Sleeping Giant

with Kenny Luck at Every Man Ministries

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Why Satan Wants You To Keep Secrets

The Top Ten Reasons Satan Wants You To Keep Secrets

10.) You lose out on the support God provides in the body of Christ.

9.) You lose confidence spiritually.

8.) You lose the ability to develop self-control, and you repeat the cycle of sin.

7.) You lose fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

6.) You lose your connection with the truth.

5.) You lose credibility with others.

4.) You lose intimacy with your family.

3.) You lose intimacy with others (it’s not the real you).

2.) You lose days, weeks, months, even years of joy and peace.

1.) You lose intimacy with God.

From Every Young Man God’s Man: Confident, Courageous, and Completely His by Stephen Arterburn, Kenny Luck, and Mike Yorkey

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Prayers for Men (and others)

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come in my life. Your will be done in my life, here and now, on earth, as it is in heaven. I surrender to you the temporal kingdom I have been building. Give me, I pray, the eternal kingdom. Amen.

from Pat Morley’s Walking with Christ in the Details of Life

Lord, thank you for the freedom you purchased for me. As I surrender my mind, my will, and my emotions to you, I escape the corruption that is in the world. As I walk in your truth, I have everything I need for life and godliness. Thank you for the glory and goodness by which you call me to yourself. Amen.

from Every Day for Every Man by Stephen Arterburn, Fred Stoeker, and Kenny Luck

And a prayer for everyone…

Dear God, I have confessed my sin to you, but I still feel guilty. I know the problem is with me. But I cannot atone for my  sin by feeling guilty  and miserable. Part of receiving your forgiveness is trusting that I really am cleansed of my sins. Let me not only believe this but act on it, responding to your grace in every aspect of my life. Your love breaks the power of sin so that I am free to worship you gratefully, make costly sacrifices willingly, serve humbly, and express my faith boldly. Even though my feelings condemn me, I know I am forgiven. Lord, please le my faith in you overcome my feelings of guilt so I can walk in the freedom of being cleansed from every wrong.

from 365 Pocket Prayers

Have a blessed day walking with the Lord today.

Truth and Joy,
Dale

 

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Tedder’s Top Ten: Men’s Ministry Websites

This one is near and dear to my heart. I’ve written many times about ministering to men, how important it is, etc.

For this Top Ten I wanted to share some of the websites that have blessed me regarding ministry to men. However, because I’ve come across so many helpful websites on this subject, carving this down to ten is, I’m sure, an injustice to others that ought to be included.

Part of my criteria for choosing which websites make my Top Ten list is that the website has to be useful. In other words, the ministry that a website represents may be phenomenal and doing great things for the Kingdom. However, if the website itself doesn’t do much more than tell me a few interesting things about the ministry, then it’s not very useful as an online resource. Thus, the websites I like most are the ones that provide articles, devotionals, podcasts, YouTube videos, social media connections, newsletters, etc. That’s how I decided which ones to include on this and every Top Ten list.

PS – The following websites are focused more on ministering to men “in general.” I’ll include Top Ten lists later that will focus on top websites for fathers, top websites for husbands, etc.

This list is in no particular order… except for the first one, because I believe it is far and away the best.

1.) Man in the Mirror Ministries with Pat Morley – Morley and company are the premier thinkers in the world of ministering to men. Their website is super user-friendly. You can read countless articles on men’s ministry, men’s issues, etc. You can download and listen to men’s Bible studies taught by Morley or watch them online. You can also sign up for a number of training events that Man in the Mirror holds or purchase some fantastic resources online. Great website that goes well with an incredible ministry to men.

2.) Every Man Ministries with Kenny Luck

3.) Top Gun Men’s Ministries

4.) Men’s Stuff at CrossWalk.com

5.) New Man Magazine

6.) Men’s Ministry at Bible.org

7.) Church for Men

8.) Disciple Men.com

9.) Christian Businessmen Connection

10.) Men’s Ministry Catalyst

Honorable Mention

• Live Bold (just discovered this one today) Looks like it may have some good possibilities.

