Jan 27
Living In The Prison of Sin
Posted by Josh
I am skipping chapter seven very intentionally because I know I have some younger readers and feel it is best to skip that chapter right now. It deals with a mans relationship with his wife in a sexual manner. I do not think sex is a dirty word or bad to talk about that is for sure. One only has to read the Song of Solomon to find this out. However sometimes things are left better unsaid for me at this time so on to Chapter 8. The title itself sounds somewhat productive Victoria’s other Secret. However the chapter has some great things to take from it. Mike describes a pattern that he calls the descent and I think it is worth noting.
1. Satan begins by cultivating ingratitude. He focuses Eve’s restriction on the one restriction in the entire garden. (Genesis 3:1-3)
2. This leads to idolatry – denying that God has our best interests in mind. (Genesis 3:4-5)
3. Immorality comes next. (Genesis 3:6)
4. Imprisonment is the result. (Genesis 3:23-24)
I totally agree with the descent that Mike has laid out here for us. It is so true we gradually start down this road and before we know it we end up over our head and can’t seem to get out of the sin that we are stuck in. Though the book is realting this to sexual sin it is this way with any sin.
This is prison: you don’t like what you are doing, but you can’t stop. When you are given over to something, it rules you. You can’t quit. You promise yourself or you promise God that you’ll do better next time, only to find yourself praying that prayer over and over again.
I know what it is like to be in that prison. That paragraph above hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been there before struggling with sin and wanting to stop. Praying over and over again that it would only go away or that I could somehow rid myself of it. I can remember feeling so guilty and bawling my eyes out over sin I just could not seem to git rid of. Returning to the sin like a dog to its own vomit I know the feeling. But I also know that we gain power over sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. I have been able to gain victory over sin by the power of Christ in my life. Do I still sin? Absolutely but I am no longer in that prison. It is good to have those around you that you confess to and that can help you and speak the power of Christ into your life.
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Jan 27
Piper Delivers Be Courageous Mr. President
Posted by Josh
An excerpt from John Piper’s message on Sanctity of Human Life.
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Jan 26
Glorifying God in the Mundane
Posted by Josh
Tonight I am moving on to chapter 6 of Mike Erre’s book Why Guys Need God. The title of this chapter is acutally naked and unashamed. Toawrds the beginning of this chapter I found this paragraph
To be made of flesh and blood is good because God said so. Being a pastor is not more Christian than being a mortgage broker, nor is praying more Christian than eating. Paul says that whatever you do, even eating and drinking, you should do to the glory of God. I don’t know if Paul could have picked two more mundane activities than eating and drinking. If our eating and drinking can glorify God, so can almost all human endeavors.
You know I htought about this paragraph for awhile. Often times we think something is more Christian than something else. In fact we have stuck the christian label on almost everything around us. We simply stick the word Christian in front of something and it just makes no sense. We have christian mints, t-shirts, knives, flashlights, energy drinks and more htese are just a few of the things we label Christian. Does it somehow become better becasue we have stuck Christian in front of the name. One things is not necesarioy more Christian than the other. Here is the thing in no matter what I do I need to glorify God. Not matter what it is even in the mundane I must look to how I can glorify God in it.
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Jan 22
Give Your All For God
Posted by Josh
Chapter five of Mike Erre’s book Why Guys Need God is called Harps, Clouds, and Backhoes. In this chapter I want to talk about this paragraph
What we are doing matter less than why we are doing it. A biblical masculine spirituality doesn’t bother to dicriminate between important and unimportant jobs or spiritual and sacred ones, but instead encourages men to do the best they can, for the glory of God, with whatever assignments fall their way. To use our everyday work to cooperate with God’s invasion of the earth is the essence of following Jesus.
Sometimes we put the emphasis on what we are doing instead of why we are doing. In some sort of vain way we want to say hey look at me look what I can accomplish. I know I have many times fallen into this trap but in reality we need to stop and put some htought into why we are doing. We so often clump our work or jobs into categories as if well my job is more spiritual than yours. I know as a pastor I have been faced with this idea many times. Sometimes people have come up to me and just told me htat my job was somehowe more spiritual than theirs. However we need to be encouraged as this paragraph says to do the best we can no matter what the job for the glory of God. It does not matter what I am doing I need to give it my all for God’s glory.
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Jan 20
Toil and Thorns
Posted by Josh
Tonight I am going to continue on with things I have learned from the book by Mike Erre Why Guys Need God. Chapter four was titled Toil and Thorns. The following quote really stood out to me
We are looking for who we are as men in what we do. Our lives are based on work, earning, and performance. No wonder we are confused when we show up at church and hear about God’s free gift of grace to us. pg. 59
I believe this is so true. In society today everything we do seems to be based on performance. As men we sit around and watch sports because we love the competition, we buy new cars because we are concerned about our image, we have to have the latest and greatest gadget so we can look, feel, or seem important. I once heard a pastor put it this way “we buy things we do not need or want to impress people we do not know.” So is it confusing for us when we walk into church and here that God’s grace is free absolutely. I remember doing a free car wash with my teens and people would not understand why in the world we do this for free. Why would we wash their car for free. As men we face the same challenge with God’s grace. It is difficult to understand that we do not have to earn it.
I will give one more quote form chapter four.
The moment we surrender control (or the perceived illusion of it), we find ourselves in the barren wild of God’s ruthless love. At precisely that point of risk, when we no longer have it in ourselves to impress God or others, we realize we just can’t make life work through our own effort and resources, and we discover the freedom and courage that defines true men. pg.63
The other night at our church we watched a video about letting go of those things that are keeping us from fully serving God. When the video concluded we all grabbed to handfuls of dirt and symbolically prayed for those things we needed to let go and then dropped the dirt. I ma so often reminded that I need to empty myself of myself in or to experience that freedom and courage of a true man.
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