Are You Dangerous?

On multiple occasions, in various meetings with men, I have asked them to give me adjectives to describe a Godly or Christian man.

Most of the time the list includes words like these:

1. honest
2. loving
3. meek
4. gentle
5. prayerful
6. diligent
7. trustworthy
8. etc. etc. ... you get the picture

Let me ask you this, are these what you dreamt of becoming when you were a boy? Yep, when I grow up I want to be ... trustworthy! Do they inspire you now. Don't get me wrong, they are great attributes, but they are only a part of the full picture.

On rare occasions, I will get a few words like, courageous, strong, and mighty. Indeed, these words start to fill out the more accurate picture. Unfortunately, very few Christian men would call themselves out as courageous, strong or mighty.

In these exercises, I have never gotten this word... DANGEROUS! But, isn't that just what Jesus was? Ask the Pharisees! Ask the demons! Ask Satan! The first words to describe Jesus that would come to their minds would most likely not be "trustworthy" or "honest!" Although, he was definitely both of those things.

I do not believe the church has done a good job of putting a compelling picture of Godly manhood in front of men. One that they could indeed feel inspired to achieve. Every man wants to be found courageous, strong, mighty and yes, in some situations, dangerous! When it comes to evil, we need to be dangerous. On far too many occasions, we have been passive instead.

Are you dangerous?

God Level Perspective

In our last Connection Group meeting, we watched lesson number two of the 1 Month to Live Program. In this lesson, Chris Shook mentioned that in 1 Samuel 17, David had a "God Level Perspective."

This comment really struck a chord with me. Everyone besides David in this chapter had a "ground level" perspective. Only David saw the situation through God's eyes. For in God's eyes, a giant from Gath is no big deal. David clearly demonstrates this perspective when he confronts Goliath.

So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, and a spear, and with a javelin. But, I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."

In David's mind, this is not a fair fight.... and Goliath is NOT the one with the advantage.

How many of our giants would fade, if we only saw things through God's eyes?

All In!

Oh God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water.

So I have looked for you in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

Thus will I bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

David held nothing back in his relationship with God! He was a man of passion. He lived his life on the edge. He love God all out and he was "all in."

Remember, this is a man who was one of the greatest warriors who ever lived. He was not a weak man. He was mighty, strong and courageous. Yet before God he says, "My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you." He is not ashamed nor afraid to admit his deep need for intimacy with his Creator.

God, help us live this way! All in!

Wondering Where the Lions Are!

Men need to be initiated into Godly manhood. We need to be mentored through the stages and levels of growth. The model I like to use is the one created by John Eldredge.

Boyhood -> Cowboy -> Warrior -> Lover -> King -> Sage.

This journey, through the stages, is made easier when men in the stages above, reach down and pull us up.

Unfortunately, not enough of this is happening. In fact, because of the crisis of manhood in our world today, fewer and fewer Kings and Sages exist to help those below. The path through these stages has become overgrown and vaguely marked. Often, I feel like I am trying to navigate uncharted territory. It should not be this way.

Men, we have an obligation and a duty to open this trail, to reach down and pull men up through the stages through which we have already passed. Kings and Sages, show yourselves. God is not finished with you! You are desperately needed.

Ringing the Bell at the Brothel

"The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God." from The World, The Flesh, and Father Smith by Bruce Marshall

I love the quote above! I heard it recently when listening to a Podcast by John Eldredge. As I have discussed before on this blog, men often take their search for affirmation, intimacy, and validation to the woman. It is God's intention that we approach the woman with our strength, to protect and to lead our families. Instead, all too often, we approach the woman in search of our strength. But, she cannot, nor was she intended to, provide that.

She is not God!

But, we keep searching, thinking the problem is with the woman that we have chosen, not our expectations. Indeed, her beauty is the pinnacle of God's creation. But her beauty is not the destination. Instead, that beauty is intended to be an arrow, pointing us straight to the heart of the Creator.

Evensong

Due to a recent business trip, Liza and I found ourselves in London this past Palm Sunday afternoon. We had flown all night and had arrived at our hotel in Ascot, England around noon that day. Even though we were tired, we decided to make our way to London which is about an hour train ride from Ascot to Waterloo Station.

After visiting the London Eye and Parliament Building, we made our way to Westminster Abbey to see if we might be able to attend a service. As luck would have it, we arrived at 2:59 PM and found that the Evensong Service started at 3:00 PM.

Westminster Abbey, pictured above, was built between 1245 and 1517. In addition to being an acting church, it is in effect, as most abbeys are in England, an indoor cemetery. No less than a dozen kings and queens of England are buried in the Abbey. Others buried there include Sir Issac Newton, David Livingstone, William Wilberforce, Rudyard Kipling and even Charles Darwin. Some of you may remember seeing the Abbey on television in recent years as it is where Charles and Diana were married and where Diana's funeral was held.

The Nave is tall and majestic. Ancient stained glass allows light from the upper reaches. The stone work of the varies tombs is intricate. It is in this Nave that Liza and I were directed to take a seat just as the Westminster Choir began to sing.

This choir is world famous. It is made up of 30 young boys. The sound of their voices filling the ancient Nave is indeed a profoundly spiritual experience. The fact that it was Palm Sunday added to the experience. It was a true blessing from God.

"We're Gonna Be In The Hudson"

This is a very cool animation of US Airways 1549 landing in the Hudson.  It is real time and includes the actual audio of the conversation between air traffic control and the plane.  It is incredible how fast things happened and how calm Captain Sullenberger stays.