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The Secret of Success:
Aligning your Core Values with Gods
by Art Hobba
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Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
Judges 6:33-35;
When the Midianite enemy finally assembled their massive fighting force at Israels borders (we learn in Judges 7 is 135,000), the Lord moved sovereignly upon Gideon, filling him with the Spirit of God. He then stepped into leadership role by blowing the trumpet, summoning men of Israel to gather to him for war.
God had a confidence that Gideon shared not only His agenda (winning the war ahead) but that he would act according to the values that they shared in common.
I risk two things with you by going for a few paragraphs into a short journey into behavioral science. One is that I could be accused as posing as a psychologist, (which I am definitely not). The other is the risk of losing your interest. Bear with me, though because this is essential truth about God and how he slowly shapes us in such a way that our values begin to align with His.
Leadership development and formation has always been a subject of deep interest to me for over thirty years. For much of the last decade, it has been my occupation to coach and train corporate and military leaders. When we arrive at the third book in this Core 300 series, The King I will relate that journey in depth, but this is our only chapter in this book that focuses on how Gideon stepped into his leadership role, and how God trusted him to lead and ultimately become the Judge (literally Deliverer) of Gods people.
God desires that you and I should be ever-expanding our leadership influence with others. But as with Gideon, God can only release your predestined leadership if He trusts that your core values are in alignment with His.
the secret of success
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Gideons Journey: What is the big Deal about Sex? Part One, by Art Hobba
(An excerpt from the book Called to War: Out of the StandsInto the Arena)
Thirty years ago, I sat yet again in front of my Mentor and Pastor in his office for counseling. Now in my his late twenties, I was spilling my guts in humiliation of how I had been taken down, yet again, by porn. I felt so isolated in my bondageWhy had God cursed me with being so oversexed?, I asked.
Daryl gently chucklednot the reaction I was expecting. Art, one of the oldest tactics of the Devil, is to work closely with your inherent male desires throughout the day and then fan your lust into a flame while you reach for porn to complete your fantasies.
Then, boom! He is instantly on your back, slamming you with remorseful, hopeless feelings of guilt and worthlessness. He is hoping it will be days before you crawl back to God.
The second big lie is that you are somehow special or a freak, said Daryl, overloaded with testosterone to the extent that you cannot win this battle. It has been a comfort to know that Jesus was hit with the same sucker punchexcept he never gave inHe never got beat in a fight.
I did not want to hear that I was not special. But it was freeing to know that other guys had the same fireto same monkey on their back. It was also good to be reminded that Jesus had the same drawingsand temptations as I did, but He never fulfilled them in his heart or body as I had done.
I swear, the shame was so great that I sometimes wanted to just let it roll, and yield some temporary ground in my soul, while I do my best to keep the rest of my walk with Jesus intact. But I feared that once giving in, I might never recover.
I believe that pornography is the gigantic "pink elephant" that the church must address, if the men are to be able to lead effectively. The Core 300 Warrior course was an inspiration to all the guys, had a refreshing quality of openness, both from the teacher and at the tables, in sharing our mutual weaknesses. It was particularly helpful in causing other men to be more genuine with one another and identified their need for a better relationship with God as they joined ranks with their brothers.
Tom Erdman, Director
Everymans Battle Ministry
This article, as you may have surmised, is Part One of two parts written for the Christian man who sometimes struggles with inappropriate sexual urges and thoughts, and deals with the root causes and consequences both visual attraction to beautiful women (other than your wife) and pornographic media. If you are not in that majority, then maybe God will prompt you to substitute some other disabling passion or weakness of the flesh that tends to occupy your mind and heart.while crowding out total devotion to God.
In this first of two articles, we will attempt to take a full, Biblical swing at answering the following questions:
•What are the components and practices of Asherah worship as it relates to us?
•What is the big deal about sex? Why has Satan invested so much spiritual energy in sexual exploitation, pollution and compromise?
