ExaMEN

This is a two part series for the Holy Spirit. 

We have been discussing why we believe what we believe. One thing we have discussed is a change in nature based on our actions and reactions. We believe in a second birth - one of water and one of the Spirit. There have been many ways people have tried to explain this portion of the Trinity, many have avoided the topic, and many still question who the Holy Spirit is, how He functions, and what is His purpose.

How do you gain access to the Holy Spirit?
What is his purpose?
How does one's life look different once they have received the Spirit?
For you: How will you be able to better teach others and mentor those around you that have not understood what it means to know and follow Christ and experience the Holy Spirit?

Join in as Josh, Stephen, Tyler and Jonathan talk about what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ and pursue Him. In the episode, we talk about 

• Qualities and characteristics that exemplify Christ
• How to "Carry your Cross"
• Putting Christ first
• Becoming more Christlike
• And... Why we pursue Christ

Much of our discussion comes after talking about Matthew when it says "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness". It is difficult in a self-centered world to focus on Christ and HIs plan for our lives. To do that, without worry is tough. We want to encourage you to look more like Jesus each day for that is what God has called us toward. 

After our session, we talked about some people, books, and influences that helped shape us to who we are today in our faith walks. We want to encourage you to find those people in your life and give back to them by saying thank you. Look around you and bring people along that are beginning their walks or who are questioning what it means to walk with Christ.

Here are some of the influences we discussed:

• Podcasts about Christ Centered Relationships
• Former pastors we have sat under in College or our church backgrounds
• Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler, Chris Hodges, Louie Giglio, John Piper were a few pastors mentioned by name
• Our parents and the Godly influence we were placed in under them
• Our wives example to us when they seek God's word - whether in the morning or in a small group together
• Professors and Campus ministers
• Groups we have been a part of in churches and in community
• Desiring God Website

Find us on instagram or facebook and ask if you would like a more exhaustive list of influences. Those listed above are a good start.

Have you ever heard of someone getting hurt by the Church? People walk away every year and possibly every day because they feel like the church isn't doing what they thought the church should be doing and MANY can back it up with facts. Truth be told, the church is a gathering of believers with like mission. Problem is... people's desires and hopes get in the way of what the church's responsibilities are. Listen as we discuss the church and how it should deal with sin. The core responsibility of the church is to seek to be blameless and to draw others into relationship with Christ. When that relationship has been broken, then it is to help others see how to restore that relationship - through the eyes of forgiveness.

Ways to ExaMEN (try before and after):
What is the Church?
Can someone be a Christian on their own without being part of a church?
What is the purpose of the church?
What is discipleship and how can the church create an environment for discipleship?
What is the church’s role in dealing with sin?
What is the process for people within the church with a sinner?
If church discipline can drive people away, why would we call out and cause people to potentially leave our church?

Carrying on our conversation from last time about sin, we wanted to take it a step further. It is easy to say what sin is, but "What's next?" or "What about me, who continues to still be in sin?"

We all wonder about the hope that is come through Jesus and His plan for us and our lives. Many trust God, but either get caught up in today's futures of being okay with certain sins or mess up and we lose trust that God is who He promises He is... Our Father. We may compare Him to an earthly father who wasn't as forgiving as our Heavenly Father, which is not a good picture for us to compare to and trust.

In today's episode, we ask some tight questions and give some beliefs that hopefully will begin to allow you to create discussions with others around you. Whether you are mentoring guys younger than you or you have a group of guys you are in contact with - bring up the topic and see what you come up with after discussing. A provoking question from this title was: IF SOMEONE CAME UP TO YOU AND YOU COULD ONLY GIVE THEM THREE THINGS OF ADVICE ON HOW LEAVE SIN BEHIND... WHAT DO YOU SAY? WHAT ADVICE DO YOU GIVE?

Here are some questions to think on yourself. Meditate or think about them, discuss with those around you, figure out answers for you do not know the day that someone will ask you and when you have examined your own beliefs and stances, it makes it a lot easier to share Biblically - rather than how you feel. 

