Being a Family, “Man” Style

Sunday, I had the chance to hear instead of speak.  It doesn’t happen very often due to my profession being a minister.  

The guest speaker spoke on “family”.  This is a subject that I really think is an incentive for people who are looking for Jesus.  However, relationships are what women tend to be wanting to be involved in.  Think about it, relationships involve closeness, talking, sharing of feelings, and that is pretty much the opposite of what men are attracted to, especially those who are not WANTING church.

Are you one of those guys or is your significant other one of those guys?  A church offers “small groups” and that is, again, the opposite of what you are looking for in church.  That is about “talking” or “getting close”.  The males reading this, specifically those from 14-50 (give or take) may not care about those issues that involve “being a family”.  These types of guys are generally looking to be “islands”.  They are willing to help out on projects, but do not want to be involved in ongoing “getting to know each other” activities. Men tend to want to act like ostriches by burying our head in the sand and not talking about issues.

The problem is, we all have issues.  The other problem is that we are not cut out to handle all the issues that life hands us.  Whether we like it or not, as men, we want help, but are too prideful to ask for it.

We may not need “friends” but we men want other men to grunt with, share beverages with, high-five, exchange “did you see that [dunk…catch…flip…crash…etc.]”, or complain to.
Sometime, somewhere, life is going to hand us, men, a blow that is too big to handle.  Death, disease, bankruptcy, infidelity, addiction, etc. What do you do?  That is where you need someone to turn to.  Have trust issues?  The “family” may be the only people you can trust…family are those that do not turn their backs on you.

Family isn’t about talking, but about having those who you can be masculine around and still know that they have your back.

“Family” may not be the best “manly” word.  Brotherhood, team, fraternity, or lodge may seem more “manly”.  However, it is all the same, in essence.

What the church offers has all the components of those other “manly” words, but they do not offer the opportunity for heaven.

Sometime, somewhere you, as a man, are going to be interested in what “family” can do for you…I will be waiting for that time to show you how “manly” Christianity can be!

Seven Characteristics of a Fully Mature Christian - James 3:5-10

Maturity is something that most people rarely desire to be lacking in. They would much rather want to have the most maturity as possible. However, we all have our moments when our emotions get the best of us and maturity flies out the window.

As a Christian we should be becoming more mature in our faith with each passing day. Things should grow more solid in our faith as time moves forward. If it is not then we have work to do; which is comforting and frustrating simultaneously.

Yesterday, I shared a sermon based on what I heard at the Tulsa Workshop. This yearly series is what I call "Words of Wisdom From the Workshop". The sermon was titled "Seven Characteristics of a Fully Mature Christian", by Randy Harris. Here are some additional applications to choose from to use this week...

1. For a plant to become mature it goes through processes - These processes could be too much or too little sunlight or moisture. The interesting thing about too little moisture is that it causes the roots to go deeper to find water. When we go through drought then our roots should go deeper instead of quitting. Don't quit!
2. Practice, practice - I remember as a sports participant not being too fond of practice. I wanted to be in the game, not go through the prep that gets me ready for the game - physically and mentally. However, proper practice is invaluable to game performance. Spiritual practice may not be heavily desired either, but it gets us ready for the "game". Use the prep times to your advantage and let it prepare you for your upcoming "game".
3. Yield is awesome - From a grain perspective people want to have the biggest yield as possible. The points between planting and harvesting don't matter a whole lot if the yield is good. Whether there was good or poor conditions, if the yield was good that's what counts. So continue to press on to look forward to the yield and enjoy the journey in between.

If a Christian is not progressing toward maturity they are either stagnant or digressing. Hopefully you are not in either of the last to categories.

Make up your mind to be ever acknowledging where your maturity lies in one or more of these categories...1) Talking Less and Listening More, 2) Constantly Mindful of God, 3) Able to be Submissive & Obedient, 4) Able to be Humble, 5) Have Communitas, 6) Have Personal Spirituality (A Relationship), & 7) Hope.

