You don't think manhood is under attack? Read on...
Much of what we have discussed has been about manhood. I've talked about the "feminization" of the greater church and we've discussed the basic decline of men in America. I've read of a very scary scenario regarding black men and Islam. Islam is growing fast in the black community especially among the poorest parts of the black community. There, Islam is catching fire. Black men are drawn to Islam because it gives them a new purpose (to men who have no hope) and because it puts men far above women. The scary scenario started to play itself out in a getto in Miami last week. A group of black men, drawn to Islam, were organizing to "declare war on America". Clearly in Black America, manhood is under attack and it might lead to an all-out war on America.
But I am speaking of the attack on manhood in organized religion. I told my wife about the recent developments in the Presbyterian church over the weekend. This follows the news from the head of the US Episcopal Church (a female) regarding homosexuality. When we talked about it, my wife commented, "The end has to be near". Read what the Presbyterian's are saying...
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The divine Trinity — "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" — could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend" at some Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) services under an action Monday by the church's national assembly. Delegates to the meeting voted to "receive" a policy paper on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it. That means church officials can propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity, but congregations won't be required to use them.
"This does not alter the church's theological position, but provides an educational resource to enhance the spiritual life of our membership," legislative committee chair Nancy Olthoff, an Iowa laywoman, said during Monday's debate on the Trinity.
The assembly narrowly defeated a conservative bid to refer the paper back for further study.
A panel that worked on the issue since 2000 said the classical language for the Trinity should still be used, but added that Presbyterians also should seek "fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the triune God" to "expand the church's vocabulary of praise and wonder."
Besides "Mother, Child and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer, Friend," proposed Trinity options drawn from biblical material include:
— "Lover, Beloved, Love"
— "Creator, Savior, Sanctifier"
— "King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."
Early in Monday's business session, the Presbyterian assembly sang a revised version of a familiar doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" that avoided male nouns and pronouns for God.
On Tuesday, the assembly will vote on a proposal to give local congregations and regional "presbyteries" some leeway on ordaining clergy and lay officers living in gay relationships.
Ten conservative Presbyterian groups have warned jointly that approval of what they call "local option" would "promote schism by permitting the disregard of clear standards of Scripture."
Manhood is under attack even in our mainline denominations. Not only are we under attack but the FATHER Himself is under attack. So I guess if you don't believe you - as a man - are under attack, then you need look no further than the demoninations themselves. They've moved beyond attacking man to attacking God Himself. Our days may indeed be numbered.
Monday, June 26, 2006
A Father's Blessing
On Saturday, my daughter passed me in the kitchen and said, "Hey Dad, I left a message on your blog thing...pretty cool." I didn't think too much of it right away but later that night, I sat down to check what she had posted and I was deeply moved.
hannah said...
dad. the cool thing about God is that he uses ordinary people to do extrodinary things. God know that Mr. Hank was going to follow him the whole time! i love you! - hannah
She just turned 13 and became a Christian about 2 years ago. The youth group at Wynnbrook has been a God-send for her. School is tough on Hannah - lots of mean girls, lots of peer pressure, lots of kids with parents seemingly far more interested in their own partying than raising their kids -- it makes for a tough environment for a new Christian. Yet, she has the outlet of that youth group - a place she can escape the junk she faces daily at school and be uplifted in her faith. She missed several home football games (breeding ground for all kinds of trouble for 12-13 year olds) this fall to be with the youth group's Friday night events. I just can't put words on how special that group of leaders are in that youth group.
So as I read her post, I was moved by her faith. At 13, she "gets it". Wow! What a blessing that is for a Dad who loves his girls mightily.
On Saturday, my daughter passed me in the kitchen and said, "Hey Dad, I left a message on your blog thing...pretty cool." I didn't think too much of it right away but later that night, I sat down to check what she had posted and I was deeply moved.
hannah said...
dad. the cool thing about God is that he uses ordinary people to do extrodinary things. God know that Mr. Hank was going to follow him the whole time! i love you! - hannah
She just turned 13 and became a Christian about 2 years ago. The youth group at Wynnbrook has been a God-send for her. School is tough on Hannah - lots of mean girls, lots of peer pressure, lots of kids with parents seemingly far more interested in their own partying than raising their kids -- it makes for a tough environment for a new Christian. Yet, she has the outlet of that youth group - a place she can escape the junk she faces daily at school and be uplifted in her faith. She missed several home football games (breeding ground for all kinds of trouble for 12-13 year olds) this fall to be with the youth group's Friday night events. I just can't put words on how special that group of leaders are in that youth group.
