Headed for the Ditch on a Sunny Day

Hey, I just came out with my new book, Act Like Men: 40 Studies for Biblical Manhood. I wrote it because men are in trouble, and God has a lot to say about manhood that we need to hear. As of yesterday, it became available in stores, and I hope it will be a challenge to you and an encouragement to your family. Check out the chapter below. You can learn more about it or get a copy here.

Chapter 13 from Act Like Men:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” —John 10:10

Tail of the Dragon is a winding forest road where men die every year. Twisting through the west boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it crosses the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Tail of the Dragon is considered one of the premier motorcycle and sports car driving experiences in the world.

Take the plunge from the top and you will hit 318 hairpin curves packed into eleven miles of US 129 with an overall elevation change of a thousand feet. That’s about twenty-nine curves per mile—a scary, sharp turn every sixty yards. An immensely exhilarating stretch of road, there are no intersections, no houses or driveways, and no businesses—just you and your vehicle going as fast as you dare through each unique curve, banked like a race track. More than 500,000 visitors a year come to Deal’s Gap to see and maybe attempt a safe run down the Tail of the Dragon. Over the past decade, the injuries are too numerous to count but average to about three fatalities a year where someone lost control and went over the edge.

DOWN WE GO!

Imagine the pounding in my heart as I raced the engine of my Harley Road King and launched into steep turn #1 down the Tail of the Dragon. The ride lived up to its billing as an exhilarating, exhausting, exciting, adrenaline high to the max. I wish you had been there to see our joy when we got to the bottom, spent but satisfied and still sitting up. After some lunch, a quick picture, and souvenirs, we headed for a more relaxed part of our road trip. Early the next morning, with a big breakfast in our stomachs, we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway, which weaves lazily through the Smokies, just in time to see the morning sun burning up the mountain mist. Then, with the valley floor far below us, we stopped at a scenic lookout for another snapshot.

As the four Harleys pulled back onto the highway, my dear friend Kevn Dekker (who co-founded our broadcast ministry Walk in the Word) was leading the way. In a fraction of a second, as he checked his mirror to make sure we were in tow, his front wheel left the narrower pavement of the mountain road that had no shoulder and slipped deeper into the culvert. In that moment he had to decide whether to attempt to yank his front wheel back to the road, forcing a fall, or to ride it out and return to the road more gradually. He chose the latter. But the Harley bottomed out hard, forcing his feet in the air and up he went. Flipping forward in a terrible somersault, he came off the cycle and, as time froze, landed on the pavement with a bounce, facedown, and toward me. Screeching to a halt, I tore off my head gear and ran to my friend, who was motionless and unconscious. Kevn insists he wasn’t knocked out, but generally speaking, the guy it happens to is less aware. After about twenty seconds he moved a bit and cried out in pain. Suffering a broken shoulder, fractured ribs, and a cracked collar bone, he was lucky to be alive, and we were very grateful for God’s hand of protection over our friend.

Kevn is a highly skilled and experienced rider, much more than I am. That’s why he was leading the way. I have mentally replayed that awful scene countless times and still can’t believe it happened so fast. How is it possible that he negotiated the Tail of the Dragon with ease and expertise but later lost control on a smooth stretch of straight roadway? In my experience, the crash happened where men crash most. Not on the hard road with all the twists and turns, but on the sunny day when all is well and they least expect to fall.

AN ANGEL OF LIGHT

God has given men a great leg up to victory and joy by revealing that our enemy Satan comes to us as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). You may be hearing from the devil when you least expect it. Since the garden of Eden, his approach has always been the same. First, he disguises himself. He draws your attention to an emptiness in your marriage or a lack of satisfaction in your work. He lies to you about what you really need to be satisfied or what you must have to experience a sense of accomplishment in your life. If you just bag that bear, make that sale, conquer that woman, or climb that mountain, then you will be fulfilled as a man. The thoughts he plants are always lies because Satan is “a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). You think you’re cruising in the sunshine when in reality you are heading into the ditch. Satan’s moves are so pathetically consistent it’s shameful we still get fooled.

Next, he divides you from the people you need most and love most deeply. C. S. Lewis in his book Screwtape Letters imagines an extended exchange of correspondence between a veteran demon and his apprentice known as Wormwood. In one of the letters instructing the younger demon, he exhorts:



“My dear Wormwood,

Through this girl and her disgusting family the patient is now getting to know more Christians every day, and very intelligent Christians, too. For a long time it will be quite impossible to remove spirituality from his life. Very well then; we must corrupt it. No doubt you have often practiced transforming yourself into an angel of light as a parade-ground exercise. Now is the time to do it in the face of the Enemy. The World and the Flesh have failed us; a third Power remains. And success of this third kind is the most glorious of all. A spoiled saint, a Pharisee, an inquisitor, or a magician, makes better sport in Hell than a mere common tyrant or debauchee.”

Once he has the lie disguised as light and has divided you from those who can turn the light on for you, he moves in for the kill with his final move: destroy. Speaking of Satan, Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”



STRONGHOLDS ARE EVERYWHERE

Spend some time talking to men and you will find that the Enemy has captured a lot of ground in the battle over lies men believe. Even Christian men have too much satanic deception rolling around in their heads—lies my friend Pastor Eric Mason calls strongholds. Eric pastors Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia and speaks for our Act Like Men events, suggesting several satanic strongholds that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God in a man’s mind.

• Truly fulfilling sexual practice cannot be found within monogamy = lie

• Passive avoidance of family issues will improve the problems over time = lie

• Avoiding deeper relationships with men conquers my fear of rejection = lie

• Past failure and hurt will fade into insignificance if ignored long enough = lie

• I can expect fidelity from my wife in body/mind even if I don’t reciprocate = lie

• The church is weak and not the right place for a boy to learn to be a man = lie

This is just a sampling of the kind of strongholds men believe deeply and grip tightly. No matter how good things may be in your health or career or even at home, strongholds will take you down. If you are making decisions in isolation based upon the lies of the Enemy, you are headed for the ditch on a sunny day. I implore you to “keep watch over yourself” (Acts 20:28).

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Why is it essential that keeping a watch on your own life comes first?

2. What lies of the Enemy have you fallen prey to that need exposure to God’s light?

3. In what ways has isolation from others made it tougher for you as a man?

4. Note the list above for any lies that have taken root in you. What can you do today to tear down strongholds of deception in your life?

5. Who do you know who needs this truth, and will you share it with him today?

PRAYER

Dear Father,

Thank You for exposing my heart today to the reality of our Enemy and his schemes. I see how I can easily fall prey to believing lies about myself and what is best for me and my family. Please grant me greater awareness to the angel of light and let me be alerted to his attempts to separate me from brothers who can be all You desire. Give me watchful eyes and listening ears to Satan’s attack upon my family and let me apply my greatest urgency to being a godly man for my family and for Your glory. Help me to walk in total dependence upon You throughout this day. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, amen.

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