I would say “Maybe it is just me” but after years spent working with men in churches I know I am not the only one who feels this way.  You know the feeling;  Everyone is getting together to pray and you are thinking, “I hope this doesn’t last long so we can actually get out and do something useful.”  No?  Just me?  Riiiiight.

Prayer is something that to many people, particularly men, seems impractical, I would almost be as honest as to say a waste of time.  I am not saying that it is a waste of time , of course, but I often have to fight to keep myself from thinking that way.  It is a sign of my sinful arrogance and self reliance.  Why should I bother God when I can take care of part of it or all of it myself.  Perhaps I am not thinking big enough or perhaps I think to highly of myself.

You Actually Have to Pray | TheResurgence.

I love the quote in this section from Martin Luther “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”  I don’t act on it but I think it is sound.  I have found that if I am to pray I must do it first, if I do not do it first thing I will not do it at all.  I always have time for the things I put first, it is just unfortunate that I do not always look at prayer as something that actually needs to go first.  I usually look at it as a formality but not as

Prayer is the Priority | The Resurgence

There is a rumour amongst charismatic Christians that praying is only really worthwhile if the Holy Spirit leads you to pray (and by this they mean that you already feel like praying). Jesus was much more straightforward: he told the disciples that the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41).

As a recovering Charismatic this really resonates with me.  Prayer has always been one of the places I have struggled in my walk because I assumed, much like the quote says, that it will be a leading of the Spirit that will make it easier.  But is appears more and more that it is only through actually doing that things become easier.  It isn’t helped that in most of the Charismatic circles I have run in no one ever admits their faults.  So, while they tell the stories of getting up to pray every morning at 4:00am they don’t tell you how much they hated it.  This year my wife and I have been rising early to read out Bible and pray as a couple and it has become easier but I am still not satisfied.

Prayer is Rigorous | the Resurgence

Warning: this article is more for me than public consumption.  I want to come back to study this point but don’t have time at the moment.

Leviticus gets a bad wrap as far I am I concerned.  Sure, it is one of the few books full of do’s and don’ts but it also shows just the depth of depravity humans will stoop to.  It is a kind of snapshot of the troubles with all humanity.  After all there were and still are in some occasions,really people looking to do the things God forbid.

But one passage I really struggled with was the passage of the death of Nadab and Abihu.  They were the sons of Aaron who offered up unauthorized or strange fire before the Lord.   As a result of not following God’s prescription for his own worship they were struck down instantly.

This passage is a major proof text for those who believe in what is called the Regulatory Principle.  If you aren’t familiar with the Regulatory Principle of Worship it is summerized in the idea that the Bible tell us explicitly how we are to worship God and implicitly excludes everything else.  So if the Bible doesn’t say it we can’t do it.  Taken to the extreme this would mean we can sing only the psalms, and can not sing the name of Jesus.

I really don’t know much past that and while I don’t believe it is a sin to sing the name of my savior I do wonder if there is still a particular way in which God desires to be worshiped?  I always seem to be writing in a hurry and I wish I had more time to study these types of things out.

Everyone has heard of Mardi Gras but how many of us know that it is connected to Lent and the Christian Tradition?  I best most people don’t make the connection.

You know spending most of my walk with the Lord in modern Evagelical churches I was never really taught much about older traditions in the Church.  Having gone to a Lutheran church when I was first saved I have at least heard some of the titles.

Today is Ash Wednesday, it marks the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a traditional time of preparation, via repentance, prayer, alms giving and self-denial, for the Holy Week and celebration or Easter or Resurrection Sunday.  Mardi Gras literally “Fat Tuesday” was the last chance to eat the rich fatty foods before a period of fasting.  A sort of “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” kind of day.

Most people think of Lent as the 40 days before Easter but many denominations count these times differently. (See this article for more information)  No matter the duration you observe the purpose should be the same.

No matter which way you choose to observe the season it is a wonderful experience.   The years when I have taken is seriously it has been an enriching time of growth.   Take some prayerful time to consider what God would have you to do to observe Lent and prepare for the Holiest of day in the Christian year.

There are traditionally three types of Justice to be observed in the Lenten Season: Justice to God, yourself, and others.

(God)Dedicate more time to prayer by giving up: TV, Video Games, sleep or something else that takes up your time.

(Self)What can you do?  Many people give up a certain type of food: meat, red meat, caffeine, candy and sweets.

(Others)Dedicate the money you save in doing these thing to give away to others, your local church, homeless shelter or other ministry.

