Danny's Men's Studies

Self-Defense and the Bible

2009-09-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

From SurvivalBlog, I found a link to Biblical Self-Defense link. It has a lot of good verses but fails to cover some key verses like turn the other cheek (cf Matt 5:39 or Luke 6:29).

Not that the explanations are bad, mind you. But far from complete....

Copyright 2009, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Men and Sports

2009-08-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help read "NFL teams tackle recession" and remember my college football experience. Here's a good quote:

"I swore to myself if I ever got Redskins season tickets, I'd do everything in my power to keep them," Gonter said.

And I can relate to that feeling (if money wasn't an issue: I'd rather buy many other things for the same amount, so don't expect me to be at a football game).

Anyway, sad to see that modern church has no such drawing power: season ticket holder of a church seat? Won't that be something?

Copyright 2009, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Movie review: Amazing Grace

2009-06-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

The movie is about William Wilberforce who was practically a one man abolition movement (at least in the British Parliment). He slowly gains supporters and figures out a way to destroy the slave trade (by allowing pirates to attack slave ships).

In spite of his wealth and power, he choose to take up the cause of the enslaved and lived by example of doing God's work as a politician. And it didn't take a revolution (aka France) nor civil war (War of Southern Oppression) to set the slaves free. A powerful movie on how one man, with vision and supporters, can make a difference.

Copyright 2009, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Movie review: Gran Torino

2009-06-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Movie spoiler alert: if you haven't watched it, don't read this post if you want to retain the surprise ending. The movie is R rated for four letter words and some blood/violence. And smoking, of cource.

What they called "manly" in the movie was a bit funny but forgetable enough.

The hero, Walt Kowalski, shows what real men do: take care of the bad guys, protect the innocents and leave a positive legacy. In this story Walt dies heroically, but with an asterisk since he knew he was terminally ill. We all die but one's willingness to die for other(s) shouldn't be conditioned by how soon we are expected to die.

Copyright 2009, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Religion and Crutch

2009-04-12T06:51:00.001-07:00

Here's a great idea from VD's Gutenberg's revenge (I don't follow him every day these days but I did note a comment that pointed to this post so I googled and found):

Let us postulate that religion is merely an evolutionary spandrel and religious faith is merely a crutch for the intellectually weak, crippled, and cowardly.

Now, what is the normal human being's opinion of the sort of individual who would purposefully kick out the crutch from a cripple who is leaning upon it? Indeed, what is your opinion of such an individual?

Insightful comeback on classic criticism of Christianity.

BTW, Christ is risen! Happy Easter, y'all.

Copyright 2009, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Becoming a Carpenter

2009-01-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I was busy being a carpenter replacing a lot things in the kitchen (see the last item on the "done" list). This morning I woke up with sore muscles all over my body. I also got various scratches on my hands and even on my head (my son noticed it first but I got a scratch from bumping into a shelf in the kitchen which was sharp enough to make me bleed).

And to think that I was using all kinds of power tools (drill, jigsaw, sander) today, compared with it was like being a carpenter 2000 years ago...

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

More seek religion as tough times worsen

2008-12-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

NY Times has "Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches." Not surprising since even in Old Testament, Israelites returned to God from idolatry when times turn tough.

The problem is how to turn the first time (or temp) attendees into permanent disciple of Christ?

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved

Church and Money

2008-08-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a turn of events with the downturn of economy: "Workers find solace from Mammon in church." People seek spiritual answers in the times of trouble -- see various examples in the Old Testament....

Maybe there is hope for the Modern Church after all?

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Intergenerational Church

2008-08-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

It seems that at least one pastor seems to understand my concern of today's church of dividing up worship by style rather than establishing a long term, multi-generational relationship:

Part 1 (MP4 Quicktime)
Part 2

Lots of good ideas on reaching to the "younger" (less than 30) generation. A long term mentoring type of relation with several men are necessary. Something I've been looking for is a father-son Sunday school where fathers can mentor their sons and their friends.

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Do real men have too much testosterone?

2008-05-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Someone left the following link:

And links to rebuttals here and here.

I sympathize with concern over what seems like too much focus on manhood in these men's movements. And frankly, I'm not sure how to reconcile the sissy-ness of modern church vs the need to restore manhood in church back to the Biblical basis without alienating women.

I'll blog more as I think about it...

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

NFL 1 vs Church 0

2008-02-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

I read "NFL Pulls Plug On Big-Screen Church Parties For Super Bowl" and got a chuckle out. As I wrote before about my football experience, it was very vivid one and I still remember very well. To think that the churches today, at best, can only bring in the TV into church rather than doing one up (i.e., something better) is a sad testament to how much Christ's message has lost its power to heal, save and turn the world up side down (something much more powerful than mere football game).

I watched a blip about Hannah Montana concerts and didn't think much about it until now: to think that Jesus had even more powerful draw than rock stars when he preached the truth (OK He did some healing and miraculous feeding so that might get people's attention, more than the boring sermons that we're used to at most churches). I'm not saying that better entertainment is needed but some fireworks (like Jesus kicking out the money changers from the temple or verbal sparing with the religious experts of the day) might help!

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Fired up for Jesus

2008-01-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

I brought up fun and Jesus but that's not what a man (or young man) needs. Fun is only a symptom of the real deal: a goal with clear purpose (long term strategic objective) and interim milestones (tactical objectives). Fun happens as objectives are met and people (participants and observers) can see that the goal is few steps closer. As long as the leaders are fired up and passionate about this goal and the more immediate milestones then younger men will follow, I believe. Just as young men sign up for the military or various team sports (professional sports and local/community teams for those who don't make the cut), goal oriented Christian movement should draw men to a cause. And just like the network-effect, the more join, the bigger the movement can be -- which is what Jesus did after all!

Unfortunately, churches today are too feminized and too relationship or program oriented, rather than goal oriented. And I don't mean goals of number of people "saved" or baptized or memberized or how much money are collected. Goal oriented like the Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings).

The real goal is heaven but then it needs to be something catchy and clear: War on Sin (WOS)? War on Evil (WoE)? Unlike "War on Poverty" or "War on Terror" or "War on Drugs" (the never ending wars) there is a clear ending for WoE: the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The question is how to do the day-to-day tactical stuff: if I had the answer, I'd be doing it and lauding my successes!

With that said, it's good to see my former church talking about this very issue at their leadership meeting (listen to the audio [39MB] or video [196MB] at about 47 minutes into it as well as around 1hr and 5 minutes) in Nov 2007. The problem for mega-churches which tailor their worship experience for various age group (junior high, senior high, college, etc.) is how to transition the graduates to a new church near the college they attend or the new job they start their career. If they find something "tailored" then they stick around but if they don't find one, then they fade away, which seems to the majority of these in the 20's (listen to the talk @ 1hr 5 min). And I was disappointed to hear the pastor suggest that youths should be transitioned to the "normal" adult worship and have them suck up to the "boring worship" like it's another math or history or grammar class (something you might not enjoy but you have to take to graduate). (Here's the money quote: 1:06:25 [hypothetical father talking to his son who claims adult worship is boring] "You know what son, it's kind of boring to me sometimes too. But I need it. Um, math class, yawn, never thought twice about asking me if you can skip math son because that's something you need to get into your head. And you know what, they're aspects in life that is not always entertaining but they are healthy, they're important, and they're good".)

And it doesn't help that at 54 minutes, he talks about 2008 being a year of relationships! Ugh.

Copyright 2008, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Jesus Christ and Fun

2007-12-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

"Paul says funding windfall gives campaign hope" has a great quote from Ron Paul:

``If you're working that hard and investing your time and your money, you better have some fun,'' Paul said. ``This gets too boring if it gets too serious.''

I think that's great: a politician who can not only speak the truth plainly but also encourages fun!

I guess it's similar to J2M: it was engaging because it was fun for the fathers and our sons. It won't have lasted through weeks of effort if it wasn't fun.

I have to wonder: did Jesus have fun while ministering in Israel? I think He did. And I would think that His disciples were into for some of the fun (although they were all hoping for a seat in the cabinet of His Kingdom, initially).

It's interesting to see Jesus Christ's message being lived out by Ron Paul: trust others to do their job, give them freedom to do as they are led, and try to have fun! And how different churches are today: always top down hierarchy, with constant need for "consensus."

And it comes back to: how to have something similar in my life and in my worship of God at home? It seems I have made it into a boring thing that's OK with my eldest son but not so with my youngest.

Truth doesn't have to equate to "boring." And the challenge for me is, how to present God's truth in a way engaging to my sons as well as the people "out there" (non-Christians). Hmm.... What would Jesus do? ...hmm....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Church: Creepy Organized Religion?

2007-11-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

I was watching Nightline interview with Stephen King and he was raised fatherless since 2 years old. The money quote, for me, was:

Q: Religious characters don't fare very well in your book I've noticed
SK: I don't have anyhting against chures per se. I'm not a vampire type -- ahhh [acting scared] -- like that when somebody shows me the cross or something but, organized religion gives me the creeps.

The online web page is even more disturbing:

"I'm a spiritual man. I certainly believe in God, and I meditate on a regular basis, and try to stay in touch with the God of my understanding. But I haven't been through the doors of the church, I don't think, since my mother-in-law died. And I certainly don't have anything against churches, per se. I'm not a vampire type, when somebody shows me the cross or something like that. But organized religion gives me the creeps."

Sad.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Ron Paul and Manhood

2007-11-13T05:58:00.001-08:00

Here's a cool article on Ron Paul in NYTimes (of all places) "The Web Takes Ron Paul for a Ride". It is about how by decentralizing the campaign, people on their own took individual responsibility and created a movement on the web, all without micromanagement by Ron Paul campaign.

And it hit me as to being very similar to my experience with J2M. We (the dads who prepared and ran the rite of passage for our sons) were given general guidance with example by other dads. And then we had to run it ourselves. And I had a blast, overall, because it opened my eyes to the freedom and possibilities of being personally responsible: we were able to customize our rites to match our sons, and it was flexible to meet the needs of the families involved, not some formula we had to follow step by step.

By decentralizing and allowing individual freedom and corresponding responsibility, great things can be accomplished, as Ron Paul campaign is showing. On a smaller scale, the same could be said about home life, Sunday School lesson, homeschooling program, or entrepreneurial endeavors!

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Business for Men

2007-11-10T23:24:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to start a business, but was looking for something to make money while I can set an example for my sons and something I have skills in already. I have been toying with the idea of a business relating to software itself or software development tools but nothing has really struck me as worth pursuing.

Anyway, I enjoy watching and reading about entrepreneurs but I was just watching a Japanese program on "Park Corp" founded by Hideaki Inoue. (The link is a Japan Times English article I found via google.)

Anyway, as I watched the show ("Business Compass"), I noticed that he had many female employees and even though his business of selling flowers were to both men and women, it seemed that his business was to lower flower price to allow more power to women. That popped into my thoughts since in Japan, housewives hold the purse strings (even if the husband is the sole bread winner). With all that, it seems that such business not only hire women (to empower their spending power) but also lower costs and ability to consume (more/better) for women.

What I want to start is somehow empower men to become the leader he is called to be. What can that be, I have no clue....

Jesus empowered men by picking only 12 male apostles. And told them to continue make other disciples (which I take it mean other men). And why the Epistles insists on male leaders and women to be silent in the churches.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Hunting: 2nd weekend.

