Bible Posts

The Triathlon of Manhood

01 Mar , 2010 1 Comment

I’ve learned many life lessons from triathlon and the many life parallels of being a man.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” His point here is not so much about competing against others as it is about the how you run this race of life.  He says race to win. The triathlon is an image or parable of a man’s life in many ways. It’s not enough to start the race, you must finish the race strong.  (In fact, they have a term for it when you “DNF”- did not finish- too many men DNF in life).  Many men start strong but very few finish well.  Along the way you’ll suffer many setbacks, you’ll want to give up, you’ll never win every race, you’ll suffer injury along the way.  You’ll need to train hard.  You’ll need to live a disciplined life, and you will definitely need some men to come along side you and train with you.  As individual of a sport it seems to be, you cannot do it alone.

But here’s the KEY learning: The idea behind “the triathlon of manhood” is this: We must focus on three disciplines in order to finish strong.  A man must do well in all three areas of his life in order to succeed as a man.

The Triathlon of Manhood

1. His spiritual life

2. His relational life

3. His vocational life

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthian 16:13-14 The NASB says it this way: “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.  This passage has four imperative commands that tell us how to run and win this race.

Winning the Race

1.  Be on guard. Watch out! Be alert!  Many men are not aware of the schemes of the evil one.  You need know the Word of God, study it, and apply it!  Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  Listen: there are moral conditions for spiritual insight.  If you want an ever-expanding and clearer view of God, you must keep your heart pure.  Wake up! Do not give into sin.  .

2.  Stand firm in your faith. Hold tight to your convictions. Real men are unmoveable in their convictions.  Guard your heart, be alert regarding what goes in to your mind, what you see.

3.  Be the man. Be courageous.  The one defining mark of a real man is courage. Real men humbly listen to the audience of One.

4.  Don’t stop loving. Everything you do must be done in love.  We struggle in our culture to combine the rough, adventurous, masculine, barbarian spirit of men with a loving, kind, and tender heart (that’s a tough thing) but it is a potent combination in the hands of God.

The ultimate ironman: Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate man and He has finished the race for us.  He becomes, at the same time, our goal and the means (the power) to finish the race strong.  Men, commit to the triathlon of life and you will finish strong!

Birds and Bees

14 Feb , 2010 1 Comment

The “birds and bees” is an odd euphemism for human sexual relations and reproduction- namely because the way birds and bees create baby birds and bees is radically different from the way humans do.  Most children (and adults) probably know more about human reproduction than they do about birds or bees.  Of course, most of us know that birds lay eggs but you may not know that most birds are monogamous- they stay together to raise their little family. You may not know that bees actually start the process of making baby bees in mid-air (wow) and shortly thereafter, the male bee dies. Now, there’s an abstinence plan we have not considered.  Just say “no”… or else!

Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Perhaps, in no other area of life is this truer than in the area of gender, sex, and relationships. Throughout February we’re bringing much-needed truth to the topic.  Let’s start with some of the wonderful, God-given male/female differences:

He said, she said…

1. He is purpose-driven; she is heart-driven. Men are more driven than women to “get ‘er done”.  It’s why a boys’ soccer game will not stop if one of the guys goes down with an injury, (that’s an advantage)!  A girls’ game may not start again.  The feelings of the one matter more than the purpose of the game.

2. He is goal-oriented; she is feeling-oriented. Girls- ever had this happen to you?  You’re talking with a guy (husband, friend) and you’re just sharing your heart and he starts to offer solutions.  Men- she talks to get closer to her feelings not to get solutions (and besides, she doesn’t think you’re that smart). Girls talk to get to their feelings. This can be a problem because guys have a short attention span ‘cause he’s thinking, “Get to the point!” Fellas, that is the point.  Conversation is the point.

3. He operates specifically; she operates holistically. Men are segmented, women are connected. Men are like waffles, women are like spaghetti.  An example of this is shopping- guys are from Walmart; women are from Nordstrom.  Walmart is more of a hunt and is designed for the kill.  Nordstrom is an experience (they have a guy playing the piano in there)!

