Legacy Dad

A Different Perspective on Biblical Stewardship

 

Proverbs 22:7 (New International Version)

 ⁷ The rich rule over the poor, 
       and the borrower is servant to the lender.

ANY QUESTIONS?

 

Build the Walls

Build the Walls

 

 

1 Corinthians 6:15

Listen to this passage

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Listen to this passage

¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (New International Version)

The Armor of God   

 ¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

Nehemiah 4:15-18 (New International Version)   

 ¹⁵ When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

 ¹⁶ From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah ¹⁷ who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, ¹⁸ and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

Let’s just get to the quick of it, your bodies are a living temple of God’s.  You were bought with a price through Jesus Christ and you are now a child of the Living God.  Do you want to live the rest of your days on this earth as status quo or do you want more out of life?  Do you want to be the Spiritual leader that God wants you to be?  Follow his word and just don’t read it, but listen to it, eat it daily and grow in stature by becoming a disciple of Christ.  I embedded an image from the movie, Lord of the Rings.  I think the symbolism is very appropriate in that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…we need to equip ourselves daily and be prepared for war.  We need to read the Bible, pray continuously and obey God’s precepts.  We are a holy people and we cannot serve two masters:  God and Sin.  The two do not go together and God is not mocked.  Imagine the walls in the video clip are actually the walls of our heart and if we give in to the ways of this world and do not allow God to be Lord over our lives.  We are at war with an enemy who is taking no prisoners.  What fruit is your walk bearing?  The fruit of the Spirit or of the sinful nature? (Galatians 5)  The choice is yours…are you ready? Let's get serious about discipleship and your call to Spiritual Leadership.  

Pure Religion...

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Cameras, family and hoopla surrounded Cleo Matthysse's joyful arrival Saturday afternoon at O'Hare International Airport with new parents Ryan and Sue Matthysse of Crown Point. But his new big brother, 4-year-old Preston, had a question.

"Daddy, won't he miss his nana in Haiti?" he asked about the 15-month-old orphan from Petionville, on the outskirts of earthquake-damaged Port-au-Prince.

"I'm sure he'll miss a lot of things about Haiti," Ryan Matthysse told him. "But now he has a mom and a dad and a big sister and a big brother, and we're going to love him just like we love each other."

The exchange captured both the jubilation and work required for families of adopted Haitians.

"This is an example of beauty from ashes," Matthysse said of his new son, who was dressed in a blue argyle sweater and calmly sucking his thumb. "God is good."

The Matthysses were one of several Chicago-area families reunited with their adoptive Haitian children as the week came to a close.

Kim Lewen traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with three other families to meet five Haitian orphans they were adopting. The children had been airlifted in a helicopter from an orphanage outside of Port-au-Prince and loaded onto a charted flight to the United States.

As Lewen walked into her Willowbrook home Friday, her two new daughters wrapped tightly in her arms, the reality of the situation hit her — after months of bureaucratic wrangling and a devastating earthquake that stranded the girls at a mountaintop orphanage, she had become a mother.

"It's really amazing," Lewen said. "We just ate dinner and now I am going to give them a bath.

"It is just the simple things — that they are going to go to bed here, that I know where they are, that I can wake up in the morning and they will still be here."

-----------------

‘A child of my heart’

Ryan and Susan Matthysse arrived in Miami on Thursday evening to reunite with Cleo, a 15-month-old Haitian boy they adopted. Submitted photo

Couple arrive in Miami to pick up 15-month-old Haitian boy

By Kim King

Published: Friday, January 22, 2010 2:18 AM CST

Staff Writer

1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13858

kking@heraldargus.com

The excitement Susan Matthysse felt was evident in her voice as she waited with her husband to board a 2:05 p.m. flight from Chicago to Miami.

It wasn’t because she was leaving behind the bitter northwest Indiana weather.

Susan and her husband, Ryan Matthysse, were flying to sunny Florida to meet up with the newest member of their family, Cleo, a 15-month-old from Haiti.

The couple, both 33, have been in the process of adopting a child from Haiti for years, according to Susan. They first heard about Cleo seven months ago, and made a trip to the Caribbean country in November 2009 when they spent three days getting to know the toddler, filling out paperwork for the adoption and meeting with a judge.

Susan says she had the same feeling in the first moments with Cleo on that trip as she did upon first seeing her biological children, ages 4 and 6.

“He’s a child of my heart,” Susan gushed on Thursday afternoon at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12, the Matthysses immediately sought the assistance of their congressman, Pete Visclosky, to help in getting custody of Cleo. Susan said she was at the couple’s Crown Point home when she first heard of the quake.

