by Justin Day

I recently listened to a short podcast by philosopher William Lane Craig about Christian persecution in Iran. A lot of thoughts ran through my head after meditating on it. Listen to the podcast, titled “Justice in Iran,” and see what you think about it.

1) How does this make you feel about your brothers and sisters in the East? And how does it make you feel about your current situation, living in the West?

2) What do you think the correct course of action should be for American Christians since we have the knowledge of and (possibly) the means to prevent global persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

by Justin Day

In my quiet times I have been reading through the Gospel of Mark and a few questions have come to me recently. First of all I am curious why Jesus chose to speak in parables instead of “straight talk.” The purpose of Jesus using a parable is something that I cannot comprehend. It seems that parables would be the opposite of what one would want to do if you were trying to tell someone a message so important as the Gospel.

In chapter 4 of Mark’s gospel we get the reason why Jesus chose to speak to us in parable form. Jesus tells the disciples, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” I understand this to be saying that Jesus wants the power to understand his message to not be in our hands, but rather to be in his hands. One must repent and be forgiven before one can actually comprehend what Christ is saying. And as we know regeneration is in the hands of Holy Spirit alone.

How should we understand this? Why would God want to reveal his message only to some instead of all? Lastly, how should we view this in light of 1 Timothy 2:4 where it says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”?

David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brooks Hill, preaches on the gospel and manhood.  Listen as he preaches about 7 truths his dad taught him about manhood.

HT:  cbmw via twitter

Manskills #6. Find Potable Water

• Don’t exert yourself in the heat of the day. You may lose more water by sweating that you’ll gain by digging. Ravines and valleys are carved by running water, so head for the bottom. In deserts, with only occasional flow, look for cottonwoods, willows and other light-green vegetation that grows in wet areas. When the sun or moon is low in the sky, scan the horizon for reflections that may reveal the location of small pools. (Don’t worry if the water looks scummy. Waterborne illnesses won’t kick in for at least three days’ dehydration can kill in a single day.) Collect morning dew by wiping grass with a cloth, then wringing out the water. If you have plastic bags, wrapping them around the boughs of deciduous trees yields 1 or 2 ounces a day.

Don’t overestimate yourselves, fellas. Potable water in your spontaneously self-inflicted wilderness survival predicament is harder to find than you’d think. Let that be a lesson to you.

More to come later. In the mean time, happy survival to you.

–joshcan

In a Popular Mechanics magazine I recently stole from a friend of mine (sorry Jason), I saw an article titled “100 Skills Every Man Should Know.” It intrigued me, because I’m always looking for easy ways to seem more manly. I’ll take any little thing I can to add to my repertoire of skills and useless talents, in hopes that I can at least look the part of a manly man, until, God willing, I may at some point become one.

Anyway, throughout the summer, I hope to post a few of these, to keep you on your toes, and growing in your outward manifestations of your (hopefully) inward, (primarily) Godly masculinity.

(1)   Split Firewood (Originally written by Nathan Waterfield)

• “Seasoned splitters use a maul, not an ax, to prep firewood. (With its slim taper, an ax head often gets stuck in the end grain.) Don’t use a chopping block–it reduces the arc of the swing, which decreases power. Instead, place the log on the ground, 5 inches closer that the length of the maul handle. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart; place your dominant hand at the bottom of the handle and the other hand three-quarters up the handle.
• Rest the maul on the wood, then lifet all the way up–your bottom arm should be straight and your top arm slightly bent. As you begin the downward motion, slide your top hand down to your bottom hand, Use your whole body, not just your arms, and bend your knees slightly, snapping them back a split second before hitting the wood. You want to drive the maul through the wood, so complete the swing once you make contact.

This is for all those guys in the southern hemisphere who are now experiencing winter, by the way. Or us Norther Hemi guys who want to get in some practice before the treacherous mid-south winters billow our way.

–joshcan

I know, that’s a big question.  I’m sure there are thousands of answers, opinions, and convictions about how to use twitter, facebook, myspace, texting, and blogs.  Josh Harris recently posted about using twitter during church and his thoughts for his congregration, Covenant Life Church.  Albert Mohler writes about texting among teenagers and the all-consuming nature of technology.

Listen to this quote from the NY Times I found pretty humorous about teens texting:  “They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it so much their thumbs hurt.  Authorities now blame excessive texting for sleep deprivation, distraction in school, poor grades, and even repetitive stress injuries.  These teens are texting while they should be sleeping, and they are sleeping with the cell phone set to vibrate so that they can respond to texts from friends without waking parents.”

Where’s the line?  When is it too much?  When is it beneficial and when does it lose it’s benefit?

This is the testimony of Evan Wilson, soon to be intern for VFC.  He shared this at CCK several Sundays ago.  Enjoy!