So as I read her post, I was moved by her faith. At 13, she "gets it". Wow! What a blessing that is for a Dad who loves his girls mightily.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Following God's Nudging - My friend Hank
If you read my last post about Andy Stanley's sermon then this story will resonate with you. I work with a guy that has felt for some time God's call to the ministry. He has struggled with this over the past year or so and finally settled on God's call to start a new church in north Phenix City/Smiths Station. He has spent the past year+ reading, studying, outlining what he felt God was calling him to do. He has some very strong beliefs about the church and can back up his points with scripture. He feels the call to do some very unconventional things.
Problem is, he has a family to think about and financial needs. He knew that starting a new church was going to probably mean he'd have to have another "full-time" job until the church could get up and running. It would mean probably meeting in a house or a shopping center or store front until enough critical mass could be reached to build a building. His timeline was probably to start the church in the spring and hope to have enough folks to consider a permanent location in a year or so. His plans...
God had a different plan and just like in Andy's sermon, it was far greater than Hank could imagine. A few weeks ago he was invited to preach at a small church in South Phenix City with an elderly membership. He agreed to do it so he could get another sermon under his belt. About the same time a friend put him in touch with a principal in one of the P.C. schools. Seems there was a vacancy for a 7th grade math teacher. Hank's hope was that he could land that teaching job and that would give him a year of a decent salary and insurance and hours that were compatible with the plan to start a church. So he applied for the job.
Last week, he found out he got the teaching job - a perfect job to help him during the transition to full-time ministry. Meanwhile, the small south PC church liked Hank's sermon and began to ask him about possibly coming on as their full-time pastor. The church has 19 regularly attending members and they are old. He wrestled with this but decided to follow God's plan (vs. his plan) and agreed to meet with the membership. At the 2-hour meeting, Hank laid out his specific points for the call God had given him. Hank's challenge to the church was essentially, "Here is what God had laid on my heart and here is the vision I have for the church and here are the key points to God's ministry through me, I'll only come if you will agree to this upfront."
The church voted Sunday 19-0 to elect Hank as their new pastor paying him a good bit more than he expected. (God's provision)
So, all of a sudden, Hank has a teaching job with a decent salary - a job perfectly suited to the launching of his ministry. All of a sudden, Hank has the job as a pastor of a 200-seat, paid for church in South P.C. with money in the bank and a group of members hungry for a vision.
Hank heard God's call and took the bold (really bold when you think about all that was at stake) step of following God's call. Hank's vision was a church in the north part of PC. Hank's vision was a "make-do" start up church until enough mass could be obtained to build a building. God's vision was a paid for, 200-seat church in south PC surrounded by trailer parks. God wanted Hank right there and provided a total blessing to Hank for following His lead, His nudging, His inspiration.
Here is to Hank - a man after God's will. A man willing to throw off all the "you shouldn'ts" of the world to soar.
If you read my last post about Andy Stanley's sermon then this story will resonate with you. I work with a guy that has felt for some time God's call to the ministry. He has struggled with this over the past year or so and finally settled on God's call to start a new church in north Phenix City/Smiths Station. He has spent the past year+ reading, studying, outlining what he felt God was calling him to do. He has some very strong beliefs about the church and can back up his points with scripture. He feels the call to do some very unconventional things.
Problem is, he has a family to think about and financial needs. He knew that starting a new church was going to probably mean he'd have to have another "full-time" job until the church could get up and running. It would mean probably meeting in a house or a shopping center or store front until enough critical mass could be reached to build a building. His timeline was probably to start the church in the spring and hope to have enough folks to consider a permanent location in a year or so. His plans...
God had a different plan and just like in Andy's sermon, it was far greater than Hank could imagine. A few weeks ago he was invited to preach at a small church in South Phenix City with an elderly membership. He agreed to do it so he could get another sermon under his belt. About the same time a friend put him in touch with a principal in one of the P.C. schools. Seems there was a vacancy for a 7th grade math teacher. Hank's hope was that he could land that teaching job and that would give him a year of a decent salary and insurance and hours that were compatible with the plan to start a church. So he applied for the job.
