Let me create a word picture for you. This warrior of his own personal strength is moving at light speed through life. He is going in so many directions always trying to be the best at what he is doing, father, husband, worker, serving others through ministry at church but never developing the one true area that makes a warrior strong. So if Christ would be called a warrior why does it seem like he is always “Cool under fire”? Since we as Christian men are to become molded by the Holy Spirit to be more like Christ, what attribute should be making a priority in our warrior life? I will give you a hint: it is the one that we seem to place dead last in our priority list - - - PRAYER…..

I would like to offer an insight to where this warrior has found great strength. Oh I do not have this under control but I think at least I understand and have realized that when practiced it has provided me some great strength while I am in the battle as a warrior. I will say that I learned this first from my dad who I often found up in the morning early on his knees praying on his prayer bench.

First, Christ knew His Father God voice and looked for it often. He first references it with his Fathers strong support of his upcoming ministry in Mathew 3:17 “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. This is what we all men warriors want to hear from our own fathers here on earth how much more we should long for it to be heard from our Father God in Heaven. For me I long for the day that I will stand before God and have him say these words. For then I will know that the obedience to be molded into more of Him and less of me will have brought me to the prize of the high calling. Seeking His voice in my life through the quiet nudging the Holy Spirit providing me wisdom to know how to juggle all that demands my time and energy will somehow bring joy beyond my earthly understanding.

Second, it seems very interesting to me that at least in scripture immediately Christ went to a 40 day fast in the wilderness and then he was tempted as he became hungry. Much has been written and preached about the temptations of the devil but the lesson is here is really that he fasted for forty days and nights right after His father just gave him a blessing. When have you fasted for increasing your connection to Father God – the maker of the universe and who is ALL knowledge and wisdom? For me I must confess, the practice of fasting has only happened once in a while so it is an area I can reflect on with recognition that I can improve and find a new solace there.

Thirdly, early in Christ’s ministry he begins to teach a large following in the sermon on the mount. As He begins to teach about prayer in Mathew chapter 6 he warns the people about praying like the hypocrites in the open of society but in verse 6 He states “But when you pray, go into your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” We are to recluse away to enjoy communion with the Christ. I think He was telling us that real prayer is earnest prayer, it is done to Him and for Him and not about us. It is being humbled in our spirit because of being alone with God’s Son, part of the Trinity that we offer ourselves up to Him. As a male warrior we are completely dependent on knowing what the Father’s will is in our life. That is so humbling to me I would not want to offer these utterances to God in front of others so I want to be behind closed doors.

Fourthly, there are many scriptures that talk about the majesty of God, the splendor of God and His covenant with His people. For me I like to call this time in my prayer life a time of reflection. Each year I try to have at least 2 times of set apart time of reflection. For me I try to have this time in the spring when spring is really beginning to bud and before the pollens take over my nose. The other time for me is in the fall or autumn just before it is to cold to be outside with a light fleece. These are inspirational times for me as I usually take my bible and a notebook and just read His word for some time and then reflect and wait for God to speak to my soul. I am amazed at how moving this time can be for me as I allow His inspired word to speak wisdom into my life or to reveal some part of who He is that I may not have given serious consideration yet and have so much to learn more about as He asks me to explore it with Him this next year.
So if you thought you were going to hear something about the male vibrato and fierceness of a warrior I am sorry for disappointing you. I do know that as my dad chose John the Baptists claim for his life in John 3:30 “He must increase and I must decrease” I also am trying to live as a warrior for God who uses the full extent of Ephesians 6: 10-17 but it is only through verse 18 explaining the power of prayer and petitioning of prayer at all times a warrior finds his REAL strength.

Serving with you
Randy

DONKEY OWNER - The earliest part of this week started with an OT Prophesy from Zach. 9:9 that Christ would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey owned by a little known and unnamed man. In my self centered world I would like to be told that Christ needed my donkey but nothing came back to you financially? Have we been asked by others to provide something with no questions asked? How do I/we normally respond?

ROMAN SOLDIERS - Or what about the Roman soldiers who were rough men. I think they were probably street smart when it came to knowing what the locals were doing and thinking since their livelihood came from keeping the peace. Any policeman I have ever known was pretty wise to his surroundings. Soo… how do you think they looked upon Jesus as the crowds went from seekers and followers to criers of Crucify Him! Yup they probably thought “You hypocrites!” - Soo…. how do people see me/you?

