biblical worldview were those people that describe themselves as liberal on social and political matters (also less than one-half of one percent).

Technorati Tags: christ, christian worldview, disciple, Faith, young adult, youth

This message isn’t about whether or not you hide and search for eggs, or enjoy sweet treats on this holiday. Frankly, hiding things, searching for things, finding things, and tasting something sweet are all enjoyable things to do. My question is, “What are we focused on as we perform our activities on a daily basis, not only at Easter, but year round”?

Are you hiding something? From others, from God? What in our lives should we be bringing into the Light of Day, to be given to God and forsaken and forgiven? What should we be freed from that has a hold on us?

Are you searching for something that you haven’t yet found? Perhaps you attend a church, but you don’t yet feel like a member of the body of Christ? Perhaps you have walked with the Lord for many years, but you are struggling right now under the weight of this world and its attacks? Perhaps you are looking for a friend or companion to help and encourage you.

Have you found what you are looking for? Do you know that you have it, and that it will never leave? Are you assured that you have it, secure in that knowledge, and growing every day into His image?

If you are secure, walking in the Lord, growing with Him every day… are you taking JOY in the journey? Is there a song in your heart and on your lips? Can others not help but see the joy of the Lord shining through your eyes and in your life?

Too many times we are overtaken by the “here and now”, the temporal; but the power that raised Christ from the grave is ours, and it guarantees those that are saved that they will be with the Lord forever. Think about that for a moment: the power that raised Christ from the dead.. is yours. I don’t just mean the power to resist eating that extra Cadbury egg (trademarked), the power to avoid saying that short word to your spouse, or the power to deal with a child that is emotional at the moment, or even the power to overcome every sin on this earth; I mean, the awesome, heavenly power that brought our Lord back from the dead. (Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 1:3-7, Ephesians 1:17-21)

Technorati Tags: bunny, easter, he is risen, open tomb

D-Day

My father was born in 1933 just after the giddy height of the 1920′s had worn off and the Great Depression had gripped the United States. By the time of my Dad’s birth, the world economy was in turmoil and 1300 banks in the U.S. had closed. An additional four and one half million people lost their jobs, in a population of 125 million and now more than 30 million Americans had no income. Herbert Hoover had seemed unable to act, and Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, exacerbating an already established global recession. In 1932 F.D.R. arrived with massive bailout plans designed to shore up the economy, and the effect of some of these plans are felt yet today. Overseas, three men were planning to change the face of the political landscape, Hitler in Germany, Stalin in Russia, and Mao Zedong in China.

In the later 1930′s, Chamberlain returned from a summit with Hitler and proclaimed, “..we have peace in our time, peace with honor”; it was neither. As country after country fell in front of the Nazi war machine, America watched and readied herself, sending aid to a Britain struggling against the German aggressor. When my father was eight years of age, the Japanese hit us at Pearl Harbor, dragging a now awakened bear from its den. America was at war.

By 1944, 12 million Americans were in uniform and 19 million more people were back at work, 35 percent of them were women. This nation was immersed in the war, from the front to the back, and they won. This generation knew the intense humility and privation that the Great Depression brought, they lived through the hard work of rebuilding this nation, they saw so many of their friends, so many aspiring scientists, musicians, mathematicians, farmers, that didn’t make it past their very early twenties, who gave their all to this country. Millions of men and women were involved in this fight through poverty and riches, adversity and achievement, and from defeat to triumph. This generation of men and women kept our way of life alive for their children through personal sacrifice. Thank you Mom and Dad, thank you Grandma and Grandpa, and I would like to apologize to you for not learning what I should have so that I could be this strong in my generation. (As an aside, I’d like to apologize to my kids as well, because we are doing the opposite of what our parents did; we are tearing this country down to feed our gluttony and leaving you scraps to rebuild with).

Here’s my question: Where are these men and women today? We are faced with what could be the beginnings of a depression, there are many questions where international violence is concerned, and many domestic programs are in jeopardy. I fear that our parents fought for this country and we inherited it, said, “thank you very much”, and went and sat on the couch.. and stayed there. We took their long-suffering and turned it into a need for immediate gratification, accepted their endurance and twisted it into expectation, and received the benefit of their toil and eroded it until we became apathetic.

I’d like to suggest that there is a Biblical parallel – several actually – to this tale of American success and failure. Let me first state that I will spend little time on the first – and most obvious – parallel which is the story of the Israelites in Judges. Their cycle of faith, backsliding, apostasy, supplication, deliverance, faith.. and so on was due to the fact that they took their eyes off the Lord. While I think this parallel is definitely appropriate here, I don’t want to make it the central issue because if I do, Christian men and women will blame others, and men and women of other faiths will set my suggestions aside as “Christian” and therefore irrelevant. I want all of us to go take a long look in the mirror.

⁵ Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁶ You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” - Haggai 1:5,6

Those who know the backstory for the book of Haggai understand that this warning is much like the first point I promised to spend little time on, but these verses alone are prophetic for us today. Don’t the people Haggai is referring to here sound a lot like modern-day Americans? I’d like to suggest that a major part of our failure to be ‘as great’ as our parents generation is because we are focused so much on ourselves that we have no time to believe that we are part of something greater than ourselves. We want things and time, and we want them for ‘us and ours’ and not for others. This selfishness is one reason there has been a huge backlash in this country against people who desire wealth, and in an unhealthy way. We aren’t holding up people who give to others and keep country traditions alive, instead we reward those who decide not to work with the money we’ve stolen from those who do labor. We reward selfishness and punish labor, and we wonder why we have a country chock full of people unmotivated to work!?

Third, in Judges we see that the beginning of the cycle of backsliding begins with an association with evil, with the people around the Israelites, with intermarriage and taking on their customs. It is difficult to live next to a thing and remain insulated from it; it is impossible to remain unaffected if you marry into it. We are called to be, “..in the world, but not of the world”, and we are called to witness to all nations, and we are to remain set apart. Christians often take these commands too far; on one end of the spectrum we have Christians that pray that ‘unbelievers’ won’t move into the vacant house next door and try to keep their family from associating with the ‘unsaved’; on the other end, we have people prone to certain weaknesses going right back into their old lives to ‘witness’ to others they once knew. It is clear that we must come into contact with ‘the world’ to witness, Christ did this and did it regularly, but if He needed rest and regeneration with like-minded people, who are we to think we don’t? This is where a local church becomes so critical. We are to bear one another’s burdens and to build each other up in the faith.. so that we can do the Lord’s work.

So, why is this generation ill-prepared to take on the challenges that faced our parents and grandparents? Because God is no longer the center of our lives, because we are almost wholly selfish, and because we are so caught up with what others are doing that we have failed to chart a course for ourselves (let alone follow it).

What can we do? I suggest that we turn back to the Word. If you are not a Christian today, first, I thank you for reading this far, and second, I urge you to crack open a Bible and read the book of John. It is about 3/4 of the way through the Bible, in the New Testament. Just read the book over the next few days or weeks and see what you think. Email me at windowormirror@gmail.com to chat. For those who believe, I suggest taking inventory. Find out where your focus is. Is it on the eternal? Do you have a heart for Kingdom building here on earth? Let us all become less selfish and carry out the work of the Lord here on earth. With a renewed focus, God can use us in great ways.. we have at our disposal – for His purposes – the power that raised Christ from the dead!

Technorati Tags: father, greatest generation, history, honor, man, men, respect, strength, war

State of WI

The state in which I live has put forth a new motto for tourism, which you see written in the title of this post. Rather than debate the indefensible basis for this motto – which has little to do with the outdoors, vacationing, lakes, or any other actual tourist activity in the state of Wisconsin – I thought we could look at this motto as it applies to the Christian life.

