Men's Fraternity Week 12

Men’s Fraternity
Week #12 Heart

Pastor Brian began our session today with a funny video about a classic old Christmas song:



Reminder of the Four Pillars of Manhood:

• Reject passivity.
• Accept responsibility.
• Lead courageously.
• Wait for the greater reward. God’s reward.

Remember that men who live out the four pillars of manhood are difference-makers!

1. Understanding the Heart Wound:

• God created mankind without sin and Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world.
• Once Adam and Eve sinned, everything changed.

Genesis 3:6-13
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in te garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done? The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

[Adam did not reject passivity and he did not accept responsibility. His first reaction was to hide from God, but God sought him out to reconcile.]

• The punishment for sin is both spiritual and physical death.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Understanding this alienation from God can help us understand why so often our reality doesn’t measure up to our hopes and dreams.
• There is a longing in each one of us to be reconciled to God for all of eternity.
• The longing is present even if we deny it.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

• The effects of sin are seen in all of creation.

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we walk eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

• One day Jesus will make all things new.

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

• Until that time we have to live between what is and what will be. [but we are not called to simply wait]

1 Corinthians 16:13
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

2. The Journey from Here to Eternity

• We will all struggle with sin.

Romans 7:18-19
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

• The eseence of the heart wound is our total inability to do anything good before God apart from a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:10-12
”None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

• One reason it is difficult for us to understand this truth is that we are not as evil as we could be. [without our own set of man-made laws, mankind would live to its fullest evil capacity.

Wayne Grudem writes: “The constraints of civil laws, the expectations of family and society, and the conviction of human conscience all provide restraining influences on the sinful tendencies in our hearts…But in spide of the ability to do good in many senses of the word, our inherited corruption, our tendency to sin…means that as far as God is concerned we are not able to do anything that pleases Him.”

• God has already provided the only solution for our sinful heart condition.

Romans 5:6
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

• Faith in Jesus doesn’t mean we all of a sudden become sinless. We are forgiven but not perfect.

Sanctification defined: Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.

3. Practical Help as we Grow to be More Like Jesus Christ

• We need to recognize and feel our feelings.
• We must tell the truth about our hearts to those who are trustworthy.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man

• Give the truth of your heart to God.

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Group Questions:
1. How has the brokenness of the world touched your life? What does God’s promise to redeem the world mean to you?

2. Why do you think it’s difficult for men to be transparent with one another? Discuss how transparency is difficult for you personally.

3. The end of this session suggested three ways for you to connect to your heart. How good are you in living out these three areas?

• Recognize and feel your feelings,
• Tell the truth about your heart to those who are trustworthy
• Giving the truth of your heart to God

Journal - Catching Up

Well, I guess I haven’t written for a while. The passing of time continues to befuddle me. Let me see if I can recall what’s been going on.
There isn’t much to report on Audiobook Heaven. After the flurry of activity during the first six weeks of the year, things have settled down a bit. That’s okay, I like some excitement now and then, but we always need that time to recharge the batteries. I continue to receive audiobooks from Blackstone, typically six books per month. I got a couple of L Ron Hubbard books from Galaxy Press last month, and just received two more today, although one of them is a repeat. I’ll have to contact them and see if I should send that one back. Last week I got my first two books from HighBridge Audio. The only new thing I have to report is my latest discovery, Graphic Audio. One of the books I got from Susan Dunman was from that publisher, and I had never heard of them before. I looked them up in Google and took a look at their website. They specialize in creating full cast audio productions, complete with sound effects and music, of comic book graphic novels. Can you imagine how excited I was about that? I contacted them, and they responded right away saying that they would send me some review copies. I didn’t get to pick out what I wanted, but I was pretty happy to get anything from them. Hopefully they’ll keep sending me stuff.
My Medicare became effective on March 1. I’ve spent the first half of the month getting information and making my choices for part D prescription coverage. I have part A for hospitalization; that part is free. Part B for doctor visits carries a monthly premium of $115, and it looks like there is also a yearly deductible of about $162. On part D, I qualified for extra assistance so there’s no premium or deductible. My scripts will be $6.30 for brand name, and $2.50 for generic. That ended up being better than I expected. My prescription coverage begins April 1, so I’ll be looking for a doctor over the next week or so and will try to make an appointment for sometime in April.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this in my blog or not, but for the last 3 or 4 months, God has been trying to get me to play my saxophone at church. I’ve been dragging my feet as usual. I’m not very good at stepping out of my comfort zone. This began right before Christmas and I thought I might play some Christmas music, but that kind of fell through. It was pretty short notice, only one week before Christmas so there wasn’t time to get anything set up. Before I could play, I had to meet with the music director, Kent. Well, after that I let a couple of months pass, then I finally approached Kent again about it. We met at the church on March 4 and I played for him. He sounds like he’s okay with me playing at church, but we haven’t set anything up yet. The ball is in his court, though, I’m just waiting for him to say when.
Speaking of church, on February 27 we had our first service in the new sanctuary. When we first went to this church about a year and a half ago, they were just announcing plans to build a bigger sanctuary onto the church, and it’s finally done. The new sanctuary has theater-style seating for a little over 900 people. I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’m not sure how many our old sanctuary could seat.
For the last several days, Charles Stanley has been doing a series of sermons about guilt, and it’s got me thinking about some things. It seems clear that God wouldn’t want us to feel guilt for sins that He has forgiven us for. Guilt is, after all, a negative emotion, and God doesn’t typically deal in negative emotions. But it sort of seems like a little guilt might be a good thing. In the complete absence of guilt, are we not more likely to repeat our sins of the past? I’ll hav to do some thinking on that.
It’s now been about three days since the disastrous earthquake in Japan. A monstrous 8.9 on the Richter. It sounds like they are stil struggling to contain the nuclear power plants. 8.9 makes this the fourth most powerful earthquake in recorded history.
Okay, I guess that’s about it. See you next time.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. NIV

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door an knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in with him and dine with him, and he with me. NKJV

Lady Liberty Ponders

Lady Liberty Ponders
By Steven Brandt
May 1, 2010

Where were you when the astronauts died?
When they climbed the sky on their fateful ride.
The day the fireball filled the sky,
Did you watch the news or click on by?
For Challenger’s crew who rest on high.

Where were you when they opened fire?
When they needed guns, were you the buyer?
The day the school ran red with blood,
Did you say a prayer and call it good?
For Columbine sinking in the mire.

Where were you when the towers fell?
When my children screamed in their fiery hell?
The day the planes dropped from the sky,
Did you scratch your head and wonder why?
For September 11’s funeral bells.

Where were you when the levees broke?
When the wrath of God so clearly spoke.
The day an entire city drowned,
Did you watch it all from higher ground?
For Katrina in her deathly cloak.

Where were you my fortunate sons?
When destiny frowned on the unlucky ones.
The day you’re sinking in the sand,
Will others stop to lend a hand?
For Lady Liberty, weeping alone.

I recently read a book called “The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. The book uses as its focal point the tragic event that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. This excellent book really made me stop and think about some things.

One of the ideas Lamb puts forth in his book is how quickly we forget sometimes. Terrible things happen and we focus all of our attention on it for a few days, but then the next thing comes along.

So that’s what inspired this poem.

Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"

Copyright 2010 Steven Brandt