2007-10-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

My sons and I went quail hunting this past weekend. My younger son shot at several quail and 2 rabbits but it seems that he missed them all. I missed one quail and shot one down -- but we couldn't find the later. Ugh. (Older son didn't shoot at all.)

Next time, we'll make sure to start first thing in the morning: we started around 7:30AM and it was really hot by 9AM. We walked around around carrying our shotguns, with long pants (yours truly started with shorts and got scratched up badly enough to create some red lines across the legs) so with the sun shinning down, it got hot quick. I also need to make sure I carry enough water in my camel back since I drained it long before I was ready to finish (around 9AM although we didn't get to our car until about 9:40AM).

Next weekend the goal is to try deer hunting: only 2 weekends left to take advantage of the deer tag we won (via lottery).

For worship, we did home church Sunday night. We discussed the meaning of worship and I thought it went rather well. Need to think and plan better to have worship. My wife wanted me to make things more fun and interesting but then I'm not that eloquent. Sigh.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Hunting Trip

2007-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

My sons and I went on a hunting trip this past weekend. I mean, we've taken few other trips, including the weekend before (when the deer season started), but this weekend was the first time we walked around with our guns (loaded). I carried my 9mm pistols (one in my pocket and one in holster) and a 12 gauge shotgun. My eldest son carried a 20 gauge shotgun while I brought the wrong barrel for my younger son so he roamed around freely.

Some gears we got for deer hunting over the past few weeks: 3 orange caps, 3 orange vests, 3 Garmin Rino 110 GPS + Walkie Talkie (my oldest son already cracked the screen), rope, game bag, gutting knife, and book on deer hunting. The Rino 110 is a very cool toy: we use it mainly to talk to each other but we can also send each other locations via GPS information so the display will show who's where. I've read online that some people weren't happy with the color models so I've decided to get the cheapest one and see how it goes -- 3 GPS/radio unit adds up quickly in costs and if all three were a dud, I would have felt bad. For the money, it's worked out well.

As for the hunt itself, we didn't see one single deer. Unfortunately, the fires in San Bernardino National Forest the past few days have locked us out of hunting area we plan to visit again (we were there 2 weekends straight and the original plan was to continue for the next 2 weekends).

For this weekend, I'm thinking of going quail hunting at completely different location, since the season just started and lasts until Jan'08. Since deer for adults are Oct 13-Nov 11 and for youth Nov 17-25, I was thinking December for quail hunting but looks like we'll get
the chance sooner (or if we "whack" a deer earlier, then we'll have free weekends, as well).

Like fishing, it takes finding a good location and then waiting a lot. We found deer foot prints but I guess they didn't travel often enough in the areas we were at, to see them (let alone a chance to shoot).

We attended a local church Sunday night to worship as a family. Not what I expected (more like a bible study) but it wasn't off the wall, either.
Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Manly Update

2007-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with new job, finding new church, starting up new school year, vacationing (finished J2M in Austin and had in-laws here in SoCal for 2 weeks) and getting ready for hunting season.

I was hoping to see something started among men of home educating fathers but it seems that they aren't interested (or the one person I talked to didn't carry through).

I've been attending a men's Bible study but it's too typical and not all that manly. Sigh. "Where are the men?" indeed....

Not much thoughts for a while: I'm now interested in manly Christian music. I thought having Psalm 84 set into music based on Taiko (Japanese drum) beat with upbeat melody would be neat but I don't have the time to do much with it. At the Bible study, we sang the slurpy version "Better is One Day" and it got me to lookup Ps 84 and I found that the words themselves are rather manly: if the music matched, then it could work out. Unfortunately, I'm not into creating music (a good software tool might help, like Apple's GarageBand).....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Church for men

2007-07-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

I saw a blurb on Church for Men on NBC, and I like the idea of a clock running down just like in basketball game (in fact the church was held in a basket ball gym).

I was, however, disappointed to hear that their goal is to put those men into regular church. Argh!

That's not what I would look for in a church. It's got to be men-based because without it, women will butt in and have their insidious inputs. No wonder New Testament says the women need to keep silent: 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, for starers....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Women dominates marriage more than men

2007-07-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

I saw "Study: Women Are in Charge at Home" and reminded me of

Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.
Genesis 3:16b

Men are called to be kings of one's home, but not absolute dictator with minute-by-minute micromanagement -- this is silly and waste of everyone's time. Men have their roles (prophet, priest and king) and women have theirs (see Proverbs 31) and each should focus on their assiged roles and everyone will be happy. Pretty simple in my mind....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Happy July 1

2007-07-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update: we've moved to a new apartment and we're busy getting settled. It's been 1.5 years since we started to read the Bible from the beginning and we've finally reach Malachi last night. I was thinking of reading to the end in one year but we did get a bit bogged down (we've moved twice over the past 1.5 years: once from Austin to San Bernardino County and last week to Orange County). We've had few days where we were too tired to read (up late for one reason or another) or my sons were away on a trip or two. We've also slowed down in order to take time to read certain parts. And we've skipped few boring parts (like temple description or family name/property details). In the process, we've discovered/discussed things like sex ed, father-son issues, politics, Middle East issues, etc.

Also, we've started to memorize (long) verses. Unlike AWANA's, we're memorizing a whole long sections, beyond Psalm 23 or Exodus 20:1-17, like James 1:13-27 or 1 Timothy 5:1-16 or Romans 8:28-38 or Ephesians 4:20-32.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Mind your own business

2007-06-13T05:45:00.001-07:00

I read the following this morning with new eyes:

11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. [1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, NIV]

So, we should:

Live quietly
Mind our own business (!)
Work with our own hands

With the purpose of:

Daily life which can gain the respect of non-Christians
Not be dependent on anyone else [i.e., be in control of one's own income]

As an employee (I have accepted a full time job to start the end of this month), it makes me think: hmm....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

A son's family planning

2007-05-27T18:18:00.001-07:00

As a son with the only other sibling of a sister, the following is a real well done commercial that touches what could have been with me and what it is with my two sons:

I'm not sure if my sons can appreciate it for now (they're gone on a ski trip with my sister for the Memorial Day Weekend so I can't get their input today), but in a few years from now, maybe when they get married, they'll get it. Reminds me of the verse:

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
-- Psalm 127:5

NOTE: Hat tip to voxday.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Father the source of fat children?

2007-05-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

"Fathers responsible for fat children: study" starts off:

Fathers who play less of a role in child rearing are more likely to have overweight or obese offspring, Australian researchers said.

Reminds of me of how, it goes something like: a husband makes the woman that his wife is [e.g., wife becomes unfaithful because he failed to properly care for his wife] -- if my memory serves me correctly (grin).

So it boils down to it's all man's responsibility as father and as husband. The buck really stops with him.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Churchiness continues

2007-03-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

NBC Today's Show Sunday (March 4) had a blurb in various churches, including The Journey ministry (Beer and Bible) as well others like xxxchurch and GodMen and a Texas church that does wrestling [couldn't find a link].

It's good to see more and more different churches coming out in the open but they all focus on herding people into a big building [be it the traditional "church" building or some meeting space]. And the lures are mere gimmicks.

I'm afraid that Jesus did not say: Invite friends to a big meeting. Nor corral as many people as possible into a room [and call it church]. He said:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you [Matthew 28:19,20]

Making disciples is far cry from herding people once or twice week [with gimmicks, even]. Yes Jesus did party with the sinners but He wasn't busy increasing the membership count. In fact, He did His best to discourage faux followers: Matthew 10:34, Matthew 8:20 [among others]. Somewhere in the process, we've lost His message and are too busy counting the numbers [membership, offering, etc.].

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Gang: how not to fight back

2007-03-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

"Youths learn skills to resist lure of gangs" talks about being trained to resist gang recruitment.

However, they miss the point of gang's appeal. It's about finding a place in the world as men [for young men and old(er) boys] and gang offers a sense of belonging ("virtual family") and adventure (doing manly things even if it was illegal or all the more reason if the act was illegal) and some goal (say, expanding the gang family). Unless something like a real church can draw them in, the lost boys will remain lost.

As The Anointed One puts it:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. [Luke 19:10]

Question for me is, how to show my sons The Way and, all the more importantly, the Way Maker....

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Stop feminizing our [Sunday] schools

2007-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

"Stop feminising our schools - our boys are suffering" is a great article on how bad schools have become into feminizing the whole educational experience. And the problems in school are much the same as problems at church:

Instead of the make-or-break sprint to the exam deadline, boys have to endure stultifying coursework.
the boys like taking risks - ending either in glorious triumph or disaster. The girls tend to play it safer.
today's curriculum is pretty risk-proof. This is at its most obvious in science, where actual experiments with real flames and real blood have been replaced by facts on paper or video demonstrations.
Essays are now so safe they can practically be marked by computer.

So: Answers are almost provided, no real world interaction, no competition and no challenge. Does this sound like your typical Sunday school? I volunteered in various age group Sunday schools and, looking back, none of them were boys friendly at all.

I love the following quote:

Their testosterone and its companion competitive streak need to be acknowledged. If they're ignored, boys get listless and they start retreating into their hoodies and terrorising the rest of us.

And to think that Jesus Christ called these "boys" (hoodies and terror-makers) into Christian leaders. The kind of young men that today's "Christian" leaders would turn their nose away from -- much like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' days? Hmm....

And these young men, without manly leaders, always end up with:

Eventually, they spend their time brawling, picking up ASBOs instead of A-levels.

[Or drop out and join a gang.] When it comes to church, they just stop attending, of course.

What draws the men in today? Computer gaming, pornography, extreme sports, to name a few. Somehow, church and school don't seem to belong on the top 5 (top 50?) list...

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

GodMen: an R rated churchy service

2007-01-18T08:16:00.001-08:00

Got an email today with link to "Manliness is next to godliness" and my first scan of it seemed hopeful but after reading it and several other articles about GodMen, I'm disappointed. Instead of doing something new, they merely turned the G-rated churchy experience into an R-rated one.

I believe that the military gets it right when they train handful of men together as a team. Israeli Army does it the best by "marrying" soldiers together for many years (not just training but their full 3 year service) so that a strong bond is established. This brothers in arm is the kind of experience that Jesus lived out, as He discipled His men, the brothers in prayer.

Jesus Christ, the staff sergeant? That could make a very interesting movie/story.

Personally, I still like the gangster theme more than military or mobsters, because the gang is less organized and (used to) have the freshness of a new and undeveloped "institution." What Jesus did was take a bunch of rednecks and thugs and turned them into Bible wielding warriors/martyrs and He even christened them "church." The nerve! [or so most Christians today would have reacted....]

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Oppressive Mothering and why men seek freedom

2007-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

The problem today is that we are mothered wherever we turn: the mommy-police for security, mommy-firefighters for fire, mommy-EMS for emergency [all available with one phone # at 911, but no guarantee on how responsive they are, let alone any guarantee of service: much like Mom? Hmm.] And then we get mommy-ed by all kinds of government bureaucrats where we need to get permissions from DMV (DPS) or tax office or concealed weapons permit (CHL) or marriage license or business license [Mommy, may I get my license?]. In some states, you need permission to homeschool your children (as if I need permission to have children, let alone choose how to feed and raise them).

But wait, most of us are working for a mommy-company to pay our salaries. Medical insurance is setup such that it is hard to get as individuals, which is yet another "carrot" for turning to the mommy-company.

