The Scourge Of Racism
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Of the greatest sins manifested among many church leaders today is the arrogance to believe that they can somehow improve upon and expedite God’s program for making and teaching disciples of Jesus Christ! Though ancient now, the methods Christ and His apostles empowered by the Holy Spirit used to make disciples (preaching the Gospel) and teach them to obey God’s whole Word were effective (Mark 1:9-20, 3:13-19, 4:10-12, 33-34, 8:27-38; John 20:19-23; Acts 2:1-16, 36-47). Even so, 100% of the people who heard their preaching and teaching did not accept it (John 6:60-71; Acts 4:1-4). Our problem is we want that 100% even if it means doing stuff in the flesh to get them!
The Lord’s approach and example to teaching men as disciples was Self-denying, labor intensive and time consuming. But these are the inescapable realities of spiritual fathering our Lord embraced as well as called, equipped and charged His disciples turned apostles to also do. Church pastors are imperative in the work (John 21:15-17)! Having been a pastor and mentor of boys and men I fully understand the demands especially of time spiritual fathering make on one’s life. However, this is why a pastor equips those he spiritually fathers to do as he does. If he is too busy to do what the Lord has commanded as his priority, then he is too busy! As the Lord leads me to point out in this edited 2013 Commentary, men are being hurt because of disobedience to His commands.
Originally Published September 2013
While our Ministry celebrates every brave incarcerated man that steps out before our Strong Man Of God Rally assemblies to publically pray to receive Christ or rededicate to Him, it saddens me personally to see the great numbers that rededicate. Most of these rededications are men that were Christians before their incarceration for a second or third time. It is certainly true Christians that commit crimes must take personal responsibility for their actions. However, after talking to many of these men it becomes clear that they are not getting the one on one mentoring of a “spiritual father” needed to deepen their walk with Christ in the churches they are members of as I did not early on.1
To be sure, the failure to make committed followers of Christ is a wide spread problem in the churches. Spiritual infancy dominates today in a Western church culture that is more concerned with the numbers than whether members are maturing in Christ. This lack of emphasis on the slow process of making disciples as our Lord commanded is hurting men the most since they are God’s chosen leaders in the home and churches. Many sit and the relative few that serve largely do so as babes in Christ with no intentional plan to disciple them. Once a month meetings and the annual golf tournament are not enough to turn baby Christian men into fiery, maturing disciples of Christ!
As I write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, teaching his family is a responsibility God assigns every man.2 As the head of the house, a man teaches his wife and children. As a father, he teaches all of the children, but with a special duty to mentor and guide his sons into manhood; his wife, their daughters into womanhood. Beyond their families, aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ imitate Him in taking newborn Christian men under their wing to spiritually father them into maturity. We know this process is slow because our Lord spent more than three years of intensive time with His twelve disciples, then the rest of the lives of those who became faithful apostles (Matthew 4:18-22; John 14:18, 16:12-15).
In the Lord’s “Great Commission,” He commands His disciples to make, baptize and teach new disciples from all of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). As it concerns teaching, veteran disciples are to teach the new “to observe all things that” Christ had commanded them (vs. 20, NKJV). Teaching what Christ “the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV) commanded entails more than just important doctrines, but also all of the thinking, attitudes and behaviors of Christ-likeness we are also to possess in pleasing God the Father as He did (Philippians 2:5). To this end, the apostle Paul also instructed his spiritual sons to teach and pass on what they had learned to men who would do the same with other men also (2 Timothy 2:1-2; Titus 1:1-9, 2:1-5).
To their shame, not only do many pastors and churches not encourage spiritual fathering or mothering in their ranks today, but too many have no formal discipleship instruction at all much less for newborn Christians in the pews who need the “pure milk of the Word” not the philosophical musings of men (1 Peter 2:1-3, NKJV).3 And for the churches that pride themselves on offering lofty sectarian seminary level courses such as Systematic Theology as sufficient to fulfill Christ’s command to teach especially babes, repent! You are causing them to gag and choke in confusion on what is not even biblically organic, but sinful humanly processed and genetically altered meat (1 Corinthians 3:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:14-16, 3:14-17).