The Goddess Asherah
The goddess Asherah is referred to 40 times in the Old Testament. She was represented by an engraved totem pole, where a tribe of devoted worshippers would gather together on special feast days to give homage in order to be assured that their efforts for fruitfulness and reproduction would be blessed. If worshippers could sacrifice their children and participate in the orgiastic debauchery before these idols, they could be per the doctrine of the Priests and Priestesses of Asherah, assured of success.
Asherah was often paired with Baal as his wife, or in some accounts, his mother. She was the principal goddess at the time of Judges (6:25-28), around 1,100 B.C. and represented the personification of the reproduction and harvest in nature. Later in history she would be called Ishtar by the Babylonians, and Astarte by the Greeks and Romans. The Temples of Baal and Ashtoreth were usually found together in major cities or side by side in villages as they were in this one. Priestesses were temple prostitutes. Male homosexuals served as temple prostitutes as well. Worship also consisted in extravagant orgies.
Paul described a similar condition in the first chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, which had lived for decades under the decadent leadership of the two most lascivious Caesars, Caligula, and Nero:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creatorwho is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, He (God) gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
What is the Big Deal About Sex?
Since the time that God made man and woman with the ability to procreate, Satan has been enraged with jealousy. We must remember that his aspirations are to be like God in every way and when God gave the ability for mankind to reproduce unique living beings imprinted with Gods image, he craved that creative ability so much that his only recourse was to declare war on everything that surrounds our sexuality. What is the net result of overindulgence in sexual promiscuity and preoccupation by a society? Recent demographic and social studies have brought some surprising conclusions to the surface.
The decline in birth rates in Japan and other more sexually progressive nations has lead to both a decline in birth rates as well as the frequency of people engaging in sexual intercourse. The irony is that, as pornography and preoccupation with sexual fantasy rose, real loving sexual encounters between men and women and birth rates declined. Multimedia exposure to sexual content permeated societies that are then shrinking in intimacy and population! Populations are in decline with an average household giving birth to only 1.2 children among many European countries .
Historically, the carnal nature of men has lead women and entire civilizations into sexual bondage. The Roman Empire during the years of the reigns of Caligula and Nero (AD 37-68) descended into massive gross immorality and it brought serious decline to the strength of the empire, giving place for laxness in the discipline in the military and the quality of public service. Famine and disease followed the gradual erosion of the integrity of this massive and seemingly indestructible empire.
The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote There is nothing new under the sun, so this is not a new problem. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 almost instantly buried the entire city of Pompeii under 60 feet of volcanic ash, sealing for modern archaeologists the contemporary first century lifestyles of the people in this city with remarkable accuracy. Pornographic painting, mosaics, and sculptures were pervasive, adorning the walls of homes, public places, streets, and temples of this city.
It has long been thought that, due to the nature of art in Pompeii, it was the sexual capital of the Roman Empire. Recent research has debunked that theory with findings that nearly every excavation from major Roman cities confirms that this was also the nature of society as a whole.
What was clear in the messages conveyed by these ancient images is also clear in the message of pornography of todaythat a man can be elevated to an object of worship if a woman can be debased to an object of pleasureat his whim and under his control. Male porn for women accomplishes the same objective, elevating a woman to the status of a goddess through words spoken and acts of obeisance.
What is the nature of moral decline? It is important for us to remember the one who holds the world in his corrupted handsand who is pulling the strings. Satan uses the three battlefields...the world, the carnal nature, and his demonic armies, to execute his effective plan. It is only the operational power and presence of the Holy Spirit in and through the church, operating as salt and light, that hinders the spread of darkness. I believe that in thee troubled times, Gods design is that, by faith, in aggressive prayer and obedience, we drive the darkness back.
Chapter six of the soon to be released book The Warrior: Out of the Stands and Into the Arena, deals head-on with this issue, no holds barred. It is possibleand even probable, that a man can find sustainable freedom in this area of his lifewith the aid of a few faithful men and the Holy Spirit.
In history, peacetime always follows a season of war. The same is true for the Christian man or woman. The good news is that, in modern lifes harass and struggle, the peace of heart and mind we seek will come. However, it will only be yours after the personal battle is won. As Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulationbut be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!
