The other day, I received a video from a ministry that specializes in Men’s Adventure Challenge Weekends. It was well-made and shows what can happen when men are placed in an exotic environment and then stretched to the breaking point. They are challenged physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and the men involved may reach a turning point that helps them break free of a pile of the crap that they are carrying in their lives. It is a necessary thing to go through. A good thing. Every man needs to experience it...
 
But what's next? What follows an experience like that?
 
A certain organization came out of the States and held huge rallies in stadiums all across this great country of ours. The men were encouraged. The men were inspired to make promises that they would be good men of God. And they were... for a time. But, after being home for a while, there was nothing for them.
 
Some men had men's groups which they attended. That kept them accountable; kept them connected. But again, it wasn't enough. The churches saw this. And, as the American promoters faded and the newly established Canadian organization explored better options, those churches declared that those rallies weren't enough, and they froze out Promise Keepers even to this day. Sadly, to their discredit. (Promise Keepers Canada is a fantastic organization for men and their churches.)
 
This particular Adventure Weekend ministry to men through men is excellent. Promise Keepers' annual men's conferences, and Iron Sharpens Iron for that matter, are excellent. The weekly ministry to men through the local church - the Bible study, the fellowship, sharing and prayer – all these are excellent, but still they are not enough. A man – a good man – feels incomplete.
 
Perhaps you see it. The Adventure Weekend is predicated upon it. Men must be doers. They must be actively doing something that puts shoe-leather... sorry, rubber-soles to their faith. Thinking, reading, contemplating, planning and dreaming are powerful for a man, but they must have their outlet. They must have a purpose beyond building the man on the inside. Men want action and they want a challenge and they want that challenge to be beyond their own capabilities... beyond their comfort zone. That's what the Adventure Weekend does for a man.
 
Honestly, I do the same thing, but I do it on a weekly basis, and I do it by getting men focused on God's Mission to take the Gospel to all people. I do it through Christian Service Brigade, and Christian Service Brigade focuses on the boys and young men in our churches, neighbourhoods and communities. There is no greater call than to be the instrument that God uses to reach someone for Jesus Christ. That's what CSB does. We give a man an impossible task. We give him the tools and resources, the framework and training, the opportunity and responsibility. And, we trust that his church will give him the authority and accountability. And we watch that man’s faith grow. We throw him into the deep-end and watch him sink to his knees and desperately pray to God for answers to things way beyond his own strength.
 
The Adventure Challenge Weekend is condensing much of this into a few days. Excellent – every man needs this. But every man also needs more than this. He needs a mission; marching orders from God that give him a daily reminder of Who he serves and Who is watching his every step. I know that seeing God in my life every day keeps me closer to Him. I know that going to church every Thursday evening to build boys in their walk with Christ has kept me on the straight and narrow. That's what it's all about: obeying God in doing what He commands and discovering that it is also for our very best.
 
Okay, I will get off my soapbox now, but this is the point...
 

• Every man needs to get away from it all to break through to his inner self. This is an inward focus.
• Every man needs to meet together at a national men's conference to see beyond himself and to discover the greater ministry of God. This is an outward focus.
• Every man needs a weekly local men's group Bible study where he can share, be filled with the Word, reflect on his walk with God, and find accountability. This is an inward focus.
• Every man needs a weekly ministry that puts him in the front-lines of God's battle to save the lost; a task beyond his abilities, a task which he can grow into. This is an outward focus.

 
The Adventure Challenge Weekend ministry addresses something needed at the beginning of a man’s journey. Working in ministry within the church on a weekly basis, especially working with boys, addresses that journey’s culmination, at least at that particular stage in life.

Find that mission to which God is calling you.

