Mission Focused Men for Christ

Many of our podcast listeners know Romans 8:28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. By faith, we claim this verse during difficult times. But we miss tremendous power to cope well with the trials that God ordains for us if we stop reading Romans 8 at vs 28. It is vs 29 that tells us what god’s purpose for us is: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. God’s purpose is that we become Christ-like. This episode examines two verses from Romans 8 to find wisdom and strength for our mission, making four observations. It then suggests and illustrates three practical steps to take when facing trials.

Today’s podcast addresses our first, and highest calling—TO BUILD AND ENJOY A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, HIMSELF. Jesus told us the greatest commandment was, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). This podcast explains why fulfilling this part of our mission is absolutely foundational for our lives and how to grow to love God well. 

In America, this is Memorial Day Weekend when we celebrate those who have given their last, fullest measure of devotion to secure and protect our freedom. The honor we give to such countrymen and women for their devotion to their mission reminds me of some of Paul’s words as he neared the end of his mission. He wrote: As for me, I feel that the last drops of my life are being poured out for God. The glorious fight that God gave me I have fought. The course that I was set I have finished, and I have kept the faith. The future for me holds the crown of righteousness which God, the true judge, will give to those who have loved what they have seen of him (2 Tim 4:6-8 J.B. Phillips)Everyone listening to this podcast wants to be able to look back upon his life and say, The glorious fight that God gave me I have fought. I have not been AWOL (absent without leave). I have not been a deserter. I have not been so busy with civilian life that I forgot to report for duty. I went into battle and I fought the spiritual enemies of my loved ones and my Lord on the battlefield that was assigned to me. This episode looks at why Paul was able to say that about his own life. 

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).