Stay tuned for Part Two of What is the Big Deal about Sex? where we will dialogue on the solution to winning this war.
from asherah to ashespartial
Gideons Journey Series: What is the big Deal about Sex? Part Two, by Art Hobba
This is Part Two of an article written to men who sometimes struggles with inappropriate sexual urges and thoughts, and deals with the root causes and consequences of both visual attraction to beautiful women (other than your wife) and pornographic media. I will continue to attempt to answer the following:
•How was Jesus tempted at a much deeper level of lust than any man who has ever lived?
•How is your life and that of many others, at stake in the spiritual war?
•Why had God designed this unique battle of walking in sexual purity in order to prepare you as a man of honor and power for His glory?
I am not an expert here, nor a would-be psychologist. There are some excellent books available for further study written by people much better qualified than I, but here are some critical pieces to the puzzle that are missing from most churches that we must understand to gain and sustain victory. Some of these principles were taught to me by godly men and from my own journey of trial and error. Others come from over three decades as a father of five sons ranging from the ages of 12 to 33.and observing men with feet of clay fall from pinnacles of ministry success to day laborers in pick-up trucks in Middle Americafrom men wielding the of power public office, to the suits who roam the executive hallways. All are viewed through, and as perpetual student of, scripture.
Its All About Worship
For Jesus at 30 years old, it was at an all time acme of sufferingHe was near death. He had not eaten for forty days and his body had exhausted his resources of body fat, and had begun days earlier to digest the protein of muscle tissue. Medical science tells us that the return of hunger at this time in the starvation cycle is ravagingoverpowering all other emotions, including the highest peaks of sexual passion. In addition, Jesus had been exposed to the searing heat of the desert sun and chill of the desert night to further sap his strength.
For me, prior to The Warrior study, I found myself on the edge of the arena. I wasnt working together with other men, with locked shields, bonding in trust, and seeking the protection that comes from a unit of men in defense of one another. As a result, the personal bondage to porn, a failing marriage, and other personal failures in my life are being defused. I can now say that I am engaged with other men, in the core of Gods battle as he uses me and my fellow Warriors to accomplish His will!
- Len, Squad Leader
This is when the Devil came and tempted himseeking to systematically wear him down even further. Look at his strategy. First, he waited until Jesus was at the end of His physical strengthat an all time low. The enemy of our souls has learned about how you and I are wired pretty well over thousands of years of practice. And he is as smart a coward as there ever was. Here, he waited until Jesus lust for food had increased to an almost unbearable level and then, using Jesus imagination, gave him the fantasy of the stones around him becoming, at His word, fresh loaves of warm bread, drawn from his mothers hearth and spread upon the table. This was an easy way to satisfy His deepest need right at His fingertips! Using the spoken Word of God as his defense, the would-be killing blow was parried back into the Tempters face as He refused to take the bait.
Next, in Christ's state of near delirium came the fantasy of tempting His Father by casting himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. After all, God owed him oneHe had said no to sin gazillions of timesand remember, it was the Holy Spirits fault he was out here dying after all! If Jesus cast himself down, He could force God's hand to rescue him from this unfair and horrible trial. God was supposed to be a good God, right? He was supposed to take care of meespecially me, His only Son. Jesus may have thought to himself, If I die in the fall, I would at least be out of my misery and, probably, translated back into my Fathers presencemaybe back to the good old days when I had complete jurisdiction over all of creation and the applause and adoration of Angels. Again, the living Word of God employed the Word of God to parry the cattle prod of Satan. It is also written, Do not put the Lord god to the test. The Devil must have felt the shock of that blow all the way down to his bones!
