Avoid the Pitfalls of your Masculinity

From Pastor Michelle’s Sermon on Father’s Day “Men Behaving Godly”:

Here are the six pitfalls of our masculinity to avoid:

1. Arogant husbands and fathers. Men are 90% ego wrapped
in skin. Unique blend of pride B/C we are warriors. But we have to get Godly pride.
2. Autocratic husband (tyrant) misinterprets the verse that says men is the head of the house but forgets the part that says we are to love our wives.
3. Absentee husband. Men walk around making babies but don’t want to take care of them or their mothers. Forget baby mommy and baby daddy mentality and realize the baby has a mother and a father. Rebellion and misbehavior can be cries for attention.
4. Abusive husbands and fathers. Men taking out anger and fustrations on wives. You don’t have to inflict abuse physically but you can do it emotionally too. Phys can be more painful but emotional can be more destructive.
5. Aloofness (loners) means to be emotionally distant, cold or distant. When we get mad we clam up. Does not line up with psalms 112 women and children interpret silence as rejection.
6. Angry husbands and fathers. Most of us don’t even know what we are angry about.

Interested in Traveling the World?

From Jeff Goins – @jeff_goins:

As you probably know, I work with an organization called Adventures In Missions (AIM), and we offer an 11-month missions program called The World Race, where participants travel the world, grow in their identity in Christ, and learn how to become missional, global citizens.

I just sent this note to our facebook group, but I thought that I’d share the same opportunities to see the world here. Below are a few trips we’re offering this Fall:

September 2010 – Starting in the Philippines, then going through SE Asia (Thailand, Cambodia), moving into Eastern Europe where you’ll get to gypsies in Romania, and then finishing in Africa, this is going to be an amazing journey. (For more click here)

October 2010 – This trip begins in Latin America, then takes you to East Asia (including a stop in China, yes, China), and then ends in Africa with opportunities to participate in some amazing ministry experiences. (For more click here)

November 2010 (Haiti Relief) – This is a special one-month trip to Haiti to help continue the work that World Racer alumni began as soon as the earthquake hit earlier this year. Not only will you get a chance to serve the people of Haiti for 30 days, but you’ll also get a snapshot of what life on the World Race is all about. (For more click here)

As always, for more recent updates, stories, and news from the World Race, visit us at http://theworldrace.org/. (Check out our Updates Blog, too, for some of the best stories and news.)

If you wouldn’t mind helping us get the word out about these trips, I would greatly appreciate it. If you repost this whole post to your blog or Facebook notes, you’ll get a chance at a free book from my library (your choice, if you win).

Just leave a comment here with the link, and I’ll get in touch with you. I’ll pick five winners, and the first person to post will automatically win!

Ready, set, go.

Men Behaving Godly

The key scripture behind Pastor Michelle’s Father’s day sermon:

Psalm 112
1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Her exhortation to the men present and those not present was to be a Psalms 112 man, be a man behaving Godly, not a man as the world would be portray us as men behaving badly.

My Heart

I was thinking about a post my friend Marc put up on his blog about defining your dream, and then pursuing it. And it hit me that I really haven’t sat down and written about what God has put on my heart. Hopefully writing about it will help me work with a clear mind and not be as easily swayed by the things going on around me.

This mishmash desires and feelings are what currently compromise my heart:

  • Continue building my relationship with my Lord/Savior/Helper/Friend always seeking to go deeper, to more clearly hear his voice. While remaining humble and real (in the world but not of it, in other words losing the holier-than-thou act).
  • Continue building my relationship with my Wife/BFF/Lover/Sweetheart. Remembering to put Her and her needs before me and mine.
  • Living in a God centered Family and Community. Continually working to be a better husband and father, and knowing that I’ll never be perfect… Being the spiritual leader of my home. Honoring my Pastors and Spiritual Fathers/Mothers through word, deed, and sowing back into their life. Be an anchor in my community that God has called me to be.
  • Missions, bringing living water to the thirsty around us and making disciples as I myself am being discipled. Specifically I feel that God has called me to support missions financially. I need to write more on this later to flush out these thoughts and better explain why and how.
  • Strong desire to see Godly men built up desiring discipleship and be the King, Priest, and Prophet that God has called them to be. I really feel like it’s important to be involved in mentoring the next generation of guys especially those who’s fathers are not around.
  • Love for Israel and the Jewish people and to see them on fire for God in crazy and radical ways.
  • Change, begin to see my faith in action less of a in my head thing and more of outward flow (implementation of the above). Be a blessing to others in my own quiet way. Change from the old way that we used to do church, pew warming, to a way that pleases God and carries his light to every aspect of my life and the lives of those around me.

