Mission Focused Men for Christ

Episode Summary: God wants your prayer life to be filled with petitions and intercessions for others and for the advance of His Kingdom. He wants answers to such prayer to become your thrilling and frequent experience. God wants answers to your prayers to be frequent and blessed. He wants you to prove repeatedly the mighty power of prayer in your own experience. He wants you to become not only a prayer veteran but also a constant victor in situations where the answers bring great glory to God and great consternation and defeat to Satan. This episode takes a fresh look at how prayer fits into our calling to be followers of Jesus. 
For Further Prayerful Thought.
What do you think of the argument that there is a parallel between God’s decision to leave the creation incomplete for his image-bearers to complete, and God leaving his new creation for Christ-followers to complete? Where does this analogy seem to fit and break down?
How do you think the promise of God the Father to God the Son, “Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession” should impact our thinking about spreading Christ’s kingdom of righteousness over earth?
What stood out most about the three prayer principles that Jesus explained?
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Episode Summary: When the wisest biblical writer who ever lived begins a command with the three words, “above all else,” we need to pay attention. That is the way that Proverbs 4:23 begins: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” As we come in our study of the Ten Commandments, to the tenth, we realize that this final commandment goes beyond our behavior to the matter of our hearts. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. (Ex 20:17). As I have meditated on this commandment I've come to believe that God takes the sin of coveting much more seriously than we do. This episode looks at the vital matter of the desires of our hearts and how they can lead us astray.
For Further Prayerful Thought.
In what ways does the concept of “over-desire” which is the meaning of the Greek word for both lust and covetousness make sense as a description of both words?
Paul stated that covetousness was idolatry. How would you explain that? What do you think is the significance of the bookends of the Ten Commandments, the first and tenth, addressing the issue of heart desires?
Do you agree that God takes the sin of coveting more seriously than we usually do? Do you think we are worse at ignoring this commandment’s significance than ignoring the other commandments?
Which principles for preempting covetousness most stood out to you? 
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)

Episode Summary: God’s design for mankind is to build a culture based upon truthfulness, not lies. When he revealed to us ten fundamental moral pillars upon which a society needs to be built, he gave us the Ninth Commandment which reads, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This episode examines this prohibition against lying, why extreme integrity should be the mark of Christians and why society needs Christians to stand for truth in opposition to cultural lies.
For Further Prayerful Thought.
What is the strongest motivation you can think of for not lying or shading the truth?
In examining the conditions which open the door to the temptation to bend the truth, which of the ones listed stand out most to you? (to avoid punishment, humiliation, embarrassment, to fit in, to save money, or when asked to make a promise you can’t in good faith make?). What others would you add?
How would you answer someone who argues that Christians should stop trying to influence their culture but stick to the gospel?
Of the examples given of he need to speak into today’s culture, which one or two most stood out? Which others would you add?
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)

Episode Summary: In last week’s episode, we tried to put a biblical lens over socialism. Let’s review a moment. The socialist playbook begins with 1) perverting justice by claiming that economic justice means equal outcomes instead of equal opportunities, 2) then fans the flames of sinful envy of the rich, 3) deceives naive citizens into surrendering their political power to socialist leaders and supporting their totalitarian rule to force economic equality and 4) causes horrific suffering especially of the poor because socialism as an economic system always fails. But is capitalism really any better? Isn’t capitalism based on greed? Isn’t its whole motivational system based on the love of money, which Paul said was the root of all kinds of evil. Doesn’t it incentivize the rich to victimize the poor? Having put a biblical lens over socialism last week, this week we seek to put a biblical lens over capitalism.  
Resources Used for Today’s Podcast
Institute for Faith, Work and Economics website (excellent, biblical, scholarly articles on the biblical view of economics, helping the poor, etc.)
What Would You Say Colson Center  (Excellent short videos on how to promote a biblical view of economics).
For Further Prayerful Thought.
What do you think is the relationship between owning private property along with other resources and the foundational principle of stewardship in the economy of God’s design?
How does the concept of making a capital investment in tools to increase our efficiency seem like a wise component of accomplishing our task of developing the potential built into planet earth to make life better?
How is a relatively free market economy linked to the concept of a business owner being a servant to his customer, i.e. the principle that he who waters others will himself be watered?
When considering the rule of law that must accompany a market economy to be biblical, which categories of laws most stood out to you as essential?
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)

Episode Summary. In the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” God introduces the foundational principle of private ownership as one of the ten most foundational principles for flourishing. Today’s episode comes at a time in America when the Democratic Socialist Party has made enormous inroads into the political world. So, this episode examines the attractiveness of socialism and then places a biblical lens over five of basic components of this ideology.   
For Further Prayerful Thought.
How would you respond to the average Christian dad who says, “understanding economics is not part of my calling. I can’t answer my kid’s accusations that Christianity is hypocritical and that they can’t embrace a religion that favors American consumerism instead of ECONOMIC EQUALITY as Jesus would have?”
What most stood out to you about current ideologues who have replaced the content of the word EQUALITY as equal justice under the law with the concept of equal outcomes?
In seeking to put a biblical lens over socialism, which components of socialism seem most evil?
How can we better help our kids recognize politicians who demonize the wealthy, thus subtly fomenting the evil motivation of class envy?
Resources Used for Today’s Podcast
Institute for Faith, Work and Economics website (excellent, biblical, scholarly articles on the biblical view of economics, helping the poor, etc.)
What Would You Say Colson Center  (Excellent short videos on how to promote a biblical view of economics).
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)