Spiritual Sunday is our chance here at Manlihood to delve into spiritual things. While Manlihood.com isn’t JUST for Christians, many of us are Christians, and we find value in the truths and teachings. We hope you can find value in it too .
In this episode, Brian Bailey talks about growing up loving Christmas lights, and how those lights are a symbol of something more.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Josh McDonald in Appleton Wisconsin of the Geocaching Scripture Podcast talks about “The Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11, threatens to punch us in the face of we call it that, and talks about the goal of being forgotten.
One mile off the shores of San Francisco, is “The Rock” – Alcatraz Island. Shark infested waters surround the sea-pounded rocky coast of this tiny island, making it an ideal place to keep criminals isolated from the rest of the world.
To attempt an escape would certainly mean death. Armed guards, dangerous waters, not to mention the difficulty of trying to blend into society when your face is on wanted posters in every post office in the country.
But in 1962, three men disappeared from the island. They found a way of escape. They made sleeping dummies of themselves of plaster and paint to fool the guards, they made a raft out of rain coats, and disappeared into the night. The case has been open with the U.S. Marshalls for many years, with very few leads.
These men were criminals, and they found a way to escape their fate.
Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence. No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Sin can imprison us.
We can get caught in cycles and habits that are destructive, and can hurt our relationship with God.
For a long time, I struggled with porn and masturbation. I know that may sound ridiculous to many of you that I would consider it a sin, and maybe that’s a deeper discusion for another time. The principle, though, remains the same.
I had an addictive, habitual activity that was harming my relationship with my spouse, was harming my relationship with God. We can all identify with that – whether the sin is a bad attitude, or uncontrolled anger, substance abuse, or sexual sin, we have all been caught in our own Alcatraz at some point.
Even for many years, when I was “clean” and not acting out on those impulses, the temptation was still there. It was constant – like a bombardment of pressure to let my thoughts be unrestrained, and my actions be unrestrained.
It’s important to know and understand that being tempted is not sin.
To have a desire to do the wrong thing pop into your head is not a sin. To have an immediate rush of hormones dump into your system when you see a pretty girl is not sin. To feel your blood pressure rise and your fists clench when someone says something hurtful to you is not sin.
Sin is when you let that thought have unchained and unfettered access. Sin is when you allow that lust or that rage to feel at home in your brain.
When we do that, we are cultivating a garden where sin grows – like the mushrooms that grow in my shady compost pile.
Temptation comes for us all in different ways, and often many times a day.
But God’s promise – is that with every temptation, there is a way of escape. There is a way out.
You don’t have to do the thing just because you have been tempted.
That way of escape is going to look different for each of us, and for each temptation.
For my battle with porn and lust, I had to discipline myself to think differently. The way of escape looked like me changing what kind of media I consumed. There were TV shows and movies and commercials I had to stop watching. They may not have been porn, or even that immodest, but if I found myself thinking about the women in the shows a certain way, or constant hearing about or seeing sex or women in bikinis, it was feeding a monster in my brain. That way of escape involved, just like the prisoners on Alcatraz, a lot of preparation. I couldn’t just expect to beat the temptation in the moment, I had to prepare for it in advance, by starving my mind of stimuli. There were many other changes and escape routes that I had to put into place in my life, but those certainly helped.
I have a friend who struggled with losing his temper. His way of escape is often just excusing himself from conversations and going outside for fresh air. It’s almost comical sometimes to see him walk away from a situation. It can be frustrating if you are trying to talk to him, and he has to leave to cool off. But it keeps him from saying things he shouldn’t. That battle may be easier for him in the future. As he builds the discipline of disassociating from his own anger, he’ll have the strength to build his own self-control. We all make wrong decisions, choose less than best, and get caught in bad habits. I’m not judging anyone for that.
Many of us settle into it. We accept it, and try to justify it.
But what if we tried to rise above it? What if we tried to escape it?
What would our life look like if we put in the effort and the energy and the initiative to actually take that way of ESCAPE that God promises us?
