Wild at Heart | Week 1

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Week 1 | Wild at Heart

Weather | 77° F | Humidity 70% | Wind: 3mph E

8 Pax began the book study at Adventure Park and Celery Fields at 6:15 for this first week of Wild at Heart. This book is going to be really exciting. There have been many people reaching out to us indicating how great this book is. We had 2 new Pax post this morning for the study. Welcome Cowher and Rowdy (yet to be officially named).

The reading assignment was Chapter 1 – Wild at Heart. Pax were also asked to watch this video.

Discussion

  • What did you want to grow up and do when you were a kid?
  • What are some things a man’s heart desires for?
  • What are some things that a woman’s heart desires?
  • Any comments on the video?

Genesis 2:4-8 (NIV) This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

Notice that man was formed from the dust of the ground, and then later put into the lush Garden of Eden. Man was created to have dominion over the things of earth. Man is the only creation that God breathed his life into.

Genesis 2:18-22 (NIV) The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”. 19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature,that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Notice that woman was formed within the garden of Eden, from man, as a companion for man. Men and women were created in different environments, for different purposes, and have different natures and hearts.

  • Men need little encouragement to go exploring, it is in our nature, in our hearts.
  • Biblical heroes encounter God in the wilderness: Moses, Jacob, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus
  • Corporate policies are designed to harness a man, contrary to his soul.
  • Society has redefined masculinity into something sensitive, safe, manageable, feminine.
  • In all your boyhood dreams, did you ever dream of growing up to become a “Nice Guy”?
  • A good man as the typical church defines it: “Dutiful. Separated from his heart”
  • God made the masculine heart, thereby offering him an invitation to live it out.

In the heart of every man there is a desperate desire for three things:

A Battle to Fight

  • Did you play with toy guns when you were little? Play rough? Do your sons? Did anyone have to teach them that? Boys make everything into a weapon.
  • The most popular video games boys play, are fighting games.
  • Every man wants to play the hero.

An Adventure to Live

  • Men want to be the adventurous brave hero, not the weak man, not the business man.
  • Women want to marry the brave adventurous hero.
  • Adventure puts us to the test. James Bond, Indiana Jones.

A Beauty to Rescue

  • Beautiful women inspire men, motivate men, make them want to charge the castle or slay the giant.
  • Men going off to war carry a photo of their beauty, or paint on the side of their plane. Men need someone to fight for.
  • It’s not enough to be a hero, but a hero to someone.

The Feminine Heart | Every woman wants to be fought for, every woman wants an adventure to share, every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil.

  • Notice how women were created to perfectly complement men.
  • Are we offering the feminine soul more than pressure to “be a good servant” ?
  • Woman want to be fought for, swept away in an adventure and unveil their beauty.

Your heart may feel dead, but it’s there, something wild and strong waiting to be unleashed.

“The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.” — Howard Macey

Homework | Read Chapter Two: The Wild One Whose Image We Bear

Thoughts for the week:

What kind of man was Jesus? We all know the things he did, but what kind of person was he? What was his personality like? What was his sense of humor like? Do you think that his followers lived a boring life and he was otherwise boring to be around? Or, were his followers living a spontaneous adventurous life that most can only dream of?