God's Mighty Men Last week Steve W, Jim S and I had the pleasure of meeting with Pastor Scott Bloyer, the keynote speaker for our 2019 conference. Scott blessed us with about two hours of his time to get acquainted, hear about his vision for men’s ministry, and flesh out event preparations. It was an inspiring conversation with deep discussion on many joyful as well as hard topics. This year’s conference promises to be excellent!
Scott asked us: what is the signature sin of all men in our community? There were several good answers. I suggested “Idolization of Self”: considering yourself God and adopting the attitude of the lyrics around I did it “My Way”. As I reflect on that, I think my self-centeredness comes from the worst aspect of PRIDE. St. Augustine wrote, “Pride is the commencement of all sin because it was this which overthrew the devil, from whom arose the origin of sin; and afterwards it subverted [man] in the same way in which he himself fell. For the serpent, in fact, only sought for the door of pride whereby to enter when he said, ‘Ye shall be as gods.”
If I want to be my own “mighty man” I won’t be God’s mighty man: I’ll resist the true Christian fellowship described in the Bible, and I won’t be a blessing to my family, my church and my community.
Brothers, we are called to something much better than rugged individualism. Mark your calendar to reserve Saturday, Oct. 26th, for “Crashing the Divide: Seeking Unity”.