On the face of it, the motto is catchy, if a bit misplaced. In a state renowned for the drinking problems of its inhabitants, perhaps it is a dangerous thing to ask us to “mean it”, rather than continue just “doing it”.

What would our lives look like if we followed this motto? Is there a base in Scripture for the idea that Christians should live this way? Let’s investigate.

First, excellence in every one of our endeavors. We know – as Christians – that we should be dedicated to quality and improvement in every area of our lives. In Colossians 3:23 we read, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”. This makes it clear that we do things “heartily” because we are doing it ‘for the Lord’, or, written another way, we do everything for His glory.

The word translated “heartily” here is ‘psyche’, meaning your inner self, with your whole being, mind, heart and soul. This obviates the possibility that we can do anything “half-hearted” as Christians; we do all things to His glory, with all of who we are. Note that this leaves a massive expanse of glorious difference in our approach, as each thing is done with our inner being, and we are all very different… and God intended this.

Stop for a moment and think about the import of the previous paragraph. Each thing that you do, is done to the glory of God. Just like every action you take in the presence of your children ‘trains them’, every action you take in front of God (hint: all actions) is to His glory. Either you are doing a good job of glorifying Him, or you are not. Do you think that we have this in the back of our mind all day, every day? What might our lives look like if we did? If we lived this intentionally, do you think that we might have to talk about God less because others might see Him in us a little more?

“In all things, preach Christ; and if necessary, use words” – St. Francis of Assisi

Second, the abundant life. Christ said, in John 10:10, “..I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”. Many pastors – TV evangelists especially – are espousing the idea that Christ is referring to temporal wealth or physical happiness here on this earth. Since the tale of the rich young ruler, most of the book of James (or John 15), and the life of King David make it clear that A) riches can be a hindrance to people in a walk of faith, B) that we will certainly see trials in this life, and C) that ‘men of God’ get discouraged and can become profoundly unhappy. So, what then did Christ mean by the word, “abundant”?

The word translated as “abundant” here is the Greek word ‘perissos’ which translates elsewhere as “excellent”, “in abundance”, “excess”. It is the word used to mean, “We took until we could take no more, and we have yet more”. In surrounding verses we see that Christ is speaking about sheep, and their shepherd. Some historical context is also helpful here. At night, shepherds would herd several flocks into a rock-walled enclosure, and they – the shepherds – would lay and sleep in the opening through which the sheep came. They were – quite literally – the “gate” where the sheep came in and out. In the morning, a shepherd would stand at the gate and call for his sheep, and because they knew his voice, they would come out and go with the shepherd to the pasture of choice that day. This knowledge of history gives a tangible and real face to the story Christ is relating to his disciples.

So, what then does Christ mean by His words? He is not speaking of the life that the sheep have, a temporal existence, heartbeat, and so on because each of the people to whom He was speaking was already alive. Christ was speaking about a life “in Him”, a life beyond what we know here, eternally but also spiritually here and now. Essentially Christ was saying, “I will take the life you have now and increase its meaning and depth boundlessly, giving you purpose here (glorify God) and the knowledge that you are living for me. The abundant life is a spiritual life lived to the glory of God.

So, we live the abundant life with all our heart, mind, and soul as Christians. That sure sounds like, “Live Like You Mean It”, right? The one thing that we’re missing is the concept that we can all do this and look very different doing it, and we can still be squarely within the intent of God. We dislike this concept as a church, we want a homogenous environment where everyone looks similar and is serving in a similar way. Christ’s disciples didn’t look like that and God hasn’t created us like that. We all look radically different, living different lives, and yet we live for Him. Get over it.

Recently my wife and I attended a meeting of Christian bikers, and someone in the group was cautioning against “appearing” a certain way to ‘bikers’. My dear wife – unable to keep silent any longer – made the perfect point, and that was, “Look; don’t appear to be anything! Be who you are. If you don’t know who that is, figure it out and then be that. Anyone living life “like they mean it” – hardcore biker or otherwise – will sniff out a phony faster than anything else, and your witness to that person will be immediately ineffective. Figure out who you are, what the unique personality is that God gave you; figure out where that intersects with His general will for us to live a life ‘set apart’ and to bring the gospel to all nations, and then live that, “like you mean it”. If even a small percentage of Christians were to live this way, we would see a world changed for the Lord in a single generation. Change the world for Christ, but do this through a life lived with intent, to the fullest, in His joy.

Live it folks, and be joyful when others live it, even if they don’t do it your way. Let me know if your “joy” in the Lord increases?

P.S. Read verse 16 in John 10 and let me know how many churches there are in God’s view? How should we act as a body in light of this?

Technorati Tags: body, christ, church, genuine, honest, individual, rebel

Concentric Circles of Importance

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“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35

“..if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

I am convinced that we – as Christians – make the central nucleus of theology far too complicated. The fact that we have many churches, and that they – most often purposefully – do not “get along”, is proof enough of this.

The verse in Romans above sums up the critical things needed for salvation, and the body of Christ is all those who are “in Him”. Would we not be better served to unite around these simple, joyful, things rather than concentrating on the beliefs where we are different? Keep the necessary core (salvation), and embrace each other in Christian love (as Christ commanded) and see what happens in the body of Christ.

At our Thursday evening Men’s Bible Study this week, I drew the circles you see in the graphic above, and printed out 50 or 60 Christian beliefs and doctrines on pieces of paper. We each took 5 or 6 of these and took turns around the table placing them in the circle where we felt they belonged, having discussions on several (most). This was an invigorating exercise and promoted a lot of discussion and thought around central tenets of the faith.. very heady and healthy stuff. We should know why we believe what we believe.

Here is the way I described the circles:

Essential for Salvation: These are the things that are – without question – required to become saved, according to Scripture. Hint: The verse from Romans  above sums it up fairly well.

Essential for Orthodoxy: These are the well-accepted beliefs of the Christian church. Think of these as the beliefs that one might hold in order to hold office in their local church. I am aware that churches have differing views of “orthodoxy”, but 80% – 90% of beliefs that end up in this circle are commonly accepted by Christian churches.

Important but not Essential: These are beliefs that a Christian really should hold (because they have a good base in Scripture) but they are not required for orthodoxy.

Not Important: These are beliefs that may or may not be common and have little bearing on Christian life and walk.

Pure Speculation: These are things that we think up and are not generally refuted by Scripture but certainly have no Scriptural base.

I would urge each reader of this post to think about each of the beliefs I’ve listed below, and think about where you would place them on the continuum of importance, and why. Don’t complicate the center circle with your current understanding of theology, with personal bias, or with the way you were raised; look at Scripture, study, and then – perhaps – move your beliefs in accordance with what you find.

• God is perfect
• God is omnipotent
• God is omnipresent
• There is only one God
• Trinity (three in one)
• God is sovereign
• God has always existed
• Christ was 100% man
• Christ is 100% God
• Christ came to earth
• Christ was born of a virgin
• Christ died
• Christ descended into Hades
• Christ was raised from the dead
• Christ ascended
• Christ will judge the living and the dead
• We cannot earn salvation
• We will be resurrected in the body
• Existence of free will
• Sin separates us from God
• Sin came into the world through Adam (and Eve)
• Christ will return to take us home
• We are all sinners, in birth and action
• We should attend church regularly
• We should express love one to the other
• Baptism
• Communion
• Existence of Paradise (where saints go when they die)
• Hades (where non-saints go when they die)
• Hell (the ultimate end of unsaved sinners)
• Heaven (where God and Christ are and where we will someday be)
• Living a good life
• Bible is inerrant in the original language
• Bible is inspired by God
• Avoid divorce
• Be a virgin when you marry
• Temperance in the body
• Demons exist and are numerous
• Spiritual warfare happens
• Role of women in the church
• Necessity of prayer
• Necessity of Bible study

Technorati Tags: love, salvation, unity

A few years ago, a long-standing feud between the Hells Angels and the Mongols, two of the most notorious motorcycle clubs in the country, erupted in a bloody riot at a crowded Nevada casino. Dozens of shots were fired, several people were brutally beaten and stabbed, and when the dust cleared, three bikers were dead. Detectives recovered 14 guns, 107 knives, two hammers, two wrenches and nine flashlights from trashcans, slot machines and other places.

