“Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight”

I Peter 3:1-4 NIV

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

I Peter 3:7 NIV

“Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”

-Martin Luther

I spent the first several years of my time here in Indiana trying to figure out why God had brought me here, all while many times wishing I were somewhere else. We considered moving repeatedly and sought opportunities to make a change over the years, but Father repeatedly nudged me back into His perfect plans. It has taken a tremendous amount of heartache and pain, but I would say the LORD has done a pretty good job of  breaking my will and drawing me back into His own will.

As I laid in bed this morning sleepless, despite being exhausted, I repeatedly found myself  thinking about the last few years and how much God has changed me. I don’t personally want to leave Indiana any more. In serving Father and His people, I’ve found a joy and peace I never imagined possible here in the Hoosier state. What once seemed impossible to me is something I have been blessed to enjoy in incredible abundance.

I have found I can have peace no matter where I am, as long as the Spirit, my Helper, is there by my side. I have learned that I can have peace, and maybe even unity, among almost any people, even if they treat me as an enemy, as long as I have a heart to serve instead of desiring to be served. I have learned that God’s people never look a certain way, but that they do act a certain way. I have learned that enjoying the simplicity of the community of Christ’s people can happen in big buildings, the grocery store, a living room, driving on the road, and even out in the wild. The enjoyment of His presence among His people never has to be restricted by a day or time. I have found that faith in God is not found in my words as much as it is found in my actions. I have also been blessed to find that the abundant life never happens in the abundance of things or even in being perfect, but in the abundance of Him. He is good enough.

These truths are truths that came to me not in moments where everything was working as I desired, but mostly where it was going in the opposite direction of my desires. They are truths etched into my heart after many heartaches and pains. For this, I thank my Father, from whom every good and perfect gift comes.

As I finish up packing and jump into the truck this morning heading with my family to Kentucky, I leave behind a chapter of my life that has been challenging, yet still beautiful! I leave behind people whom I love dearly and whose hearts and lives have brought me closer to my dear Father. I am not simply driving to Kentucky today, I’m watching the closing of a season in my life and the starting of a new one. The Author and Perfecter of my faith has penned a new chapter in the story of my life, and it’s to that end I go. LORD, I come. Lead on.

The culture we live in today is obsessed with who we are and what we desire. We eat foods that comfort and soothe our appetite for even more food. We sit mind-numbingly watching shows, movies, and programs and playing video games that we herald as something we deserve after a long day of work, all while subconsciously being taught to live for ourselves. Those games, shows, and movies teach us selfish thought patterns all while entertaining us and removing our awareness that they’re harming us. Our children are taught to be the best in school, sports, and activities that interest them. They’re taught to excel in these activities, and to pursue the life they desire, not the life that God desires for them. Parents work countless hours in hopes of giving their children the desires of their hearts, all under the guise of “giving them a better life”. We go to school to pursue what we want from our lives. We take hours of classes to go out and become something, but that “something” usually becomes further obsessed with feeding his/her own selfish desires. We pile up debt to pursue the things desired, all in the name of “living the dream.” We “go to church” on our own terms and if the service isn’t just what we needed, we walk out irritated that we got nothing out of it. We get married to the man/woman we “love” and then when that “love” runs out and we’re sick of serving their selfish desires and not getting our own needs met, we divorce and separate what God brought together and pursue the next desire. This list could go on and on. (Of course I understand that every single thing I’ve listed in this paragraph has exceptions that are not wrong…but don’t let the exemption be the point in your own mind.)

We are truly obsessed with ourselves. We want what we want and that’s all there is to it. That’s been engrained into our hearts from most every side of our lives. Frankly, it’s been happening since the fall of mankind. Adam and Eve were fed with a selfish desire for more than what God had already given them and a desire for something he commanded them not to eat. They were tempted to want more than He gave them. We have a mountain of desire in our hearts as well. It’s a mountain of immense and even unquenchable danger. Its edges are sharp and dangerous. Its walls are steep and full of consequence. I want to be clear, though. This mountain of desire is one that can be climbed. It is and we all climb it. It wouldn’t take any of us very long to list off tons of people who have been able to climb high on their own mountains of desire.

