God Bless,
John Holaday

In The Me I Want to Be, author John Ortberg says that a wise man suggested answering this spiritual life asessment by responding to two questions:

1. Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?
2. Am I growing more easily irritated these days?

How would you answer these questions today? And from your answers, how would you gauge your spiritual life?

Steve Campbell, Small Groups Pastor, Reservoir Campus

     That strength so essential to men is also what makes them heroes. If a neighborhood is safe, it’s because of the strength of men. Slavery was stopped by the strength of men, at a terrible price of them and their families. The Nazis were stopped by men. Apartheid wasn’t defeated by women. Who gave their seats up on the lifeboats leaving the Titanic, so that women and children would be saved? And have we forgotten — it was a Man who let himself be nailed to Calvary’s cross. This isn’t to say women can’t be heroic. I know many heroic women. It’s simply to remind us that God made men the way they are because we desparately need them to be the way they are. Yes, a man is a dangerous thing. So is a scalpel. It can wound or it can save your life. You don’t make it safe by making it dull; you put it in the hands of someone who knows what he’s doing.

     If you’ve spent any time around horses, you know a stallion can be a major problem. They’re strong, very strong, and they’ve got a mind of their own. Stallions typically don’t like to be bridled, and they can get downright aggressive — especially if there are mares around. A stallion is hard to tame. If you want a safer, quieter animal, there’s an easy solution: castrate him. A gelding is much more compliant. You can lead him around by the nose; he’ll do what he’s told without putting up a fuss.

     There’s only one problem: Geldings don’t give life.

(excerpt from Knowing the Heart of God & Wild at Heart)

——————————————————————

Watch videos from the Samson series (D.A.D.S.) and the Tuesday night Men’s Stuff Bible Study located on this blog.

Chip Henderson will lead men 4 weeks through a study of the life of Samson. Samson…that hairy, rugged individualist, that charismatic biblical leader and ladies’ man was a REAL MAN. But all that couldn’t save him for his own temptations. His story is something all men will identify with: the mistakes, detours, and the wrong choices that bring lots of men – and good men – to their knees.

Join us for session 2 – Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 6:30 a.m. in Room C138/Overflow Room (new location) at Pinelake Church.

This coming week, we will begin a new sermon series called “JADED.”  Used up. Let down. Torn apart.  Disappointed and disllusioned.  Life is hard.  And all to often we can find ourselves getting cynical and skeptical and closing ourselves off because of hurt that we’ve experienced.  Sometimes our anger gets directed at God, somebody else or even ourselves.  And over time we can become callous, hardened and jaded.  Come learn during this three-part series called “Jaded” and see how you can begin to heal and find hope in Christ. 

April 19 – When God Let’s You Down
April 26 – When Somebody Else Has Hurt You
May 3 – When You’re Disappointed with Yourself

Also, if you are looking for an opportunity to connect with other men each week, please check out several options here:

http://pinelake.org/blogs/men/weekly-bible-studies/

When you woke up this morning, I bet you didn’t say, “I really want Satan to mess with me today.”

But you know what? That’s what a lot of men do when they allow one particular human emotion to get out of control:

ANGER.

Yep, anger.

Most men don’t have a clue that anger is an emotion Satan can use to totally hijack their life.  It’s the one thing he can use to take you to a destination that is totally outside the will of God.  And it’s the one thing he can use to make you useless as a soldier of Christ.

Now you may be protesting a bit, thinking, “Wait, Kenny.  I don’t have a problem with anger.  So I must be out of Satan’s blast zone on this.”

Fair enough.  But the problem is that anger is just a baseline emotion.  How are you doing in dealing with the expressions of anger?

How you doin’ with irritation?  How about exasperation?  How about bitterness?  How about contempt? How about feeling aggravated or frustrated or resentful?  How about envy?

Are you ever jealous?  Do you ever feel annoyed?  Do you ever feel hostile?  Do you ever feel vengeful? Do you ever covet?

These are all expressions of anger. And here’s the deal.  If you and I don’t deal with the expressions of anger in our lives, by default we give Satan permission to jack with us.

Proverbs 25:28 is a short verse in the Bible that’s cram-packed with wisdom.  It says this…

      Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

What’s Scripture telling us?  That life is lived from the inside out.

A lot of times you and I try to live from the outside in.  We think if we put all the pieces together, somehow that’ll translate to an inner infrastructure that manages emotions, relationships, passions, and appetites really well. 

That may be what the world says.  But it’s not what the Bible says.  In ancient times, a city without defensible walls was a sitting duck.  And so are you if you haven’t built a wall of self-control over your reactions to the stuff that happens in your life.

If you have no control on the inside, you’re like a city without walls.  A sitting duck for the devil and his punk followers!

But the opposite is also  true.  If you possess a strong inner construction…if you are a strong, fortified, emotional, spiritual city that has the right filters for processing the stuff of life…you are protected.  The biggest battles you and I usually face as God’s men aren’t the ones out there.  The biggest battles we face are the ones that we fight on the inside: in our hearts, in our minds, in our emotions, in our will, and in our soul.

Kenny teaches a Thursday morning men’s Bible study at Saddleback Church.  Recently, he taught a 4-week series called “The Battle Within” to equip men with practical help for dealing with our anger.  You may listen to this series via podcast using the link in the column to the right called “Saddleback Men with Kenny Luck.”

Don’t Forget Saturday’s Events

1. Men’s Work Day at the church beginning at 7:30 a.m.
2. Cookout at the Cross | BBQ at 5:30 p.m.