“We were concerned right away,” she said, noting her husband had just returned home from his job as worship and arts director at Faith Church in Dyer. “We began praying immediately.”

The orphanage in Haiti where Cleo lived at the time posted a message on its Web site within an hour of the earthquake saying all the children had survived the tremor. According to Susan, the children and staff of the orphanage had to sleep outside the first night after the earthquake for fear of being hurt by aftershocks and unstable structures.

“There were angels protecting the orphanage,” she said. “We were praying for a miracle and we were extremely concerned.”

The couple was elated Wednesday evening when they received an e-mail telling them Cleo had received a visa and would be arriving in Miami on Thursday evening.

“I’m so excited, and exhausted,” Susan explained. “I’m also nervous.”

Nervous, she said, because she wants the adjustment to be a smooth one for Cleo to his new home in the U.S. with her husband and two children.

“I’m confident it will go OK,” Susan said, adding the couple’s church members are incredibly supportive of the adoption, as are their family and friends. “I’m getting Facebook messages from people from all over saying they are praying for us and supporting us.”

The plane carrying Cleo and other Haitian orphans is expected to arrive in Miami around 6 p.m., according to Susan, who said the couple will wait at the airport for the child to arrive. The pair’s other two children stayed home in Indiana with Susan’s parents. It is a time the Matthysses have been anticipating for quite a while.

The adoption, which is being handled through Bethany Christian Services, was originally expected to take a year or more to be finalized.

“My husband and I felt strongly that God’s plan for our family was to adopt,” Susan said. “We felt God led us to Haiti.”

Grease the wheels, prime the pump and dare to dream for a better life

It takes a little warming up

 

 

Following up to Lance’s post, I was struck with the idea of just how many marriages out there just seem to be doing okay.  I mean “okay”?  Seriously, is that all that you want from life is okay?  Are you okay with being mediocre in marriage?  Are you okay with being just a mediocre Christian?  Are you okay with just okay?  Surely God wants more from you.  Don’t you want more out of life then just okay? 

Have you ever heard of the expression of “greasing the wheels?”  How about the expression “priming the pump?”  Marriage is a lot like that in the sense that you, as spiritual leader have to do more in the marriage then just mediocrity.  If you are good at sports, then at some point you had to practice to be better.  If you are good at something it is usually not just because you were granted that gift from God that made you great.  Even the best of us continually practice and practice until they can practice no more and they still believe that they can make it better.

What if we say that about our wives?  What if we decided here and now that our wives will get 2^nd Best behind us serving and committing our life to Christ.  What if right here and now we said, “Dear Lord, please be Lord over my entire life and I will trust and obey your every precept and desire for my life?”, do you think that God will bless a man that said that prayer and repented of his sinful ways.  What if we committed in our lives right now that from here on out, that God would be number one, our wives would be number two, our kids (if you have them) will be number three and then our jobs and community would be behind that along with our hobbies and other desires.  Imagine with me, just for a moment, what that would look like.

So where do you begin?  Any step of leadership you take toward submitting (trusting and obeying) God would be questionable, at best, to your wives.  And especially any act of kindness or sincerity toward your wife may be suspect if you have always been disingenuous before in the past.  She would probably just think that you are trying to make “nice nice” so you can lure her into your bed.  Don’t go that route.  Instead, just decide here and now that you are going to be a new man in Christ.  Ask him each morning to direct your path and to guide your footsteps and to lead you in the way that will bless your marriage, your family and especially your relationship with him.

If you take this step, then we promise that with daily reading of the Word and daily prayers (daily = throughout the day) then you will reap the reward of a great (not an okay) but a great marriage.

Dare to dream, dream to dare and make those dreams a reality by trusting and obeying the very word of God.  

Hungry Like The Wolf: A Husbands Sexual Desire

I often get emails and comments on marriage. The women always ask “How do I get my husband to be more romantic and connected?” and the men usually ask “How do I get my wife to have more sex and respect me more?” Equally, couples look at my wife and I and marvel at our relationship and its depth and ask similar questions. I have struggled for a long time with these answers and watched many friends and couples fall apart due to infidelity or lack of romance in the relationship. I often thought that God just somehow blessed my marriage with something others didn’t have. While I know God blessed my marriage, I also know that my wife and I focus on each other rather than ourselves in our marriage and this seems to make a big difference.

While I have struggled to find the words to be able to explain this, author Fred Stoeker of Every Man’s Battle/Marriage/ Challenge explained something that struck a chord and I wanted to share this with you.