Manlihood.com provides personal development for men. Our goal is to help enrich men’s lives and to help them become better men. We believe spirituality is an essential part of that component. We understand that not everyone subscribes to a judeo-christian belief system, but we know that a large part of our audience is encouraged to be better men through the paradigm that we share. Our hope is that all men can see and learn to experience fulfillment through faith in Christ, but we also know that not everyone will. Our secondary hope is that by sharing these Spiritual Sunday posts, that even those who may not agree, would be able to at the very least, understand our mindset, and possibly even find something helpful and applicable to their lives. We’re not banging on our Bible or cramming Jesus down anyone’s throat. We are simply processing these experiences through the lens of faith, and inviting all to look with us.
More accurately – there will always be someone who doesn’t like you or what you have to say.
Paul wrote a letter to the church in Galatia, which is in what is now known as Turkey. That region had been populated by “Gallic Celts.” Christianity was spreading across the Roman Empire, and even into the fringes.
Paul was issuing a rebuke to the church, who had started to listen to preachers who told a much different story of Jesus, of redemption, and it was causing dissension in the church.
For the record, the spurious information being taught was that in order to be right with God, these barbarian turkish celts were going to be required to follow Jewish customs. They were taught that they couldn’t eat cheeseburgers, bacon, or pork rinds, had to cut the foreskin off their penis, and any number of other rules that were not meant to apply to them.
Paul had enough – Jesus was never meant to be just for Jews. Jesus never told people they had to become Jews. To follow Jesus, no one was required to follow a bunch of laws and customs just to fit in. Anyone could come to Jesus. And a life changing relationship with Jesus is meant for all people, regardless of race or culture.
That’s the context – but the verse that jumps out to me is this:
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
Let’s get this straight right here and now.
We can live our lives trying to please people. We can do everything in our power to try to make people like us, or make people happy. We can follow all the rules, dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, and we’re going to find out a very hard truth.
You will never please all the people.
There will always be someone who will have expectations of you that are not reasonable. There will always be someone who will talk about you. There will always be someone who wants you to look, act, or talk a certain way.
While there is a degree to which we should try to get along with people, and a degree to which we should build a reputation, and love and serve people… the honest truth is – it’s God’s opinion of us that matters, and no one else’s.
Do the right thing because you want to honor God, not because you are worried what someone will think.
Do the right thing because God tells you to, not because man tells you to Do not strive to please men.
Strive to please God.
Manlihood.com provides personal development for men. Our goal is to help enrich men’s lives and to help them become better men. We believe spirituality is an essential part of that component. We understand that not everyone subscribes to a judeo-christian belief system, but we know that a large part of our audience is encouraged to be better men through the paradigm that we share. Our hope is that all men can see and learn to experience fulfillment through faith in Christ, but we also know that not everyone will. Our secondary hope is that by sharing these Spiritual Sunday posts, that even those who may not agree, would be able to at the very least, understand our mindset, and possibly even find something helpful and applicable to their lives. We’re not banging on our Bible or cramming Jesus down anyone’s throat. We are simply processing these experiences through the lens of faith, and inviting all to look with us.
We’ve all heard this instagram horsecrap before. Somebody gets all fired up and hope and optimism around the New Year – maybe they read a book from a motivational guru, or they are just convinced that it’s time to make a change.
We often look at it with skepticism, because we’ve seen that same person do this EVERY January. By February they’re pounding fiery cheetos and acting like a douche all over again.
While we may not be a fan of fair-weather life transformation, the start of something new, a new year, a new decade, certainly seems like a convenient time to evaluate our lives. How do we measure up?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started a diet on January 2, only to find myself caving in by the end of the month. I can’t begin to count the number of years I’ve vowed to turn over a new leaf, and found myself digging through the trash to find the old leaf.
We know that God is a God of second chances.
All through scripture, and history, we see stories of God giving man a chance to be redeemed, and start fresh.
The entire picture of Jesus, being born, dying, and coming back to life is what Christianity is all about. Our first ritual, baptism, is a picture of that – to die to our old ways, to be buried under the water, and to come back to life.
New year or not, getting a clean slate and a fresh start is at the very core of what it means to walk with God.
Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
What does a fresh start look like for you? Are there things you need to stop doing? Do you need to ask God for forgiveness? Do you need to make a clean break with behaviors or attitudes? Are there things you must start to do that you have not been doing?
I know that for everything we are not, and everything we break and screw up, God can bring forgiveness, wholeness, and freedom. We’ve got to come to Him humble and ask Him, and then as He changes the inside, we work together with Him on the outside.
Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.” Suddenly the pressure was gone— my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we’ll be on high ground, untouched. God’s my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore,throws garlands of hosannas around my neck. Let me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight: “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.” Psalm 32: 5-9 MSG
As we look at our fresh start, my encouragement to you is to make a plan. Be diligent with that plan. Don’t just try to wing it.
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5
If there are changes you want to make, take the time to work through a plan of action. If you want to change the way you behave, you must change the way you feel, and to change the way you feel, you have to change the way you think. That takes effort, intentionality, and discipline.
Don’t stay where you are, if there’s more out there for you. Don’t be content with a less than best version of yourself, when God has even better for you. Don’t just expect God to be your fairy godmother and bibbidy bobbity boop you into your new life, either. There’s a grand and glorious work to do – and He wants to do it with you.
Manlihood.com provides personal development for men. Our goal is to help enrich men’s lives and to help them become better men. We believe spirituality is an essential part of that component. We understand that not everyone subscribes to a judeo-christian belief system, but we know that a large part of our audience is encouraged to be better men through the paradigm that we share. Our hope is that all men can see and learn to experience fulfillment through faith in Christ, but we also know that not everyone will. Our secondary hope is that by sharing these Spiritual Sunday posts, that even those who may not agree, would be able to at the very least, understand our mindset, and possibly even find something helpful and applicable to their lives. We’re not banging on our Bible or cramming Jesus down anyone’s throat. We are simply processing these experiences through the lens of faith, and inviting all to look with us.
TRIGGER WARNING: The following post contains old-fashioned ideas about relationships and sexuality. Don’t read if you can’t handle the fact that I might hold ideas that you think are outdated or prudish. Better yet, ready it anyway and give it some thought. The worst that can happen is you might be exposed to someone else’s viewpoint. Most likely, you’ll see that I’m a reasonable person.
Somewhere in our 50 Shades of Tinder and snapchat soaked generation of “thirsty” bros, we’ve completely abandoned some old school ideas that I think really matters.
Yes. I’m old fashioned. I’m okay with that. If you think differently than I do – I am not judging you, I’m not offended by you, and I won’t disrespect you. I think sexuality should be reserved for marriage.
I think sexuality should be gentle, not degrading.
I think that dating shouldn’t be exclusive, and should have strings attached. I think courtship, or “going steady” should be done carefully, and with the goal of marriage in mind.
I have a lot more old fashioned ideas about this. But I think this is enough to give you my framework. When it comes to courtship and dating (and yes, there is a distinction between the two) there’s something a man must do. HIs toughness, wildness and strength is not TAMED by her – but rather, he is RESTRAINED for her. He treats her gently, picks flowers for her, braids her hair, and as such, she sees in him the true beauty of his affection for her – his RESTRAINT. If a man cares for a woman, treating her gently does not neuter him, does not tame him, does not make him any less tough – no – it’s a chance to prove his love by showing restraint. I think that if he jumps the gun, and enters into a sexual relationship before the proper time (in my opinion, after marriage) then he demonstrates not restraint, but rather shows her his lack of self-control. That same restraint is important in the bedroom after marriage as well. He reserves his sexuality only for her. He also continues to treat her gently. Our porn-saturated culture has normalized the degrading of women during sex. I think that a true gentleman does not descend to calling a woman names, or inflicting pain during sex. That isn’t love, and shouldn’t be portrayed as such. No matter the stage of your relationship – to be a gentleman, you must exercise self-control!
As men, we long to be known for our strength, or ruggedness. If we are not particularly strong, we may have shifted that to a desire to be known for our intellect or creativity. Either way, what each of us want, is supremacy. We want to be the best. We want to be the smartest. In fact, we often lie to ourselves very subtly, to tell ourselves that we are the best and most important person in the room. Even those who may take up the mantle to fight for the downtrodden seem to share this character trait. You see it from the Twitter feed of “social justice warriors” and even the old men swapping fish stories at the corner store over coffee. It’s human nature to put ourselves at the center of our own world.