But now our Enemy reveals his ultimate plan. Questions one and two were just primers to wear down the Son of Man. If you will worship me.I will give you all of these kingdoms of the earth. The ultimate goal here of Satan was to receive worship from the Son of God. He sought worship in the heavens eons ago and he sought it from our Lord here in the desert.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Today, as adopted, newborn sons of God , Satan seeks the same ultimate goal for you and meto destroy everything good in and around you. If he can bring us to that hiding place, where no one else can see, where we are alone with our fantasies and, often, with the aid of media, he can watch us bow our souls in worship to Asherah, he has won the day. Evil spirits triumph when we masturbate while lustful images play in our minds. And they delight as we bring the burning coals of illicit lust into our breastsearing our consciences and relegating us to hoursor days of remorse and the feeling of alienation from God.
If Jesus would have turned the stones to bread in His intensified lust for foodif He would have taken it into his own hands and satisfied his hunger, he would have been disqualified to go to the cross as our substitute. The game saving verse written above, where He was tempted as we are, and is able to make us stand up under it, correlates to us men today. His struggle with hunger exceeds any sensual temptation imaginable by any man.
Sinning through sexual impurity is the most powerful strategy the enemy has because it uniquely accomplishes five things other sins do not:
1. It causes a decline in our desire for our wives, or even, over time, to have children by them. If you are single, there is a lessening of desire to wait for the woman of your dreams. Our general sense of loneliness, which we may have been partly trying to diminish by pornography or fornication, is increased not decreased
2. It burns us. We feel immediately separated from our relationship with the Father. How could he want to be with me now? God is robbed of true open worship for a seasonor longer and I am robbed of the strengthening joy of the Lord, and the beauty of His holiness.
3.As the living temple of God, it pollutes His temple, inside outand his property (us). Plus as living members of one body, the church, it links our participation in Asherahs rites to those to whom we relate to in the church, to defilement. Paul makes it pretty plain when he writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12:20:
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, He says, shall become one flesh., But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods. (Emphasis added)
4. It subjects us, yet again, to the act of slavery and obeisance and increases the sense of hopelessness, disqualification, and isolation we feel as a man of God. Like Adam, we will cover up and hide in the woods lest God meet us on the path.
5. It compromises our ability and confidence to Minister Gods Word and His power to those we love.
Most men, who are honest with me, after trust has developed between the two of us, tell me of their struggles and failures sexually. It does not stop at marriage or when you turn 40, nor 60 years of age. In some ways, its role as a substitute for intimacy can even accelerate with age due to the fact that many older mens wives are not as attractive or interested sexually as they used to be. Pornography poses a unique alternative for men during these later years as well as during their sexual prime.
what is the big deal about sexpartial
The Spiritual Warrior: Out of the Stands and Into the Arena, Beginnings, part one by Art Hobba
Here is the story of how God connected with a few good men at our church, which ignited a transformative movement in many more men and their families. In the spring of 2007, our church went through a very trying and difficult time. Our leading pastor had just suddenly resigned and soon thereafter came stories of moral misconduct. We learned weeks later that he was also separated from his wife and had filed for divorce. Some of you reading this book have had that experience in your church and you know something of what we went through.
Others of you have fallen as well or suffered through the breakup of your own family like I did. The loss can be debilitating, and, for any sense of future ministry, a real sense of disqualification is usually the outcome for most believing men and women.
Like when God engaged Gideon while he was hiding in the winepress, please know that this call to engage in the arena is for you. Hey, if God could redeem a much scarred, oft fallen, Warrior like me, He can and will do the same for you!
You see the blame and the answer for our condition is not to be found in an individuals failings, strengths, or abilities. It is found in the passion and engagement of the Spirit of God to transform ordinary men into extraordinary.
As it relates to my story, what began it all at our church was that a few men began to pray.
Three weeks into our leadership crisis, an emergency mens prayer meeting was called by some of the Elders. It was attended by about 40 men. Thus began the movement which originated with two to three of those men feeling called to continue to pray for our church together for one hour, on an every other Saturday morning basis. These men believed prayer was the most necessary and primary activity we could do because of dire need. Without a head Shepherd, we knew the strategies of Hell, which were already declared in scripture, were bent on scattering the sheep of our congregation.
Our group rapidly rose to eight, then to about fourteen men and the certainty of our mission and focus never diminished, but increased month after month. We knew our elders were at prayer as well, and often several would join us, but we chose to pray as if no one else was praying but us.
