Just a quick observation today, brought on by being back in the United States (after three years travelling the world) for almost a month:

Everyone here speeds. I mean really, constantly, without even thinking about it. It’s just a normal thing. Seth Godin mentioned speeding today, noting that “rushing,” as he calls it, rarely has any advantages and often ends in tragedy. But we all still do it in our cars, every day, all the time.

Luke 7:28 says, in part,

I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John…

Pretty impressive words from the Word Himself. Among those born of women

• meaning among men, or among humans - John is the best example. But what was it that made John such a great man? What was it about him that Jesus held up so highly? I can tell you what it wasn’t - a man clothed in finery and living in luxury (Luke 7:24) or a “reed shaken by the wind” (Luke 7:25). No, John was the fulfillment of the role of the prophet. His message was simple: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). Guess what Jesus’ message was? “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).

So, if I really want to be a man, what’s the takeaway? Should I don a camel hair cloak and eat wild honey? (Well, I do enjoy wild honey, but that’s not the point.) I should preach the Gospel, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” It doesn’t matter how many pull-ups I can do, how well you’ve trained for defensive situations, or how good your hair looks on the soccer pitch (can you tell I’ve been stuck in Europe during the European Championships?). Let the rest of my life worry about itself (Matthew 6:25), and tell all those around me that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. One last thing John said that I should try to emulate (John 3:30)….

This came out back in February, but it was so good, I felt it needed another showing.

I’ve got a truck just like the one pictured. It’s a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab with a six liter V8 and a sprayed-in bedliner. It’s got 110,000 miles on it, a brand new set of Wildcat tires, and a window decal that reads, “Real Men Love Jesus.” It’s the only vehicle I’ve ever owned. That truck may as well be my identity.

But I’m going to have to sell it. My wife and I are moving to a large city where it won’t be possible for me to park, and with gas prices on the rise, 13 MPG just isn’t cutting it. I never thought it would be difficult, but man, that truck just feels right to drive. It’s perfect. In the Truck I Trust, you know?

On Thursday, I wrote that there was something terribly wrong with my ministry: it was about me getting credit with people. But I knew something was missing. This video, from Chuck Wood, asks the fundamental question that I wasn’t asking myself.

Chuck says that we need to ask those we’re discipling, “How are you becoming more like Jesus?” If someone had asked me that two months ago, I might have said all kinds of things, but today I’d probably tell you that I hadn’t become any more like Jesus in a long time. I was doing all the stuff, because that’s just what you do. Because I was supposed to to it. I don’t even know why I was doing it. But it made other people think I was good, and that made me feel good about myself.

I’ve struggled with this post (and it’s a couple of days late) because I really don’t know what to do for resolutions this year… 2009 was the first year I ever made resolutions, and putting them online turned out to be pretty good motivation, so I wanted to do it again. But I have no idea what to resolve for 2010. I could go the comedy way, but I want to actually accomplish something. So I’ve searched teh Interwebs and taken whatever I can find.

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I did it.

2. Use my credit card whenever possible but never carry a balance.
   This worked great. I highly recommend it.

3. Contribute the maximum amount to my Roth IRA account.
   $5,000 in. Good to go.

4. Build a three-month emergency fund.
   Done.

5. Get my two mile run time under 15 minutes.
   14:33 on the treadmill last week, since it was too cold to go outside. That doesn’t really count, but in the end I took more than two minutes off my two-mile time this year. That’s pretty good.

I finished the Bible last night.

Yeah, you read that right. Frontal assault style, Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, straight through, do not pass go, do not collect $200. It took me 347 days, but I did it. Do I recommend it? Yes, but just once. Because it’s definitely not the most efficient method of reading in terms of Christian growth*, but you gotta do it, if only so you can say to your friends, “Yes, I’ve read the Bible, the whole thing, straight through.” Because a direct answer is a lot more helpful than saying, “Well, yeah, I’ve read it all, I think, but never all at once or straight through, mostly just the parts I liked because the story moves or the characters are interesting….”

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I have exactly ten pages of the Bible left to read in December. I’m in Revelation 5, when a bunch of seals start getting opened. Talk about some crazy stuff.

