Godly Manhood: The Real Counterculture

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines counterculture as…

a culture with values and mores that run counter to those of established society

I was always taught that you don’t define a word by using the word in the definition, but what do I know. But there you have it. A counterculture is a culture with values and mores, (customs) that run counter to those of established society.

If that’s our working definition, then I have one question: Can you think of any group or culture more “countercultural” than men pursuing godliness?

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2013 – Time for Men to Step Up

What does it mean to be a man? How would you define it?

When does a boy become a man?

When he turns 18? When he starts driving? Graduates from school? Gets married? What answer would you give a boy to that question?

I’m very excited to announce that beginning this January,  we’re going to try to answer that question, as well as other questions related to it. Using the new curriculum, Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood, the men of our church and our community are going to discover what it means to become the man that God has called us to be. Here’s a clip…

In the twelve years of this ministry to men, I don’t think that I’ve ever been this excited over a new study. I believe that there is a great need for a rediscovery and renewal of godly manhood in our culture today. I pray that God will use this study to make a powerful impact in the lives of the men who gather each week to participate… and therefore, also impact their families, workplaces, communities, etc.

Requirement to be a part of this study…

You are not required to be an expert on the Bible or Systematic Theology.

What you will need is the desire to become the man that God has called you to be… at home, at work, at church, in your community… and even alone. None of us has yet become that man, but that desire is a step up and a step in the right direction!

Here’s a little more about the study…

Many men find it difficult to identify acts of courage while slogging through the daily challenges of home, work, and community. Yet these are the very battlefields where courage is demanded of them every single day.

In this 10-session video series, Dennis Rainey calls men to boldly forge into courageous manhood. Stepping Up defines courage throughout the five stages of manhood and commissions men to honestly evaluate where they stand in their duties of masculinity. Rainey then prepares men to bravely master their life purpose by developing a strategic plan and establishing a winning vision.

You can master true leadership, develop a plan for your life and make a difference in your world.

(from the back of the study guide to Stepping Up.)

Our new study begins on Monday evening, January 7th (at 7pm in our Family Life Center)… or on Wednesday morning, January 9th, (at 6:30am, also in our FLC).

You do not have to be a member of our church (Southside United Methodist Church) to come and join us. This study is open to all of the men in our community. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at 396-2676 or email me at D.Tedder@southsidemethodist.org.

Let’s pray that God will use this new study to help us STEP UP and STAND FIRM.

Blessings,
Dale

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Tony Evans on Manhood and Fatherhood

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Pursuing Godly Manhood

Welcome to Pursuing Godly Manhood. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my blog. I hope it will bless you.

• Pursuing – Striving to gain; seeking to attain or accomplish; carrying on; continuing
• Godly – Pious; devout; characterizing a Godward attitude; doing that which pleases God; indicating reverence manifested in actions
• Manhood – No one seems to know! Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not far from the truth. My desire with this blog is to help move us all forward in coming to a better understanding of such an important subject as “manhood.”

Why Focus on Manhood?

While I serve my present ministry appointment in a variety of ways (related to discipleship), ministering to men has been a special focus and passion of mine for over a decade now. I can still remember when the light bulb went off for me regarding the importance of ministering specifically to men. The avalanche of statistics as well as my own ministerial observations began to sink in. I finally realized that what I had read dozens of times was actually true. My little epiphany could best be summarized by the words that I once heard pastor and writer, Tony Evans, preach…

• As the man goes, so goes the family
• As the family goes, so goes the church
• As the church goes, so goes the community
• As the community goes, so goes the city
• As the city goes, so goes the state, then nation, and finally the world.

That’s how we will change the world for Christ… by extending God’s kingdom into every sphere of life… beginning first with ourselves and then working outward in what we might  think of as concentric circles or spheres of influence.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple. However, virtually every statistic I’ve come across – secular and Christian – has stressed that the positive influence of a man in the home is non-negotiable for health and vitality in that home, as well as for society. Therefore, I came to embrace the wisdom of, as well as to put into practice, an intentional focus on ministering to men. Additionally, as a father of three sons, I also realized that the best time to influence men is before they’re men… that is… when they’re still young men and boys.

Purpose of this Blog

My purpose and calling is to love and glorify God by helping men become all that God has created, redeemed, and called them to be in every sphere and circumstance of their lives.  (I go into more detail of what this “purpose statement” means on my “Vocation” page). It ought to go without saying, though I dare not go without saying it, that this is not a “self-help” blog. My fundamental premise is that no man, woman, or child can become godly until they first respond in faith to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only then can God’s Spirit and Word renew minds, renovate hearts, and transform lives.

