Breaking Free

I was lead to a Christian bookstore today (ok, I love to go to Christian bookstores but today I was acutally led there) and I usually know what I like to read or what subjects I would like to read on. Today it was totally different. The men's interest section was smaller than normal (thats nothing new only half a rack normally this time it was only two rows) so I was drawn to the clearance isle. They never sell anything good there because if it was a good book they wouldn't have a whole bunch of them right?

I felt impelled to get a book by Beth Moore called, "Breaking Free". So I purchased the book and went about the rest of my day working and making work calls. Once I got to my hotel room I decided to start reading it. I am having a very hard time putting this thing down! I usually can read a book pretty quickly, unless its by John Piper, but this time God told me to digest the text and take your time. Have you ever started reading a book and you know the Holy Spirit is going to use that book to change your life? I know I will be changed after reading this book, I just know it and it will be for the better. Here is the premise of the book and I wanted to share it.

There are to be Five benefits to the daily experience of every child of God

1. To know God and Believe him
2. To glorify God
3. To find satisfaction in God
4. To experience God's peace
5. To enjoy God's presence

There are also five obstacles that block our access to the benefits God wants for us.

1. Unbelief - It hinders knowing God
2. Pride - It prevents us from glorifying God
3. Idolatry - It keeps us from being satisfied with God
4. Prayerlessness - It blocks our experiences of God's peace
5. Legalism - It stops our enjoyment of God's presence

Now Beth says people can be held in bondage or as she describes it "being held captive", Here is her definintion o f "being held captive"

"A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for you."

I love that definintion. Here is what she stated in her book that really got me to pray hard. "One of the most effective ways we can detect an area of capitivity is to measure wheather or not we are enjoying the bennifits God intends for each of us".

What she is saying is go over the five bennifits that we are supposed to enjoy being a child of God and if you are not experiencing any of those you are being held captive. Now some might get offended about such a strong assumption but I say being offended usually means there is sin there that God wants fixed. Remember Jesus says he didnt come to bring peace he came to bring a sword.

I have written these five things on an index card and I am going to carry these with me in my Bible and ask myself daily if I am experiencing all of these. I am also repenting of the five obstacles as I believe she is right.

Check out her book, "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore

Accomplishment or Comfort?

Leadership.  Leading people is a huge responsibility.  When you think of Leadership what do you think of?  Is it a President of a company?,  a manager of a corporate division?, how about a pastor or elder?  One of the leading authorities on Leadership today is John Maxwell.  John says in his books,  "leadership is not a position it is influence."  I believe very strongly in that.  

Many people today have authority over a person.  Example a manager of a restaurant might have the authority to hire and fire someone and make them do something that they may or may not want to do.   My question is this, "Do you have influence in their life?"  You see it is much easier to have someone do something they are supposed to do if you have influence in their life.  The only way you can get influence into someones life is not by telling them what to do but to have their TRUST.  You see once you gain someones trust and they know your truly for them they will submit to your leadership.  The question to men is what are you doing to build influence into peoples lives?  If you want to lead, truly lead you must build a relationship with the people you are to lead.  It is totally contradictory to what culture tells you to do.  Being vulnerable and open is not what today's men are to be about.  Men today are supposed to be the John Wayne type.  Alone, strong, and self confident in your abilities, at least that's what the culture today tells men.  Let me say this, the culture is wrong.

Are you a father, husband, big brother, or perhaps a manager, shift supervisor, or Sunday school teacher?  If you are any one of these things you are a leader.  To lead you have to be uncomfortable and be willing to learn.  Most men today demand respect but are much less likely to give it.  To men respect is like water, they not only need it they will do almost anything to get it.  Here is the important root of respect.  You must not be passive in getting it, but you can not demand it without learning how to get it!

Men today do their work and then come home and veg out on the couch and let their wife do all the work with the kids.  Most men spend much more time watching sports center or playing golf than reading with their kids and asking them how their day at school was.  Kids and wives seem distant from their father.  Why?  Because fathers don't invest in their kids or wife as much as they should.  The best way for a man to invest in their wife and kids is to ask questions about their day, their life, and their dreams.  