The questions are as follows:
What does sin in the Christian life look like?
Temptation - Is being tempted a sin?
Where is the process of temptation carried out (origination)?
How do we seek to leave Sin behind or how do we turn from our sinful nature?
Not sinning anymore?
Even after salvation, do people become complacent?

Take away: Amazing concept of grace - we cannot earn our own salvation.

Join us as we walk through sin - the reason we believe we needed Jesus from last week and why we choose Christianity.

This week we discuss what sin is in the forms of commission (commit an offense) or omission (we should have done something and chose not to. We spend some time talking about where we believe it came from and if we believe it is for all people. We asked whether people were in a fallen state and what that even meant. 

I (Jonathan) believe the most important part is when we talked about the consequences of our sin. Often hearing others wonder about suffering and punishment for sin and where that will happen - whether here and now on earth or a forward day. Then we wrapped up with talking about the out for sin. Our punishment is placed on Jesus.

Thoughts on how to examine based on this week - try to answer these questions and what does the Bible say about them:

• What is sin?
• What is sin's impact on me and those around me?
• Are there any unchecked sins in my life that I should find someone to speak to?
• What are the consequences of all sins? your sins? (Do you see them differently for yourself than you do for others?)
• How will you choose to get rid of your sins? (trust a loving Father in Heaven, try to work them out (doesn't work), just continue to sin so that Grace will have to increase)

Join us next week as we discuss what is after sin for us.

The highest probabilities that someone will walk in a belief system is experience. Many people in Alabama, where we reside, grow up with it in the home. Much like the reason a lot of kids choose to follow the sport's team that their dad championed - many believe in Christianity because their parents championed the morality of it. Thats not the case for everyone - not even everyone in our group. Listen as we give our backgrounds to faith - we go from a pastor's son to a later in life reality.

In this episode we talk about the meaning of Christianity as a whole. The basis is that you are becoming like Christ and choose to follow His teachings. Even when people get full understanding at times, situations lend to distrust and hurt and many choose to walk away from the faith they had their hearts set on before. We discuss why. 

In the podcast, we want to share some things that we stand firm on that makes hearing and believing easier for us. The crazy part - it is easier to sit and speak of this on a podcast & to travel around the world and share our faith than it is to go across the street. We challenge one another to do this more. Why? Because of the implication that occurs for those who do not believe.

We want you to learn about Christianity and why to believe. We want you to experience honesty in conversation. We want you to become a Christian - it is important to our lives, it is important to our families, and it is important for eternity.

Answer some of these as you examine:

• What is your background with faith and religion?
• When you hear the word "Christian" what positives come to mind? Negatives?
• According to the Bible, how does one become a Christian? What do other faiths say?
• If you have walked away, why? Where was your focus?
• If you are a believer, what are some important beliefs you have that support your faith? Willing to share some? (use our Facebook page as a sounding board if you'd like)
• Have you ever been on a mission trip? Why or why not? Where would you like to go?

Learn, Know and Experience Christ - it is life changing.

Why is it so important for people to believe in God?

Apologetics is the study and defense of a belief. We want to equip men to self-examine after hearing the podcast to understand why you believe some of the things of the Christian faith in order to talk to those around you and begin discussion with them - especially those of the next generation. Knowing God is the HIGHEST belief one can have. 

Today, Josh, Tyler, Thomas, Stephen, Shawn and Jonathan talk about God and his existence. 

Questions for you:
Why do you believe in God or why do you choose not to?
What experiences have you experienced that have strengthened that belief?
What things of science have proven God to be true for you?
How might you tell someone without faith to have faith, can you give them evidence?

Anger, what a HOT topic. It can range from just being annoyed to lashing out against others in rage. While anger is a normal human emotion, when it is unchecked anger often leads to massive, sometimes irrevocable, problems in  interpersonal relationships, work and on general quality of life. People that have difficulty managing anger are susceptible to road rage, verbal and physical violence, and some may find themselves in legal trouble due to anger-fueled incidents.

From the Anger Management Report, 64% of people say the people seem to be getting angrier.

In today’s episode, we look at the origin of anger.

