You can see the parallels can’t you? Men and women today make idols out of everything and anything that they think will bring them a little life. We literally spend most of our time and resources chasing after counterfeit gods that promise to bring us life, which often lead to guilt, shame and broken lives. So like Gideon we hide. Actually we are taught to hide from the time we are little. We are taught not to rely on anyone but ourselves. Don’t reveal your fears, weaknesses, uncertainties because people will think you are weak. So we hide in isolation trying to grind what little we can out of life and we are often driven into spiritual starvation.

It makes sense that we would be looking everywhere for life, we were created to have it and it was promised to us by Jesus…”I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full”. So why do so few of us experience that full life? Jesus also says that there is a thief and he comes only to steal, kill and destroy. He actually says it in the same sentence, in the same breath…John 10:10. But because most of us don’t live like we have an enemy, that life gets stolen and we scratch around in the dirt looking for anything that resembles it.

The part I love the most about Gideon’s story is what happens next. The angel of the Lord says…”Mighty Hero, the Lord is with you!” Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. I think Gideon’s response is a lot like ours. He missed that God was reminding him of who he was (mighty hero) and instead focuses on his circumstances. “If the Lord is with us why is all of this happening to us?”. Have you ever felt that way when things were stacked up against you?

The Lord blows right past Gideon’s complaint and again speaks to Gideon’s true identity. Then the Lord said “Go in the strength that you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites”. Man I love that. There is such truth and strength in that statement but Gideon does exactly what most men and women do. “But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan (family) is the weakest in the whole tribe and I am the least in my entire family.” Because of the false identity we live under due to wounds, lies and the assault against our hearts by the evil one, we question whether or not we have what it takes to be the man or woman that God created us to be.

The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Medianites as if you were fighting one man.” What? Really? What does that stir in your heart?

That is what True Pursuit and our True Pursuit Weekend is all about. Helping a man see the reality that he is living in, that he is living in a world at war and that there is much at stake. Reminding him who he is and why he is here. Pulling him up out of the place where he is hiding. And giving God a chance to speak into his heart all that is true. To become the man that God created him to be so that he can fight for the hearts of those he loves. Every man needs that. Some get it, some know it but continue to hide, but many don’t even know and therefore never get the chance to “Go in the strength they have”.

God actually spends a lot of time in the Bible reminding us to remember…probably because we are so prone to forgetting. What do you use to remember? Today we tend to use Post-it notes, To-Do-lists, email, text reminders, etc. Do you remember the WWJD craze that happened several years ago? That was a catchy little gimmick meant to help us remember to ask what Jesus would do in the situations we find ourselves in…too bad it became more of a an accessory than a reminder. Oh well, you get the point right?

Just prior to the children of Israel entering the Promised Land, Moses tells them…“These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands (I wonder if that is where the “tying the string on the finger to remember” thing came from?), bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your homes and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

A little later in the story, after all of God’s children make it across the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the Lord told Joshua to choose twelve men from among the people to pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests stood. They then made a pile out of the stones. “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘what do these stones mean?’ tTell them that these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:6-7)

If the children of Israel needed to tie reminders to their hands, strap them to their foreheads,; paint them on their houses and gates and pile up stones to remember the truths about God, what makes us think that we can get by with an occasional thought, a drive by prayer or a three minute devotional in the morning? In this crazy, broken, noisy, busy, entertainment driven, over worked and digitally connected world we live in, we desperately need to take time to remember.

This is the time of the year when, for obvious reasons, we reflect on the more important things in our lives like family, relationships and all of the blessings that we have been given. I continue to be blown away at the work that God is doing in me and through me with True Pursuit. When I stop in the midst of all of the craziness of life and reflect, I see the faces (memorials if you will) of men whose hearts are being restored into what God had intended. I see marriages that have been put back together, relationships that are mended, careers that have been recovered and addictions that are being overcome by the restorative power of Jesus Christ.

So, in all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Years…take time to reflect on all that Jesus has done and with faith, hope and joy cling to all that He promises.

I used to like to watch the TV show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway” hosted by Drew Carey. The show consisted of a panel of three or four performers who create characters, scenes and songs on the spot, in the style of short-form improvisation games. Topics for the games were based on either audience suggestions or predetermined prompts from the host. While sometimes a little coarse, watching the performers act out different situations on impulse was hilarious.

Now this may be a bit of a stretch for some but I liken the show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway” to the way a lot of us Christians/Christian organizations make decisions. Drop the coarse humor and you have a similar scene being played out in the church today or in the majority of Christian organizations. A need for staff or volunteers comes up, or an opportunity to speak comes up and we impulsively jump into action to fill a position or plan a program or say yes to the invitation simply because we think we know what we need or want from a practical or experiential perspective.

