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It has been a long time since I last posted.  Things got a little crazy for me and then 2020 hit us and we know what all that brought.  With all the lock downs and closures, I should have had a lot more free time to think and write than I did, but unfortunately, I did what most of the rest of the world was doing…not much constructive.  But over the last few weeks I have put together a series of articles and topics that I will cover on here.

These series will be based on the premise of what this channel is for and that is to make us men all the more men of God.  To sharpen us and to make us better fathers, husbands, and spiritual leaders of our wives and children.  If you are a young man reading my posts and find yourself without a wife and children right now, then so much the better.  It is a wise thing to prepare oneself for what may lie ahead.  A wise man knows that he truly does not know everything and will seek knowledge that he needs before he needs it. Trust me when I say this; if I knew a quarter of what I know now (and there is still a ton I need to learn), I would have made a fraction of the mistakes I have made in my life.

So, what are these series about? Well, you will have to come back from time to time to see.  I’m not going to give away all the secrets right now.  But I will tell you the first one will be an 11-part series on the characteristics of a man of God.  All these characteristics are biblical and they are foundational in being a godly man, husband, father, friend, and disciple. The world we live in is continually moving towards the prince of darkness, Satan.  It has been deceived by his lies, for he is the father of lies and is full of deceit.  So, it is vital that we understand our God given responsibilities as men.  We are to be leaders, we are to be teachers, and we are to be the heads.  These are God given roles for us men.

Adam was created first and therefore he was given the status of the head of Eve who was created second and was given to Adam as his helpmate.  Now let me pause right here because some of us might begin to think that I am painting a picture of either a divine inspired inequality or a 1950s “women’s place is in the kitchen” thing. Neither of which I am saying.

A quick analogy we can use is that of American football.  You have the quarterback and then you have the running back.  If you do not have an amazing quarterback, your team is going to struggle, but you can manage with a middle of the road running back if you have a stellar quarterback.  But what also goes with those positions or roles on the team is responsibility, and the quarterback’s responsibility level is elevated.  Because on the field he is the head, he makes decisions, calls and changes plays, makes sure the offensive line protection call is right, etc. – the responsibilities of the quarterback on the field are beyond the scope of this article.  The running back runs the ball, catches the ball, and may block a defender, which is still important, but not to the level of the quarterback.

The roles of men and women may be different but that does not mean that there is a difference in value.  There is no value difference from one human being to another, whether they are male or female, white, black, red, yellow, brown, green, blue, purple, fully functional, disabled (mentally or physically), born or unborn, democrat or republican, Christian or Islamic or unaffiliated to any religion.  The value of the person is no different.

We each have a role to fulfill and these roles and responsibilities are divinely given.  Men are to be the heads of their wives and children and women are to be submissive to their husbands.  Again, let me be clear, for a husband to be the head does not give him the right to be abusive (verbal, physical or emotional), dictatorial, or dismissive of his wife.  For a wife to be submissive does not mean to cower at her husband’s feet, to be at his beck and call, to be his maid, servant, or slave. 

A husband is to care for his wife, to love her sacrificially as Christ did the church, to seek her purity in deed and action in the sight of Christ.  A wife is to be obedient to the authority of her husband as the church is to be obedient to Christ.  I understand this is a sensitive subject so let me be even clearer.  The authority of the husband is not authoritarian, it is not a dictatorship, and it is not a monarchy.  But the authority of the husband means that the husband will be held responsible for the caring, growth, purity, and condition of the wife and the entire family on the day of judgement.  We tend to get hung up with authority and only decisions, but with authority comes so much more responsibility and also what comes on the day of judgement. Decisions should be made in conjunction as husband and wife, but the authority is to rest with the husband.  The children are to respect the father, not through fear, but through love, respect, and honor.

I will dive a bit deeper into these things and what exactly Scripture says on these matters.  As we have seen over the years, views on topics change, but the Word of God does not, so it is reliable and it is relevant.  So, stay tuned and check back frequently to see new posts.