What can this incident teach us about outlaw motorcycle clubs, ourselves, and being a Christian man?

*This post in no way intends to portray any club as “outlaw” that does not intend to be and does not seek to be a complete and definitive source of information on any motorcycle club. For information on clubs directly from the club themselves, please see the end of this post for links.

WARNING: This is a LONG post.

First, let’s take a look at what outlaw motorcycle clubs are, and how one becomes a member.

While many people have tried to access the inner world of the “biker gang”, few are fully successful because getting in to one of the rougher gangs requires you to be incredibly ‘rough’, willing to break the law, and perhaps, willing to kill to defend the club. In addition, those that can get in don’t get out (they don’t get out untouched). Being in one of these gangs is a life commitment, and if you try to leave, they enforce the deal. This means that the knowledge we have of the gang is the perspective – largely – of an outsider looking in. We see what they do and how they act, and we have to infer from that what they are like. We do have statements from a few people who have been inside and told about their experiences before they died, and their words help us understand what this inner world is like.

There are many motorcycle clubs that follow the law. In fact, there are now many Christian motorcycle clubs that witness to other riders. There are four or five large outlaw clubs that now have chapters in many states and a few that have spread internationally.

The Pagans ride out of Delaware City, PA and have chapters in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. There are – at  last count – around 350-400 members.

The Bandidos ride out of Texas with chapters in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and several other states. This club has a growing national and international presence.

The Mongols (referenced in the headline picture to this post) has its main presence in southern California. It also claims it has chapters in US states of Nevada, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Oregon, New York, Indiana, Florida and Virginia. They have 500 to 600 fully patched members.

The Outlaws ride out of McCook, Illinois and boast over 200 chapters nationally and internationally. They have an acronym “ADIOS”, which stands for, “[Hell's] Angels Die in Outlaw States”. Another acronym is “GFOD”, “God forgives, Outlaws Don’t” (and they don’t). The Outlaws claim chapters in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin as well as many international chapters.

Finally, the Hell’s Angels. The Hells Angels were founded in the late 1940s or early 1950s in California, and probably came about due to an amalgamation or joining of different motorcycle clubs, such as the Boozefighters and the The POB of Bloomington. It is most commonly believed that the Hells Angels were originally formed in 1948 in Fontana, California. The Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club [HAMC] claims clubs in 29 countries and many states such as Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, North Carolina, Arizona, Maine, Ohio, California, Colorado, South Carolina, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Nebraska.

NOTE: The chapter or charter list after each club listing is not definitive. For a club-sponsored list of chapters, visit each club’s web site as listed at the end of this article. That will also give you a look at their logo, as I will not link to logos or copy them here.

My intent in listing an approximate territory for each club is to demonstrate that there are several geographical areas where these clubs ‘overlap’, that is, there are states claimed by more than one club. Wearing ‘colors’ from one club can bring heat from another club that claims the same area (as we saw in the Laughlin example at the beginning of this post).

Colors

Laughlin NV Incident

..are the logo patches that are worn on a vest. These patches are sacred, are not to be left alone and are to be defended, with violence if necessary. A motorcycle club has a three-part patch consisting of a top rocker, a logo, and a bottom rocker. The logo shows the club affiliation and is generally an evocative image that is designed to be immedately recognizeable and to leave an image in the viewers mind. The bottom rocker causes most of the trouble, as this panel shows the territory claimed by the club represented. The top rocker, given upon full membership (getting “patched”) holds the name of the club.

The “M.C.” patch designates the color-wearer as being a member of a ‘motorcycle club’. This – generally – means that this club claims territory, rather than just gathers to ride (which would be a “R.C.” or riders club).

Other patches include a “13″,  “81″, Ace of Spades, and “1%”. The 13 patch has some secrecy about it but most assume that it is related to drug use. The 81 is a reference to “H” & “A” (8th and 1st letters of the english alphabet), Hells Angels. You’ll hear “support your local 81″, and so on. The Ace of Spades generally means that the wearer is willing to defend himself and his colors with violence, to the death. A “666″ or “Filthy Few” patch indicates that the wearer has defended himself or the club with violence. The most notorious of the smaller patches, the “1%” patch is a reference back to the AMA statement – after an outlaw club incident – that 99% of all motorcycle clubs were law-abiding and caused no trouble. The 1% nomenclature was quickly adopted by outlaw clubs and is worn as a badge of honor.

There are also many phrases and customs that hold deep meaning for the outlaw motorcycle club member. Above all, respect – actively demonstrated – is of utmost concern to members, and a perceived lack of respect – to them or their club – is something that will most often result in direct and immediate physical consequences.

Phrases

• Get Wet – Bleed or get bled on
• TCB – Taking care of business (usually means violence done to uphold the honor of the club)
• Brother – A specific phrase that means a member of the club. You stand with them, fight for them, and ensure that other always respect them. This isn’t a simple term to be thrown around lightly.

Customs (Protocol)

Think of the ancient knight, and his code of conduct, and you will begin to get a picture of the modern M.C. member. I don’t mean to ascribe any more grandeur to the lifestyle than is warranted, but some things that we have lost over the years – as men – are embodied by the M.C. member. Yes, knights lived a time that was rougher, and they acted rougher. Their sense of honor was razor sharp and while seemingly arbitrary in places, you knew the rules, and you knew what would happen if you broke those rules.. and it wasn’t good. This section isn’t an attempt to give all the ‘rules’, and they vary by club, but overall, the #1 is “respect the club member”. Some interesting points of protocol:

• Don’t use the word outlaw when you are referring to bikers in a M.C. This is offensive.
• Don’t use the word ‘bro’ or ‘brother’. This is a specific term, reserved by a member for another member
• Don’t shake a member’s hand or touch them in any way, until they offer their hand, no physical contact. Under no circumstance are you to touch a member’s colors.
• If you know someone in the club, don’t ‘name drop’ and act like you are buddies, even if you are. This can be considered an affront to the entire club.
• Don’t wear anything that looks like ‘colors’ into areas that are marked ‘no colors’.

It is often said that joining an outlaw motorcycle club will ‘replace’ your life; that you will lose your wife, your previous identify, your friends, and perhaps other material things (car, house, etc). It is true that the club becomes the most important thing to you – or you won’t ever be a full member – but the reason that you lose other things is primarily because of the things that you do, the actions that you perform, in order to be a member in good standing with the club (activities that are either illegal or viewed by many to be past the line of temperance). In order to become a member, you must first prove that you are a bad bad man, and willing to continue to be bad.

Membership

Different clubs have different methods, but – in general – clubs have a tiered process for membership in which a new recruit moves through varying levels of trust and standing with the club. When loyalty and dedication to the club have been proven to stand the test of time – and sometimes other more direct tests – membership may be granted.

Hang-Around
This is the first level of association where a recruit is not actively ‘run off’ but becomes a regular fixture around the clubhouse, buys goods from the clubhouse, and becomes recognizable to all members, and sometimes even to outsiders. This phase can last months and even multiple years.