2. Use my credit card whenever possible but never carry a balance.
   Once again the budget saved us. Aside from having four people over for Thanksgiving (plus ourselves!) we upgraded our media center and paid almost $400 dollars to fix the truck again after the front part of the starter fell off and broke into a bunch of tiny pieces inside the flywheel housing. But it all got paid without touching our emergency savings. Hooray budgets!

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   In all of October, I’ve read just 14 pages (to page 916) but that’s included Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews 1-4. Partly it’s also a symptom of the fact that these books are so packed with knowledge and insight into our lives in Christ, but two verses came together this morning to make it clear: I need to consider Jesus (Hebrews 3:1) and pay much closer attention (Hebrews 2:1). Still very much on track to make my goal, but I want all my reading to be worthwhile - for it to bear fruit that remains (John 15:4-5).

This is the final post in a series explaining my five core values.

Manliness is a hard thing to define. If I wanted to construct it in depth, it would take volume upon volume and double the size of the internet. Manliness is like beauty… you just know it when you see it. It makes you pause for a second or two; it makes you wish you had …whatever it is. Like when you see a John Wayne movie, or the look on Bruce Willis’ face during that one scene in Armageddon. Godfrey and Balian, in Kingdom of Heaven. King David.

Colossians 4:17 is an exhortation from Paul to Archippus, but it’s valid for each one of us:

Take heed of the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.

I wish it was rendered with an exclamation point! How painful it will be on judgment day if the Lord of Hosts says to me, “Stick! You wasted your ministry! You received it from Me and you didn’t fulfill it!”

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I’ve just finished Colossians, page 902. 47 pages to go this year.

2. Use my credit card whenever possible but never carry a balance.
   The wife and I barely bought anything this month aside from groceries, so this was too easy.

3. Contribute the maximum amount to my Roth IRA account.
   Yep.

This is the fourth post in a series explaining my five core values.

Matthew 24:13 and Mark 13:13 are two of my favorite verses. They’re two of the hardest verses to live with. He who endures to the end shall be saved.

If you read my Father’s Day post, you’ll remember that my father once told me, “Never, never, never give up.” A paraphrase from Winston Churchill, it’s an incredible statement of character. I don’t even know what to write about it. Perseverance is the act of faith. It is the fight in the dog, but also the quality of commitment in a man who goes to work every day to provide for his family. Perseverance is Thomas Edison’s 1,000 ways not to make a lightbulb. Perseverance is why the astronauts of Apollo 13 survived. Taken with self-control and intentionality, perseverance is the root of discipline.

This is the third post in a series where I’m reviewing each of the Design for Discipleship Bible study books.

Page five of Foundations for Faith begins

In this book you will explore these five areas:

• Who is God?
• The Authority of God’s Word
• The Holy Spirit
• Spiritual Warfare
• The Return of Christ

Those are some pretty weighty areas of study! Who is God? Pretty deep. The actual questions are deeper than those of the earlier books as well. Each chapter ends with a blank page for you to outline/summarize/paraphrase its most important points. Sometimes it takes a while - chapter one took me a month!

This is the third post in a series explaining my five core values.

Personal responsibility is the single biggest problem with our culture.

We sue McDonald’s when the coffee is hot - we ordered hot coffee. We (continue) to sue tobacco makers when our loved ones die of lung cancer - they smoked every day, they knew it was bad for them, and we never pressured them to stop. We sue our alma maters when we don’t get jobs - we graduated with low grades and no drive. Our parents pay for us late into life, and even find us jobs and negotiate our salaries

I heard that phrase today for the first time. It’s a new one for me, so I decided I’d explore it a bit and share some thoughts here. What does it mean to guard your testimony?

