First of all:
Welcome Home All Who Have Served Our Country, You Are the Warriors We All Hope to Emulate in Our Battles!
The theme of this day (July 4th, US independence day) fits the message of this site perfectly. There is an enemy, he prowls the earth seeking whom he may devour. That ‘may’ there is a good choice of words. He doesn’t devour just anyone, he destroys those willing to be destroyed. Not whom he ‘can’ devour but those who he ‘may’ devour.
Before the enemy came to be there is a Father/Creator that spoke us into existence. To each he gave a personality, desires, and a purpose. And, because he knew what he was doing the three of those things mesh together to form a fierce being. A man (in our case) who is focused, brave, valiant, and effective. That was the plan anyhow.
The way things have turned out we have blindly stumbled through life without anyone to point us in the direction of that loving creator Father. We were told that the purpose of life is to be happy, or prosperous, or at the very least “to have it better than our parents had it.” Hmm, lofty. Our parents, church leaders, teachers etc. didn’t know the purpose of life and if they did then they didn’t know how to point us to it. We went to high school and cruised through, some of us went to college and wasted even more time. Then we got out and had to pay rent so we took the job that paid the bills and had to learn how to survive the politics to advance and get paid more. At some point we concluded that having a family, a house, and a car was the best we could do and started filling the holes with toys. A big TV, turned into a Theater Room, Going to a football game turned into tailgating with an RV and a margarita machine, A weekend trip to the lake turned into a boat, a ski-doo, and a lake house. Going to church turned into commitee meetings, building projects, fund raisers, choir practice, gossip, and “where are we going to eat after the service?” All the while we watch the news and feel helpless to change the world. I wonder why we feel helpless when WE’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO CHANGE IT.
Going forward, here at Men On Purpose, I’m going to be looking at who we are, why we were put here, and the distractions that keep us resigned to a life of futility. I want to talk frankly about these issues, and invite you to do the same. Use words like ‘angry,’ ‘drunk,’ ‘pot,’ ‘depressed,’ ‘porn,’ ‘masturbate,’ ‘afair,’ ‘guilt,’ and ‘divorce.’ These topics touch our lives and skew our perspective, if the church hides in the closet and ignores them then no one gets helped. You can’t drive forward if your wheels are spinning in the mud.
Philippians 3: 13 Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. 14 I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. 15 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! 16 Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. 17 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. 18 There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. 19 But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites. 20 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! –The Message
For Freedom
bert