Prospect
Most clubs require that a hang-around be sponsored by a member. This is the last step before membership. Prospects do a lot of the “grunt work” on rides and events, and prove to the membership that they are loyal and dedicated. Some clubs may require more direct evidence of loyalty. This phase lasts at least one year in most clubs. Not all prospects wear patches, but all members know who the prospects are. Most clubs require prospects to attend church (chapter meetings) and all events.

Member
The process of getting your top rocker – and sometimes club logo – is known as “getting patched”. This is the initiation into full club membership. A member in full standing has the top rocker with the club name, a middle patch that has the logo of the club, and a bottom rocker that designates territory. Always remember that – in motorcycle clubs – colors are earned, not bought. Remember this because it is something to be respected, or remember it because it will save your hide; but remember it. All members must attend church (chapter meetings) and events, unless they are quite sick.

So, how does this all apply to us, as Christian men?

As I noted in the narrative above, many of the things that these clubs hold to are things that we have lost as Christian men. We have been told for a hundred years that fighting back, voicing a strong opinion, being confrontative, and making statements about morality that are absolute are all ‘bad’ and should be avoided. We have been turned into a milk-toast version of what men used to be. The men we have become could not have tamed the West, gotten gold out of the California mountains, and certainly could not have carved this nation out of a wild continent, with or without English opposition. Before I get off on a rant here.. let’s have a look at the parallels between membership in a “biker club” and being a Christian.

“Clubs”

Rather than get along, most Christians concentrate on what divides them and what differences they have in orthodoxy and orthopraxy (teaching and behavior). This is how we get so many divisions and denominations in the body of Christ, and how churches split and recombine, with hurt on both sides. Motorcycle clubs concentrate – in large part – on what territory they control, and our modern church often boasts of “membership numbers”, where we have satellite churches, how many are in our “conference” vs. other denominations, and so on. Why do we fracture into so many denominations, sects, and churches when Christ calls us to unity? (1 Cor. 3:2-7, John 17:20-21, 1 Cor 10:17, Eph 2:20, Eph 4:3-6). Just as we shudder at the thought of what might happen if all outlaw motorcycle clubs banded together as one, so must Satan shudder at the power that would be unleashed in the world if Christians followed God’s Word in Ephesians 4, “..with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all”.

Colors

Here’s where we – as Christians – get to appear all high and mighty, right? We don’t wear colors, we are ‘normal’ people. Really? Walk into an evangelical or traditional church in road wear, perhaps with an earring or two and some ink, and let me know how it works out for you. The sensitivity to this varies based on the local church family, but I dressed “to the nines” once, suit, tie, the whole deal, and the woman from the couple in front of me turned around and said, “thank you for dressing like you’re entering the presence of the King”. The direct implication here is that anything less – such as what I wear regularly – would be unworthy of the King. This – of course – makes me ask, “Wait, doesn’t my King want me to dress in the uniform of my position in His kingdom? I am a warrior for Christ, and hard-edged knight, not a noble in the court. I AM dressed as He would have me dress”. Again.. in danger of getting off on a rant. How about crosses, crucifixes, the “fish”, and the like? Aren’t these all “patches” that indicate our affiliation with The Way? My Bible cover is digital camouflage, with the statement “Soldier of the Lord” woven in; isn’t that much like a back patch? Some would say that their suit is their “church uniform”. As Christians, our “colors” should be obvious to all, without anything being worn or displayed. We should be “obvious” by our actions, the way we treat others, and the way we love one another. As St. Francis of Assisi exhorted, “Wherever you go, preach Christ; and if necessary, use words”.

Phrases

We don’t have any special “code words” or phrases, right? Things that we say that have meanings only to Christians? Let me give you a short list of things that we commonly say (outside of the ‘Lord’ or ‘Father’ every third word in a prayer said by an Evangelical or the fact that Lutherans have to have any phrase said, and then they repeat it), and you tell me whether or not we have our own little language.

• Let me pray about it – “NO”, but I am passive-aggressive and not brave enough to tell you “No” to your face; besides, saying “no” just isn’t Christian.
• We have a prayer request – I need a legal way to tell you about this incredibly juicy piece of gossip!
• God gave me a word for you – I am about to tell you how to live your life, but I want it couched in such a way that I don’t appear in the equation anywhere.
• God is good – My life sucks and I am going to tell you all about it, right now. Get a pot of coffee.
• I possess the gift of discernment - I can judge you without even meeting you or spending any time with you.
• I am saved by grace – I can do whatever I want.
• I have Christian freedom – and there’s nothing you can say about it.
• I don’t mean to judge – but I am going to, right now, and you’re gonna listen.
• I am dating Jesus right now – I couldn’t even get a blind date.
• God wants me to focus on Him for a while – I am too much a wuss to break up with you properly, or, I have found someone else.
• God wants me to marry you – Perhaps I can manipulate you into saying “yes” if you think it’s God’s idea.
• God has called me to minister to her – Boy is she hot!
• I think you should pray about it – and you’ll come ’round to see that I’m right.
• Have I offended you? - I know I offended you, but it’s your weakness that allows this, not my incredible rudeness or unChristian attitude.
• God has blessed us with so much - we’re rich, and want to throw it in your face (well, pretty much anyone’s face), but we know that just isn’t Christian.

Customs (Protocols)

I guess I’d look at things like the process of the church service, intercessory prayer on your knees, rosary, congregational prayer, Communion, baptism, hymns, sermon last thing before “out the door”, and such things as “protocol” in the Christian church. Not associating with “unbelievers” is the mark of many churches and sects. In my Adventist upbringing, we could wade in the water on Sabbath, but not past our knees (no swimming). Many Christians are obese and eat cheese, eggs, mayo and sugar with abandon, but then judge others for smoking and drinking. Most churches have a set of unwritten rules about appearance, behavior, and so on. All of these are “unwritten rules” about church behavior. Mind you, none of these are necessarily “Christian” behavior as far as Christ is concerned. We learn these things quickly when we begin attending and then do them, and they become second nature. We become unaware that we are doing them and scoff when others ask about the “culture” of the church.

Membership

The parallels here are amazing. Here are two clubs (“saved” Christians and outlaw motorcycle clubs) where you have to admit/prove you are a bad person to get in. Not only that, but you have to have a Sponsor! In my Reformed view, I believe that our paths are already charted as Christians, and becoming “saved” is only the first step on a journey of sanctification. The journey from Hang-Around through Prospect to Member parallels – very eerily – the way that we initiate men into Men’s Ministry at our local church.

There are many things – as Christian men – that we can learn from motorcycle clubs; in fact, I would find it personally very satisfying if we could raise our church – or even just men’s – attendance to HALF the rate of an average motorcycle club. We can also learn what loyalty is, and how to give other members of “the club” our support and help. We can learn to overcome Adam’s original sin of passivity, and deal with things assertively and directly, rather than allowing laziness and apathy erode our manliness to the point where we are willing to let life pass by, as long as it demands nothing from us.

Look in the mirror Christian men of America; do you have what it takes to be an Outlaw for the Lord?

—— Links ——

http://www.hells-angels.com/

http://www.outlawsmc.com/

http://www.bandidosmc.dk/

http://www.mongolsmc.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagans_MC (could not find main web site)

Technorati Tags: biker, motorcycle club, outlaw

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

-William Ernest Henley (British Poet, 1875)

Ah yes, the poem that Timothy McVeigh uttered as the execution drugs began flowing into his veins. Americans love this poem. Men love this poem. We grunt like Tim the Toolman Taylor at the dark overtones and the protagonists unquenchable spirit. We are gripped with emotion at the last two lines, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. “Invictus”, unconquered! Deep emotion, passion, and strength; good stuff.

Small problem though, it isn’t true.

