Biblical Masculinity

Steven gave a great talk on Biblical Masculinity during the regional conference this past weekend.  Despite hearing much of it in Noblemen before, I loved being reminded of principles I either forgot or are still working through.

He talked about how God created Adam and gave him the purpose of honoring/obeying Him.  In addition to the command to not eat from the tree, God gave Adam two tasks: Tend the garden, and protect the women.  He failed at both.  The serpant was a creature Adam was given authority over, and Adam stood and watched as the serpant subverted God's command and God's natrual creation order.  Adam should have put the serpant back in line, but instead remained silent. 

Secondly, and the issue I've been putting a lot of thought to lately, is how Adam should have protected the woman in this situation.  C.S. Lewis in his scifi book Perleandra seems to think Adam should have simply killed the snake, or else even if Eve had said "no" to eating from the tree, the snake would tempt her again the next day, and the next, and the next...  

What does it look like practically for a husband to protect his wife?  Where is the line between guarding her vs. allowing God to use pain and hardships as an instrument for refinement?

Irreducible Mins

A few years ago our campus director and staff came up with 12 qualities they wanted to see in every student graduating from the UofA who was enrolled in Navs.  Bryce talked about them a lot, but after four years I still couldn't name more than 2...  

Here they are in no particular order

1. Devotion to Jesus
   
2. Servanthood
   
3. sharing their life with the lost
   
4. Identity
   
5. A Vision for Multiplication
   
6. Grasping the need for the body
   
7. Scripture Memory
   
8. Prayer
   
9. Money (Biblical view and wise stewardship)
   
10. Authority and sufficiency of the Word
    
11. Devotional Life
    
12. A Heart for the World
    

Reading back through them, they're actually pretty profound.  

A big prayer of mine towards my sophmore study this semester has been "Grasping the need for the body."  Unity seems to be a big issue on nearly everyone's hearts.  The majority of nav nights have been talks about unity.  We're studying through Philippeans, which largely is about conducting oneself in a manner worthy of a Gospel, with the predominent way being, you guessed it, unity.  

One of the biggest lies I believe about unity is that it's ok to simply tolerate someone now at this time of my life.  Sure it'll effect the Nav body a little, but then again we're not trying to advance the "Navigators Gospel."  This is stupid thinking.  There is no such thing as being a "lone-ranger" for the Gospel.  Skip Gray says "you can't make it in the Gospel for the long haul if you don't have a wingman."  I believe that.  

Would you join me in praying this semester in particular my study and the whole of navs grows in understanding the importance of the body of Christ and living together in unity with it.  So that rather than being the cynical voice which bounces from church to church always discoving the flaws, we can be a blessing to any body or group we come in contact with throughout our lives.  And further, so that we can remain followers of Christ for the long run and not be picked off the Enemy twenty, forty, or sixty years down the road.

I've never done a political/economical posting before...

And I guess this changes that.

I saw this cartoon in the Economist and thought it funny, sad, and remarkably true. 

One of my goal's in this new year is to stay more up to date with what's going on in the economy, presidency, and world in light of politics.