“My career at UT began in the Fall of 2004.  My original purpose in coming all the way to Knoxville, TN was to get as far away from my parents as possible without forfeiting the hope scholarship by going somewhere out of state.  I was so sure that leaving my small Christian school in Jackson, TN and coming to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville would be the best decision that I could have ever made.  I was captivated by the fact that I had freedom to do anything that I wanted without being bothered by my parents or called into the principles office after a weekend of drinking with my friends.  The drinking and partying from high school carried over to my college years and I could not seem to get enough of this new lifestyle.  The world’s attraction began to grow stronger as I got bored with my usual friends, and I eventually decided that there must be another level of satisfaction at the University of Tennessee.  So, I decided to join a fraternity, surely this time I would get the complete college experience and really forget about the rules and regulations of life at home.  Fraternity life provided a sense of brotherhood while being surrounded by a group of guys that were interested in the same idea of ‘life’ that I was interested in.  At this point, filling up on alcohol and experimenting with drugs followed by waking up the next day completely miserable began to get old.  I continued to live this lifestyle for a couple of years blaming discontent on hangovers and the monotonous task of school.  Throughout my third year of college I battled depression and the desire to leave Knoxville and transfer to another school.  Why I stayed here is beyond me and my understanding.  I was literally miserable with my circumstances, my use of alcohol and drugs was destroying friendships.  I saw myself changing daily; becoming more and more selfish.  I didn’t care about anyone but me.  In the midst of all this sin and self-love I claimed to be a Christian because of my past in the church and a Christian school; yet, I was far from God.
In December of 2007, God began to show me how empty my life truly was.  I kept running back to the seemingly exciting things that college offered for my satisfaction, but I continued coming up empty time and time again.  I began to search for a church in Knoxville and one day I wandered into Cornerstone.  I knew that there was something different about the people here and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  After all I was a proclaiming Christian.  I didn’t understand where all the joy came from.  During this time the Lord in his kindness and mercy revealed sin and pride to me at every turn.  I began to see, through hearing God’s Word preached at VFC, that I did not have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus.   Thursdays at VFC came and went for about a month and in February 2008 as I read my Bible I knelt beside my bed to express to God that I was indeed a sinner and I admitted that Jesus Christ is Lord.  I asked God to help me to put off the things of the world that I craved so much so that I could live a life that reflected Jesus who lived a perfect, sinless life, and died and was raised again to life so that sinners like myself could have new life in Him.  Since that night I have seen the Lord at work in my heart.  God is changing me from a coward who feared man and sought man’s approval always into a servant and follower of Jesus Christ no matter what the cost.  This work of the Holy Spirit is the direct product of Christ’s death on the cross.  There is nothing at all that I could have done to earn my salvation but God’s grace is sufficient for me and it covers over many sins and provides me with strength to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
With that being said, the Lord has provided me with a wonderful and unique opportunity to rely upon His grace and spread the Gospel at UT by doing the internship.  I am so excited to see the Lord use me for His sake on the UT campus.  In months just after God saved me I struggled with desiring my fraternity brothers approval, but God has placed a new desire in my heart to hold onto Christ in every situation and to reach out to young men that have been giving into the things of the world at UT.  I realize that the next two years are going to be challenging but I know that God is faithful to save sinners and that he will use weak sinners like myself for His glory.”

I thought about sparing you all this video, but I couldn’t help myself! (What is it about guys that makes us want to share disgusting stuff with each other? Do we like watching the other person suffer through what we just did so that we can feel better about having experienced it ourselves? You know what I mean: “Oh Man! This stinks…SMell It!” Or…”This milk is spoiled…Taste it!”) Guys…We’re wierd!

Anyways, along that same vein, I hope you “enjoy” this video, and I would love to hear your cooments about this band’s musical and lyrical abilities (as well as sharing your kid-pop-star memories)

by Tyler Thayer

It usually goes without question that Christians pray. In A Call to Prayer, J.C Ryle says that if you are Christian it is “absolutely needful” for a you to pray. He says that without praying one can not even be saved, for he has not asked for it. Ryle points out that Christians pray at least once in their life, so the questions left are do you continue to pray and how do you pray?

As men, should we not “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  It is true that the same basic principles of prayer apply to women also, but in the context of Manspeak, this is a conversation about men.  Further, the question begins to gain distinction when we look at it through the lenses of biblical masculinity. Who should it be that starts prayer when sitting down for lunch or dinner, when a group comes together to enjoy fellowship, when there is need, or how about when there is simply a sense of thanksgiving? In family life, the role of servant leader falls upon the husband, and thus he will be held accountable for the prayer life of his family. Should not young Christian men follow suit and prep for leading a family?

In Acts 12:5 Luke writes, “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” The early church was full of faith for the role that prayer plays in the Christian life. So much that it is described as “earnest” (Merriam-Webster 1 : a serious and intent mental state 2 : a considerable or impressive degree or amount). They were working hard at prayer.

Is our generation of young Christian men praying earnestly? I’m not so sure we value it as much as we used to, and it could very well be part of the faulty foundation that is causing so many broken households. So where is the prayer? Why is our generation not praying so hard that we grow weak from the serious contemplation?

Resources:

Earnest Prayer – [VQ09 | Bill Kittrell]
What Is Biblical Prayer And Why Should I Pray If God Knows Everything? [Don Carson]
Prayer: Whatever You Ask in My Name? [John Piper]
Prayer is a War Time Walkie-Talkie, Not a Domestic Intercom – [John Piper]

by Caleb Hancock

So…if salvation is by grace alone, and not according to what we contribute, does that mean that we can now go do what we want regardless of consequences? I mean, if we’re saved by grace, isn’t that a license to sin???

Let’s take a look and see what scripture has to say about this. More specifically, let’s continue looking at Titus 3…

While Romans 6 thoroughly answers the question of whether the doctrine of free grace will lead to increased sin, and while many other passages of scripture would address the topic as well, Titus 3 relates not only what God’s undeserved grace in salvation springs FROM (not from works of righteousness done by us), or what it will NOT lead to (a license to sin), it reveals what grace shown to sinners WILL do:

8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

So… we have spent the last few weeks exploring the notion laid out in the preceding verses; namely, that salvation is a result of God’s sovereign mercy, and not a response to our works. HOWEVER, works are still required!

The difference is that good works, or works of righteousness, don’t lead to but are a result of God’s gracious activity of salvation in a believer’s life.

Scripture abounds in evidence for this:

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.