And then we are told that housing is an investment and rather than throw money way on rent, we should buy a huge mortgage to "get" a house, but what they don't say is that debt = slavery (see Proverbs 22:7) and that "your" house is booked as an asset by the bank, not you, the borrower. And much the same story with a car: get in debt for a depreciating "asset." (The same could be said about a house but that's never mentioned as part of "investing" in a home.)

So we get mommy government "services," mommy corporate income source and enslaved to depreciating stuff (home & car, at minimum).

And don't forget the mommy wife who wants to wear the pants in the family (sadly because man had abdicated his role as head of household in the 20th century but that's for another post).

With the weekday consumed by work to payoff debt (and every once in awhile interaction with the government), what would any sane man want to do during his free time after his honey-do's are done? Attend a mommy-church? I don't think so. And what's interesting is that as I read the Gospels during my quiet time, it seems that the today's church is much like the Temple and Synagogues of Jesus' time (institutionalized, hierarchical, mommy-like).

What can the church do? Go back to what Jesus commanded: make disciples, not church-attenders. The church needs to change so that she can create (or disciple) free men who live under God rather than mommy-following wimps who can only get temporary freedom through "manly" activities like sports or sports-viewing.

Copyright 2007, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Merry Christmas: and what about Joseph?

2006-12-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas today and so I'm wishing to all:

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Luke 2:14

On a related note, yesterday, the local paper had "Why Joseph Matters Today" which referenced the book "Christ the Lord Out of Egypt: A Novel" which is what the movie "The Nativity Story" was based on. [We saw the movie together as a family and it was OK. At least they didn't use female angels, for once.] I haven't read the book but based on the movie, I'm not impressed. Joseph comes across as a bit of a wimp unlike the man hinted at in the Gospels. With that said, I'll have to read it myself now...

Copyright, 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Review of The Monastery

2006-12-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed watching TLC's "The Monastery" 5 part series. They got 5 ordinary men to agree to sign up for 40 days to live under the rules of St. Benedict. One drops out in the middle, but they all seemed to have changed after they "served" their time at the monastery. The evolution of their "soul" was very interesting to watch, turning from independence and rebellion to humility and learning to become a team member, kind of like relearning manhood.

Of all the scenes in the show, the most interesting part for me was when the hermit (Brother Xavier) was asked:

Q: "And your goal is?"
H: "dying."
Q: "To die?"
H: "Sure: that's what were all living for, isn't it?"
Q: "it's just, you understand that it sounds unusual?"
H: "um, yes, I'm preparing for death."
Q: "I can't get over... it seems so sad."
H: "Sad? ... ah... I'm looking forward to it, it's going to be a great adventure!"

Reminds me of Bonhoeffer's words on death.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Brothers in Arms and Brothers in Prayer

2006-12-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

I've watched a TV show "Warrior: from civilian to solider." And the most striking thing for me was what the Israeli's do: after turning 18, they are drafted and they make the new soldiers bond with each other over the 3 years of training/service. And the point of bonding is to make them as close as brothers such that under combat stress they will fight for not the flag or fatherland or Mommy but their "brothers" next to them. And if and when a brother gets wounded or killed, then their anger takes over and they'll fight back all the harder. [They also talk about realistic training, and dehumanizing the enemy: However, things aren't so simple when your family splits up via civil war or a child/sibling joins the other side for one reason or another.]

I've also watched a "reality TV" called "The Monastery" where the brothers bond in worship & prayer. [What a contrast: to train and be dedicated to pray for fellow humans vs to kill fellow humans.]

Anyway, my point is that whether it's the military or monastery, a bond takes time to develop, which is what discipleship is all about, unlike the churches of today. Mere classes (Bible study or Sunday school) or worship "experience" are not enough to form the kind of church (let alone, "fellowship") that Jesus had in mind (or so I believe). Also, bonding in good times allow for support during the stressful times [which is what Jesus did: cf Luke 5:34,35]. Or if the bond is started under stress [e.g., Christians getting together illegally as in China or Iran] then there are common threats they live under, which will only strengthen their relationships.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Apocalypto: Review

2006-12-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

After reading "Apocalypto: The Most Powerful Film Of All Time: Gibson's masterpiece an allegorical warning against unrestrained tyranny of government, human sacrifice and enslavement" I felt I had to see it and so I did with my sons last night. I thought it was well done, esp. the struggle between individual and the State as well as manhood ideals of protecting one's family first [wife and children and then parent(s) and then friends]. I also like the story told by a village elder of how all men have a hole in their hearts which can never be satisfied with the things of this world, prelude to our need for the Eternal relationship (or so I'm thinking since the producer is a Christian).

On our way home we talked about how we can get enslaved by debt today. I quoted Prov 22:7, but our younger son didn't get how it can be bad to be enslaved via loans (compared to what we saw in the movie), but I reminded them "how would you like it if you loaned out your money and that person didn't pay you back?"

The movie is rated R for plenty of gore and violence (much as was done in The Passion of the Christ) and sex situation (nothing explicit in terms of nudity, other than topless "native" women), so it's not appropriate for small children. For a good overview of the movie, read "Apocalypto Now."

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Gnarly Christians

2006-11-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

On ABC last week, they interviewed Steve Baldwin twice: once on Nightline and another on 20/20. And also found a recent (Oct'06) Salon article "Dude, where's my cross." And seems like his approach seems much better than most uptight Christians: taking the Gospels to the skateboard parks and similar Xtreme sports.

20/20 also introduced jc girls girls girls, which ministers to female strippers (and, to lesser extent, to men absorbed by such "actors") by loving the strippers rather than laying guilt trips on them (the cofounder, Heather Veitch, was a stripper herself). They actually go into strip clubs and adult themed (Pornographic) conventions, much as Jesus would do! How many pastors do you know attend Porn conventions to openly spread the Gospel?

The only draw back I see is that I still like the idea of one on one discipleship rather than merely packing rooms and eventually the pews....

Update: here's a great quote from 700 club interview with Heather:

There was an air of perfection she felt like she couldn't reach. Heather says the bar in the church is set high and no one really told her that all that she needed to know was that she needed to call on Jesus daily.

And that's the barrier that Jesus broke through: He interacted with "sinners" rather than "church folks" and called the sinners to discipleship rather than membership (what the church folks focus on). The more I read the New Testament, the more I see that "Christians" today (I don't exclude myself, by the way) are not the kind of people Jesus would bother to spend time with and even have some nasty barbs to be thrown at. Just as He spent more time attacking, condemning and correcting the Pharisees and the Sadducees, I have a feeling that He would be doing the same to the Christians of today....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

J2M: first sets done!

2006-11-24T05:05:00.000-08:00

My friend and I took our second sons through 4 days of lessons on journey to manhood (J2M) this week and they sure had a blast: we went camping for 3 days and 2 nights, 1 afternoon at the beach (actually at a tide pool) and cruising on Thanksgiving morning through the northern parts of L.A.: from Beverly Hills both the retail stores (stopped to gawk at Ferrari's and Lamborghini's in showrooms on Wilshire Blvd. and even followed a Ferrari for about quarter of a mile) and residential areas to Hollywood area to Chinatown and to downtown L.A. both Little Tokyo as well as the homeless area. Our next meeting will be in spring break time.

Update: Oh yeah, we did have Thanksgiving Dinner with my family (my parents, sibling, my wife and my other son) although I was too sick to eat anything....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

U2-Charist: Religion's true colors

2006-11-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

Nightline's program last night (Nov 13) had a segment on "U2-charist" where churches are starting to using U2 music as part of the worship service. I like how it ended with the reporter saying:

If U2 will fill his pews and the donation baskets? well that's a blessing.

And then the anchor of Nightline (Terry Moran) ends with:

Upon this rock I suppose this church is built.

And how appropriate! Church has gone mainstream where packing a room and collecting money seems so primary to today's church mission. Never mind that many churches purport to "preach good news to the unsaved." I've been in too many churches where building program is very central to the "growth" of the church (including the one we are attending today).

What a contrast to what Jesus wanted for His Church:

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24

Just as God was best represented in the tent based tabernacle [rather than the Jerusalem Temple fixated in one location], so too Jesus wants us to worship God free from physical place with the focus on the spiritual and the truth. It's so ironic that Jesus didn't even have a home ("Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."" Matthew 8:20) yet all churches end up building monuments to themselves. I'll never call them monuments for God since God doesn't need (let alone want) buildings but a heart change one person at a time.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Ban Religion, Now!

2006-11-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

"Ban religion, says Elton John" has a great quote:

Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion?

And personally I must say I am more and more in agreement. I obviously don't agree about what Elton thinks about homosexuality (sodomites as some people like to say), but I think religion as it is today can be banned and let it die away.

Jesus Christ calls for disciples and discipleship, not church members and business-like church organization. And He dogged all the "religious" people of His day: much as, I would imagine, He would do so today. And what people of His day considered holy turned people's idea of holiness upside down: much as He would turn upside down the so called religious people (even "Christians") of today, I'm pretty sure....

Copyright, 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Anti-Theist and Rich Man in Purple

2006-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

At VD's blog, there is some hot debate on Anti-Theism and Christianity [this is one link: there have been many posts over the past few days].

Anyway, I noticed this parable today:

"He [Rich man] answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Luke 17:27-31. NIV

People who won't listen to the Bible, even if someone rises from the dead, they won't be convinced. How true!

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Meaning of 24x7 discipleship

2006-10-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

I watched this morning a Japanese TV program called [in Japanese] "Business Future" where a woman started a unique program: she took over an inn as the head manager and hired young people to live and work there and also took the time to meet together with her staff at night to discuss business opportunities after interacting with the guests and people in the community during the day. The one thing which struck me as eye opening was that by living 24x7 with her staff, she can see each one's unique talents and help direct their interests not only to improve the inn [like one staff member who was into computers put in wireless LAN for guests] but also create ideas which can become independent business that can grow in the local community [either to support the community and/or guests of the inn].

What's also appropriate is that she hires youths who are not sure of their life purpose or career and puts them to work at the inn [doing anything and everything from cleaning to cooking] and helps them find and/or polish their talent.

Isn't this what discipleship should be? Jesus did that Himself: He lived with His disciples day and night. He ate and cleaned Himself like any other human and the disciples were witness to it all. He give them responsibilities and jobs to do and taught them as well. All the while, living an example for them to follow after His death. [He worked hard but partied hard (Matthew 11:19), too.]

The questions for me are: what should the church be like and how should I set the pace for myself and my sons.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Jesus Christ the Pimp

2006-10-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here's something I read this morning that opened my eyes:

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. Luke 8:1-3

Note the words I highlighted in bold: These women financially supported Jesus and His disciples. In today's terms, Jesus was a pimp! Or a sweet talker to women? Presumably He and His disciples kept themselves sexually pure so I'm guessing that these women were useful for only one purpose: to help pay for day to day expenses. [Where they got their pocket money is a wonder: if they weren't prostituting (which is assumed since it is a sin of Old Testament Leviticus 19:29), what were they doing?] He was more of a gangsta than I originally thought!

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Jesus Christ the Gangsta

2006-10-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

As I was reading:

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' Luke 7:33-34.