If you want to check out some of the other websites for ministry to men, click here. I’ve realized that it’s not updated. I’ve come across some others recently that, while they might not make my Top Ten list, are still very fine websites and worth looking into. If you know of one not included, please let me know and may add it to the Honorable Mentions.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Every Man, God’s Man

Every Man, God’s Man
By Stephen Arterburn, Kenny Luck, and Mike Yorkey

I just started this book, which is subtitled, Every Man’s Guide to Couragious and Daily Integrity. That’s such a key phrase, I think. I have often said that the hardest part about parenting is that it’s so daily. Well, that’s also true about being a godly man. Consistency seems so elusive. We have good days and not-so-good days. But seeking to be Christlike is always our goal. This book has been out since 2003, but the ideas are as fresh and relevant as anything written today. In fact, it has recently been republished. This link will take you to the good folks at ChristianBook.com’s listing of it so that you can order it.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this is not a “book review.” Instead, I’m seeking to glean key ideas from the books I share (usually just focusing on a chapter at a time) so that I can share what I’m learning with you and the men I’m blessed to serve at Southside UMC. Enjoy, Dale

Introduction and Chapter One

From the Introduction

Men spend a lot of time playing to the wrong audience. “God Almighty is the only audience we need. …When we play for God, we become God’s man.”

The Three Rs of God’s Man

1.)    “Read – God’s man reads. A careful reader soaks up truth and lives it out in his life.”

2.)    “Recommit – Recommitment means relinquishing some of our rights and leading by serving. Recommitment means removing the sins that burden us down.”

3.)    “Relate – God’s man relates to God, his immediate family, and to other men.”

From Chapter One: Bogged Down in the Red Zone

The authors reference Dallas Willard, saying that before we seek to renovate our lives, we must first renovate our hearts. I couldn’t agree more with that. In fact, I’ve written on that very idea many, many times as well. The whole Bible, I believe, is predicated on the need for heart-work before life-transformation can truly take place.

This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does. It first puts a man into a right relationship with God through Christ (by grace through faith and repentance) and simultaneously makes that man a brand new creature with a brand new heart.

That new man of God then spends the rest of his life seeking to become (through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit and the means of grace God has provided) what God has already declared him to be – holy (or what we might call “Christlike”). This is an inside-out procedure. It involves a renovation of our character and not simply behavior modification. Our minds must also be renewed before we can really start living lives that please God and conform to the Christlikeness that God desires. “Right actions” which are not done for God’s glory and out of love for Christ are not properly motivated and thus not pleasing to God. Too many ministries today focus too much on changing behavior first. They’ve got it backwards. I believe this book seeks to straighten that out.

Kenny Luck talks about the great privilege it is to serve men by pouring himself into their lives. I couldn’t agree more. I thank God daily for calling me to such a ministry. It’s a blessing that I enjoy each day.

I once heard Tony Evans say something along the lines that if you connect with a man, his family will be blessed, then his church will, then his work, then his community, and eventually the world. Luck quotes a pastor friend of his who made this similar statement: “If you reach a man, then you reach every relationship he has.” Amen to that!

Here are some of the things that the authors will be focusing on throughout the book (These topics look great. I can’t wait to really dig in and share what I learn with you.)

• the personal benefits of having an undivided heart toward God
• how to stop resolving to change and instead experience a revolution inside
• how to move against fear and replace it with faith
• how there is no such thing as a “double agent” believer because one agent is always compromised
• how to deal with the “mole” within that bids you to indulge the dark side
• how winning or losing a spiritual foothold changes the tide of war
• how and why “80/20” thinking fails; that is, doing things 80 percent God’s way and 20 percent your way
• the importance of “marinating” your mind
• why having other men watch your back is nonnegotiable for God’s man
• how confession releases God’s power and bloodies the Enemy’s nose
• how to partner effectively and practically with the Guide – God’s Spirit
• the source of real spiritual power and how to tap it
• why perseverance is the mark of God’s man
• the purpose of building and staying within well-marked boundaries
• the need to jettison the baggage in your life
• mastering your spiritual motivation once and for all

 If that list doesn’t motivate you to go out and buy the book, I don’t know what will. I look forward to reading this book and working my way through it with you.

Blessings,
Dale

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