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In the last article, we established that for men, inspiration without progression is stagnation.

 

A vision that resonates with men is required if you desire to truly engage them within a church. If there is a strong vision, a defined process that helps a man realize it, and outcomes that make men stakeholders in the ongoing success of the church’s mission: men long for that kind of significance, and they start showing up in big numbers.

 

The Sleeping Giant model and process provides answers to men’s critical questions and bridges men from inspiration firmly over to the progression of spiritual development by calling men in the congregation and in the community to:

 

• Get In
• Get Healthy
• Get Strong
• Get Going

 

This is the Sleeping Giant Spiritual Pathway. Let’s look at the first two steps.

Most pastors dream of having a strong and vibrant men’s community that is driving the mission and vision of their local churches. This dream rarely becomes a reality because there is no compelling vision for men that is articulated, visible and connected to a meaningful process in the church context. 

 

The idea that a man should just show up and give his best energy and expression just because the church asks is presumptuous and deflating to a man. Without a clear vision that makes sense to him, we orphan our best potential leaders to the culture where there is a clear, albeit unhealthy, vision ready and waiting for him. Then we wonder why most of our best men choose to remain affiliated versus activated in the local church.

 

It is because we haven’t painted the target! No end game. No goals. No pathway. No larger meaning.

Understanding the heart of a woman is an oxymoron.

 

Key word? Moron. That’s because only a moron would be arrogant enough to bloody their nose on the rock of the unthinkable. But I am not your average moron. I am a conflicted moron on a mission. The Yin in me says to the Yang “just give up already, accept emotional kindergarten.” But the Yang fights back and says, “the pay-off dude, think about the pay-off if you figure out what she wants!” The prospect of the pay-off wins again and the Yin taps out. But that’s another bone of contention: the pay-off. That certainly has changed over my 29-year dance in the shifting sands of relational intimacy. What once was the effortless and easily secured warm fuzzies of

On the Chinese calendar, 2013 is the Year of the Snake.  For the church, 2013 is the year of the Man.  New Year’s Revolution is afoot. God’s movement of men within the church is exploding!

 

Most pastors dream of having a strong and vibrant men’s community that is driving the mission and vision of their local churches. In the past, this dream rarely became a reality because there was no compelling vision for men that is articulated, visible, and connected to a meaningful process in the church context. 

David Petraeus and Tiger Woods were two of the most revered and respected apex predators in the masculine pecking order. Both breathed the rare air of cult status in the most coveted zones of male glory:  battle and sport. They were disciplined warriors who possessed the spoils of manhood while simultaneously achieving  “role model” status bequeathed to those who are professionally transcendent. 

I admit it. I want my guy to win this presidential election.

War, government, and politics are a huge part of my story. I am the son of a WWII prisoner of war (my mother) and naval officer who served his country for 27 years (a Democrat and Republican respectively). In junior high I won a “State Capital” trip for missing one question out of two-hundred on a United States Constitution exam. I was also a member of the Harry S. Truman club that year.