Loving the Least

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A Band of Brothers ready to shed their blood with you...Do you have Brothers like this?

Come on………I know the answer…..it’s not NO….it’s HELLLLLLLL NO!!!! And that is sad!

Eldridge in Wild at Heart, claims…..”We don’t need an accountability group or a meeting of really nice guys…….we need fellow warriors, a gathering of Really Dangerous Men.”

David Smith writes in the Friendless American Male, "One problem is the friendless condition of the American Male….men can’t admit that they need the fellowship of other men.”

I call it the Cowboy mentality…….. the tough guy…….I remember the days when my Father would get hurt by my Mother or feel down about something. He would get his feelings hurt but never admit it. In fact, he would say……"don’t worry about me, I don’t have any feelings. You can’t hurt my feelings because I don’t have any.” Now……I admit…..that he was a tough guy…….part Comanche Indian, Special Forces Green Beret, one year Korean War, 4 years Vietnam, 2 purple hearts, (unlike John Kerry, his wounds required hospital treatment and stitches) one bronze star, one silver medal ……….they called him “Animal” on the High School football team. He was tough……..but he damn sure had feelings and they got hurt a lot but he never had another man he could share his heart with…….so sometimes he would share it with me when I was a teenager.

He would share his pain and his hurt………what a horrible marriage he had and it saddened him deeply……..he had killed many North Viet Cong but was unable to heal and repair his own marriage or the lung cancer he eventually died from.

What does Jesus mean in Matthew 11:12? "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force.” I really don’t think he is talking about “couch potatoes” and “Video Gamers”. I think he is talking about "men of passion" and masculine aggression and fearlessness, brave, loyal and dedicated to the cause of Christ! I don’t know many me like that today………do you? But if you find him……..I recommend that you fall on your knees and beg him to mentor you!

When I was 13 years old, we lived at Ft Benning in Columbus, GA. My father has just returned from Vietnam and he would eventually leave the Army due to the post war cut back. But I vaguely remember one night where he met with the men who he fought along side in Vietnam…….all junior to him. He had fought for his life with them and one of his Sergeants had saved my father’s life when the enemy had attacked him at night to cut his throat. These men, without the Lord, were still truly a Band of Brothers. I will never forget how thrilled my father was when he met with them and how close they were. They needed each other and had depended on each other and it showed. They were Warriors who needed each other!!

King David fell into sin with Bathsheba when he was no longer a Warrior strolling around the roof of the palace. 2 Samuel 11:1. He got lazy and became a couch potato playing games and fell……sharing with no one…….Posing………and falling

What about you……… Tough Guy? Who do you depend on??

Response from a Reader……..Don’t Blame the Devil………

James answers that question rather succinctly in chapter 4

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:1-3

Fighting comes from selfishness and blame shifting and pride. Oh yes, the devil tempts us, because James also says "resist the devil," but the bulk of the passage concentrates on OUR love of the world and OUR lack of humility; James goes on:

"You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor to the humble.”[c]

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:4-10

We love the world and we want its 'stuff,' and we resent those who get in the way of us getting that 'stuff.' "We desire, but do not have, so we kill." Oh we don't actually murder the other person, we just use our words to stab at them with exaggerated untruths or dismissive comments that question their worth, while gaining sympathy for 'our cause' by slandering them to others. James knows how it works:

"11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?" James 4:11-12

AND

"Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." James 3:5-6

So the answer is that the devil is an opportunist who waits for an opening - most often to tempt us when we are feeling sorry for ourselves because we don't have some kind of worldly stuff that we think we deserve, and it is our mate's *fault* for some reason or other so we fight with them.

But it isn't the devils fault. We can't blame him. It is our lusts that we have been carried away by. The lust for recognition, sensuality, money, honor, excitement, status, success, possessions, glory - always there is somebody "getting in the way" of us getting these things.

I write this because I know whereof I speak. I am at heart a murderer who would destroy with words those who got in my way. This is the shame I have been rescued from by Jesus

Can we Blame it on the Devil, the “Accuser of the Brethren”??? Is it a spiritual battle between you and the enemy and your wife…….not just you and your wife……..both ‘in the flesh”? Have you ever felt, like I have, that no matter how you tried to be clear in communicating with the love of your life, your lover, the Mother of your children, your soul mate for life, and your bestest friend on the planet……….no matter how hard you try………you don’t get through and you don’t have a freakin clue how to get through!!!

Now…………is that the enemy or my stinkin inadequacy and/or flesh/sin?? Cause I know how inadequate I am in communicating with my wife and women. But I can tell you that there have been times where I felt there was a block and a barrier and it was supernatural, not normal or natural and it was oppressive!! Call it demonic, evil, queer, strange, abnormal, mystical or supernatural, other worldly??? I don’t know……but I sure felt helpless, no clue and powerless to communicate!!!!