Doesn't He sound like a gangsta of 21st century? He seemed religious to the local leaders but He did His own thing: He didn't attend local "church" (synagogue would be the right term for His time) in any regular fashion. He wasn't even a member of one. He was under the radar from the national police (i.e., Romans) but not by the local police (religious leaders like the Pharisees wanted Him dead).

And, wow, did He know how to party:

the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." John 2:9-10

Most Christians I know today would have dumped the wine or replaced it with nonalcohol wine. But Jesus did one better instead: Made the best wine they have ever tasted!

[I haven't the time to today to go over His cussing style but that can wait. Stay tuned! (grin)]

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Spirit of Elijah

2006-10-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

Here's something I've been meaning to blog for some time:

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Luke 1:17

Compare this with:

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse. Malachi 5:5,6

Note that the Angel in Luke 1 is talking about only the fathers turning to their children [but not children to the fathers]! So will the real arrival of the second Elijah [not John the Baptist] turn the hearts of the children?

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Gender Unequality

2006-09-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Katy points out 1 Corinthians 11:11 as she looks for a woman's place, but if you read the verses around it (I'll skip the parts about hair and head covering):

For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
1 Corinthians 11:9,10,11,12

Ultimately, we are all from God. That is, both man and woman are created by God, and each have their place in this world. However, it's clear from verses 9 and 10 that gender equality that Americans [and other developed nations] seek is, if anything, anti-biblical and destructive in the long term.

[On a slightly different tangent, it took a while of reading and thinking but I now agree with Vox Day that woman shouldn't get to vote and suffrage is among the top worst ideas in the history of mankind (and womankind, for that matter). If you want to discuss suffrage, go to VD's blog or email and have at it. I'm just giving him a free plug (grin).]

Problem with Modern Church: Maximum Capacity

2006-09-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

I had a strange dream this morning about me driving a car and someone else was added as a new rider and then realized that one of the regulars couldn't get on. And then I woke up and thought: that's the problem with church today: maximum capacity. We limit how God can work in His Body by fixating church into a building. It is not about flexible and ever growing Body of Christ but rather of managing space: not exceeding maximum capacity and how to deal with overflows. Modern churches love to own property so that it's easier to add on new buildings to expand. But once the maximum size is reached, then they resort to multiple services, even spreading it out for two days. Yet you have to wonder: why bother? Why repeat the same stuff over and over 2 or 6 times? Why not record it once and replay it (esp. when people are already sitting so far out of the main worship area that they have to watch a video feed in the first place)?

Church is not about space management nor time management. Nor is it about hub management: the church staff and members revolving around the pastor. It's about the Body of Christ. Christ is the one and only head of His Body (Colossians 1:18). Not the head elder and certainly not the "senior" pastor. In fact, Paul makes clear:

Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 11:3

So, the head of every man is not your local elder, pastor, priest, minister or some other local church leader, but Jesus Christ Himself. The One and Only. [Where and how the elders/overseers fit into church is something I'm not sure of right now.]

Note that modern day [re?]interpretation of Martin Luther's "priesthood of all believers" is not Biblical at all: only men (fathers and husbands) are called to be priests of the household. This was true in the Old Testament and didn't change in the New Testament. In fact, 1 Corinthians 11 reaffirms the concept of "priesthood of all husbands/fathers."

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Kings and Rights

2006-09-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I was reading Proverbs 24 and noticed:

Fear the LORD and the king, my son,
and do not join with the rebellious,
for those two will send sudden destruction upon them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?
Proverbs 24:21-22

So, what happens when the king and the LORD conflicts? Apparently that's the claim of the Founding Fathers of America. And the resulting calamity called American Revolution or is it the Great American Experiment, year 230th?

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Christian Idolatry: worshiping the church

2006-09-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

How many of you survived the church experience this weekend? Do you plan ahead and have everything in place the day before or do you run around like a chicken with its head cutoff getting everyone to church [where the only "quiet time" you have is during the sermon time]? Or something in between?

Or did you choose to not be part of the "church grind," in the first place, be it home church, shopping, sports or some other form of non-attendance?

It seems either one is "in" or "out" of "churchiness." Be it 100 member or 20,000 member church, one gets "in" a church with a fixed location [either a church owned property or leased property]. By being "out," one choose to not belong to any church at all!

So what is this churchiness that sucks you "in" [or spits others "out"]? As I have been thinking and blogging about church over the months, when my mother said "you need to attend church" it struck me that people are no longer worshiping God but has turned to worshiping the church: some singing, some droning and collecting money. And then, at some churches, we are asked to sneak in people we know through special ("seeker friendly") service or special events (illusionists, famous artists and athletes), as if God's truth needs to be watered down or twisted somehow.

What a contrast to the words in the New Testament. Jesus didn't go around asking His neighbors, "come hear xyz speak or perform." Instead, He commanded "come, follow me." And then before He left, He commanded His disciples to "make disciples of all nations" -- not herd or sneak others into "church." [I'm reminded of the stories like Philip (John 1:43-51) and Samaritan woman (John 4:28-30), but they all lead others to Christ, not "church."]

Jesus made clear what worship should be like:

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24

Both the Jews and Samaritans were fixated on where worship should take place. Just as Christians today are obsessed with the format of worship (what kind of songs, how long of sermon, how much physical space to take, etc.) rather than the spirit of worship.

Unfortunately, we are beholden and enslaved to the churchiness worship of today. Most churches take on debt to finance the purchase of land and building and spend years paying it back. All churches have to deal with: money (utilities, replacing stuff, etc.), time (upkeep of the stuff of church: building, furniture, equipment, tools, etc.) and energy (separating the noisy children (esp. infants) from the quiet service, recruiting, coordinating and training volunteers to watch over children). And then you've got wonder what the whole day was about running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

So, what can be done about all this? I believe it's matter of getting back to the roots of the Bible: worship God in spirit and truth, not through man-made trappings (really, woman-made since churchiness is ever so feminized today, including Jesus). Get rid of the burden of buildings and their overhead (maintenance, utilities, insurance, cleaning and repair). Keep it personal, one-on-one with God and direct relationships with fellow Christians. Mass meetings are special, focused and infrequent (something like Promise Keepers or Billy Graham's evangelical crusade). Accountability should be done through discipleship: local meeting of elders with heads of household rather than the trappings of churchiness. Young men are to be trained to become fathers, grandfathers and then elders. Fathers follow the footsteps of the grandfathers and elders, living by example (for their young men). [How to deal with our mobile, global society of today is an issue I don't have an answer for.]

The kind of church which is talked about in the Bible seems more appropriate in home like settings rather than 20,000 seat auditorium: Exact format is not easy to imagine since I'm so used to the normal churchiness. Stay tuned....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

[I was hoping to publish this sooner but got distracted by moving, etc. but the thread at Vox's "Of Pastors and Programmers" made me want to finish it off.]

Calling of Men

2006-09-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

I attended our church's Men's Bible Study I mentioned before and it was a pleasant surprise to meet other men who are serious about becoming godly men and leaders in their homes. I'm more intent on raising godly men as well as bonding my father with my grandsons, but becoming godly is a good start, since to be able to say like Paul to my sons:

Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

I have to become godly myself! It was good to see other men with sons, some older and others younger than my sons. I'm hoping more will join, especially those with grown sons.

Anyway, we discussed many things but the important thing for me, when it comes to my calling is to be a king [provider and protector], priest [spiritual leader] and prophet [vision and planning for the legacy] of my own family, the gifts which God has given me to be responsible for.

We also talked about teenage boys/youngmen and how we should think about ways to redirect their budding sexual energy into productive yet busy activities, like going outdoors. One father mentioned how saying "no" and "no" to our sons won't help them. And then I mentioned how I've started boogie boarding with my sons and want to explore other "manly" activities for my sons, like backpacking or hunting, and want to find other fathers and sons to do likewise. Only time will tell but I'm hopeful...

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Mancations: vacations for men

2006-09-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Apparently there are many manly hotels that cater to men's interest, like hunting focused vacation: Guys on vacation equal Mancations. At what point would my sons be "man" enough to go on such vacation? I don't know.

Last week my sons and I started boogie boarding and we've done it three times so far and has been a blast. I hope to do so about once a week [whenever I visit my parents, like this weekend] and I hope to get into other manly pursuit, like backpacking and hunting over the next few months [or maybe next year]....

Not Turning the Other Cheek

2006-09-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

I was taught that:

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew 5:39

But today as I was reading "No More Christian Nice Guy" the author pointed out:

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" John 18:22,23

I've read this over many times and was even vaguely aware of the paradox, but here is a quite a contrast between "turning the other cheek" and Jesus "talking back" to His accusers. Jesus was obviously not a Nice Guy. What was He thinking? I've heard many explanations of what Matthew 5:38-48 really means [both pro-war and anti-war] but today I'm not sure how to take it.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Complex Beliefs

2006-09-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

I found "Fundamentalists to the Right, Fundamentalists to the Left: What my hate mail tells me about Christian factions today" to be a good read on what happened to Fanky Schaeffer [son of Dr. Francis Schaeffer]. I did enjoy his first novel and several of his non-fiction. But I was surprised to find out today that he converted from Christian "Fundamentalism" to Greek Orthodox.

But then I have gone through complex changes myself. I thought Fundamentalism was a clearer view of the Bible but the non-denominational type I became familiar with isn't as Biblical as I am thinking now. Granted, there is no perfect church but churches have lost their way without realizing it, especially with the modern feminized Christianity (after I pointed out that Jesus become feminized in 1800s, my friend pointed out Jesus' long hair and dress: how feminine!). Reading "Why Men Hate Going to Church" and now "No More Christian Nice Guy" I'm realizing how brainwashed I had become with what is a normal Bible church: it isn't about "worship experience" [music and other fluff] nor the Bible based preaching [a good preacher who speaks clearly, with good voice and intelligent presentation]. More on this tomorrow [I hope]....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Kick out the Church Women

2006-09-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

My wife and I talked about a Christian woman we met and mentioned how she seemed very critical and hard to please. And then I mentioned: that's why women should not be part of a church. [Ha Ha]

In all seriousness, because women were cursed to be controlling [Genesis 3:16], when women get involved with church, they try to control what's going on, even if the church does not allow women leaders. I've seen too many changes take place in a church because of a few unhappy women who got their way(s). I know this first hand, because my mother tries to be controlling and manipulative with me.

As Dr. Schaeffer pointed out in his books, people want "Peace and happiness" and I think this is a very feminine, mothering instinct. Woman wants to control her world to bring stability and reduce conflict. Men want vision, purpose and adventure instead: instability and conflicts are all part of the adventure. Which is why Jesus was able to call out to some two bit fishermen "Come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men." Jesus even delivered instability [Matthew 8:20] and conflicts [Matthew 12:34 or 21:12, Luke 14:26] throughout His ministry.

So, do women belong in the church? Of course, since Galatians 3:28 makes clear that before God, male and female are equal. But 1 Corinthians 14:34 states that women are to be silent during church service. Also, 1 Timothy 5:2 and Titus 2:3 teach women to not use words to hurt [and, I believe, to manipulate, to get things done indirectly].

However, I don't know of any church that can avoid the velvet veto [Carl Dudley term for women manipulators in church, as quoted in "Why Men Hate Going to Church"] and as long as they are involved in the church, "Men sit on boards, but women run the church." Which not only turns off men but is unbiblical as well [cf 1 Corinthians 14:34].