• John 17:16; John 18:36; Romans 12:2
  We are not of this World, just as Christ and the Kingdom are not of this world. If we let ourselves become conformed to the world, what’s the point of our testimony? Your witness is that you are different.
• I Peter 3:15
  Each one of us needs to know why we are who we are. What is the reason for the things that we do? Your testimony is pretty weak if you don’t really have any reason for anything, if you’re just a Christian because “that’s where my parents went to church,” or “all my friends in high school went to Bible study on Tuesdays.”
• II Timothy 2:15
  Know the Word of God, and through it know God Himself. You can be the most unconventional and moral person ever, but if you don’t know Christ, you won’t be able to make Him known to the world. That doesn’t mean just listening to the preacher on Sunday morning, or even just doing your homework for Sunday school. It means being in daily communication (at least) with Christ - having a personal relationship with Him.
• John 18:20; John 17:15
  We must be open with the world. Jesus’ prayer for us is that we are protected from evil, but not that we are taken out of this world. How can we witness and testify to the truth of Christ if we never interact with people who don’t know Him already, or if we only interact with them on a superficial level?
• Matthew 10:16
  Innocent as doves - if your testimony to Christ crucified, Lord and Savior, is paired with consistent sin and no spiritual growth, then you’re not doing much for the Gospel. No one will take you seriously. They also won’t take you seriously if you’re a bumbling fool, if you have no idea what’s going on, and if you aren’t awake and alert to the world around you - shrewd as serpents.

What do you think it means to guard your testimony? What specific things are you doing to protect your witness?

Men, this one is for us.

I Corinthians 4:1-2

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

Think about all that you are a steward of:

• Your own body (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
• Your wife (and children) (I Peter 3:7)
• The world around you (Genesis 1:26)
• The mysteries of God (II Timothy 2:15)

Here’s a quick refresher on the word steward: a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I’m now on page 863, Romans 8. I’ve read every chapter in Romans two or three times - I’d forgotten how long it’s been since I’ve read the New Testament. There is so much more to God and the Gospel that I’ve been missing! Romans 3:10, for example. 86 pages remaining, but a lot of meaty stuff (Hebrews 5:14). What are you reading? How do you divide up the Bible for reading? Why? What are you getting out of it?

Look, I don’t care who you are, there is no reason you should be texting while driving. Your life will not end if you put the message on hold long enough to pull over, but you might end someone else’s life (or your own) if you take your eyes off the road! Texting is worse for you than alcohol, where driving is concerned, and I’m all for the legislative efforts to kill the combination. I’m tired of idiots on the road who are alternately speeding and dropping well below the speed limit, weaving erratically, and generally making life a (dangerous) pain because they think that the world revolves around their cellphone. DROP THE PHONE AND DRIVE!!!

This post was spawned by this article from Time Magazine, wherein a 15-year-old is allowed to use a computer on standardized test, since his handwriting is so bad. I say fail him. If he can’t read and write, then he doesn’t meet the standard. Especially considering that the reason he can’t write is that he likes the attention of being “that kid with really bad handwriting.”

An open letter to that kid’s mom: Child-whacking sticks are on sale wherever wooden spoons are sold.

This is the second post in a series explaining my five core values.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:32

I value truth because there is no point in knowing something that is not true. There is no point in being something that is not true. Who wants to live a lie?

One of the best proverbs regarding truth is Proverbs 23:23, “Buy truth, and do not sell it; get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” How many thousands of dollars do we spend in our culture trying to learn? I was talking to a friend today and he told me, “You never get out of school. I’m 30 and I’m still doing it!” He hasn’t literally been in a classroom his entire life since preschool, but he’s always been trying to learn something. We all have to, if we want to grow or progress, either in careers or in relationships or in our selves. Everyone wants to have the best teacher, too. You know what makes someone (or something) the best teacher? They get across the most truth.

I abhor lolspeak.

Seth Godin wrote a while back that he finds bad punctuation “distracting.” I’d say that’s entirely too kind a characterization. Maybe we blame the terrible American public schools, or maybe we blame mobile phones and the internet, or maybe the ubiquity of spell check. I don’t really care. My hammer of judgment falls (figuratively) whenever I accidentally view comments on YouTube.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to why language developed? I’m going to claim that communication was up there on the list. Perhaps too much staring at computer code has wired me to be easily annoyed by deviation from the standard. But the communication that exists between a human programmer and a computer is the most demandingly (spell check says I made up that word) standardized interaction that comes to mind. Strongly typed programming languages - and I mean strongly typed like ADA

Want to share a thought…

People like to talk a lot about spiritual gifts, doing what you’re good at - what God has made you good at - for the good of His kingdom.

Filling pews is not a spiritual gift.

