Men! Time To Step Up!

…BUT GOD CAN

We are under attack! What’s worse, in this day and age when lost Americans need Christians to step up and share the gospel, we’ve become lazy, complacent, and have totally misplaced our masculine and feminine core that make us unique! The purpose of this blog is to in some small way do it’s part (with God’s help) to correct the current trajectory of men & women in America! From getting back on track physically to regaining our Christ centered focus mentally, this community will do all in its power to help encourage men and women to be the best God needs us to be!

God Bless America!!!

HEADS UP LADIES…all the biblical truths, healthy and physical ideals, mental fitness strategies and all content I cover on this particular post is focused at men…but have value for women as well. Furthermore, ladies, what we cover on this blog is just as much for you as it is for your husband, father, son, boyfriend, or any man in your life. This post is more of an insight into what God has placed on my heart lately as it pertains to the current state of affairs of todays Christian men…and men in general. So please feel free to enjoy this post AND make sure you get the men in your life to pony up and read it as well! After all…behind every good man is a great woman!

Lately, God has been laying the current state of men and manhood on my heart. Men aren’t standing up for “manly values” and they aren’t promoting the importance that men have on the lives of children and the future of this great country. America was built on the shoulder of great men. Men who radiated masculinity. They had to! Their bravado, self-confidence, and forceful demeanor built America and transformed the landscape of the continent. There were things they did that were unethical, immoral, illegal, and dehumanizing…but overall, their intentions were good, noble, and in the best interest of the country. Don’t get me wrong…there were great women who also helped raise this great nation, and there were amazing women who stood behind (and supported) these men of honor, ethics, and national pride. Behind every good man is a great woman…I totally understand that! BUT…this blog targets men and how we can better be the men that our families need us to be…our community needs us to be…and most importantly, our Father in heaven needs us to be!

For a man, life can be demanding. We’re expected to be the strongest, both physically and mentally. We’re expected to have the answers for what ails our family. We are expected to hide our pain and our stress and show the world a confident smile. We are expected to provide for loved ones AT ALL TIME. And we’re expected to do all of this in a manner that brings honor and glory to our father…and our father’s father. It’s a demanding job, but it’s the job we were made to do.

Ever since Adam was placed in the garden by God, we’ve been expected to take care of this planet…and all things in it. We were put in charge of all the animals, the plants, and the slithering beasts on the ground (and in the trees). We are the caretaker of this amazing planet. It’s in our DNA. The DNA God created inside us. That is the man’s purpose! It’s our calling! Again, women have their purpose and calling too…but I’m highlighting men in this post.

As I look around, I currently see this truth to be lacking in men today. Men are lacking the self confidence to stand up and say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”! Enough feminizing of the male sex! Enough trying to tame men (whatever that means)! Enough trying to do away with masculinity!!! Enough “gender” manipulation! God created men to be men and women to be women. If you’re a man…embrace your manhood and be awesome at it! If you’re a woman, embrace your womanhood and be awesome at that. Don’t change because you think you were meant to be the other sex! I have news for you…if you were meant to be the “other sex”…God would have MADE you the other sex.

Men must stand tall and firm TOGETHER in an effort to stop corporate entities and politicians (form both parties) from re-defining “lifestyle” and “gender” and enacting laws that only exist to suffocate the model of family and country that God has laid out for us and that our forefathers proudly fought for with selfless sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears to protect. We must stand against worldly attacks by the father of all lies (Satan) who only exists to tear down good (the good of family, the good of country, and the good of God) and replace it with evil in the form of worldly desires.

As men, we must lead the healing in the area of race and culture. We must promote character, honor, and ethics as a means to measure a person…not by their skin color or country of birth. Nowhere in the bible does it say that justice and prosperity only exist for the white man…or only for the black man…or only for the brown man. NOPE!!! God’s grace, love, and mercy exist for EVERY MAN (AND WOMAN) regardless of skin color or cultural background!

As men, we need to understand that it is our job to protect our family…as a man! It’s our job to provide for our family…as a man! It’s our job to make sure that our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and the children throughout our communities are safe and sound, and that they have a manly and masculine example of what it is to be a man who is capable of any and everything through Christ who strengthens us! Our sons need to see our example of what a man is so that they can learn strength, resolve, vigor, and what it means to be a man above reproach. Likewise, our daughters need to see examples of what a Godly man looks like so they will know what kind of man God intends for them to marry…that’d be men who will set them on a pedestal and protect them at all costs. Sadly, more and more children are finding themselves without a father. That is a tragedy. There is no father to help them understand how to control anger…how to be a gentlemen…how to treat women…how to utilize their God-given talents to bless the Heavenly Father and bless the world. Mothers can only do so much. Young men…boys…need that father figure who will model what it means to be a man of integrity, honor, and discipline. All one has to do is turn on the T.V. and witness the results of fatherless boys (and girls) in the 5 O’clock News. It’s tragic!

As men, we’ll go through life and we will hit roadblocks. We will eventually come to a realization that we can’t meet certain needs. Family needs. Job needs. Community needs. Self needs. BUT…we have a God who loves us and is willing to give us the power to rise above the areas we are lacking if we simply ask. Where we can’t…God can. As men, we will feel defeated, angry, sad, and extremely tired, and in those times we need to understand that we can’t conquer the situation…but God can! He can use us to do incredible things in the lives of family members and people throughout our community.

Gentlemen, the fact of the matter is there will be times when we can’t make more money to provide for our family. There will be times when we can’t do the necessary repairs to our cars that will get us to work tomorrow. There will be times when we can’t defeat the stranglehold of addiction that keeps us slaves to alcohol, drugs, pornography, and other vices. There will be times when we can’t change a loved one’s heart in an effort to rebuild a damaged relationship. There will be times when we can’t say the right words that will ensure us the new promotion. There will be times when we can’t raise our children with a heart and mind to serve others. In those time, we need to take comfort in knowing that we can’t…BUT GOD CAN!!

God can equip America’s men with the knowledge we need to rise above our circumstances. God can give us the health to overcome sickness. God can produce much needed money (typically from sources we’d never imagine) for us to feed our family and pay our bills. God can give us the strength and resolve to beat our addictions. God can bless us with the thoughts and words we need to lead others to victory or reconcile long lost relationships. He can even give us the words to speak (and the actions to take) that have the power to change a person’s heart and see them come to a loving relationship with Jesus Christ!

Philippians 4:13 assures us that when we are met head on with circumstances that are beyond our control and beyond our strength and knowledge to overcome…that I can do ALL THINGS through Christ Jesus who gives us strength. At the end of the day, it’s not our mission to attempt to overcome our fears, problems, and doubts on our own…because, as much as we don’t want to admit it, we can’t…BUT GOD CAN!!!

~ Mitch