The hard part is that there is no finish line of accomplishment with desire. It’s only end is death. Solomon said that after pursuing all that his heart desired, he found it to all be vain. It never proved to be profitable. This man was wealthy beyond measure, having any and every thing his heart found pleasure in, and called it all striving after the wind. The mountain of desire in our hearts is a mountain we climb constantly, but it’s a mountain that’s highest point is found when we’re laying dead upon it. It is frivolous.

This unquenchable desire within us for more can never be met with created things. The hole within our hearts can never be filled with the physical things that surround us. Solomon said in the next chapter of Ecclesiastes that eternity has been set in our hearts. When we left eternal things to pursue our own desires, we left a hole in our hearts that could be not be filled by the things of this world. It’s impossible. When we left eternal life with God, we left the heartbeat of our lives. It’s why we crave, so indulgently, the things of this life.

This desire can only be met with the Creator Himself. The Psalmist said it best:

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 NIV

The delight of our lives must be the LORD. When He is our delight, the desires of our hearts will be God and His perfect will. The desires of your life that consume your thoughts, time, and energy will only drag you up the mountain of desire further, where you will die hanging on a lonely cliff of wanting more, if those desires are not allowed to be filled by the eternal God who can fill the eternal hole. It is when, and only when, we give up our desires and pursue Christ that we really begin to experience true fulfillment.

Jesus called himself the “Bread of Life”. Think about the depth of that statement. Jesus was claiming to be the only thing that could truly fulfill us. To those outside of the arena of faith, such a statement is a bold statement exposing the depth of Jesus’ pride and representing what only a narcissist could believe of himself. Either Jesus was a narcissistic ego-maniac or He was right. If He was right, then our desires for validation, love, encouragement, etc. could be met only in Him. He didn’t  describe Himself as a piece of the bread of life, but as THE Bread of Life. Jesus knew and said that He was and is the true bread that comes down from Heaven to feed the nations. He was/is true fulfillment. While most come to Jesus looking for temporary fulfillment, He is THE fulfillment. Life comes through and in Him.

So, how do we turn this page in our selfish lives? How do we leave behind the desires of the “old man”, as scripture calls our old lives of sin, to pursue the only real life?

In the midst of a sad prophecy by Jesus to His disciples, Peter challenges Jesus’ words that He must go and die. Peter thinks this is ridiculous and begins to challenge Jesus and even says he won’t let that happen. Jesus scolds him and says:

“You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:33-38 NIV

Jesus makes it very clear that our thinking and God’s thoughts are not the same. Even while our desires, like Peter’s, may seem innocent and noble, they still may not be the will of the Father. This is so overwhelming for our feeble minds to conceive. How many of us would have done the same thing as Peter? I certainly would have thought something similar to Peter, desiring that Jesus be allowed to stay with me and not suffer. However, God is holy and His thoughts are on things above. My thoughts are on the things of man, and my life has proved this to be true all too often. I, like Peter, would have been thinking about what I wanted in that moment.

Last night was our last night as a family staying in the camper trailer. We played games with the kids and made a great night of it together, but it was a sobering evening for Lisa and I. You might think we’re rejoicing to be moving out of the camper. However, I think we’ve learned a lot about the desires of our hearts in here. I’m sitting in the camper this morning after two years of pretty challenging living, but also beautiful experiences that have drawn us together in Christ. I’m thinking back over the last two years with this camper and what I thought I wanted. I never wanted to live in a camper trailer. I never would have chosen to live like we have for the last couple of years as we traveled and served. But, what I wanted and what my Father wanted for me came face to face two years ago. I had different plans and dreams for my life, but my gentle Father had a better plan. It was a plan that drew me out of my comfort zone and made Lisa, the kids, and myself all give up a lot of our ideas about what our lives were going to look like. I don’t regret it for one moment. I have lost more of my life in the camper, only to gain something much greater from it all.

As I lay in bed last night, I realized how much I had learned about my own desires. I was thinking on the events of the last couple of years and realized how much more I trust our Heavenly Father than ever before because of this life. He has become our “daily bread” in way I never could have imagined. We have found ourselves welcoming His will into our lives instead of trying to find a way around it. In fact, I believe our own will has become His will in more ways than I probably even realize.

This progress of faith and trust has come at a price, but oh what a beautiful scene it has been to lose our lives for His sake. We have left behind that mountain of desire for more only to get more than we ever imagined. We have found that He is good enough. His promises are true and the life He promises is not a life of going to church and attempting to follow each command of not doing this or that. The Life He promises is in being the church, His body. The promise becomes so real when we see He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is nothing greater than just knowing Him and being with Him. He is our daily bread.

