Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Vision to reach men becomes crisp

It is always interesting to look back and see how things develop over time. I know for sure that God has called me a minister of his gospel. Not vocationally at this time, but in ministry as an average joe. After I heard the call to change ministry gears, my heart has been more fully formed towards growing with men in the masculine image of God. Let me give you two areas this has happened in:

1. I visited a church with a dynamic men's ministry. There I saw men who were willing to enter the chaos of the lives and the world around them, willing to share their hearts, and willing to help sharpen another brother. I gotta tell ya, it was truely a live changing day. Not in the sense where I necessarily realized something new about myself. More like I learned more WHY there is a need for men to connect with each other, and the gigantic lasting impact a man has in this world. If a man fulfils his role as a man, the world would be a MUCH MUCH different place. Anyway, when you read the scriptures and it talks about iron sharpening iron, I got a clear picture of this the day I visited this ministry. I can only hope to duplicate this level of metal work I saw, with the brothers I will be partnered with. I have so much to learn, but man o man, my sights were narrowed that day, and I felt so focused! Masculinity begats masculinity, if a man is not closely connected with other men, he will surely get taken out. A man alone is deadly, deadly in a bad way.

2. This sounds weird, but I was watching the show wife swap. There was a typical American family and a wiccan family that changed moms for two weeks. The wiccan home was dominated by the "goddess" and many priorities were skewed. The visiting Mom wanted the husband to step up and be a man in his home. He was hesitant at first, but his life took a big turn when he owned up to his responsibilities as a man. Not only did his home become more orderly, but more importantly, he established a relationship with his son. What is the desire of any boy who is not close to his Father? What is the desire for any Father who does not know what to do with his son? They are the same, to be close in relationship. The boy in this family was rasied by Sony Playstation, a weak alternative to the mentorship and love of a Father. The relatioship between father and soon took a drastic turn for the better when the Dad took the boy outside and they build a step stool together. This is a small meaningless task, or so it seemed. When they finished the step stool, the boy climbed to the top step, faced his Dad, and they had a good long hug. At the end, the boy tells his Dad that he would rather spend time with him making things then to ever play a video game again. The Dad just broke down, he wept when talking about it afterward. He came to the realization the he was being silent, the was taken out of the game, not being a man. In my own life, I want to be a man who enters into his world and makes a difference. I want to be a man who makes men out of others. I want to be a man who one day has a son who wants to be like him. I don't cry when I watch tv, but I got water eyes when this Dad told the story of how he would never neglect his son again. This is my desire, to create an environment where men become men, where men enter their world and be the WARRIORS that God has called them to be.

Cliff notes: the vision is becoming clear to me, Men NEED other men in their lives.