My mother passed into the presence of the Lord recently and we buried her a few days later. It was a good service that allowed our family to share precious memories and to bring together treasured mementoes. My father's Bible was one of these.
    He died over 25 years ago, leaving my mother a widow at 60 years of age. She kept his Bible as her own and treasured his highlighting and notes. She never added anything more to it.
    As I organized some of the things after her memorial, my father's Bible caught my attention. Surely it was something to investigate. I had leafed through it years ago, but I sensed this reading would be different; more of a conclusion.
    The cover of the Bible is cracked and torn. The zipper has lost its stitching in many places. The smell of the old leather is delicious.
    It was printed by the John C Winston Company out of Philadelphia. There is no publishing date, but clues suggest that it was printed in the late 1940's; around the time of my father’s wedding to Mum. That would make him just over 21 years old; barely a man in those days. In my exploration, I found it interesting to see what was important to him as a man...
    Most of his underlining is in Proverbs and much of it focused on the foolishness of pursuing loose women, the wickedness of the world and the benefits of the virtuous wife. 
    He was a young man who had just been married, so of course, he was concerned about what was important. His mother had died a few weeks before his wedding. His father had been gone for six years. Who was my father going to ask about being a good man and a good husband? Well obviously, someone came along and pointed him to God's Word. 
    His underlining was done with a ruler and a red pencil. It was done with precision. He even underlined the chain references in the centre column and then underlined the referenced verses themselves. It is fairly obvious what his concerns were as a young man growing to maturity in a fallen world with all its temptations. These were the very same concerns that I had at his age, and that my son had as he prepared for married life. We were three generations, but I know that we weren’t so different.
    Consider a few of his highlighted verses:
     “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.” Proverbs 5:3-5. The chain reference took him to Ecclesiastes 7:2, where he underlined, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” I can understand how these two verses would affect him. Essentially, they told him to give up the sin and not to worry about being sad at its loss, for it’s the way to life.
    The very next highlighting is in the same chapter of Proverbs, verse 19, but let me begin with the preceding verse, “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.” Wow. In the very same chapter, God was telling him to reject the wicked woman and to cherish his wife. My father was learning to be a better man – a Godly man. He lived it throughout his life.
    He goes on to underline dozens of verses in Proverbs and then more throughout his Bible. At the end of the Revelation, he underlines, “And he said unto me, ‘These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.’” (Rev 22:6). He then highlights two more verses in the same chapter. Verse 11: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” And verse 15: “For without (for outside) are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
    These are words that resonate with me and frankly with all men. We know that Jesus is coming again; that He will make everything right with the world. But in the meantime, things are crap. We are stuck in a world that hates us, and hates the good that we do and the ideals to which we aspire. So, let the world be a dung heap – it’s not our responsibility – and let us focus on keeping our ways pure. That’s enough. Well, it’s enough to begin with. Then we can see where God wants to take us. This is the heart of men’s ministry.
    There is something very special about my father's Bible. It’s a study in itself. I can see it being more than a blog posting, but where is the time? Hmmm…

A man is defined by his character and a man’s character is established by what he does. It’s no great leap in logic to understand that manhood is defined by action… so what are you doing?
 
In churches all across Canada, men are thinking about this coming season. For some, it’s a question of what they will be doing, but for most, it is a question of if they will be doing anything at all. A good body of believers finds ways to engage its men. How is the health of men’s ministry in your church?
 
As good Christian men, we know that we don’t do enough, we never measure up, and we are always looking for something better. It gets in the way of actually accomplishing much at all. God called us to greatness as broken vessels, as His yet unfinished works. He hones us, polishes us as we do His will. We’ve got dents and scratches and torn upholstery. If we were cars, our engines would be either over-revving or barely turning over.  But, we are men and as long as we are moving forward, our Lord wants to do something with us. His will is that we “…motivate one another to acts of love and good work. And (to) not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT). So, what are you doing with your church in fulfilling this Call?
 
Now is the time to plan for the coming year. Encourage your men’s group to get active, to add another engaging activity that will draw in other men. If you don’t have a men’s group, find a buddy and do something – a movie, a meal or a project; something that you can invite one other guy to join in with… and then another and another. Establish a ministry of your church for your community. Be the mentors of the next generations of Christian manhood, from the boys just entering grade school to the young men graduating college to the family man with the new born child. Show these guys what it means to be a real man, a God-driven man.
 
And be sure to prepare before going into action: build yourself through Bible study and times of prayer. Preparation for battle is essential. And enlist the services of others. God’s Calling is not in isolation; He is calling others just as He is calling you.
 
So, as the Lord reminds us in 1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV), “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” What are you doing in acting like men of God?

You know what they say, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. And yet, as Christians who are doggedly serving our great King, seeking His direction and asking for His protection and blessing, how do we accept mistakes? I made a mistake. I mapped out my workload for the summer, from June through August and I knew when I had to take care of the details for several projects. Oh, the production has been excellent, and I’ve hit a lot more marks than I’ve missed. But, I have missed.