I’ve come down off of that mountain I used to call my dreams. That mountain of desire consumed my life with selfishness, anxiousness and fear. It was a life that pit me against my family. It was a life pursued for me and my pride. Those rocks that once seemed so exciting to climb, have now become a distant memory of who I used to be. Praise Father for that beautiful change!

I want to encourage you to get down off of your own mountain of desire. I want to challenge you to re-examine your life through the eyes of God and consider His will instead of your own. It may be that He’s calling you to live in a camper trailer as well. I kind of doubt it, but maybe He is. Maybe He just wants you to stop on your way home from work today to help the struggling guy changing his flat tire. Maybe He wants you to spend a lot less money this Christmas in order to help others whose needs are much greater than the selfish extravagancies you’d choose to spend your money on. Maybe God’s calling for a change in your actions at home. Maybe He’s calling for you to turn the T.V. off so that you can spend some time on your knees tonight. Maybe He’s calling you to repentance. Can you hear Him calling you or are you still climbing the mountain?

I challenge you to sit still for a moment. Sit quietly and consider the steps of your life up till now. Is this the life you wanted or the life He wanted for you? Are you allowing Jesus to live through you or are you still pursuing the life you desire? No one but you can answer those questions, but you have to be willing to slow down, ask them, and listen to His answer.

He’s calling you off of the mountain. Will you listen?

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:7-11 NIV

We’re surrounded by more beauty than we’ll ever recognize. There is wonder to be found in the trees, the grass, the water we drink, our bodies, our children, and everything else around us. While scientists boast of their accomplishments and understanding of life as we know it, they’re constantly learning how little they actually know. While we are still discovering the perplexities of His creation, He upholds them all with His word alone (Heb. 1:3 & Col. 1:17).

“O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.”

Psalm 104:24 NASB

Unfortunately, the sin that so easily entangles humankind seems to blind even those of us who call ourselves His people. We become so blind with our own desires, our own understandings, and our own will, that rarely do we see the Almighty for who He is. We’ve been far too busy making the works of His hands our idols and never seeing the One who made it all. All too often, we’re seeing Him through the lens of our own selfish desires as we sit in bounty and ask for more. This has drastically affected many things, but specifically I’m focused on how it’s affected our trust in Him.

We aren’t alone. Since the beginning of creation, men and women have been exchanging the glory of God for things (Romans 1:18-32). This exchange has corrupted our ability to see and enjoy Him. What began with Eve and then Adam, has turned into quite a mess for all of us. “We all like sheep, have gone stray and turned everyone to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

As I’m sitting here reading and meditating on some changes I need to make, I was drawn to one verse in Paul’s letter to Philemon. Paul writes to Philemon with a challenging request, but his request isn’t what stood out to me. It’s the statement he makes in verse twenty-one that is so startling to me:

“Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”

Philemon 1:21 NIV

Paul had a special trust in this servant of God. He recognized a pure heart and a sincere desire for things that were true and right. He knew it was a desire that would manifest itself in Philemon’s works of obedience. Philemon had eyes to see something different than others around him. Philemon would do what was right. Philemon would obey God and go all of the way.

Paul saw a pure heart in Philemon and knew that he would obey. There was such a hunger for truth in him that Philemon would forgive the wrongs and extend the same grace he had received in Christ.

What about you? Would Paul be able to write this same phrase to you? Or, frankly, would you be too busy to read his admonition to you? Would you be so busy working, playing, and fulfilling your own desires to see the need for a sacrifice of  your own life to honor your Heavenly Father?

I fear that in the complicated mess of our lives, we’ve lost sight of the will of the LORD. We whine of the injustice of God and the lack of His presence, all the while closing Him out through our own selfish disobedience. We’re so busy with the things our own flesh desires, that a consideration of the will of God and the needs of others isn’t even a consideration. We’re already living such disobedient, selfish, and broken lives that stopping to consider a transformation of character and lifestyle isn’t a possibility.

