Man Up

Steve Smith was a professional golfer for many years. Steve says that when you’re coaching, your job is to fix people’s behavior. In his first golf lesson, Steve shows a beginner how to hold the club. They always say, “that feels really strange.” A coach’s job is to break bad habits. As Tom Landry coach of the Dallas Cowboys said, “I get men to do what they don’t want to do, so that they can achieve what they’ve always wanted.”

Steve met Craig at Influencers Irvine. Steve was looking for what he was missing at mens’ group ministries he had attended. At that first Influencers meeting Steve heard the soft spoken call of God that said, “Son, you’re home.” Even though Steve lives in Palos Verdes he drives to Fullerton every week to fellowship with our Influencers band of brothers.

Some “politically correct” secularists consider the phrase “Man Up” a call to toxic masculinity. Extreme Feminists would say that the term “toxic masculinity” is redundant. The bible says that the world calls good evil and evil good. One of the themes of influencers is that as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake, for great are your rewards in heaven. To experience true fellowship with our Lord, we must enter into the fellowship of His suffering.

Sales trainers say, “failure is not an option.” This is also what coaches tell their athletes. Steve’s calling to “Man Up” was when God told him to reach his “Hand Up.” Our first response must be to give all to God….casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you. We can either depend on our own pride and our own sufficiency or we can come to the realization that He alone is our sufficiency in all things. “Hands up, I surrender” is not what the world teaches. However when we surrender to him we will understand that “thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.”

What was history’s greatest moment of surrender? The greatest moment of surrrender was when Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, “let this cup (of wrath, sin and death) pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” When Jesus surrendered to his Father’s will at the cross, he became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

To Man Up is to press toward the mark of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. According to Philippians 3:13-14, 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (already attained): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high (upward) calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

To Man Up also means to set our affection on things above and not on the things of the world. Jesus said, “Don’t treasure treasures upon earth where moth and rust corrupts and thieves break through and steal. Instead treasure treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

What does it look like to Man Up? One attribute of manning up is that our strength is in God. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength…” Isaiah 49 says, “he gives power to the faint and to them who have no might he increases strength.”

Another attribute is perseverance. Colossians 1:11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”. James 1:1-4 says “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

A third attribute is integrity, 2 Corinthians 8:21 says “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” According to Psalm 41:12, “And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.”

Overcoming is another characteristic of manning up. Who is he that overcomes the world? 1 John 5:4-5 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Another aspect of manning up is to do what is needed. According to James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Galatians 3:9 says, and be not weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. James 4:17 says, he who knows to do right and doesn’t do it. To him it is sin.

It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that when we sin, we can man up and hand it to him. Manning up is to surrender our will to his will and our ability to his ability. Romans 13:14 says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” On our own we can do nothing. To man up means that God is our sufficiency in all things.

We all have two fathers. One is our earthly father or the father figure who taught us the Word of God. Steve’s father in the Word said Give up and Give everything to God. God is our Heavenly Father who loves us and will never forsake us. When we man up by surrendering our will to his will we will understand these lyrics of an old hymn:
Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand, Imprison me within thine arms and free shall be my stand.

God exhorts us to Man Up and rise up as men of God. And in so doing may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael

Fellowship of His Suffering

We’re all on a journey to intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ. As men of God, our heart’s desire is to become just like our master. When we answered his call to salvation, we received his righteousness for Jesus Christ who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. According to Romans 8, “who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? ….Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Therefore, according to Psalm 134, BEHOLD, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. 2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. 3. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.”

Most people pray for God’s blessings. As a loving Heavenly Father, he is delighted when we approach his throne of grace…he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The greater blessing is not when we ask him to bless us but rather when we bless the Blessor. Only because of His love can we bless the Lord in return. Therefore bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name!

The world will tell us that suffering, trial and pain are a cursing and not a blessing. However, Philippians 3 says, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”

Paul wrote these words from a Roman prison. According to Philippians 1:29, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”. James 1 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

According to 2 Timothy 3:16, correction is God’s way of restoring us to an upright position. Therefore by His correction through trials we will know the meaning of patience. Through patience, we will understand God’s character. Billy Graham wrote a book called “Peace With God.” When Pete read about the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22 as a young Christian, he began to understand the meaning of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self control. It’s one thing to read these words, it’s another to understand these things through the fellowship of his sufferings.