What does it look like?

Where does it come from?

What are the repercussions of anger?

Especially during this COVID-19 Quarantine mandate, the rates of child abuse, divorce, and domestic violence have risen.

How can you know when anger is coming from the wrong place?

Is there a right anger?

What are you defending when anger exists? Is it your own personal pride or social justices that better others’ well being?

Stemming from PRIDE and a need for CONTROL, anger entails. From sports, to the work place, to relationships, etc… The desire for control - when it comes to anger - makes you lose control.

The release comes from dying to self and forgiveness. Learning to evaluate yourself, your situations, and your surroundings - you can release anger when you learn to see things with the end in mind rather than the current situation.

We must learn to train ourselves to be angry with SIN and a LACK OF JUSTICE not the individual. People will be held accountable to their sins and we are not the judge. We are called to love our enemy, to pray for our enemy, and trust that the Lord will turn things for the good of those who love Him.

Challenge: ExaMEN yourself, are you harboring your struggles or are you giving forgiveness the same way you have been forgiven and want to be forgiven.

What if I were to tell you that your tongue was a direct reflection of your heart?

Proverbs 18:31 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

The tongue has a huge impact on our lives.

Many times they are used negatively through discouragement to tear people down.

From sports, business, bullying, lack of filter, gossip, slander, and lying.

A hard thing is that topic of lying…

How do you weigh between lying and discretion?

We may say they are little white lies, but churches face a big issue with acceptance and alignment with culture.

Living the truth and presenting it with a loving and kind way promotes encouragement, but harm comes when we choose to use truth for self gain.

When your heart is strong and you are in a good place, but when angry or out of sorts, our filters slip off. This makes us have to go back and use our mouths for apology in order to be reaccepted.

How does asking forgiveness make you feel?

Avoid it, don’t want to look wrong, easily comes, don’t care enough about relationships?

What things do you need to ask forgiveness for?

Positive words are important. They can grow kids away from being shy, they can bless a heart for someone who puts their joy in items, it makes people who feel like they could never do something succeed, and it can change you to do things because you are positive about yourself.

What do you do to practice positivity in your life/with your words?

The same tongue should not praise and curse… just like salty water and clean water does not flow from the same stream.

Challenge for this week: Watch your words and tongue and see what that reveals about your heart?

Doing things we wish we would not have done or wish we didn’t do can make us have a feeling of disgust in ourselves. Avoiding this pain would mean that we would have to remain pure in all avenues of our lives.

What is purity and is purity possible?

Who do we affect and what is effected when we have impurities in our lives?

We can break purities down into our ways, our words, and our wants.

Do we strive and seek to achieve purity as men?

Do we seek to stay in societal norms, which are rapidly changing, or biblical truths about purity?

Do we see the Bible as dos and don’ts or as means to the way God planned for us to have the best within boundaries?

Where do you set your boundaries and how do you keep them?

What do you do when temptation arises?

God created sexual intimacy for you to have a deep commitment with your wife. Our physical desire lends for many to cloud the purity that was intended. It does not mean that we continue in the ways we have been going, but that we repent and ask God to show us His intentional plan for purity.

Love is a service to others - it is not for yourself. The lack of training and teaching lends us to our feelings - typically physical satisfaction. We give our bodies what we feel makes us “satisfied”, but it sometimes leaves us numb to the intimacy we were created for.

Use Episode 6 to delve deeper into your desires that have been impure and see where your heart has been and where your desires should be turned in order to gain a mind and body of purity - through Christ.

We tend to define our IDENTITY by our experiences, activity, or relationships. 

Whatever gives us our highest value is the place we try to validate ourselves. For men, that typically comes from work - since most of our day's hours are spent doing that. Typically, we are introduced by name and profession.

Topics of Discussion:

• What ways do you define yourself?
• How does Satan use your definition of identity against you.
• Where are you spending your energy and what energy is taken away from other priorities?
• What is a true identity? Where does it come from?

Everything in this world is temporary and changing all the time.. When we try to attach to anything in this world, we try to fight and defend the to keep things that are fleeting. It’s all going to end @ some point. If our identity is there at the end then we wonder where we have been and what we have been doing and we are going to be left confused.