My emphasis for this blog is pretty wide. I will focus on what I call the seven spheres of godly manhood: Worldview, Holiness, Family, Vocation, Culture, Witness, and Leadership. You will find out more about each of those spheres by visiting those pages on the blog. Those are broad and far-reaching themes to be sure, but I believe that they represent those areas of our lives that either relate to the spheres that influence us or those spheres where we have opportunity to influence others for Christ and his Kingdom.

Let me finish up with this “4 Sakes Prayer” that I found at the end of Jack Graham’s book, A Man of God:

For the sake of the Kingdom, For the sake of my family, For the sake of God’s Church, And for the sake of our nation, I will become a man of God.

Grace and Truth,
Dale Tedder

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Men Stuff

Here are some links to some great articles, websites, etc., for men that I came across this week.

Enjoy,
Dale

1.) What is the Eternal Significance of Everyday Work? by Elise Amyx at The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics

2.) Men’s Identity Struggle by Eric Hogue at Crosswalk.com

3.) Raising a Man in a Boy’s World by David Jeremiah, also at Crosswalk.com

4.) Power of the Home - a great new website, blog, etc., from Lifeway

5.) A Father’s Prayer by Thom Rainer at Power of the Home

6.) 8 Things to Know About Disciplining Your Child by Ryan Sanders at the Fatherhood Initiative Project

7.) 10 Ways to Help Your Child Deal with Bullying, also by Ryan Sanders at the Fatherhood Initiative Project

8.) The Good Man Project - This is not a website or “movement” (as they put it) that is coming from a biblical perspective. There is plenty of “the world” running in and through their material. However, there have been some useful articles that I’ve read since I ran across it a couple of weeks ago. I like very much their emphasis on hammering out what meaningful manhood is in our culture today, even if they don’t often line up exactly with where I might be. So, use your own discernment. And think to yourself… “Acts 17″

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Kingdom Man with Tony Evans

Looks good…

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What’s Your Reputation? (Men’s Midweek Devotional)

He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. (1 Timothy 3:7)

You have probably heard the definition of character as “who you are when no one is looking.” You could also say that character is who you are when those who know you best are looking.

In this second chapter of The Measure of a Man, Gene Getz looks at what it takes to build a good reputation. This is rather a tricky area because some folks may enjoy a good reputation superficially because they’re able to reasonably fake it before people they don’t know well and with whom they associate only on an occasional basis. But living a life that builds a good reputation is hard to fake on a regular basis with those who know you best… such as the members of your family who know you most intimately.

Let me hasten to add that the expectation here is not that you’re expected to walk on water. As one person I recently read put it, the idea here is direction, not perfection. The question is: Are you moving in a godly, Christlike direction in your life?

In the Scripture at the top of the devotion, Paul is telling Timothy that the kind of person he should be looking for to exercise leadership in the church needs to have a good reputation. Christians are charged with hypocrisy enough as it is. And even if the charge isn’t always accurate, the mere perception can derail a life or a ministry. Worse still, we don’t want to misrepresent our Lord before a watching world.

Getz suggests that Timothy was such a person… a man with a good reputation. He highlights these three indicators…

1. People were saying positive things about Timothy.
2. More than one person was saying these positive things about Timothy.
3. People in more than one location were saying these positive things about Timothy.

It seems that wherever Timothy was and whomever he was with, he was a godly man living above reproach. Thus, he enjoyed a good reputation.

Ask Someone

Getz recommends that if you want to really know your reputation (as it relates to your genuine character) ask someone who knows you best. This might sting a little, but it’s a good way to get to the truth of who you are… and to serve you in becoming the godly man you want to become.

Ask Yourself

Just as important, we occasionally need to conduct a personal assessment of who we are and what we’re about, etc. Getz suggests asking yourself the following questions (these are great questions, by the way)…

1. Do more and more people select me as a person to share their lives with me?

2. Do people trust me with confidential information?

3. Do my relationships with people grow deeper and more significant the longer they know me and the closer they get to me? Or do my friendships grow strained and shallow as people learn to know what I am really like?

4. Does my circle of friends grow continually wider and larger? Do an increasing number of people trust me?

5. Do people recommend me for significant or difficult tasks without fear of my letting them down?

The point in all of this is not to build a reputation by duplicity and manipulation. To be sure, there are plenty of people doing that. Instead, our goal should be that as we grow in godliness, the authenticity of our increasingly Christlike character will be made evident to all. And that’s how we can represent our Lord well in this world.

Have a great rest of the week.

Your Brother in Christ,
Dale

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