Last week, he found out he got the teaching job - a perfect job to help him during the transition to full-time ministry. Meanwhile, the small south PC church liked Hank's sermon and began to ask him about possibly coming on as their full-time pastor. The church has 19 regularly attending members and they are old. He wrestled with this but decided to follow God's plan (vs. his plan) and agreed to meet with the membership. At the 2-hour meeting, Hank laid out his specific points for the call God had given him. Hank's challenge to the church was essentially, "Here is what God had laid on my heart and here is the vision I have for the church and here are the key points to God's ministry through me, I'll only come if you will agree to this upfront."
The church voted Sunday 19-0 to elect Hank as their new pastor paying him a good bit more than he expected. (God's provision)
So, all of a sudden, Hank has a teaching job with a decent salary - a job perfectly suited to the launching of his ministry. All of a sudden, Hank has the job as a pastor of a 200-seat, paid for church in South P.C. with money in the bank and a group of members hungry for a vision.
Hank heard God's call and took the bold (really bold when you think about all that was at stake) step of following God's call. Hank's vision was a church in the north part of PC. Hank's vision was a "make-do" start up church until enough mass could be obtained to build a building. God's vision was a paid for, 200-seat church in south PC surrounded by trailer parks. God wanted Hank right there and provided a total blessing to Hank for following His lead, His nudging, His inspiration.
Here is to Hank - a man after God's will. A man willing to throw off all the "you shouldn'ts" of the world to soar.
Friday, June 16, 2006
God wants us to trust him
I heard a great sermon by Andy Stanley www.northpoint.org on faith and want to share a quick summary. It challenged me to pay better attention to those nudgings I get from God.
"I really believe God is nudging me to do _________________..." (what comes next?)
We struggle with this - my job, my money, my status, etc. "If I do this thing I feel God is nudging me to do, I might have to part with _____________ and I'm not really sure I can let go of it just yet." We hesitate to follow the call of Jesus because we are afraid of what it might cost us (money, reputation, failure) yet whatever I tend to withhold from God, what I fail to surrender as it turns out, God is not interested in. He isn't interested in controlling you or making you miserable, He is interested in making you better. Consider this...
Jesus is preaching to a crowd (Luke 5:5) and Peter is nearby cleaning up his nets after a long night of fishing. Peter is in the family business, he is a fisherman doing what he thinks he is supposed to be doing. As the crowd grows, Jesus winds up down by the water and asks Peter to push his boat offshore. He then asks Peter to do something really risky - to go out into the deep water and put out his nets (the very nets he has just spent hours cleaning and rolling up after a long night of work). This is risky. The crowd on the shore could very well have laughed at Peter - his reputation as a businessman was on the line.
Peter gave Jesus some info (as if He needed it), "we've worked long and hard...." Sort of like our saying, "Yes but God, I can't quit this job and follow your lead, I have my reputation in the community, I have this mortgage..." But after arguing with Jesus for a moment, Peter does something extraordinary and essentially says, "God you are nudging me to do something and if I follow you, it seems like such a high price to pay and this just doesn't make sense to me...but because You asked, I will do it".
As you know, Peter puts his nets out and in the heat of the day catches so many fish that his nets begin to break. He calls over another boat and it fills with so many fish that it starts to sink.
We mistakenly think the value of what we are holding onto is the issue...it's not. The issue is faith.
God isn't interested in taking things away from us (think back to when you were not a Christian and you didn't want to "sign up" because you thought being a Christian meant you had to give up all that was fun) - God isn't interested in controlling us - He is interested in making us better.
Steps of faith often require us to give something up. What Jesus wants is not the thing we give up, He wants us to have the faith to follow Him. In Peter's case, He rewarded his act of faith with a bounty of fish so great that it filled two boats and ultimately led to Peter becoming a "fisher of men" and the rock of the Church. Just an ordinary fisherman minding his own business took a step of faith and followed Jesus and oh, how he was rewarded.
Soar.
I heard a great sermon by Andy Stanley www.northpoint.org on faith and want to share a quick summary. It challenged me to pay better attention to those nudgings I get from God.