Men today are passive, they would much rather let the wife raise the kids, discipline the kids, met with the teacher during parent teacher conference, and talk to them when they have questions about life.  Let me say this, if your wife is doing this it is not because they are wanting to do it, it is because their is a void of leadership in the family and it is a Godly husband and Godly father who is missing.  Passive men are like leaches.  Yes you heard me like a leach.  Because of their passivity in leading their family by taking an active role they are sucking the life and future out of a loving, caring relationship with their wife and children.

Men, your wife and kids are like a bank.  Every day you will either make a deposit or a withdraw from their account.  If you love your wife and kids and speak to them in a manner that they need you make a deposit.  Every day you ignore them to watch sports center and not talk with them or show them your love you make a withdraw.  Here is the question you must ask yourself, actually its a question if you want the truth you need to ask your wife and kids.  Here is the question.  "Is your wife's account in the positive or have you made too many withdraws and the checks are bouncing?"  If your wife is not giving you the respect you crave odds are her bank account is in the negative and you have not made enough deposits.  If your kids don't come and talk with you about their problems at school or with their friends odds are they have a negative account balance also.  

If you are to lead and have influence and get the respect you crave, you must become uncomfortable and venture out and gain influence by developing a real relationship with the people you lead.  If you don't know you to gain influence then you need to talk with me or with a true man of God who will teach you and disciple you.

God Bless and remember Real men are fighters like Gideon, David, Moses, and Jesus!  Real men are not afraid to get their hands dirty and roughed up by doing the work of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to bring honor to God.

Brandon Hein

Pastors or Coach's?

The Following Comes From A Book By Rick Johnson,

"The Power of a Man"

     "A Coach's job is not only to teach a player the skills he needs to be successful but to motivate him to use those skills to the best of his ability.  Part of the job requires getting greater performance out of team members than they can achieve on their own.  A coach does that in part by believing in his players and encouraging them to push themselves out of their comfort zones for their own good.  A good coach will be respected by his players because they know he has their best interests at heart.  He may even be loved by his players but frequently will not be liked very well, at least off and on.  That's because good coaching requires helping players look at their faults and then pushing them to accomplish things they do not think they can or even want to do."

     After reading this I began to think maybe the church would be better served if we had coach's instead of pastors.  I know this is a radical thought but lets face it true Christianity is a radical lifestyle!  I am not saying lets get rid of pastors, I am saying maybe they should be coach's instead.

     Reread that paragraph on top again and think about it in terms of the congregation as the players.  Making a new job description of a pastor fit that statement above would be a great idea in my opinion.  Coach's dedicate their lives to a goal (Jesus) and they impart vision and determination into their players (your congregation) to fulfill that purpose (the great commission)!

Men Need A Vision

Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, "Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!"  

When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him.  Jesus said to them.

 "Do you really believe I can do this?" 

 They said, "Why yes, Master!" 

 He touched their eyes and said,

 "Become what you believe."  It happened, they saw. 

     

     So many churchs are killing men!  Not killing them physically but spiritually and emotionally.  If a man dies spiritually and emotionally you might as well put a fork in him as he is good as dead.  Men who are spiritually and emotionally dead are walking zombie's.  God created man to be a go getter, a man who solves problems, creates things, and LEADS OTHER MEN.  Creating things, solving problems, and leading others comes from a drive of how they see themselves.  Men see themselves as what can or will be, this is called a man's  VISION.  A man without a vision for his future will or has already become just another person.  God put something within a man, something that drives them to have a purpose bigger than themselves.  Most men today try to fulfill that with their job or career.  

     In today's economy men are losing their jobs in record numbers.  I recently met a man that lost his job.  He was a builder, not in the construction industry but in the financial industry.  He built banks with passion and vigor.  He lead men to do great things by empowering them.  He believed strongly in his company and what they were doing.  His 'vision' drove him to get up in the morning.  It give him, what he called, a purpose.  The day after he lost his job he called me.

