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How A Stump Can Man You Up

How A Stump Can Man You Up

Life is a journey. At times everything can be going great and life’s good, but often there are times when life gives you a solid throat punch! In tough times we can often feel alone and without any sort of compass to guide us. The boy in the legend below is symbolic of you, of me, and what he discovers is an important reminder for all of us on our road to manhood.

There is rite-of-passage into adulthood story for a Cherokee Indian boy where his father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him, and leaves him alone. To pass the test, the boy is required to sit on a stump (or log) all night and not remove the blindfold until the morning sun shines through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. If he survives the night, he is a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each youngster must come into manhood on his own.

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October 25, 2016 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: courage, faith, featured, God, Jesus, journey, stepup

3 Reasons “The Magnificent Seven” Is Magnificent

3 Reasons “The Magnificent Seven” Is Magnificent

I love a good Western! Some of my favorites include, “The Good The Bad and the Ugly”, “The Outlaw Josie Wales”, “Silverado”, “Open Range” and the new “The Magnificent Seven” is a worthy successor to its 1960 namesake.

The original Magnificent Seven is more your dad’s favorite film than a cinematic blockbuster, which was also a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film “Seven Samurai”. Denzel Washington does a great job in leading a cast of acting talent with a heroic and watchable performance. If you’re looking for classic Western action, the movie does not disappoint in giving the audience spectacular gunfight scenes faithful to this genre of movie. Also notable, were the inventive set pieces accompanied by astonishing scenery and backdrops. I have not seen a Western this good in awhile.

Spoiler Alert

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October 4, 2016 Filed Under: Community Tagged With: courage, crisis, featured, leadership, story

Why People Dislike “Christians” And How To Change That

Why People Dislike “Christians” And How To Change That

If you’ve spent any time reading the stories shared in the Bible, you see that the early Christians had a major impact on the world around them and truly left a legacy. The question I want to explore is, what kind of impact are we having on the world?

Yes, there are many “called by His name” that are being used by God to change hearts and change lives, but too many are bashing those He came to redeem. Bashing people because of the color of their skin, their race, beliefs and yes…sexual orientation. Bashing people for their political views or affiliations; Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, etc. Basically, bashing a world that doesn’t line up with a distorted “Christian view”. It doesn’t take much courage to label people; to categorize them based on the way they look, talk, if they drink, use profanity or what kind of music they listen to. Somewhere along history’s timeline, since Jesus set the narrative, we’ve made Christianity more about mass producing a church-going-whitewashed-perfect-holier-than-thou-we-are-better-than-the-non-believer tribe instead of meeting the brokenness of humanity right where it’s at.

Is any of this awe inspiring?

Remember the woman caught in adultery? or the women at the well?

To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to love God and others. He said it Himself, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” I don’t know about you, but I do this very imperfectly!

It’s tough to live out this high calling, to love ALL people while holding contempt for so many of them…isn’t it. If we truly want to wave the banner of Jesus Christ to a lost and hurting world, we need to drop the attitude… and man up with some good old courage and boldness (of course speaking the truth in love). Actions bring life to words and we need to inspire a bit more! Instead of dictating to the world how they should live, why don’t we start by showing them how to live by living it out and demonstrating it in our own lives. The problem is that many of us don’t live out the lives we impose on others and we just don’t inspire — at all! Don’t believe me? …ask your kids how amped up they are about the whole Jesus thing.

Ok, where am I going with this?

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September 20, 2016 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: courage, faith, featured, God, Jesus

The Most Epic Quotes From Braveheart

The Most Epic Quotes From Braveheart

Mel Gibson’s Braveheart is the story of the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace who led revolt against King Edward I of England during the 13th century. Although some of the historical fact might have been infused with a bit of Hollywood license, the movie was nonetheless…epic! There were awesome battle scenes fought without relying on CG, there was the film’s romantic emotional-tugging soundtrack and the epic theme of courage.

Yeah, this is one of those inspiring movies that will watch over-and-over again, but one of most inspiring elements of the movie are the timeless quotes about freedom, passing the mantle, and epic courage. Here are some of my favorites:

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September 13, 2016 Filed Under: Community Tagged With: courage, featured, heart, integrity, leadership, life

Authentic Men Are Warriors Who Protect, Not Rape!

Authentic Men Are Warriors Who Protect, Not Rape!

Perusing through my feeds, I came across a story about four young men who demonstrated authentic manhood. Four skateboarders (Arnaud Nimenya, Carsyn Wright, James Hielema and Starlyn Rivas-Perez) displayed courage and bravery when they stepped into a horrific situation where a man was sexually assaulting a woman. They not only stopped the attack by scaring him off…they pursued him and held him down until police arrived to arrest him.

I remember earlier this year, another horrific story of rape, where Stanford University varsity swimmer Brock Turner was convicted for sexually assaulting a woman on campus behind a dumpster. The impact letter of the victim (known as 23-year-old “Emily Doe”) is gut wrenching, but she highlights two men from Sweden who demonstrated authentic manhood. They noticed what was going on,they intervened and tackled Brock…ending the assault.

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August 23, 2016 Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: courage, featured, integrity, journey, kids, leadership

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Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. -African proverb

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I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free. -Psalm 119:32 (WEB)

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