How, Lord? How can this be? Was I not diligent in taking care of even the smallest details? Didn’t I go out of my way to ensure that I was working according to the needs of others, rather than expecting them to work to mine? Was I not sacrificing? Was I not sacrificing enough? Honestly, Lord, was there anything more that I could have given?

Yes, it’s been a busy summer and I made a mistake that has really goofed up my timing for a big project. I was closely monitoring that project’s timing all the way. Everything was where it should be. In fact, there was nothing that I could do to make it better. Yes, I could have changed the order of things around. I could have prioritized things differently, but it really wouldn’t have changed anything.

It comes down to this: I made a mistake and things aren’t where they should be, and there is nothing that I could have done to avoid it.

Right now, I have several friends and associates who are looking for work. Through no fault of their own; in fact, I suspect that each of them was doing his utmost for his employer, and yet… through no fault of their own, they are out on their ears; no job and few prospects. They must have done something wrong; made some sort of mistake. Otherwise, how could they be in this situation?

God's Word – how quickly we forget its power – His Word says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” That’s from the good old King James, but almost all the popular translations say the same thing.

In my youth, I used to focus primarily on the first part of that passage – “for good, to them that love God.” Hey, that was me. Still is. But, now that second part takes on a lot more prominence, “to those who are called according to his purpose.” His Purpose. Not mine, but His.

Is that why I’ve failed? Wait a minute… Is that why I’ve made a mistake? Because, I wasn’t working or “called” according to His Purpose? I wondered about that for a minute, but no longer. I know beyond any shadow of doubt that I’m where He wants me. Hey, I see His blessings. And, yet I made a mistake that will impact His mission.

Am I nuts? “Impact His mission?” Not a chance. He saw this coming from before creation. He has had His Purpose in it long before He breathed life into the project. He has it well in hand.

I read the rest of that chapter today – Romans 8:28-39. There’s no convenient place to stop reading, so I invite you to read the entire chapter for yourself, but I’d like to share a little more of it out of the English Standard Version: “ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
     “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”...      There is more; read it for yourself.

Guys… There comes a point where we have to say, “It is His Work.” I have done… we have done all that is possible, or reasonable. Jesus could have arrived in time to save Lazarus from dying. God could have led me - He could lead you - to do something different. We can put our mistakes down to our weakness as people, but He knows them better than we do. He takes them into account. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect (ya, Matthew 5:28 – be perfect, as He is perfect). He expects us to lean on Him.

Lord, I’m leaning.  Take my mistakes and turn them into something that will demonstrate Your Glory. It’s all about You, Lord. I am weak, but in You, I am strong. Lord, place me in the centre of Your Will and may You be glorified. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Men are dangerous.

Christian men are unpredictably dangerous. What do you do with guys whose allegiance is to Someone who can’t be seen or heard; Someone who by His very nature wants people to live “by faith”? Christ-following men – men who read God’s Word, who spend time with God in prayer and who are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit – are dangerous, because you can’t know where the Lord is taking them… but you can trust them.

Imagine the poor pastor who has given his trust to his men. Those guys go and have a men’s ministry meeting and all of a sudden, they are coming to him with this grand plan to do this or that. He cups his face in his hands and slowly shakes his head. The real problem is that for all the pitfalls, these guys will pull it off. He knows their hearts and sees them seeking God in all of it, and yes, they are going to stumble and fall, but they are learning to obey their Heavenly Father. How bad can that be?

Well, pretty bad. Too often we give our trust without doing the due-diligence. The pastor, elder, deacon overseer doesn’t actually get to know his men. He stands with them but from afar. He sees what they do but doesn’t know who they are. He’d like to get to know them better, but hasn’t got the time. And when it comes to building relationships with men, it’s all about investing your time with them.

Men bond while doing things together. Whether it’s cooking a church breakfast, serving on the worship team, doing church maintenance, working on a church committee or serving in ministry, men are building relationships. They don’t even have to talk to each other. Put them in the same room doing something and they are measuring each other. They are watching how the other guy accomplishes his task. Is he diligent to the details? Is he taking shortcuts? Is he putting in 110%? Is his conversation God-honouring? Is he frustrated? Does he follow through on what he says? Men measure each other in weird ways, but get them together doing something and they are building relationships.