4. He needs admiration; she needs affection. Author John Eldridge noted that every guy is asking the question “Do I have what it takes?” Every girl is asking “Am I lovely?” Men tend to strive toward independence and women strive for relationships but men need relationships and women need to find their worth apart from any man.

Words to live by: Men want to hear: “That makes sense. Thank you. You’ve been so helpful.”  Women want to hear: “I understand. Tell me more.”  Try these pointers and watch your relationships thrive.

TOP TEN in 2010- my New Year’s resolutions

30 Dec , 2009 2 Comments

TOP 10 for 2010

1. I will wake up every day and pursue Christ.

2. I will bring my best energy to the people I love the most (remembering that nothing makes up for failure in the home).

3. I will let grace rule in all of my relationships.

4. I will keep “prayer and ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4) my first ministry priority.

5. I will graciously and patiently lead us forward, recognizing the fact that there will always be naysayers (some people’s default mode is “no”) and that God often calls us to move ahead with those who will come.

6. I will constantly lead our church to rethink how we engage an ever-changing culture with the Gospel (so that we will not drift into irrelevance).

7. I will not let the regrets of the past or worries of the future impact my decisions in the present.

8. I will delve deeper and deeper into the mind of Christ to discover more clearly what He envisions His Church to be.

9. I will do what I do best and encourage and empower others to do what they do best.

10. I will daily live an authentic and contagious Christian life (and have lots of fun doing it).

… all by the grace of God.

A Savior for the Least and Lowest

14 Dec , 2009 1 Comment

At the heart of this wonderful passage in Luke 2 is God’s not-so-subtle announcement of His Arrival to a group of shepherds.  It is possible to miss the significance of the shepherds.  Behind the scenes of this story is a God who comes to the lowly, the broken, the sinful, those who didn’t make the cut, who were left out, and forgotten.  To understand just how wonderful it is, we must first understand who 1st Century shepherds were.

Shepherds were among the lowliest class of people in all of Palestine.  It was a low paying job because it didn’t take a whole lot to do it.  You watched sheep all day and all night.  So lowly, most adults didn’t want to do it and so simple a child could do it.  In fact, it was often a task given over to children.  You may remember another (famous) shepherd boy.  In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is seeking out the next king of Israel and comes to Jesse, and says, “I’ve checked out all your sons.  Are these all the sons you have?”  Jesse says, “No, there is still the youngest…” (and then he adds rather mater-of-factly), “… but he is out tending sheep.”  It was a job left to the youngest son in the family.

There were two types of shepherds: Those who owned their own sheep and those who watched after someone else’s sheep.  The shepherds in the Christmas story were probably the latter.  In fact, many scholars have surmised that these shepherds were probably watching over the Temple sheep.  The massive numbers of sheep required for sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem necessitated that the authorities had their own private sheep flocks.  These shepherds were probably tending sheep that would be offered as sacrifices for the sins of the people at the Temple.  Being a shepherd was a dirty job and you certainly didn’t have time to practice the meticulous hand-washing and ceremonial cleaning demanded by the Law.  As a result shepherds were despised by the good orthodox people of the day.

God comes to shepherds.  What should that tell us about God?  And what should that tell us about how we are to love like Him?  Notice to whom He does not appear- among those giddy with excitement we do not find the so-called “righteous”, the Pharisees, the religious orthodox legalists of the day.  It seems that some of us miss the joy of the Gospel as well.  We want to put a wall around the Gospel.  We often become modern day Pharisees, keeping score on who’s in and who’s out, why we are and why others are not.  The Christmas Message is this: Our God is an inclusive God and He wants us to be like Him.  The Gospel is for everyone who will believe, and especially for the least, the forgotten, and neglected among us.  Capture the redemptive passion of our missionary God this Christmas season.  Run, tell everyone!

Video from Matt Chandler

07 Dec , 2009 No Comments

Some of you have asked about my friend Matt.  He is awaiting a biopsy report on a tumor found on his frontal lobe.  He offered these words prior to surgery on Friday.  I share this because I thought you would be challenged and encouraged by his words and perspective.

via Video from Matt.