Pathfinders-Men of Freedom

12/27/2021

When You're Just . . . Done

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding—Proverbs 3:5

Is there any belief you’ve simply gotten tired of believing? Is there any belief you’ve held onto, stubbornly, for too long now? We men are so good at holding onto things, even after they’ve shown themselves to be detrimental. Sometimes these stubborn beliefs are about God. Sometimes they’re about other people. Sometimes they’re about us. And, sometimes, it’s just time to change our minds. We can you know.

It’s not an easy thing to do, of course, changing our minds, changing our beliefs—but we don’t have to do it on our own. God will help, if we ask. All we must do is decide we want to change our minds—like the man who brought his son, the one who couldn’t speak, to Jesus. This man had real doubts about Jesus, and about what Jesus could do, but he decided he wanted to change his mind about those doubts . . . and he asked for help:

"Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’" (Mark 9:24).

Changing our minds—to align our beliefs with those of God—is one way we step out of our old selves and into our new selves. It’s one way we begin to become the men God intends us to become.

Okay, so what?

Are you tired of being a skeptic?
Are you tired of being bitter or unforgiving? Are you tired of being too hard on yourself? Something else?
The Apostle Paul told us what to do when we identify an old, worn-out belief: "Get rid of it!" (Ephesians 4:20-24 MSG). Get rid of it by naming it and bringing it to God in prayer. Tell him you’re tired of being that man—hard-hearted and unbending. Tell him you’d like his help in becoming a new man.

10/27/2021

When the rains of life pour upon your marriage, don’t let them cause you to run in different directions. Instead, come together under the Umbrella of God and ride the storm out together. Til death do us part!

10/12/2021

When a man removes himself from authentic community and accountability nothing good has ever taken place.

Typically it begins with hurt feelings, possibly a sin that is again becoming a stronghold, or an insecurity that has resurfaced.

Nothing good has ever happened to any man who distances himself from health and maturity. If authentic community and accountability is not replaced with the same, destruction is imminent.

Unfortunately many prideful men will never admit this until the damage is done.

"Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord."
- Jeremiah 23:24 ESV

08/30/2021

08/13/2021

Family Big Enough?
. . a threefold cord is not quickly broken—Ecclesiastes 4:12

In the family context, building community means building expanded families around our existing, immediate families. These family “expanders” are trusted friends—followers of our King, Jesus Christ—who know us, know our kids (if we have them), know our wives (or girlfriends or fiancées), and know about our parents and siblings. They know the stories of our families and the stories of the individuals within our families. They connect long-term, across generations. They know the good and bad—and still choose to share our lives: meals, recreation, celebrations, holidays, traditions.

Why do we need them? Well, life together is hard—hard for adults, hard for kids. We all need all the help we can get. And, if we’re not proactive and intentional in securing help, it either won’t come or it’ll come, but from places less-than-ideal. Parents can get isolated—or be too much influenced by prevailing culture. Kids can get too little direction—or be too much influenced by peers or unprincipled adults. No, it’s critical that we be proactive and intentional. The Apostle Paul wrote: “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

If we are proactive and intentional, though, we can influence just who’s going to influence our families—ensure the right people are supporting, encouraging, and challenging us as fathers, husbands, sons, brothers; and the right people are speaking truth into our kids.

But know this,
Expanded families aren’t built without work. They take investment and reciprocity. No one will share our lives if we don’t share in theirs, too. Pray today, brother, about who should be in your expanded family. Reach out to them. Be explicit. If they buy-in, co-develop a practical plan to connect more closely.

07/01/2021

“That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there. One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭19:35-37‬ ‭NLT‬‬

May we not forget that our God is bigger than the enemy and the problem that is before us. Israel had no business defeating Assyria, and the reality is in their own strength they probably couldn’t defeat Assyria. This story is just one of the many in the Bible that show how God defeats and wins our battles for us. I can have faith in God and what He can do. I don’t always have to fight as hard as I do. I can stand back and allow God to do His thing and fight my battles for me. I can allow God to take the enemy down for me. Yes, there are times that I have to do my part; but it is still through God and with His leading that I will win any battle. I need to know that easy or hard that as long as God goes before me the battle is already won and I already have the victory. Israel could of had so many more victories had they just trusted and followed God more. The same goes for me. This story encourages and convicts me to have more faith in God and what He can do. It also encourages me that, like Israel, God doesn’t NEED me; He WANTS me.

