I am sure that most of you heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in Sunday School when you were young. I thought of this story recently when my wife and I went to see the movie Fireproof. There is the obvious connection with the title. But, there is a more subtle connection as well. In the Bible story, these men were instructed to bow to an idol created by the king. The men would not bow. As a result, they were threatened with the fiery furnace. Their reaction showed the depth of their faith. "If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” The key line in their answer is, "But if not...we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship..." Their answer was not contingent on God's reaction. They were not going to ...
Many of you know that we use a number of books written by John Eldredge in the JMC Men's Ministry. Some of you may not know what John Eldredge looks or sounds like. Here is a video of John summarizing his book called The Way of the Wild Heart .
"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.
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