And I do know that when we do communicate and understand each other, our ministry is powerful and effective and giving. We have served together powerfully and loved many children together selflessly to the Glory of God. But there have been times where we have not done well together…………..is that the Enemy, Lucifer, the Devil, the accuser of the Brethren?? Eldridge says it is and so does C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters. The Devil is concealing himself and doesn’t want you to believe he exists because he is much more effective this way.

Is Peter right???? Is the Devil a roaring Lion? Seeking whom he may devour? What do you think? Do we fight the ones we love the most because of an evil force know as the Slanderer, the fallen Angel…..Lucifer?

Look forward to hearing your comments…………..

The World of Posers is Shaken by a Real Man!!!

Did you ask those two questions of yourself last week?

1. PUT THE BOOK DOWN…….AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU WOULD THINK OF YOURSELF IF TOMORROW, YOU LOST EVERYTHING THAT THE WORLD HAS REWARDED YOU FOR!!!

2. Where are you deriving your sense of strength and power from? Ask yourself this question often.

Maybe I am wrong, but I would assume that most of you didn’t ………….

Why should you? You are comfortable, safe, healthy, employed……But are you effective in and for the Kingdom? For Jesus? I often doubt my effectiveness!!! Do you? Or do you even think about it??……….your eternal purpose? I don’t …….enough!!

It is sooooo much easier to be a Poser than a Real Man….to stand for the underdog, the "not so pretty", uneducated, poor, down trodden…is tough!!!! ..Real men expose posers……you will not be popular……..or well liked by many……..you will be challenged and humiliated……….not so cool anymore……kinda like Jesus……..crucified and buried but back, risen, and seen by over 500 people!

I met a young 13 year old boy today who was visiting our house with friends. When I innocently asked him about his father, he hung his head and with a sad voice told me his father had died when he was 5 years old as a war hero. His Aunt later told me that his father had committed suicide as a Soldier and the boy was not told the truth. Sad……this life is sad in many ways……and there are young boys out there with no Real Men in their lives. Why not you?? Why not me?? Wellllll………..you know the answer to that question…….we answered it at the beginning…..you are comfortable, safe, healthy and employed……….why the hell would I get involved with a young sad boy?

But don’t be afraid to let your strength show up………..the real you……the Real Man…….Let People feel the Weight of Who you Really are…..and let them deal with it. You and I both have a lot to offer "fatherless 13 year old boys”. Go find one and teach him how to be a Real Man.

Do people know who you really are? Are you afraid to show them? Are you afraid to be real and vulnerable? Are you posing for protection?

I remember going to a high school reunion a few years ago and meeting some buddies who had made it big….multi millionaires, married to beautiful, young women, driving fast cars and living in big houses on the beach, prestige and big titles like CEO and President……They were Legends in their own Minds! Although we were close in high school, they were very different now and I did not recognize them and they chose not to really acknowledge me. I remember thinking what money can do to a man and how we all live for this temporary pleasure of wealth and self-importance and how phony it all was!!

What is the “World” mentioned in the Bible? Eldredge says “the World is not a place or set of behaviors like drinking or dancing or going to bars, etc.—it is any system built by our collective sin, all our false selves coming together to reward and destroy each other. Take all those posers out there, put them together in an office or club or a church and want you get is what the Scriptures mean by the World.”

He goes on to say……”the World is carnival of counterfeits, counterfeit battles, counterfeit adventures, counterfeit beauties. Men should think of it as a corruption of their strength. Battle your way to the top, says the World, and you are a Man (or The Man). Why is it then that the men who get there are the most prideful, fearful, frightened, most emptiest posers around? They are mercenaries battling to build their own kingdoms. There is nothing transcendant about their own lives.

And the same holds true for adventure addicts……after the last adventure and the thrill is gone, it is still just a hobby. And we are all looking for that Golden-haired woman, the counterfeit beauty…..we are told to go for her.

Eldredge says again:

PUT THE BOOK DOWN…….AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU WOULD THINK OF YOURSELF IF TOMORROW, YOU LOST EVERYTHING THAT THE WORLD HAS REWARDED YOU FOR!!!

Where are you deriving your sense of strength and power from? Ask yourself this question often.

I am struggling with that now. I have had several chances in my live over the years to become very wealthy and God removed the opportunity……..for my own good. He knew that I could not handle it, that I would spend the wealth on me and prefer myself to others and my wife…..live for myself and not Him……for God’s sake, I have enough problem with that now in my present state.

