Foundations/the first principle of attack is to divide and conquer
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
As in any good study in the foundations of our faith we must begin with the responsibility of leadership. What we find today in our social structure is that all you have to do as a leader is talk a good talk, but a true man of God is called to lead by example. I want to start our discussion by talking to the men of the church. There are some examples and statistics regarding men today that I would like to share with you, and then in your heart you can determine where you think we are going as men in America.
1. We have all heard the Scripture"the fool has said in his heart... There is no God"and if we listened to the fools of this world the stats that I am going to give you will only get worse. Today only 1 out of 18 men in this country have any kind of relationship with the church. That makes men the largest unchurched people group in this country. There are good reasons for this as well. The trends show that men are quickly losing touch with what it means to be an example because of the lack of example that his been given to them. Men are leaving households at an alarming rate. In 1960 17% of the children in this country were fatherless. In 1990 33% of the children in this country were fatherless. In 2000 40% of the children in this country were fatherless. And the last stat that I have in 2008 by the time that child reaches 18 60% of all children in this country will be fatherless. Statistically did you know that 90% of all crime is done by men? 100% of rapes, 95% burglaries, 91% family abuses, and in 94% of drunk drivers, all our men.
I shouldn't even have to tell you that most of these men have had no example in life of what it really means to be a man. I wish I could say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I really don't see one. The fact is that God never promised that there would be one either. This is a topic that most people don't want to discuss but men are all so very alone and friendless. It is time for us to bring this stuff out of the closet and into our conscious thought. As a man ask your self how many friends do you have that you know you can really count on when trouble comes? I think I can vouch for most men of the baby boom generation in saying that we have learned to box ourselves off from one another in an attempt to not be hurt. Did you know the greatest ministry to men that ever existed was the example that Christ gave us to his disciples? I have a quote from a man named Alexander Mitserlisch who was a men's counselor." Society has torn the soul out of the mail, and into this tear demons have fled... The demons of insecurity, selfishness, and despair.. Because of that men do not know who they are as men, rather they defined themselves by what they do, who was a no, or what they own."
To be as straight as I can about this quote it tells me that we as men have allowed ourselves to become addicted to this life and we have constantly passed that addiction on to our families. We have become confused about being a man. We have forgotten our core as a person, and we have no real identity today. Can I ask you a simple question? When you meet someone new particularly a man how long for the question of what do you do comes up? I would bet things will center then around money or possessions because you see that's what we judge our work by. What is that saying to us? Can I tell you a quick story? There was a little boy playing on the floor in front of his father who was sitting reading a newspaper. The father thinking that he could entertain the boy for a while found a picture of a world map heat towards the picture into small pieces and gave the pieces to his son like a puzzle. He asked his son if he could put the world back together and in just a few moments the child had finished. The father ask him how did you do that so quickly? The child said, on the other side daddy there is a picture of a man if you put the man together then you can put the world together too! The truth about this entire series of study is that if we put men back together then we can also put the bride of Christ together properly. It is my prayer that you will consider the things that we have discussed here today. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
As in any good study in the foundations of our faith we must begin with the responsibility of leadership. What we find today in our social structure is that all you have to do as a leader is talk a good talk, but a true man of God is called to lead by example. I want to start our discussion by talking to the men of the church. There are some examples and statistics regarding men today that I would like to share with you, and then in your heart you can determine where you think we are going as men in America.
1. We have all heard the Scripture"the fool has said in his heart... There is no God"and if we listened to the fools of this world the stats that I am going to give you will only get worse. Today only 1 out of 18 men in this country have any kind of relationship with the church. That makes men the largest unchurched people group in this country. There are good reasons for this as well. The trends show that men are quickly losing touch with what it means to be an example because of the lack of example that his been given to them. Men are leaving households at an alarming rate. In 1960 17% of the children in this country were fatherless. In 1990 33% of the children in this country were fatherless. In 2000 40% of the children in this country were fatherless. And the last stat that I have in 2008 by the time that child reaches 18 60% of all children in this country will be fatherless. Statistically did you know that 90% of all crime is done by men? 100% of rapes, 95% burglaries, 91% family abuses, and in 94% of drunk drivers, all our men.
I shouldn't even have to tell you that most of these men have had no example in life of what it really means to be a man. I wish I could say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I really don't see one. The fact is that God never promised that there would be one either. This is a topic that most people don't want to discuss but men are all so very alone and friendless. It is time for us to bring this stuff out of the closet and into our conscious thought. As a man ask your self how many friends do you have that you know you can really count on when trouble comes? I think I can vouch for most men of the baby boom generation in saying that we have learned to box ourselves off from one another in an attempt to not be hurt. Did you know the greatest ministry to men that ever existed was the example that Christ gave us to his disciples? I have a quote from a man named Alexander Mitserlisch who was a men's counselor." Society has torn the soul out of the mail, and into this tear demons have fled... The demons of insecurity, selfishness, and despair.. Because of that men do not know who they are as men, rather they defined themselves by what they do, who was a no, or what they own."
To be as straight as I can about this quote it tells me that we as men have allowed ourselves to become addicted to this life and we have constantly passed that addiction on to our families. We have become confused about being a man. We have forgotten our core as a person, and we have no real identity today. Can I ask you a simple question? When you meet someone new particularly a man how long for the question of what do you do comes up? I would bet things will center then around money or possessions because you see that's what we judge our work by. What is that saying to us? Can I tell you a quick story? There was a little boy playing on the floor in front of his father who was sitting reading a newspaper. The father thinking that he could entertain the boy for a while found a picture of a world map heat towards the picture into small pieces and gave the pieces to his son like a puzzle. He asked his son if he could put the world back together and in just a few moments the child had finished. The father ask him how did you do that so quickly? The child said, on the other side daddy there is a picture of a man if you put the man together then you can put the world together too! The truth about this entire series of study is that if we put men back together then we can also put the bride of Christ together properly. It is my prayer that you will consider the things that we have discussed here today. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Comments
Post a Comment