As we watched last year and into this year professional sports players protesting the National Anthem, many viewpoints have found their way into the public domain.  The most prevailing argument, “it is their right to express their personal views.”  Our country which was founded on great freedoms is not founded on personal freedoms as the culture defines them today.  There are several things that I want to cover but I very quickly want to address something right off the top.

By kneeling, sitting, stretching, waiting in a locker room, or doing something other than standing up and being still (other words, not being a distraction – camera folks are not still but are also not being a distraction either) is protesting and showing a lack of respect for the values, the virtues and the potential of what America is.  These people who are protesting America (because they are protesting the flag that represents it and the song that represents it) are only bringing attention to themselves and not to any issue that they may speak about.  Their protest has become center stage and their statement has become bigger than any issues than they seem to be fighting for.

They are more concerned with their own images and their own team, their own sport and their own statements than any sort of issues, whether real or perceived.  Remember this all started by Colin Kaepernick who also never registered to vote so he was not going to take part in the Constitutional right to change the governmental body, and he also has great faith in a dictator by the name of Fidel Castrol.  Those few facts should demonstrate the level of how much understanding he has in the truth of what he was protesting, also the fact that once he was out of a job he rescinded the fact that he would continue his demonstrations as to be less of a distraction.

Now that we have established that regardless of what these athletes and owners and news reports say, they are really protesting America and are at the heart of the matter protesting the community and the unity of America, the very solidarity that they seek to build, let’s move on to why that is so.

As I stated earlier America is built upon freedoms but not so much as personal freedoms as we like to think.  In the last 30 years or so a lot of Americans like to believe we can do whatever it is that we want to do as long as it does not hurt anyone else.  This is a false idea, and here is why.  If we are a society then we are a community and that means we are first a unit and to be a unit we must have relationships.  Now to have a relationship means we must have communications.  To say we are community and then not interact, not rely, not communicate or commune with one another is really paramount to being on different planets without radio contact.

I tell you that what one person does, it will affect those around them, it may not be earth shattering or family history altering, but there will be an impact if they’re lives interact even in the simplest of ways.  This is observed by our moods, when we are happy people around us will be happier, when we are sad or mad, people around us will be so.  Of course the analogy here only works to a certain degree but so does the idea that the nation is a community.  How many people who live in Northwest Arkansas feel like they are a community with people in Seattle Washington?  Only if you know people (friends, family, have heritage, life experience, etc.) there, but we are all Americans and that has been lost, because we see ourselves first as individuals.  Another easier way to describe it, we have become selfish and greedy.

You don’t have to be the mega rich and in the 1% to be greedy and selfish.  Many of those in the 1% give more money to charity both in dollar amount and in percentage of income than many of the 99%, so who is greedier and who is the more charitable if it is measured by the amount given?  The idea I am illustrating here is that we paint a picture that is not a true reflection of the reality that we live in.  We protest the symbols of unity in the name of unity because it is our individual right to do so in order to bring about unity.  If that statement makes no sense to you, then I hope you are not one who supports the American protesters, because that is their logic, whether they articulate it like that or not, but that is what it is.

Something else that I want to bring up is that these athletes want to bring about change or bring about awareness to social injustices or inequalities.  Now obviously this is a sensitive subject that I am treading on so I am going to say this, we are all one race, just different shades.  There are bad things that happen, and unfortunately they happen all too often, but does that make America a terrible nation?  Think of some of the nations in Europe still have social class structures, some nations in Africa are in the midst of generational old civil wars and children are kidnapped from their homes and forced into the military.  There are problems within our society but America actually gives us the best chance to fix them, by allowing us to work them out through communication and expression, but expression of a view does not lead to change, only through hard work and dedication.