Pete was playing triple A ball for the Detroit Tigers when they summoned him to the managers’ office. They said, “we’ve sold you to another team. While sitting on the bench with his new team Pete was called up to pinch hit. He thought that this would be a good opportunity to get a hit and move up to the starting lineup. The Red’s pitcher struck him out. That night Pete was reading from Hebrews 12. The Lord disciplines every child he loves. God said to Pete, “you know how to be an all star, but you don’t know how to sit on the bench, cheer for the guy ahead of you to encourage him and to cheer for his success. You’ll learn humility by sitting on the bench. On the bench, I’ll build my character in you.”

A man of God is built through the trials and tribulations of life. Oswald Chambers’ devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” is about deep water Christianity. He is our life preserver in the deep water. On November 1, the devotional is from 1 Corinthians 6:19 that says, “Ye are not your own.” God will break up the private lives of his saints and will make them a thoroughfare for the world to tread upon. As the apostle Paul said, we are God’s epistles, his love letters known and read of all men.

The testing of our faith works patience according to Romans 5. No human can stand being a thoroughfare for the world unless his strength is in his Lord Jesus Christ. According to Bonhoeffer, when Jesus bids us come, he bids us come and die. We must die to self in order to live for him.

When Suzan’s brain cancer was discovered, God said to Pete and Suzan, either this trial will be the greatest tragedy of your lives or this will be your finest hour. Through the trials of life, He will teach us that as Suzan said, “Joy is not the absence of pain. Rather, joy is the presence of the Lord.”

When things happen over which we have no control, we can either be a hinderance and a clog in God’s redemptive plan or we can be a part of his plan to redeem His people as ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God gives us a choice through trials to listen to the voice of the adversary or to trust in him. When Pete and Suzan lost their infant son shortly after birth, a pastor friend called Pete and asked, “Are you living in the joy of the Lord.”

Oswald Chambers says that during times of trial and tribulation, he will reach down to us with the grip of his son’s nailed pierced hands. He’ll say, “come unto me, Arise and shine. Thank God for breaking our hearts for what breaks his.” The question is, “are we more interested in our own comfort or in the furtherance of the gospel?”

Therefore thank God for molding us and making us after his will. When we’re gracefully broken, He’ll pick up the treads of our broken hearts and weave them together again. When we’re tested and tried, we will be approved of God. As Paul said, I press toward the mark of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus… And when I have finished my course, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness that he has reserved for all who love his appearing.

Through the fellowship of His suffering, may we rise and shine, that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael

The Fellowship of His Suffering

Psalm 134 says, “BEHOLD, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. 2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. 3. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.”

It’s appropriate to ask the Lord for his blessings. However, it’s even better to bless the Lord. To bless means to hallow or consecrate by word or by divine help. It’s only by God’s grace and power that we can approach the throne of grace to bless the Lord. The greater blessing is to seek the Blessor instead of the blessing.

A Gift is that which is voluntarily given freely and without merit. Gifts are always of grace, not of works. God has given us spiritual gifts richly to enjoy so that we can have the capacity to bless him in return.

One of the paradoxes in the Christian life is that tribulation and pressure is a blessing. In Philippians Paul writing from a Roman prison said, it’s a gift to be able to suffer for Christ’s sake. According to Romans 5, For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given to us. James 1 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

According to James 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” Once a man has been approved through the trials of life, he shall receive a crown of life.

Endurance produces character and integrity. Through endurance we’ll come to understand who we are and more importantly whose we are.

When we think that we’re worthy of praise, God will humble us. God disciplines and corrects us because we’re his children and he’s a loving father. The problem with discipline is that it hurts. Through discipline we’ll understand the value of quiet grace.

Pete recalls that while he played triple A baseball, he thought that he should be in the starting lineup. However, there are things we will learn on the bench that we would never learn as an all-star. On the bench we’ll learn Character. When we’re humble, we will know our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of his suffering. When the Lord calls a man he bids us “come and die.” Unless we die to self we cannot learn to live unto him.

