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Some thoughts from last Sunday’s ‘Man Message’ to our students:

• Man is made in the image of God.  (Genesis 1:26)
• If we know why something was created, we know our purpose.  If we know our purpose, we know what we need to do next.
• Adam was the only man to experience this world in its perfect, sinless state.
• 3 ways the world defines manhood:  Gadgets, Girls, Glory
• 300 is the ultimate man movie!
• The church has murdered the image of the Lion of Judah and replaced it with a tamed house cat sitting in the lap of a Mr. Rogers-with-a-beard-Jesus.  And we all know how Kevin feels about cats!  FIELD GOAL!
• Guys may not be pigs exactly, but we are made from the same dirt they are.  (Genesis 2:7, Genesis 2:19)
• Conversation among guys will always result in the topic of poop.
• Growing up is boring.
• Men have a desire for sex, adventures, challenges, damsels in distress, and risk taking for a reason.  We are made in the image of God, so our desires are no accident!
• The world and the church have exploited and watered down our desires.
• Fathers have a HUGE role of portraying God as The Father.
• No matter what image or wounds your father left, you are still responsible for the man you become.
• Leader = LEAD HER
• God made man because God wants MEN!

We are going to be talking to the ladies this sunday night!  I can’t WAIT!!!  Girls, you don’t want to miss this.  I’m going to be telling you how beautiful all of you are.  Guys, you don’t want to miss this because I’m going to be telling you how to pick up a girl.  Parents, be the parent and MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENTS ARE THERE! This could be one of the most important, powerful & relevant messages your student hears!

What’s your favorite thing to do when you are sick?

sip on chicken noodle soup?  sleep all day?  watch movies?  pound niquil?

Lately I have gotten pretty serious about my health & fitness.  Kelly says I’ve gone extreme.  THAT’S AWESOME!  Here’s just a few reasons why I began to workout:

1. My lifetime is directly proportional to my health.  I want to stay in the fight for as long as possible!
2. As a leader, I want to look my best in an effort to challenge others to be their best.  Have you seen Andy Stanley or Pete Wilson or Steven Furtick?! Those are some sharp dressed men!
3. I have one GORGEOUS fiance and I want to be a STAG for her!  (Song of Solomon 2:9) Maybe make her drool occasionally… ok, maybe that’s TMI… but I want my strength to secure & embrace her. (Song of Solomon 2:6)

a couple others that didn’t make the list:

• Have you seen the guys I work with?!  Jerimiah… Kevin… KLock… enough said!
• I have a honeymoon coming up… ENDURANCE!

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”

_Philippians 3:10

Many conversations I’ve had recently point to the ignorance of us Americans to the power of Christ.  The more I look at my own life and the lives of others, I found it isdefinitely true!  Let me add in that some of that blindness is no fault of our own.  The media and pop culture have played huge rolls in desensitizing our hearts.  I heard Clayton King describe movies such as The Excorcist as child’s play when compared to actual encounters with demon possessions.  In America, seriously destructive things (such as demons, murder, communicating w/ the dead, corruption, sex, etc) have been used for our own entertainment and pleasure.  We watch (and sometimes pay good money) them happen on a tv screen like they are pretend.  We become numb and forget the fact that this stuff is REAL!

Many Americans, including myself, have yet to see the power of Christ in full force.  Its almost impossible for us to.  We’ve limitted it… put it in the same category as Santa Clause.  Some people beg God to come through on a payment for a 64″ tv… and when He does, they call that the power of Christ.  Some ask God for a girlfriend… Some a new cell phone… a nice meal once a week… to help stop masturbating… help stop being so greedy with your money or yourself… help me sin less… help be a better person…

WHAT ARE WE DOING?!  We are asking the Creator of the universe to step down off of His throne and help us be better people and can squeeze just a little more happiness out of life!  Its like trying to use a nuclear bomb to kill Bambie.  God has limitless, unmatched power!  The power to cast out demons.  The power to part sees.  The power to raise people from the dead and heal the blind and stop the sun and form the world and conceive children and heal lepers and SAVE SINNERS.  Best of all, that power is IN ME!  Any of us who call Jesus “lord” have it.

But we don’t tap into it…

We don’t see it…

Some can’t see it…