To the men’s question, I believe Fred describes this very well and I found myself nodding and agreeing. For the men who have taken this challenge, we can say that this does work. To those who have not tried this, you’ll just have to trust us.

Here are some of Fred’s paraphrased comments:

The world was coming in loud and clear when I was growing up, especially the part about my tremendous sex drive being a natural, good thing. I wanted some kind of sexual experience every day of my life. During one stretch as an adolescent, it was a rare day when that didn’t happen. I was proud of my sex drive. The way I saw it, I was a real man who wasn’t easily satisfied. So my desire for women just grew and grew. Yet sadly, there was something else developing just as rapidly right alongside my sex drive.

During much of my life, I lived in the lonely world of disconnection, and my abilities to separate and alienate myself from others became an art form. I lacked the ability to truly bond with anyone because I wasn’t willing to share who I really was with anyone. Every day I was busier and busier building a façade of who I thought I was supposed to be or, more precisely, who I thought I was supposed to look like. I took my cues from the media and the pop culture of the day. As a superficially connected person, I sought out superficial relationships with people who were just as disconnected to others as they were with me. We spent a lot of time and effort looking and trying to act important and trying to live up to this faux standard that society sold us.

I became a loveless, disconnected man who used women and sex to feel some sort of connection. As long as I was involved with someone sexually, at least I felt involved with someone at some level. But having sex never satisfied my need for real connection, and I often left the encounter feeling empty and afraid. When I did not want to put in the effort of finding a woman to satisfy my sexual desires, the internet, porn and strip clubs would easily take a woman’s place. It was emotionally safe, easy and required no effort on my part.

Then a miracle happened: Someone fell in love with me, and I fell in love with her. When that genuine love experience occurred, I felt my soul beginning to heal. For the first time in my life, I begin to focus on her needs instead of my needs. True love does that. Love brought out the best in me and freed me to share my insecurities. For the first time, I dropped my masks, my façade and let someone see me in true form. Love beat down the path to my heart, and I was willing to be vulnerable and to connect with another person, which was amazing. Life became rich and deep. My relationship was so fulfilling that there was no desire to rush into sex because a fulfilling soul doesn’t need instant gratification. True love really can wait, because there’s no rush to return to the empty pit of superficial gratification. 

Eventually our love was experienced in a physical way, but I was still amazed at how easily I could control my sex drive. It became manageable rather than something that managed me. I desired her and only her and no other woman or porn would satisfy me anymore. I was no less male, just a male in control of himself. I gave rather than took and connected rather than controlled. I knew her better from the inside rather than just touching the surface of who she was. Those experiences were nothing short of divine. There is a standing joke among married men that once you put on the ring of marriage; it seems women all of a sudden find you more attractive, now that you are taken. While this may or may not be true, I think women are probably attracted to a man that is in control of his emotions and desires, rather than gawk and drool like a crazed wolf at every woman that passes by. This type of man is secure with himself, in control and has discovered that connecting with a woman on a deeper level than just the physical can be equally intoxicating and fulfilling.

This does not end with your marital vows, it is just the beginning. Every day with your wife is a new day to discover her more deeply and richly than the previous one. Once you continue to pursue, romance and discover your wife, she will become increasingly sexual attracted to you and want to instigate sex with you. For that to happen, you will have to do a very scary thing. You will have to step out of yourself and get interested in her life. You will have to put away everything you do to gratify your sexual desires and allow them to return to their normal place. This means no porn, no flirting, nothing. This may seem impossible to some. If that’s true, than you haven’t been willing to surrender your life to God’s truth and you haven’t surrendered your whole heart to your wife. That is when the connection can be made and your life can be lived to the fullest. God made us to fulfill our wives not for our wives to fulfill us.

"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife." 1 Corinthians 7:3-4.

What this tells me is that God gave us our sexuality for our partner, not for ourselves. Sex is not about you. Your sexuality exists in the relationship for her pleasure, and her sexuality exists in the relationship for yours. It’s a two way street and if either partner is not meeting their end, the sex will become less frequent and less desirable. But when we control our own desires and focus our attention and passion on our wives and our wives desires, she will naturally become more responsive. I stress that this is not some tool to be employed once a month or only on Valentine’s Day, it is a daily routine and choice that is to be worked at and developed consistently. I challenge you to try this for 90 days or better yet, grab the book The Love Dare and follow the program day by day. You will not only see a greater sex life but you and your wife will begin to connect on a level that you may have never experienced before. The level that God truly intended every marriage to be at.

Biblical Stewardship through Proverbs

Proverbs 12

 ¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, 
       but he who hates correction is stupid.

 ² A good man obtains favor from the LORD, 
       but the LORD condemns a crafty man.