Our prayer meetings continued through the summer where I was involved as the coordinator for communications and setting the prayer agenda. The church leadership offered me the list of some 450 men who had gone through our membership class over the previous four years with the caveat that it was to be used to communicate around the prayer needs alone. Every other week every man on this list received a prayer bulletin and invitation to the meeting. The group grew modestly to about 18-20 over several months though many who could not be there on Saturday agreed to pray through the concerns shared via the email. At the end of the summer, Bart, the then leader of mens ministries and a good friend, asked me to join the leadership team and I was privileged to accept.
We prayed for our elders who were sacrificially navigating the complex and treacherous straits of political fallout, fragmented trust, broken hearts, and reduced giving. We prayed for protection, for a spirit of forgiveness and healing in the church.
We prayed earnestly for womenour sisters in the faith...who, more than others, felt betrayed by a Pastor, who, to those who were married, represented their deepest fear(Will my husband leave me for another woman?) We prayed for those who were single, whose hope was challenged as to whether God could bring a truly trustworthy man into their lives...and for those who had suffered divorce and the temptation toward cynicism about men and spiritual leadership in particular. Yes, we prayed for our women.
We prayed for our incredible staffpeople who not only served sacrificially, but now had to deal with the uncertainties of their church and of their own jobs. And we prayed for our youthdaughters and sons who were being challenged to walk in purity, and now were faced with the fall of a key representative of Gods leadership in their lives.
Finally, I began to introduce the idea of spiritual warfare to these men, many of which had never even heard the term. Most, even if they had heard it, had little understanding or experience in engaging the enemy in intercessory prayer, but I would introduce a scripture around the subject and these men began practicing authoritative, Kingdom releasing, prayer.
The first order of business was our fall Mens Houseboat retreat, lead by Retired Los Angeles Police Chief Bob Vernonwhere we were taught the nature of and call to servant leadership. I had not gone on a mens retreat for over a decade and was not too thrilled to be on this onebut I had a breakout session assigned to me on mentoring and, as a member of the new team, it was expected, so I signed up.
As we gathered after dinner around 10 PM Thursday night for introductions, our leader and Boat Captain, Ross, led out with the icebreaker asking each of us to share what we were hoping God would do in our lives over the four day weekend. This was the first night, so typically, 11 guys are going to pose for a day or two to get a comfort level before they might consider sharing some authentic pain in their lives. As the men, mostly strangers to one another, talked, phrases like, I want to learn to serve my wife better, and praying for deeper understanding of the Bible droned on and on.
When it was my turn to share, I figured that Id just go for it, so I said the truth, that God had been dealing with me about my anger with one of my older sons, who was drifting away from church and the things of God. I said that I needed to get him back into my life and I was driving him away! I further shared that I suspected that my attitude needed some serious adjustment and that I was hoping God would do that in me before I ventured down the mountainand that God would also work in my sons life at the same time.
What ensued was an avalanche of men sharingeven blurting out, some of the darkest scenarios you can imagine: six figure online gambling debts, kept secret from the wife; an addiction to spending too much money at strip clubs; an addiction to heroin for 6 yearsall of those years spent coming to church week after week. There was a single man in his late 50s that had been divorced three times with a current girlfriend, and anger management issues with his grown sons with whom he could not have a civil conversation. And there were two guys who asked for prayer for their marriages because both were on there way to divorce court!
Yet these men had been sitting in the church services week after week, alone, hiding and disqualified (so they felt) from service to God. When it was over, at around 2 AM, I retired to my sleeping bag on the top canopy under the stars as the strong chaparral winds blew across the lake all through the night, in tune with my restless nights sleep.
Looking back on that night, something in my soul slipped out of joint (or maybe back into joint?). The source was like the beginning of a small tremor that became a seismic quake, deep in my spirit. I felt the rise of rage at the wrongness of men who bear Gods name being utterly defeated as Christian men. Their life had become a shambleand a reproach to the powerful and loving presence of God at work in their life. My spirit was grieved at the certainty of the echo of their actions upon those around themsome for generations to come. I was also embarrassed for who I had become. The fact was, though for that weekend, I appeared to be one of the least messed up guys on that boat; I had acquiesced to a state of treading water as a Christian man.