When you think about sports and success...
    Who or what teams do you think of and why?

How do you define that they were successful?

Success is completing the tasks set before you and the plans set in place that make you reach your goal.

They do not just happen, you must make a plan based on where you feel God is calling you.
    One quote from our podcast talked about winning the morning, what does your morning routine look like?

As men, we will always try to validate ourselves and see how we are measuring up to the standards around us. Other situations will define us, unless we choose what success looks like for ME.

When you attain success, it can lend to pride. "Look where I have been, look at how people treat me now, and see what I have done."

Success for the sake of success is not fulfilling. You start then looking for what’s next and what's better to make me bigger and better and wanting more.

Do you create your own success? If not, who is?

When have you been on a team that has put in the work, on a project you thought was in a great place, in a place you thought there is no way this will not be perfect THEN the ball didn't go your way, your project was put on hold or fell off the work flow, or perfect wasn't as perfect as you hoped?
    How did you respond? What happened?

Would you say you’re blessed? Are you obedient? Ultimately - you live life, Jesus says to live abundant and if you live life abundant, then you live life eternal.

Palm Sunday is about Jesus coming into Jerusalem and the people are celebrating Him because they think He will take the rightful place as the king. It doesn't go as they had planned. He wasn't acting like the king they thought would be taking over. 

So... what does a king or leader look like? How about in a biblical perspective? How about in your house?

Jesus as king comes in as gentle and meek, humble. He had the right to do whatever he wanted. People wondered if he would show that power.

• What do we think about that mentality?
• When you have access to do whatever you choose, could there possibly be an issue?
• How does Jesus use His power to love others, to keep an outward focus?

During "Stay at Home" orders from the government, it is tough for people. Our freedoms are being removed because we cannot move as freely as we would like. At times - it feels like our rights are being taken away. Rights put the concerns on yourself - They fail to give purpose… They tell you what you can do, but not on what you should do. One person’s rights are results of someone else’s responsibility to protect those rights for someone else.

Jesus gives up HIs rights to bear the sins of the World.

• How do you define responsibility?

We take next steps due to our responsibilities - this is what it looks like. We are trying to push our country forward BY pushing our people forward. Whether that be business, home, community, church, etc... we must continue to move forward - even if that requires us to stay put for a moment.

Some important questions asked in this episode:

• What is your greatest responsibility?
• How important do you view your role?
• Does your marriage and family advance the Gospel more together than you can alone?
• Are my wife and kids seeing how important God is to my life by the way I live each day?
• Am I setting the tone for my family ands giving them the example to live by?
• Am I creating an environment where my wife is thriving and my kids are growing spiritually?

Think about what the world would look like if each man took responsibility for the spiritual well being of his family.
Joshua 24:15 - As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

No-one sees you like your family does and we are with our families A LOT right now. Our time is critical and crucial - our families need to see our leadership.

Josh left us with a strong word in closing:
Men, accept this responsibility. Value and cherish the burden of this role that God has given us.

With COVID-19 making its way through our nation, community, and at times hitting close to home - how did we respond to it initially and how is that changing the more prevalent it gets?

Listen to the podcast and then ExaMEN your processes on the discussions we discussed below:

• Initial reaction of the virus news and as information has progressed, how has your perception changed?
• How has your family - wife and kids - handled the situation?
• How should a believer react in the midst of difficult or uncertain times?
• How can men be an example to their family by showing calmness and peace in difficult times - especially concerning their faith?
• There are positives we have seen through this. Can you define some of your own positives that have happened that you can share with others? Where is your peace coming from right now?

The church needs to be ready for the people that this event will bring in. It is important to understand that God is in control. When we surrender to Him and completely trust in Him, then we are able to glorify Him. Take advantage of this opportunity to develop a consistent quiet time with God - don’t just know about God, but know God. Go to God in prayer and seek his comfort.

Thank you to those who choose to listen. Know God for peace and comfort. We would love for you to respond with words and text of what stood out to you today.