"What am I supposed to do today?"  he asked me.

"What do you mean Mark?" (not his real name)

"For the past 7 years I got up everyday and knew what I was supposed to do and how to do it, today I don't know what to do."

     Mark was lost, he was dying.  He was dying because he had lost his 'vision' for himself.  He had nothing to build, no one to lead, no challenges ahead of him.  Mark was losing his 'vision' of who he thought he was.

     The bible says, "Without a vision, the people perish."  Men are the ones perishing spiritually today.  Every man has the deep desire to live a life of significance.  Men desire to be a part of something greater than themselves.  The church isn't helping men, they are actually killing them by a slow death.  How is the church killing men you ask?  Because men are not willing to surrender to God because they don't know what he (God) is doing in the world, and they have no idea what part they are to play in it.

     Jesus had a 'vision' his 'vision' was the Kingdom of God.  It was a huge.  It required total and unconditional sacrifice.  It required men to do things that were not normal or 'comfortable'.  He told his followers that it would cost them.  When Jesus said it would cost them he wasn't talking about money he was talking about a man's future, his passions, his wants and desires.  Jesus said we are going on a mission, a mission that requires total sacrifice.  He imparted his vision into twelve men.  Those twelve men changed the world.  Those twelve men whom Jesus devoted his every waking moment too helped changed the world.  Those men lived to fulfill a 'vision'.

      The church today needs to call men to service.  A service that imparts into them what Jesus imparted into his disciples.  We need to tell men, "Jesus needs you, he not only needs you he wants to lead you to do things bigger than what you could ever dream or envision for yourself."   The church needs to build within a man an understanding that God needs him.  God not only needs him but wants him to fulfill a purpose that is grander than anything he can imagine.

     The church needs to awaken men.  Men don't need a kick in the head, church leaders do!  Men might be mighty warriors at work but at church they sit in the back and think about how their fantasy football team will do today.  The church needs to understand these men that sit in the chairs or pews and daze off and seem passive are the same men that at work will work endlessly to complete a project at all costs.  Men are mighty warriors like Gideon.  

      When God called Gideon "A Mighty Warrior" he was anything but!  Gideon was scared, timid, back offish, and aloof.  God gave him a 'vision' to defeat cities and armies.  Gideon could never dream of doing this before God intervened.  Once God got a hold of him he caught the 'vision' God had for him and he was able to complete the work God had for him to do.  He lead men into battle where their lives were at stake.  Gideon became a leader, he took the 'bull by the horns' and completed the good works set out for him to do.  Why did Gideon do this?  Gideon did it because God gave him a 'vision' for his life that was much bigger than he could ever imagine.  God proved to him that he was needed, God showed him he was valuable, God demonstrated that Gideon was powerful when others thought nothing of him.  What is the church doing to raise up our Gideons today?  It should be more about the Gideons and less about the people on the stage.  More than anything it should be about the redemptive power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

     Men will, "become what they believe",  when the church by the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT is able to impart to them the right 'vision'!

Brandon 

Who does this guy think he is?!

Do you know this guy Jim?  Does Jim sound like a Christian?  

     Jim is a thirty-something teacher to whom people are drawn.  But Jim breaks all kinds of rules.    

    He's confrontational, opinionated, filled with will power.  He threatens to fight scoundrels who are making money off of religion, even grabbing their tv cameras, a tool for this sordid gain, and smashing it to the ground, creating one long commercial break.

     Jim has called his students dumb and dull, asking how much longer he'll have to endure their company.

     In order to stem his influence, his enemies play word games and devise interview scenarios in which to embarrass him; he's so cunning and shrewd that he constantly shows them up instead.  

     No one has the guts to talk the way he does.  Others talk like they understand God; Jim talks like he knows God.  Jim forcefully disrupts the order of things and disregards convention.  Jim's inappropriate.