The beautiful and haunting poem below, often attributed to Nelson Mandela, was written
by Marianne Williamson:
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world (italics mine).
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God within us.
And, as we let our own light shine,
we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
I had been playing small and had, like many men I knew (there is comfort in mediocrity) had believed that simply because I wore a baseball hat and brought a glove to the ball game, that somehow I was a key player on the field!
I was also grieved for the broken abdication of men from their priestly role of prayer and service to those they loved and were accountable for...and loss of possibilities for them and their family members who so desperately needed them to be men of God.
article ii chapter 1 part a
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The Spiritual Warrior: Out of the Stands and Into the Arena Beginnings, part two by Art Hobba
As I wrote in part one, I had been playing small and had, like many men I knew (there is comfort in mediocrity) had believed that simply because I wore a baseball hat and brought a glove to the ball game, that somehow I was a key player on the field!
That Sunday afternoon, as I descended from the mountain lake with by good friend Bart, we talked in earnest about what could men on our leadership team do? A plan began to formulate in the front cab of his SUV, attended by the Holy Spirit, who more than any, sought to bring freedom to these and many more men in our church--men who have been marginalized into spectator status in the stands of life, while their dreams and destiny of significance lies in the arena they yearn to enter, but cannot.
I attended my first mens leadership team meeting right after the retreat and discovered a group of 10 men, many of whom were already friends, who were dissatisfied with the apparent disengagement of some 1,000 men in church. There was a Spirit led itch for change, and with no senior pastor at the helm, no program (or permission needed) to hinder us from trying something new. We set a date for an offsite full-day retreat to seek God for a fresh calland a fresh vision for men in our church.
Five things happened that day:
• We became more self aware of how God uniquely made our personalities through some DiSC exercises that were fun (hysterical actually)
• Each man was anointed (yes, we used oil) with prayer for a new level of service by the other men.
• We began to crystallize as a team with one heart
• We understood the beginning of a new vision for Mens Ministry at our church
• We began planning for a unique Mens breakfast event and articulated the
exhortation Out of the Stands and into the Arena!
Now, for years, we had been having 3-4 mens breakfasts every year, complete with full lumberjack cholesterol clogging vittles, a worship team and a marquis guest speaker (usually from out of town because they are more impressive if they come with luggage!). But this breakfast was to be like no one had ever seen before. We would launch a to-be written teaching series that would call men to significanceto be identified as coreto be Warriors for God.
Walking Through Some Red Tape
The big question was, do we wait until we brought in the new pastor? Or go ahead and launch? We prayed about and debated this for a full month. The risk takers in the group were for full steam ahead. Others wanted to wait, while about half of the guys were on the fence.
Just after the group leader proposed that we should wait, looking for a vote, one of the men (with a more prophetic edge to him) went to the whiteboard and made a passionate appeal to go now. It would probably be another six to twelve months before the search was completed. Then it would be yet another 18 to 24 months before a new pastor would be ready to take on such a risky project. How can you launch a radical new program to a church on its heels waiting for the new pastor to come in on the white horse and lead us?
The question he posed was, What if we failed? We all realized it was no big deal if we did. Mens ministry had about 15% of the men who attended the church participating in three breakfasts per year and another 5% for the annual retreat. We had nowhere to go but up!
Finally, several of the guys felt strongly that we should run such a radical departure for the status quo by our elders, which we all agreed to do. We then worked for two months to pray, meet and design the overall program, check on calendar dates and facilities availability and assign tasks to different members based on our skills and passions.
aretricle iiispiritual warriorbeginningspart two
The Affliction of Niceness in the Church
"You can say almost anything (in correction) to someone if they know you love them"
--Darrell Roberts
Niceness (not to be confused with the spiritual fruit of kindness, gentleness, and goodness) has overflowed into the aisles. Paid professionals know that conflict can endanger a churchs stability, so they often nominate men or women who wont ruffle the feathers of the leaders direction or the established status quo of a ruling group of Elders. Staff gets selected because of their reputation or service record of giving themselves away quietly, without making waves. And love, true love, that is willing to risk the relationship so someone can be freed from a destructive deception or blind spot, falls prey to expediency or politicking. Love, in many churches, has become vapid as we sharpen our skills at beating around the bush.