THIEF - The thief on the cross next to Jesus is much like the Roman Soldiers with regards to street smarts. He knew who Jesus was because he also was a Jewish boy who had been trained in the Torah and obviously heard the rumors on the street. Yet he turned away from the truths of the Torah and lived unrighteously until….until the last minutes of his reality! He was now in the presence of the Savior. How unconventional that he a THIEF would be next to the Savior. He seized the opportunity to acknowledge Christ as the Redeemer and that Christ would remember him in paradise.

This evening is that time when Christ turns to His Father - God Almighty and claims redemption for every sin committed by all manhkind. Christ our kinsmen redeemer has paid the ultimate sacrifice - His life for ours. I, like the THIEF say, “Lord remember me”. Because I have more time than the THIEF I want to grow into becoming more like Christ each day. To live in the Joy of His Salvation so that it is seen by others and heard by others.

Father I ask you to clean up my attitude of selfishness - let me take the posture that what I have been given is yours, as the DONKEY OWNER gave up his for you - no regrets…..

Father I ask that my words and my actions be totally about you. That my daily walk would be consistent, never wavering in claiming you always as my Savior. Do not allow my life to be seen as the ROMAN SOLDIERS saw hypocritical Jews…..

Father what an honor for me to join with the THIEF in claiming you as my Savior. My sins like the THIEF have been thrown as far as the East is from the West and you ask me like the THIEF to join you in paradise….

To know the paradise of heaven while still here on earth is pure joy my brothers!!

Shalom - Randy Mason

Last month my brother sent me an article from: The Chronicle of Higher Education, dated January 30, 2009 ” The End of Solitude” By WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ - summation:
“As everyone seeks more and broader connectivity, the still, small voice speaks only in silence”

Then I read in my devotional I am using this year by the Blackaby’s on Feb. 5th “The word HOLY refers to separation, to being entirely different and apart from that which is common”.

So I ask you, if you have gotten this far down the side bar - Where is silence in your life?
or have you succumb to your cell phone, text messages, Inbox and mp3 player circumventing one place you know God can speak to you - in silence?

Yesterday I met with a new friend and an old friend.  We were learning from the new friend about a book he wrote about e-Integrity.  We discussed how filters alone can not be the end all to having integrity online but that it starts with our heart.  If our heart (I will use the analogy of our heart being a cup) is full of God then taking in His scripture is the best thing to fill our cup.  If we are taking in so much scripture to keep our cup full then we are not involved in the temptation of whatever the devil will tempt us with to displace God filling our cup.

In Richard Fosters book “Celebration of Discipline” he explains why Solitude and Silence are so important to a Christians staying close to God.  It is when we are still before the Almighty God of this universe that our heart can hear and our mind understand when that sweet small voice calls to us from within and says what we already know has to change.

I am not hear to say I do not use an mp3 player, PDA, e-mail or any of the new tech tools.  What I am saying is that I must realize these are things the devil would love to have me stay more connected to than to wait upon our Lord in quiet prayer.

I picked it up the same day after visiting his blog at Bravehearted Gospel.  Eric is offering the church of today a reality check.  If you have been wondering some of the same things as I about where is the power of God in our churches today, then you will want to check him out.

Approximately 11 months ago I started this web site and blog.  I stated that it would be hard to blog consistently because of the rigors of developing and doing ministry full time.  The Bravehearted Gospel is the first book I have blogged about. I read about 2 books a month so it is not for lack of having books.  The real issue is time to blog and why blog about books that do not seriously connect with your heart?

The Bravehearted Gospel is ripping my heart and begs of my time to share what is happening.  So if you have been wondering when things would flow here they are beginning because the Holy Spirit is really speaking to my heart and soul?

Some questions arise out of the first half of the book.    I will place the most ripping questions that have been raised by the Holy Spirit in my reading of the Bravehearted Gospel.

1. Why does the church of my lifetime seem so blah?  this means about the last 5 decades as I am 52.  What a contrast to be feeling the same things as Eric Ludy as he is around 34.
2. Where are the men who will stand for the one true truth?  Are you out there….. for we (the now church) have not been hearing from you?
3. God what is it in my life and our churches that separates us from you?
4. How much of this world have I allowed to creep into my life separating me from Almighty God?
5. How much has your church aligned with the world versus attacking a fallen world to win it for Christ.
6. Do I really know what it is to live in a faith relationship with God?  Faith is an action word not just a feeling with words not sticking on the wall.

