A Few Good Men Series

1. Men ARE from Mars and Women ARE from Venus – Communication Issues

a. I heard a story that seems appropriate to the subject. A woman visited an attorney and was fed up with her husband and wanted a divorce, and she says to the attorney, ‘I wish to file for a divorce’. He says, ‘do you have grounds?’, and she says ‘approximately a quarter of an acre’. He says, ‘no, I mean, do you have a grudge?’ She says, ‘no, but we have a carport’. He thought for a moment and says ‘well, let me ask you this – does your husband beat you up?’ She says, ‘no, I am always the first one up every morning’. Finally and frustrated he says, ‘well, why do you want a divorce?’ She says, ‘my husband doesn’t understand me’. Sometimes we communicate but we don’t really understand what we are saying.

b. Men’s Thesaurus

(Men don’t always say what they mean) – ladies, please allow me to translate for your future benefit:

• When a man says “IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN” He means: "I have no idea how it works"

• When a man says "TAKE A BREAK, HONEY. YOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD’’ He means: "I can’t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner"

• When a man says ’THAT’S INTERESTING DEAR.’ He means: "Are you still talking?"

• When a man says: "IT’S A GUY THING" He means: "There is no rational thought pattern connected with this, and you have no chance at all of making it logical"

• When a man says "CAN I HELP WITH DINNER?" He means: "Why isn’t it ready yet?"

• When a man says ’I CAN’T FIND IT.’’ He means: "It didn’t fall into my outstretched hand, so I’m completely clueless"

• When a man says “I HEARD YOU.” He means: "I haven’t the foggiest clue what you just said and I am hoping desperately that I can fake it well enough so that you’ll not spend the next 3 days yelling at me."

• When a man says "I’M NOT LOST. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE.’’ He means: "No one will ever see us alive again."

• If your husband says, “honey, what color is this?” He means: ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. I have no idea what “taupe” is.

2. Tough job to be a dad today

a. Not really a new thing – Adam; Abraham; Eli; David

b. Today’s challenges

• Undermining of values – culturally (remember Rome and other pagans)

• Destruction of homes

• Economic difficulties

• Stresses of Job; Home; Church and balancing them all

3. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Ezekiel 22.30

4. God is looking for men to:

I. Lean on the LORD

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. Proverbs 3.5

A. For Salvation – Ephesians 2.8-9 (always has been grace)

1. Men like to be in control – God is

2. His Control is transforming – “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18.3

3. Reliance on Heavenly Father

B. For Sanctification

“Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy. Leviticus 19.2 (1 Peter 1.16)

1. Set apart for God

“In January, 1995, according to an article written by Gary Thomas, J. Robert Ashcroft had fewer than forty-eight hours to live, but he was holding on to life, hoping to see his son, John Ashcroft, sworn into the U.S. Senate the following day. [John Ashcroft, as we all know by now…is a former Attorney General]. As family and friends gathered in Washington for a small reception, J. Robert Ashcroft asked his son to play the piano while everyone sang, ‘We Are Standing On Holy Ground.’”

“After the song, the frail old man spoke some powerful words: ‘John, I want you to know that even Washington can be holy ground. Wherever you hear the voice of God, that ground is sanctified. It’s a place where God can call you to the highest and best.’”

2. #1 Place of service – the home

a. Love wives

b. Train children

c. By following the instruction manual

[Want to know what the bible has to do with your life? Follow its teachings and see!

C. For Strength

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40.30-31