Man of God...

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Fighting Lions: The Young Pastor Wound, Inflicted

Fighting Lions: The Young Pastor Wound, Inflicted: The most important person I had at that church was leaving. He led the youth group, drove the van to pick up kids, his wife led music and th...

Monday, August 13, 2018

Fighting Lions: The Young Pastor Wound, Setup

Fighting Lions: The Young Pastor Wound, Setup: It was Easter Sunday 2011, and I stood in front of the sanctuary delivering my first sermon as a lead pastor; I was 24 years old. I had been...

Friday, August 10, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Healing Part 2: Back where it Hap...

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Healing Part 2: Back where it Hap...: I had stepped back on a wrestling mat, and even interacted with my former coach, but God had not finished His healing work on this wound. I ...

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Healing Part 1: Back on the Mat

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Healing Part 1: Back on the Mat: After I decided I was done wrestling, I never thought I'd step on a wrestling mat again. I went to a college that didn't have a wres...

Monday, August 6, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Impact

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Impact: Wrestling had been a huge part of my life. It taught me how to push through obstacles, made me physically and mentally strong, and it taught...

Friday, August 3, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Aftermath

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Aftermath: I was in a weird place. There was no point in going to practice anymore, and so I'd go if I felt like it, which I really didn't. I i...

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Inflicted

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Inflicted: That year had been rough, both wrestling and life. On the mat I was cutting a lot of weight, working out before school, at practice, and at ...

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Pr. 18.24: Misplaced Love, by Will

Pr. 18.24: Misplaced Love, by Will: One of the things that I frequently remember from my college days is a quote from a professor we affectionately called Doc, "All sin is...

Monday, July 30, 2018

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Set up

Fighting Lions: The First Wound, Set up: This first wound was dealt to me when I was 17. It wasn't the first wound I ever received, but it was one of the most defining ones I ha...

Friday, July 27, 2018

Fighting Lions: The Pursuit of Healing

Fighting Lions: The Pursuit of Healing: Wounds are a reality of life; it's just part of living in a fallen world. They come in many forms and from many sources, and each of us ...

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Fighting Lions: Identity

Fighting Lions: Identity: 1 Peter 5.1-11 has been the main passage of Scripture I have studied this year. For me, it is a verse that focuses on the identity God has g...

Monday, July 23, 2018

Fighting Lions: 1 Peter 5.1-11, What it Means to Me

Fighting Lions: 1 Peter 5.1-11, What it Means to Me: I have spent most of this year only focused on this passage of Scripture. In my own personal journey, this has become a foundational passage...

"Strength and honor." -Gladiator
"Brothers, what we do in life, echos in eternity." -Gladiator
"Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly we cannot choose how but we can decide how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered as men." -Gladiator
"Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back." -Gladiator
"Any man who wants to give his last, follow me." -The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies
"Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it." -Braveheart
"I am William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? ... Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you’ll live, at least for a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom" -Braveheart
"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." -Braveheart
"Rise and rise again until lambs become lions." -Robin Hood
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there premanetly if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. that's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!" -Rocky Balboa
"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth, always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath." -Kingdom of Heaven
"What man is a man who does not make the world better?" -Kingdom of Heaven
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -Teddy Roosevelt
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke
"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you ... I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!" -Dwight D. Eisenhower, D-Day Message

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." -Proverbs 27.17
"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." -1 Corinthians 16.13-14
"But flee form these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." -1 Timothy 6.11-12
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3.16-17
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing." -2 Timothy 4.7-8
"Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1.6-9