We are no more than bit players in our fate, and – indeed – sometimes in our lives. Almost anyone can tell you a story that demonstrates, regardless the energy they’ve poured into a thing, that the endeavor failed or didn’t turn out they way they desired. It is a great thing to remain unbowed by circumstance, but understand, you are not the captain of your soul.

Firstly, you ‘are’ your soul and you don’t ‘own’ it. It was given to you at conception by God. In Genesis we read the account of Adam and his body being brought to life by the in-breathing of God. That soul creates human life and when you die, it goes back ‘somewhere’. (We can discuss the ‘somewheres’ in another post).

Secondly, the Bible explains that we can serve only one of two masters. We will love the one and hate the other, or vice versa. Those two masters are Satan and God. One of the two of them is the master of your soul if by master you mean something like, “That entity that determines influences on my thinking and being”.

Now, ‘fate’. I take this to mean the final disposition of my soul, not the meandering walk that we each take here on earth. Folks, we aren’t even in full control of the smallest things here on earth. Tend a garden, farm for a living, repair cars or computers, raise a teenager.. you find that we cannot control anything here. It’s like grasping water and gripping it harder and harder; the harder you grasp, the less you are holding on to. If we have this little control over corporeal things, what makes us think that we have any effect on our place in the afterlife!? The final disposition of our soul, our fate, is simple.. it is directly tied to the master of our soul while we are here.

So, what does God desire of us then? It is clear that the dark and foreboding terms of the poem draw us because we see this darkness on earth, but I think that God would like us to focus ever upward and bring some Light to the earth while we are here. As far as mindset goes, I think He wants us to be lion-hearted and full of courage, but He wants that courage to be placed in our knowledge that He is the Captain of our soul. I think that He wants us to remain humble (humilis) in the knowledge that we can do nothing of eternal significance without Him, and that we are part of a much greater Plan that He has for this planet. Micah 6:8 does a great job of outlining what God desires of us in terms of mindset and approach.

Don’t falter, be of courage, place your faith in Him, and walk among others with humility. Be conquered, by Christ. Humilis, not Invictus.

Technorati Tags: fate, god, humble, invictus, unconquered

With sixteen bikes of varying types, single riders, passengers, and ecumenical diversity, our first ride was a great example of what “the church” should look like! Regardless church of record, manufacturer of bikes, color of bike, style of bike, or age of rider, we all love the same thing and are united because of that. That love for the open road can be likened to our love for Christ as the head of the church. A common love for the road and riding brought us together for this ride, and a love of Christ – the head of the church – brings us together as Christians. Just as we rode together with different makes of bikes, so the church works together with a mix of people and gifts. We don’t all have to look the same, act the same, and do the same things to be critical to the function of the church body. I hope that this annual ride continues to provide a metaphor for the body of Christ, welcoming all gifts, and ministering to those not yet part of the body.

Our ride began at Highland Community Church in Wausau, WI at 13:00, Sunday Sept 21st. Our ride took us to Merrill, WI.. then along Hwy 107 to Tomahawk, WI. Our route then took us over several country roads around small lakes and beautiful autumn scenery through Harrison Hills to Hwy 17 and then on to Rhinelander, WI. We stopped there and had a takeout dinner at Culver’s.

We sat on the grass and ate our food as we chatted about the ride so far, getting to know one another and fellowshipping. We then had a short devotional on Peter’s walk on the water called “Get out of the Boat”. Basically, this talk outlined the idea that while we make fun of Peter sinking while losing faith, there were 11 other guys just sitting in the boat. Christ isn’t in the boat, He’s out on the water. Jump in and start walking toward Christ. The boat feels safe, but if you aren’t making tracks toward Christ, safe just isn’t good enough. Take the next step and get your feet wet.

We returned through Tomahawk along Hwy 8 and 107 to Merrill, and then back to Wausau. 160 miles, great scenery, great company, fellowship, and a desire to make it a yearly event… we call that a success! Here are some pictures to show you the group and the ride.

Our Group in the Highland Parking lot ready to leave

Mr. Mitch Cooper with our Safety Briefing

All right, let me set the scene; Jews had legends about night spirits and believed these were a bad omen. It’s between three and six in the morning, and the wind has been prevailing against the boat most of the night, pushing it away from the shore. We find – in the book of Mark – that they had rowed three and a half miles and were still in the middle of the lake. They see Christ walking on the water, and don’t even believe it’s Him when He calls to them. Peter tells God to call to him personally, and then walks out to meet Him. How many times do we do this? We feel a tugging at our heart that – if we are quiet, in prayer, and honest with ourselves – we KNOW is God calling us to do a specific thing, but our fears get in the way and we “test” the Lord? I have a great example for you married men. You and your wife have had a disagreement, maybe it wasn’t even an animated one, and it is now getting toward evening. You feel like you should “say something”, being that you are to treat your wife gently, as a treasured and fine vessel, but boy did she get you going! You are almost unable to look at her let alone start a conversation with, “Sweetheart I’m sorry I was not gentle with you and I cherish you. Can we pray together before we go to bed”? You justify yourself with conversation in your own mind, before the Lord Himself, saying that “she started it”, or, “sometimes love is direct”, or, “none of my side of the conversation was untrue”. Guys, He is the Lord, and He justifies you, you don’t justify yourself in His eyes no matter how “right” you think you were.

So, Peter walks out to meet the Lord and as soon as something takes his focus off the Lord, he begins to sink. Peter notices the wind and waves, ignores the fact that he has been chosen by and is serving the Lord, and the waves overtake him and he cries for help. Again, how many times do we forget that we serve an Almighty God? How many times are we so taken up by things that are in the “here and now” and forget that we are strangers in a strange land? Some of you may have been in the study of Mark a couple of years ago. We talked about the disciples and how they were dense and never did “get it”. Well guys, some of us aren’t even disciples yet! We have to treat this life as though our every action has eternal consequence, because it does. Every step we take here moves the Kingdom ahead, or it moves it back. We have to remain focused on our calling and our King as we walk on the water.

So, Jesus feeds the five thousand with a boy’s lunch, has likely already raised the little girl, healed the bleeding woman, and turned water into wine. Not only is Peter afraid of Christ as He walks on the water, but as Peter walks to Him, he screams for help as he sinks! This guy never will get it, will he? Now, we sure do love to make fun of the redneck disciple, Peter, don’t we? He’s brash, angry, and does stuff we get to laugh at. He, quite frankly, makes us feel better about ourselves! Here’s the thing guys, put yourself in Peter’s shoes and look back at the boat for a second; there’s eleven guys sittin’ there! Peter might be messing up, but he was brave enough to get out the boat!

If we look at the first sin that a man committed on this earth, what do we find? Some will say, “Eating the apple”, but that wasn’t the first sin Adam committed. His first – and most grievous – sin was to stand idly by while Eve was tempted and took a bite of the apple. Passivity was Adam’s first sin, and man has been struck by a strong tendency to do nothing since then. When King David got in trouble with Bathsheba, it was because his men had gone off to war without him. He was not leading them, got bored, went to the rooftop and was tempted, all because he failed to be active in his life and leadership.

Action is rewarded by God, even if it isn’t perfect. This does not mean that we should be impetuous, but we should be prepared. If we look at the story of Abraham and Isaac we are tempted to think that God told Abraham to kill his son and Abraham said, “right on it”, and left for the mountain without thinking. The reason that Abraham could act so quickly was because he had already been tested by the Lord, had decided to follow him in all things, and then when confronted with a hard choice, acted quickly because he understood his values and the leading of the Lord. When the shepherd boy David heard the boasts and taunts of the giant, why did he offer to fight? It wasn’t impetuous and stupid, David knew that the Lord led Israel and that what the giant was doing was wrong! He didn’t think about the consequences because he knew he was in the right, he was doing the will of the Lord? Do each of us know that we are in the will of the Lord? Can we act with decisiveness and boldness because we are doing what is right? Have we taken the time with the Bible and in prayer to know our Lord’s leading in our lives?