Hard work and dedication to the cause was championed and won a lot of victories in the 1950’s and 1960’s with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  But on the flip side almost all civil liberties were lost in the 1960’s in Afghanistan because there was no dialog; there was only one way communication, a one way story being told.  Much like the protests, the story being told is that America is broken and nothing is good.  If that is so then where is the dialog to fix these problems and who is spearheading the resolution of these issues?  What are these athletes doing besides disrespecting their fellow Americans?

I can tell you that there is far more good things in America than bad, and we have a chance to make a difference and to change those things that are bad.  That is what makes America great.  All of what is stated to here is to point out the truth, that the people protesting America do so under the faith of a lie.  I want to be clear that there are true injustices that have happened, and those happen all the time and those are perpetuated far more by criminals who are not in a police uniform, why is that not being protested and why is that not on the mind and playing field of American sports?

If bringing social injustice to the forefront of the American mind, there are better ways to do that then to protest America.  But one such injustice is that criminals behind bars have better benefits than some free Americans.  The criminal has rescinded his rights to be a contributing member of society, but the homeless and the socioeconomically down trotted person may not have the ability to reach their full potentials.  Should we not invest in the people that have a desire to help society and not hurt it?

The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell commented that he was proud of “our” league for their demonstrations of their individual views, but there is the flip side to this coin.  If a player demonstrates their individual views with regard to their uniform during a game, they are fined a set dollar amount.  If a player demonstrates their individual views with regard to team rules they can be fined and/or suspended games.  What is more important the nation that allows the athletes to play a game and make on average more money in a single year what most Americans will make in their entire working life, or a game of football?  Some will say “yes, but there are rules governing the game and how the uniform and what they do during the anthem there is no rule.”  And I would say they are absolutely correct, but if we look to rules and laws to govern our lives then where do we draw the line?

With rules and laws have to come punishments and then there has to be those who enforce them.  If there is no punishment or enforcement then what is the point of a rule or law?  Where would we be if we had laws for everything?  Something like this occurred with the sons of Israel.  When God gave them the Law, it was so that they would live differently, they would stand out from the nations that would exist around them. Now they took God’s perfect law and made it a standard of judgement instead of an arrow.  It should have pointed them to the fact that they could not meet God’s perfect requirements and that they were in need of a Savior, who is Jesus Christ.It is only through His great and wonderful gift of grace and mercy that we have been given our salvation.

We as Christians should be patriotic to our country, and especially to America.  First we are called to be obedient to the authority that God has placed over us. Second, because of what was declared in our Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Standing for the National Anthem is a symbol of respect.  Much like the American Flag and the Anthem itself, these are merely symbols, but they demonstrate something to ourselves, to our children, and to the rest of the world.  That we respect and honor what America means and what America has done, think of all of the positive things America has done for itself, its people and the world.  It demonstrates that we are not a group of individuals, but a united group of people with individual traits that makes them all better.

So next time the National Anthem is played I ask that you show respect for a nation that has provided so much more than what a 2,000 word article could ever hope to cover.  Even if you are at home I would challenge you to stand up, place your right hand over your heart like you love this nation and demonstrate respect for the nation, for yourself, and for each other.

I want to talk to you all about Lent. How many of us really know what Lent is and why we observe or celebrate it?  First off, let me be very blunt.  There is no Scriptural reference or command to observe it.  There are commands to pray and to fast all throughout Scripture, but a minimal time is never given.  There is an expectation under Scripture that we have an active and daily prayer life and we have some routine fasting going on.  Fasts are not limited to only food fasts, there can be other fasts, and I do plan on going into those in another post.

Now, let me be clear that there is nothing wrong with the observance of Lent, just like there is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas with a decorated tree (real or fake) and exchanging presents.  The secular, commercialized Christmas celebration has nothing to do with the celebration of the birth of Christ, but there is nothing wrong with celebrating it.  Another example would be to say there is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of our great nation, the Fourth of July.  Setting off fireworks, big explosions, cooking outdoors and enjoying the company of friends and family, there is nothing wrong with that.

