Mission Focused Men for Christ

In the last episode, while celebrating our mothers, we observed that no one can nurture a child as well as his own or her own mother can. Similarly, no one can be the father to your children that you can be. Our job as fathers is to help our daughters flourish—to become all that God created them to be. This episode examines two ingredients required by every daughter’s heart for her to be able to thrive.

In today’s world, many of our female loved ones are engaged in a very personal spiritual battle about their identity and calling as women, and how motherhood fits into that calling. This episode shows how the mistake of overvaluing motherhood will hurt them and how undervaluing motherhood can be devastating. Only the biblical worldview gets this balance right; so that is our topic today.I highly recommend the primary source used in this episode to evaluate the impact of the Industrial Revolution on family life, Nancy Pearcey’s book, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity 

Our calling as men, to help others flourish, means helping our daughters and granddaughters build confidence in the way God created them to be female. Gender differences are profoundly related to our sense of identity. Before helping men know how to winsomely explain the biblical worldview of gender, the podcast identifies two big obstacles that routinely prevent others from being open to the biblical worldview. This episode then articulates the glory of God’s design of humans as male and female. It then suggests questions men might asked their daughters or granddaughters to open their hearts to the biblical view of gender.A recommended resource to accompany this episode is, The Meaning of Marriage; Facing the Complexities of Commitment With the Wisdom of God, by Tim and Kathy Keller 

This episode continues to consider very real spiritual battles that we men have to fight every day. When I look at the words Paul used to describe our opponents, cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, this stark reality brings fear to my heart. This sobering truth helps explain why Christians aren’t more sanctified and having more influence in the world. Since we have to fight THOSE POWERS, just trying hard won’t work. We need to understand what the spiritual armor of Christ is and what it means to put it on. Very frankly, if we don’t learn to put on the armor that Christ gives us, we will be so hopelessly outmatched that we will fail. So, this episode answers the questions 1) what is the breastplate of righteousness, and 2) what does it mean to put it on?Here is the link to an explanation of the fourth beatitude, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. It is Podcast Episode 11, Season 1 The Right Kind of Ambition. 

Have you ever considered that in only the third chapter of the whole Bible, human beings are taught that we have a spiritual enemy who hates us and constantly seeks to lead us down a path to destruction—i.e. rebellion against God. In fact, we don’t have just one spiritual enemy but a whole host of them! Paul writes, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Could we ever hope to achieve our mission to establishing Christs agenda of righteousness over every sphere of life without taking on the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms who claim this world as their own? We have to start by putting on our armor. This episode explains what it means to put on the belt of truth.

Episode Summary: The resurrection reminds us that the gospel is not just about our personal, private salvation and growth in holiness (which is called the two-chapter gospel.) Such a gospel leads to separating from the lost, forgetting their inherent value as those created in God’s image, and devaluing the contributions they make to our culture. In contrast, the resurrection of Christ’s physical body reminds us that the true gospel story has four chapters: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Christ-followers are called to be part of the greatest mission in the history of the world, Christ’s renewal of our corner of planet earth to bring about the righteousness and flourishing that God intends for each part of his creation. This episode seeks to capture our hearts with the greatness of the mission our Lord has assigned to us.Resources Used:  All Things New by Hugh WhelchelThe Call of the Jericho Road by Tim KellerDiscipling Men’s Hearts Through Kingdom Theology by Gary Yagel (doctoral dissertation)

This episode begins a series, entitled, “Stable Leadership In Uncertain Times.”  Effective leaders understand the big-picture perspective of their mission, so that they can prevent their followers from being overwhelmed by discouraging setbacks or temporary road blocks, but, instead, stay motivated to pursue their mission. To be the best spiritual leaders we can, this episode’s goal is to help us form a crystal clear picture of what it means to lead our families to pursue Jesus’ top priority: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Matt 6:33). 

In times of trial like our current coronavirus pandemic, one of the truths that most strengthens me is not just God’s sovereignty but God’s compassion towards those who suffer. Though my mind may not be able to grasp the reason for God allowing this pandemic, my brain can grasp the overwhelming proof of God’s compassionate nature in Scripture. This episode zooms in to view that evidence and in so doing seeks empower us to lead the way in our homes and churches in expressing that same compassion to the hurting, frightened, needy people who are all around us. 

This episode helps men take steps to accomplish the top priority of their mission—loving God well. By strengthening our love relationship with Christ, we become the man of spiritual strength that those around us can lean on. Our love for God grows the more we get to know him—and so we look today at one of God’s attributes called, God’s MAJESTY. This perfection of God reminds us that he is the High King and what a privilege it is to know and serve him as his subjects. God’s MAJESTY also points to his greatness. This episode digs into Isaiah 40, where God reveals the greatness of 1) his wisdom and knowledge, 2) his control over the events of this world, 3) his sheer might, 4) his ability to strengthen us. You can not remain lukewarm in your love for God, when you understand his MAJESTY. 

In this episode, we consider ways to lead our homes well during this Corona virus crisis. It begins with caring for the emotional needs of our wives by helping them process their feelings, strongly partnering with them to address our children’s fears, the extra pressures of having the kids home all day, and the opportunity to love our others well during the crisis, especially the elderly. Leadership also requires us to refute the argument that might erode our children’s faith—that a good god would never allow the Corona virus. Our leadership should also include seizing the opportunity to reach out to the lost around us, listening to them well, not feeling the need to explain how the Corona virus is part of God’s good plan, but rather seeking the opportunity to share how our Christian faith  delivers to us both God’s personal comfort and confidence about the future. Two resources were especially helpful in this material, The Reason for God, by Tim Keller, and Questioning Evangelism, by Randy Newman. Here is the link to the printed version of this episode.