Shame too on you guilty pastors that look down on my work in the prisons as though it were inconsequential when Christ your Judge is recording for Judgment Day how many of the Christians I find there that are members of your churches (Romans 14:10-13; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11)! We salute all of our fellow workers in the prisons filling in what lacks in the churches. To the pastors that need help setting up a discipleship plan for new believers or want to know more about teaching biblical manhood to and spiritually fathering men contact this Ministry.4 The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Read Part 1 of the August 21, 2016 post, Christianity The Religion Of Men, under the category, instruction. I lament the early lack of spiritual fathering that potentially
could have saved me from many painful failures and shortened the inordinate length of my infancy in Christ in the opening of this post and also that of the October 2,
2016 post, Gifted With A Prophet’s Heart, under the category, Call To Repent.
2 The book is available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
3 See the September 25, 2016 post, A Leadership Caused Failure and Pastors As Developing Christian Men posted on December 17, 2017 both under the category,
Call To Repent.
4 Get contact information for Strong Man Ministries and learn about for example, the Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study as an important help in making disciples of
men and teaching them biblical manhood on our Web Site.
If ever preoccupied professed Christians should be able to plainly see the increasingly brazen, open rebellion of the world from every societal quarter against our God, His Anointed and Word at this hour (Psalm 2:1-3), it is in the guidelines for physicians that work with males by the American Psychological Association (APA) released this month according to a Christian news service article.1 Also this month, Gillette Razor unveiled a commercial calling out male behavior it wants to see changed. Both entities challenged what the APA termed “traditional” and Gillette, “toxic masculinity” from a secular humanistic worldview while ignoring God’s gender design and man’s fallen condition.2
The APA speaks authoritatively to the world as a branch of science engaged in the ongoing study of the human mind and behavior in developing and presenting its new guidelines. It contends that the traditional (ancient) view of masculinity that allows ‘“anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk and violence’” along with ‘“stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression’” are ‘“harmful.’” The APA is concerned that males socialized this way are not likely to behave in healthy ways and are at a higher risk of committing suicide. They also declare gender should no longer be seen as just male-female.
The foregoing declaration is an obvious assent to the social trends of popular culture as is the conclusion in the guidelines that “traditional masculinity is viewed as a negative thing because men could feel forced to suppress ‘“gender-nonconforming’” feelings which can lead to increased hostility toward LGBT men.” The article sums up the objective of the new guidelines is to help medical professionals support ‘“men in breaking free of masculinity rules that don’t help them’” and in the process, strangely, move them into a ‘“positive masculinity’” that is exemplified by ‘“courage and leadership.’” What? Isn’t courage and leadership also the intended display of historic manhood?
It must be understood here that what the APA and the politically correct, tolerant secular culture today considers “anti-femininity” is any suggestion from any source that females be denied the opportunity to do anything that has been historically considered for males only. In fairness, the APA is also rightly incorporating into its definition as Gillette does in its commercial what wrongly involves male entitlement to oppressive and sexually abusive behavior toward females. However, this is not a masculinity issue, but what the Bible calls sin! This is because as the same Bible teaches mankind is fallen; males and females are born sinners by nature (Psalms 51:5, 58:3-5; Romans 3:10-20)!
As the Lord has led me to write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics3 and many blog posts,4 masculinity as it originates with God is perfect as was His design of it in man (Genesis 1:26-27, 31). God designed and created mortal man and woman to act out of divine eternal masculinity in an order (Genesis 2:7, 15-25) and their respective gender role assignments and responsibilities. But the original act of usurping rebellion against God by the first woman not imputed to the race until its head followed her lead, irreparably corrupted human nature with no hope apart from what God could do and did to deliver us (Genesis 3; Romans 3:21-31, 7:12-8:6)!
