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I am excited to be attending Men's Encounter again Jan. 31-Feb. 2.  I will be going as a server to other men who are attending.  Please pray with me for all who will be in attendance.  It is looking like about 400 men will be gathering in Salina for this Men's Encounter.  I look forward to what God is going to do through this gathering of men seeking Him.

Christmas has come and gone.  So, every year after Christmas I share new books that I received as gifts.  I love to read and appreciate the gift of books.  So, here is today's New Book Friday:

This post originally appeared at 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting. Man Up!? Have you heard this phrase before? It is often used in conferences to get guys to “man up”. It is used as a catchy slogan for men’s ministry events. Pastors use it to motivate the guys in their congregations to grow up. I hate it!   Why? Because how we are told to “man up” is based on a particular understanding of what it means to be a man.  This often includes eating a lot of meat, bashing cars, shooting things, etc. Also, the motivation is often focused on externals not the heart. What is a man?  Besides the physical characteristics, what qualities make up a man? For many it is strength. What if you are a skinny guy with pea-sized biceps? For others it is leadership. What if you did not have a father (either physically absent or emotionally absent) help you learn how to lead? For others it is doing guy things like eating lots of meat, drinking beer, shooting things, bashing cars, ...

On Thursday, I finished Rhett Smith's book, What It Means To Be A Man . This book would be a good small group resource for men or even for a few guys to go through together.  Smith uses his experience with counseling men to focus on what men really need based on God's Word not society's opinion. You can view a previous post on this book here Enjoy these quotes from the last chapters of the book. In the same way, our relationship with God our Father is the anchor that keeps us from temptations to look at other things for a sense of identity. Henri Nouwen writes, "Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence." We cannot experience pain without vulnerability--but we can't experience connection without it either. To put it another way, our identity isn't build on our image being reflected back to us but the image of the Father flowing through us. we see a deep connection between our identity as men and our responsibility to imitate...

I just started this book on Thursday. This would be a great book to go through with a group of men. Here is a quote from the introduction: "In other words, we have a choice to anchor our masculinity in either the defining values of the culture or the defining values of God."

Dennis Rainey is the President and CEO of FamilyLife.  Check out his website . 1 Corinthians 16:13-14-"Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. . .Be strong." "Faith is the refusal to panic." (Martin Lloyd Jones) 5 Steps Boyhood Need direction from a strong man Adolescence Hormones, Confusion, Anger "You are going to deal with me if you mess with my wife." 4 Things Every Teenager Boy Needs Identity How to have relationships (Love God, Love Others) Character  Mission (Great Commission) Manhood 1 Corinthians 13:11 Real manhood begins with surrender to Jesus Christ. What a man surrenders to will determine his outcome as a man. Real manhood repeatedly steps away from childish things. Read manhood means we courageously step up and do our duty.  "I have interviewed 40 young men who wanted to date my 4 daughters." Mentor 2 Timothy 2:2 We were made for discipleship. Every man needs to be a mentor and every man needs to b...

It's a D6 Dads week and I thought I would share a little from the book we are reading.  If you are a dad in the Hesston area, come and join us.  There are three times available to fit into your schedule: Tuesdays at 6:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 6:45 p.m., or Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. We are reading a book inspired by the movie, Courageous, called "The Resolution for Men" by the Kendrick brothers and Randy Alcorn.  If you have seen the movie (if you have not, you need to go), the book is based on the resolution the dads sign.  I am excited about how God will use this book to challenge us.  I am only two chapters in and I am already recommending it.  Here are a few quotes to get you thinking today. "God's Word commands husbands and fathers to lovingly lead their homes." "An all-out assault has been declared against you as a husband and father." "I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and...

Our pastoral staff meets every Wednesday morning to pray together and discuss church matters. We also have been reading a book and then discussing it together. We just finished 15 Characteristics of Effective Pastors. Our new book chosen by Brad was Uncommon by Tony Dungy . I read Chapter 1 today and believe it is going to be a good book. Here a few quotes that I highlighted: "The kind of ideas that our young people are buying into and the pressure to conform are causing teenagers to follow that path of least resistance." "We live in a world in which things are accepted as normal without any thought as to whether they should be or whether there might be a better way. Too often we resign ourselves to accepting that things are just the way they are." "Right now, our society also needs to get back to the fundamentals, those basic principles that will allow us to succeed as men." "I won't apologize for or shy away from that, because that's th...