The Gentle Art of Conversational Ping Pong

  1. Listen with your heart. Words are a small part of any communication. The intellectual exchange is only part of the exercise. You can pick up a lot by paying attention to the non-verbal cues, including the other person’s eyes, their tone of voice, and their body language.
  2. Be aware of how much you are talking. I try to talk in sound bites. Frankly, I learned this from doing hundreds of radio and TV interviews through the years. If I didn’t periodically stop talking and give the interviewers a chance to speak, they weren’t bashful about interrupting me or bringing the interview to a close. People are more polite, but you can still lose them, as the would-be consultant did with me.
  3. Hit the ball back over the net. Nothing communicates value and respect to a person more than asking them what they think. Unless you’re giving a formal speech, every encounter should be a dialogue. That means you have to consciously hit the ball back over the net and give the other person a chance to respond. The best way to do this is with thoughtful questions.
  4. Ask follow-up questions. The best listeners I know never stop with just one question. Like peeling an onion, they ask follow-up questions, going deeper each time. This is where you learn the most and where you tap into the possibility to add real value to the other person’s life. One question I like to ask is this, “How did it make you feel when that happened?”
  5. Provide positive feedback. A “poker-face” may help when you are playing cards, but it does not help build trust or develop relationships. People need to know that you are listening and understand them. Nodding your head and providing verbal affirmation are critical skills that anyone can learn, but they must be cultivated.

From Michael Hyatt’s blog The Gentle Art of Conversational Ping Pong

Oasis of Living Water

On Sunday nights, our Church has been going through John Bevere’s new book/video series “Extraordinary”. This Sunday John was talking about the makeup of a man flesh, soul, and Spirit. He said a lot things that really made me think, but one thing he said really stuck out. He said that a non believer’s spirit is dead, and when he said that it was like a little movie started playing in my head. In it I saw a desert and a really thirsty man off in the distance was an oasis.  What I felt the Holy Spirit was saying was that the thirsty man was the spirit of a non believer. This guy in this harsh desert was as good as dead, if he didn’t get a drink soon.  The oasis is a believer full of the Spirit the living water.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. John 7:38

When thirsty guy sees the oasis he’s going to use every last bit of what energy he has left to get to the oasis to try and quench his thirst. But this water didn’t just attract one thirsty person, it attracted a crowd of thirsty people.

Off hand you might say D’uh! But really this revelation is the answer to a prayer. During the week we as a Church have been fasting and praying for the lost. And one question on my mind is how do we attact people with out having to restort to trickery or some kind of bait and switch tactic. This revelation is the answer.

There are thirsty people out there today just like there were in Jesus’ time. And if we are walking in the Spirit, letting him guide our lives rather than us accomplishing our own agenda then the Living Water will flow and those thirsty will be drawn to it.

Dreams: Ironman

This was the second dream that I had last week.

In it I’m playing a new video game, unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced,  it’s played on circle platform with a giant I-Max like screen in front of you. The game seemed to be some kind of version of Ironman in it I could fly around and battle enemies. There were several times that I got so into it that the game seemed like real life (which is interesting cause sometimes I get my dreams confused with something that really happened).

After the game was over I met up with Pastor Joe, together we got into the elevator to get to his office. At some point he had given me a book, so when we got to his office I asked him where he’d like me to put it back and he pointed to a small bookcase to the left. His office was small but cool with a warm light in the background behind his desk.

It was after that I woke up.