Romans 12:6-8, I Corinthians 12:8-10, I Corinthians 12:28-30, and Ephesians 4:11 make up a pretty decent laundry list of spiritual gifts. Here’s a gee-whiz table to show them off:

Two months ago, as part of the 30 Days to a Better Man project, I posted my five core values. I’ve decided that they’re one subject that could do with a little more explanation. So here’s value number one: Christ.

“And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
I John 5:11-12

Say “God Bless” fifty times this week. And next week. And the week after….

Say it to the people who check your ID when you go into the security area at work. Say it to whoever is left in the office when you leave. Say it as a closing in your telephone conversations. Sign off from email and IM with those two words.

The only reference I have for this is Numbers 6:24-26, but I still think it’s a good idea.

My wife sent me this article last night, after the two of us and a couple of our friends had a pretty long discussion of personal responsibility.

The article is about a woman who’s suing her college because she can’t find a job. A woman who graduated with a 2.7. A woman whose job search has lasted only three months. A woman whose excuse is, “It doesn’t make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald’s and Payless. That’s not what they planned.”

This is the final post in a series on prayer.

To wrap up my examination of prayer, I’ve been mulling over what to pray. What does one say to God, the Creator, Master, and Redeemer of the Universe? What does one say to our Father, our Savior and intimate Friend? To start with, here’s the prayer I pray more than any other, it seems:

Dear God,
Help.
Amen

It’s a fantastic prayer, and I hold no copyright on it so you’re encouraged to use it, but that seems a lot like stiffing God for time, effort, and concentration that He deserves from us. Think about looking up at Jesus dying on the cross and praying that prayer right then. It just doesn’t seem right. There’s a lot more to it.

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   Another 50 pages down, still slow, but I’m pretty bogged down in everything right now. Consistency is the name of the game for me now.

2. Use my credit card whenever possible but never carry a balance.
   Still going strong with no balance on the card.

This is the sixth review in a series of posts about books for married men.

Stu Weber has some pretty intense manliness credentials. At left is the Bronze Star, the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces. Stu Weber has three of them. That he won as a Green Beret. He also holds a Master’s of Divinity, and a doctorate. Anyone with higher qualifications of manliness may skip this post. Now that I have everyone’s attention, on to the book.

This is the sixth post in a series on prayer.

I’ve always prayed mostly for myself, my family, my church, my nation, and the world, and generally in that order. Last week a buddy of mine (Kit) gave a talk on prayer and he used the term, “praying in concentric circles.” I think it’s a fantastic way to structure requests in prayer. So here’s how I work prayer request subjects.
I tend to start in the center and work outwards. First, myself. This is generally either, “God, this is AWESOME. I can’t believe how much you love me to have given me a day like today,” or something more like Psalm 102 (Prayer of the Afflicted). It might seem selfish to start with me during prayer time, but getting my immediate worries out of the way (Philippians 4:6-7) helps me clear my mind for the other (some might say more important) things to talk to God about.

This is the fifth post in a series on prayer.

The whole idea of this post is that we are unlimited in our possibilities for communal prayer. We can pray alone, in ones and twos and threes, in groups (Acts 1:14), or in masses (try Psalm 135:1-3).

Christ prayed alone; in this series I’ve already alluded several times to Mark 1:35 and Matthew 14:23 as examples of Christ having a quiet time of prayer, alone and therefore unhindered by anyone else’s presence, but there are varying degrees of “aloneness” modeled in Christ’s prayer life. Take Mark 14:32-35 (and onward). Jesus takes along all eleven of His disciples - whom He just prayed with back in Mark 14:22-23 - to His evening prayer time. Then he leaves all but three behind. Then he leaves the three of them behind. I think it’s a pretty good model that He opens up to some degree with all His friends, then opens up more to His three closest men.

I’ve been pondering speed limits a lot lately. Did you know that the German word for speed limit is geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung? It means something along the lines of the absolute highest speed at which you can drive. Why is it that people have such a problem getting that simple idea into their heads? Now, before you call me hypocrite and start throwing tomatoes, yes, I’ve been known to speed some, like most of us on the road today. But not anymore. I am resolving from this day forward to obey the speed limit.

This is the third post in a series on prayer.

As I mentioned in the first post of this series, my wife and I pray together every night before bed; we also pray before each meal and I generally try to make prayer a part of my quiet time, although I have not done as well as I would like. So in this post, I’m researching times that the Bible shows us we should pray.

