Mission Focused Men for Christ

Every man wants to protect his loved ones from harm. But in today’s world providing that protection isn’t usually standing at the door of our home with a shotgun to protect our wife and children from being raped or kidnapped by a marauding band of thugs as it is protecting them from false ideas that have the power to take their thoughts captive and destroy their lives. Paul describes this everyday battle and the power of God’s truth to tear down the lies of the culture. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5). Today, we begin a new series, “Surrounding Our Loved Ones With the Belt of Truth.” Our goal is to know how to equip our kids with a confident response to the idea that science has disproved the existence of God.For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here  

Toxic masculinity is a term recently made popular in academic and media circles to describe the male aggression that leads to sexual assault, domestic assault, and bullying. In my view, Christians today should be leading the way in the fight against toxic masculinity for the honor of Christ, because the world needs self-giving manhood, and because so many of the solutions to toxic masculinity being offered in our culture are destructive. This episode examines four solutions we need to reject and recognize as harmful to our loved ones. It then reviews the six aspects of heart driven masculinity that were covered earlier in this series. This week’s Resource Highlight is Episode #33 Responding to the Argument that the Bible Teaches Patriarchy (6/21/20) which helps you equip your loved ones to see five fallacies in the accusation that the Bible teaches patriarchy. For a list of podcast series by topic, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men's issues such as godly fatherhood, click here.

If Christian men are asked, What one prayer in your entire life do you most want God to answer,” nearly all of them with kids would say, “I most want God to work in the hearts of my children to bring them to faith and a strong walk with Christ.” That answer pleases God, because he wants Christian men to leave behind a godly heritage. This episode looks at how important this calling is to God, and how he wants us to build a godly legacy that impacts generations to come. This week’s Resource Highlight is the series is, “How Your Leadership Can Have Impact at Home and Elsewhere” Episodes # 37-39, July 19, 26, and August 2.  For a list of podcasts series by topic, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues, such as spiritual leadership at home, click here 

All Christian men fight inner battles with their sinful nature. Lust, anger, selfishness, resentment, impatience, discontent, idolatry are just some of the forces that seek to overpower us as men. Many times we lose these battles for a simple reason—we are trying to fight them alone. But how do you find a few close friends to help you in your spiritual battles? You may not be able to find them; you may need to forge them. This episode shows how. Resource used in this episode:Got Your Back: Helping Men Forge the Brotherhood Connections They NeedClick for information about the book and its impactClick to order print, virtual, or audio version on Amazon For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here: 

I don’t know any man who walked down the wedding aisle expecting his marriage to end in failure; but many marriages do, and most divorces are instigated by unhappy wives. This episode looks at what we can learn from God’s design of marriage that can help our current or future marriage thrive. For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here Resources Used in This EpisodeFor COUPLES:  Intimacy; God's Design for Marriage--Three Conversational Dates to Recover Intimacy in Your Marriage (click here)For Men:  Loving Our Wives Well: Understanding Four Needs of a Wife That Only Her Husband Can Meet (click here)

One Bible scholar says, To be a man is to stand up and be counted when there is danger or other evil. This episode reveals that indeed, God did design Adam to be the protector/warrior of the garden. So Christian men are called by God to protect those around us, especially our families, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Understandably, most Christian men struggle to understand what it means to be a spiritual warrior. This episode examines two of the biggest obstacles to being a successful spiritual warrior and how to overcome them to protect those around us from harm, especially our families. 

Most men dream of greatness--of having a major impact on the world. Such dreams should not surprise us since men are created for impact; that is why God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, to transform it, to enable it to reach its full potential, to cause the world and culture to flourish. This episode explains how sin has corrupted that calling to make an impact in the world and challenges men to impact the world around them in five ways. A great resource used for this podcast is Richard Phillips, book, The Masculine Mandate.

Everyone likes approval. We enjoy seeing our teachers’ A at the top of our essay, hearing “good game,” or gazing on the diplomas on our wall that verify that we have been approved by an educational institution to receive a high school, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctor’s degree. Wanting approval often leads us down a path to success and achievement; but it can also lead us in directions of compromise, regret, and self-loathing, when we weakly surrender to unhealthy peer pressure. We all know the experience of hearing our conscience warn us, “say no” but saying “yes” instead, in order to fit in. We have all been in situations where we sensed the leading of God’s Spirit to identify ourselves as Christians, but have chickened out. We have all looked back with regret on times we should have stood for righteousness but caved. The goal of this episode is to heat up our passion to seek God’s approval and pour cold water on the coals of desire for the world’s approval.For more information about the book, Anchoring Your Child to God's Truth in a Gender-Confused Culture, click here.

Mission focused men realize that their mission begins with the Call TO Christ, to enjoy a love relationship with him. It is profoundly important to get this right because keeping our affections set upon Christ, making him our first love, and satisfying our souls in him are God’s design for keep our hearts aligned. And what our hearts want will determine the course of our lives. The command to rejoice in the Lord (Phil 4:4) is the command to intentionally ENJOY God. This episode explains four obstacles to obeying this command to give ourselves pleasure by celebrating who God is. One of the resources used in this episode is Scotty Smith’s book, Objects of God’s Affection. Here is the link. 

Every Christian husband and father wants to succeed in being the spiritual leader of his home, so we have been studying how to maximize our impact in leading others to spiritual maturity, whether we are husbands, dads, small group, church, or another kind of spiritual leader. This is the third episode in a three-part series, Becoming Effective Spiritual Leaders. This series examines the leadership process by examining the relationships between the 3 components of leadership. Here is the link to a simple diagram that explains these three parts and their relationship to one another. This week, we cover the most neglected step of leadership, one that takes our leadership impact from mediocre to excellent. This third step is EQUIPPING followers to grow into mature disciples.