"I really believe God is nudging me to do _________________..." (what comes next?)
We struggle with this - my job, my money, my status, etc. "If I do this thing I feel God is nudging me to do, I might have to part with _____________ and I'm not really sure I can let go of it just yet." We hesitate to follow the call of Jesus because we are afraid of what it might cost us (money, reputation, failure) yet whatever I tend to withhold from God, what I fail to surrender as it turns out, God is not interested in. He isn't interested in controlling you or making you miserable, He is interested in making you better. Consider this...
Jesus is preaching to a crowd (Luke 5:5) and Peter is nearby cleaning up his nets after a long night of fishing. Peter is in the family business, he is a fisherman doing what he thinks he is supposed to be doing. As the crowd grows, Jesus winds up down by the water and asks Peter to push his boat offshore. He then asks Peter to do something really risky - to go out into the deep water and put out his nets (the very nets he has just spent hours cleaning and rolling up after a long night of work). This is risky. The crowd on the shore could very well have laughed at Peter - his reputation as a businessman was on the line.
Peter gave Jesus some info (as if He needed it), "we've worked long and hard...." Sort of like our saying, "Yes but God, I can't quit this job and follow your lead, I have my reputation in the community, I have this mortgage..." But after arguing with Jesus for a moment, Peter does something extraordinary and essentially says, "God you are nudging me to do something and if I follow you, it seems like such a high price to pay and this just doesn't make sense to me...but because You asked, I will do it".
As you know, Peter puts his nets out and in the heat of the day catches so many fish that his nets begin to break. He calls over another boat and it fills with so many fish that it starts to sink.
We mistakenly think the value of what we are holding onto is the issue...it's not. The issue is faith.
God isn't interested in taking things away from us (think back to when you were not a Christian and you didn't want to "sign up" because you thought being a Christian meant you had to give up all that was fun) - God isn't interested in controlling us - He is interested in making us better.
Steps of faith often require us to give something up. What Jesus wants is not the thing we give up, He wants us to have the faith to follow Him. In Peter's case, He rewarded his act of faith with a bounty of fish so great that it filled two boats and ultimately led to Peter becoming a "fisher of men" and the rock of the Church. Just an ordinary fisherman minding his own business took a step of faith and followed Jesus and oh, how he was rewarded.
Soar.
Monday, June 12, 2006
UPRISING
I got another book by Erwin McManus called Uprising. I'm about 30 pages into it and I like what I am reading. Consider this. "This is how life is supposed to work. It's an adventure, a journey, a trek filled with uncertainty, excitement, and risk. One bad or painful experience can cause you to remain on the banks (of the river). But when you do, you neither move forward nor backwards; there you sit, just watching life go by." For the men that might read this and those in the Wynnbrook "uprising" that has started -- this is why I am doing this...I am tired of the boredom of my Christianity. God is a strong, wild river and I don't want to sit on the safety of the banks watching God roar by. I want in. I want to live. God called me (and you) for so much more than safety. He called us to do something with us. We are troops in His kingdom. He has a bold purpose for us. I feel God calling me (us) to stand up and dream. To move forward with bold purpose. Consider one of my favorite quotes of all time...
"Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask, why not?"
McManus continues, "So many of us have abdicated our passions for obligations, as if passion is a luxury for the young, and we must all grow up one day. We, even if reluctantly, fall into place to live a life of conformity that we describe as "maturity." We've made acting like adults synonymous with living apathetic lives. If apathy is adulthood and passion is childish, then I understand all the more the words of Jesus when He said that to enter His kingdom we must come as little children."
This is about a passionate dream of what a real, vibrant relationship with Jesus can be and throwing off the things that stop us from pursuing Him. It is about dreaming what we want from a men's group and making that happen. It is about moving FORWARD.
I got another book by Erwin McManus called Uprising. I'm about 30 pages into it and I like what I am reading. Consider this. "This is how life is supposed to work. It's an adventure, a journey, a trek filled with uncertainty, excitement, and risk. One bad or painful experience can cause you to remain on the banks (of the river). But when you do, you neither move forward nor backwards; there you sit, just watching life go by." For the men that might read this and those in the Wynnbrook "uprising" that has started -- this is why I am doing this...I am tired of the boredom of my Christianity. God is a strong, wild river and I don't want to sit on the safety of the banks watching God roar by. I want in. I want to live. God called me (and you) for so much more than safety. He called us to do something with us. We are troops in His kingdom. He has a bold purpose for us. I feel God calling me (us) to stand up and dream. To move forward with bold purpose. Consider one of my favorite quotes of all time...
"Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask, why not?"
McManus continues, "So many of us have abdicated our passions for obligations, as if passion is a luxury for the young, and we must all grow up one day. We, even if reluctantly, fall into place to live a life of conformity that we describe as "maturity." We've made acting like adults synonymous with living apathetic lives. If apathy is adulthood and passion is childish, then I understand all the more the words of Jesus when He said that to enter His kingdom we must come as little children."
This is about a passionate dream of what a real, vibrant relationship with Jesus can be and throwing off the things that stop us from pursuing Him. It is about dreaming what we want from a men's group and making that happen. It is about moving FORWARD.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Point of View
Life depends on your point of view. Many of us suffer from the tyranny of the urgent. We are so busy that we miss the point of life. We have our "wants" and we seek to have them met. We run so hard that we miss the entire point of the walk Christ has given us to reach others for His kingdom.
Last night, Shannon and I had a free night. Our oldest daughter left for the Souled-Out beach retreat and our youngest daughter spent the night out. So we had a free night. I rode my bike yesterday for the first time this year (shame on me) and was starving because my only lunch was a power bar. We stopped by a neighbor's house on the way out of the neighborhood. Shannon had been trying to work with this neighbor on association issues. Shannon was trying to make the situation better and walked into a buzz-saw. I stayed in the car because selfishly, I was ready to eat. I could see her inside the house talking and talking. It took forever. The longer it went on, the madder I got. Little did I know that she was under attack in the house for trying to do the right thing. She needed me by her side and I was too busy focused on my needs to meet hers. How often do we do this?
On the way to dinner, she cried and told me what happened. I was a jerk to not be in there with her but I wanted my needs met. We went to Carrabbas to spend some coupons and the meal wasn't great. I don't much care for their food (again, "my" needs).
But here is the point -- and it is real powerful. When we left the building walking to my truck, we passed a couple and their small girl in a wheelchair. The husband walked up to the wife and gave her a big hug and said "dinner was great honey, happy birthday". With that, this angel of a little girl had her face light up and she shouted with glee, "Daddy, I want a happy birthday hug too" and she whipped her wheelchair over to her Mom and Dad to get her hug. The look on her face was unforgettable. Priceless. Stunning. Deathly convicting.
Dadgum it men, WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING??? God shook me like a pine tree during a raging thunderstorm last night. There in all my needs and wants, God showed me a true want. A little girl with withered legs slayed my evil spirit right there in that parking lot. I, who have all any man could want, was taught a powerful lesson by a little girl who would pay millions just for chance to walk across a Carrabba's parking lot. Even though she "wanted" to walk, her true want was a hug from her Daddy. Shame on me.
This is what I am talking about in all these blogs. The tyranny of the urgent makes us act like jerks because we don't get what we want when all along what we truly want is sitting right there under our fat noses. God is calling us to so much more than "being too busy" to play a game with our kids or sit and listen to our wives or reach out to that man at work whose life is coming apart. God is calling you and I to soar.
Life depends on your point of view. Many of us suffer from the tyranny of the urgent. We are so busy that we miss the point of life. We have our "wants" and we seek to have them met. We run so hard that we miss the entire point of the walk Christ has given us to reach others for His kingdom.
Last night, Shannon and I had a free night. Our oldest daughter left for the Souled-Out beach retreat and our youngest daughter spent the night out. So we had a free night. I rode my bike yesterday for the first time this year (shame on me) and was starving because my only lunch was a power bar. We stopped by a neighbor's house on the way out of the neighborhood. Shannon had been trying to work with this neighbor on association issues. Shannon was trying to make the situation better and walked into a buzz-saw. I stayed in the car because selfishly, I was ready to eat. I could see her inside the house talking and talking. It took forever. The longer it went on, the madder I got. Little did I know that she was under attack in the house for trying to do the right thing. She needed me by her side and I was too busy focused on my needs to meet hers. How often do we do this?