This is the second post in a series on prayer.

So, what reasons do we have for our prayers?

If I look back at my (nasty, brutish, and short) life, I can easily find the main reason I’ve prayed: I was in trouble. E.M. Bounds writes in The Essentials of Prayer, “Trouble belongs to the present state of man on earth,” and “What an infinite variety there is in the troubles of life!” I’ve lived a pretty blessed life thus far - I mean, my main trouble is that I wish I had a new MacBook Pro instead of my six-month-old MacBook - but somehow I still find the need to cry out to God for earthly salvation on a weekly basis, and I probably should be doing it more often. Psalm 46 is a great prayer for these times; it’s a song for us to pray with others, remind each other that God is our strength and glorifying Him for our lives, our provision, and our protection. The video below is a great musical take on the psalmist’s words. (Much to my chagrin, as many times as I have sung this song, I cannot remember the composer’s name! If you know it, hit the comments!)

This is the first post in a series on prayer.

My lovely wife and I pray every night before bed, thanking the Lord for one more day together on this earth and asking Him to give us the next one. She told me recently that a lot of her friends envy this small gesture that I make in my relationship with God and my relationship with her. I started to examine my own prayer life to see how it is, and it’s not where I want it. So I’m going to examine prayer over the next few weeks and see what kind of improvement I can make!

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I’ve moved from page 729 to page 777 and finished Matthew and Mark this month; I wish I could say that it’s because I’m spending so much time meditating on each passage but it’s actually just because I’m spending so little time reading. At fifty pages a month and a little under two hundred pages to go, I’ll certainly finish the whole thing this year, but I’d like to be able to focus more on what I’m reading. Now that I’m into the schedule for my work training, that should get easier, but life is pretty hectic. I’ve got to do a better job of setting aside time to read the Word.

What makes a man?

What makes a man a man?

What makes a great man a great man?

This website is partially my stream-of-conscious attempt to answer those questions. At the heart of many of the bits of answer I’ve posted is one principle: discipline.

There are a lot of articles about Walter Mischel’s Bing studies on self-control out there, and while not statistically perfect, the studies provide pretty good evidence that self-control is a good indicator of potential. I think that in large part that’s because self-control, applied with perseverance and intentionality, is what’s known as discipline. Discipline, I would submit, is among the most necessary characteristics of a man and, aside from providence, is the single determining factor between greatness and many merely good men. I don’t mean that the formula one part self-control, one part perseverance, and one part intentionality will automatically create a man that will change the world. I mean that a truly disciplined man is the one I’d like to watch, study under, and emulate.

The most important role model in my life is my father. The moment in my life that has had more impact than any other was a Sunday morning right before I was graduated from high school. My church held a breakfast for all the graduating seniors and their parents. The parents were encouraged to write letters to their children and then read those letters at the breakfast if they chose. I will never forget my father standing with tears in his eyes and speaking in a clear voice of his pride in me, and giving me the admonition of Winston Churchill at Harrows School in 1941…. “Never, never, never, never, never give up."

This is the third review in a series of posts about books for married men.

For Men Only (and the counterpart For Women Only) by Jeff and Shaunti Feldhahn were required reading when Emma and I went through our marriage counseling. They’re quick reads - but they were also some of the most helpful books we read.

For Men Only is really a guide to understanding why women do certain things. It’s broken down into six categories - “Key Findings About Women” - that were noted handily in a “Quick Start Guide” right inside the front cover. The six areas are outlined briefly below.

This post is a response to the 30 Days To A Better Man project, Day 12: Create Your Bucket List. I read through the challenge yesterday and I’ve had a lot of real trouble coming up with anything. I’m not a huge thrill-seeker, so jumping out of airplanes or cliff diving or whatever sounds cool but I’m not going to have an unfulfilled life if I never get to do those things. There was a post a while back on Art Of Manliness about every man needing adventure… Turns out I’ve already done lots of things on that list, like

I found this article in Time magazine as I perused a copy while waiting in line to get my hair cut last week. The article is about the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona; what makes them special is the “Thunderbird Oath Of Honor.” While they don’t require graduates to take the oath, it’s recommended and included in the graduation ceremony.