I have a secular quote that I’ll share with you here. It is attributed to Teddy Roosevelt and is likely on one of those “Successories” posters, but I feel it’s relevant just the same.

Men, I think that sums up well the point of the message today. Don’t sit in the boat and laugh at the guy that’s brave enough to take the next step toward the Lord. Get out the boat!

Technorati Tags: boat, passivity, peter, water

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4% of men ages 16-24 in America attend church regularly.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the involvement of men in the church has declined in a cyclical pattern, but with a steady pace. What will a church with no men look like? The world gives us some answer today, in that more and more children are being raised without a father in their lives. Did you know that over 28% of children in America today are being raised without a father in the home? Did you know that in the African-American community that this number jumps to 63% ? The impact of this is recognized in our sinful world, but we’ve refused to see the implications for our church. A son who is absent a father between the ages of 14 and 22 has his risk of incarceration increase 5% for every year he lives without a father. Children who live in a home without a father are 32% more likely to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs than children in a two-parent home. Girls raised without a father present have sex for the first time an average of 1.6 years earlier than girls raised with a father present. It is clear, even in secular society, that father-presence is critical. What about our church?
Statistics show that if a child is brought to church regularly throughout his childhood by its mother, and the father does not attend, that the likelihood of that child attending church regularly as an adult is around 2%. If the father takes the children to church, that percentage jumps to 33%.

Folks, God has given men the call to spiritually lead their families. I don’t pretend to know why spirituality has been designed to be passed on by men, but I read Scripture that says that it has and the numbers bear it out in practice. I also see that men are leading at an ever declining rate and that leadership cannot be based only on speech, but on practice. Brennan Manning says, “The greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who claim Christ with their lips, and then walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle”.  Learning is a wonderful thing, but I am already educated well beyond my obedience. We must do what God reveals to us in His word as we read and pray; learning it isn’t enough.

Deut 6:4-9 gives a wonderful overview of what it takes to pass on spiritual concepts and a more complete picture of our Savior to your family. Jewish culture at that time had a son learning a trade from his father and women working together in the home all day, every day. That kind of dedicated time made for an environment where a father’s actions were seen and mimicked on a more regular basis than today. Now a child only sees Dad when he gets home from work, grumpy and snapping at Mom, and that’s what they emulate. Let it not be so in our homes. Men, we must model a good relationship for our children. The way you treat your wife is the way that your son will treat his wife, and the way that your daughters will accept treatment from a man. Do you realize how powerful that is? I know you might be the “big dog” at work, and have the ability to change some things there, but in your daily example to your children, you have the power to change the world.

I just returned from a men’s conference in Elmbrook, WI called “No Regrets”, A Life of Significance. This conference had 5,000 men gathering to fellowship, learn, and share about the Christian life as a man. What does a life of “No Regrets” look like? In 1 Cor 3:11-15 we read about a man building a life on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and that the Day will bring his work to light. In verse 15 we read about a life of regrets, “..he will be saved, but only as a man escaping through the flames”. A life of No Regrets ends with the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter now into the glory of thy Maker”. A life of significance is a life spent on service, focused on bringing others closer to Him and preparing for heaven. A life of significance recognizes this existence as a blink between eternities and gives it that same weight in our minds. A man that is living a life of significance can be recognized, because he is doing something about it.

Men, we have been given hands to work, feet to move, and our behinds are there to hold our legs on; not to sit with. Get off your blessed assurance, rise today and lead your family in Christ, affect your place of work for Christ,  and train yourself into the heart of God through prayer and reading the Word. In 2028 my son will be 31, and if we as Christian men commit to living lives of significance, we will still be in a vibrant and healthy church, full of men living lives of example in the power of the Lord.

“Wherever you go, preach Christ; and if necessary, use words” – Francis of Assisi

Technorati Tags: husband, men, spiritual leadership

There was a big football game over at Lambeau field a couple weeks back. Some of you may have seen it on TV? “NFC Championship Game” or something like that… the outcome wasn’t reasonable, but anyhow, at this game it was wind chill down to -15, -20 or so. I watched the game, and I saw people in the stands taking off their coats, their shirts, and their t-shirts and dancing around half-naked in that weather? What on earth makes a person able to do that!?

One word: Drunkenness. Being drunk enables us to do things that we could not otherwise have done. Some would argue that this actually removes good mental barriers and lets us to “stupid” stuff, but the fact remains that you do things drunk that you would not otherwise have done.

So what’s my point? Well, the analogy is, if we want to do things in our Christian life that we cannot normally do, we have to become drunk with the Spirit! In that state, we will be able to do things that we would not normally be able to do. Now I am not – necessarily – advocating that you should immediately get yourself to a charismatic church, but I suggest that we each pray the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives on a regular basis. It will change what we can do for others and what kingdom work God can accomplish here through us. Ask God to empower you in His Spirit, and you will begin to forcefully advance His kingdom here on earth.
That is all. As you were.

References: Ephesians 5:18 Matthew 11:12

First, the work mattered, it was necessary. Once they began to stand up and rebuild the walls, they ran into opposition. They had to finish the walls because those walls would protect them against the people they had angered. When our ministry begins to be effective, we see the same thing from the Evil One, do we not? They began the work because Nehemiah was led by God to do so, and they finished because they knew the work was critical; it mattered.

Second, the people knew who Nehemiah was, and what he could be doing. This Jew was the cup-bearer to the king. Now that may not sound like much to you and me, but this was the most trusted person in the king’s retinue. The queen wasn’t trusted like this man, and neither were his closest advisors. This man – quite literally – held the king’s life in his hands. He was present at every secret meeting, at every public meeting, was always at the side of the king. He knew the king more intimately than the king’s wife or mother. From this, Nehemiah came to do the Lord’s work for Israel. His people knew this, and respected his commitment and sacrifice.

So, for those of us in ministry (incidentally that is to be every Christian), this example gives us a pretty clear mirror, doesn’t it?  Are we too tied to this world? Do we focus on Kingdom work or on the difficulties in the here and now? Do we put in a reasonable effort, or do we have a ridiculous commitment to the Lord’s work?

In every ministry, the ultimate goal is to plant the seed of the Gospel in people’s lives. Do we understand the stakes? Folks, it does not get more important than giving people the key to eternal life and then participating with them in it. Let us all get up each morning realizing – in a tangible way – that we are but visitors here and that our reward is with our God in the hereafter. Let us share the Gospel with others so that we may – together with them – praise our Lord together someday in heaven.

I want you to do a short imagination exercise with me. Imagine that we have just arrived in heaven with Christ and we are, for the first time, standing on the Sea of Glass and raising our voices to praise the God who saved us. In this place of angels, our Lord, and His unending light, you can look to your right and to your left, to the front and to the back; and you can recognize tens, hundreds, maybe thousands of people in whom your ministry planted the seed of the Gospel which the Holy Spirit then nurtured to maturity. They are here because you knew the Lord’s work was necessary, and because you set the things of this earth aside to minister to them. With that awesome image in mind, let us make a ridiculous commitment to our efforts here, on an earth that is a mere shadow of what is to come.

First, we get right back to parenting. For young women, they get their identity as a woman from their father. What I mean is, they learn how to expect love and how to love men from their father. If he is absent, they often become promiscuous as they search for love and acceptance from men. If he is coarse, mean, and surly, they often become very passive in their relationships with men, turning into “doormats” and living in very subservient relationships. A present, gentle but firm, and loving father does not guarantee a well-adjusted, chaste daughter, but it is incredibly rare to find the latter without the former.