Eldridge says….” Don’t be a self-promoter, choose the path of humility, climb down the ladder……invite the mail clerk home for dinner."

I fly a lot and it is often times a miserable experience. People are tired and miserable and grumpy. I try to find people doing something right and tell them about it……..like the flight attendant who smiles at me after a 12 hour day or the janitor scrubbing the toilet at the airport, giving it everything he’s got……to the glory of God.

Are you a Counterfeit????……….or do you let people feel the weight of who you really are??

Let People Feel the Weight of Who you really are!!!

Do people know who you really are? Are you afraid to show them? Are you afraid to be real and vulnerable? Are you posing for protection?

Eldredge says again:

PUT THE BOOK DOWN…….AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU WOULD THINK OF YOURSELF IF TOMORROW, YOU LOST EVERYTHING THAT THE WORLD HAS REWARDED YOU FOR!!!

Where are you deriving your sense of strength and power from? Ask yourself this question often.

Eldridge says….” Don’t be a self-promoter, choose the path of humility, climb down the ladder……invite the mail clerk home for dinner."

Are you a Counterfeit????……….or do you let people feel the weight of who you really are??

Being Real is Fearful

I got a lot of responses this past week and I sincerely appreciate the prayers and encouragement. Interesting to hear that many people are really reading this blog every Saturday morning. I had people actually call me from around the country to encourage me. Some with similar experiences, fears, pains, frustrations, sadness, disappointments, pity parties and selfish flesh. Some read it more than once……I hope it spoke to your heart because it came from mine. Its also interesting who did not respond………..some people who had been through the death of parents but would rather not confess the pain or admit anything because its scary…..its vulnerable,,,,,,,uncomfortable………..

Its tough for men to be real…..scary as hell……..we would all rather be Posers, fakes and phonies…….but I have found that when you try it, other men identify, many don’t because its easier not to. But some do and want to be real. They want to be who God really made them to be…..a real man who loves a fight, an adventure and the love of a lady. But we so easily forget who we are in Christ, don’t we???

As Eldridge says:

Ever since that fateful day when Adam gave away the essence of his strength, men have struggled with a part of themselves that is ready at the drop of a hat to do the same.

We don’t want to speak up unless we know it will go well, and we don’t want to move unless we’re guaranteed success. What the Scriptures call the flesh, the old man, or the sinful nature, is that part of fallen Adam in every man that always wants the easiest way out.

It’s much easier to masturbate than to make love to your wife, especially if things are not well between you and initiating sex with her feels risky. It’s much easier to go down to the driving range and attack a bucket of balls than it is to face the people at work who are angry at you.

It’s much easier to clean the garage, organize your files, cut the grass, or work on the car than it is to talk to your teenage daughter.

To put it bluntly, your flesh is a weasel, a poser, and a selfish pig. And your flesh is not you. Did you know that? Your flesh is not the real you.

When Paul gives us his famous passage on what it’s like to struggle with sin (Rom. 7), he tells a story we are all too familiar with: I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (pp. 143-144). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

I want my friends to be real…..I want to be real….but I am full of fear just like you. How do we break through??? Any ideas??

OH Death, Where is thy sting?

My Mother Died Last Wednesday! SAD!! It was not a pleasant experience……it was painful…for her….for her children……grandchildren………..and all the people who watched her waste away at 75 lbs in fear…….lots of fear…..fear of the unknown………Her lover and companion of 27 years had died on Sunday, 3 days prior…….of a horrible death from lung cancer….not pleasant either………..but what was really not pleasant was their denial of Eternity………In fact, I mentioned eternity at the grave side short message. Sad! My Father had faced Eternity almost 50 years prior at the same grave site we stood at!! He was only 32 years old with a 1 year old, 6 year old and me at 8 years on June 5, 1966. Death is sudden, unforgiving, undeniable, permanent, final………and quite sobering…….although I did have a few drinks before and after the funeral.

My sister asked me this morning at 1am…are you doing ok this week? MY response…..”Total sadness. I do not want to die sad. Do you? I want joy unspeakable and full of glory!”

Eldridge says in Wild at Heart…………

The root of all our woes and our false self was this: We were seeking to save our life and we lost it. Christ calls a man beyond that, “but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8: 35).

Again, this isn’t just about being willing to die for Christ; it’s much more daily than that. For years all my daily energy was spent trying to beat the trials in my life and arrange for a little pleasure. My weeks were wasted away either striving or indulging. I was a mercenary. A mercenary fights for pay, for his own benefit; his life is devoted to himself. “The quality of a true warrior,” says Bly, “is that he is in service to a purpose greater than himself; that is, to a transcendent cause.” That is the moving quality in Ballou’s letter; that is the secret of the warrior-heart of Jesus.