I will strive to act with honesty and integrity. I will respect the rights and dignity of all people. I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide. I will oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation. And I will take responsibility for my actions. As I hold true to these principles, it is my hope that I may enjoy an honorable reputation and peace of conscience.

A couple of days back, Seth Godin posted a thought-provoking question. He asks, “Where are you?” on a spectrum of “greed/joy/work/good” in your current job, and in your current spending. Where am I? He mentions a few extremes, and I think it’s interesting to see who his saints are. First one is, “[Y]ou donate all your belongings and income to the poorest and sickest in the slums and ghettos.” Then, “Would you take a 10% pay cut to market a product you truly love and believe in?”

I got married last month, and lots of people have given me books about how to be a married man, how to treat my wife, how to understand (or at least cope with not understanding) my wife, etc, etc, etc. And I think that, if you’re married, being a real man depends very strongly on how you get along with your spouse. So I’ve decided that I’ll review each one of the books as I read them (or as I find the time to write reviews) with the goal of doing about one every week or two. Below is a list of the books I intend to review in this series; comment if you think I’ve missed any good ones!

I’ve decided to get on board with Art of Manliness’ 30 Days To A Better Man project, on condition that anything they end up including in the project doesn’t violate my own sense of manliness.

This post is a response to the 30 Days To A Better Man project, Day 1: Define your (five) core values.

Five core values. At some level it seems ridiculous to categorize myself by five finite words, but here goes. You can click each value to read a detailed explanation.

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23 this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   This didn’t happen. In April, I wrote that I had only read 71 pages in an entire month; this month, I’ve gone from page 485 to page 729 - 244 pages. A major improvement, but not enough. I finished the Old Testament on May 21, and it’s pretty taxing to read the entire New Testament in two days when you’re trying to get married. So I’m back to the original goal, reading the entire Bible, at least one chapter per day, before the end of the year. I’m pretty sure I can finish the remaining 220 pages of my Bible this year. While I’m not happy that I missed this goal, I know I can’t change things now so the best thing to do is keep pressing on.

This quote popped up in the Quotes of the Day widget on my iGoogle start page… it goes very well with my post from yesterday .

“Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.” -Edith Sitwell

My roommate’s New Yorker from a couple of weeks back has a great article on using the full court press in basketball. It also mentions Lawrence of Arabia and King David’s younger years.

What do all these things have in common? Incredible success, due to incredibly unconventional tactics. While I’m inclined to dismiss claims that doing things differently from everyone else will always work out perfectly, I think it’s great to examine every single thing you do and ask if there’s really a good reason to do it the way you’re doing it, or even to do it at all! Romans 12:2 says 1) don’t be like everyone else just because they expect it, and 2) transform yourself through the renewing of your mind. So why are you doing what you’re doing? Why are you doing it the way you’re doing it?

The Simple Dollar had an article a few weeks back where Trent explained each item in his messenger bag (and Lifehacker has several such articles), so here’s my response. Trent wrote about the frugality behind each item in his bag; my bag is about convenience and readiness. I think that a man should be able to respond to his situation when necessary; part of that readiness is knowledge, and part of it is tools and equipment. It would be ridiculous to carry around enough gear to respond to every situation, but a minimal amount of gear can account for most of the likely situations I encounter.

Here’s how. It’s called OneBag, found via Unclutterer. I grew up as a Boy Scout, and while “Be Prepared” is a great motto, it does lend itself to taking too much stuff everywhere you go. At this point, I would argue that manliness is completely unrelated to the stuff you have with you (except perhaps a knife), and dependent on the physical readiness and skills you posses which will allow you to deal with whatever situations you encounter.

1. Because God said so (Matthew 5:28).
2. Because it makes you less of a man.

I thought it was great that a blog like Art of Manliness posted what they did about pornography. While the author would not agree with reason number 1 above - he writes, “it transforms porn into an even more desirable forbidden fruit… and prevents men from being honest in their need for help” - he does present a lot of good arguments and he’s certainly on the mark in his conclusion, if slightly indecisive - “I don’t think porn is good in any setting.”