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.
--

I had a lot of interesting conversation with a Christian father who has several sons and I've mentioned various beefs I've had blogged about and he encouraged me to run with my ideas at their church. We'll see: I'll try to attend the next men's Bible study and see what happens....

Men suited for war

2006-09-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

"Researchers identify "male warrior effect": Men may have developed a psychology that makes them particularly able to engage in wars, a scientist said on Friday."

Here's an interesting research result:

In experiments with 300 university men and women students, Van Vugt and his team gave the volunteers small sums of money which they could either keep or invest in a common fund that would be doubled and equally divided. None of the students knew what the others were doing.

Both sexes cooperated in investing in the fund. But when the groups were told they were competing against other universities, the males were more eager to invest rather than keep their money while the number of women contributing remained the same.

[...] "Male co-operation is a double-edged sword," he added.

I'm in the middle of reading "No more Christian Nice Guy" and this article is very relevant. Men and women are different. And it's no surprise that there are lots of war and war imagery in the Bible both Old and New Testament [Revelation is full of wars and rumors of wars]. And I like how the author points out that Jesus was feminized in the 19th century: a rather modern problem.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Against organized religion and government

2006-09-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here's something I noticed just today that I must have skipped over before:

"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." Mark 8:15

It's usually "Pharisees and Sadducees" [Matthew 16:6] but here Jesus uses "of Herod." So one should watch out for not just religious leaders but also political ones, too. Jesus was against man-made religion as well as man-made political structure(s). We are to be "in the world" but not "of the world" [cf John 17]. And to be bound to no man, religious, political or anything else man-made.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Upside down church: the Anti-Christ of today?

2006-09-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

I was originally going to call this "Upside Down Church: and how to turn it over" but Daniel's blog entry "Abortion and the State or the Church?" made me question "what has the church become?"

The church, over the years, has pushed public schooling, prohibition (alcohol first and now "recreational" drugs) and welfare into government programs. And the resulting misery caused by all the above: schooling turning out factory workers, prohibition resulting in mobster/gang/police/prison empowerment, and welfare resulting in permanent poverty and sense of entitlement (I'd lump Social Security into welfare, along with temporary welfare like money given out to 9/11 and Katrina "victims"). And with the marriage being debated over (gay vs "straight" marriage and what it all means), the government will have more say in how marriage should be.

The trends are clear: what God's people should have handled on their own, they've given up to the government to take over and regulate and pass judgement. Jesus was clear on this:

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Matthew 5:25.

Be it differences in money problem or how one should live (drinking, marriage, financial hardship, raising up children), these problems should have been taken care of under the eldership of a local church. Instead, the church has neutered itself by turning to the State rather than to the men of the church. [The chicken and the egg problem of men leaving the church vs the need to turn to government isn't clear to me.] It doesn't help that the community of men which still exists do not seem to have impressive records.

We not only have the problem of modern church giving up powers but also men staying away from church in droves. It seems to me that the problem is not so much with the Gospel message nor the Bible but the modern church itself. Modern church has become synonymous with an institution rather than the living Body of Christ. The word itself conjures up images [at least for me] of buildings more than a dynamically working group of people.

Rather than the modern church being an alternative reality to the world [a replacement for what the world provides], it has become an handmaiden or "suitable helper" of the world and the government(s). A religious or spiritual part of the world. Or a "sacred" component of the world. A bit player in the bigger scheme of things.

Consider what Jesus said, instead:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

and

Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37

Jesus Christ lived a parallel life from the world: He engaged with the people of the world but did not clash with the government [unlike the Zealots] nor submit meekly. As Coughlin points out, when Jesus rose from the dead, He rebelled against the government by breaking the seal and His angels stuck down the soldiers [both were federal, capital offense]. Even before He was crucified, He was defiant to the end: didn't answer most questions, and what He did answer, He explained that He was in real control [like the quote above from John 18].

If the modern church isn't exhibiting the kind of behavior that Christ lived, maybe the church has become the false teacher that Jesus warned about and has become, in fact, the anti-Christ herself, using the name of Christ while being anything but Christ-like? Jesus warned us:

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. Matthew 24:24

And if the following is a warning sign:

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matthew 24:10,11

Then maybe the modern church has become the very thing Jesus warned us about, after all....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Community gone awry

2006-09-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

"Sexual Abuse in the Amish Community: Woman Endured Childhood of Repeated Rape by Her Brothers"

A supposedly men lead "Christian" community has gone wrong when a woman has to turn to the government to right the wrongs in her home: incest by her brothers against her and her younger sister. The community punished her brothers with 6 weeks of banishment from church activities, and restored as they were "very, very sorry."

Leviticus 18 is quite clear: incest is wrong and the perpetrator is to be "cut off" from the community. To give a slap on the wrist for one incest let alone many times, something has gone very wrong with the community.

It's one thing to forgive but it's another to suffer the consequences for one's wrong. A thief must make restitution (biblically). A rapist, today, would spend time in jail (although that doesn't seem like a fitting punishment, biblically). Merely forgiving and moving on doesn't sound biblical at all.

Seeing the ABC story above makes the Amish community appear wrong not just from modern perspective but biblical as well. A true Christian community of men would have to do one better than what the modern world has to offer.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Jesus' manhood

2006-08-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have started Coughlin's "No More Christian Nice Guy" and loved the parable of Jim. However, I'd love to see something more modern. I first thought about gangsters [Jesus starting a new gang]. But then I haven't been part of one so I'd have a lot of learning and studying to do to write anything decent.

Then I thought about what I know best: the corporate world, and reasoned that maybe Jesus can open a venture capital funded startup. But I realized that the life or death danger isn't found in corporate setting that, say, gangsters face.

How would it seem if Mary asks Jesus to make a high quality pot or cocaine (both are from natural materials unlike meth or PCP) for a wedding party? Or recasting Luke 22:36-38:

He said to them, "But now if you have a wallet, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a handgun, sell your [leather] jacket and buy one. It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."

The disciples said, "See, Boss, here are a Smith & Wesson and a Beretta."
"That is enough," he replied.

Or have Jesus using four letter expletives! [Personally, I don't think there is any sacred English words, even Yahweh, since we don't know how YHWH was really pronounced in the first place. Words like God and Jesus aren't inherently sacred, as far as I care. Now, I don't use them nor allow my children to use them only because people around me would not approve.]

Maybe someone with more free time or real gang experience can write this right.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Review of Why Men Hate Going to Church

2006-08-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

I finished Murrow's "Why Men Hate Going to Church" this weekend and here is the promised review. Originally, I was going to do bits of reviews but I started changing my thoughts on church and discipleship while I was reading so I've decided to wait to the end.

I'm glad I waited: the ending was much better than I had expected, but I don't think he went far enough.

But first: If you have son(s), buy the book since you'll see why they don't (or won't) like church. Even if you (a man) still attend church, it won't mean that your sons will. I know this well since my sons are more active [and less scholarly type] than yours truly, and church as they know it today is so dead compared to what they are used to in their daily life [free to choose their way, they only have to sit still only during punishment or while eating]. I, on the other hand, have [continued to] attend church due to my geeky nature and find "worship" sermons to be intellectually stimulating.

For others, it certainly is eye opening and well worth reading to rethinking what church is all about. [I was going to write down many quotes on how relevant it was but I'll let you buy and read them yourselves.]

The last part of the book gets more in line with what I have been blogging recently: churches should have spiritual fathers [discipleship] and band of brothers [manly fellowship] to get men moving into church. However, I don't like his emphasis on going back to church as most people [including myself] know it. I'll blog more about this soon...

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Empowered over Man's Rules

2006-08-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

I was just reading:

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27b-28

What Jesus offers us is freedom from petty Rules of Men [be it religious legalism or political correctness or any other set of rules]. Under God's Laws we are not only freer [as compared to being under Rules of Men] but we are empowered to be men: to lead, guide and explore.

Of course we can temporarily choose to be under a set of rules [like a game of poker or football or chess], but they are only for a limited time. The rules of the land is similar but more lasting since we choose to live in a specific location [country, state, city] and even more so if we buy property in that location [and it would be worse if you choose to be enslaved by debt: i.e., mortgage].

How does all this affect my daily life? Hmm. But I am [still] working on my declaration of empowerment.

Kicking out women teachers out of church

2006-08-22T00:22:00.000-07:00

"Sunday school teacher dumped for being female" so at least one Baptist church gets serious about what Paul talks about in 1 Tim 2:12.

But I believe this is like closing the barn door after the fact. Getting rid of women teachers or even my [previous] extreme of kicking out all women from church isn't good enough [or wrong approach].

We need to follow Jesus by following His steps and "go and make [male] disciples" -- and church will happen as natural consequence of following Him. Of course, women & children can come [as disciples in training?] but should not be the main focus, just as Jesus focused most of His time in making His disciples Himself.

Copyright, 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Great Commission Redux

2006-08-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

Most evangelical churches use Matt 28:18-20 as the impetus for everyone in the church to do the 3 things: make disciples of all nations, baptize the believers and teach them to obey Jesus' teachings.

But note that He did not say: go and build mega-churches [I mean both the membership in numbers and the physical ownership and maintenance of the huge buildings]. Go and create children's ministry, youth's ministry, women's ministry, single's ministry, senior citizens ministry, and [last and least] men's ministry. Go count: weekly church worship and Sunday School attendances, numbers of self-confessed conversions, numbers of baptism and numbers of missionaries sent. Go and build up volunteer systems with training sessions, background checks, record tracking and annual retreats.

I write all this with tongue-in-cheek, because I am [technically] still a member of a mega-church in Austin, TX and have seen it grow from few hundred to few thousands over the past 8 years. And our church loves to re-read Matt 28:18-20 and tries to reapply it to our church, right now, today. Unfortunately, what I was taught was:

Discipleship is all about taking classes over several weeks. It is not a multi-year (if not multi-decade) mentorship.
Baptism: that's what the pastors do after some sort of training. But the numbers which matters are the conversion numbers (as if Christian life was a one time event)
Obey: This area is murky since what they teach is invariably weakened by human reinterpretation of the Bible, which no one is immune from, including yours truly.

As I have been exploring in this blog, discipleship is not measured in weeks or months but years and decades. You don't do it 1 or 2 hours a week: day in and day out is what Jesus did.

And my thinking is that church happens as part of discipleship [creating disciples create church and worship happens as an outgrowth of this fellowship of the saints] not the other way around as it is done in most churches: church meetings take place and discipleship may or may not happen. Which is why I believe Jesus said:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations [Matthew 28:19a]

Rather than "go and start a church." Or start a denomination. Or sign up new members. Or invite friends to take part in church [or play church]. Or get friends and relatives to be churchy [like invite them to your home fellowship rather than to the big-mega church].

NO! He said "go and make disciples."

And the call for me, I believe, is to make myself and my sons His disciples [with other men's help, of course] rather than His church attenders and church members.

[I don't know how wives and daughters fit into all this, yet.]

--
As a side note:
I now personally believe that Matt 28:18-20 is a call only for the 11 disciples, not anyone else. I believe that we are called by God individually and our responsibility is to obey our calling (be it to fulfill 1 or 2 or 3 or zero of the 3 parts of the Great Commission). My hats off to my friend who pointed this out for him [and his family] and I agree!

