On this day marking the sanctity of human life beginning in the womb and eve of the nation’s holiday remembering slain Civil Rights leader and martyr for Jesus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am challenged afresh about doing God’s will. Dr. King made it clear this was his life aim in what would be his final sermon before being assassinated. He said, “I just want to do God’s will.”1 This conviction does not originate with Dr. King, of course, but is pleasantly consistent with my own heart and multitudes of persons that have through time enjoyed relationship with the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ, who preeminently expressed and carried it out (John 6:38, 17:4).
Pleasing God and doing His will is the heart of the Lord Jesus and what makes Him the Strong Man of God (John 8:29)! From eternity it was known what the will of God would entail for the Lord: a cross (John 3:13-16, 12:27, 32-33). In His perfect Humanity He, even He struggled with this part of God’s will for Him and prevailed through Self-denial (Matthew 26:36-46). The Lord unambiguously charged all that would be His followers to line up behind Him in self-denial to live on purpose to please God and do His will too (Mark 8:31-38).2 This has been the heart of aspiring strong men and great women of God in His image to the point of martyrdom beginning with Stephen (Acts 7:51-60)!3
What is God’s will for Christians since despite the corrupt laxity of Christianity as manmade religion, doing His will remains a biblical requirement (Matthew 7:21)? Continuously Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:15-18), faithful followers of Christ understand God’s priority will for them after salvation is to cultivate relationship with Him through a growing faith and love even through much tribulation (Romans 5:1-5; Ephesians 3:14-21). His will linked to this is our character development and spiritual growth (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 2:1-4, 5:12-14, 12:3-11; 2 Peter 1:1-11). We are to also fulfill our assigned familial roles while loving and serving fellow saints (Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Peter 4:7-11).
Finally too, we are to be engaged in the mission Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). In light of the two-part post, Revelation’s Seven Churches In Time, beginning January 5, 2020 under the category, Bible Prophecy, we know with certainty God’s will is for us to continue faithfully doing all of the foregoing. These together are the “works” of Christ we are to diligently keep to whatever end He has permitted for us (Revelation 2:26, NKJV). By His grace and in His strength, I daily press to do God’s will to include my assignment through this Ministry to restore men in the Kingdom cause of the Gospel, revival and the strong man of God among the willing.
Indeed, it is absolutely imperative that men be restored at this late hour because individually they are equipped to walk in the four distinctive characteristics of Christ as aspiring strong men of God in His image. In accepting the roles God has assigned, being willing to obey His will and Word to the death, relying on and trusting in Him for vindication they stand in the evil day. Very importantly too, in their roles as husbands and fathers they appropriately lead their families to stand as persecution and God’s judgments in the earth intensify and going to corporate brick and mortar churches are increasingly not an option.4 Resisting the Lord through me in this cause and work is evidence of your need for repentance, salvation or revival! Otherwise, stand with me in it!5
1 The statement was made in the I’ve Been To The Mountain Top portion of his sermon on April 3, 1968 at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple Church Of God In Christ,
Memphis, TN, while in town to support the city’s striking sanitation workers.
2 Read my two-part 2019 post that begins August 18, Lined Up Behind Jesus, under the category, Instruction.
3 I write and instruct about aspiring strong men and great women of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or digital download of
the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy in the
Strong Man Store.
4 Read the July 30-Sept 3, 2017 six-part series Restoring Men In The Two Minute Drill, under the category, Bible Prophecy to get a sense of the urgent need to restore
men now!
5 Contribute to my salary support in the work at https://fundrazr.com/salarycampaign1. Give either to my support or the ongoing work of the Ministry or both at
https://thestrongmanofGod.org/Give.
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.
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