Discipline and correction trains up a child in the way that he should go. Then when a child is older he will not depart from it. Correction means to “restore to an upright position.” Sometimes it hurts to be straightened, but when tribulation has her perfect work we will be perfect and entire wanting nothing.

Bully Graham wrote a book called “Peace with God.” When Pete read this book as a young Christian, he came to the part that described the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. These are the character traits of living according to God’s will empowered by His gift of the Holy Spirit.

Sitting on the bench produces opportunities to trust in the Lord. These times of reflection help us to connect the dots to understand God’s purpose for our lives. According to the November 1 devotion from Oswald Chambers/ book “My Utmost for His Highest,” “Know ye not that ye are not your own.” We have been invited into the fellowship of his sufferings. Galatians 2:20 says, For I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The politically correct say that if you profess Jesus Christ, you’re guilty of hate speech. To love Christ is to hate the things of this world. God will break up our private lives when we stand for his word. Our lives become a thoroughfare for others to tread upon. Our identity in Christ allows us to bear up under suffering. Through the trials of life God will allow us to confess as Jesus did on the cross when they drove the nails through his hands: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Pete recalls that enduring the pain of Suzan’s suffering with terminal brain cancer, was the most precious and loving time of their forty nine years of marriage. Pete agonized as he injected medication into Suzan’s abdomen. She smiled as he administered these painful injections. Suzan reminded Pete, “Joy is not the absence of pain. Rather joy is the presence of the Lord.” These were precious times of fellowship in suffering together in the Lord.

The devil will say “God is a selfish God. He wants all of the glory and honor and praise for himself.” The devil always questions God’s love. However, as we serve the Lord through the trials and tribulation of life, we will learn as Paul did, “thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.” In seeking the Blessor we will be most blessed as we forsake ourselves in the love of God.

Oswald Chambers says, “God comes to us with the grip of his son’s nail pierced hands. He says, “arise and shine. Come unto me all ye who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Thank God for breaking our heart for what breaks his.” We’ll come to understand that when he helps himself to what we hold most dear, we will know the fellowship of his suffering and the depth of His Abiding Love.

Through the trials of life, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Finishing Well

Our ministry is to create an environment where the Holy Spirit can come help himself to our lives. Paul said, “I am poured out on the altar as a drink offering. (As a sweet smelling savor unto God.)” In 2 Timothy, Paul emphasizes the importance of finishing well. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 says, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

In Corinthians Paul said by inspiration, I eagerly await the day when I shall be clothed with a new body at Christ’s return. Each project has a finish line. We have to plan to finish well and to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s plan. To finish well we need to prepare our hearts to have the right attitude when we cross the finish line.

Every loving relationship in this life will end in pain except for one. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Pete’s wife Suzan knew that she had terminal brain cancer six months before she died. Pete says that these six months were some of the most glorious days of their forty nine years of marriage as Suzan prepared her heart to finish strong. On Valentine’s Day in 2017, Pete and Suzan went to see their family doctor because she was experiencing memory loss, confusion, and mild dementia. The doctor came into the room after they ran some tests and said, “Suzan, you have a brain tumor.” Their friend Jerry Leachman recommended a renowned brain surgeon at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston to perform the surgery to remove her tumor. Suzan never cried about her painful treatments during her ordeal with cancer. However the night before her surgery, there was a prayer vigil at Mariner’s church in Irvine where hundreds of people prayed for her. She cried when she heard that two hundred people were praying for her. She also cried when she heard that some benefactors had paid for her treatment.

After Pete and Suzan returned home, they were meditating one morning and Suzan said, “I’m so disappointed this morning.” When Pete asked her why she said, “Because I thought that when I woke up this morning, I’d be in the arms of my Heavenly Father.” Pete said, “How will I be able to live my life without you?” Suzan reassured him, “You’ll be just fine.”