And that was my Mother…..trying to beat the trials and she had plenty……..striving, indulging a lot……. in booze and drugs…….fighting for pay…..more of something……devoted to herself…….she would always say….”I'm gonna start takin care of Wanda for a change and thinkin about what I want”……….but her life was always devoted to her addictions…….yes………she loved her children………but she loved her addictions more! No question…..Saaaaaaaaaaaaddddddd!!

What a wake up call for me! What is my legacy?? How do I want to be remembered…….quite amazing how my children remembered their Mimi and how I remembered their Mimi!!! Very different perspectives! I always blamed her for my childhood……..the drunkeness and adulteries and craziness……….but little did I know or admit……there was Traitor within………my selfish…..stinking flesh that occupied and still occupies my heart. So…….who do you blame????

Eldridge says…..

THE TRAITOR WITHIN

However strong a castle may be, if a treacherous party resides inside (ready to betray at the first opportunity possible), the castle cannot be kept safe from the enemy. Traitors occupy our own hearts, ready to side with every temptation and to surrender to them all. (John Owen, Sin and Temptation)

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (p. 143). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

O Death, where is thy Sting?

My sister asked me this morning at 1am…are you doing ok this week? MY response…..”Total sadness. I do not want to die sad. Do you? I want joy unspeakable and full of glory!”

Eldridge says in Wild at Heart…………

Eldridge says…..

THE TRAITOR WITHIN

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (p. 143). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

David fought the uncircumsczed Philistine.........Should you??

Keith from the heart…………

The minute I started reading this chapter, I immediately thought about the Shepherd boy who stood up before the great warriors of Israel and said,

“For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 1 Samuel 17:26b

“And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from this youth”. 1 Samuel 17:33

And David said to Saul……..”Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. And David said, “ the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” 1 Samuel 17: 36-37

Can you and I be like David or are we called to be just Spectators of the Battle like David’s eldest brother, Eliab, and the other seasoned warriors of Israel??? They watched, Cowards, spectators, nay-sayers, afraid to commit……..Afraid to give, afraid to sacrifice and get involved, afraid to be wounded during the fight, afraid of losing, afraid of being humiliated, disgraced, condemned and proven wrong??? The news is not good, my friends! I know many Christian men like this and I too, have been this man most of my life…..a man of the temporary earth, not a man of eternity and eternal causes…………its really not just about how much you pray, or study, or talk or teach or sound super spiritual………life is more than that……….you have to sign up for the fight…….whatever that call is ………..whatever God is telling you……..there will be a fight involved and you have to act on it!!!

Listen to Eldredge:

A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family. He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death, for this is written into the fabric of his being. Listen carefully now: You do. That is why God created you— to be his intimate ally, to join him in the Great Battle. You have a specific place in the line, a mission God made you for. That is why it is so essential to hear from God about your true name, because in that name is the mission of your life. Churchill was called upon to lead the British through the desperate hours of WWII. He said, “I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.” The same is true of you; your whole life has been preparation.

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (pp. 141-142). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Don’t wait another day, my Brothers!!!!! Stand up to fight the battle……..whatever the battle God is calling you to! Only you know what it is……..But do not put it off another day………when you are more financially stable, empty nested, free of other obligations, not working 50 hour weeks, have a better marriage, or get married, or divorced, etc, etc, etc………that day will never come! Pray for me that I will move forward to fight the battle God has called me to..

Eldredge says again:

That’s a lie of the Enemy— that your place is really insignificant, that you aren’t really armed for it anyway. In your life you are William Wallace— who else could be? There is no other man who can replace you in your life, in the arena you’ve been called to. If you leave your place in the line, it will remain empty. No one else can be who you are meant to be. You are the hero in your story. Not a bit player, not an extra, but the main man. This is the next leg in the initiation journey, when God calls a man forward to the front lines. He wants to develop and release in us the qualities every warrior needs— including a keen awareness of the enemies we will face.

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (p. 142). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Should you trust a Man who hasn't Suffered??

Yes. True strength does not come out of bravado.

Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant; our strength will be our own. So long as you think you are really something in and of yourself, what will you need God for? I don’t trust a man who hasn’t suffered; I don’t let a man get close to me who hasn’t faced his wound. Think of the posers you know— are they the kind of man you would call at 2: 00 A.M., when life is collapsing around you? Not me. I don’t want clichés; I want deep, soulful truth, and that only comes when a man has walked the road I’ve been talking about.

Enemy-occupied territory— that is what this world is. —C. S. LEWIS

We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch’d With rainy marching in the painful field . . . But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. —HENRY V

If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven. For he who giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in his grace. —THOMAS À KEMPIS

Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul (p. 139). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.