| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, July 7, 2014
Alex Stuart's invitation is awaiting your response
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Alex Stuart's invitation is awaiting your response
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, June 27, 2014
Let's connect on LinkedIn
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, April 18, 2014
Give it UP!
Happy Easter Men!
Sorry I have not been in touch lately. I have been working on some more comprehensive things for men and of course, there is work, family, hiking, facebook, exercise, well, you know.
I have been looking at what the journey to being a good man looks like and God started me in the book of Proverbs. Through that, I came to something I really want to share with you guys today and see what you think. Especially as we consider this weekend what Jesus did on his journey 2000 years ago.
The first thing that jumped out at me as I looked at Proverbs was God asking us to carefully consider who we hang out with and though the course of the book, He gives us quite a list of people to not hang out with (people lying in wait to spill innocent blood, for example). That made sense to me as I thought about the last 8 years of ministry I have been involved with, working with kids and adults coming from, hmmm how to say this, environments where people are on a first name basis with bail bondsmen. If these guys did not change whom they hung out with, they never became the man they wanted to be. When they did change, they were able to follow God and I was witness to both options.
So, yea, that makes sense. The more I thought and prayed about this, God brought another, deeper, more disturbing verse to my mind. Jesus, in Luke 14:26 talks about if you do not hate your father, mother, brother, sister, yes, even your own life, you cannot be his disciple. The thought occurred to me that this was an extension of all the Proverbs verses dealing with whom you hang with. If service to your family means you do not follow Jesus, then you need to give up the service to your family.
If only it was service to your family holding you back.
Most of the time it is an unhealthy desire to please someone who can't be pleased. An unfulfilled desire for a father's affirmation, a bitterness towards a mom or sibling you felt wronged by, or that you could never measure up to. The list of things that might be unhealthy in a family, which would keep you from following God, is endless.
Oh, and when I say follow God, I hope you know I am not referring to the popular definition of that in which you become a nice guy who reads his bible every day and attends his church and maybe even serves there in some capacity. Those are great things, but not necessarily following God into the hard areas of life where you MUST call on Him for guidance. Those things should lead you to a walk with God that involves tremendous risk and battle. Most of you yearn for a life like that, but those family things I talked about before are getting in your way.
The things you must give up to be able to follow God with courage and faith.
Your life.
When Jesus talks about the same thing in Matthew 10 when he talks about finding and losing your life. The text does not use the word for biological life (bios) here, but the word psyche meaning your soul, your personality, the things you are using to try to derive some "life" out of this world. He is not asking you to go kill your body, but to give up (there is that thought again) the things you are using to try to make life work for you. Approval from others, money, a search for comfort, work, you name it. Things that will not get you thrown in jail, but will keep you from following God.
So think about these things this Easter season and consider what Jesus gave up to come here and die on a cross for us. Think about His motivation to do that, which is His love for us.
Maybe, just maybe it will motivate us to take all of our junk to Him so we can follow Him into the adventure of your life that your great, great grandchildren will still be talking about.
Have a Great Easter Men!
Alex
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Oh Lord its Hard to be Humble
Hey Men,
Welcome to 2014, the year I get to live as a 50 year old. I'll let you know when I am crossing into geezerhood, but its not yet, not yet.
How I Learned a Lesson of Humility and Desire from the Sugar Bowl!
Sorry, you say, you didn't notice the humility there? It was. Watch. Months ago, Bob Stoops (oh, and I'm not really a fan of either team) said he was tired of the SEC propaganda machine. Then he gets the chance to play Alabama in a bowl game. I don't know what his preparation for that game was, but he had an excellent game plan, he had his players ready physically, mentally and emotionally. They WANTED this game. Alabama, with all of its fine athletes and coaches, just really didn't want it as bad.
There has to be a level of humility in that desire. Humility that says, I will have to work my tail off to succeed in this. Arrogance says "I got this". Humility says do your best and never quit trying. Arrogance says "Who needs to work hard?" Humility says I need to step into this situation. Fear says, its not going to go well, don't even try.
Now, for the desire part. We have all seen many sporting events where the underdog comes out like OU did and really takes it to the favorite. They have the passion, drive, game plan, camaraderie, you name it, it's all going their way. The favorite realizes they have been resting on their laurels and tries to get some passion going. And it never works. You can't generate that kind of passion on the spur of the moment. It has to come from a slow boil.
Humility that drives you to work hard, think well, go to others for help, that kind of humility stems from a long slow intense desire for _________________. You fill in the blank.
So when your resolution fails, where is your desire going to go? Is your false sense of humility going to say "I knew I couldn't do it anyway"? Or is your false sense of humility going to keep you from trying? That's not humility, that's fear.
Here's to a 2014 not lived in fear or a false sense of humility.
Your brother
Alex
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)