More background: I write all this because of the things which I wasn't happy about in the book I've started reading this week: Why Men Hate Going to Church. The author, Murrow, seems to emphasize making the current church more attractive to men rather than re-thinking church. Ever since I read Howard Snyder's The Problem of Wineskins: Church Structure in a Technological Age, I have been weary of traditional church [for many years now] and Murrow's book made me rethink some more and then I felt compelled to go back to what the Great Commission really says and hence this blog entry.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Returning to Patriarchy: Problems with Family Integrated Church

2006-08-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a rambling piece on why I don't like Family Integrated Churches.

My main beef is the over emphasis on the Integration rather than redoing church. More on my rethinking church in future posts.

Patriarchy [with the fathers submitting to grandfathers who submit to the local elders] seems to be what is needed in all of life not just churchy life. What does that look is something I'll be exploring, as well.

See my friend's posts on Family Meal Table, which I think is a good starting point. My struggle is as I live with my parents, how to turn my passive father into an active leader of the Patriarchy as I live an example for my sons....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

The church needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.

2006-08-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

We've all heard of the phrase:

'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.'

But really, when that phrase was coined, the 20th century church already was no place for men. With so much focus on women and children already, they might as well said "the church needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" -- and they (we?) have effectively kicked out "real" men. Only the geekly and/or scholarly types are left in the modern church -- which deters "real" men even more.

Note (8/11 update): I've left "real" in quotes above since I'm talking of men like construction workers, fishermen and gangbangers who would get excited over a sport's game with a beer in one hand but couldn't care less about Jesus Christ other than as one of their expletive vocabularies. The kind of "real men" Jesus called in the New Testament (and I believe, today as well): Peter, Andrew, John and James were fishermen while Matthew was a tax collector [more like Mafioso or gangbanger of today]. Simon the zealot: the name saids it all [I imagine him to be more of William Wallace (of the "Braveheart" fame)]. There may have been some scholarly men called, but I not aware of any....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

-- background on this blog entry --

While I started commenting at RightNation.us to point to my blog, I remembered cowboy church and googled to find a cowboy church directory. Pretty cool. However, I don't like the emphasis on boys (which is why I don't like "Boy Scouts" -- I don't want my teenage sons to aspire to be boys but men). And I don't want cows to be required, either.

And as I typed some more, I remembered the well know phrase above and twisted it to be my blog entry title!

Boys cheated by schools [and others]

2006-08-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

The feminized, mothering world we live in is stacked against males, especially boys. School is the most influential system in a boys' life [at least for those who aren't homeschooled].

Gerry Garibaldi's "How the Schools Shortchange Boys" points out the school system's problem for boys and how boys "get around" the system (rather than working with and taking advantage of the system).

Unfortunately for the boys [and us men], the effeminate systems do not end at school: mothers are in charge at home [with passive or workaholic or missing fathers], women are in charge at church [Sunday school teachers are usually women], and the ever present, overreaching, mother State [local and fed government: your tax money "at work"].

The challenge for us fathers is how to work with/against the system ourselves as well as teaching our sons to do likewise. Stay tuned for "Declaration of Empowerment" that I'm [still] working on....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

JAMming Church: Journey As Men

2006-07-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

"Journey as Men" or JAM is more of what I'd like see in a church.

Background: J2M or Journey to Manhood is a rite of passage program started at our church to get young sons around 12 to prepare for their teenage years by studying manhood principles and Biblical expectations of our moral behaviors. Our men's Bible study is called "JourneyMen" and when I first attended it, it was very moving to see hundreds of men waking up before 6AM to show up at church. I've learned a lot about manhood and Biblical perspectives on man [and woman] over the years.

J2M training was great, too: at first I was uncomfortable not having a pre-written script to follow for my eldest son. Two other fathers and I met several times over the weeks to hash out what we wanted to teach our sons and activities we wanted to do with them. We made things work out in the end [much like a jam session], and I'm pleased with what we got done, considering that all 3 of us were new at it. It also made me aware how little there was as a follow on for my son: we recognized him as a young man but there was no process to get him into a real man beyond attending various classes, including coed Sunday school [which I've pulled my oldest son out of] and lecture based JourneyMen.

Going through J2M, I felt empowered to take charge with my son's manhood and to really own my and my son's spiritual life. We now spend every night reading the Bible out loud and then discuss it, and then talk about the day and pray together.

Anyway, that sense of empowerment is missing in the churches today: we normally sit there and take it all in. Men need action, to challenge conventions and re-ordering things. Things which aren't allowed with the hierarchical churches of today.

Which is why I'm thinking that something like "Journey As Men" or JAM is what's needed: multi-generational men (grand fathers teaching their sons teaching their son, etc.) exploring together what it means to be men in this world today based on what's in the Bible. We've lost the Biblical way since so much is clouded by man-made traditions of the past few centuries. Much as Martin Luther empowered Christians to read Bible on their own, JAM will empower men to be the kind of men God had in mind when He wrote the Bible.

Now I'm not saying that theology degrees are irrelevant but I am saying that the Biblical truths are best left to individuals to read as a group and live out what we can learn from it, as well as being open to Holy Spirit's direct influence. We don't need permissions from pastors (or other authorities) to live out Biblical truths or worship God. But how we live that out depends on the context of given place and people. How elders [bishops] and deacons as well as pastors/teachers fit in to all this is what I'm not sure of right now.

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

P.S. Googling for ' "journey as men" jam ' got only one hit, not related to manhood at all.

Who to obey

2006-07-26T02:46:00.000-07:00

Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!
-- Acts 5:29

No government, no church, and certainly no family can usurp that!

Fished Men vs Weakling Pastors

2006-07-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

So, Jesus Christ the Son of God went to the local pier and picked some men to become His disciples. And He made clear of what they need to do (follow Him) and the purpose: to save men [at first I typed "other men" but I changed my mind since even His disciples needed saving]. Not only was He commanding [a true leader], He also knew who He Himself was [someone worthy of imitating] and the goal: saving men. And not just any old "preaching" as we tend to view "evangelism" but Jesus uses the metaphor to fish: to require manly effort to grab and draw in other [like minded?] men.

Let's do a thought experiment:

- Think of a pastor [or reverend or minister or priest] you respect highly.
- Place him [or her, if you insist] as he is normally dressed at a working, busy fishing dock.
- As the fishermen are busy running around the dock unloading their catch, imagine your pastor pointing to a pair of brothers and say "Come, follow me."

The fact is, most pastors today would be ignored if not laughed at. Men of action [unlike people like me who have day jobs in front of a computer] know if a person is respectable or not, and a typical pastor just won't cut it at a busy fishing dock.

Since Jesus Christ was a carpenter for a good 17+ years when He called His disciples, I'll bet He had very muscular build that any fisherman would notice and respect. As the perfect Son of God, I won't be surprised if He did extra work in those 17+ years, not to be more in shape but to help out more people around Him [which resulted in more muscles and possibly more money for His mother's retirement].

The other thing to note is that He called such rough, strong men to reach out to other rough, strong men of the world [not just the Jews]. He didn't turn them into intellectual weaklings. He took them and made them into spiritual [Spirit-filled] strong men.

Which is why I'm so sad to see how the churches have become sissy ones, today. Until men [and their sons] start having tailgating breakfast tacos [or pancakes or whatever else people eat for breakfast outside of Texas] in the church parking lot at least 2 hours before worship service starts, I don't think the churches today understand the problem of sissy churches.... Or men camp out in church parking lot the night before and share their favorite videos of the past sermons [on the truck bed's big screen TV or projector running against the church wall]. And miss out on their Sat/Sun sports TV.

That is, if attending church is more consuming than sports, I think then I can say that the church really gets it...

Update 7/26: A friend pointed out that church does not have to exclude or replace sports and I agree that's true. I always think of Sunday sports competing with Sunday worship but sports can be Christianized, too (grin).

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

looking for sissy churches

2006-07-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

I just spent few minutes googling for "sissy churches": only 3 hits and one was mine and another one was no longer available other than google cache.

Sad that not many are concerned about future men and men with future.

Sigh.

Update 10:30PM: Reply to comments:

- "emasculated churches" only gets 3 hits but only 1 is related.

- "castrated churches" brings out more hits but pretty much meaningless ones.

- "neutered churches" brings out 0 hits

- "spayed churches" brings out 1 irrelevant hit.

- "feminized churches" seems to do better but it sounds too much along the lines of feminism. Besides, it doesn't address my beef of wanting to kick out women AND children (including boys who haven't been through a rite of passage).

I'm interested knowing how to bring "real" men back to church as well as keeping young men (especially my sons) inside the church. And taking over "sissy" seems like a good way to reuse [bring back] the word and add new meaning to the word/phrase.

Update 7/26:

- "effiminate churches" got one hit. An indirect link to: "Where are God's Warriors and Wild Men?"

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Gangs and men

2006-07-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

I saw "Wide Angle: 18 with a bullet" and it raises a lot of issues of what it means to raise sons. The gangsters were largely from fatherless families and gangs do take such boys into their "family." One thing I noticed was how irresponsible, how boyish their attitude was about killing and then getting caught and spending time in prison, even though they had their own children. And the film maker's comments see similar trends and even puts it succinctly: Boys masquerading as men. It kind of reminds me of the book "The Postponed Generation: why American youth are growing up later".

Very sad to see how much US has done to make life worse for other countries. Like El Salvador had civil war supported by US military so at least one gun shown in the TV program was an automatic US made .223 caliber pistol/rifle (rather than your AK "assault" rifle you see in videos from, say, Africa). As well as deporting US trained gang members to their countries which they seem to have been introduced to the US based gang life.

The other issue is if US becomes a lawless country (where police are afraid of the gangs), what then? As we have seen in post-Katrina, it doesn't take much of a disaster to cause a havoc in the U.S., esp. in big cities. I can foresee something like an earthquake in California causing similar chaos and gangs taking over the weaker citizens. Merely being armed, unfortunately, won't be good enough. Physical proximity to those who are like minded would matter, as well, since no man is an island and you can't do everything by your self [and your family]. Something for me to think about as we move to SoCal in few weeks....

Copyright 2006, DannyHSDad, All Rights Reserved.

Church: liberal vs others

2006-07-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

I don't normally plug newspaper editorial but I found the following funny: "Liberal Christianity is paying for its sins: Out-of-the-mainstream beliefs about gay marriage and supposedly sexist doctrines are gutting old-line faiths."

The stats in the editorial is very interesting on how mainline churches are seriously in decline. I also love how it ends:

So this is the liberal Christianity that was supposed to be the Christianity of the future: disarray, schism, rapidly falling numbers of adherents, a collapse of Christology and national meetings that rival those of the Modern Language Assn. for their potential for cheap laughs. And they keep telling the Catholic Church that it had better get with the liberal program — ordain women, bless gay unions and so forth — or die. Sure.

God and Languages

2006-06-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

How can God talk to us? We have 5 senses and we humans use at least 3 of them for languages (touch for example is Braille).

What is really neat is that language is transcendent and as we use words inside our head, God can skip the "middle man" of physical transmission media and insert His words in our head as we use our own words (dreams, day dreams, solving problems, talking to oneself, etc.). I believe God speaks to us through other media (Bible, prophets, nature, etc.) but we also need to be attuned to Him speaking to us directly inside of us!

Belated Father's Day!

2006-06-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.
- George Herbert

Taking Actions: doing not talking

2006-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

I heard about Betty Tisdale from Dateline NBC and liked what she started and continues to do: caring for the orphans in war zones [started with Vietnam but moves to help others in 3rd world countries].

