Mission Focused Men for Christ

Episode Summary: Sadly, as we have noted during this study of Israel, political leaders like King Solomon, King Jeroboam, and King Ahab have enormous power to lead the citizens of their nations into evil. Yet, that power is limited. One who knew well the rise and fall of political power was Chuck Colson. In his book, Kingdoms in Conflict , he provides a wise perspective: "When Jesus said to P...

Episode Summary: As our study of Elijah approaches the confrontation between two kingdoms on Mount Carmel the worshippers of BAAL versus the worshippers of Yahweh, it is worth first asking the question: How did God's covenant people descend into the evil of Baal worship in 80 years, just two generations? How did the nation of godly King David, who established Jerusalem as the capital city and...

Episode Summary: Dave Murrow in his book about the motivation of males, writes, “President Woodrow Wilson said, ‘Men are in love with power and greatness.’ Men constantly fantasize about it. The movies they watch, the video games they play, and the books they read always feature a powerful hero who does great things. Every man wants to be a hero, to become a great man. Boys do not dream of sitting...

Episode Summary: To the spiritual leaders of the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul issued the challenge: Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Cor 16:13). Men are called to lead their homes and churches with spiritual power . This calling of Christian men to spiritual strength is one of the reasons for studying the life of Elijah. The spiritual might and power of Elija...

Episode Summary: This podcast always begins with a reference to the race marked out for us, from Hebrews 12:1. After its author devotes 40 verses to highlighting the faith of the members of the Biblical Hall of Fame in chapter 11, he says to each of us: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, AND LET US RUN WITH...

Episode Summary:  Elijah was the biblical superstar, the hall of famer, who singlehandedly was used by God to turn the hearts of Baal-worshipping Israel back to Yahweh. But the Bible insists there was nothing special about Elijah. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours , and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he pray...

Episode Summary:  With the return of football season, I’m reminded of one of the pairs of network commentators for NFL games, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Whenever Buck introduces his partner, he adds the new first new he has given him: Hall of Famer , “I’m Joe Buck and this is Hall of Famer Troy Aikman.” When it comes to our own motivation to follow Jesus and motivating those under our care, it is w...

Episode Summary: Prayer is simply having a conversation with God. So why would Jesus’ followers ask Jesus to teach them how to pray ? Similarly, why would Jesus view prayer as something he needed to teach his followers to do? The answer is that in Jesus’ mind, his followers should build a pattern for a regular conversation with God . Not only that, but there are six component parts to build into t...

Episode Summary: God wants your prayer life to be filled with petitions and intercessions for others and for the advance of His Kingdom. He wants answers to such prayer to become your thrilling and frequent experience. God wants answers to your prayers to be frequent and blessed. He wants you to prove repeatedly the mighty power of prayer in your own experience. He wants you to become not only a p...

Episode Summary: When the wisest biblical writer who ever lived begins a command with the three words, “above all else,” we need to pay attention. That is the way that Proverbs 4:23 begins: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” As we come in our study of the Ten Commandments, to the tenth, we realize that this final commandment goes beyond our behavior to the mat...

Episode Summary: God’s design for mankind is to build a culture based upon truthfulness, not lies. When he revealed to us ten fundamental moral pillars upon which a society needs to be built, he gave us the Ninth Commandment which reads, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This episode examines this prohibition against lying, why extreme integrity should be the mark of Christ...

Episode Summary: In last week’s episode, we tried to put a biblical lens over socialism. Let’s review a moment. The socialist playbook begins with 1) perverting justice by claiming that economic justice means equal outcomes instead of equal opportunities, 2) then fans the flames of sinful envy of the rich, 3) deceives naive citizens into surrendering their political power to socialist leaders and...

Episode Summary . In the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” God introduces the foundational principle of private ownership as one of the ten most foundational principles for flourishing. Today’s episode comes at a time in America when the Democratic Socialist Party has made enormous inroads into the political world. So, this episode examines the attractiveness of socialism and then places...

Episode Summary : In today’s episode we will discover that the modern “enlightened” view of sexuality actually undervalues sexuality and that it is, in fact, the Biblical view that upholds sex as a precious treasure . We examine three common messages about sexuality articulated and assumed by today’s social media and how the biblical view is richer and corresponds much more to reality. We then sho...

Episode Summary . This episode examines both the explicit meaning of what is prohibited in Sixth Commandment and what Jesus and James taught is the implicit meaning of what is prohibited the Sixth Commandment for Christ-followers so that we are equipped to teach our children and grandchildren the ways of the Lord.  For Further Prayerful Thought : Why is it important to know that the 6th Commandmen...

Episode Summary . If you were God giving instructions to the human race about how to get along with each other, what would be the first thing you'd say? Don't be selfish? Don't be proud? Learn to forgive? Treat others like you want to be treated? God's first law is “Honor your father and mother.” And in case we still don't catch the foundational importance of this command,...

Episode Summary . One of the words used to describe the worldview of the culture in which we all swim is secularism , which describes a lifestyle of preoccupation with the visible, material world to the neglect of the world of the spiritual . The result of swimming in this polluted water has been, in my view, a largescale disregard of the fourth commandment by Christians and consequent loss of its...

Episode Summary . Fatherhood champion Anthony Bradley’s research proves what Scripture teaches us about the role God has assigned to fathers in creation: fathers are the most important men in any community, anywhere, everywhere, ever. Their presence, involvement, and guidance are pivotal for the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of their children. This is the fourth episode in our June s...

Episode Summary . On October 7, 2023, more than 3000 members of the radical Muslin extremist group Hamas surged across the Israeli border crying “Allahu Akbar” “God is good” raping women, beheading children, torturing, mutilating and murdering more than a thousand people, most of them civilians conducting the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. How would you respond to the trembling wor...

Episode Summary . Unlike adherents to multi-culturalism, Christians realize that God chose to reveal his moral law to one nation, Israel, in a rather spectacular manner. God himself wrote his summary of his moral law on two stone tablets using his own finger (Dt 5:22) telling his people how they can most please him. There is no other text of the Bible written directly by the finger of God. The two...

Episode Summary :  One of the bad ideas causing massive victimhood today is egalitarianism , the denial of creation role distinctions between moms and dads, and the heretical denial within the church that “the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” The first egalitarian was Satan, who demanded the right to be equal with God. As the father of lies, who masquerades as...

Episode Summary . This episode seeks to examine what the church’s commitment to the poor of our cities should look like. We examine 5 serious flaws in the progressive view of social justice, an ideology which is captivating many young adults leading them to abandon Christianity. Finally, we examine how only the church can bring about the restoration require to solve the problems of our urban poor...

Episode Summary . The intent of this episode is to strengthen, not weaken, our concern for the plight of the poor. But deeply rooted in our commitment to love the poor must be a commitment to helping the poor and doing so in the right, God-ordained way . This episode seeks to call us to care for the poor, to shun passivity, but to understand the biblical guidance God gives for HOW to help, and not...

Episode Summary . We look carefully at the claim made by many social justice advocates that Christians are hypocrites for not standing up for the poor and embracing ECONOMIC EQUALITY for everyone as Jesus would have. Is this claim true? How do we respond to our kids returning from college who are “deconverting” from Christianity because of the failure of today’s church to embrace such equality? Sh...

Episode Summary :  In the coming months, secularists and progressives will be seeking to undermine the celebration of America’s spiritual and biblical roots. For us and our families to respond winsomely and persuasively, we must know the facts and not just react with Christian spin, that we are a Christian nation. This episode seeks to equip us to think truthfully, i.e. with historic accuracy and...