Episode Summary. Not only does God have a specific mission for you in 2023, which Paul summarizes in Ephesians 2:10 as good works, but that mission is so important that God specifically designed you for it—to have your specific place and responsibilities in your family, your natural gifts and vocational calling, your specific spiritual gifts with which to contribute to the Body of Christ, and your specific relationships with the lost. God has designed both ME—and THE SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES I WILL HAVE IN 2023 to impact my world for Christ. This episode looks at how to overcome a disordered life, so that you and I can stay focused on Christ’s mission for us—and so bring him honor in 2023.For Further Prayerful ThoughtWhat do you think is the biggest cost of living a disordered life?Why might the failure to have a concrete understanding of your mission, make it easy to live a disordered life?What are the pluses and minuses of defining our mission as the MFMfC podcast does, i.e. Called TO Christ, Called TO BE LIKE Christ, Called to EXERCISE DOMINI0N for Christ?What benefits of overcoming a disordered life stand out to you?What do you think are the biggest challenges to living an ordered outer life because you have ordered your inner private world?Resources Used in Today’s PodcastCrazy Busy, by Kevin DeYoungOrdering Your Private World, by Gordon MacDonaldFor the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
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28:33
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28:33
How David Lost His Battle with Lust for Bathsheba
Episode Summary: Men hate to lose at anything. But these days, many Christian men, including married guys, are losing the battle with lust, looking at porn on their phone and masturbating. Strong, urgent, forceful, and impatient, the sex drive dominates the mind and body of every healthy male. These strong sexual urges start off as simply the result of hormones. But surrendering to lust repeatedly strengthens lustful cravings, sows the seeds of selfishness, and interferes with our spiritual perception. “The pure in heart,” said Jesus, “are those who see God.” We are going to repeatedly lose battle with lust, but the real danger is that we stop fighting and just surrender to it. This episode examines how lust defeated David, bringing devastation into his own life and that of his family. Our goal is to prepare ourselves, by God’s grace, to better defeat it.For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
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25:44
Biblical Insight About How Spiritual Battles Are Won
Science confirms the truth we are given in Genesis 2:15—that Adam is designed to shape and protect the garden. Since Adam and Eve’s sin brought Satan, sin, and destruction into the garden, all our efforts to shape our lives and culture in righteousness are opposed by this triumvirate. We must fight, in the power of Christ, for every inch of ground. Today we examine a powerful WEAPON for this fight: prayer. But viewing prayer as a weapon for fighting is probably NOT what most men think of prayer as being for. They see prayer as praise to God, confession to God, thankfulness to God, requesting God’s help for those grieving or having surgery. But rarely do we see prayer used the way Paul tells us in Eph 6”18 it is to be used: as an act of war. And when men understand this dimension of prayer, prayer moves from being a guilt-producing obligation to becoming a life-changing thrill! Could that happen in your prayer life? Yes, and that is our goal in this episode. For Further Prayerful Thought: Why do think Christians don’t see prayer more as a weapon?What is wrong with saying that after the resurrection, Jesus left this world to go back to heaven and be with God?What does Jesus want Christians to during this stage of salvation history, between his ascension to God’s right hand and his final return?Why is it important, that Jesus prefaced his command to make disciples of all nations with, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Therefore…”? For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
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26:20
Using the Sword of the Spirit in Everyday Life
Summary: “The biblical context for viewing all of life’s events is called spiritual warfare—the age-old conflict between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light…. Biblically and practically speaking, we are in a spiritual war. The Christian’s spiritual enemy is not in uniform, and he doesn’t meet us on an identifiable battlefield. He uses ruthless and unconventional tactics such as deceit, deflection, and disguise…. The church of Jesus Christ needs to know its enemies and his strategies. Above all, Christians need to know how to gain victory over this enemy.” (The Spiritual Warfare Answer Book). In this episode, we take a practical look at HOW TO USE the sword of the Spirit to resist thoughts and temptations that seek to entice us off the path of life and onto the road to destruction. For Further Prayerful Thought:Do you think this is a fair statement? If a man is not winning his own spiritual battles, he won’t be very effective helping his wife and children win theirs.Describe in your own words the power of the Word of God.What did you learn from our examination of the way Jesus wielded the sword of the Spirit?Of the 13 temptations, listed, which 2 or 3 do you most need to be able to parry, by quoting Scripture?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
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26:52
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26:52
Thinking Biblically About Charlie Kirk's Impact and Murder
Episode Summary: This episode departs from our current series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons to seek to put a biblical lens over the event that has captivated our national thinking over the past ten days—the assassination of Charlie Kirk and his impact upon the rising generation. This episode seeks to think biblically about the cause of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and what Charlie’s remarkable impact upon millions of young men and women across America can teach us.For Further Prayerful Thought: How would you respond to someone who tried to argue that Charlie’s death had nothing to do with the left-wing ideology embrace by his killer Tyler Robinson.What do you think is the difference between patriotism and Christian nationalism. (Hint—whenever you see ism attached to a word it describes a worldview).Which aspects of Charlie’s example do you find most inspiring. How can you allow that inspiration to bring about a change in your life?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
This 20-minute weekly podcast is for Christian men who want to hear, “Well done,” from Jesus, after running the race marked out for them. Its goals are to: 1) EQUIP men to better understand from Scripture their mission, 2) ENCOURAGE men because we fail often, 3) ENERGIZE men because our spiritual tank is often on "empty," 4) EMPOWER men to stay focused on honoring Christ with their lives. The podcast presenter, Dr. Gary Yagel, is known for his practical biblical teaching and encouraging heart. A former church planter in the Presbyterian Church in America, Gary is the founder and Executive Director of Forging Bonds of Brotherhood. He is the author of Got Your Back, and Anchoring Your Child to God's Truth in a Gender-Confused Culture, (available on Amazon) and has taught Making Missional Disciples as a guest professor at Reformed Theological Seminary DC. For further information about Gary’s ministry, go to forgingbonds.org or gotyourback.info.
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