Welcome to REAL Men RoCK

This blog is about the issues men face and things I have experienced.

I hope you will be encouraged, challenged, and stirred to take action.

Proverbs 27:17 (The Message)

17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another

REAL Men RoCK

R
ighteous   E ncouraging   A ccountable   L oving 

Men 

R
ely on    C hrist's   K indness

Monday, May 30, 2011

Two Letters to Two Fathers

This morning as I was cleaning my papa cave I found two letters that were written by sons to their father. One written in 1969 and the other in 1986. One was a letter of praise and the other one of condemnation. The difference between the letters was dramatic in wording and purpose. One was to a father who deserved being honored and the other was to a father who had failed to love at all cost.

Both letters brought tears to my eyes.

Let me ask you a question what type of father did you have? What type of father are you?

If you had a rotten father like the one the son had who wrote the letter condemning his father I understand your pain. I encourage you to go before God and ask Him to give you the ability to forgive your father and to restore your relationship with him.

If you had the father like the one who the son who wrote the letter honoring his father I understand your joy. I encourage you to go before God and ask Him to bless your father and to continue to strengthen your relationship with him.

May God bless you no matter which father you have or had.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Restoration Farm

This was posted at The Restoration Farm on May 29, 2011

My wife, Kat, and I went to look at an 8 acre piece of property today and I forgot to take my camera but I did take one photo with my phone.


The photo to the left is taken looking back to the entrance.






The photo below is of the property.









The next photo is how we think the property layout looks like.

This piece of property is about the right size for what we want to do and it is within the right mileage from Kansas City.

As we build our farm and the center we will encounter disappointments and even set-backs but if we keep our faith that God gave us the dream and that He is behind us we will in the end accomplish it with His help.

We believe that above all else what we do must bring glory to our God and our Savior Jesus. If what we do does not bring glory to God no matter what is accomplished it will be worthless.

I encourage you to purchase the book "The Dream Giver" written by Bruce Wilkinson. In this book Bruce describes people and giants that will enter into your life as you move forward to achieve your God given dream. He also points out how some people will try to rob you of your dream and that takes many forms. He points out that you must move forward towards your dream and not wait for it to happen. He points out the giants of no money and discouraging people who will try to hold you back. He shows you how to keep moving forward in faith and how to work out those situations.

Sometimes part of your dream has to be change so that you can achieve your dream.

I believe the winning formula for success is: God gives the dream + we believe and move forward to accomplish it + we surrender the dream back to God = God bringing the dream into reality. God gave me the dream but in the end it is really the dream that He wants to accomplish through me. My job is to keep moving forward in the accomplishment of the dream.

You might be asking what exactly is a dream? It is different for each individual. One thing for sure is it burns in your heart when you either think of it. For one being the best mom is the dream and for another being the best dad is it. For one having a small bakery is the dream and for another it is running a major corporation. For another it is feeding the homeless and for another is being a pastor of a church. No matter what your dream is if it is God given, you dedicate your time and effort to achieving the dream, which He gave you and if you give it back to Him then it will bring Him glory as long as you remember who the dream is actually for in the first place. In my best English, "It ain't for you", "It's not about you", "It's all about bringing glory to our God, our King, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our dream has gone from being a 20 acres sight down to possibly 8 acres but it is still a BIG dream because it is still God's dream for us. I encourage you to follow what God has placed in your heart and don't let people or giants or stand in your way. It is up to you not someone else to do what God has placed in your heart. Your dream was designed for only one person, YOU. Unless you do it, it won't get done.

I believe you can do it. More importantly God believes you can do it or else He would not have given you the dream in the first place.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Judgment Day

Well today is May 21st, 2011 and a church has predicted that today is Judgment Day. I had a guy at work yesterday come up to me and as he shook my hand he told me that it was good knowing me. I was stunned because I did not have a clue he was leaving our company so I asked him where he was going. He replied well since Saturday is the Rapture I know I won't see you again.

We then had a discussion about the difference between having faith that Jesus is the savior and the King and having faith that some event will save us. I shared with him that my faith is in Jesus and if there is a rapture I am covered and if there isn't a rapture I am covered.

In the end he told me that although he is not a believer his understanding is salvation comes only through Jesus. As I turned to walk away I told him he has a correct understanding of salvation.

If salvation depends upon us doing or believing certain events will happen then Jesus is not the only way to be saved. It would be Jesus and the correct formula of actions and believing in Him.

The Bible says enter by the narrow gate. Believing that Jesus plus other actions save us is a wide gate but believing that our salvation is found only in Christ is a very narrow gate.

Matthew 7: 13-14 (the Message) "Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention."

Concerning the Rapture and end times I believe God will cause events to occur as He wants and that it is ok to debate these things. In the end God only knows when the end times will occur. My job is to do His will up to that time.

The guy at work is actually closer to being a true follower of Jesus than he thinks he is. The question for me is what am I going to do with this conversation come next Monday morning?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Working on the Dream

Not too long ago my wife, Kat, and I began to work on a dream that we and another couple have. You can read about the dream at The Restoration Farm blog. Kat and I have decided to take part of our retirement and sell our house and invest in this dream.

Lately I have been struggling with part of making the dream work. Old insecurities are surfacing that bother me. I am trying to discover the root of what I am feeling and so far I am not sure why I am struggling. Let me just state that these insecurities involve finances.

The last couple of weeks Kat and I have looked at several pieces of property that looked good to us but we did not get that feeling of this is it!