I found this on Slashdot this week… it’s an article about how hard it is to fire teachers in California. I think that it says a lot about personal responsibility. The article notes that even when commissions found that a school district had reason to terminate teachers, they weren’t allowed to do so. One example reads, “The district wanted to fire a high school teacher who kept a stash of pornography, marijuana and vials with cocaine residue at school, but a commission balked, suggesting that firing was too harsh.” Isn’t marijuana ILLEGAL? And we wonder why some Californians are so screwed up! President Obama had this to say: “I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences.” Bravo. Now let’s see you fire some people who have no business working with children!

This is the second post in a series where I’m reviewing each of the Design for Discipleship Bible study books.

When I reviewed DFD 3: Walking With Christ last month, I wrote that each chapter built on its predecessors in a grand process of maturing in Christ. Design for Discipleship 4: The Character of a Follower of Jesus again points out that process, in chapters at either end of the book, and then covers three somewhat separate and very practical applications of Christ’s teaching to the life of a man.

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   At the end of March, I was on page 414 of 949, starting Psalms. Today I finished Psalms, and I’m on page 485. Nothing near the 300 pages I had planned to read this month, so I’m way behind. No excuse. I have to make time for God in my life, and that means I have to make time to read, study, and meditate on His Word.

“To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.” -Shakespeare

Psalm 15:1-2 tells us that a man who walks with integrity will abide with the LORD. The Art of Manliness has an article this week on doing just that - and it’s one of the best articles I’ve read there yet. If you want a rock-solid explanation of integrity, read the article.

I read an article in the Birmingham Weekly a few weeks ago that really struck me, and I just found the page I’d clipped as I was wading through the deep piles of stuff on my desk. While the article is about other things, one paragraph near the end is worth noting for the on-the-money comments about real service in our culture.

“That’s where we’ve relegated service in our culture. We’ve made it something for the young to do instead of getting drunk … on a beach in Mexico,” writes the author. “But if you’ve reached that threshold tax bracket, don’t life a finger unless it’s tax deductible.”

Great article over at The Art Of Manliness on the men in the Battle of the Alamo. I think the three section headings say it all:

• Never compromise your values. (I Corinthians 16:13, Ephesians 6:11, 13-14)
• A great man keeps company with great men. (Psalm 111:1, I Corinthians 15:33)
• Great men are courageous in the face of adversity. (Deuteronomy 31:6, John 16:33)

1. Read through my Bible this year before I get married May 23; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I’m on Psalm 1 today, and I haven’t done today’s reading yet; page 414 of 949. I’m slightly behind the curve for finishing before May 23, but it’s definitely still an achievable goal. Gotta hit the Book!

2. Use my credit card whenever possible but never carry a balance.
   Going well so far!

The Art of Manliness blog has a good article today that’s just a list of “Unclassified Laws of Etiquette,” from a very, very old etiquette book. Here are a few of the best ones on the list:

• Never fail to tell the truth. If truthful, you get your reward. You will get your punishment if you deceive. (Proverbs 11:3)
• Never borrow money and neglect to pay. If you do, you will soon be known as a person of no business integrity. (Proverbs 6:1-5)
• Never fail to say kind and encouraging words to those whom you meet in distress. Your kindness may lift them out of their despair. (Proverbs 19:17)
• Never refuse to receive an apology. You may not receive friendship, but courtesy will require, when a apology is offered, that you accept it. (Matthew 18:21-22)
• Never give all your pleasant words and smile to strangers. The kindest words and the sweetest smiles should be reserved for home. Home should be our heaven. (I Peter 3:7)

Etiquette can be ridiculous when it moves beyond common sense and courtesy, but rules like these are a great application of Christian life and being a real man.

This is the first post in a series where I’m reviewing each of the Design for Discipleship Bible study books.

Last week I finished the NavPress’ Design for Discipleship 3: Walking With Christ. I think the overall point of the study is summed up well in the first chapter, “We must remember… that there is no such thing as ‘instant maturity’ in following Jesus.” The book does what I think is a pretty decent job of setting up four crucial steps in that maturity in the later four chapters.

I’m three days behind again; maybe I’ll claim I thought it was February 31st?

