The Bridge - where I pastor
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
It's been awhile...men
It has been awhile since I've posted here due to my sin and being so busy. But enough of my excuses.
I am preaching through the "Men of Genesis" as we look at the reality that God uses really sinful men to do really amazing things. We are looking at Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and others to see how He used these men in spite of their sin, rebellion and disbelief. But how? How did He use them and what was their power source? And why are we learning this now in our church?
First, God used each of these men by calling them to do amazing things that would only give glory to Himself. If they were tasks that man could do easily, well then man would tend to take the credit. But when He calls us to do things that are seemingly impossible, the He and He alone gets the credit. (See: build an ark; go and build a nation; etc). Secondly, He used these men even though they had sin and in many cases grave sin that would have stopped others in their tracks. Yet their fuel for building an Ark and leaving a country was their faith in the coming Messiah, the One who would be the better Ark and the better sacrifice and perfect Son to be slain, not just the mere foreshadowing of the One.
So why this fuss about men? As it has been said, "If you want to win the war, you must get the men." The reality is much of the church is missing her greatest warriors, the men. The men have been MIA for a long time. There are many reasons for this: The "femanization" of the church where Jesus has been portrayed as a weak man in a dress who asks us to sing "prom songs" to Him. Men are missing because in many cases the churches are decorated for and through the eyes of women. It's not that they are not attractive, they can tend to be prissy looking. So men are at home watching football or tuning up their cars.
Yet if the church reaches men, and trains them Biblically (meaning to love their wives, lead their kids and respect their bosses, etc) men will fight for the church, lead their families into worship, manage their businesses in a godly manner and then we win the war. Then we have healthier families, content kids, businesses giving money away to feed the poor.
So why men? Because God uses ALL people to build His church and all are important and equal in the eyes of God but He has called men to be on the front line of battle and if we have no men, we can't win the war.
I am preaching through the "Men of Genesis" as we look at the reality that God uses really sinful men to do really amazing things. We are looking at Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and others to see how He used these men in spite of their sin, rebellion and disbelief. But how? How did He use them and what was their power source? And why are we learning this now in our church?
First, God used each of these men by calling them to do amazing things that would only give glory to Himself. If they were tasks that man could do easily, well then man would tend to take the credit. But when He calls us to do things that are seemingly impossible, the He and He alone gets the credit. (See: build an ark; go and build a nation; etc). Secondly, He used these men even though they had sin and in many cases grave sin that would have stopped others in their tracks. Yet their fuel for building an Ark and leaving a country was their faith in the coming Messiah, the One who would be the better Ark and the better sacrifice and perfect Son to be slain, not just the mere foreshadowing of the One.
So why this fuss about men? As it has been said, "If you want to win the war, you must get the men." The reality is much of the church is missing her greatest warriors, the men. The men have been MIA for a long time. There are many reasons for this: The "femanization" of the church where Jesus has been portrayed as a weak man in a dress who asks us to sing "prom songs" to Him. Men are missing because in many cases the churches are decorated for and through the eyes of women. It's not that they are not attractive, they can tend to be prissy looking. So men are at home watching football or tuning up their cars.
Yet if the church reaches men, and trains them Biblically (meaning to love their wives, lead their kids and respect their bosses, etc) men will fight for the church, lead their families into worship, manage their businesses in a godly manner and then we win the war. Then we have healthier families, content kids, businesses giving money away to feed the poor.
So why men? Because God uses ALL people to build His church and all are important and equal in the eyes of God but He has called men to be on the front line of battle and if we have no men, we can't win the war.
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