Blog
Sons, Baptism and Warfare
Occasionally I get to baptize men on our adventures and offer them the opportunity to baptize their children into the Kingdom. It is one of my favorite things to be a part of because it carries so much significance.
“But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
This morning I sat down with Jesus to confess my embarrassing numbness to the significance of this sacred Good Friday. Am I alone?
Bug Eyes and Butt Bubbles
8 days ago this grouper was safe on the ocean floor. After years of getting fat he fell prey to a crafty hunter. Once I hooked him, I reeled him up 1000'. The further I pulled him away from home…
Talk to Yourself, but Don't Listen to Yourself.
Some might suggest 2021 has not gotten off to a great start. And I might agree. I'm not alone I don't think. A popular meme right now commiserates "'I'd like to cancel my subscription to 2021... the 7-day trial is enough".
In any case we have an invitation to continue learning what we were invited to learn last year - that hope in anything but God is foolish. For our future preservation in tough circumstances we simply must learn to find our souls some better footing than to place our hope in a year, a person, a nation or an earthly outcome.
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The Opportunity of Pain [Blog]
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” -C.S. Lewis
How appropriate an observation from Lewis for this day and hour. Unquestionably our world is in pain, but is it yet ready to face the hard truth?
Many are certainly ready, and we are on duty to be God's signposts to help bring the rest of the family home. This is our time to be about the Father's business and ready for the Master's return. But are we ready?
Some of us are and some of us are not.
Some parts of us are, and some parts are not.
Becoming Priests
I've been a full time pastor, a company CEO and have probably led a thousand more people in other capacities over the years, but these offices have proven mere child's play compared to offering a simple Bible study with my family.
I know few fathers today who crack open the Bible with their family...
Real Men Sighted at Dunkirk
Maleness is beautiful.
It may be a little awkward to say, but isn't maleness beautiful? There are no arguments about whether femininity is. Many would now argue that diversity is. And tolerance. But who is arguing that authentic masculinity is? Nobody. And it is killing our sons. It is frankly killing us as men too.
REBEL YELL - Part 1
With tack-sharp clarity I recall the day I was handed the keys to my family's 1978 Chevy Impala station wagon. Turd brown. It was there and then, as I stomped on the accelerator, that I began to road test a new strategy for coping with personal pain.
North Pole. South Pole.
By the hand of providence, I have a friend in Russia and a few in Scandinavia who are laboring for the gospel courageously. Like the running salmon that draw fishermen from all over the world to that region, there are a few men swimming furiously against the swift current of a culture that is attempting to neuter the God-given hearts of men and women. The result is the recasting of male and female
BIGGER IS BETTER. Part 1
When I was 10 years old I payed good money to see Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark nine (9) times in the theater. Regular price was a whopping $1.25 but the matinee was only $.75, leaving money for a soda. That Summer I carried a makeshift whip at my side and changed my name to Indiana.
LITTLE LIGHTS
In defiance of darkness' historic claims on me, I chose to install lights in my backyard today instead of letting my joy be stolen by the pressure of preparation for an upcoming mission. My heart's ache and desperation, historically addressed by striving and over-preparation, found true healing today by stringing up little luminescent reminders of what's to come
WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER
It doesn't work for a man to walk alone.
When the idea was first proposed that God designed a man to walk in close fellowship with other men, I quickly dismissed it. Through the use of its masculine caricatures, Hollywood had me convinced early on
STRENGTH FOR SONS
I've recently been medicating myself with the adventures of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman in "Long Way Round", a 10 episode documentary on an around the world motorcycle adventure I wish I could be on right now. Netflix has been my night time cocktail
ACT OF VALOR
Act of Valor got to the big screen and has been a hit with audiences nationwide, even without applying Hollywood’s standard politically correct formula. It is unapologetically pro-American. The enemy, an Islamic Radical, is clearly depicted as evil. Not simply confused or justly angry with capitalism, but eeeeviilll. How often do we see this? Act of Valor does not ask us to
BELOVED SONS AND WARRIORS
"Train a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6
As I have the privilege of playing baseball with these 8 and 9 year old boys I am constantly reminded of the critical and fragile role a man plays in his son’s ever-evolving world. It’s sad but true that, as a culture, we've largely forgotten the art of raising boys into men. It's only been in the last 1-2 generations that father and son have not worked awkwardly close to one another in a field or a workshop. Fathering a young boy skillfully to manhood is an art
Coach Jay's Awesome Baseball Blog
This Blog is dedicated to encouraging and equipping my young warriors on the diamond to run faster, throw truer, hit harder and play smarter. Every sport and challenge God gives us is an opportunity to learn more about life and about ourselves. Every honest victory is reason to celebrate, and every defeat is an opportunity to learn, improve, and show true grit. Baseball is the perfect place to learn some of the great lessons on becoming a man. As a man
KING ME.
“The story of man is the story of God’s desire to make men into kings and men’s inability to handle it.” This is a poor translation from memory of a quote by Dallas Willard (or somebody else). The author’s name didn’t stick with me but the quote did, and for two reasons: 1. I know the statement is absolutely true and 2. I