The Man in The Mirror Again!

Do you want to be a man of renoun? A man of virtue and valor? A man of Godly influence and deed? Then it will take some real self examination and introspection. In other words you're going to have to look at yourself in a painfully truthful way. aknowledgeing things for what they are.........crap. It may help if you think of it in construction terms. You are a remodeling project, and you need to go through the house and take inventory of what state of disrepair this dump is in to start with. The next tough thing to swallow, is that you're the general contractor who built this mess. Oh don't bother pointing out the good parts of the place. Even an outhouse can have a comfortable seat and a nice view, but it's still an outhouse. And I also realize that other factors and "subcontractors" have contributed to the state of disrepair of your house, but no excuses matter. Because you're the general contractor who "signed off" on it all. So the fault is on the man in the mirror. The first place to start is on the foundation. any other repair you might make will be pointless unless you have a sound foundation. What kind of fool fixes a roof when the whole place is sinking in sand. Well, the self help drivel you can get from the world is just that....drivel. I don't care what Oprah may have told you about being a good person or being a spiritual person. She should shut her piehole and examine her own cracked foundation. The foundation you need is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Now don't try to tell me about the church you belong to or that you "have church at home by yourself" or about your men's prayer bla bla bla. You can drop that mess in the construction dumpster we had hauled in out front. If Jesus isn't your Lord then stop there. No amount of clever parables will really help fix your mess. Don't let your pride continue to keep you from greatness. Only God can make a truly great man out of you and His way is through a yielded life through Christ.

Your Primal Roots

Did you ever stop to think and wonder why we, as men like competition and action so much? Why men dare and push each other to do stupid things? Why do we test ourselves against each other to see who can run faster or longer, or who can throw a ball or rock the farthest? Sometimes we’ll see who’s the better wrestler? Or who dares to do something dangerous or embarrassing? My crew has been known to take turns throwing an 85 lb. log, judging success on distance, rotation and groin pulls. One cold camping season in February, one of our men thought it would be fun to start a polar bear club. So he stripped down to his BVD’s (stands for; Butt Very Dangerous) and jumped into the lake at our camp. I don’t know the exact temperature of the water but there was ice on my truck that day, so swimming wasn’t the first thing on a list of “things you’d like to do today”. Well if you knew my crew, you wouldn’t be surprised to see that one by one they’d strip down and jump in, not wanting to be left out or counted as a weenie. (That’s my boys!) Even the young kids (10 year olds) got in and risked hypothermia. So why are we like this?...... It’s just how we’re programed. Gods’ Word says; Proverbs 27:17 N IV. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. In other words, that’s how we are supposed to be. It’s good and healthy to challenge your friends to honorable competition once in a while. We’re meant to push each other to greater heights of physical and mental capabilities. I believe that the most civilized man you can imagine, is only one catastrophic event away from becoming the warrior/protector/hunter he is predisposed and able to be. That’s why I sometime rant about the modern day image of a man and the effect it has on our society…The liberal emasculation of our kind has caused leaderless families, socially inept youth, women who don’t know how to choose a good man and moral decay throughout our population. Godly men are the cure for this onslaught of cultural decay. And healthy men push each other to betterment. It’s Gods’ way. So when the moment’s right, feel free to dare your bud to a bug eating contest or hurt yourself while speed climbing a tree. Or maybe pull a groin trying to out throw your friend in a log throwing contest. It will make you a better man physically and mentally.

Teachable

What does it mean to be teachable or correctable? I’m sure that everyone thinks that they’re teachable. But can you hear, hard to hear things about yourself without getting defensive or angry? To be sure, not everyone should have the right to point out things for correction in your life. Only trusted, wise friends with no agenda or ulterior motives, whom only have your betterment in mind, should get through your anti-idiot protection bubble. Pride has a funny way of overbuilding your good qualities and discounting your bad ones. (Don’t sweat it, everyone is like that.) Most men can admit to some bad qualities but they are usually limited in scope. The sense of self-preservation and aggrandizement we all have (Otherwise known as ego.) can keep us from a path of self-improvement. So I'll ask once again. Do you have trusted people in your life, whom can tell you hard to hear things about yourself and if so, can you hear them without losing your wig? Misplaced confidence in your good traits, talents and abilities is a good place to turn over and rotor-till the hard ground of your ego. That’s right. The places you think are all right and good, many times are bastions of personal pride. Are you a talented singer or musician? Big deal, I just saw three brothers 8, 12, and 13 years of age, on YouTube play like musical ninjas. (So much for that.) How about my ability to make money as a business man? I bet that the bad economy helped you with that point of pride. Some people are prideful about their intelligence or wit. Get over it. There’s always somebody smarter and sharper. Or what about your physical fitness, athletic abilities or stunning go looks? (Old age will eventually crush all that.) So with all that said. Are you correctable? It takes a real healthy striping down of ones ego and regular personal inventory and evaluation to be able to fully say yes. It also takes those earlier mentioned relationships that have license to speak into your life. The Spirit of God is the most gentile Councilor. He will show us our inner strongholds of pride and He will confirm the corrections we need as men, in our own spirits, by His Word and by our trusted friends. Hey it sounds like another good reason to have a tribe.