How a father interacts with women and how he treats his wife shows his son how to treat women when he strikes out on his own. If a father treats the wife as a second-class citizen, not listening to her opinions, mocking her, or making generally derogatory comments about women, the son can be expected to view women as less than men and will subsequently treat them as such. If a father womanizes, the son further learns to “use” women, that they are expendable, and that you need to protect yourself – not your wife – at all times. If a father is present, treats his wife like a queen, and avoids illicit contact with other women it does not guarantee a son that will champion for women and treat them well, but again, you’ll almost never find the latter without the former.

Second, methods like abortion (“emergency contraception” contained therein) actually cause men to be more promiscuous. It is a well known fact that men deal with things when they become emergencies, and generally not before that time. Retroactive methods like abortion are “custom built” for men because it allows them to be completely irresponsible and then deal with an “issue” when it “becomes an issue”. Men need to act in such a way that they measure the impact of their actions well in advance of the action, rather than taking a radical “fix it” approach when the action invariably results in an “issue”.

Third,  men are personally putting direct pressure on their women to abort. A common statement is, “If you carry this child in defiance of my desire for you to abort, I will break up with you, I will never pay a penny for the child, and no man will ever want you again”. What the man is really saying is, “I don’t want a child because they scare me and I am too immature to deal with one, I am fearful of the situation and will therefore control you to control it, I have no respect for your wishes and am willing to break your soul in half to protect myself, and I am the only man that is willing to keep you because I will know your dirty little secret”.

Girls, listen to me carefully; while I am fully sold out for committed, two-parent families,  that guy is not what you need or want, regardless your decision to abort or keep the child. What you desire and deserve to have – regardless your prior decisions in life – is a man who will hold you up, who will protect your heart and soul, and who has enough faith in you to say, “I am here for you, whatever you do”, and then follows through on that promise.

Men, if you are that guy, please change. You may be overcoming a huge past, you might be the first male in your family to become a man, but please change. A better world is not built by men who protect themselves before others and who tear down their women to do it. A real man does not act that way, and I am begging you to be more than that. You can be a good father, and a good husband – as frightening a world as that seems – and building that life
results in lasting value. It’s a challenge, and you are up to it.

Finally, guys, if you are married, engaged, or related to a woman who has had an abortion; you need to know that this has lasting effects on her. Sexual intimacy can be tainted with bloodguilt, relationship intimacy can be destroyed by a lack of trust in men, and moral guidance can be lacking because of unresolved guilt without forgiveness. She needs your strength and she needs your accepting love. Healing from this experience takes a long time, but it is possible, and it is made easier with a man who is understanding and gentle.

And to those women who have been told that a man will not marry a single woman with a child, I’m here to tell you that is a lie. I married a single woman with a two-year old child, and that precious little girl is my eldest daughter (of three children) and she’ll be sixteen in a couple of weeks.

The husband in this example was controlling, petty, and dismissive and the rules of the home did not apply to him but were liberally applied to all others. I would suggest that this man is in all of us, and I would exhort men to stand up and be more than a male. Be what God designed you to be, for Him, for your wife, for your church, and for your children…

Men today don’t know a lot of things. They are not being raised with any sense of “manhood” (what it means to be a man). We try to make our little boys act like little girls, and when they don’t, we give them Ritalin and sit them in the front of the class and hold them in from recess. Worse than this, we don’t tell boys when “manhood” begins. There is no rite of passage, no understanding of, “From this day forth, you shall be considered a man”. Childhood used to last until age 18 (maximum), now – for many men – it lasts through a young man’s 20′s and into his 30′s. How many of you have spoken with women who’s sons still live in the basement at age 29, playing video games for a living? “Johnny’s still at home, but we’re praying for him”. He doesn’t need only prayer, he needs Dad to drag him outside and make him work!

How is it that we are not teaching our sons to be men? Well, I’d posit that there are two primary reasons for this. First, we don’t spend any time with them and second, we don’t know how to be men ourselves. It once was that a son would apprentice with his father (or another man) and would learn alongside them about the trade, and as a result, would also pick up critical things about what a man does all day, how he acts, and how he treats others. Today, we run off to work and our son goes to school. When our boy comes home he sits in front of the TV or a video game while we engage in our hobby without him or go work out at the gym. This teaches little Johnny how to live in Mom’s basement later on, not how to become a man! We don’t know how to be men because we’re the first generation raised wholly in a post-modern world. Even if you were raised by solid parents, the world has eaten at you, claiming its apathetic margin at every stage of your life, telling you that every belief is equal, and children should be allowed to run free and do as they like. You don’t know how to raise a man because your past didn’t make you into one!

What does your wife need? I don’t mean, “What’s your perception of what you needy wife whines about all the time”? I mean, what does the creature to whom you’ve pledged to have and to hold, to cherish… what does she NEED!? Do you hold her face in your hands, gently stroke her hair, talk with her gently about life, love, and your children? Or do you leer at her, rolling your eyes when she asks you to remove your shoes in the mud room, chuckle under your breath and find secret enjoyment when the kids misbehave to her? Do you sacrifice for her, picking up around the house, making her tea in the evening, helping make the bed in the morning, looking for what burdens you can remove from her or do you plop down in front of the TV when you get home and look for someone, anyone, to bring you a drink? When she wants to do a certain thing around the house, make an expenditure,etc. do you mock or control her? Or do you revel in the fact that you have a capable and brave wife that handles her household with grace and courage?

Men, our wives need us, but they don’t need what we’ve become; they need what God created us to be. They need kings that will treat them like queens, they need warriors that will treat them with gentleness and kindness, they need friends that will listen and care, and they need partners that will shoulder the emotional burdens of life together with them. Care for your wives men… that does not mean, “bring home a check”, the active verb is “care”. First care for her, and then – through daily action – care for her. Protect her heart and champion her cause and I promise you, you’ll begin to see a queen that is radiant and fulfilled.

What do your kids need? They need presence. They need to see you live life, interacting with others and making decisions. They need specific training, yes; but more important is to let them see who you are as you live life as a man. Your daughters need touching, love, and time. If you don’t give them this often, they will soon find another male to give it to them, and trust me when I tell you that you don’t want that. Your sons need to understand what work is, what sacrifice is, and why we do both of these things. Both genders need to understand our view of – and relationship to – God and what “life” looks like outside the family. Your children should be able to express emotion in a safe environment and should know that no matter what they do, they are still your child and that you love them (this does not make a statement about consequence).

Men, this is a country filled with guys who don’t have great adventure in life; they watch them in movies. Men don’t play many sports anymore, they watch football on TV. Men don’t take the time and energy to be lovers to their wives, they watch porn on the internet. Men don’t live life in their role 24 hours a day anymore, they go to work, come home and go into a TV or computer world, expecting their wives to pick up the “slack”. I encourage you not to be this man! 

So, how do we do it? Simple. We stamp out only three things and add one. The three are, lust, pride, and selfishness. That’s it, three little things. (for those of you who don’t know me, this would be tongue-in-cheek humor).