Reaching toward maturity...

The Christian Who Was in a Hurry

Last week I had the privilege of going to a ministry workshop.  It is the highlight of my year. So many great things are packed into that great weekend (Wednesday-Saturday).  I practically look forward to the next year's workshop the moment I leave!

Most of you have probably heard the story about the policeman who stops a lady who was cussing, honking, and doing other rude things when drivers around her weren't "cooperating".  When asked why she was being stopped, the officer responded something like this, "I thought the car was stolen and you were not the owner because of the fact that you had a Jesus-fish decal and a "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker on the back of your car."  In his opinion, she was not reflecting her faith very well.

The other day, when I was checking out, another gentleman came up to be checked out.  He was pretty demanding of a receipt, which due to the circumstances, they couldn't provide one at that time.  They were willing to e-mail it to him.  However, he claimed he had no way of printing it off.  They offered to fax the receipt, the gentlemen began getting a little more testy.  "Do you have a piece of paper that you can just put my total on and sign it?"  "Yes", the clerk replied. "Then just do it and let me get out of here!" was his response.  She obliged.  After he said, "Are you ___?", the name on the card, she nodded.  After he left, she muttered to her coworker, "He was rude".

As it worked out, I saw him at my ministry workshop.  I wonder if he felt justified in his reaction?  Did he realize that the faith that she was seeing was rudeness, not Christ.  I Corinthians 13 describes love as not being rude.  This guy didn't have a passionate love for the clerk that was coming across as unloving.  Rather, he had a Christ-like love that was absent in this situation, so it reflected rude.

I debated about saying something to this guy when I saw him.  However, I never had/took the chance.

My challenge and purpose in writing this is to say that you may be the only Jesus anyone will see that day.  How will you respond to these interactions?  Also, will you be Jesus to everyone so that they will see a Jesus-reflection rather than a "rude" reflection (or worse).

May I take on the responsibility of wanting to reflect Jesus to everyone I meet!

We're Champions!

If you were nearing the end of your life, you would have one thing on your radar...heaven.  So many things that happened in life would seem      meaningless.  You’d probably wonder why you became worked up over  certain things, which ended up being a waste of time.

At that time, you be thinking something like this...I’ve paid my dues, time after time.  You’ve done your sentence, but committed no crime.  Bad mistakes? Yeah, you’ve made a few.  You’ve had your share of sand kicked in your face, but you’ve come through.

Friends, we are champions.  Because of that we’ll keep on fighting, till the end.  We are the champions and there’s no time for losers.  Because, as Christians, we ARE the champions of the world.

For most of us when we get to the end, we know that life has been no bed of roses, or pleasure cruise.  Life is a challenge is for the whole human race, and at the end, my friends, we are not going to lose.  Why?

Because we are the champions.  We keep on fighting till the end.  We are the champions.  We ARE the champions.  There’s no time for losers.  Because we ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD.

The other day when I was driving to work this song, “We Are the Champions”, came on (most of you probably recognized where I was writing from).  I’ve heard it many times before but as I was listening to the lyrics I thought about how true it holds to the Christian life.  How much we need to be reminded that we are champions.  We’re going to make mistakes, both in our theological errors and in moral errors, but we can still look forward to heaven.  As the song "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" points out, we have a “grace that is greater than all our [errors]!“  Friends, take that to heart and glory in the fact that we are the champions!  

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The "MAC"

This week had an exciting element for me. I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting of the Board of a project called “The MAC”. This is a project of massive size. Some of you are aware of this project. They are trying to build a YMCA-like center for the community of Colby and the entire northwest Kansas area. The name “The MAC” stands for multipurpose activity center. It really seems like an awesome project. I was asked to come and hear about the project, later to be elected to be on the Board! I look forward to the opportunities that God will open as the project continues in the future.