As I drove back from California recently with our new van, I stopped to take a break in Wyoming at a retail store to just walk around and stretch out. I slowly strolled through the store after 16 hours of driving, looking and aching for three more hours of energy to get through the night to get to the other side of the state. It was about eight o’clock at night, and I wanted to get into Cheyenne, WY before I stopped. I had just driven through some treacherous mountain passes in Utah and was pushing as fast and as far as possible. I asked the woman working at the register what Wyoming was like, since it was now dark. She said, “It’s boring.” Shocked, I said, “Really? I thought there were mountains and beautiful scenery all around here.” She responded, “No. It’s flat and boring. You’ve passed the mountains and for the rest of your drive, there is nothing to see.”

I was so discouraged. Of all of the drive, Wyoming was the part I didn’t really want to miss. I had always believed it was covered with beauty. My heart sunk within me thinking that this drive of majesty across the West was now at an end. I felt the energy and excitement of this amazing trip come out of me. I ended up driving another hour and stopping at a motel to sleep because my body was so exhausted. I laid there in the bed thinking about how disappointed I was and decided I wouldn’t lose hope. I set my alarm for early and got ready to see Wyoming at sunrise.

I rushed out the next morning determined that Wyoming wasn’t flat and that the glory of God was there for me to behold. I was right. I was surrounded by mountains on every side. There were rock formations and miles of my Fathers majesty. It was fantastic!

I sat there in awe of that poor woman’s words as I drove through the incredible views in Wyoming and kept thinking about perspective. It became clear to me as I drove in the silence of that cold morning there in the West, that we all have a different perspective on things. Unfortunately, the woman’s perspective was stopping her from seeing the incredible scenes of grandeur that were all around her. If she thought Wyoming was flat, I wanted to invite her to Indiana to help her with perspective.

To bring my point home, Christ wasn’t just coming to save us from our sins. He was coming to awaken us. He was coming to offer us perspective. In taking us away from the grasp of sin, He was offering us the freedom to enjoy the moment with God and to walk in obedience to Him. He was taking off the shackles of sinful living and allowing us to see His glory. He was allowing us to live in that glory. In fact, He was allowing that glory to live inside of us.

He asked those who would come and follow Him to lose their lives to get them back. He asked them to give up their own will to pursue Christ. He knew that a surrendered life would mean a changed heart. He knew that a changed heart could experience things that a selfish and stubborn heart could never consider. He freely offers His presence to those who would come and take of it. Will you let go? Will you leave?

The glory of God is right in front of you. Can you see it?

While I have deeply enjoyed His presence, I will admit that my times in the woods have been very disappointing. I have found myself irritated repeatedly. I’ve worked so hard and learned so much about myself. I’ve disciplined myself and my mind and body to do things I’ve never done before. But, the realities of having no deer so far has been discouraging. I am discouraged from many sides, but I think the greatest of my disappointments is that my family has been so gracious with me as I try to get a deer and I still have nothing to show for it. They wait at home while I hunt and pray for me to be successful and for me to enjoy the presence of God. Their prayers about the presence of God have been answered abundantly. But, not about the deer.

Sitting in the woods, I find myself constantly going over the advice of different trusted hunters across the country. But last week, I sat going chewing on the advice of Steve. Steve is the husband of a marriage we’ve been helping recently and is an experienced and very talented bow-hunter. I had called him the night before in hopes of getting some advice about hunting in the rain and strong winds that had been forecasted. I told him the conditions and he encouraged me into the woods with specific terms of the hunt.

As I sat in the woods the next morning, the wind and rain were beating my face and I was miserably cold and wet. I was doing everything I was told to do and there were no deer around me. I was working and working to get something and quickly began losing heart. I sat there wanting to quit and get out of the woods and began praying for God to fill me with His presence so that I could enjoy the morning no matter how hard it was on me. For a reason unbeknownst to me at the time, I began thinking about all of the spouses we had been helping who were fighting for their marriages. I began thinking of their despair and discouragement and how many phone calls I had received where they wanted to quit.

All of the sudden, it all clicked. I realized what God was telling me as I sat there shivering. He was telling me that I was like them as I sat there in the woods. I was struggling and fighting my own selfish desires to quit and had been for a long time, but was seemingly achieving nothing. I was wrong, though. I was learning patience and trust. I was leaning on Him for strength to make it through some unbearably cold moments where body parts were going numb. I was losing heart.