On the way to dinner, she cried and told me what happened. I was a jerk to not be in there with her but I wanted my needs met. We went to Carrabbas to spend some coupons and the meal wasn't great. I don't much care for their food (again, "my" needs).
But here is the point -- and it is real powerful. When we left the building walking to my truck, we passed a couple and their small girl in a wheelchair. The husband walked up to the wife and gave her a big hug and said "dinner was great honey, happy birthday". With that, this angel of a little girl had her face light up and she shouted with glee, "Daddy, I want a happy birthday hug too" and she whipped her wheelchair over to her Mom and Dad to get her hug. The look on her face was unforgettable. Priceless. Stunning. Deathly convicting.
Dadgum it men, WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING??? God shook me like a pine tree during a raging thunderstorm last night. There in all my needs and wants, God showed me a true want. A little girl with withered legs slayed my evil spirit right there in that parking lot. I, who have all any man could want, was taught a powerful lesson by a little girl who would pay millions just for chance to walk across a Carrabba's parking lot. Even though she "wanted" to walk, her true want was a hug from her Daddy. Shame on me.
This is what I am talking about in all these blogs. The tyranny of the urgent makes us act like jerks because we don't get what we want when all along what we truly want is sitting right there under our fat noses. God is calling us to so much more than "being too busy" to play a game with our kids or sit and listen to our wives or reach out to that man at work whose life is coming apart. God is calling you and I to soar.
The Tyranny of the Urgent
I talked with one of the men in our church the other night about this new group of "mavericks". He is on board and this resonates with him. So much of what he and I discussed had to do with the urgency of his life. He hits the floor running every morning and stays swamped all through the day. He drags himself home at 7pm for time with his three small children, falls asleep and wakes up all to quickly for another day exactly like the last one. He said his life feels like movie Groundhog Day ... same thing over and over and over.
Where is the time to be close to God?
Where is the excitement and adventure that he once felt as a new Christian - empowered and emboldened to share the gospel with guy across the hall in his dorm?
Where is the freedom he once enjoyed in God?
Webster's defines Tyranny as "absolute power especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly". The urgency in our lives serves as a tyrant over us exercising its power usually in an unjust or cruel manner. My friend's life is so urgent that it totally consumes him.
I confess I struggle with the same "urgency". My life gets so urgent that I miss God all around me. Jimmy Blanchard use to always say, "The graveyard is full of indispensible people - folks so important that we begin to think the business cannot run without them".
This call for me (and I think my friend John) is about waking up to the real opportunities around us. Not the business opportunity or the monetary opportunity or the society opportunity -- but the opportunity to throw off the shackles that are slowly burying us - throw them off, lift the burden and seek God. If we (lost sheep) will turn around, even though we have wandered far off, if we will turn around, we will find our Shepherd standing right there.
Soar.
I talked with one of the men in our church the other night about this new group of "mavericks". He is on board and this resonates with him. So much of what he and I discussed had to do with the urgency of his life. He hits the floor running every morning and stays swamped all through the day. He drags himself home at 7pm for time with his three small children, falls asleep and wakes up all to quickly for another day exactly like the last one. He said his life feels like movie Groundhog Day ... same thing over and over and over.
Where is the time to be close to God?
Where is the excitement and adventure that he once felt as a new Christian - empowered and emboldened to share the gospel with guy across the hall in his dorm?
Where is the freedom he once enjoyed in God?
Webster's defines Tyranny as "absolute power especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly". The urgency in our lives serves as a tyrant over us exercising its power usually in an unjust or cruel manner. My friend's life is so urgent that it totally consumes him.
I confess I struggle with the same "urgency". My life gets so urgent that I miss God all around me. Jimmy Blanchard use to always say, "The graveyard is full of indispensible people - folks so important that we begin to think the business cannot run without them".
This call for me (and I think my friend John) is about waking up to the real opportunities around us. Not the business opportunity or the monetary opportunity or the society opportunity -- but the opportunity to throw off the shackles that are slowly burying us - throw them off, lift the burden and seek God. If we (lost sheep) will turn around, even though we have wandered far off, if we will turn around, we will find our Shepherd standing right there.