Eric speaks in his book about the words that today’s church have attributed to Christianity which has created a world view of God as soft, tender, loving and full of grace.  These words are not incorrect discriptions of God but need to be balanced with the brave side of God as righteous, just, Rock of our Salvation, protector and deliverer.

I have higlighted the 2 different groups of words.  I ask you to use scripture to see them as biblical - read Gal. 5: 22-28 on the fruits of the Spirit, don’t they sound like nice things to have in your life, Eric Ludy call them the feminine language of God and Job 29 to place a more masculine context about them.

Now which word picture do you get from these scriptures?

Well I must turn it in tonight but I am trying to finish the book this week.  If the Holy Spirit gives urgency for you to look up the scriptures and write back then I would love to hear from you.  I am reserving my overall rating of this book until I am completely finished with it.  Join me in the pursuit of a bravehearted gospel as we move into some of the most tumulteous times in our lifetime.  One of the good things about history  is when you can learn from the past and you can adjust your future.   Will the church of today learn from a historical reflection will it continue to lose the balance of the femnine and masculine Gospel?

This week we learned of yet another young man who creates social havoc - for Christmas shoppers at a mall in Omaha. The media has not given us much about the particuliars of this young mans life but from his suicide note there is one thing recognizable - he had no male significant people in his life that he looked up to that showed him how to move into manhood. Notice the difference from this white suburban lost young man to the 2 young African American men I just described in my earlier paragraph.

So I want to pose this question to the few who read this “How does a boy know that he has matured into manhood”? “How did you know you became a man?” “Who or what caused you to know you had moved from boyhood to manhood?”

Maybe this is hard for you to consider because you may still be trying to figure this question out and it is still haunting you. Please take the time to share with me about your journey from boyhood into manhood. For all of life is a journey that each of us is on. We all have a story to tell and there are truely some people who are wanting to hear yours.

Check back often this December because I am sure the holidays will bring up some interesting thoughts in this area if we are men who are willing to slow down enough to think about it. I personally find December a great time to slow my journey down enough to reminisce about family, friends, and my own journey into manhood.

Thank you dad, father in law Mr. Ed and the many great books I have read about manhood and the many strong Christian men who helped mold me but most of all thank you Lord for leaving us your written word and your son’s Holy Spirit to guide us when we can’t seem to figure it out.

So? What was/is your journey like into manhood?

So my evenings will be much less in watching the weekly serials of the secular world or watching as much NCAA b-ball (A very serious love of mine) but will be in evaluating how that particular day was lived and what it will take to make tomorrow count more than the one I am closing.

As I am listening to this Michael W. Smiths Christmas album “It’s a Wonderful Christmas” I write this and live in contemplation. Mark stated that if you watch Christ’s life closely it represented a contemplative evening in prayer many times after a day of ministry life and many times before great ministry moments.

I continue to see God preparing the way and placing the smallest details in nuggets of information for my spiritual growth. May you at some point this weekend or MO or TU get to hear this fine album through your high speed connection and play it through an enhanced computer speaker system like I have which is not a Bose but for the pennies I spent has sure brought many hours of great musical enjoyment.

“It’s a Wonderful Christmas” by MWS a moving experience

Tonight, no for this past week God has been stirring in me to be more reflective so I sit at my computer writing an e-mail to say thank you to our most Gracious and Awesome God for the friends and family that God has allowed to be intertwined with my life.

I am so thankful for how each of you have thrust little and some BIG things into my life which have blessed me, challenged me, held me accountable, and much more than I could dream, you have probably covered me with your prayers unknown to me. For this and everything else I could not choose a word strong enough to describe my feelings, I say thank you as you have in some way blessed my life.

Our prayers should be more along this line as it would please our Lord yet we constantly struggle with the needs surrounding our lives. Thankfulness places such a different light onto who God is in our lives from a provider to an ultimate power who deserves our praise and adoration.

As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving weekend let us be mindful of what Christ called us to be……….”Christians sharing His love to a hurting world”.

Below are the books which I have read that will truly challenge how, what and why your living the way you are!

