relationship | Heartstone Journey

Hey Dads, Get Your Head Out Of Your @$$ And Listen Up! [Series]

Planning and providing is part of a man’s leadership role in his home. Sadly many men often misplace their vision and focus on things such as; a house, car, boat, money, rising up the corporate ladder, guy stuff, fill in the blank ________.

Sound familiar?

One of the passions I have is reaching people who have lost themselves to prosperity, power, and position. Whether we know it or not guys, we all ask the basic question “do I have what it takes?” We want to know from our fathers that we have what it takes and when they’re not around or emotionally unavailable, this question often goes unanswered. So, what do we do? We pursue everything else for that validation. We don’t even look for it from God!

Because this question eluded me and I didn’t lean into God, I ended up pulling a Maverick — I crashed and burned! After a devastating “life shaking”, God got me off my “pity potty” and taught me how to man up — and He is coming for you!

As Christ comes out of the water, His Father speaks validation. His voice ripped away the religious drapery and the Father said, ‘Jesus, you are the real deal. You have what it takes.’ And this is right at the moment Christ is about to launch into his mission. When we show that image to men, they see that God will speak to them the same way. We are sons of God and He will validate us.

—John Eldredge

So for all the dads (or soon to be dads) out there here are 7 tips to get you thinking before it’s too late, so listen up.

Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

Another powerful snow storm with blizzard conditions was hammering us in New Hampshire this past weekend. This was another in a series of storms that have been delivering heavy snow, wicked winds and significant snow accumulations on top of an already 2+ feet of snow.

We hunkered down in the family room around the warmth of the wood burning stove and decided to rent a movie. Ready to give up on the vast listing of non-interesting moves we came across ‘The Judge’ with Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.

Quick synopsis. Robert Downey Jr. plays Hank Palmer, a successful defense attorney in Chicago, who finds himself returning to his childhood hometown to attend his mothers funeral. Early on we see the stress fractures of his “picture perfect” life played out in a bitter divorce narrative as he walks out the door to head home.

If you go online and visit the common places for movie reviews you might skip over this movie because it got beaten up a bit by the movie critics. What do the critics know, right? I thought the movie was engaging and deeply moving and it hit a really BIG chord with me.

What chord was that?

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

If you haven’t noticed, in today’s culture the very idea of fatherhood is under attack. The narrative highlighted by the media, movies and society throws out labels such as clueless, knucklehead, bumbling idiot, fill in the blank ________.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing these ads that leave you with a dads biggest contribution to child rearing is the narrative “yes dear” as their wives do all the work!

Superbowl 49 was an awesome game! I’m one of those Patriots fan that jumped off the couch when Butler intercepted that pass in the end zone with seconds to go, but also I noticed major brands deciding to take on fatherhood and it got noticed. During the game that was seen by more than 100 million people, these ads showcased dads as they really are; loving, caring, supportive, helpful, courageous, protective, masculine and a major part in their children’s lives. What a concept!

Each ad pulled at my heart strings, so lets take a look at each of them.

Why All The Questions About Ferguson Are Perfectly Answered Through Jesus Christ

If you turn on the TV or do any surfing on the Internet you will run into a story surrounding the events in Ferguson Missouri. The nation watched as many in the town of Ferguson reacted with outrage and disappointment, when the prosecutor announced that officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

I am not weighing in on the justice or injustice of the events surrounding Ferguson, I am writing about a deeper issue of humanity.

Honestly, I never understood how the color of someones skin defines that person. Never understood the anger of the Black Panthers in one direction and the anger of the KKK in the other. While the modern race problem has economic, political, and social implications I believe its primarily a moral and spiritual problem.

Jesus loved without discrimination, without looking at our worthiness.

—Tim Keller

Parsing through all the news narratives and ambient conversations on social media, I wanted to highlight the words New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson shared in the national conversation on race, racism and policing in America.

In a thoughtful commentary that was liked on his Facebook page more than 800,000 times and shared more than 450,000 times as of November 30th, Watson explained that he chose to write down his thoughts on the Ferguson decision after news broke Monday night.

Here are those thoughts and more…
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Dealing With ‘Being A Coward’ Once And For All

Had the honor of being invited to be the keynote guest of the 2014 Great Men’s Adventure Weekend founded by Russell Shiebler. Russ is a brother in Christ with a passion for missions and equipping men to discover what it means to be a Christian man in this generation.

Our journey began with a majestic ride to northern New Hampshire, deep off the beaten path where technology simply doesn’t work. Yes, a place where cell phone coverage and Internet access have yet to invade.

The purpose for the weekend was to provide a place where men can come together in a non-threatening environment to discover their true nature and the way God created them as uniquely masculine beings. A place to discover their authentic manhood in Jesus Christ. The weekend included man food, shooting events, horseshoe tournaments, fishing, whacking some golf balls, movie night, fellowship and a deepening bond of brotherhood. As Russ shared, “Come prepared for life changing stuff. Come with an open heart and prepare to do some surgery.”

The men, young and old, were just awesome and yes…I did get to share some Hearstone Journey thoughts with the men individually and for fellowship on Sunday morning.

I want to share a bit more about the movie choice for the event. Saturday night we setup a huge outdoor movie screen that was hung between two trees and our band of brothers watched Lone Survivor. This screen would rival most theaters…it was awesome!

In Lone Survivor, Mark Wahlberg plays the role of real life Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell. The mission is for his team to capture or kill Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. The turning point of the movie is when Marcus and his team makes the difficult and ethical choice of letting an old man and two younger men go, knowing that this decision may lead to heavy sacrifices. Sacrifices that end up telling the story of one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare many have seen.

The movie is marked by an array of virtues that should humble any viewer, however for me, the theme of brotherhood jumped off of the screen.

Here are some thoughts that I took away from the weekend with this band of brothers.

Hey Dads, Get Your Head Out Of Your @$$ And Listen Up! [Series]

Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

Why All The Questions About Ferguson Are Perfectly Answered Through Jesus Christ

Dealing With ‘Being A Coward’ Once And For All

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Never Out Of The Fight!

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