Do, not talk [or protest, in this case].

Day of Prayer

2006-06-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

Our church is pushing "Global Day of Prayer" and what a contrast to what Jesus said:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. [Mat 6:5-8]

You have to wonder: Did Jesus have us in mind when He said that? [I'd say yes but that's my opinion.]

Do what I say and do

2006-05-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:19

As fathers, it's easy to "do what I say, not what I do" to our children. But here Jesus makes clear it is important to not just do the right thing but to say it, too.

Heart Cause

2006-05-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

People are willing to die for a cause which their hearts are attached to. What is your heart attached to?

Secular people with sacred message

2006-05-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

I read the NY Times piece on advertisement "Christian Message, Secular Messengers." My thoughts are: what in the world? Why are we trying to be more "slick" rather than getting back to the core:

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth [John 4:24]

Also, this overemphasis on youth gets it all backward: we need to get the elders (or bishops or overseers) straight. And then their children and their grandchildren. Then all else should follow [women and children will eventually get with the message if the fathers are].

Where are the men?

Playing at Adventure

2006-05-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Fred Reed's "Playing at Adventure" article gives hints into manhood but of the worldly kind. He points out:

We [men] just do not domesticate well. While male behavior is perhaps no more inherently absurd than female, it has little application to the suburbs and bureaucratic salt mines.

The world today, the modern parts anyway, is very much a womanÂs world. It will become more so. The economy values orderliness, routine, and avoidance of waves. It needs patient people who will do the assembly-line work of huge offices whirring with air-conditioning. Women are better at this. IÂm not sure that they really like it, but they handle it well.

Women want security, comfort, nice houses and nice cars. Men eventually feel cramped by them.

Unfortunately, being a wild man (aka godless version of "Wild at Heart") is all he seems to offer. And most men do turn to his "wild side," be it putting on the greens or avidly following a football game. Why? I guess we men want some sort of unpredictable discovery, even if it isn't new any more, like climbing Mount Everest or watching the Superbowl.

As I have posted elsewhere, I realized that I was treating the sermons as my source of intellectual discovery -- the main reason for my hanging around a church. However, it isn't enough for most men and they stay away from church by the droves. Now I'm not advocating that churches promote "wild things" just to grab men since it misses the point: men need a place to be real men. What is that might look like is what this blog is all about. Come back again for more of my thoughts!

Camp Report: Call to fatherhood

2006-04-24T05:39:00.001-07:00

My sons and I went to our church sponsored father-son campout this weekend and the highlight for me was the Sunday morning message. The speaker mentioned about Robert E. Lee and after looking around for while on internet, I found the story/quote:

As he gathered his children about him he must have felt patriarchal for a man just thirty-three. His progeny now numbered four, a boy of eight and another approaching his fourth birthday, a girl in her sixth year and the newcomer in the cradle. It may have been at this time, during the winter of his return from the West, that the youthful Custis unwittingly impressed on Lee his ever increasing moral responsibility for this growing household. Lee took Custis out for a walk one snowy day, and when they had ploughed along together awhile, Custis dropped behind. After a few minutes Lee looked back and found that his little boy was behind him, imitating his every move and walking in the tracks the father had made in the snow. "When I saw this," Lee told one of his friends long afterwards, "I said to myself, 'it behooves me to walk very straight when this fellow is already following in my tracks.' " (Robert E. Lee, by Douglas Southall Freeman Vol I, Chap 11)

Robert E. Lee (in my mind, the hero of the War of Southern Oppression) gets to the point: "Monkey see, monkey do" and how we men live as fathers is what our children will follow.

Of course I had some "quality" time with my sons although I probably spent more time with other dads than with my sons over the weekend. Supposedly this camp is for fathers to bond with their sons but since I spend time with my sons everyday (we are still reading the Bible every night, but have gotten behind pace for reading for the whole year but we side tracked on purpose like read the appropriate sections -- more or less -- from the 4 Gospels during the "holy week" from Palm Sunday to Easter), I didn't feel the urgency to be with them every minute of the weekend. Besides my sons don't normally get to be with their friends in outdoor settings away from their parental eyes (like exploring the woods). Of course when shooting guns, etc. I'm always around since both my sons and I are new to guns and I'm not ready to completely trust them (nor myself) yet.

Jesus the anti-State

2006-04-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.sobran.com/columns/2006/060404.shtml inspired me to write:

Jesus is the anti-State (i.e., alternative to the government). He didn't come to replace any government since He pointedly proclaimed:

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
-- John 18:36,37

No, He came as an antidote to government: The one and only King to testify to the truth. Not the Constitution, not rules, and sure not laws, but instead: the Way, Truth and Life. [Too many politicians are known for lying. The more well known, yet recent "classic" is with the POTUS reasons for starting the Iraq War @ 2003.]

Orderly Worship

2006-04-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

I saw Today's blip on Hot Metal worship. The entertainment factor gone all out, if you ask me. Jesus didn't say make a better show or music. But to make disciples. It is not about 1 hour show resulting in an alter call response.

Take a look at 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. Everyone should bring one of:

a hymn
a word of instruction
a revelation
a tongue
an interpretation

All for the purpose of strengthening of the church (v26).

Paul goes into tongues and prophesy which are ignored by the evangelical churches which I'll put aside for now (grin). [I think the problem with charismatic churches is ignoring the command of v40: everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.]

Note that in the midst, Paul describe the role of women at church (v33-35): absolute silence (not just vocal but body language). Could this be the cause of our sissy churches?

Easter

2006-04-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

My wife and I had a great conversation about worship (after our rather bland Easter service) and men since her friend's husband had stopped attending church. As I have been blogging about it to explore what the ideal might be, a men-focused church is badly needed to bring and keep men who are action challenged (e.g., sportsmen), rather than mamas-boy (attend church to please his mama) or someone like me who's mentally challenged.

Christ resurrected to give us real life not "religious" entertainment nor sissy, passive "spiritual" life. Mega churches just can't give a hands on manhood training and encourangement as man of the home, let alone manly worship experience. Today, with so much emphasis on reaching to moms and children, she can't help but be a sissy one.

Dead Saturday: spirit over form

2006-04-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

I'm never sure what to call today since I grew up in a church that didn't make much deal about Easter. Googling, I find it called Silent or Holy Saturday, neither of which it rings "right." My title is no better (or even worse) but is a good reminder of what took place between Good Friday and Easter.

Anyway, my real objective is commenting on what I've read in "The Life You've Always Wanted" of the first few pages of Chapter 3 "Training vs Trying," about getting ready for a marathon is not about trying but training. Yet in the back of my mind, I'm thinking: churches which are focused on the form are more about "thou shall nots" [but detailed analysis of the Bible], while the churches which are more spirit lead (Pentecostal or charismatic) are more about feelings with little or no details from the Bible. I'm not trying to artificially divide into two types of churches but that's the impression I have gotten over the years where I've encountered various churches.

My wife is into dancing [classical ballet is what she was trained in but she takes all kinds of lessons today] but our current church is the form focused kind so dancing has been put "aside" (for now). She gets asked to dance at other churches (usually the spirit lead kind) and I join her at times.

I am really writing all this because of my sons: I don't want them to see Christianity as list of do's and don'ts and concerned only about the forms. Christianity is about Christ: encounter with the Savior from our wickedness and the only way to wipe out the past (without committing suicide) and to start a new life. And that life is about interacting (i.e., being in love) with Him and as the love bond grows stronger, the following (obeying) Him part should be the natural outcome. And yet we (myself included) put the form over the spirit/love and I can see why children get turned off of Christ and Christianity.

Where am I going with this post? I'm not sure and I may have to edit or rewrite it from scratch but I do want to capture my thoughts of this morning....

Sissy Church Tricks

2006-04-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

When I saw: "Episcopal Churches Turn to U2 to Pack Pews" I thought, OK, I did hear that Bono was/is a Christian so it kind of made sense but the little that I scanned over, it seems the title gets the essence: using rock music to pack in the pews rather than a heart change (esp the men). What else will these sissy churches come up to get people interested in churchy life rather than elder (men) lead church of Jesus Christ?

The Passion of the Christ and Good Friday

2006-04-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

I finally saw "The Passion of the Christ" today and it was very moving and I can see why others were moved. However, the thing ticking behind the back of my mind was: I don't think the movie can portray it properly but the greatest suffering of Christ was not the physical pain but the weight of the world's sin, past, present and the future. Yes, the blood and gore were not easy to behold but I'm pretty sure that the visible pain were a small bump in the big picture of things from Jesus' (and God's) perspective.

His strategic burdens were the sins of the world and eternal salvation of all, but His tactical burdens were making sure of those He was responsible for, the more immediate needs He had in mind, like warning the women about future calamity (Luke 23:28-31) and making sure His mother was watched by John (John 19:25-27) and even reassuring a thief that he'll be in heaven, too. And last but not least, asking for forgiveness of those crucifying Him.

The question for me is, what are the burdens on my shoulders?

[Updated: minor detail changes (weight to burden) and making strategic and tactical distinctions.]

Joyless Church Life

2006-04-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

"The Life You've Always Wanted" has on page 38:

"They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others"

The pursuit of righteousness is always an exhausting pursuit when it seeks a distorted goal. Steven Mosley speaks [...]

"...our morality calls out rather feebly. It whines from the corner of a sanctuary; it awkwardly interrupts pleasures; it mumbles excuses at parties; it shuffles along out of step and slightly behind the times ... It's often regarded by our secular contemporaries as a narrow, even trivial, pursuit."

Reading that section hit home on how sissy churches have had a helping hand: heaping new rules of "thou shall not" is easier than creating new ways and paths to live a full, good, holy life. It's easy to be passive with new rules rather than blazing new trail(s). Just as it seems harder to create and start your own business (instead of becoming an employee), living a life of purity with the long list of "don'ts" is less joyful but easier said than done: life of purity by a freeman under Christ will always seem more challenging when in fact it is the way it should be. Jesus came and told us:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10b

He knows what He's talking about: we need to listen and carry out His vision. The question for me is how well tuned am I to listen to Him? Hopefully, I am ready to reply like Samuel:

Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 1 Sam 3:10b

Anything I do can and will be used against me

2006-04-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

You know the saying on police related TV and movies: you the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.

However, when it comes to being a father, the truth is:

Anything you do, can and will be used against you by your children. Anything you say will be ignored as appropriate [or only if convenient to them]. You have the right to second guess every move you make. You can even consult your wife and your children but don't expect anything helpful: They are who you've made them to be.

I'm not perfect and have to apologize to them more often than I want to and probably not as much as I should.

What's my point? What we do as fathers matter more than what we want to confess to and we need to keep doing the good things.

Father's guidance

2006-04-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

I posted one example in my other blog but here's another: Lorena Ochoa in her "Success Takes Hard Work, Dedication, and Faith" talks about her father as the first and foremost influence in taking up golf. How much would it have been better for her if she was focused on something more meaningful like getting married and having children? I mean she's proud of her record setting golf score (which will get broken in the future), of all the things!

Her article is one of many at Yahoo's IMOW (international museum of women) which a friend pointed out with Lisa Ling's "I'll Take Being Single Over 'Prince Charming' and a Picket Fence" (Ling pointed out in her earlier article about her parents' divorce at 7).