"Church staffs are the most dysfunctional organizations of any I have worked
With because they have such a high level of grace that they are unable to speak the truth in love to one another. Stress from work is higher among these good people than I see in the secular workforce because theyre afraid to be direct with one another in the fear that they might offend or be branded as unaccepting." --- Patrick Lencioni
And fear can dominate families as well. Mom tries to be nice by seeking to be a peacemaker at any cost, while Dad sees that the shortest distance between two points is a good fight, or vica versa. Collateral damage mounts up in confused, angry, and scared kids, and a loss of intimacy in the marriage. Dad is trying to fix the problem, fearful it will fester; mom is afraid that conflict will hurt her family members; and the children are afraid their folks will break up.
the affliction of niceness in the church
Understanding the Enemy of Our Souls by Art Hobba
"The life of a man upon earth is a warfare"
--- Job 7:1
Lets examine the nature of our adversary. This list below was difficult to writeand will be difficult to read, but we cannot hope for a victorious lifestyle without facing directly the truth of the one who desires your destruction. Here is what scripture tells us about our ancient foe, his system of evil, and his agenda:
1.His power over Christians has been broken. The biblical teachings of Jesus and other New Testament writers clearly affirm that we have inherited the positional and earthly authority of Christ, in the church, through faith. This is both for the present and future. We are now seated with Christ in heavenly places with all powers in creation submitted under our feet.2
2.He is an old, patient, and relentless schemer. His plans take the long view and he will patiently weave his web over the decades of our lives, chipping away at our resolve while he plans a great fall for every man and woman and child. But he is not really interested in you or me personally, except for how he can leverage your weaknesses (or sometimes your strengths) to destroy you and those you touch. He will strike the head pin (you or me), which then is able to take multiple future generations down through the impact and the echo of sin in our lives.
3.He is the original rebel against authority and the source of the spirit of rebellion in al of society. All of what Satan has and does, and his kingdom, is fully corrupted. Hating Gods designed authority, he seeks to corrupt those who have power and then, as usurper, cultivates the lust of power in human hearts to pull down or supplant those powers he is corrupting. Though he seeks to do this at every level of society, his focal point is and will always be the church.
4.His heart is filled with War3. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the appropriate reaction of our government was the formal declaration of war. However much of the American church has taken a more pacifist, conciliatory approach to the enemys attack on Believers.
Know this: there will be no truce, no rest, and no reprieve in this war against the Saints until he is finally cast into the Lake of Fire. Wrapped in lies himself and self deluded, he actually thinks he can win, and as the end of these times approaches, his wrath will escalate against the Saints and the Bride because he senses his time is short.4
5.He is a liar and the father of all lies. The first lies that come from within us are voices of exaggeration, self-defense, and rationalization. If he can train a child to avoid the truth regarding their personal responsibility for their actions (often, regretfully, with the parents cooperation), then the child will be raised with the eventual inability to perceive truth. Once lying to yourself is established, it becomes the means of operation with others. The Father of Lies relentlessly seeks to breed his offspring in us.
understanding the enemy of our souls
What is the Big Deal About God and Warfare? Part I; by Art Hobba
(An excerpt from the book Called to War: Out of the Stands Into the Arena)
Do you believe there is a great invisible cosmic war against humanity? Scripture dedicates about one third of its content to war and battleand it has its focus on men.
Most men I know are good guys but they have no real practical way of living out their faith in the real world. But, until recently, many of us had our work and toys to salve our souls. However, God has planned a new game for us. It is in the arena advancing Gods purposes on earth. It is beyond successa call to significanceand it is why you were born.
Sometimes what we dont know can really hurt us. The Bible teaches us that were all born into an invisible but deadly war against our souls and the souls of those we love. Like it or notadmit it or not, as long as we have breath, we will struggle against the aligned strategies of world system, human carnality and the cohorts of Satans kingdom.
As real, yet invisible as the air we breathe, you and I awakened to war this morningand we will tomorrow, every day, until we die or return to Christ in glory.
"The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will rouse His zeal like a man of war.
He will utter a shout, yes He will raise a war cry He will prevail against His enemies."
-- Isaiah 42:13 New American Standard Bible
what is the big deal about god and warfare1
What is the Big Deal About God and Warfare? Part 2: Men in Crisis by Art Hobba
Do you believe there is a great invisible cosmic war against humanity? We continue to look at warfare in the light of the word of God. Scripture dedicates about one third of its content to war and battleand it has its focus on men.
Men in Crisis1
•Only two out of six American men who profess a faith in Jesus Christ attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.
•Fewer than 10% of U.S. churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant mens ministry.
"Those who trust in me will never be put to shame. Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?
But the LORD says, The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel"
-- Isaiah 49:23b-26 New Living Translation
Pretty bloody stuff, you might think. Me too! Why havent I heard more about the Christian warfare experience? With so many pulpits focusing on only the more popular New Testament writings, the American Body of Christ has been for too long fed a pabulum rich diet based on taste alone, while two-thirds of Old Testament references are relegated to excerpts that include the Ten Commandments, the Genesis story, Psalms of comfort and Joseph and his technicolored dreamcoat! The fact remains that a full one-third of the Bible was written in the context of war. The victories and defeats of Gods people, often leading to bondage and the victorious deliverance achieved as men went to war for, and with, Yahweh.3
what is the big deal about god and warfare 2-1
The Twelve Strategies of Defensive Warfare Part 1; by Art Hobba
(An excerpt from the book Called to War: Out of the Stands Into the Arena, Chapter 9)
The adage, An ounce of prevention is more valuable than a pound of cure, applies in the dimension of living defensively in a constant state of alertness. The universal principles of warfare discussed in these next few pages are derived from the Word of God. They can be applied to our cache of defensive weaponry as a template that can help us avoid the cycle of defeat while reinforcing the cycle of victory.
I believe defensive, preventative warfare is a critical biblical principle as well, because of the many admonitions and wisdom found in scripture.
"To subjugate the enemy's army without doing battle is the highest of excellence."-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
There is so much biblical guidance to assure our safety and strengthen our position that they cannot be dealt with adequately in several books, not to mention a chapter.
However, I would like to provide a partial list of those things I have discovered along my not so illustrious journey that might be fruitful ground for further individual or small group study. Lets look at 12 defensive strategies and tactics of the well-trained warrior:
1. Obedience
"So Samuel said: Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
--- 1 Samuel 15:22-23, New King James Bible
Obeying God and His Word are by far the best means to hold us firm in our Fathers hand. Submitting to God goes beyond how we behave.
"With my children I learned to discipline the attitude before it became an action whenever possiblebecause an attitude will always become an action if left unchecked."
-- Dr. Jack Hayford, lectures on child discipline
the twelve strategies of defensive warfare 1
The Twelve Strategies of Defensive Warfare Part 2; by Art Hobba
(An excerpt continued from Part One excerpts from Chapter 9 of Called to War)
These are six more strategies we can take advantage of as men who are Called to War in His Name:
7. Marriage
This is as good a spot to segue into the skill of husbanding as any. Treating your wife with loving understanding will keep your prayers from being hindered at the throne of God, not to mention the many other peaceful benefits that come from loving treatment, including sexual fulfillment, which helps keep the enemy from gaining leverage for excessive temptation in both of your lives.4 And, by loving her as Jesus loves you, you will be surprised by her gradual response of her unfeigned admiration.
8. Praise and worship
"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
--Psalm 40:3
"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise."
--Psalm 51:15
"Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."
--Daniel 4:37