 ³ A man cannot be established through wickedness, 
       but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

 ⁴ A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, 
       but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

 ⁵ The plans of the righteous are just, 
       but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

 ⁶ The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, 
       but the speech of the upright rescues them.

 ⁷ Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, 
       but the house of the righteous stands firm.

 ⁸ A man is praised according to his wisdom, 
       but men with warped minds are despised.

 ⁹ Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant 
       than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

 ¹⁰ A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, 
       but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

 ¹¹ He who works his land will have abundant food, 
       but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.

 ¹² The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, 
       but the root of the righteous flourishes.

 ¹³ An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, 
       but a righteous man escapes trouble.

 ¹⁴ From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things 
       as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

 ¹⁵ The way of a fool seems right to him, 
       but a wise man listens to advice.

 ¹⁶ A fool shows his annoyance at once, 
       but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

 ¹⁷ A truthful witness gives honest testimony, 
       but a false witness tells lies.

 ¹⁸ Reckless words pierce like a sword, 
       but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

 ¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever, 
       but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

 ²⁰ There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, 
       but joy for those who promote peace.

 ²¹ No harm befalls the righteous, 
       but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

 ²² The LORD detests lying lips, 
       but he delights in men who are truthful.

 ²³ A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, 
       but the heart of fools blurts out folly.

 ²⁴ Diligent hands will rule, 
       but laziness ends in slave labor.

 ²⁵ An anxious heart weighs a man down, 
       but a kind word cheers him up.

 ²⁶ A righteous man is cautious in friendship, ^[a] 
       but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

 ²⁷ The lazy man does not roast ^[b] his game, 
       but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

 ²⁸ In the way of righteousness there is life; 
       along that path is immortality.

MY NOTES:  1. If you love the Lord follow his commands and be obedient because knowing God is knowledge.  2 When we follow his precepts we find favor in God. 3 When we live in obedience and follow his ways, then we cannot be uprooted. 5 Our plans, in God’s will, will be just. 6 When we guard out tongues, like the Book of James says, then we can avoid trouble. 7 When we are walking with God and he is moving in us then our house (our body is our temple) will stand firm (Philippians 1:27). 9 Being a nobody, in this context, really means complete contentment with where we are in life and more especially who we are in God (Philippians 4:12B-13).  11 Nothing in this life is for free except salvation – we have to work for our food and we will have our daily bread.  13 In this life we will face trials and tribulations as sons of God, but God will provide a way for us to avoid trouble.  14 Let your speech edify God and love others and let your hands (your work) bless others and you too will be blessed.  15 When we listen to others, who are wise or well experienced, then we are wise for the better 16 Be slow to speak, quick to listen and especially overlook any insults and you will be the better for it.  18 When we are slow to speak, our words can bring healing to any situation 22 God delights in those who tell the truth 25 Do not worry (Mathew 6) be kind to others and love your number building him up and encouraging, urging and comforting him in times of need.  28 Following God’s way is the ONLY WAY – He is the way, the truth and the life…

When is enough, enough?

Where ever you find yourself in life, at some point or another (as a man) you will ask yourself this question, "Am I doing what I should be doing?"  Or some may find another question along the way, "Is this enough?"  The key to these two questions is contentment.  As a Christian Man, I do not mean by the world's definition of contentment, "Those who have the most toys win",   but rather, I prefer the Philippians 4:12B-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."  We have spent some time talking about Biblical Purity (our bodies are temples of the Living God).  We also have to talk about Biblical Contentment which falls, in my opinion, under Biblical Stewardship.  Biblical Stewardship is defined as a Christian who manages God's property or financial matters.  To put this into context of WDJD (what did Jesus do) the Pharisees tried trapping Jesus by asking him a really tough question about giving what belongs to whom.  Jesus told one of them to pull out a coin, whose image was of Caesar, and then Jesus said to them give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give unto God what belongs to God.  In reality, all of this world belongs to God.  As a Christian, not only what all of us own belongs to Him, but he also owns us, for we were bought with a price - his blood.

Biblical Stewardship truly boils down to the heart of the matter.  Remember that God judges our heart.  We can look at all of our expenditures and I can look at your god (small g) by where you spend your money and where your heart truly is.  Are you serious about God or are you more serious about the ways of this world.  Before you answer quickly and say it's all about God, then let me ask you a set of questions:
    

    Are you tithing 10%? Do you have any debt (home ownership doesn't count) but debt like credit     cards, etc.,?  Are you content (in any situation)?  Do you give to charities?  Do you help others even     when you don't think you can afford to (or have the time to)?  When you tithe, or give your money     or time, do you do it without grumbling?  Do you give with a joyous heart? When is     enough, enough?