I am reading a most challenging book by yet another young author Shane Claibourne called “Irresistable Revolution“. It is his journey in looking at our Christian world from working with Mother Teresa to interning with Willow Creek which caused him to start in the urban heart of Philly an organization called the “Simple Way” - community of believers who just love everyone. They are living the “Upside Down Kingdom” a book written by Don Kraybil as he explains how Christ calls us to live in this world.

You can tell the experienced hunters from the novices - they are the ones with a camo 4 wheeler in the bed of the truck or on the trailer behind the SUV. Either way both have license in hand, and they have spent time getting either their rifle and scope to hit the bulls eye or the shot gun bird barrel replaced with a slug barrel.

What is it that propels a man into this frenzy each year? I dare say that few men are going to the woods by themselves. So many men try to handle life by themselves but when it comes down to the nitty gritty we truely live for the macho times like the deer camp or cabin. The pots of stew, the everyman for himself food gatherings. For others there is a major tradition about multiple generations hunting together and the stories around the camp fire or fireplace or stove of the BIG one that got away or in some cases is still out there. There are the stories of great shots, missed opportunities, and of course the tracking stories.

I am amazed about how many of these I have heard over the years from my those I have conversed with about deer hunting . However there is one story I rarely hear about……….

that is the when the absolute stillness of the wild steals our heart and should in the blind, when a man has nothing but time……..to think.

OKAY this is your space from here on out to reply!! Help me change my stories heard to include some men who are man enough to really tell what happens in their mind or soul during that precious time when there is nothing but the absolute stillness of the wild…….really I want to know, for that is where a man meets himself.

Just click on comments below

Here is the skinny on this great short gathering:

PK Adventure (PKA) was point in time November 10, 2008, a theater, an hour and half of well scripted and cut video clips of Reggie Dabbs as Emcee, Coach Tony Dungee speaking about Integrity and Action and a mini drama about a start up of a men’s small group, and worship.

Reggie Dabbs was once again a great light hearted but dead serious about helping men learn and apply the principles presented throughout the whole PKA experience.

PKA was very informative about small groups and showed some of the great pitfalls men do in starting a men’s group in a way that allowed us to laugh about them! We could really relate to each character represented in this small group mini drama.

Tony Dungy is like E.F. Hutton - when he speaks you better be listening. IT was a great wake up call for any man to realize the man who in the worlds view attained the ultimate, never looses his focus and really impacted me that we are to be light in the darkness!!

The worship could have been enhanced for a PK experience but I am sure it will improve as now they know what a theater experience is and is not. The room dynamics could be more since theater’s have some great sound systems.

Our men came in excited to be at yet another first time PK experience through PKA and when they were leaving were talking very positive about the experience and wanting to know what was NEXT!!!

Thank you PK for helping to reconnect with some guys who needed a midyear boost and really placing the event in the hands of the local volunteers.

The next PK Adventure will be March 29, 2008 but will only happen if there is a local team of Ambassadors leading it and volunteers willing to make it happen. This means also helping the PK Development people fund this event. For Michigan you can e-mail Jim Rathbun jimrathbun@pknet.org who is a PK National Development person based out of Lansing. He will work with your city as you may know men who God has blessed and could help fund this great event.

For some reason a few things over the years God has revealed to me through the power of His Holy Spirit pressing on me a specific issue or understanding of applying His Word. His Word will definetly be what you find here if you check back from time to time for it has shaped my life so much I want to share it with everyone.

However this is more than a blog it will be at least for now an inexpensive way for my to have a web site. I have a growing friendship with a man named Dean Craig who is one of those guys you meet in life that it seems he could be your brother, in fact maybe he has some of my DNA, it’s eary how much we think alike. When we get together time just flys by for our hearts have been developed by the same God with many of the same motivations about how to live out our Christian walk with passion. Square boxes are not comfortable when you allow God to continue to daily remold you. Guess that could be another blog some time. To keep it short, if you want to know more about one of the best minds in internet marketing just click on www.gotwww.com to request information about how Dean can help you or your organization improve how you look on the web. Thanks Dean for helping me get up and running!!

Well they say you must keep these short so I will say I may not have much posted this week because I am hosting the PK Adventure at the Walled Lake Cinemas Saturday November 10, 2008. Goto www.promisekeepers.org to register before noon on FR.