Casting Crowns – Courageous [Official Music Vid…, posted with vodpod
Casting Crowns – Courageous (Official Music Video from the Movie)
October 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Real Revolutions Start with Sacrifice
October 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
All true revolutions seem to have started with huge sacrifices, in many cases including martyrdom. I believe it is because we have a sense of justice and rightness. An inherit willingness to die for a cause or for someone we love. This is just one of the ways we were made in God’s image.
A person or a small group of people see an injustice and can no longer keep quiet. They have what Bill Hybels calls a “Popeye moment”. That is they have a moment of holy discontent, they say “I’ve had all I can stand, I can’t stands no more!” They decide that this is a cause worth fighting, a cause worth dying for. They put on the gloves, they take up their cross and get to work. This moment “prompts us not to indifference and not to despair, but a moment that empowers us to rise up and do something about it.”
Pastor and playwright Kay Munk lived in Denmark amid Germany’s occupation during World War II. He drew the attention of the Gestapo because of his outspoken opposition to the persecution of the Jews in Denmark.
In 1941, he preached on the Good Samaritan. In his sermon he stated that “Christ-ians follow Jesus by loving their neighbors as themselves. This is the truth that the Good Samaritan tale puts before us; it calls its hearers to face up to the needs of a flesh and blood neighbor. To have a flesh and blood neighbor,” says Munk, “puts you in an either/or position. Either you may be a help to your neighbor or a burden.” Either you protect the sheep or you are one of the wolves.
Munk insisted on, and showed unflinching honesty about, what is helpful. To name the wolves so that the flock can protect itself better helps the neighbor in Jesus’ name. The wolves must be resisted for the sheep’s sake, and for their own sakes. Munk says: “It was not the task of the Good Samaritan to look up the robbers afterwards and compliment them for work well done. The goodness of God as we see it in Jesus is meek and long-suffering, but never compromises with evil.”
Therefore he called for mercy for the Jews, striking workers, hungry in city and on farms, and for confused children in an unstable world.
He was executed by the Gestapo in January of 1944. His body was found in a ditch by the side of the road, his Bible was next to him, along with this writing:
“What is, therefore, our task today? Shall I answer “Faith, hope and love?” That sounds beautiful. But I would say – courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature…we lack a holy rage – the recklessness which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity.
The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth…a holy anger about the things that are wrong in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God’s earth, and the destruction of God’s world. To rage when little children must die of hunger, when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lies that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction, peace. To rage against complacency. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God.
And remember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish…but never the chameleon.” (As found in Irresistible Revolution pg. 294)
His killers honored Munk’s outspoken resistance to the Nazi occupation by their ruthless but futile determination to silence him. The people heard his message. Despite the danger from the Nazis who had killed Munk, four thousand Danes came to his funeral. They commemorated him with a lively courage and faith like his own, both then and throughout the war.
Good shepherds protect the sheep from the wolves. Munk insisted: “Jesus’ fight against the wolves continues through the church which will allow itself to be torn to pieces rather than let robber or wolf gain entrance to the fold.”
Will you answer the call and stand up for your family, your children, your wife. Saying I see the wolves in our society. The wolves of materialism and selfishness. I choose to sacrifice my time and ambitions for the sake of my family and friends. For “I’ve had all I can stand and I can’t stands no more!”
If your answer is yes, see www.NYMensMinistry.com/MENTOR
Material garnered from some of the following sites:
http://www.pietisten.org/summer99/kajmunk.html
The Demise of Guys?!
October 9, 2011 by 2 Comments
We originally posted a TED talk on the impact of frequent TV, gaming and porn consumption. After further reflection, we believe the talk didn’t make the case strong enough. Please watch this space over the next week – we will share more data on this issue.
We will also share data on the epidemic of fatherless households. Sometimes this is due to the physical absence of the husband/father, and sometimes it is due to the emotional absence. Both, have a huge impact on a child.
In the meanwhile, please support the below MENTOR initiative. Thank you!
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I don’t pretend to have all the answers but this is one of the reasons we have a men’s ministry. We refuse to sit idly by, while our children and grandchildren, our sons and daughters, our friends and family become victims to our society! We are starting a movement! Will you join us?!
The movement is of fathers to sacrifice for their children and become a M – E – N – T – O – R:
M = They Model the behavior. So that their children say ‘I want to be like that!’. Pastor Denny Henderson
said it best when he said his father told him that he could always be confident in ‘doing what I do. saying what I say, watching what I watch, reading what I read’. He would never do anything that he, his son, shouldn’t do.
E = They Engage and Encourage. It’s important to know what your son is interested in, what they are worried about, what they are excited about. As someone said, part of loving someone is caring about what they care about.
N = They Share the Good News. A firm foundation based on the Gospel. As Jesus says in Matthew 7 and Luke 6, you will not be able to stand trials if you do not have a strong foundation. The foundation is Jesus and we build on that foundation through obedience.
T = They Commit their Time. We need to spend time not only with our children but with our wives. How we treat their mothers teaches them a lot about how they should treat women. As Rev. Theodore Hesburgh said ‘The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.’
O = They Expect Obedience. There is a place for respect and displine in parenting. As we are obedient to God, we need to ensure our children our respectful and obedient to us and other people in authority.
R = And They Regulate. As parents we need to regulate the amount and quality of TV, internet and gaming that is consumed by our kids. We need to create boundaries of appropriate behavior. Ironically once they know the boudaries it creates a refuge for them because they know what is appropriate. It’s like the anology that rules in baseball allow us to enjoy the game. We don’t have to worry about someone running to first and hitting the first baseman in the head with the bat before they are tagged.
Are you willing to make this commitment? For your son’s sake, for your sake, I hope so. May God bless you all!
Westchester Men's Ministry 