In those 2 examples though, there is no Scriptural precedence.  We could not say, we are honoring our God in doing these things, by merely doing them.  Now if we gather together in celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas we are recognizing His work of incarnation.  Or we are recognizing that all governments and nations have been ordained by God before the foundations of the world.  When we celebrate these occasions in His honor, in His glory, it is about heart attitude.  It starts on the inside, and works its way to the outside, something you could call worship.  If your heart is not right, your worship will not be right either.

But let’s focus on Lent since it is that time of year.  As I stated above, observation in and of itself is fine, but on the flipside it does nothing to the glory of the Lord.  You may be wondering why I would say that.
Stay with me as we look at where the idea of Lent came from.  But first, there are some serious questions that we need to ask ourselves and each other – because we are here to sharpen one another remember.

Questions:

• Why am I observing Lent?
• Will God reward or punish me for my observance?
• Will God or will I get the glory for my observance?
• Does the Bible really speak of Lent or of the individual components?
• What earthly activity am I giving up to spend more time with God?
• Am I really giving it up for God?
• Am I giving it up temporarily or permanently?
• Why restrict it just to 40 days once every year?

These are some serious questions that I pray will cause us to look deeper into ourselves, and with all seriousness, ask each other.  We must be continually checking our own motives.  It is truly amazing how different those motives seem when they are in our minds (secret) and then when they are spoken out loud.  That is because the sin of pride can so easily manipulate its way into everything that we do and everything that we touch.  That is why it is so important to be an active and participating member of a local physical body of Christ (a local church.)  Your attendance AND participation is vital, for your own spiritual well being.

Looking into Scripture, we can glean 3 different instances where Moses, Elijah, and of course Jesus Christ fasted for a period of 40 days.

Exodus 34:28 “So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”

1 Kings 19:8 “So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.”

Matthew 4:2 “And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.”

Something that needs to be pointed out here is that in all three instances the time was 40 solid days removed from everything and even everyone.  They were solely devoted to the LORD (that is the Father.) They weren’t merely not eating and not drinking, but they were not fellowshipping with humans, they were not reading books, they were not tending to any other duties.  They gave up every pleasure, every responsibility, every physical need.  I would venture to say that they did not even sleep.  The LORD sustained them without food and water for that long, why could He not sustain them without sleep as well?

Something else to look at is that Lent is observed over a time span of 46 days, Sundays not included.  Why is that?  Why would we say that we are giving up TV for 40 of the 46 days but on Sundays we can watch it because those aren’t part of the Lent observation days? Then Lent wouldn’t necessarily be following the example of the Scripture passages listed above.  Now I will admit that you could say, “I wouldn’t watch it on Sunday, I would continue to observe the same standards on Sunday as I do the other 6 days of the week.”  But then I come back to the point, why stop there?  Why not continue, and what are you doing with that extra time?  Is God only worth 40 of 46 days a year for that extra little bit?  This brings up another large issue – if Lent is Scripturally based then how can we just change how we practice it or observe it?  If Scripture says 40 days, should we not stay with Scripture?

Please understand I am not trying to prevent anyone from observing Lent, but let’s look at a little more at the context of those three verses listed above.  Something I have heard a number of times in my church when it comes to studying and reading Scripture is “context, context, context.”  Without it the true meaning and intent of a passage is lost.  Trying to understand the meaning and apply it to oneself only one verse at a time will only lead to disaster.

We will first look at Exodus 34:28, in a broader context, Moses is on Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb receiving the instructions and the Law.  This is actually the second time Moses was on the mount for a 40 day stint, this is also when Moses was hidden in the cleft of a rock and caught a glimpse of the glory of the LORD as He passed by.  But again in broad context Moses went without food and drink and possibly sleep because he was in the absolute presence of the LORD Almighty.

