Household Prayer: Courage

“Nothing is more terrifying than a man who, with the look of a lion in his eyes, refuses to surrender, who charges when everyone else around him is in full retreat. And best of all? Courage is contagious.”
Slaying the Feminist Leviathan by Eric Conn, Fight Laugh Feast issue 2.3 Fall 2021
https://flfnetwork.com/product/fight-laugh-feast-magazine/

Brothers, our households, churches, and communities need us. I pray we understand and walk in the masculine mandate God has given us “to cultivate, build, and grow (both things and people), but also to stand guard so that people and things are kept safe – so that the fruit of past cultivating and nurturing is preserved… In our families… At church… In society.” I’m praying God would give us courage and move us to action, even small daily disciplines, for His glory.

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭28:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.28.1.ESV

“I can add my hearty “Amen!” to the idea that Christian men should reject a feminized idea of manhood…

the point of Genesis 2:8 is that God has put the man into the garden, into the world of covenantal relationships and duties, in order to gain and act out his God-given identity there… Adam was put in the garden to be its lord and servant. Adam was to bring glory to God by devoting himself to bearing God’s fruit, starting in the garden and extending outward to all of creation. For this reason, Adam was God’s assistant lord, exercising authority over creation: “Subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28)… he was to be lord and keeper of God’s created realm, bringing glory to the Creator as he sought to bear the image of God in servant faithfulness…

In “Genesis 2:15, we learn how man is to fulfill his calling: ‘The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.’ … Work. To work is to labor to make things grow… Keep. To keep is to protect and to sustain progress already achieved…

“God calls us to bear His image in the real world, in this garden that has become corrupted by sin but is being redeemed by the power of God’s grace in Christ. He calls us to do this by being leaders and servants in the ultimate cause of displaying God’s glory and bearing the fruit of God’s love in real relationships… Our calling in life really is this simple (although not therefore easy): We are to devote ourselves to working/building and keeping/protecting everything placed into our charge…

WORK: TO CULTIVATE AS A GARDENER

“avad, the Hebrew term translated in Genesis 2:15 as “work” … Adam was called by God to till and cultivate the garden so it would grow and bear an abundance of fruit. Thus, the command to “work” links up with the earlier mandate to “be fruitful … and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28)… we are called to “work” whatever “field” God has given us. Men are to be planters, builders, and growers. A man’s working life is to be spent accomplishing things, usually as part of a company or other grouping of people. We are to invest our time, our energies, our ideas, and our passions in bringing good things into being. A faithful man, then, is one who has devoted himself to cultivating, building, and growing…

KEEP: TO PROTECT AS A SWORD-BEARER

“shamar, which is translated by such English terms as “watch,” “guard,” “protect,” “take under custody,” or “exercise care” … His calling to Christian men is similar: we are to watch over and keep safe all that the Lord has put under our care… our basic mandate as Christian men is to cultivate, build, and grow (both things and people), but also to stand guard so that people and things are kept safe – so that the fruit of past cultivating and nurturing is preserved… In our families, our presence is to make our wives and children feel secure and at ease. At church, we are to stand for truth and godliness against the encroachment of worldliness and error. In society, we are to take our places as men who stand up against evil and who defend the nation from threat of danger.”

The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips
https://a.co/hPkBUjb

Q: “How do you defeat today’s [far left] revolutionary movement?” Church, build Christian households and communities! Learn more: https://ministry.family.blog/2021/12/07/q-how-do-you-defeat-todays-far-left-revolutionary-movement/

The Dangers of Socialism, Marxism, Communism https://ministry.family.blog/america/socialism-marxism-communism/

Household Prayer – 3/30/2021

“For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.””

‭Genesis‬ ‭18:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/59/gen.18.19.esv

Brothers, today I’m praying for our households. Praying that we would be set apart and dependent on the Lord in community with our church, including our CC community.

The link below is a video reviewing the diary of a young man and his household from the 1800s with a lesson for us as men today. I find it fascinating and inspiring. My personal family vision is to leave a Godly legacy. Working that out over the last 16 years has evolved into the practical theology of building a Godly household. I’ve spent the last 2-3 years considering what a Godly household is from Scripture. Some thoughts on it are to be “set apart” (holy, set apart for God) and “dependent on no one” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). To be builders and producers. To be fruitful, fill the earth, and take dominion (Gen. 1:28; Gen. 2:15; Gen. 14:4; Gen. 18:19; Jeremiah 29:4-7; Matt. 28:18-20). I have a long way to go. I hope the video is encouraging to you as well.

Household: (Hebrew: bayit) family, estate, dynasty, armory, clan, strong fortress.

Economy: Latin from the Greek oikonomia, oikos: household, nemein: manage, or household management.

youtu.be/AeJYrkxY74s

Reform the Church and ReEnchant the World with God’s Truth and Grace!

Enchant (latin: encantio): to speak meaning into.

If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
– Romans 10:14-15

Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.

Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? 
To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. 
To make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:18-20

Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? 
To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. 
To love the captive soul and to preach the good news!
Romans 10:14-15

What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? 
There is a God that created the heavens and the earth.
We humans are created in His image.
We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation.
But God is merciful and loving. 
Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place.
Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation.
We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after!
Romans 3:10-18, 23
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
John 3:16-21
Ephesians 2:1-10

Leviticus 18:21; Matt. 5:17-19; Acts 2:37-41

Marx vs Spurgeon

“Karl Marx, an apostle of evil, and Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” were evangelists with messages that couldn’t have been more different—and they lived in the same city at the same time.” https://founders.org/2020/09/02/karl-marx-vs-charles-spurgeon-an-epic-struggle-for-the-souls-of-men-in-19th-century-london/

Do not miss this article! Excerpts below.

“It is extraordinary to me that both Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) lived and worked in the same city at the same time. Both were, in a sense, evangelists contending for the souls of men with their competing visions of humanity. Moreover, each was at the height of his powers at the same time as the other. While Marx was preaching salvation through bloody revolution, Spurgeon, on the other side of the city, was preaching salvation through the blood and grace of Jesus Christ…

“It would be wrong to say—as many preachers do—that addressing matters of politics falls outside of the purview of the clergy. Of no other sphere of life do they say it. Regardless, Spurgeon certainly didn’t agree with this sentiment. Christianity isn’t merely an accessory to a man’s life; it should define it. Thus, a man’s politics are simply the outward manifestation of the convictions of his heart. Socialism, Spurgeon knew, was much more than an economic or political question. It is a spiritualquestion, if only because it denies the very existence of the spiritual. It is, as I have written elsewhere, atheism masquerading as political philosophy…

“It is very likely that the preaching of Spurgeon, and others like him, prevented the violent Revolution in Britain that Marx sought. Ironically, that revolution would come in the unindustrialized Russia of 1917, when Vladimir Lenin would, at the cost of millions of lives, implement Marx’s unworkable ideas. That is in no small measure due to the fact that there was no viable church to critique the undeliverable promises of socialism…

Posted: 2020-09-03 | Updated/Reposted: 2020-01-22

Election 2020 – Church Wake Up, Get Busy, and Rejoice!

I really enjoyed this analysis of the 2020 Election. Link below…

In particular, the call to Christians to “get busy!”

Some key points:

Build!

Be builders and makers.

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/jer.29.5.esv

Be fruitful!

Birth rates matter, and Christians have a mandate from God.

“Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:6‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/jer.29.6.esv

Establish Households!

I’m adding this as the broader collective of building, multiplying, and instructing from Genesis 1:27-28, Jeremiah 29:4-7 and Psalm 127.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:27-28‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/gen.1.27-28.esv

Instruct your children!

Prepare them to be the leaders, witnesses, disciple makers of the future! “Don’t be breeders for Babylon!”

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭127:3-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/psa.127.3-5.esv

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:6-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/deu.6.6-7.esv

“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/mat.19.14.esv

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/eph.6.4.esv

“Go and make disciples!”

They don’t mention it, and I think it’s probably because it should go with out saying, but Christians must be about making disciples. It isn’t a debatable matter.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:19-20‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/mat.28.19-20.esv

Be joyful in the fight!

Our King has won! He is on His throne! We are His ambassadors in this fallen world. So rejoice! Even if it feels like we are losing some political or cultural battle, rejoice!

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19:6-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/rev.19.6-7.esv

Reform the Church and ReEnchant the World with God’s Truth and Grace!

Enchant (latin: encantio): to speak meaning into.

If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
– Romans 10:14-15

Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.

Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? 
To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. 
To make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:18-20

Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? 
To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. 
To love the captive soul and to preach the good news!
Romans 10:14-15

What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? 
There is a God that created the heavens and the earth.
We humans are created in His image.
We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation.
But God is merciful and loving. 
Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place.
Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation.
We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after!
Romans 3:10-18, 23
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
John 3:16-21
Ephesians 2:1-10

Leviticus 18:21; Matt. 5:17-19; Acts 2:37-41

Overcome Evil with Good – Where are the Men?

“I will not stand by in the presence of evil,” Alita Battle Angel

Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
Proverbs 25:26

Where are the men…

Who is responsible for the safety of your family? Hint: it’s not the government or the police. It’s you. You are the man!

How much time do you spend training? Is it more than you spend golfing, playing video games, or watching tv?

Have you trained for a mass shooter incident? Do you know what to do?

It’s time to take responsibility. This culture needs good men willing to confront evil.

Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” 
Nehemiah 4:6, 11, 13-15 

https://www.goodshepherddefense.com/

 

“The grey man is one who simply blends in to any scene or situation. He does not stand out. He does not boast about his skills or abilities, but he is ready to use them the instant they are needed. He is hidden in plain sight but is ready for action. You have seen the grey man; you just haven’t noticed him. That is the way it’s supposed to be.”
us concealed carry grey man

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/you-have-seen-the-grey-man-you-just-dont-know-it/

Safety and Security – Duty to Protect

Statesmen

“the men who composed the first Colonial Congress… were profoundly convinced of what statesmen know and mere politicians never perceive – that ideas are the life of a people – that the conscience, not the pocket, is the real citadel of a nation”  

Lord Chatham

“The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States” Benjamin F. Morris 1864