I know some of you are feeling all of that now in your marriage. You grow discouraged because you want to see your spouse reconciled to Christ and reconciled to you. You want them to be free from sin and are anxious to enjoy the fruit of living with Christ together. But, they refuse to accept the hope offered in Christ. They disobey and turn further away. This creates a loneliness that is challenging to describe with words. After a while, it creates apathy and you lose heart.

I’ve been there. I was hurt by the betrayal, the negligence, the doubts, and constantly lived in incredible fear  and shame. Most everything I just described about sitting alone in the woods waiting for deer is something I experienced while fighting for Lisa.

It’s easy to allow the discouragements of present circumstances to cloud our vision of Christ and His incredible glory. We become so fixated on the pain and a quick cure for that pain that we lose heart and begin fighting for something that is unattainable. Our minds are so busy worrying about the waves crashing into the boat, that we can’t see Jesus on the water. We’re so worried about the next big wave that will capsize the boat, that we never get out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water. What a shame!

As I look back through that story of Peter walking to Jesus on the water I often wonder what the other disciples had to think after they saw Peter do the impossible there on the water. Were they jealous? Were they in awe? How quickly did they ask him what it was like on top of the water like that? I have no idea. But, I’ve been there on the waves. I’ve walked to Jesus on the water in my own life. I’ve seen the fruit of an obedience that perseveres. Today, I have a virtuous wife as a result of His amazing grace that drew me out onto the water.

You can walk there as well. You can walk with Jesus in enjoy the fruit of the Spirit if you so choose. But, it’s up to you. You have the power of choice. Continue loving your spouse against the odds or quit and move on? Sit in the boat or walk on the water? Keep going into the woods and persevering or quit in defeat?

I’m happy to say that Jesus has never given up on me. In the midst of the beatings and mocking, He allowed love to guide Him all of the way to the cross. He persevered for my sake. That same love is what pushed me to keep fighting for Lisa. It’s the love of Christ.

Don’t allow the waves to kill the love that Christ has given you. Keep your hope alive. Allow those challenges, fears, and frustrations to push you further into the love of Christ. Allow them to save  your heart, your marriage, and your life. You’ll never regret having loved to the end because that love will be your opportunity to live Christ.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:!6 NIV

Since the retreat, I have come across the song “Identity” by John Waller.  It fits perfectly into this concept of having a totally different identity once we are in Him. As soon as we die to ourselves, Christ is free to live in us.  God dwells in us! Once this happens, we have found our new identity.

“…I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”    

Galatians 2:20 NIV

We are now dead, and Christ is living instead of us!  We, therefore, adopt all of the identities of Christ and who He is.  He is love, so we become love. All of our unloving nature dies when we die.  He is joy, so we become joy.  Nothing unjoyful remains in us.  He is mercy, so we are mercy.  He is power, so we are powerful.  Worry, fear, weakness, and a lack of mercy cannot live in us anymore. Our identities have now taken on His identities.

Because we have taken on His identity we cannot be any less than what He is.  As soon as we become unmerciful, unloving, or weak, we are not who we are supposed to be anymore.  We have stepped outside of His identity.  This may seem like an overwhelming task to take on, as if we now have to be perfect.  However, I believe that God is looking at it like He is giving us HIS power (instead of our own) in the moment to accomplish what He puts before us.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” 

Eph 3:14-21 NASB

So when we say, “I just can’t do this anymore!”…He says, “I am power, so you are powerful.  You can do anything I can do.  You can do this, because I can do this.”  When we say, “I just can’t forgive him anymore!”  Christ says, “I am mercy, so you are mercy.  You can forgive, because I can forgive.  I am now in you, and you have my strength.”  Wow.  Now that makes all the difference!!  My strength is completely revived when I know that I am not the one fighting these battles daily.  He is!  His strength, power, mercy, and love are all coursing through me!  Praise God for such a gift!

I’ve been thankful to share fellowship with all of you men who have attended retreats over the last two years. Lisa and I have been blessed to have now taught 13 total retreats since October of 2009. Each one has brought tremendous blessings to us, as we minister, and to those who have attended. It’s been a blessing to see God doing such amazing things through and in all of you. I’m hearing stories of victory that have stirred my soul in thankfulness and praise. In fact, two days ago we watched a man, who one week earlier had given his life to Christ and died in the waters of baptism, baptize his wife into Christ. It’s enough to make me want to shout in thankfulness to our awesome God! I rejoice now with the angels in Heaven over lost souls who are now saved!