In 1 Kings 19:8, we find Elijah running for his very life.  Fleeing from Jezebel who wanted him dead just like all the other prophets during his time.  Elijah was fleeing, came to Beersheba, to a juniper tree and wished to die, but fell asleep.  An angel came and woke him and told him to eat.  So he awoke and ate and then slept again.  Then the angel came again and told him to awake and eat, because the journey would be too difficult for him.  So he awoke and ate and drank and he journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb also known as Mount Sinai or the LORD’s mountain.  He did not eat and did not drink, but also did not do the other normal activities of his life.  He was consumed with doing the LORD’s business.  Once there Elijah, received instruction from the LORD.

The last verse we’ll look at is Matthew 4:2 and is probably that most familiar.  We find Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Spirit sometime after being baptized.  After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights when He is weak in the flesh, the Devil approaches to tempt Him.  What did He do during that time?  Knowing Christ from different Scripture passages, an easy answer would be that He prayed.  Remember He was there from eternity past.  He was there at the foundation of the world.  God the Father and God the Son spoke to each other (if we can really say it that way, the Godhead really doesn’t have to speak, they are in unison, but we could get lost in that discussion.)

Jesus Christ prayed the night He was betrayed.  He prayed so fervently and so long and so hard that he sweat drops of blood.  He knew the old writings, what we now call the Old Testament like He knows the back of your hand.   He was probably quoting them out loud and even used Scripture to defeat Satan’s temptations.  What this is really teaching us here is that we should memorize Scripture and when we are tempted, we can defeat that temptation by recalling the very Scriptures that we hide in our hearts.

Lent is fine to celebrate.  But just like only attending a church service on Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals, it does not make a Christian life.  You will not earn the favor of God, as His favor cannot be earned or purchased.  You can do something extra in this time of year, but don’t forget the rest of the year.  Read your Bible daily, have a prayer time, make sure you have a journal, engage with one another, outside of 5 minutes before the singing starts on a Sunday morning.  Get together over coffee, lunch, dinner, something…anything.  Here’s an idea for Lent, make it a point to have lunch with other Christians that you normally don’t converse with every day of Lent.

The biggest thing is to not stop doing these things once the season of Lent is over.  Continue it on, perhaps not as extreme.  If you love and honor God then continue it for Him.  Encourage each other to keep it up to fight the good fight as the flesh will war against the spirit.  The observation of Lent will not get you brownie points or a bigger reward in heaven, it is the obedience of His commands that will.  Here are 2 commands that are often included as elements of the Lent observation and Jesus gives no mention of only doing them during Lent season.

Mathew 6:16, “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

Matthew 6:5, “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

To say that Lent is not Scriptural is true; to say you shouldn’t observe it…I wouldn’t go that far.  Remember “context, context, context” and ask yourself those vital questions from above.  Are you doing it because everyone else is doing it?  Are you doing it for attention for yourself?  Are you doing it for mere tradition or sentimental value?  Are you doing it for a feeling of closeness to God?  Or are you doing it to spend more time worshipping God?

Lent is a tradition of men and let us celebrate it as such.  Do not let it be regarded any higher than the Word of God that we claim to cherish.  If we cherish it, so then I exhort you to search the Scriptures to seek the truth that He speaks and to challenge each other and hold one another to that standard.  That standard is the One who purchased us with His most precious blood.

I pray you will find this as an encouragement.  And if you do observe Lent, you will see it for what it really is, a ceremony of man, but also as a new opportunity to focus on worshipping the God of the universe.

God Bless

I want to welcome you to IronStrikingIron.com and my very first blog post.  Since this is my first blog I want to take this opportunity to reveal the reason and the message behind the name of the site. It sounds a little manly – ok really manly – and that is by design.  The theme verse of this blog is Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”  This very verse is packed full of so much truth that a good pastor could spend several weeks preaching on it.  We won’t spend that much time on it.