Soar.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Traits of an Eagle
My wife was reading a "chick" book. The book was about a family coming apart. The husband and wife had gradually grown apart, each too busy to give back to the marriage, each beginning to assume the other didn't love them. Lazily, they let it drift and real damage started to occur. Enough drifting and our eyes begin to look to other places where we can be accepted and understood. The man in this book began to have feelings for a younger woman and that relationship began to snowball. While he had never consumated the affair physically, he had emotionally. Word began to spread. Soon, the wife "knew" he was engaged in a full-blown affair and the two decided to split. However, their oldest daughter was getting married and they decided to postpone any split (or any word of a split) until after the wedding.
His son was doing a school report on eagles and kept encouraging his Dad to read the report. The Dad was disengaged from his son and kept putting off reading the report. Soon he was confronted with a challenge. The other woman offered herself to him "anytime, anywhere you are ready". With his wife off on a camping trip with the bride to be, the husband sat looking at the phone about ready to call the girlfriend. The phone rang and it was his daughter and he was distracted. When he hung up, he picked up his son's school report sitting there by the phone and read about eagles.
Eagles, it seems have only 2 enemies - storms and serpents. Eagles have learned not to fight a storm but rather to "go with it" wherever it takes them. Once the storm has passed, the eagle can fly home and begin to rebuild his nest. Serpents are a challenge because they prey on the eagle's young and can quickly destroy the home.
Eagles also "marry" only once. They pick one mate and keep that mate for life. Also, if they injest something that makes them sick, an eagle will fly to find a rock and will sit on the rock with his wings spread out to let the sun soak/burn out the poisons in his system.
The father in this story dropped the paper after reading it and called the girlfriend to end their relationship. It seems God spoke to him through his son's writing. He had let a serpent into the nest and it was destroying his home. He had injested a poison and was in need of letting the "Son" burn it out of him. He realized that his wife was his only wife and knew he needed to make things right or die trying.
Of course the story ends with a full reconciliation (hey, after all it was a chick book) but it has real meaning for the lives of men reading this blog.
Have you let a serpent into your life? How's your relationship with your wife? How's your heart? Do you need some time alone with the "Son" to soak out the poisons in your life? I know I do.
Soar.
My wife was reading a "chick" book. The book was about a family coming apart. The husband and wife had gradually grown apart, each too busy to give back to the marriage, each beginning to assume the other didn't love them. Lazily, they let it drift and real damage started to occur. Enough drifting and our eyes begin to look to other places where we can be accepted and understood. The man in this book began to have feelings for a younger woman and that relationship began to snowball. While he had never consumated the affair physically, he had emotionally. Word began to spread. Soon, the wife "knew" he was engaged in a full-blown affair and the two decided to split. However, their oldest daughter was getting married and they decided to postpone any split (or any word of a split) until after the wedding.
His son was doing a school report on eagles and kept encouraging his Dad to read the report. The Dad was disengaged from his son and kept putting off reading the report. Soon he was confronted with a challenge. The other woman offered herself to him "anytime, anywhere you are ready". With his wife off on a camping trip with the bride to be, the husband sat looking at the phone about ready to call the girlfriend. The phone rang and it was his daughter and he was distracted. When he hung up, he picked up his son's school report sitting there by the phone and read about eagles.
Eagles, it seems have only 2 enemies - storms and serpents. Eagles have learned not to fight a storm but rather to "go with it" wherever it takes them. Once the storm has passed, the eagle can fly home and begin to rebuild his nest. Serpents are a challenge because they prey on the eagle's young and can quickly destroy the home.
Eagles also "marry" only once. They pick one mate and keep that mate for life. Also, if they injest something that makes them sick, an eagle will fly to find a rock and will sit on the rock with his wings spread out to let the sun soak/burn out the poisons in his system.
The father in this story dropped the paper after reading it and called the girlfriend to end their relationship. It seems God spoke to him through his son's writing. He had let a serpent into the nest and it was destroying his home. He had injested a poison and was in need of letting the "Son" burn it out of him. He realized that his wife was his only wife and knew he needed to make things right or die trying.
Of course the story ends with a full reconciliation (hey, after all it was a chick book) but it has real meaning for the lives of men reading this blog.
Have you let a serpent into your life? How's your relationship with your wife? How's your heart? Do you need some time alone with the "Son" to soak out the poisons in your life? I know I do.
Soar.
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