2013: Time to be Men

Beloved Brothers,

This year, in 2013, resolve with me to be MEN. Our culture has seen enough of “grown-up BOYS” who are selfish and immature; wanting the rewards of manhood without the responsibility of manhood; wanting the recognition of manhood without earning the right - acknowledgement without honor. Those who desire satisfaction over self-control, and indulgence over integrity. Friends, let us rise above these!

The desperate cry of my heart is that God would make each one of us a MAN; A GODLY man...

• A man who in every way is marked by and saturated with Gods word

• A man who is humble, looking to the interests of others, esteeming them more important than himself

• A man who is unashamed of the gospel and bold in proclaiming it

• A man who listens

•  A man who speaks wisdom and life and encouragement with thought-out-answers

• A man who accepts reproof and instruction

• A man who is generous with his money both to God and men

• A man who is quick to confess and apologize and take responsibility for his mistake

• A man who is honest and genuine at all times

• A man of wisdom and discretion in every situation

• A man of compassion, kindness and mercy

• A man who teaches his sons how to be men, and how to fear the Lord BY HIS EXAMPLE

• A man who is consistent, earnest, and victorious in prayer

• A man who is sensitive to the whispers of the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit in every single thing

• A man who is the same in front of God alone or in front of a thousand of the most important people in the world

• A man who loves his wife as Christ loved His bride the church and gave his life for her

• A man whose heart BURNS with passion for the Glory of the Name of God

• A man whose heart BREAKS over sin

• A man whose heart LONGS for the lost

• A man who KNOWS God like Isaiah or David or Paul, not simply knowing ABOUT Him

• A man who TREMBLES in worship of God

• A man who is diligent and faithful in his work… not as unto men but unto God

• A man who doesn’t act like, think like, look like or love the world in any way but is dead to the world

• A man whose only desire is to know Christ, and counts everything as loss compared to that one thing

• A man who LOVES God, TRUSTS God, SEEKS God, and SERVES God with his WHOLE HEART, ALL his mind, soul and strength, so that there is no part of his existence that is not applied to that, no part that is not worship, no part that is given to anything else....

A MAN who is LIKE CHRIST.

“Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to MATURE MANHOOD, to the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST”
(Eph. 4:13)

Grace in Christ,

-Cody