If you truly want to be a legacy dad then you have to be serious about your purity (in Biblical terms) not your own definition.  If you truly want to be a legacy dad, then you have to get serious about Biblical Stewardship.  And finally, if you want to be a legacy dad, then you have to get serious about discipleship.  I think both Lance and I have said, for now, more than enough on Purity.  Now it's time to turn your attention to stewardship.  That is, to say, are you being a good steward with God's money and assets.  Remember rule #1 - GOD OWNS IT ALL.  Remember rule #2 - DON'T FORGET RULE NUMBER ONE! Now that we have that understood, it is time for your to take an inventory check:  Do I let money rule my moods or do I use money to serve a purpose of responsibility?  Do I let money control my expenditures?  Do I have credit card debt?  Do I owe more than what I make?  Am I content with what I have or do I want more?  Do I have to always compete with the Jones's?  If you find yourself answering yes to any of these questions then you have to take step #2- Confess it to God, and give it back to him.  Give everything back to him.  Did you know that there is only one place in the Bible where it tells us that we can test God?  Seriously there is (Malachi 3:10: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and poor out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.").

 If you want to get serious about being a good steward for God, then Lance and I would like to challenge you to start reading the Book of Proverbs and learn what God says about Stewardship.  There is a wealth of knowledge found in the Bible - Proverbs is where we will begin.  So for the remainder of this month and into next month, we would like you to read a chapter of Proverbs a day correlating to the day.  So today is 1/10/2010 then you will need to read Proverbs 10 until you get the the entire month of February.  Also take notes on things that speak to you about stewardship and see what the Words mean to you and write down those thoughts.  We will talk further on Stewardship.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Menschood

A friend of mine once described my concept of being a Legacy Dad as the Yiddish concept of mensch.  So, here is my definition and expression of what a Legacy Dad/Mensch is.  Salute!

Mensch means "a person of integrity and honor according to Leo Rosten the Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish, mensch is someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being “a real mensch” is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous.

A Legacy Dad strives to:

Display an altruistic attitude.  Give to and help others simply out of respect for humanity and without an expectation of return.

Help as many people as possible, change as many lives as possible.

Do the right thing always. Set the example for others to follow. 

Live your character, morals and values openly and daily.

Be the best husband, father, Christian and man you can be through faith, prayer, accountability and honesty.    

Leave the world a better place because you were here.

Running the Race

Running The Race

 

 

God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12: ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Galatians 5:7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?  

2 Timothy 2:4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

To build on Lance’s last post, let’s take a look, for an instant, of where we have been and where we want to go.  I think about the parable of the seed that Jesus told his disciples and other witnesses to the Truth.  The point of the Parable, to this post, is where you are getting your strength and training from.  The point being that there is a beginning and an ending and that we have to be prepared to finish the race strong.  Lance made a point that he had to raise the bar in his life as a runner and as a husband and father, by surrounding himself with others, who raised the bar from mediocrity to the elite.  Not all of us can go out and consistently run a 5:30 minute mile for one mile, let alone 8 miles straight.  However, with a lot of encouragement and training from his friends, Lance was able to meet that goal and looking back, realized that it was all the more sweeter. 

Today is the second day of January in the year 2010.  Many of us may find ourselves frustrated with our lives (our marriages, our parenting, our work, and our serving others) and may desire to do more.  As a new Christian we jumped out of the starting blocks and read our bibles daily and got involved at church and for some may have joined a mini-church or men’s group, BUT then it happened, we slipped back into that hidden sin of ours and that laziness and we are no longer able to compete the way that we started.  I like what Galatians says in that who cut in on us and took away the truth from our lives.  It is never too late to pick up the Word and start training again.  We can open up the very book that will read our lives to the core and convict us of that which we have to let go and to move closer to God.  We can pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our race.  We are all in this race, called life, and it is not a sprint, nor is it a quick jaunt around the race track, but it is a marathon race.  We need to stay fit (biblically and physically speaking).  We need to sharpen our senses and prepare for battle.  We need to have accountability in our life (free accountability software) and we need to be honest with God and with our wives (lives for some who are not married) and to start the training process all over again.

 Do you want to be elite?  Do you want a purpose driven life?  Do you want to step out of mediocrity and into the elite? That is, do you want to be a disciple for Christ?  A soldier in the ultimate battle for lives, this is war and this is for keeps?  Are you ready?  Are you prepared?  What is it going to take to get you off your seats and instead of being a pew sitter, you can become a heavy hitter in the Kingdom of God.