1. Read through my Bible this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   I’m on page 310 (I Chronicles 1:1) of 949, or 32.6% finished, not including what I’ll read this afternoon. That puts my average at just over 5 pages per day, finishing on July 5. I’m upping the ante. I want to finish the entire Bible before May 23, my wedding day. I’ll need to average just under 8 pages per day to get there, but it’s doable. Way doable. And the reading I’ve done so far has given me a lot of insight, like I Kings 14:8. It says that David kept God’s commandments and followed Him with all his heart… so they’re two different things; not that you can follow Him and not keep His commandments, but it’s possible to keep His commandments halfheartedly. I want to be like David and do both!

Found a great picture on the internet today…

It’s funny because it’s halfway believable. We all know our government needs all the help it can get right now, but the A-Team isn’t going to help us. I heard a story on the radio this morning about dairy farmers laying off their cows, and the DJ ended by saying, “Let’s keep those farmers in our prayers.”

Sudden conviction moment.

Ezekiel 22:30, one of my favorite Bible verses, never ceases to convict me on this subject. The LORD looks through all the land for a man who will stand, and He finds none. If God looked out on the land right now, would He find me praying on behalf of the land? Unfortunately, probably not.

This is a list of verses I’ve found that speak about real men, or what it means to be a man…

Genesis 4:26(b) -> Call upon the LORD
I Samuel 16:18 -> Musical, valorous, prudent, and the LORD’s favor
Proverbs 24:16 -> Persevere
Matthew 5:13-16 -> Be different from the world’s ideas
Ephesians 4:11-16 -> United with other believers and speaking truth
Ephesians 4:25-32 -> Speaking truth; not being controlled by anger
Colossians 3:19,21 -> Love his wife and children
Colossians 3:23-24 -> Do everything to the best of his ability
I Timothy 3:2-13 -> Above reproach, free from vices
Titus 1:6-9 -> Not addicted to alcohol or quick-tempered
Titus 2:2, 6-8 -> Temperate, sensible, sound in faith and doctrine
Hebrews 13:7 -> Imitating Godly mentors and models
James 4:10 -> Humble
I Peter 3:7 -> Love his wife and care for her
II Peter 1:5-8 -> Constantly growing in order to be productive

Well, it’s already February 3, so I’m a few days behind, but here’s my monthly update on how things are going with my 2009 New Year’s Resolutions, point-by-point.

1. Read through my Bible this year; the entire thing, cover to cover, reading at least a chapter every single day.
   Well, I missed a few days here and there, but none in the last two weeks. I finished Numbers and started Deuteronomy this morning, and I’ve been struck by some of the things I never noticed before, like the fact that the Ark of the Covenant had a cover over it whenever Israel moved, so all those movies where you see the ark itself being carried are missing something. Anther verse I found particularly interesting was Deuteronomy 4:9; it points right towards one of my favorite sermons, that forgetfulness is like faith cancer. As soon as the nation of Israel began to forget the things God had done for them, they strayed from the path… In Deuteronomy 4:9, Moses implores them not to forget, but to tell their children and their grandchildren about the goodness of God!!!

Found a great article in GQ today (no, I don’t get the magazine, no, I’ve never picked it up before, I was waiting as my fiancée got her hair cut) on a great man, GEN David Petraeus. The whole article is available online, for which I give props to GQ. One of the recurring events in the article is a question GEN Petraeus poses to soldiers serving under him. “What have you learned?,” he queries them. It’s a great question for any man to focus on at day’s end; how have I made myself better today? What have I learned? Did I get stronger, physically, mentally, morally, somehow? The article is a remarkable portrait of a committed man.

I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions before, but I think this is a great year to start. Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” I know that there are a lot of things in my life that aren’t even right in my own eyes when I look back on them, and if even a fool thinks his way is right, what does that make me?

A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

Yes, I was a Boy Scout, Eagle Scout, OA Vigil honor… and I think it was great preparation. Just look at the Scout Law above and replace “Scout” with “Real Man.” Think about it for a second, and measure whatever standard you have in your mind, whatever man you admire. I think the only point which brings up questions is Obedient. But the Bible quickly clears those questions up; a real man is obedient to God. Deuteronomy 27:10 reads, “You shall therefore obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.” So the Scout Law provides insight into what a real man should Be. The Scout Oath then elaborates into the things he should Do.

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” -Luke 6:45

I hope that my heart is not only filled with the evil things that come out of my mouth all too often.

“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” -Matthew 15:18-20