Lust
This one is a killer fellas. It’s a part of selfishness but with guys, it needs its own little category (and coffin). Your wife whom the Lord gave you and with whom you should take your joy, is the only woman that you should be expending any emotional energy on. You’ve all seen sitcoms or movies where the man puts a centerfold up on the bedstead to get excited with his wife, and we laugh and say that’s pathetic, but we each do this exact same thing. If you have ever slept with a woman that is not your wife, watched a movie with pornographic content, viewed a magazine with scantily clad (or unclad) women, or lusted after another woman in your heart; it is incredibly likely that you are bringing these images to mind, and that is being unfaithful to your wife! More than this, since we’ve likely masturbated to these images or thoughts, we will bring back these memories with our wives in the moment that God designed us to be only with one another, while we are making love. Can you begin to see why pornography and pre-marital sex are a huge problem? We men are visual and we remember visually. This is not helpful when we are trying to focus on our wife. I would suggest that you drive out thoughts and images of other women, and this takes a long time to do, but it is worth it. I would further suggest that you slow your sexual pace down to a point where you do not need to conjure up images to “get excited” but are already so full of anticipation that you can focus fully on your wife without bringing other women into your mind. On another note, this pace may be more naturally in line with your wife’s pace, but we can discuss that theory another time.

Pride
You don’t always have to “win”, to be “right”, to be the “Big Dog”. Let others have their time in the sun as well. It’s your job to build self-confidence in your children, not to tear it down. You are to hold up you wife, not make her question her sanity. Stop the belittling comments and the desire to make others look bad. Instead, build others up verbally, assuming that they already are what they could become, and then watch them become that. Suck it up, and take your part of the blame (and stop there). When you are confronted with an issue in life, stop trying to find out “who’s fault it was”. Investigate only YOUR part of it and how to avoid it the next time or how you might act in a more honorable manner if faced with the same situation again.

Selfishness
Newsflash fellas, it isn’t all about you! It’s about her and the kids. Set yourself aside and look for what you can do to serve your family. If I hear even one of you complain, “I’ve had a long day at work and I deserve to sit down”, I swear I’ll come to your place and exhort you to excellence personally and vigorously. Her day started before yours and will end after yours, and she’ll give more of herself than you will. You don’t “deserve” to sit down, she does. Change your attitude and approach. Let her sit and put her feet up. Bring her tea and do the dinner dishes for her. I KNOW YOU DON’T WANT TO, THAT’S THE ENTIRE POINT!!! Set yourself aside and put her in the place she deserves, in your heart, mind, and in the home. She is your queen. As a side note, the kids quickly pick up on this and become people with servant-hearts as well.

The One Thing
This blog is heavy in “Christian” metaphor and belief, and that is because I believe that what we do here is temporary and preparatory for an eternity with He who created us. The changes suggested in this post will help any man with his wife and kids, but the real change comes when we open our hearts to the Good News, filling ourselves with the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in us to change us. The other three do not fall away without a fight, but you need strength to put away the old and bring in the new, and Christ will give that strength.

Cowboy up, men! There is a world full of sons that don’t know what a man is or does, daughters that are looking for love, and wives that need us to be present and accounted for. Hear the challenge and rise to it.

I had an incredibly interesting experience at Bible Study this morning and would like to share. If you feel led to comment, I’d be overjoyed to hear your thoughts!

Background:
Our Men’s Ministry holds several Bible studies and two of those are on Thursday morning. I have been leading the one that meets “every” Thursday at 6am. These are most often book-of-the-bible studies, but the current study is a topical study currently covering “theology proper”, the study of God. We are in a section about the “less communicable” attributes of God (He is eternal, independent, etc). We have 3-6 men each Thursday morning that are regular attenders. We are an EV Free church that is incredibly biblically focused (edification) and Spirit-led (without being “charismatic”).

This Morning:
We were continuing a study on God, and – as a topical study – we were looking up specific verses and discussing what we [I]could know [/I]of God in order to get a better appreciation of His love for us (He delights in us). The end goal of this section is to take our joy in worshipping/glorfying Him and to take our sense of self-worth in the fact that He chooses to delight in us. A new fellow came to the study this morning, as well as two regular attenders and myself.

The newcomer greeted me with a very liturgical and direct greeting, something like, “I appear here in the spirit of Jesus Christ the Cornerstone, in the blessing of the blood, water, and spirit”.. and so on. It was all very formal and a little “weird”, but I introduced myself, welcomed him and 5-10 minutes later, started the study. This gentleman proceeded to attack the method of study (taking verses out of context) and my approach to the study (interpreting verses for the rest of us). He then stated that he only listened to the direct voice of God and not to men. He insisted on telling us his life story throughout the study, which included divorce, being booted out of the formal ministry, and being involuntarily locked up in psychiatric wards three different times.

I answered him in the topical study assertion with, “I believe that there is value in a topical study – as Christ did with His parables – and I would say that one must be responsible when preparing that study to read the context and book/chapter as a whole, before pulling out a verse. We are careful here at (our church) to perform exegesis rather than eisegesis on our texts, and I appreciate your caution and guidance where topical studies are concerned. Context is critical.”

On the point about interpretation, I discussed the point that I attempt to – on a regular basis – set myself aside and let God shine through, and that the format (small group) promoted and rewarded the personal interaction of all the members (rather than me teaching, it is thought to be participative), but that there needed to be some structure and accomplishment rather than just three or four guys chatting about life… this is why we pray the Spirit into the room and ask for wisdom and guidance.

Finally, I discussed the fact that I believe that theology happens in community. It is very unlikely that we can come to a full understanding of God (or other theological points) without discussing and studying those with others. If we do hear the voice of God, we certainly learn from that, but that is not a full-time or “normative” opportunity for most of us.

He asked for prayer since his second wife has asked him for a divorce, and we ended the study at 7am. WHEW!!!

The Man:
This man was married to a saint of a woman and had seven children (in Neb). When he was first diagnosed (likely bipolar) and was put away, he began to believe that all medical personnel, especially those in the psychiatric field, were evil and Satan’s minons (I’ve been tempted to feel that way myself) The strain of his various issues ended his first marriage and six of his children still try to help their father reconnect to reality and to them.

His brother still interacts with him regularly, though he is at a loss for how to help. This man refuses medical attention and medication and feels it is his calling to be a spiritual advisor to pretty much anyone and it is his calling to make people feel uncomfortable with their faith.

This man’s second wife has now asked him for a divorce and a local church will allow him to attend only on Sunday and will call the authorities if he arrives on church grounds at any other time (because he harasses the members). This man has no history of physical violence and a long history of control and verbal abuse (on his part).

My Plan of Action:
1. Take this man to lunch regularly. The “right thing to do” here does not change based on my desire to or not to do it. I am to minister to him as a brother in Christ, bear his burdens, and to speak the truth to him in love. Hopefully, a venue for him to vent and interact with someone will result in less verbal outburst in more formal settings.

2. Protect my people. While I know that the Lord can speak through anyone, and I take this man’s opinions as possibly the voice of God to me today, I must ensure that the other men in the sutdy are still able to have a spirit of worship and the wisdom to study; that is, this man’s noise level cannot be allowed to derail the entire group. I will be more formal and intentional about my approach to the study so that he is not singled out.

3. Ask for help. I am not a certified counselor (and if I were he wouldn’t talk to me), I am just a man. I have asked our pastor who has a Master’s Degree in Counseling (Psychology not Psychiatry) for guidance and input.

Summary:
I know the Lord spoke to me through this man today and that I must help him. It is amazing to me the opportunities we each have – every day – to build our faith and to take our strength from – and place our trust in – the Lord.

Several of the things that the Lord could have said through this man today:
A. Ron, you are too full of yourself in this study. Please empty the vessel and fill it again with Me, and then continue.
B. Ron, your preparation for this study was inadequate and you need to be more prayerful and spend more time in preparing materials and your heart for Me.
C. Ron, studying the Word as a whole is a better approach than approaching individual topics.
D. Ron, your Men’s Ministry is not reaching all the men in the church today and a change in methods (broader approach) is needed.
E. Ron, you are not serving those men that take you out of your comfort zone. Here is one, I’ve been gracious to you, be gracious to him.

and so on…

Fascinating stuff!

Thoughts?

Ron