We’ve watched so many lives given to Christ and so many hearts being molded to His heart, and I rejoice over all of it. To think that God has allowed me to witness these things brings me to tears. I am blessed beyond measure.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen some of you fall and disengage from the battle altogether. I have even watched some of you turn further to affairs, pornography, selfishness, etc. and we even lost one of you to suicide last summer. I’ve seen some of you aching for more and missing the beautiful things that come through Christ as you pursue your own flesh. I hurt for you and wish you could see what you are missing, but I realize I have an advantage over most of you. It’s an advantage that has kept me away from many trials and challenges on a personal level. It is an advantage that, to many, seems unfair, but it’s an advantage nontheless. My advantage is that I had a father who taught me the things of my Heavenly Father. My Dad taught me to walk with God.

I am deeply in debt to Father God for giving me my Dad. God used my own father to shape and train me into manhood in a way that most of you have never known. While I hurt for you, I praise God for the gift that was given to me as a young child even up until now. My Dad has become a source of rich love from my Father in Heaven, and I treasure it immensely.

I’ve been thinking about this often for your sake. How could I give you what I received? Jesus said, “Freely you received. Freely give.” So, I’ve asked my Dad, Jay Guyer, to come and teach with me at our 15th retreat, entitled Imitate Christ, Man of God on October 21-23, 2011. I’ve asked him to come and share with everyone from scripture and from life what he’s learned about imitating Christ while leading his home, ministering to and shepherding Christ’s church, and walking with Him daily. He’s not a high profile teacher or an arrogant know-it-all. He’s a simple man who has dedicated his life to Christ and who has born the fruit of it. He’s a man who has imitated Christ. I couldn’t think of anyone better to help me equip some of you better than the one who equipped and taught me, and my siblings, so well.

I believe there are things that I do naturally, because I was trained to do them, that most people would never consider doing as a leader within Christ’s body. I was taught how to avoid the grasp of sin, to overcome it’s challenges, and to walk upright by a man who was living it. I was taught by a man who imitated Christ. I want to share that with you.

I’ll warn you ahead of time, that the practical teachings you’ll hear will fly in the face of so much of what our culture has been taught. I was taught to live in the world, but not of it. I’m not saying that I lived perfectly, or even well, but I’m saying I was taught it and that it saved me from a world of pain. It’s those same principles that guide me as a leader and as a man who imitates Christ. That’s what I want to share with you.

I’m asking God to make October 21-23 a weekend where many of you are given the opportunity to look into the lives of a father and son who are both striving to be men who chase after God. We’ll expose our weaknesses and our failures, our strengths and our successes, our challenges and our personal changes. It’s not a time for boasting. We can only boast in Christ. It’s a time for exposing. It’s a time for exposing the darkness within and for chasing down the light. It’s a time for Imitating Christ.

I’d love to see every man there who has previously attended a retreat, but know that is not possible. But if it is possible for you, I encourage you to join us in Reelsville, IN, for a weekend in the presence of God where we’ll be challenged and moved to greater faithfulness to our wonderful Father!

Dates: October 21-23, 2011

Where: Five Stones Camp in Reelsville, IN

Donation: Your donation of $150 per participant makes this retreat possible to you. This allows for your food, lodging, teachings, t-shirts, and event supplies. Limited scholarships are available for those financially incapable of attending the retreat.

Transportation: All participants must provide their own transportation to and from the retreat.

Check In: October 21st from 3:30-5:30pm (Dinner will be provided)

Check Out: October 23rd at 11:30am (Breakfast will be provided)

Area Maps and Directions:

Sleeping Arrangements:  We will all be sleeping downstairs in the lodge.  There are multiple bedrooms to choose from. You will need a sleeping bag, pillow, and extra blankets. Beds and mattresses will be provided in the lodge. If you would like to be bunked with someone specifically or have a group coming that would like to be put together, please let us know this when you sign up. We’ll do our best to keep you together.

Audience: The content of this retreat is meant for mature audiences only. Mothers are not encouraged to bring their daughters. Instead, we encourage you to bring another woman from the church or community with you. We believe you will achieve the full benefit of your time at the retreat when you leave with someone else who is armed to take on the spiritual battles with you and encourage you through them. Much of the content is focused on married women, but we do believe that single women can benefit from the content as well.