In their elect assignment to lead in the divine image and likeness, men are purposely designed by God bodily to have vision and with ambition, risk, seek adventure, be strong, build, aggressively compete, conquer, achieve and govern with authority; rejecting behaving as a female and same sex attraction since these run counter to their design.5 As such historically, men have built civilizations, advanced technology, walked on the moon and filled the earth with progeny born of females! And this is all harmful? No, but what has been harmful is sin in men that has marred their gloriously designed mortal masculinity leading to all manner of wicked and perverted behavior!
Indeed, the APA, Gillette and this Ministry share in common an understanding that something is wrong with men.6 But in the wisdom of God, the cause of this Ministry is to righteously restore men through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and renewing of the Holy Spirit that deals with our sin problem and actually transforms us from the inside out as I am a witness (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:17-24)! Surely, the APA will truthfully say to me, “many professing to know your Savior are just as messed up still as those who have made no such profession.”7 There are many reasons for this including impostors, a lack of knowledge of and growth in the faith, but also, the hypocrisy of many of our church leaders who have sided with the world against God in dismantling biblical manhood!8
Representing fallen mankind now moving toward the apex of their rebellion against their Creator, the APA guidelines appear to give legitimacy to the rebellion with its arrogantly authoritative, misinformed attempt to revise masculinity. Scripture declares any man or group of men that believes they are wiser than God whom they reject is over the top arrogant, deceived and makes themselves fools (Job 28:20-28; Psalms 10:4, 14:1; Isaiah 19:11-15, 45:9-10; Jeremiah 8:8-9; 1 Corinthians 3:18-20). In your worldly wisdom taught by demons, O proud man, you are tearing down God’s ancient order of mankind and design of gender roles and responsibilities only to the end of destroying the world and bringing wrath upon yourselves (Isaiah 2:10-22, 24:1-13, 17-23; Romans 1:18-32)!
1 American Psychological Association Deems ‘Traditional Masculinity Harmful.’ Kayla Koslosky, Editor, ChristianHeadlines.com, January 14, 2019. All quotes attributed
to the APA in the post are from this article.
2 “Toxic Masculinity” is the title Gillette has given to its commercial. Google “Gillette Commercial” to verify this.
3 My book and the companion instructional resource, The Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study are both available in the Strong Man Store.
4 Read the June 19, 2016 post, Eternal Sons Of God, under the category, Instruction. Also read the following multi-part posts, Jesus, Son Of Man, January 29-February
12, 2017 and The Value Of Men, June 4-25, 2017 all under the category, The Cause.
5 Only a generation ago most mental health professions also believed men acting as women or engaged in homosexual relationships were not behaving normal.
6 Learn about the work of Strong Man Ministries at https://thestrongmanofGod.org/About-Us.
7 The same charge could be accurately made about many of the male mental health clients and associated professionals that are instructed in the multitude of constantly
changing “expert” declarations as well as given drugs and therapies that do not regenerate their minds or souls! Male re-education attempts through the media such
as what Gillette and other “socially conscious” corporations are doing in Ad campaigns may successfully raise awareness and even inspire new social taboos along
with related criminalization. However, in the end, these secular efforts end up putting more guilt and shame on men powerless to do the reformation of their sinful nature
necessary to comply. And aren’t our jails and prisons filled with enough men? Only God through the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, has the remedy for fallen men!
8 Siding with the world in allowing women to preach to, teach and take authority over men in God’s house as an outcome of revising the gender role assignments He has
commanded (1 Corinthians 11:3, 14:34-37) has been and is an act of defiant rebellion and betrayal enabling the world to mock on the part of guilty pastors, elders and
churches. How can you seriously expect the world to hear you from God’s Word and you do not even obey it? Hypocrites! For your sakes and the men caused to be
confused, led astray and marginalized, I implore you to repent at this decisive moment in the world. For if you continue to harden your heart in unbelief fed stubborn re-
sistance to obeying God’s Word now (Acts 7:51-53), there may be no way back sooner than you think since the foretold judgment in His house is already underway
(1 Timothy 4:1-2; Hebrews 3:7-19; 1 Peter 4:17-18)! Read Now Is The Day Of Salvation, posted December 4, 2016, under the category, Call To Repent.
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