The wisest man who ever lived sought out to experience the “good things” in life. At the top of his list….was pleasure. Solomon denied himself no earthly thing… And yet he always came up empty. What can we learn from the life pursuits of Solomon? What promises does the ‘god of pleasure’ make that he […]
Who is it that we serve? Who do we worship? For the believer the answer sounds obvious…Jesus! Right?!!?! With our mouths we claim Christ, but what about our hearts? What consumes our thoughts? Our emotions? What are we most excited about? Most concerned about? Do our attitudes and actions prove that Christ is our greatest pursuit….or are there “idols” we are worshiping. Idols? As in small figures from far away pagan lands…yes, and no. Idols are much shinier, much more accepted, and far more common than we believe. What if idolatry isn’t an issue….what if it is the issue? What if we can pursue every false thought, pursuit and decision back to idolatry? Join us for “No other gods” as we unpack the lesser gods warring for our hearts!
A GAP is an unfilled space. Between teeth. Between people. Between where you are and where you want to be. Between knowing about something and really knowing it experientially. When it comes to God’s love and your personal connection to Christ, God doesn’t want a GAP. He wants a heart – not just a head – connection! There is a big gap between “I know a lot about God” and “I know him” by experiencing Him. It is the palpable difference between distance and detachment versus closeness and connection. In fact, the Bible says God’s love was never intended to stay in your head. God’s love is intended to travel from your head and flood light downward into your heart, displacing darknesses and conquering your “shadow self” for good. It is a battle you must fight and win. WHY? Because God’s love IS a fact but He INTENDS it to be felt deep in your heart.
Who is the real you? The Bible says the real you is not who others believe you to be, not who you perceive yourself to be, not what you do professionally, and not even your own self description (good or bad). The Bible says the real you is reflected best in the character of your truest thoughts and your truest motives. And because this is true there is an all out war for your mind and how you manage it in the spiritual world. Control the thoughts of a man and you control the actions of a man. Our shadow selves – the man who struggles with his private thoughts and actions – is in a fist-fight with his own thoughts and which ones he will believe. It is called being conflicted and God does not protect us from these inner battles of the mind. In fact, His challenge to us is to manage our minds aggressively and choose (without anyone seeing what we are thinking) to LOVE HIM with our minds (which He sees). Are you ready to do battle? Many men have their best intentions sabotaged and have their minds HACKED into by the one Jesus identified as a “liar and the Father of Lies.” It’s subtle, it’s powerful, and it’s deadly. But God’s Word – the Sword of the Spirit – is more than adequate to go deep into the heart of both the lie and Liar so you can come out of these internal battles victorious.
Why is it that men get such a bad rap in culture? Part of it has to do with choices men make that are selfish and inconsistent with their age. We can’t overcome the boy inside – we want what we want, can’t say no to ourselves, and, in the process, smash our relationships against the wall of our own immaturity. These poor choices make us feel small and when a man feels small he feels bad and when a man feels bad about himself he wants to “feel” better. At that point, WATCH OUT! So what do we do? Why can’t we defeat our shadow self? Great believers can greatly struggle with sin. As the Apostle Paul! Fortunately, he both asked and answered that same question above. His answer is now God’s Word – the sword with which you can slay that dragon.
We call it “acting out of character” or we say “I don’t know what I was thinking!” But the fact of the matter is that all of our choices and behavior come from somewhere and personal thoughts always drive personal actions. We DO know what we were thinking but the thought is so dark or selfish we don’t want it to see the light of day! So what do we do? We rationalize, deflect, excuse, or worse, accuse others. It’s all smoke. But like the old saying goes “the truth eventually comes out” and we have to face the music. Our shadow self will get exposed and in that moment we have a choice – a BIG choice. God wants you to win that moment. In Part 2 we are going to see a King (and his shadow self) confronted by a prophet with no where to run.
The hidden you. It is the man that – humanly speaking – only you know, sort of. Only you know him because he exists in the shadows, thinking things and doing things you can’t really celebrate in the open because you battle him privately. David had a shadow self. The Apostle Paul has one too. Every man has one and this shadow self sabotages your best intentions in your relationship with God and in your relationships with others. Your shadow self is a mystery to you and pulls you in wrong directions consciously and subconsciously. You think or do things and you can’t put your finger on why. Something triggers you and you behave out of character. Both you and those around ask: Where did that come from? You wish you knew. The good news in all this? God knows and wants to show you to you. Humility, courage, and faith is all you need.
In our fourth and final session in Rhythm of Life….we pause. At the end of the day God’s man pauses and sets aside time to allow the Holy Spirit to “search him, and know him”….join us as we unpack the Rhythms of Rest and Reflection. Anything that lies unexamined and unprocessed, remains unknown and un-used and this includes our experiences. How do we look back, in order to look forward? Join us for our final session in Rhythm of Life.
We are not looking for more “rules”, rather we are searching for the “rhythms” that defined the life of Christ. What governed his emotions, thoughts and actions? We’ve already looked at the rhythms of daily connecting with what is true, and the rhythms of living that our in our places of work. Today, we turn towards the rhythms surrounding community. What does it look like to gather in deep and authentic community? Why do we avoid it? What fears surface in our hearts when we are close to becoming “known”? Join us for session three of Life Rhythms!
Most men see their work as either their ultimate goal or a necessary evil, but scripture paints a very different picture of work. We were certainly made to work, but not to worship it. How then does our faith and our work coexist? What was God’s original intent for work? What Rhythms of Life did Christ model for us, to live out from 9-5? Join us for session two in our brand new series Rhythm of Life.