A gentlemen shows a great that butts against this. Courtesy. Kindness.
To put someone else’s needs ahead of our own clashes with our own inner beast. And it often inspires the same response in others!
Let me challenge you directly, men. There are others who are smarter and stronger. And even those who are weaker and not as smart that need you to defer to them sometimes. They need you to step up and show kindness, politeness.
There are people that just need a smile, a laugh, a friend.
They might need you to offer a helping hand, or even make a sacrifice to help meet a bigger need.
I believe showing kindness goes against human nature, which is about self. Kindness though is built in is too… it’s built in because we are made in the image of God. Let us never forget the kindness others have shown us, and let us live indebted to pay it forward in acts of love and service
Martin Luther lived at a time when having an opinion different than that of the catholic church could cost you your head. After observing corruption and hypocrisy, He formed opinions about God and the Bible that flew in the face of the religious elite of his day. So he wrote them down, and then literally NAILED THEM TO THE DOOR of the catholic church. That brave act of defiance completely and in many ways changed the world. And even though the catholic church rejected Luther’s new teachings, many of his challenges led the church to clean up and reform many of its practices. According to Wikipedia Martin Luther (/ˈluːθər/;[1]German:[ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈlʊtɐ] (listen); 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk[2] and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.
Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money, proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Luther taught that salvation and, subsequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God’s grace through the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God[3] and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[4]Those who identify with these, and all of Luther’s wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[5] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.[6] His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches.[7] His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.[8]
Check out these quotes from Martin Luther:
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”
“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.”
“I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide.”
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
“I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.”
“Be a sinner and sin strongly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ.”
“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”
“If you want to interpret well and confidently, set Christ before you, for He is the man to whom it all applies, every bit of it.”
“The Gospel cannot be truly preached without offense and tumult.”
“To find Christ in such poverty, and what his swaddling clothes and manger signify, are explained … that his poverty teaches how we should find him in our neighbors, the lowliest and the most needy; and his swaddling clothes are the holy Scriptures; that in actual life we should incline to the needy; and in our studies and contemplative life only to the Scriptures; in order that Christ alone may become the man of both lives and that he may everywhere stand before us.”
“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.”
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Today’s ManCrushMonday is truly an American hero. I’m not entirely sure why this great country became so corrupted by racism. I’m not sure why men and women were not treated with the respect and dignity that we all deserve. I’m not sure why it still happens today, and I’m not sure how to make it all go away. But what I can tell you is that Martin Luther King, Jr. built a legacy that is unrivaled, and all of us today would learn well from the lessons he taught about fighting for equality in a dignified and yet fiery way. According to Wikipedia: Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolentcivil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.
On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled “Beyond Vietnam“.
Check out these inspiring quotes from Dr. King. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Justin Willoughby is one of my best friends. I hate to overdo my “mancrush” on Justin – but he really is an inspiration to me. I first met Justin at Wal-mart. He was about 600 pounds at that point. He had already lost almost 200 pounds, but I didn’t know that. I just remember seeing this massive kid struggling to push a shopping cart around the store with an oxygen tank. And I saw him eating a Snickers Bar. My first initial thought was a bit judgmental, “Who is this fat kid, and why is he eating a candy bar?” (I found out later that he had just spent hours walking around Wal-mart as exercise – and that candy bar was his first in months. It was his reward for his consistent hard work!) I later met Justin again at church – and by this point, he had lost another 200 pounds. He was still big, but by this point, this young man had literally hacked his way out of a prison of fat. He continued to work hard to lose the weight, and now he is 600 pounds lighter. He has dedicated his life to helping other people achieve their goals, in weight loss and life. Check out his website here. Check out his interview on the TODAY SHOW
Martin Luther lived at a time when having an opinion different than that of the catholic church could cost you your head.
Today’s ManCrushMonday is truly an American hero.
