Scott L. Moore's Blog, page 11

009 What Makes A Man?

“You may be cool, but you’ll never be ‘Frank Sinatra stepping out of a helicopter with a drink in his hand cool.'” (internet meme, author unknown)

What makes a man? Is it coolness? Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra kind of cool? Or is there something different, something more?

“I’m for whatever gets you through the night…” – Frank Sinatra

Is that as deep as it gets? It seems that Mr. Sinatra may not have gone too deeply into considering the big things of life, but do we know? Can we trust a celebrity’s public persona?

What about you? What do you believe?

That’s what really matters.

#Sinatra100

 

008 The Great Deception

Author: Gaspirtz

Your faith should inform your politics., not the other way around.

“…Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth,…” James 1:13-18

Question everything. Hold it up to the light of truth. Let God’s word and His Holy Spirit inform your politics. Look at the motives of the people trying to persuade you to their position.

I’m happy to have a discussion with Christians earnestly seeking to follow Jesus on any issue, but when politicians are clearly manipulating Scripture to suit their agendas (and millions of Christians are following right along with their deception!), I hear Jesus’ words from Luke 21:

“Watch out that you are not deceived.”

Or Paul’s words to the Corinthians:

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4, emphasis added)

And to the Galatians:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:7-10)

I can see both sides of most issues, but I’m not going to debate someone I know is trying to deceive me.

007 Kings Without A Kingdom

Attribution: Flickr.com user “Lukas”

“I daresay we‘ve heard a bit about original sin, but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature. We were crowned with glory and honor. Why does a woman long to be beautiful? Why does a man hope to be found brave? Because we remember, if only faintly, that we were once more than we know.” – John Eldredge (Epic)

I finally saw the first two Lord of the Rings movies: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. I’m captivated by the character of Aragorn, the king without a kingdom. His glory is buried deep within. He doesn’t believe that he is a king, but something within him wants to be. He fights bravely. He has trained for greatness, but he wanders.

We are so much like him, except with even less understanding of our true glory. We build counterfeit kingdoms with little concept of the reign we were meant for.

006 Youth Retreats and To-Do List Parenting

My son and daughter went to a youth retreat this weekend. As I picked them up, I found myself checking another item off of my parental ‘to-do list’ and almost missed the privilege of getting to be a part of their lives. Does that ever happen to you? In the busyness of life, it’s so easy to see parenting as one long ‘to-do list’ and forget about relationship.

I’m so grateful for my kids and for the chance to know them and love them. In the words of Aerosmith, I don’t want to miss a thing. I can’t believe I just referenced Aerosmith. Oh, well. Now you have to look that song up on YouTube (like I just did) and then turn it off because Steven Tyler is just freaky-looking. You’re welcome.

Mentors

005 Obsessed With Youth

Attribution: SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

A weird thing happened the other night…

While the kids were trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, a full-grown man with a beard walked up the driveway, with his pillowcase, and said, “Trick or treat!” And he wasn’t joking.

What has happened to men? Are we just oversized kids with bigger toys? Unable to embrace manhood? Unwilling to grow up?

What about the church? While we claim to be authentic and ‘real’, are we really just stuck in spiritual infancy? Obsessed with youth?

“… though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.” – Hebrews 5:12 – 6:3

Has ‘Authenticity’ Trumped Holiness?

004 Would Jesus Say No?

A friend and his wife are struggling with a lot of frustration at God right now. Their child is suffering from an illness that won’t go away, despite prayers for healing, crying, pleading, and begging God. They’ve been working in professional ministry for years and are having real struggles in the ministry work which is not helping their marriage. Friends try to offer advice, but it just rings hollow. They’ve prayed for healing, but nothing has worked.

What would you do?

“Dallas Willard suggested that the primary work of God is finding men in whom He can entrust His power.  Unfortunately the story of most men is being entrusted with power, and it bringing harm to themselves and those under their care.” – Morgan Snyder, Become Good Soil

http://www.becomegoodsoil.com

http://www.ransomedheart.com

003 Halftime

I’m officially half way to 90.

So, it’s a good time for a mid-life crisis, right? A new Corvette or Mustang?

What if I’m way past halftime? What if I’m in the 4th quarter already?

The truth is, we don’t know where we are in this game. But, I know I want to finish well.

How about you?

002 Why Do Men Hate Church?

Attribution: Bruno Coitinho Araújo

Why do men hate church?

“Why should it surprise us that sitting quietly in church singing love songs to Jesus might not be attractive to these guys?” – Dr. James Dobson

What if worship looked more like our passion for football? Or rock stars? Or…?

Do we really need to dumb down church for the one guy who has never heard of Christianity and just happened to stumble into the building this Sunday?

001 The Call Of Men Podcast

Episode 1 – The Larger Story

Many of us think that the Christian message is simply this:

The bad news is that you’re a sinner, but the good news is you can be saved.
Just pray the prayer to accept Jesus and you’re in!
Now, wait around to go to heaven someday…

There is a larger story than the one we think we’re living. There is a call sounding in the depths of the soul, even if we’re only vaguely aware of it. We are here to find our role in that larger story, to answer that call.

Welcome to The Call Of Men.

Bowling No More

“There is no joy in Mudville…” – Ernest Thayer, Casey at the Bat

There is no joy in Greenhills. The bowling alley has shut its doors for good.

A few years ago, there was a book called Bowling Alone. I didn’t read it, but I understand it was about our shifting culture of disconnection. People don’t have the same sense of community and friendship that they used to have – of which the weekly bowling night was a time-tested symbol.

I confess I had only bowled there a couple times, but even I am sad at the demise of the local bowling alley. If you ever saw the TV show Ed, you’ll have a sense of what this place was like. I suppose the fact that I would cite a TV show for a point of reference is evidence enough of the shift in our culture. A generation ago, everyone knew what the local bowling alley was like. Unfortunately, some of my strongest memories of bowling are of Fred “Twinkletoes” Flintstone and Barney Rubble going bowling every week. My grandmother bowled a mean game, I’m told.

However, maybe bowling isn’t dead after all. I was thinking that I’d write this post about how it’s ok that bowling is dying out because, after all, it’s not like life didn’t exist before bowling. It’s only been around for a hundred years or so. After a little research, I found that bowling has been around for hundreds, possibly even thousands of years! According to the International Bowling Museum, bowling may have existed as early as 3200 B.C.!

So, now I’m thinking that bowling is certainly changing. Or, at least, our culture is changing and bowling is going to have to adapt with culture. And frankly, I’m not really that concerned about bowling except for the nostalgia of it all. As I stated, I don’t bowl much. I am, however, concerned as I see change happening to our culture. I don’t fear change. I’m the type of person that likes to ask some questions as we change. For instance, are we losing our sense of community and caring for each other. With all the concern about social justice nowadays, I don’t see much in the way of genuine love. Even in myself – I rarely stop to talk to my neighbors. There are folks who live within three or four houses of me whose names I don’t even know (did I really just admit that?)!

Perhaps it’s time to join a bowling league? I’ll need to drive a little farther to get to a bowling alley, but maybe I’ll cultivate some friendships along the way. If I was Ed, I’d just buy the Greenhills Lanes and open it myself.