Our times are in God’s hands. God is sovereign and we’re not. Many years earlier, when Pete was in the father’s waiting room and Suzan was in labor with their second son, the doctor said, “we’re losing the baby’s heartbeat.” Pete prayed, “God please spare my wife and my baby.” God responded, “how much control do you have over this?” Pete answered, “none.” Then God asked, “no matter the outcome of this situation, will you still honor, love and praise me?” Pete searched his heart. Then he responded, “Lord you know all things. I will honor, love and praise you no matter what.” Then the doctor came into the waiting room and said, “I’m sorry, but we lost the baby.” Because God had prepared his heart, Pete and Suzan were able to praise God through the pain of losing their baby.

Our planning for the pain and tribulation of life will allow us to focus on the crown of righteousness that God has in store for us. The devil will use pain to question the love, mercy and grace of God. However through pain and tribulation, we will learn that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Through pain we will learn, as did the Apostle Paul, that when I am weak in myself then I am strong in Him.

When Pete and Suzan returned home from Houston, they couldn’t understand why she had persistent double vision. In May they did two days of testing and could not find a reason for her problem. After an MRI, the oncologist at UCLA couldn’t find any evidence of cancer. Later, an ophthalmologist in Newport Beach ran another MRI and a spinal tap. They looked at the results and this new MRI showed that there were tumors all over her brain. Shortly thereafter they made an appointment for treatment at UCI Medical Center. The doctor said, “How aggressively do you want to treat this?” Pete said, “what do you mean by aggressive?” The oncologist said, “It means that we’ll need to act immediately. We’ll bore a hole through her skull and begin injecting treatments directly into her brain.” They asked “How much time will that give her?” The oncologist said, “It may not give her any more time or it may give her another two years.” Then they asked, “how much time will she have without treatment?” The oncologist said, “maybe another month or two.” Suzan said, “I don’t want any more treatment.”

Suzan lived another three and a half weeks. These were three of the most glorious weeks of their marriage. Life is more precious the less of it you have. It’s precious because it’s rare. During these precious weeks with close friends and family they focused on what was the most important. They came to understand the meaning of the song by Casting Crowns that the most important thing is “Only Jesus.”

Our challenge is to thank God for this day he has given us. Regardless of how we feel or the pain and tribulation of life, as Paul said, “I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” To finish well, focus on the crown of righteousness that he has prepared for us. From the lyrics of an old hymn of the faith, “All my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, and exchange it one day for a crown.”

In finishing well, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael

Finishing Well

A popular topic with men is finishing well. Pete’s wife Suzan was a godly example of finishing well. Similarly The Apostle Paul finished well. The book of 2 Timothy was his epistle about finishing well and passing the baton to Timothy, his son in the faith. According to 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Pete’s wife Suzan prepared her heart to finish well. To finish means to use up entirely. Finishing Well is to rise up and pour out everything in life according to the Lord’s intended purpose. The song by Casting Crowns is about finishing well. The purpose of this life is “Only Jesus.”

There are many paradoxes in the Christian life. God by his love, mercy, and grace allows us to unearth life’s most precious gems where we least expect to find them. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. One such hidden gem is that in order to finish strong I must become weak. As the Apostle Paul said, “Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness. Thy grace is sufficient for me.” He said, “My life has been poured out as a drink offering and a sweet smelling savor unto my Lord.”

When Pete and Suzan were married, they vowed that they would love each other “til death do us part.” To finish strong means that when you’re in the midst of marital spat, you need to make a decision on how this will finish well. In the skirmishes of life you have to determine in your heart that you will live without regret. Suzan’s friends often said that she was “practically perfect in every way.” They never heard her say a discouraging word. She said, “Never let how others treat you determine how you treat them.” In finishing well she reminded her friends that “Joy is not the absence of pain. Rather, joy is the presence of the Lord”

Six months before she died, Suzan had a bout with forgetfulness, disorientation and mild dementia. She went with Pete to their family doctor to run some tests. When they received the MRI Results in February 2017, the doctor sat them down and said, “she has a brain tumor.” Pete’s friend Jerry Leachman recommended a renown brain surgeon at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston to perform surgery to remove her tumor.