     He calls people bad names that "respectable men" never say.  He verbally confronts one of this most powerful government officials.  When Jim has faced an authority figure who, because of manufactured charges, could actually invoke the death penalty, Jim's slow to come responses have been obscure, searing and disrespectful.

     Jim doesn't mind his manners around important persons.  Jim causes problems for society's respectable people.  No wonder they want to pull him down.

     In one public speech, to illustrate a profound spiritual truth, Jim has spoken of excrement going into a drain.  He's colorful, but some think his language is too coarse for a spiritual leader, and the press has a field day;  PREACHER OR POTTYMOUTH? YOU DECIDE.

     He has told reporters that his mission isn't to discover or promote a lifetime of warm and cozy.  "I bring division and conflict! Live as i say you should," he tells morning news shows over coffee and crumpets, and it may "tear your families apart!"  Then he states the obvious; "Those who don't find me offensive will be blessed."  

     Jim is sarcastic, sometimes bitingly so; he doesn't apologize.  Jim goes to parties and hangs out with others who do.  At least once he has supplied wine during a wedding where children were likely present.  Drinks are on him, even though he knows he'll be accused of corrupting others and touting sinfulness.  The bureaucrats and government workers with whom he spends time are the ones everybody else hates.  Jim doesn't even shun mentally imbalanced devotees or politically leprous radicals.

     Many murmur and complain that they don't understand him.  His own students sometimes won't ask him questions because they fear his response.  

     Most religious leaders enjoy the attention of large crowds, but Jim's wary;  he doesn't trust them, and he doesn't hid his distrust.  He actually confronts empty compliments during public gatherings--not a seekerfriendly ministry approach.  Even though he still takes students, Jim's been unemployed for at least three years and doesn't even look for a job.  He lives off handouts, owns no property, doesn't even have his own cardboard box to return to at night.

     One choice that led to further attacks was Jim's allowing a prostitute--in public--to anoint him with rare and expensive oil that could have been used to feed the poor, support missionaries, or pay for part of a child's life saving surgery.  While his students and his opponents boiled with anger over this wasteful extravagance, Jim would not hear it denounced and had the audacity to say that whenever God's liberating message is preached, this one event will be mentioned favorably.  The woman wiped Jim's feet with her own hair, a lure she has used to draw men to her bed, but he has no care for his reputation.  The scandal of it all!  Hear the good folk gossip!  Film at eleven!

     He warns his students that people will despise them.  Some will even be brought to court by blackmailers with unfair charges.  Jim tells them to pay off the blackmailer before it goes that far.  He instructs one student to sell some clothing in order to buy a weapon.

     Jim, who's loving, kind, and compassionate, is not owned or influenced by fear and shame.  Still, he does all the above and more, which begs the question:  Do you think Jim's a "good Christian man"?  Is he a Nice Guy?

     This is part of the life of Christ as recorded in the Gospels, but are you surprised by how foreign some of it looks?

The story above comes from Paul Couglin and his book "No more Christian Nice Guy"

     Jesus was a man, a real man.  He had emotions, and feelings that were not always "acceptable" to the religious people of the time.  I encourage you to read Matthew 23 and see how Jesus talks to people.  Read Mark 7 where Jesus calls people "frauds",  in verse 18 he calls his disciples "stupid" (the message)  

     There is another side of Jesus;  a side that isn't talked about in our church's today.  Its the masculine Jesus.  He is the same Jesus that hugs and loves children, but this side of Jesus isn't talked about because it's not comfortable to some.  I say preach the truth, men need to hear about the real Jesus.  American church's are dying, they are dying because men don't go to church anymore.  Men feel they must 'check in' their manhood at the door and be someone they are not.  Men think they must be this passive, happy guy that acts and dresses like everyone else.  Garbage!  That's not who Jesus was and that's not what Jesus has called us to be.  

     This blog is about a journey; a journey that I hope takes men back into a partnership with the real Jesus.  Let the experience begin.

Regards,

  Brandon