A Father to the Fatherless

It has come to my spirit, that the issue of fatherless men is one subject we can't address too lightly. The number one attack on families is in the line of fathers. Liberal society has demeaned and diminished the roll of a father in home to the detriment of all children raised in those homes. The men in pop culture who are considered good parents are more "mom-like" than fatherly. Why is that? Well, it's because of the aversion that popular culture has to all things manly, and modern society has made the emasculation of the head of the house excepted and fashionable. The roll of a father in a home is distinct from that of a mother. I'll give a few examples. When you get a cut on your arm a mom will usually make a big deal out of it, clean and bandage it and check on your emotions to make sure you're alright. A father will look at it to be sure it doesn't need stitches, then tell you to wrap a paper towel around it so that you don't get blood on the floor. He usally won't make a big deal about it because it's no big deal! "Everyone gets cut once in a while." The truth is, both parenting attributes are good and right, but either kind on it's own is insuficient. Another example of parenting differences would be evident in the case of bullying. A mother would usally be inclined to call the school and/or parents and solve the problem for the child. A fathers will be more apt to help the child solve the problem themselves by means of brains or braun. (my father told me to $&@# in' drop them.) well so much for brains and diplomacy. Again the point is, both kinds of parenting have value to a child's development. One of the other benefits of having a functional father in the home is security. One thing my dad did best was make me feel protected. I knew when I was young that Hell had no fury like my dads protective rath. And I thank God that this has transferred to me for my family. (Thanks Dad.) I know growing up that, that feeling of protection and security provided a psychological cocoon for me to develop in. And in turn I hope that I have done the same for my children. That's the point! The unbroken chain of fatherhood is passed from father to son and on and on. But the world has broken down the line for many men. And that's where we as men of God come in. We are to be stand in earthly fathers for son's (and daughters) without functional fathers. We are called to help fellow fathers with Godly advices and support. We need to rebuild the lines of Godly fatherhood. A man raised without fatherhood is at a great disadvantage and we need to dig in and build-in the stuff that's missing in our brothers without fathers. I don't really give a crap about what popular thinking says on the subject of fatherhood, only good men can build good men and modern society can go to a really hot place where God's presence is absent forever! Or if you like....$&#%€>&^¥#!!! Gods Word says: (He is a) Father to the fatherless, defender of widow--this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. (Psalms 68:5-6 NLT)

The Sons of Thunder Culture

If you've already read about the principles and precepts that we, as men strive for, let me now try to explain what the Sons of Thunder is. It's a diverse group of men, of all shapes and colors, whom follow Christ, from all types of socio-economic backgrounds, with different talents, and for sure different personalities. We believe that God has placed us in a common brotherhood for the benefit of each individual and the advancement of His kingdom in our area. We're not a religious group, because religion sucks. (We define religion as man's attempt to reach and please God through rules and traditions made up by men.) In fact, detecting, revealing and smothering religion is one of the things we do best. (Besides eating steak.) The reason we called our group the Sons of Thunder, is after the nick-name that Jesus gave the brothers James and john in jest, (Mark 3:17) because they were knuckleheads who didn't understand the Kingdom of God in a full way. (Luke 9:54-56) (Which is just like us!.....Well, at least we know that we’re dopes who don’t fully understand everything.) We believe that Jesus was goofing on them when He nicknamed them that, and that brings us to another thing we do well. We are very good at harassing each other. (Like brothers do.) Lord forbid, you show up with a pink lawn chair at a camp-out. No one really cares about the color of your chair but, the verbal chiding you would have to endure will make you want to throw it in the fire. (Ahhh, it's all in good fun.) So if you're sensitive or thin skinned, we have the healing” ministry for that flaw for sure. The Sons of Thunder is not a church group. Most of the men do go to a church somewhere but it's not exclusive to one church or church people”. We don't care about denominational dog squeeze. If you believe in, and follow Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Whom died for our sins and was raised from the dead; and you know how to pee standing up, your application for membership is accepted. We camp once a month from October through April and have forged lifelong friendships through working and hanging out together. We contact, meet up, and hang out with each other intermittently throughout the weeks between camping and other planned events. So these are real friendships and not just phony church crap. One of the other signs of acceptance and brotherly love in the group is the giving of nick-names or monikers. I.E; Uncle Dave, Uncle Jimmy, Big Mac, Nate Dog, Cornbread, Butterbean, Mr. Wilheight, Junk Yard and Jeremiah are some of the nick-names of renown in the tribe. Some of the boys have more than one nick-name, so you have to be on your toes to learn them. We have learned not to force Spiritual conversations or happenings. Our conversations around the fire can go from laughing about all the manly hygiene problems associated with camping, (enough said) to having very deep talks about God and Godly things, sometimes in the same conversation. I guess the main tenure in the tribe is Truth. We strive to face the truth about ourselves, the truth about the world, and we seek the Truth in the things of God through Christ. We recognize our humanity and love to laugh at its funny side while trying to improve upon, and limit its propensity for sin with Gods' help through His grace. Well that's all I can write about the tribe this time for fear of writing a book of mind numbing lameness. All I can say is come camp with us and see for yourself. 