Though, that was an exciting time for me, there is a different “MAC” that I want you to think about. This one is a “multipurpose active Christian”, you might say it comes from I Corinthians 9:22b, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

That allows us to see that we are to be Christians of multipurpose. We may be asked to do a host of things that we’re not accustomed to doing for the sake of introducing someone to Jesus. That may mean being in an environment we’re not used to. That may mean talking to someone we’re not normally comfortable talking to. That may mean working through a rough patch with someone. That may mean digging for good things about an individual to appreciate about them. That may mean talking when you normally like to be quiet. I think you are getting the picture.

The middle part is vital to the description…active. Active does not simply mean moving. An active basketball player is not just one that is moving about. Could you imagine a player that just stayed in one area hopping all around? They wouldn’t be very productive. An active Christian is not one that simply is not a pew sitter. They are one that submits and commits to be used, and looks for ways which they can be used.

Are you a “MAC”? I hope we all will be…imagine what the church would be like if we all became “MACs”

I Give Up!

Most of us have said the words "I give up". You had a task to perform and it became impossible to finish. You worked and worked but couldn't come to a solution. However, you could have been just around the corner of solving the problem or doing something great. But you never will know because you gave up.

It is not simply continuing on that is the real issue, but rather backing up, evaluating the situation and solving the problem. This brings us to this week's quote...

The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those, which fail. ~ Napoleon Hill

There is nothing wrong with coming up with a wrong answer, as long as, it is not your final answer. This week I was working on my bathroom. I was trying to get the handles off of the shower faucet. I took the set screws out and then expected the handle to just pop off. However, they didn't just pop off. After talking with two different men experienced in the field of "repair", I thought I knew what I needed to do. I tried...nothing going. Finally, they broke free, after a bit of hammering on them. I had to try to do something different than I had been for the plan to work!

I see this as a problem with life as a Christian. We try evangelizing, but no results. We try a time or two more (if you're lucky), still no results. How likely are you to continue on? Probably not very much. Don't think of evangelizing as a "bible study", but rather think of it as any time/way you share Jesus. I challenge you to continue on - but trying different approaches.

Whatever your endeavors, be persistent and evaluate what you did and see how the next one can be even better.

Backing up and looking at where I've been to improve the future...AND working on not "giving up"~

Monday Mentionings: Empty - Earth - Isaiah 45:18

It was a great day getting together! The warm weather made me feel a bit more excited to get out; maybe you felt similar feelings.

Yesterday we started a new series called “Empty”. This series is designed to help us understand the different ways which can be empty. We started the series by looking at the earth and how it was empty, dark, formless, and void. Here are some additional ways to remember and apply the lesson…

1. Support is necessary in just about every area of life. Whether it is physical, emotional, medicinal, etc., support is crucial. God set up the earth by suspending it over nothing. However, the earth still needed support – that being support from the Creator. You need support as a Christian – you must be connected to the Creator, too. If you’re not connected to Him, you will go down quickly! Don’t have a week of empty time without connecting to Him! Take time to connect to your Creator this week by praying to Him – give Him your concerns, complaints, praises, thoughts, evangelistic hopes, ministry goals, etc.

2. What does if feel like to you to be in the dark? The earth was dark in the beginning, but Genesis 1:2 tells us that God was still there. Look for someone this week who might be experiencing life in “darkness”. They could be going through something that day, that week, or just a time in their life that seems without hope. They may not even realize that they are living life in “darkness”, but as you recognize it, take your light to them. Your light might be a compliment, a prayer, a conversation, buying lunch, sending a card/e-mail of encouragement, etc. Regardless of what your “light” is – the main thing is to take it to them!

3. God is Good…All the Time! There is nothing remotely like our God! He is awesome! Take time to appreciate our earth and all that makes our area unique. Even in the bleakness of the winter, we can be appreciative of the area that we live in. Maybe you will want to praise God for this too, but at least take time to appreciate where you live and that it was given to you to live on.

I hope you had a great start to your week!

May you have a “vision” and an intuition for those who are walking in darkness as you go about things this week!

Taking my light ~