When I decided to begin a blog, I realized I had no idea really what a blog was, how to set it up, how it worked, I was clueless.  So I did a little bit of research and with today’s technology and how-tos it is pretty easy to educate yourself.  You can get anything up and running, and when you know the right people, it makes it even faster when you have questions or need to bounce ideas off of someone.  My biggest challenge was coming up with a good name that was easy to remember, not too long, and encompassed what I wanted to share.

The same thing that makes it so easy to start a blog also makes it hard to stand out because, everyone has one.  I had brainstormed over the course of three days and came up with a list of 100 names.  Friends and family voted for their favorites and there was a clear winner, but it was taken.   So then I looked to the next one, that was taken, then the next, it was take, the next, it was gone.  So on and so forth.  All of the good names that I had originally wanted were taken, at least the ones that I could be happy with.

About a year ago during a monthly men’s meeting at my church a discussion of Proverbs 27:17 came up.  It was being quoted and even became a challenge not just during each of the monthly meetings, but throughout the month. The NASB translation along with many other English translations use the word sharpens, but I want to replace that word – in all humility and respect to the authority of Scripture – and replace it with the word striking.  (As a note to the previous sentence, I am not advocating changing the wording in the Bible, God in His inerrancy placed the word sharpens there and I am NOT challenging that.  I am, for illustrational purposes only, using striking to understand the text in its fuller context.)

So now that we are using the word striking, let’s see what these two different words mean.  When we see the word sharpen, we think of sharpening a knife.  The act of sharpening shaves off small bits of the blade only when the knife becomes dull.  Sharpening is done infrequently and there is little effort involved from the sharpener or the knife.

However, the word “striking” brings to mind an image of a blacksmith striking a piece of iron over and over again.  By using available tools, he strikes the chunk of metal, heats it up, and then strikes it again.  Over time and working it over and over until the impurities are “beaten” out, it is molded into a tool ready to be put into use.

The point is that we are not to be merely a whetting stone for one another, but we are to be an anvil and a hammer to one another.  Obviously, we should not bash each other with ridicule and condemnation, but we should not be timid about seeking to spur each other on to love and good deeds (spur also can be translated as to provoke, or agitate.)  Because I want this blog to be a resource for men, especially men who seek to be godly, the name needed to first be based in Scripture, but also be targeted to, well, men.

What would that even look like to be striking one another?  Simply put, we are to be continually engaged in theological and intellectual conversations.  This means we should be challenging one another in our thinking, our behavior, and our habits.  We need to be reading, whether as a group or individually, both Scripture and books, digesting all this information and sharing it.

God will reveal the understanding of Scripture to anyone He wants to through the Holy Spirit, but just because someone reads the Bible does not mean they know the truth of it.  Look at the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, they knew the Law and had much of it memorized.  They knew Scripture, but they didn’t understand it.  This is because they did not want to be sharpened.  They were not humbled; they were not “coachable.”

So how are we to coach one another?  2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”  We are to be trained in the Scriptures, we are to know the stories and the lessons, and we are to understand the Old Testament Law, but not live under it.  That law was fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  We are to reprove one another when we sin.  And when we sin (because we will on this side of glory) we are to use Scripture for correction.

We are also to love one another just as Christ commanded in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  And how much did He love us?  Christ did teach, train, exhort, correct, and reprove His disciples, His brothers, as we are.  But He did so in love with the ultimate goal to prepare them for service of the Father and to bring Him glory, no matter what it brought them.

That is the heart attitude that we must have; we must be in constant preparation for service and in service for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  For He will return one day, we don’t know when, it could be this very moment, it could be sometime this night, or not, we just don’t know.  We have been warned many times to be on guard.  The only way that I know to be on guard is to be on the offensive.  To be moving forward towards the Lord in my understanding, in my knowledge, in my service, in my love, and I want to bring as many of you along with me as I can.

I pray that you find this a blessing and an encouragement to you and look forward to posting more.  God Bless.