Wild at Heart | Week 2

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Week 2 | Wild at Heart

Weather | 73° F | Humidity 96% | Wind: 5mph E

7 Pax continued the book study at Adventure Park and Celery Fields at 6:15 for the second week of Wild at Heart. Thank you to all the HIM that posted. All Pax are invited to attend. Even if you don’t have the book, just show up to fellowship and grow spiritually with us.

The reading assignment was Chapter 2 – The Wild One Whose Image We Bear.

Discussion

  • The author shares his memory of the general store and BB gun with his grandfather. Do you have any fond (masculine) memories of your childhood?
  • What is one of the most adventurous things you have done? How did it feel?

Where Do We Come From?

  • What was your father like? Most men try hard to not become like their fathers.
  • Most pictures of Jesus are kind, gentle, like Mother Teresa and not like William Wallace.

Braveheart Indeed

  • Anyone seen Braveheart? Is Jesus more like Mother Teresa or William Wallace?
  • Well, it depends on what side you are on.

Luke 13:10-17 (NLT) One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! 14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days

Jesus was not a man to tiptoe around the issues. He confronted the evil in the hypocrites and called them out on it in front of all the crowd.

A Battle to Fight

  • There are examples of God’s warring activity all throughout the bible.
    • The Egyptian Exodus, plagues, pestilence
    • Taking back the promised land
    • Samson – Violent events occurred when “Sprit of the Lord came upon him”
  • Has the church pared the claws of the Lion of Judah?

John 18:4-8 (NLT) Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. 5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”

Jesus confronts the soldiers accompanied by the angry mob, head on. Bold and Courageous.

Ballad of the Goodly Fere

Ezra Pound, 1885 – 1972

Simon Zelotes speaking after the Crucifixion. Fere=Mate, Companion.

Ha’ we lost the goodliest fere o’ all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O’ ships and the open sea.

When they came wi’ a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
“First let these go!” quo’ our Goodly Fere,
“Or I’ll see ye damned," says he.

Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears
And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
“Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?” says he.

Oh we drank his “Hale” in the good red wine
When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere
But a man o’ men was he.

I ha’ seen him drive a hundred men
Wi’ a bundle o’ cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury.

They’ll no’ get him a’ in a book I think
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere
But aye loved the open sea.

If they think they ha’ snared our Goodly Fere
They are fools to the last degree.
“I’ll go to the feast," quo’ our Goodly Fere,
“Though I go to the gallows tree.”

“Ye ha’ seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
“Ye shall see one thing to master all:
‘Tis how a brave man dies on the tree.”

A son of God was the Goodly Fere
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha’ seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.

He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue
But never a cry cried he.

I ha’ seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o’ Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between,
Wi’ his eyes like the grey o’ the sea,

Like the sea that brooks no voyaging
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi’ twey words spoke’ suddently.

A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.

I ha’ seen him eat o’ the honey-comb
Sin’ they nailed him to the tree.

This sounds a lot more like William Wallace than Mother Teresa.

What About Adventure

  • Earth has many adventurous places, Great Barrier Reef, Jungles, Mountains, Deserts.
  • God made a world that requires us to live with risk, because he wants us to live by faith.
  • There are examples of “Then the Lord Intervened” throughout scripture.
  • How was God’s gospel spread? Was that risky?

A Beauty to Fight For

  • All God’s wildness and fierceness are inseparable from his romantic heart.
  • That theologians have missed this says more about theologians than it does about God.
  • God made music, wine, poetry, sunsets. Bahamas, Hawaii, Tuscany. Eyes, Kisses etc…

Isaiah 62:1, 5 (NIV) 1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

God is jealous for the hearts of his people and their freedom.

Little Boys and Little Girls

  • Often our words to boys are “Don’t..” or “Be careful…” or “Slow down..” etc…
  • God’s design is a resounding Yes.
  • “Gender is a reality, and a more fundamental reality than sex…a fundamental polarity which divides all created beings.”
  • A male lion is awesome, but what about a lioness? There is something fierce in heart of women too.

Jeremiah 29:13, 5 (NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

God wants to be loved. He wants to be a priority to someone. He wants to be a priority to you.

1 Corinthians 11:7 (NLT) A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.

God created the Land and Sea, Birds and Fish, and then Man in God;s Image. Eve is God’s finishing touch.

Men need to be tender at times, and women fierce. But if a man is only tender and a woman always fierce, then something is wrong.

“How would telling people to be nice to one another get a man crucified? What government would execute Mister Rogers or Captain Kangaroo?” — Phillip Yancey
“Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” — C. S. Lewis

Homework | Read Chapter Three: The Question That Haunts Every Man

Thoughts for the week:

What are your greatest desires in life? What are some things on your bucket list? What are your greatest fears in life? Why did God create Adam?