In one of the most condescending, no-brainer statements that could ever be uttered, there are professed Christians saying “men and women both need to be saved and restored in Christ.” Of course, this is true! However, I have repeatedly heard a number of local church leaders make statements like this in an attempt to diminish at best and at worst, derail my work and that of a growing number of men’s ministries that God is raising up to do the priority work of restoring men they are failing to do.1 This is not about men being better than, superior to or hatefully excluding women. It is about men being God’s appointed leaders beginning in the family as He designed it for this mortal age!
Such families cannot excel or be strong apart from men that know God and His will for them from His Word; men who are restored through salvation and aspire to be strong men of God in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, which is biblical manhood! The evil and blasphemous attempt to craft an exclusively egalitarian Christian message beyond the Gospel is confused and a sinful human attempt to please people, not God; crafted as it is from the satanic confusion of worldly wisdom and compromised corruption of God’s Word in an effort to build and sustain churches as thriving religious enterprises of human pride, achievement and enduring legacy (1 Samuel 15:1-12, Acts 20:28-30).
Indeed, the Lord’s methods and example of intentionally reaching men in the divine purpose, their assigned leadership roles and responsibilities are completely ignored by many churches in these latter days (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:7-24; John 1:35-51). Never mind the world culture of rebellion against God’s program for men is collapsing under the weight of the many sinful, out of control men that rather than protecting children for example, are instead preying on them as I write briefly about in this edited 2011 post.2 In their quest to please people, rather than being the solution from God’s Word to His glory, too many churches are part of the problem; offering up powerless forms of Christianity that are empty of biblical substance and worthless to God and men needing His restoration.3
Originally Posted November 13, 2011
The scandal that broke this week at Penn State University over the coach accused of molesting boys who looked up to him,4 has been a powerful reminder to me that my quest from the Lord to restore men is truly needed and must entail the salvation of the soul first! Regardless of the criminality and sickness of the soul that molests children, it is the void of spiritual separation from God as a sinner and the powerlessness of slavery to sin that causes a man to yield to his base desires.
In my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics,5 a serious discussion about being the man God designed is not started until first a man is made to know from God’s Word that he is a sinner in need of the forgiveness, life change and power God alone provides to restore him. Please continue to pray for the boys that have been harmed in all of this while also praying for the salvation of the accused perpetrator. Pray too for God’s restorative remedy in the unspoken reason so many of our children are easy targets for sexual predators in sports and beyond: the absence of their fathers (Malachi 4:4-6; Luke 1:11-17).6
1 As one inmate of many I have taught over the years recently wrote and I quoted on our Salary Campaign Platform: "I'm 42 years old. (I have) been to prison 2 times
and many churches and until now, have not learned my purpose on earth as a man until meeting Rev. Kelley." Every one of our ministries affiliated with the National
Coalition of Ministries to Men (NCMM) is ready to serve with local churches to restore men biblically, not replace them. However, none of us authentically com-
pelled by the Lord can sit idly by as the status quo among too many churches is to marginalize men.
2 Protecting our children is one of four primary responsibilities God has assigned men as husbands and fathers. Listen to a 10 minute summary audio teaching on
these responsibilities the Lord leads me to give on the Web Site of Men In The Arena.
3 Many of these churches no longer even preach the Gospel for salvation as commanded during their assemblies (Mark 16:14-16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)!
4 See the FOX News story. If as I wrote in the December 1, 2019 repost, Men To Look Up To, under the category, The Cause, Tony Dungy is the Christian standard
as sports coaches go, this man was far from it.
5 The book is available in print or digital download formats at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only).
You can also get the Hard or Soft Cover print versions of the book in the Strong Man Store.
6 Learn more about this Ministry’s quest to restore men on our Web Site, https://thestrongmanofGod.org. Also, visit our related Facebook Strong Man Ministries and
Resource Pages.
By now I am hopeful you have had the opportunity to view the video our Ministry produced and recently uploaded onto the fundraising platform being used in the campaign to raise my full-time 2020 salary. It summarizes in three minutes my thirty-four years of service as Founder/President of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc.1 Among the photo highlights is one that remains special to me; a photo I was able to take with Tony Dungy, a fellow aspiring strong man of God in Christ’s image I greatly admire--an experience I write about in this edited 2011 post. What God has allowed Tony to accomplish and the incredible platform of influence in sports He has entrusted to him is amazing.
As Tony, I have been a teacher and mentor of men and boys throughout my ministry. Indeed, for this reason, I challenge those I have served to step up and support this Ministry’s campaign to raise my salary; allowing me to continue serving full-time in our cause to restore men, their families and communities among other Kingdom activities!
Originally Posted August 7, 2011
On Saturday, July 30th I was highly blessed of the Lord to be among the several hundred local audience members to hear former NFL Super Bowl winning coach, Tony Dungy speak at a Mentor/Leader event sponsored by The Mentoring Project.2 He did not disappoint. Afterward, I was among the throng who sought pictures and autographs. Tony was gracious to each one of us and stayed until the crowd eventually dissipated. To say I was thrilled is beyond understatement.
Due to space limitations Tony Dungy is one of only two modern men of sports I was led by the Lord to select as exemplary of New Testament era aspiring strong men of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.3 His Christian walk on and off the field of play has been outstanding. He has faced the devastating untimely loss of a son as well as all of the adversities of professional football and through it all, maintained a Christ-like demeanor and outlook. As I gave him a signed Hard Cover copy of my book, I briefly shared my heart with him about what he has meant to me and represented to our whole nation. In genuine humility he was taken aback.
As I write in my book, Jesus Christ is the only Man we are to worship as our enduring Hero and Champion (Philippians 2:9-11). However, we are to admire and look up to men that closely reflect Christ’s image as aspiring strong men of God (1 Thessalonians 1:2-7). Our boys and we men need godly role models--mentors by example--like Tony Dungy to look up to as we run our life race. Thanks, coach!
1 Go to FundRazr Salary Campaign to see the video.
2 Learn more at http://www.thementoringproject.org/.
3 The book is available in print or digital download formats at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only).
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