Father Filter

What's your image of God?....No, not what he looks like....To be more precise, what is the perception you have of your relationship with God? Is He easily angered? Is He hard to please? Is He uninterested in your interests? Is he overbearing? How about financially? Is God frugal and cheep or is He extravagant and giving? Well you might have all the right answers about how God really is on the tip of your tongue but, do you really approach your relationship with God that way? If the truth be known, your perception of God (as in God the Father) is directly influenced by your relationship (or lack there of) with your human father. If you grew up with a father whom you felt was always disappointed with you, how could you not feel that you disappoint God, deep down in your thinking. That's what youv'e learned that a father is like after all. Or even worse, what if your father abandoned you? It would only be natural for you to be unsure of how to relate to the Father in heaven or you might even feel that he may give up on you and abandon you at any moment. These imperfect examples of fatherhood could also apply to any father figures in your life. To be sure, your father, or father figure has some good qualities and those are all transferable to your realationship with God, because God is all things good. But unlike your father on earth our God is without flaw. Take some time and (prayerfully) think about how you related to your dad (or father figure) growing up and what that was like...... Now how does that perception "filter" your image of God in your life today? Even men who've served God for decades struggle with a flawed image of the Father in heaven that has been filtered through their experiences with their dads here on earth. It's simply part of our fallen condition. So if you really want to have a better relationship with God, just know that His side of the deal is perfect and flawless and His thoughts and plans for you are prefect and without alterior motive. And your wrong impression of Him has to be continually put in check and corrected. Even after you know how He really is, those old learned tendencies based on your experience can keep creeping in. So keep at it. Gods word says:"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. (Jer 29:11-13) Well that sounds like a Father Who has your back.

Honor Decoded

Honor...Well there's a word sometimes used without being fully understood. Honor is a moral code of personal conduct that a man governs himself with. You don't need to be rich or affluent to have honor. You don't need to be educated or smart. Skills or talents are not nessesary. Good looks and charisma are not needed. In short you can be a broke, homely, talentless dope with all the social graces of a pot bellied pig, yet be a honorable man. In fact, honor is only evident and built when mistakes are made or trouble occurs. A flawed man who quickly rights himself builds an honorable repretation with the person he's wronged. Honor is built as integrety is exercised. So you... are the perfect guy to walk in honor because you're a screw-up. And you'll have ample opportunity to build some. (Don't get riled, I am too.) Here's another mindboggeling point... The ability to honor (verb) that which is honorable (adjective) denotes honor (noun) in a man and makes him worthy of honor from those around him. ( boy I hated English class so I hope that's right.) I have seen this in action in the man culture I grew up around and more recently in the pack that I belong to now. I know a leader of men who honors the man over him. And in turn, the men whom he leads, honors him. Let's look at some official definitions. Honor (noun) 1. honesty, fairness and integrity in ones beliefs and actions. 2. A source of credit or distinction. 3. High respect as in worth, merit or rank. Honor (verb) 1. To hold in high respect; revere. 2. to confer distinction upon. Honorable (adjective) 1. Of high rank, distinction or high moral quality. 2. Worthy of honor and high respect; estimable; creditable. Well... enough English class already! Let's look at some quotes...Walter Lippmann says, “He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so." Or..."He who sows virtue reaps honor."- Leonardo da Vinci. And again, my favorite movie quote from Rob Roy "All men with honor are kings - but not all kings have honor." What is honor? Honor is... what no man can give ye, and no one can take away. Honor is a man’s gift to himself. Enough said.