That’s why pastors and church leaders need to spend time with their men – they will come to understand them. And, with understanding comes trust, and with trust comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes opportunity, and with opportunity comes authority, and with authority comes creativity, and with creativity there must be accountability. Great leaps forward in the Church, be it locally or globally, happen because those in authority trust those they lead. Men want and need this trust.

Christian men are unpredictably dangerous, but they need to be trusted because the Lord God Almighty is working through them to establish His Kingdom in ways we can’t even understand.

And, what does this mean for CSB and Iron Sharpens Iron? Well, CSB is the perfect training ground for men who are establishing their credibility within their congregations and with their leaders. Give men five years of ministering to boys and you’ll have men who can minister to anyone.

As for ISI, it’s a food court for men seeking spiritual nourishment. It builds the man as it builds his relationship with peers from his own congregation. It is doing something important together. Men bond when doing something together. And they build on this to accomplish the plans God has for them. And this builds the Church and the local congregation.

Men are a force to be harnessed and released. Now that’s a dangerous notion.

It’s Good Friday. Last night, my Lord was taken away. He gave no resistance.

Today, He has been paraded between groups of “authorities”, beaten and abused by every one. He will be condemned to death, nailed to a cross and left to hang with common thieves.

In the mid-afternoon, He will die in agony.

And, where was I? Where would I be if I had been there two millennia ago? Like each of those followers, like each of those men, like each of those women, I’d be somewhere... alone. Where was Peter, brave Peter? He was lying to protect his sorry butt. Where was John? In the shadows avoiding all recognition? Where was Judas? All alone; running from the consequences of his actions. Everyone else? Well, they were drifting back to Jesus; watching from afar. Some stood at the cross. He will soon be dead. And, His followers will drift again.

Where would I be?

This is my day of reflection – the day I consider the cost of Christ’s punishment and death. Those were my crimes for which He paid. Those were my sins – vile sins of rejecting God’s goodness and seeking my own faulty way; the way that in itself leads to death.

I will mope around the house today. No Good Friday Service for me. There never has been one. I don’t want to be with people. I don’t want to sing songs of joy that anticipate Sunday’s resurrection. This is my day to be alone, to consider the cost of my sins; the cost that the very Son of God willingly paid. Beaten and whipped – I caused that. Mocked and spat upon – I caused that. Nailed to the cross – I caused that. Dead – I caused that.

Where would I have been? I wonder, amazed.

Now I know that He is mine, I am His forever,
He is leading me along life's way;
He'll be holding to my hand when I cross death's river,
He will take the sting of death away…
     He will take the sting of death away.
         (“I am His and He is Mine” by GT Speer, 1965)

"Fine, Lord, I'll serve."

At the beginning, it was a wholehearted, enthusiastic, unrestrained, "Yes, Lord. All for You, Jesus. All for You!!!" Now, I'm 'older'; the passion, the drive and the enthusiasm are all still there, but the realities of life are crowding in. What have I really accomplished?

That's the point - I'm not 'called' by the Lord to 'accomplish' anything. That's His Work; I'm just called to serve. So, here He is, calling me again, to step into something new - a blog.

Oh brother, who would ever want to read my idle ramblings? Well, it has to start somewhere, and it has to start with someone, so it might as well be me. I am being called to write this blog... for you, for me, and for the Lord Jesus Christ. (Lord, You did hear me ask, "Why me, right?") So, while I don't rightly know what 'it' is, I am responding affirmatively.

What about you? Are you called to serve? Forget about this crazy idea that by becoming a Christian, you became a volunteer for whatever some 'authority' has in mind for you. If you know Christ, then you've been CALLED to serve HIM. He has put a burning desire in your heart to do something for Him. What is it for you? What gets you fired up for God? ARE YOU DOING IT?

It took me three years to make my initial 'big' leap of faith. I was raised as a conservative Baptist, but I heard God asking me long after my delayed commitment, "What did I (God) lose while you (Howard) waited to respond to MY Calling?"

Guys, don't wait. Don't delay things. There is no one else to do the things that are uniquely yours. (I'm no theologian, but I know the Bible backs this up - sorry, no chapter and verse; every Christian is supposed to know this.) Get on with your calling - as you are called. Not too little, and not too much. Walk side-by-side with the Lord as you do His Work and you will receive the crowns that He's set aside just for you.

And, sooner or later, you'll be wondering just like I do, "Why me?" Dare I be so bold to answer in His place? Because He loves you and wants to do GREAT things through you! It's that simple.

You are CALLED.

- Howard