Godly Men

Recently, our women at The Rock had a retreat, entitled “Enough”, which I wrote about briefly in my last prayer letter. About 65 young women showed up for the retreat, including some who no longer live in Columbia but were a part of The Rock in the past. I’ve heard a lot of good things that came from the weekend, including several people saying that it was something the church has needed to do for a long time.

Praise God for such a wonderful beginning to a women’s ministry! Now that we have some older women (two on staff, one support raising and the other being my wonderful fiancée) who are passionate about that sort of thing, the younger women of our church will be blessed in a whole new way.

Having the success of the women’s retreat on my mind along with reading Tender Warrior by Stu Weber, my mind is reeling. Many of you have heard me talk about my desire to come alongside the men in our church and help them develop integrity so that they may have a great impact in the lives around them for Jesus Christ. Here’s a thought:

“The calling of every man is to offer stability to a world full of chaos.”

Stu Weber, Tender Warrior

Our generation has a reputation of growing up in broken homes. I, myself, am lucky to have an amazing father who is both strong, compassionate and has a heart for knowing the Lord. He’s been an excellent, confident and humble leader my whole life. He has helped me learn what it means to become a man. Unfortunately, there are a lot of boys on the MU campus who should be young men by now. I, of course, am not looking to be a father figure (I’ll leave that up to our pastors – they have the gray hair!) but I desire very much to come alongside and help guide them to become men of God.

Weber talks about men having four different roles: king, warrior, mentor and friend. He fills his book with biblical examples like David, Caleb, Jesus and Job. Topics like following through with commitments, enduring hard times, provision for a family, being a faithful husband and father, and the importance of relationships between men fill his pages. I am convicted in many ways and stimulated in others because it speaks directly to one of my heart’s greatest callings.

I hope to have a men’s retreat in the future when I return to The Rock. I hope to lead a weekly small group with three or four other guys, where we talk about life’s struggles and where God is leading us. I hope to develop deep bonds with young men at The Rock and encourage them to become spiritual leaders in their classroom, their families, their communities and their churches. Our world needs stable men in a world of chaos.