God told them, “either Suzan’s finishing well will be your most glorious time together or it will be your most devastating.” God always gives us a choice through the trials of life. The night before her surgery, two hundred people met together at Mariners’ Church to pray for her. The morning of her surgery she was in good spirits and Pete remarked about her good mood. Pete said, “I’m proud that you’re running to the battle lines.” She said, “I’m not running, I’m being carried by their prayers.”

After her surgery, they returned home and a few months later ran some tests at UCLA to see the results of her surgery and follow up treatments. The tests results showed no evidence of cancer in her brain. However, Suzan had persistent double vision and they could not determine the cause. They went to see a eye specialist in Newport Beach who ran some new tests including a spinal tap. When the results came back the doctor consulted with an oncologist to look at the images. She said, “the cancer has come back with a vengeance and is all over her brain.”

Pete recalled that many years earlier Suzan was in labor with their second son. The doctor came into the Father’s waiting room and said, “We’re losing the baby’s heartbeat.” Pete prayed earnestly, “God please save my wife and my baby.” God answered, “How much control do you have over this situation?” Pete responded, “I have no control.” God’s next question was, “No matter what happens, will you still honor, love and praise me?” Pete said, “Lord, you know my heart. No matter the outcome, I’ll still honor, love, praise and serve you.” Then the doctor came into the room and said, “We lost the baby.” Because of his conversation with God, Pete and Suzan were able to prepare their hearts for the loss of their baby.

Every relationship in this life will end in pain except for one. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Suzan never cried trough the painful ordeal of cancer treatments. She cried when she heard that two hundred people were praying for her. She also cried when she heard that someone had paid for her seven weeks of treatment. She only cried when she was overwhelmed by the generosity of others and the graciousness of God.

Our ministry is to create an environment where God can come help himself to our lives. To finish strong means to endure without protest in subjection to the master’s will. At the end of the race God will reassure us, “I am faithful to my Word. I have deepened you in the furnace of affliction and purified you through the crucible of life. Now you may rest in my love and find comfort in my own intensive care. Heaven rejoices when you go through trials and the valley of the shadow of death with a singing and rejoicing spirit. Through the trials, you will find your joy in fellowship of my comfort. At the finish line I will bid you, “Enter now into the joy of your Master.”

He has called us to finish well.
And In finishing well, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Father’s Day

Fathers are often taken for granted. We make a fuss over our mothers on Mothers’ Day, but on Father’s Day, fathers are often content to remain in the background. However a father’s influence directly affects a child’s’ and a family’s physical, emotional and spiritual well being. The best fathers are examples of their Heavenly Father’s love.

Many people in our culture have father wounds. People will tell you their stories of abuse, abandonment and neglect. However, the best dads leave a lasting legacy for their children. We all have stories about our dads. When we think of our fathers we need to remember and treasure our father’s love. Despite our father’s failures, we will learn over time to appreciate what they taught us through their strengths. Love covers a multitude of sins.

An old song “The Cat’s in the Cradle” reminds us dads how far we’ve fallen from what the world considers the ideal dad. We teach our children by our example. They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The world will remind us that the worst sins are “sins of omission.” These are the things that we would have, could have and should have done for our children. In this life there has never been a perfect dad. However, according to 2 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent charity (the love of God) among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” Despite our faults and failures, our Heavenly Father’s love covers a multitude of sins. It’s reassuring to know that even though our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. According to Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.

Many men are angry but can’t quite put their finger on the cause of their anger. At a pastor’s retreat one pastor said, the assignment was to make a list of all the people who have hurt you and have made you angry. Then write them a letter of forgiveness. The pastor said that he was in the middle of writing his second letter. His deep seated anger was miraculously lifted when he prayed, “God why have you allowed these people to do these hurtful things to me?” God answered, “They didn’t do these things to you. I did them to you.” Hebrews 12:6 says, “because the Lord disciplines the ones he loves and chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” The key to lifting anger is forgiveness. We forgive not for the other person but because the Lord’s Prayer says, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” In forgiving we will understand the meaning of forgiveness. God forgave us, for in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Grace is understood when we come to the revelation of the love of God. The story of the prodigal son is a story of grace. When the prodigal son returned home, his dad didn’t say, “you’ve disgraced the family and disrespected God and the honor of your family. You deserve to be stoned.” This would be the appropriate response according to the Old Testament Law. However, the law of the spirit of life in Christ has freed us from the Law of sin and death. The Forgiving Father ran to embrace his son even though he smelled like the pigs that he had lived with. He put a clean robe on his son and the family’s signet ring on his finger. The loving father forgave his prodigal son and restored him to an upright position.