There is nothing more humbling than having to repent to your two and four year old.

Not twenty four hours after I spent the day at a Conference dedicated to helping Men be more Godly I snapped at both of my little girls and my wife in major way.  I will be completely honest and let you know I have a temper.  It usually takes a lot to push me to the point where I snap but when I do it is embarrassing.

Sunday afternoon I snapped and startled both of my little girls.  They were crying and I was mortified.  I went downstairs and took them in my arms as I asked them to forgive me.  I explained, more to my oldest, that I had sinned in my anger and I was wrong.  She answered the way she always does, “It is OK daddy, I forgive you” I then asked her to pray for me that God would help me to control my temper.

I hope in this way my daughters can see that I am a sinful imperfect human being saved by the grace of God just as they are.  I hope to model repentance to them but maybe not about the same things all the time.

Thoughts?

I am live blogging from the Act Like Men conference from Veritas Community Church.  Check out the live feed.

It is kicking off with awesome worship 300 men singing unto the Lord. (no prom love songs here)

Pastor Brad is welcoming the crowd, today is going to be a day of speaking to men as men.

I love Joe Byler’s Worship we hit the old hymns and sing song that are perfect for men, they sing of the power and love of God in a way that doesn’t make me feel  like I am Jesus’ Boyfriend.

No Guilt of life

no fear in death

This is the powe of Christ in me

From life’s first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny.

The call from scriptures is not to get in touch with your feminine side, we don’t have one.  It is a call to true manhood that we are called to.  Our idea of man hood has been shattered by sin.

Life working against you is an opportunity to see God’s grace because you now understand how you are working against him when he tries to work in your life. — Dan Montgomery

Dan Montgomery makes a good point that without proper church discipline you will never challenge men properly to rise up.  You will build a culture of passivity or sin because as long as you aren’t doing anything obviously sinful you are OK.

You must start to think differently about how you use your time.

@nicknye made the point that you can not confuse efforts with results and that he sometimes make the mistake of confusing business to commitment.

Now hitting the Q&A for the first time.  We are hearing from some awesome men on how to practically live as men.

How can you be masculine without offending women, because when you are a Godly man you are easy to follow.

Too many men are preoccupied with find a wife and not thinking about becoming a man — Dan Montgomery

All right not on to how to act like men in your family.

Many men have selfish reasons for getting married and having children.

See @jasonrfisher for all other updates.  Or see my witter round up tomorrow.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”
1 Corinthians 16:13

Act Like Men is a one-day conference in Columbus, Ohio that exists to rally and challenge men to live into Paul’s call for Gospel transformation in every aspect of their lives. This event features local and national speakers addressing what it means to Act Like Men. Key topics will include: personal responsibility and leadership in their homes, families, churches and culture; Godly use of time, finances and resources.

As any of my friends will tell you I have a certain passion for seeing males stop being boys and start acting like men.  I helped to start a site dedicated to looking at why men hate going to church and how we can more affectively minister to men in this way.

Act like Men will kick off tomorrow at 9.  I will be tweeting and doing some live blogging although I am a volunteer so I hope I can have the time to write as well.  If you are interested there is a live video stream being set up.  Just tune in early (9:00am EST) and you can hear 400 men worshiping the LORD in a serious way.

Closing out Genesis is always bitter sweet when I read the Bible.  I know that I have made a big step but I also know the rest of the Pentateuch isn’t nearly as interesting.

There are several interesting stories at the end of Genesis.  And I wanted to talk about Joseph and his trials.  Who was responsible for the things that happened to Joseph?  Were his brothers solely responsible?  Was God in charge the whole time and caused or allowed Joseph to be treated the way he was.  If so will his brothers be held responsible for their actions, after all they were simply doing God’s will right?

I don’t know if I am qualified to answer these questions but they are things that come to my mind as I read these passages.

Particularly Genesis 50

Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

The Bible clearly states that God intended this, now as always when quoting a quote you can make the argument that Joseph said it and the Bible records it accurately but it may not be ultimately true.

But God, being sovereign, us in ultimate control of even human sin isn’t he?  After all he didn’t just hope that Jesus would be crucified but planned it from the foundations of the world.  The greatest sin ever committed, the murder of the holy Son of God, was ordained by the sovereign God of the universe right?

So it all boils down to how much control God has over the universe.  We call him sovereign but then say he can or will not work against human free will, which makes man sovereign doesn’t it?  I hope to someday work out my thoughts on the sovereignty of God but this isn’t the day.

Any thoughts?