Registration: Fill out your “Imitate Christ, Man of God” registration form here! Don’t forget to come back and make your donation afterwards. Registration will be closed on October 16th, 2011 at midnight.

Cancellation Policy: All registration donations are completely non-refundable after October 16th, 2011 at midnight. Anyone who cancels a registration before October 16th, 2011 at midnight will receive a full refund of their money.

God had created Eve in His own image. She had been made a beautiful woman. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Her shape was perfect. Her eyes, nose, lips, mouth, heart…it was all perfect. She was stunning. She was just as she had been made.

In one moment, the design of creation took a turn. Eve’s decision to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree changed all creation forever. Eve had lost her purpose and her husband had followed right behind her. All at once, creation began to decay. In that instant, insecurity entered Eve’s heart. She questioned her beauty. She questioned her purpose. She no longer feared God in the same way she used to. She was naked and she was scared. Everything was wrong, and Eve was lost.

What a horrible moment in history.

Eve, it’s not over. I know you don’t feel beautiful, but you are a beauty. I know you don’t feel loved, but you are loved. I know you feel insecure, scared, and lonely, but God will never leave you. You are not alone. In fact, God wanted you so badly, He sent His own Son. Then, He wrote out an incredible account of the rescue plan. He chased you down, defeated the accuser and rescued back His beauty.

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

God, through Jesus, welcomes you back to the beauty for which he made you. Through His Spirit, he offers you the opportunity to walk with Him again. Eve, you are loved by God. You are a woman of God. Rejoice!

Ladies, Rise of the Home invites you back to your purpose. God himself, is inviting you all back to your purpose. He’s inviting you back to your beauty. He’s inviting you back to what scripture calls an unfading beauty. He’s inviting you back to your hearts.

Join us at Five Stones Camp in Reelsville, IN on September 30-October 2, 2011, where you’ll have an amazing opportunity to journey back to God’s purpose for your life and your heart.

Dates: September 30-October 2, 2011

Where: Five Stones Camp in Reelsville, IN

Donation: Your donation of $150 per participant makes this retreat possible to you. This allows for your food, lodging, teachings, t-shirts, and event supplies. Limited scholarships are available for those financially incapable of attending the retreat.

Transportation: All participants must provide their own transportation to and from the retreat.

Check In: September 30th from 3:30-5:30pm (Dinner will be provided)

Check Out: October 2nd at 11:30am (Breakfast will be provided)

Area Maps and Directions:

Sleeping Arrangements:  We will all be sleeping downstairs in the lodge.  There are multiple bedrooms to choose from. You will need a sleeping bag, pillow, and extra blankets. Beds and mattresses will be provided in the lodge. If you would like to be bunked with someone specifically or have a group coming that would like to be put together, please let us know this when you sign up. We’ll do our best to keep you together.

Audience: The content of this retreat is meant for mature audiences only. Mothers are not encouraged to bring their daughters. Instead, we encourage you to bring another woman from the church or community with you. We believe you will achieve the full benefit of your time at the retreat when you leave with someone else who is armed to take on the spiritual battles with you and encourage you through them. Much of the content is focused on married women, but we do believe that single women can benefit from the content as well.

Registration: Fill out your “Rescuing His Beauties, The Women of God” registration form here! Don’t forget to come back and make your donation afterwards. Registration will be closed on September 25th, 2011 at midnight.

Cancellation Policy: All registration donations are completely non-refundable after April 10th, 2011 at midnight. Anyone who cancels a registration before April 10th, 2011 at midnight will receive a full refund of their money.

Life as a Christian man in this country and in our day and age can be quite a challenge, but does it have to be?  True, nobody ever said this life would be a breeze; in fact, Christ himself assured us that we should expect the opposite. However, because our eyes are fixed inward much of the time, we find ourselves caught up, running in vain the race of self-gratification.  Consequently, our trials more often than not, are self-inflicted.

This pattern will never end until we realize that our craving to satisfy ourselves by our own effort is, quite frankly, a waste of time.  Until we place God in His appropriate place, as the director of our every move, and recognize our need for him, our purpose in this life will remain a mystery.  We have to realize that the material things we substitute for God will never satisfy us.  We need God, and not just for an hour on Sunday mornings.  Just like Adam in Genesis chapter 2, we are to be wholly His, in total submission, every hour, every minute of every day.