God has called us to do the right thing from moment to moment. Even if we haven’t been the best father, we can with the wisdom from the word of God, “raise up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” God will show us by his example the meaning of the perfect father. He’s loving, merciful, gracious, righteous, and just. The example he teaches is that “Like as a father cherishes his children, so the Lord has mercy on them that fear, awe, love and respect him.”

According to 2 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer (allow) you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Our Heavenly Father has called us as a “man of God.” A man of God wants to be just like his dad. A man of God is God’s man. May our prayer be, “Lord I’m not the man you meant for me to be. Please Lord make me that man.” Like the forgiving father who ran to meet his prodigal son, This is a prayer that God will run to answer.

This Father’s Day and every day,
May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

A Father’s Example

There are three ways to view Father’s Day. One is to look at the father we had. Another is to look at the father he had. The third is to look at the father we are. Every man has a father-wound. All of our fathers have fallen short. All we like sheep have gone astray. There is only one father who is perfect…Our Heavenly Father.

Willie Naull’s daughter Lisa says that her father played professional basketball and then retired before she was born. Even though he was a consensus all American at UCLA, and an all star for the Boston Celtics, she never knew him as a basketball fan. To her, he was her gentle giant who led by example as a man of God. As a loving father, he taught her to train her beautiful voice to sing praise to God’s glory.

When Lisa was touring with a singing group in Southern California her son Jonathan was born and she became a single mom. She and her son moved in with her extended family. When Jonathan was three, Lisa sat down with her dad and asked him, “How can I raise this son without his father?” With her dad, she decided to raise her son according to God’s instruction “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Jonathan is only thirteen but he wanted to share an essay he wrote about his grandfather’s example. He asks, “what does it mean to be a man?” Why is there so much confusion in our culture about the meaning of manhood? Our culture is confused because the world cannot not define a man’s purpose. Only God, the master designer can define the purpose for which he’s created us. It takes a lifetime of faith and commitment to understand God’s definition of a man and to grow into God’s purpose. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. Faith is confidence in our Heavenly Father according to His Word.

God designed men to protect their loved ones. A real man trusts God to provide for himself and his family emotionally, financially, physically and most of all spiritually. A man is called to serve those God has called him to love. Loving others is defined by the love of God.

God calls a man to seek the Lord in all things. The challenge everyday is to live the love of God in everything we think, do , and say. According to the charity checklist in 1 Corinthians 13, Love suffers long and is kind, is never boastful or proud, is never rude, never selfish. Love is not easily irritated, is never resentful, and never keeps a record of wrongs done. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. When we were little children we spoke and understood like children. But when we become men, we put away childish things. God allows us to see glimpses of truth reflected in an unpolished mirror, but when Christ returns, we shall see him and know as he is. Then we shall know him face to face.

Jonathan’s grandfather Willie showed him the love of his Heavenly Father by his own example of love and nurture. To be a man is to understand what it means to protect, serve, love and believe. The fight is the good fight of faith. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places. The conclusion in 1 Corinthians 15 is: “be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Pete reminds us that every man has a father wound. Many men don’t know how to show affection. However, Men need affectionate hugs and tugs from their dads.

The twenty third Psalm is an illustration of our Heavenly Father as the ideal father. He leads us like a shepherd and allows us to lie down in the peace of his presence beside the still waters. He guides us in the paths of righteousness. As men we’re challenged to remember what our fathers taught us and how they loved us.

We’re comforted by our heavenly Father’s rod and his staff. He corrects us and disciplines us because he loves us. Although it hurts to be straightened, correction through chastisement means to restore to an upright position.

Because He comforts and shepherds us, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This Father’s Day and every day may we abide in our Heavenly Father’s love, That we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael