morningstarmen

Under Attack: 6 Messages that have come to destroy you - I am powerless - What can 1 man do?

This week’s lesson “I am Powerless...What can one man do?”  But the theme quickly becomes how we eliminate the “No” people with “Yes” people.

Get to Work

Glenn Singer discusses the next 10 weeks as well as discussing "Get to Work".

Paul and the Principle of the surrendered life

Quck, what thoughts come to mind when you think "Surrender"?  Perhaps loss, or loser, or quitter?  Generally, the thought of surrender isn't held up as a positive. Which is why none of us should be surprised when the mention of surrender doesn't sound appealing, even in a spiritual context.  Who wants to "give up" anything?  The person who has "stuff" rarely wants to have less of it  (or at least until moving day). The person with money isn't often overheard to be saying, "geeze, I just wish I had $50,000. less in my account today". And the man with some free time will sometimes resent the invitation by another to do something "useful" with that surplus of hours.  No, it isn't often that we're found to be voluntarily tendering our surrender of anything.  Perhaps though, in light of Jesus call to each of us to lay down our lives, we should take another look at the whole idea of yielding.  Can we do that today?

The Principle of Making Disciples: How God Equips Men to Reach Other Men

THE MINISTRY OF GIVING PEOPLE A NUDGE

Our job is to be faithful, not to produce a particular outcome. It’s the ministry of giving people a nudge— whether that’s calling them to live in Christ, equipping them to live like Christ, or sending them to live for Christ. Simply be with them— the people whom God has placed in your path. Nudge them along. Everybody deserves a nudge. And you’re just the man who can do it!

Morley, Patrick (2013-11-05). How God Makes Men: Ten Epic Stories. Ten Proven Principles. One Huge Promise for Your Life. (p. 155). The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Principle of Suffering For No Apparent Reason

Job is the man in the Bible and throughout history who’s best known for asking questions about suffering. It is hard to imagine that any of us have suffered more than Job, which is why we are going to talk about his life in this chapter.

But first, a word of caution: it would be outrageously insensitive to offer theological explanations to someone while he or she is going through profound suffering, such as when a soldier loses his legs, a spouse gets cancer, a worker loses his job, or a child dies. Broken hearts need love, not doctrine. So hopefully you are reading this before or after suffering. If you are going through profound suffering right now, feel free to come back to this podcast at another time.

Morley, Patrick (2013-11-05). How God Makes Men: Ten Epic Stories. Ten Proven Principles. One Huge Promise for Your Life. (p. 121). The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Priniple of a Passionate Calling

What cries for your attention? Who cries for your attention? When many people look out at the world around they are soon left despairing. Too many problems. Too much brokeness. I even know people who refuse to watch or listen to a news cast for that very reason. "it's all too depressing...too much bad new" is their rationale. Understandable though it may be, a person personally touched by something finds it hard to look away when another is seen suffereing the same. Yet if denial or self-imposed  ignorance isn't the solution and if the problems all seem too large to tackle, what other options are there?

The God who has been actively involved in redeeming and restoring the world and the people in it, calls to each of us who are willing and invites us to be part of His redemptive plan in one or more areas. This is the beauty of God's good plan. Those He calls He will outfit with the necessary resources and the stores of trust and energy needed in order to follow-through on the call. Yet, we can say "no". We can refuse to participate. We can shut our eyes, plug our ears, and refuse to let either the evidence of the need or the  call of God to pervade our thinking. But why?

This week, we'll consider the power of God's call to pursue restoration and wholeness in some area of the world which is sorely in need of His touch. Because when we respond not only to the need but to God's call to us, then we find ourselves in just the right place to do good that lasts.

What Temptation Reveals About Our Heart and God's

Ever asked the question "How could he?" after seeing another man trip up and fall into some temptation? Ever wondered what went wrong? Ever wondered if it could happen to you or how you would handle the fallout if it did? We can learn many lessons about how God Makes Men when looking at the life of David. Today we'll look at our own struggles and God's great love.

Success and Happiness according to Solomon...or not.

Ask most anyone you meet. You won't find many takers for a life of misery and failure. Even those not bold enough to admit they crave some form of success usually do. And happiness? Well who wouldn't want to be happy. Yet none of us seems immune to the blues. Even when we've gotten exactly what we've hoped for, worked for, sacrificed for and even prayed for, it isn't long before that too isn't enough. Is it possible that we've been sold a lie? Could it be that real success is a misunderstood concept? And what if each of us is searching for things we crave but not knowing what will really make us happy and content?  Let's take a careful look.

Taking your eyes off yourself so you can focus on the larger picture.

Got problems? Need solutions? Don't we all. Wish God would show up to help? What if - instead of helping you to fix your own problem - what God really wants to do is use you to help others who share the very same problem? And what if in the process of allowing God to work through you in solving the problem which you share with others, your own problems are diminished as well. Let's think about that this week.

Personal Care and Family Care for the Busy Man and his Busy Family

We're bombarded with messages insisting that as Christ-Followers we should "be in the Word" and that we should "pray". No one would argue with those statements - or at least not aloud. Yet many men - myself included - find themselves so busy that a regular and predictable time to read, meditate on what is important and then to pray seem elusive. Add that to the demand that each man should lead his family well by guiding them in similar practices and the guilt over what isn't done can stack up like cord wood for a Maine winter.

Suppose though, that every man and every family had a collection of reminders of what they wanted to live for and live out? What if the reminders and the way in which the reminding was accomplished could be turned into regular family customs that were both meaningful and enjoyable.

Let's consider that this week.