We have faith that God is going to lead us to the right property but we must put our faith into action by going out to look. I heard once from a friend that Faith was best spelled RISK. I have added to that by stating that Risk is best spelled WORK. I believe I reveal my Faith by the Risk I take in performing Work. My works do not save me but instead they flow out of me because I am saved.

I have heard people say that they have faith that God will deliver them but their actions did not necessarily show it. It is very true that we are saved by grace and as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is also true that our faith is revealed in our works or good deeds. So faith without action is a useless faith.

James 2: 14-17 Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I believe that the idea behind The Restoration Farm is something God has stirred in us. I have faith that He will guide us through the process. He will IF and there is always an IF. He will if we will use the resources that He has given us to make it happen.

The Restoration Farm is both a money making and non-profit adventure. We will grow crops organically and in hoop houses and make a profit. We will also fund what I call The Restoration Center, which is a couple of small cottages and a center for Christian servants who need to be restored can come to free of charge. These servants could be pastors, missionaries, lay leaders. They could be hurt or have fallen in service. It will be a place where can spend some time recovering and begin the process of restoration, which God loves to do.

If you have a dream that God has placed in your heart take a moment and visit and then have faith by risking to work it out. Faith is not found in playing it safe by not taking action.

Please visit The Restoration Farm and follow our journey. Hopefully each week I will have something new to share.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

From Meaningless to Greatness

He woke as he does every morning with his cat meowing for food. He slowly slipped out of bed and slipped on his house shoes and walked to the kitchen. Just another day that would end without meaning. Have you ever awaken with those thoughts? Have you looked back at the end of the day and thought what purpose was there in what you did that day?

I found the following story in the workbook, "One 2 Won" by Joe White and I hope it will help you see that even a day without meaning can be the stepping stone to a great achievement.

The winter of 1498 was memorable for its bitter cold. The city of Florence, Italy, was blanketed in snow, and Michelangelo Buonarroti's heart was as heavy as the gray clouds that dipped low and blocked out the sun.

The Grand Duke of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici, had been the young artist's benefactor. It was this great supporter of the arts who had given Michelangelo the numerous slabs of marble he needed to refine his incredible talents. But before Michelangelo was able to create his masterpieces, the old duke died, and his son, Piero, had no use for a sculptor on the payroll. So the great artist's talents were put on the shelf, and Michelangelo sat and waited. That is, until a few days before a great party at the new duke's palace.

In what looked like an incredible answer to his prayers, Michelangelo was summoned before Piero. He'd never been to the palace, even when the grand duke had been alive, and he hurried down the streets, past the guards, and in to see Duke Piero.

While he was afraid to believe it, the rumor circulated by the servant who came to fetch Michelangelo was that he was being commissioned to carve a great statue! At last!

When Michelangelo arrived at the palace, he was ushered into a large room where not only Duke Piero de' Medici but also a crowd of the duke's friends awaited his arrival. He was indeed told that his services as a sculptor were needed by his new patron. All he had to do was to go down to the garden, and he'd find all the white marble he needed to make a masterpiece for the duke's party.

Can you guess by now what the duke was actually asking Michelangelo to do? All the white marble in the garden was... snow. Perhaps the greatest sculptor of all time had been brought tot he palace to create a snow sculpture for a royal dinner party!

Just imagine for a moment what was going through Michelangelo's mind as he walked from the room and down to the garden. If it had been me, I'd have been furious. What an embarrassment! What a colossal waste of time - to put all that effort into something that would melt as soon as the sun broke through the clouds!

Michelangelo could have stormed out or at least left the duke's presence with an angry, unwilling heart. Instead, he simply went to work. Hour after hour he gathered snow and packed it tightly into a great mound. Then, at last, he began to carve.

Working from top down a head appeared, and then the shoulders, limbs, torso, and legs. A figure was emerging from the white snow that would be viewed as a joke by the Duke Piero and his guests, and then melt away in no time.

Yet still, Michelangelo worked. That's because he had decided in his heart that even if all he could do was make Florence a more beautiful place for a few hours - he would put all his heart into carving that block of snow. And then it came time for Piero's party.

The guests arrived. The snow carving finally was unveiled... and instead of laughter came breathless silence. The duke and his guests were staring in awe and amazement at the figure in the snow that seemed able to breathe and walk and even sling a rock at a giant.

The Duke was silenced by the tireless efforts of the young artist who had created a masterpiece of the Biblical David made of snow.

Then, amazingly, that statue turned into marble. Not that hour, of course, for it wasn't magic. But in the days that followed, Michelangelo's David was replicated in marble - given to him by none other than Duke Piero himself. This priceless work has drawn millions of people to Florence since it was unveiled - all because Michelangelo was willing to carve something of beauty out of snow...

It is true you and I might be a great artist or we will never stand in front of a duke to be commissioned to do a great work of art. It is true that our work, our ministry might not appear to be accomplishing anything. This story about how Michelangelo took a similar situation and turned it into something that would last beyond his life can illustrate how what you and I are doing can be something that will last beyond our life time.

If you are a follower of Jesus you have been given a commission to share what He has done in your life. You never know what will happen as you sit with someone and share with them your faith in Christ. That person could be moved by the Holy Spirit to respond and then later become someone like Billy Graham and be used by God to reach millions.

One day, like the statue Michelangelo made of snow, our work will melt away and what is revealed will depend upon what we did with what God gave us when we received the Holy Spirit as we accepted Jesus as our savior. If we put our whole heart into using the gifts and talents that God has given us in serving Him then what seems to be unimportant and meaningless now will turn into a great work of art in His hands.

So what are you going to do with the snow God has placed in your life?