Week 5 | The Battle For a Man’s Heart
Weather | 75° F | Humidity 71% | Wind: 13mph WNW
4 Pax continued the book study at Adventure Park at 6:15 for the fifth week of Wild at Heart. We had a FNG post closer to the end. Welcome Lambeau to F3! Thank you to all the HIM that posted. All Pax are still encouraged 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 5 – The Battle For a Man’s Heart.
We began by watching this video: Wild Life with John Eldredge – Part 3
Discussion
- Did you ever turn to girls or porn for validation?
- What are some things that are off-limit conversations with your spouse?
So John’s first grade son gets pushed down by a bully on the playground. Dad’s advice: “Get back up and hit him!”
Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, right? However, if you hold just one passage of scripture up and ignore all the others, you will come to absurd conclusions.
- It is good for a man not to marry (1 Cor. 7:1)
- If you want to be perfect, sell all your possessions and give to the poor (Mat 19:21)
We cannot teach boys that bullies should not be met with resistance, and we cannot teach bullies that they are allowed to get away with it. You will emasculate that boy for life, he will be passive and fearful.
Finishing Him Off
- Boy’s penis accidentally removed during a medical procedure. His genitals reconstructed as a females. This is a parable of our time!
- Culture: “Aggressive nature in boys is inherently bad.”
- Our schools are changing males for education, not changing education for males.
- Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADD, maybe they’re not sick, and they are just boys.
- Church Leader (Coach): “Don’t go out there and ‘kick butt’ that’s not very nice”. In other words: “Be soft.”
- Our society puts men in a cage, like that Lion. Consequently. we produce many boys, very few men.
- We don’t know how to initiate boys into men, and we are not sure we want to.
“The energy, competitiveness and corporal daring of normal, decent males is responsible for most of what is right in the world.”
- Boys shielded others at Columbine
- Men stopped the Nazis in WWII
- Men gave up seats on lifeboats on Titanic to women and children
Whats Really Going on Here, Anyway?
- Our society is a battlefield against men. Think Omaha beach, gunfire all around, bodies piling up, men huddled up in a trench, scared.
- The Story of the Army Captain showing his men how to take a house while they are being fired at.
- Why is there such an assault on men? The enemy fears us. The enemy is largely in control of society. Most men are never initiated into manhood. Just lost, off-track, scared boys.
Our Search for an Answer
- We need to know who we are and if we have what it takes.
- Successful man, father died, he was not even that sad. He was never really close. He worked all his years trying to earn his father’s approval, it didn’t work, it didn’t fill the wound. He missed out.
Where does a man go for validation?…inevitably ends up at Eve.
Taking it to Eve
- Boys will turn to girls for validation to fill the void left by their fathers. It doesn’t work.
- Why is pornography the most addictive thing for men? For men THE QUESTION can be hard-wired to the penis. If they can be a hero sexually, they are a hero.
- The answer to THE QUESTION is not found in women. Femininity does not bestow masculinity. This can only be accomplished by other men.
- This is the reason why so many men secretly fear their wives. If they have given her the power to validate them, then they have given her the power to invalidate them.
“Now you’re out there, God knows where, You’re one of the walking wounded.” — Jan Krist
“To give a man back his heart is the hardest mission on earth.” — From the movie: Michael
“Nothing worth having comes without some sort of fight.” — Bruce Cockburn
Homework | Read Chapter Six: The Father’s Voice
Thoughts for the week:
How does God initiate men? What would your coworkers say it’s like to work with you, or your family say it’s like to live with you? Are there some things that people are afraid to bring up with you?