Funny how for me, I grew up in a rather conservative church (a protestant denomination) but the worldly influence was so strong (and weak or ineffective influence from my parents) that I thought that getting married while not having children was a good thing, too. [I got the sex only in marriage part down but not the logical conclusion of having children: be fruitful and multiply.]

Unfortunately for me, my father came from divorced parents, too, so he wasn't taught (nor mentored by other men) on how things should be done. Plus he didn't surround himself with men who might be able to help him (as far as I can remember). I've been fortunate to get plug into a church in Austin with strong men's ministry (when few hundred men show up 6AM in the morning to study the Bible, it is very inspiring). This blog won't exist without the kick start it helped me -- as you can read my other posts, I've wandered away from what they teach and where I want to be [which I think is a good thing].

My point? Whatever you emphasize in your life as a father is what your children will get and live out. Monkey see, monkey do. So be careful of what you choose.

Personally, I'd like to think I stand with Joshua:

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

But only time will tell....

Burn the Ships: why pile on the load?

2006-04-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

A friend pointed out "Burn the Ships" and at first I thought it was a good article for fathers but the more I thought about it, the more I think that the problem is misplaced. Men don't need more guilt dump on us to become better fathers.

Yes, we men are selfish and it is easy for us men to be self consumed but I don't think the problem of men today is the lack of commitment or enough sense of duty.

I think the problem of American fatherhood is that we are thrown into a rut from school on and everywhere we turn, we just get piled on more duties. That is, we are:

trained to follow willingingly (the purpose of school and college)
become an employee and continue to follow willingingly
get in debt for cars and homes and other junk and turn into slaves (Prov 22:7)
to stay at the job, one has to spend extra hours at work
after being spent by the job, it's hard to have room for children and wife, especially if she's nagging about this or that
civic responsibilities everything from national to local politics and even HOA for some folks.
church is more of the same: follow the leaders (pastors and teachers), and do more for the church.

Duties at work, duties at home, duties at church, duties at the polls, duties to the bank (credit cards, loans, mortgages). With so much duties on the man's shoulder, it's no wonder he wants to escape. All work and no play? Something is wrong with this picture and it's not hard to see why so many men become self absorbed with their hobbies or watching sports or go drinking with his buddies.

Jesus Christ had a different approach. He said:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matt 11:28-30

Note that in His time, the religious leaders were piling on the rules, the Romans had their taxation and their political thumb screws and I'm sure at home the wives weren't a happy lot either. Jesus in contrast offers us renewal, freedom and a life of empowerment:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

And what is this life that Jesus promised? Life of empowerment is what I believe He had in mind rather than life of more duties. What exactly is this life is what I hope to explore in my blog over time. Stay tuned!

Encouraging is hard

2006-04-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

My younger son and I had a conversion last night about how I had no encouragement to offer him and that made me a bad dad. We did talk about how I have given many freedom unlike his peers (I'm of the unschooling philosophy so less study means more education) but he is mostly right in that I'm not filled with words of encouragement.

It didn't help that I wasn't raised that way (and my son mentioned this too as father-like-son thing). But that doesn't make it right that I should keep not encouraging.

At least my son will keep me on my toes since not encouraging is his sign of me not doing my (manly) job...

A Call to Manhood

2006-04-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

I took my two sons and two friends to hear a talk by Tom Joyce a former Navy Pilot who flew during Iran tensions in the 80's and was at the Pentagon on 9/11 very near the explosions at Temple Baptist Church. He even was in the movie "Top Gun" flying some of the plane scenes.

We got the talk late and missed the intro and Joyce was in the middle of introducing other well known authors/speakers definitions of manhood like Robert Lewis

[he had two others listed but I didn't have time to write them down so I hope to listen to the tape and update this post].

Here are my notes:

1 sam 13:14 explains why was david different

real men are:

didn't start as giant killer: did small tasks faithfully, like delivering lunch to his brothers, practice music playing, shepherd,
don't try to be someone else: not wear someone's armor, be what God calls me to be, not what I wish. In sports, coaches can plug you in where you fit based on the skills you show and with their experience you'll be better off doing what they assigned you to.
don't lose heart in tough times. get trained in small things to move to bigger things (9/11 example was about a guy who got blown out of the Pentagon but went back to rescue 4 others in the same room and when asked why he helped, he mentioned what he was trained in the Navy: to protect the mission (i.e., his ship), his shipmate and lastly himself)
have higher power and purpose. God was with David when he faced Goliath.
are eager to succeed: excited to engage in action. can't wait to see God work: Iran tension example was that Joyce was on a combat patrol and they were warned about bogies and was ready to attack Iranian aircrafts (they trained for years for this moment) but the enemy turned north and away from Americans.
encourage others, to take other men to the next level. Touching part of was how Joyce described how his dad would always end with the words "atta boy" (along with "you can do it" and "that's my boy") and that was the last words he heard from his dad 90 minutes before he died.

He mentioned about Saul who said of David (1 Samuel 17:55): who was that man? So David became such a man that even king[s] inquired of him. However all that is meaningless unless one knows who Jesus is. We are incomplete as sinners as fallen being and can only be made complete through Jesus Christ.

Free man and government

2006-03-30T05:32:00.000-08:00

Reading 1 Peter 2:13-17, one's initial impression is that the Founding Fathers of America was wrong to rebel against the British Crown. But then there is verse 16:

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 1 Pet 2:16

So I suppose there is room for the 1776 Revolution. The fact is, we live in a nation where "we the people" rebelled to start anew. Yet I have my doubts, ever since I've read (and I am still chewing over) "The Most Successful Fraud in American History" by Gary North and I'm about to start reading his "Conspiracy in Philadelphia: Origins of the United States Constitution". I was taught (brainwashed?) that U.S. Constitution was the best thing about America but now I have my foundation shaken a bit...

Abraham: Trained Killer

2006-03-20T20:27:00.000-08:00

My friend Roy pointed this out before but it didn't sink in until today: Abraham in Gen 14 was able to muster 314 trained men to rescue his nephew Lot. In verse 15, Abraham "attacked them and he routed them."

Not only did Abraham train, but he fought and killed as needed to defend even his extended relatives (Lot and his family).

I certainly don't have such training (yet) nor the current mental fortitude to act (in a lethal way) but it is a mental process I'm going through of getting ready to take such actions (to protect my family) as well as recognizing the seriousness and the finality of any such action.

There was a local homicide this past weekend near our home where a 44 year old man was shot and killed in front of a pizza store. Apparently today's news pointed out how it may have been due to conflicts with friends or business partners. Nonetheless, it brings home the reality of the danger of this world even in Central Texas.

I also found out about a combat training [both armed and unarmed] available if minimum of ten men are willing to sign up! I know when I move to L.A. I'll have a better change being in harms way, so the training is very appealing. However, since they offer it in SoCal, I may have to wait until I move there first.

Self-esteem, Meism, and loss of vision

2006-03-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

In living here on earth, it is easy for us to be consumed by here and now, be it busy making money or distracted by selfish things like computer gaming, drugs, music, sex, gluttony, etc.

With the schools focus on self-esteem and other forms of meism, people have lost the long term (and even eternal) focus, or a vision of how things should be or want things to be.

My eyes were opened not when I became a Christian nor when I understood Christianity to be not just spiritual/religious beliefs but the truth about all of life. No, my eyes and my vision start to clear as I understood the meaning of education and took over the ownership of my own education as well as my children's education (via homeschooling). The last year or two has been the most empowering for me, by going through the J2M (journey to manhood) with my son and 2 other father-son families, where we dads had to own it and do it. I'm only disappointed that it is, so far, a point process (rite of passage) rather than the beginning of fathers taking the lead in spiritual life [and all of life] at home and church.

Now, keep in mind that my eyes aren't fully seeing yet nor is the vision completely clear: I'm still trying to figure out what it all means and how it's to apply to my family and how I can get other men to see similarly. I too have plenty of meism-deprogramming to go through... Sigh...

Each Man called!

2006-03-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

From today's sermon that let me with an impression:

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. [Act 26:7]

Each person, especially men, are placed in specific place and specific culture, today -- I'm assuming you're alive as you read this (grin). So, our roles as men are to listen to His call and then live it! [If it only was as simple as that -- there would be no need for this blog, I guess....]

Matter of the heart

2006-03-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

I'm still slowly reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" -- I just finished chapter one and the story of Mabel is very inspiring -- you'll have to get the book and read it. It probably means more for me than for most people since I've volunteered at two nursing homes, once during high school and once when I was working in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And I'll be moving to L.A. to see to it that I'm around my parents as they age.

Anyway, I want to leave with you the poem of Elizabeth Barrett Browning that stuck with me:

Earth's crammed with Heaven.
And every common bush afire with God.
But only he who sees takes off his shoes --
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Teaching old dog new tricks: Soul makes the difference

2006-03-08T05:25:00.000-08:00

I've started reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. [I realize that I've got too many books in the fire but that's another story (grin).]

The following kicked in my head:
The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope.

We humans are creatures of habits ("practice makes permanent") and we can develop both good and bad habits. However, we each have a language driven soul, a part of us which transcends the physical reality [you can get a hint of language and transcendance on my "language doesn't exist" post]. Which can be changed or "morphed" as Ortberg calls it (he references the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the book). And hence we get all kinds of self help books, therapy, etc.

But as Walker Percy pointed out in "Lost in the Cosmos" it's not easy to do on your own. You can try to escape via drugs, sex, music ("rock and roll"), and even pretend suicide. But as long as you're trying on your own, things always go back to what it was before. Unless transformation takes place via outside force: Jesus Christ touching one's heart to show us the hopelessness of our own effort and the new life He promises and to take up on His offer. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading the book.

Leadership of Jesus and lack thereof in today's churches

2006-03-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

Vox Day has "On Jesus and Leadership" which has a lot of good insight into Jesus and leadership and contrasting the churches today and how sports understands leadership better. Here's my comment and I hope to expand on it later:

It is sad to see that the world of sports understands truth better than the church: you need leadership, you need goals both strategic and tactical, and the results have to be visual and clear cut (winner vs. loser, be it one inning/play or one game or one season or a string of seasons under one coach).

As much as people love to talk about moral relativism and world being gray, men prefer winners and losers, good vs evil, black and white. The feminized churches instead talk only about gray mush.

No wonder men are sucked into (and stuck in) sports and abandoning (abandonded?) sissy churches....

Manly Church and raising real men

2006-03-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

Doug Giles's "Where are God's Warriors and Wild Men?" was pointed out by Elusive Wapiti at VoxDay and found it to be really good. He's most recent article "Raising Boys That Feminists will Hate" has good points, too.

Servant Leader isn't Biblical?

2006-03-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Is "servant leader" another way to neuter the Christian men and ensure that the Church remain a sissy one? Vox Day's "The myth of the servant leader" points out:

The doctrine of the servant leader is little more than the attempt of the American Christian church to accommodate feminism within its body, in much the same way that its predecessor once transubstantiated pagan gods into Catholic saints. It is neither rational nor biblical, and the poverty of its fruit can be seen in the continued fraying of the bonds that hold Christian marriages together. Christian husbands, wives and their so-called leaders alike would do well to honestly consider a variant of Joshua's great question: Who do you serve, your culture or your God?

I'll blog on this more as I chew on it this week (already 12:50AM for me).