06/21/2021

The Importance of Community & Relationships

Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love. - Ephesians 4:31-32

Trusting people is risky. It makes us vulnerable. And when we’re vulnerable we can be hurt. Trusting people opens us to the richness and goodness of relationship, yes. But it also opens us to the potential for pain. We give the people we trust the opportunity to wound our hearts.

We live in a broken world and these are desperate days. So, we will all be hurt. We’ve all been hurt. We’ve all been wounded by someone at some point—and some of us much more deeply than others.

So, how do we move forward?

Well, it makes a lot of sense to protect ourselves. To shut down trust. If we’re going to be hurt again at some point, it makes sense to close ourselves off from the danger of relationship, from the potential for pain.

Well, it would make sense, if it weren’t for God.

Holy Spirit reminds us that He is our protector; He is our shield. While the world can’t be trusted, He can. All the time, in every circumstance. And when He invites us to move toward another person, to engage again in relationship—we can trust that He is there, in the very situation, right there with us. He never abandons us. He never forgets about us. He never misunderstands. Where He leads, it is good. For He is good. He is good.

Let’s take the next moments and ask Jesus to come in . . . come into that have been wounded by rejection . . . by betrayal . . . by a failure of community.

Now ask Jesus to show you where He was. He was there, back then. He is always here. So, look for Him now, you remember. What He was doing in those moments. Look for Him as the scene plays out again, in your mind.

Trust that He is here with you now. And let Him. Ask him to take your pain—to carry it, to deal with it, so you don’t have to. Ask Him to heal the broken places.

06/15/2021

Got Risk . . . Discomfort?

For a day in Your courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere—Psalm 84:10

Years spent in luxury and comfort can’t compare to one day spent with God—in his presence; experiencing his love; living his truth; doing his work. And, astonishingly, God doesn’t offer us just single days . . . mere glimpses, fleeting encounters. He offers himself “more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20-21). He offers all of himself, all the time—as much as we want, as much as we choose.

One proven method of choosing him is to strip away worldly comfort, strip away predictability and self-sufficiency . . . and intentionally move into situations we can’t handle on our own. Jesus sent his disciples into such situations: “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves” (Luke 10:3). He told them to travel light and resist taking anything that could provide comfort, predictability, self-sufficiency: money, extra clothing, extra stuff (Luke 10:4). They had to rely on him. And they returned full of joy (Luke 10:17). Because they’d been willing to move, in faith, into risk and discomfort, they got to spend precious days with God. Jesus told them:

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Luke 10:23-24

Ask yourself, what am I doing—right now—that requires faith? We get used to choosing risk and discomfort by practicing. So, look for ways to practice, brother. Look today for what moves your heart. Reach out to someone who needs help. Spend time with someone who needs a friend. Commit to a service project. Sign-up for a short-term mission trip. If you do, you’ll too have great stories to tell.

05/31/2021

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Freedom is a gift, it’s a treasure. And though we all may agree on that truth, it’s often easy to take for granted the greatest gifts that God has given us in our lives.

But those most precious gifts are never free. They came with a price. With sacrifice. They were worth fighting for. And are still worth fighting for today. Many brave men and women were willing to face hard battles in order for us to enjoy that gift of freedom today.
For all those who have protected our nation, for the men and women in uniform, together, we say “Thank You.”
We take time to remember today, and say a prayer of gratefulness for the many who have been willing to pay a great price for our freedom. May God help us to live so courageously, may we follow the brave examples of those who have gone before us…
Thank you for reminding us that there’s incredible love and sacrifice displayed when one is willing to stand strong and fight for freedom.
This service of love and sacrifice on behalf of all people, points us directly to the greatest love of all, the very gift and sacrifice of Christ.
Our Savior was willing to pay the ultimate price, so that we can live free. Forever.

Lord Father,
We thank you for the freedom you have given to us, and for the price that was paid by Christ so that we could live free. We remember today. The cost of it all. The great sacrifice for freedom.