“[The retreat] was devastatingly real.  I had to immediately confront where I was in my relationship with God.  But from that point forward, it was all support in recognizing God does want a real individual relationship with me.  It has changed my attitude from intellectual religion toward sincere relationship.”
-Tim G., California

We are constantly being led to God because He is our Creator.  He desires a relationship with us.  He aches to be in relationship with us, and in our created nature there is written on our hearts a longing to be near to Him.  There is not a single thing in this world that we can buy or achieve that will satisfy this longing.  The answer is, and always has been, in God alone.

Are you sick of spinning your wheels in your walk with Christ?  Are you sick of knowing in your heart that there must be more, but not knowing where to turn?  If you are wandering in a spiritual wasteland, choking on the lies that the world is feeding you, rise up.  If you are stuck in a dead sprint on the treadmill of life, completely exhausted yet going nowhere, rise up.  You haven’t been called to live a stress-filled, defeated life.  Quite the opposite in fact; you have been called to walk with God.  You are called to be a partaker in a form of peace that is beyond your wildest imagination. The enemy wants you to think you are the only one struggling, that you are worthless, and that everyone around you has it all together.  Trust me, they don’t.

“I spent so much of my time believing that I was the most vile and corrupt of all, and that I was far worse than anybody else who had ever lived.  Before the retreats I felt so weary and alone, and now I look forward to waking up each day because I know that with the prayers of my brothers and the love of my God I can overcome anything. Even greater than that is the knowledge that it is not really me but the power of God who moves and wills within me.”
-Calvin T., Ohio

The time has come for us as Christian men to realize who we are and, equally important, who we are not.  The time has come for us to comprehend and connect to the power we have access to as children of the living God. It’s time for us to live in a way that reflects this fact; to let go of our will and surrender to His.  If you are sick of merely existing, and want the abundant life Jesus is offering you, rise up, man of God, and live.

“It was the time in my life when I reconnected with God, when I learned, not just heard about, surrender and let Him take over my life for the first time.  I walked into the retreat wanting to kill myself, and left finally having hope in Christ… I will never be the same old Bill again.  Thank you Lord!”
-Bill R., Indiana

Join Rise of the Home for the Rise Up, Man of God retreat at Five Stones Camp in Reelsville, IN.  You won’t regret it.

“It was good to be with a group of guys with basically the same issues, learning about our created purpose and how to get back to that through what Jesus accompished on the cross. My life was changed, and i know others were too.”
-Mel C., Michigan

See below for more details on the retreat or to submit your registration.

Dates: August 26-28, 2011

Where: Five Stones Camp in Reelsville, IN

Donation: Your donation of $150 per participant makes this retreat possible to you. This allows for your food, lodging, teachings, t-shirt, and event supplies. Limited scholarships are available for those financially incapable of attending the retreat.

Transportation: All participants must provide their own transportation to and from the retreat.

Check In: August 26, 2011 from 3:30-5:30pm (Dinner will be provided)

Check Out: August 28, 2011 at 11:30am (Breakfast will be provided)

Area Maps and Directions:

Sleeping Arrangements: Depending on how many are in attendance, we’ll be sleeping in the lodge and cabins. You will need a pillow, sleeping bag, and/or blankets. Beds and mattresses will be provided in the cabins. If you would like to be bunked with someone specifically or have a group coming that would like to be put together, please let us know this when you sign up. We’ll do our best to keep you together.

Audience: The content of this retreat is meant for mature audiences only. While many fathers have come with their sons and we will not stop them, we do not encourage fathers and sons attending together. Instead, we encourage you to bring another man from the church or community with you. We believe you will achieve the full benefit of your time at the retreat when you leave with someone else who is armed to take on the spiritual battles with you and encourage you through them. Much of the content is focused on married men, but we do believe that single men can benefit from the content as well.

Registration: Fill out your Rise Up Man of God registration form here! Don’t forget to come back and make your donation afterwards. Registration will be closed on August 21, 2011 at midnight.

Cancellation Policy: All registration donations are completely non-refundable after August 21, 2011 at midnight. Anyone who cancels a registration before August 21, 2011 at midnight will receive a full refund of their money.