The fact that some of you reading this bristle at that statement says something about the way we approach Christian service. I recently read in My Utmost for His Highest that the Apostle Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of II Corinthians 10:5, “. . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ…” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! Oswald goes on to say…”In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . ” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.” True determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

As disciples of Jesus we need to be like Him…if the Son did nothing of himself but only the Fathers will…shouldn’t we also take every thought (project) prisoner to Jesus? We as a society have become so busy (in and out of the church), striving to get so much done “for God” that we scoff at taking the time to pray, listen, invite Christ into every decision and ask Him what He wants us to do or how to move forward.

The True Pursuit team is making every effort to practice this as we look at what opportunities lay ahead of us.  It takes discipline and a like-mindedness to ask Jesus even if we think we know.

I have this thing for the Audi A6 automobile. Whenever I see one my covet button goes off and I am convinced deep down in my heart that my life would be so much better if I had one. Actually I did have one once…my brother had a ‘96 wagon that he no longer needed and so he graciously gave it to us. It was 11 or 12 years old, 190,000 miles on it and the sunroof didn’t work but it was still the nicest car I ever owned (might say something about our other cars). Only problem was that the transmission went out on it and by any chance do you know what a rebuilt transmission costs for an Audi A6? So now when I see an A6 and find myself thinking that I would be happier than I have ever been if I had that car, I can quickly think how much it costs to maintain one of those suckers and that usually helps…oh yeah and then there is the part of being able to afford one.

But it doesn’t stop with the car; there are all kinds of things that I am convinced would make my life better and the marketing experts have figured out how to take advantage of our discontentment. Have you ever-noticed how marketing guru’s today are so savvy in the way they convince us that our life, the way it is, sucks. Really, we watch a commercial and see how joyful and complete the actor/actress is because they have a new whatever, and we more often than not find ourselves loathing our position in life. And once they have you convinced that your life sucks the way it is they (usually with the help of a pretty girl in a bikini) convince us that our lives would be so much better with a new whatever…actually they make us feel like we deserve it and most of us at some time or another fall for it.

I have spent my fair share of time being discontent; wishing I could have something more or better. I also look around me today and I see so many who are discontent. They hope, dream, strive and long for the next thing that will make them happy. And you know what? It hardly ever does, at least for very long.

Have you ever asked why? Why am I seldom content? Why as soon as I purchase one thing that I have been longing for do I start searching the Internet for the next thing?

I was reading Philippians 4 the other day and this is what Paul said about being content… “For I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Wow, what would it be like to be able to say that we are content with whatever we have? I think we tend to say, but that was Paul, of course he was content. No, Paul wasn’t any different than you and me but he did understand something that we forget sometimes. It is Christ who gives us the strength to be content. Because Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING we need.

Over my lifetime I have struggled with anger. Explosive anger that was usually unjustified and would seemingly come out of nowhere. I have been a Christian for 32 years and honestly for about 25 of them it didn’t seem to make much of a difference with my anger problem. Oh I tried all of the things Christians are supposed to do to overcome anger…prayer, confession, repentance, bible study, small group, accountability groups, etc. I still struggled with my anger though.

In 2002 a friend of mine gave me the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. My friend didn’t know it but the timing couldn’t have been better. God used the book, the conferences that are based on the book and other men who are on a similar journey to lead me deeper into Jesus and to start me on a journey of healing that would take me to places I never would have dreamed possible.

Eventually God led me to leave the ministry I was involved with for nearly two decades and start a ministry that is dedicated to rescuing the hearts of men. True Pursuit was launched in September of 2003 and it has been an incredible ride so far. I have wanted to blog for a long time but for a thousand reasons…none of them very good…I have always found a reason not to jump in.  Today signifies the start of something that will hopefully bring encouragement to those that find their way here.

I am convinced that every man has suffered one or more wounds in his lifetime that have shaped him into who he is today. Most of us still fall for the age-old lie that we are the only ones that struggle with our stuff and therefore we are convinced that it would not go well if we shared our struggle(s) with others. Of course when we take a little risk and open up to a friend we realize that in fact we are not alone in our struggles and that there is much strength and healing that comes from being real with ourselves, others and God.

You might be wondering what ever happened to my anger problem. It is gone…honestly, it is gone. I do not struggle with the anger issues I had fought with my whole life. I discovered that my anger was coming out of some childhood wounds that were never acknowledged and never dealt with. It is not just me you know. Having been ministering to men now for several years I seen much breakthrough, healing and restoration…much of which I am looking forward to sharing with you as we move forward.

Higher Up And Deeper In!