The Point Man
2 Timothy 2:1-10
REFLECTION: Go back in your mind 40 years ago. You are in Viet Nam and you’re selected as the point man (leader) for a team of 7 men to go on patrol.
> Your Mission: To identify a safe passage for your outfit to their next destination.
> Your Enemy: Unseen Viet Con waiting to ambush you, your men, and your entire outfit.
> Your Resources: The seven men on your team and the equipment you carry.
We are in enemy territory (2 Cor 4:4; James 4:4; 1 Jn 2:15,16; 5:19; Phil 2:15) and God has commissioned the Father to act as the Point Man to lead his family to safety. The danger is far more significant (if less obvious) than safely navigating the jungles of a distant country, for you face an enemy that is far deadlier and your success or failure has eternal implications.
> Satan’s strategy has always been to “Divide and Conquer.”
Divide you and your wife or the other Team members. {Spiritually, Emotionally, or Physically.}
NOTE: Sometimes soldiers go AWOL and leave their leaders to find their own way and end up getting ambushed by the enemy. Likewise some children and even wives rebel against the leadership of God’s Point Man and end up a casualty of spiritual warfare. It is also tragically true that some “Point Men” (FATHERS) are careless and lead their “team”
(FAMILY) into an ambush.
> The Father is God’s Point Man, and will come under the greatest enemy fire. (Mark 3:27) "No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house."
The first time the word “Command” is found in the Bible is in Genesis 18:19 where God says of Abraham: "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring
upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
DIRECTION: This morning I’d like to look at the “Right Stuff” or the equipment we need to learn as God’s Point men. This evening I will look at two men and how they used, or neglected this equipment and the effect it had on their family.
THE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO BE A GOOD “POINT MAN”:
P: PERCEPTION 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant…”
> A sensitivity to the condition of your team. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Fears)
> An awareness of the tactics used by the enemy.
(2 Cor 2:11) "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."
O: OBJECTIVE “He shall command…they shall keep the way of the LORD” Gen. 18:19
> Do you have orders from the “captain of the LORD'S host”. {Joshua 5:15}
> Are you under His authority. (Mat 8:9) "For I am a man under authority, "
> Do you know where He wants you to guide your family?
(Proverbs 29:18) "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
I: INTEGRITY (Pro 20:7) "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."
> Integrity deals with our Tongue. Job 2:9 “dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die.”
> Integrity deals with our Track Record. (Pro 11:3) "The integrity of the upright shall guide them:."
(Phil 3:17) "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample."
> Integrity deals with our Trustworthiness. (Gen 18:19) “I know him…”
(1 Cor 4:2) "it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
N: NERVE (Endurance, Courage or Control) (Josh. 1:6,7) “Be strong and of a good courage:…Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law..”
> It takes NERVE (courage) to follow God.
> It takes NERVE (courage) to lead others.
> God gives NERVE (courage) to those who will obey him. (Joshua 1:8,9)
T: TRAINING 2 Tim 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God…”
> Life’s most important battles are being fought by men who are inadequately trained. No wonder the casualty rate is so very high.
> If Father’s devoted as much energy to perfecting their ability on the job as they did to perfecting their parenting how would it affect their performance at work?
> God’s plan involves on the job training. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
“The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Father’s are training their sons to be fathers. (Prov 17:6)
M: MANUAL (Josh 1:8) "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
> The word of God is our weapon against the enemy. (Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:17)
A “Point Man” in Viet Nam who didn’t know how to use his weapon was a “Dead Man.” (And so were the other men on his patrol)
> The more we study our “manual” the greater our victory.
(2 Tim 2:15) "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
God’s word reveals God’s battle plan as well as the enemy’s.
A: AVAILABILITY (Eph 5:16) "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
> We never know how much time we have with our families. (James 4:14) > We must learn to maximize the time God has given us. (Psa 90:12) Quality time cannot be scheduled, it comes spontaneously out of Quantity time.
N: NURTURE (To train and comfort) (1 Thessalonians 2:11,12) "As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory."
> Many get wounded along the way and need a “Medic”.
> We must learn to “Care for” and occasionally “Carry” each other when wounded. (Gal 6:1) "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."
> Nurturing involves healing and helping to avoid further injury through instruction.
CONCLUSION: The success or Failure of the Point Man greatly affected the success or failure of his men. So our success as Fathers will greatly affect our families. The success of the patrol also affected the entire company. So the success (or failures) of our families will have long term affects on our church, community, nation, and succeeding
generations. (Isaiah 58:11,12)
MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS:
One of the richest men of his time, J. Paul Getty, owned an estate that exceeded $4 billion in net worth. This is what he wrote in his autobiography as quoted in the Los Angeles Times, January 9, 1981.
"I have never been given to envy... save for the envy I feel toward those people who have the ability to make a marriage work and endure happily. It's an art I have never been able to master. My record: five marriages, five divorces. In short, five failures."
TIME
* A team of researchers wanted to learn how much time middle-class fathers spend playing and interacting with their small children. First, they asked a group of fathers to estimate the time spent with their one-year-old youngsters each day, and received an average reply of fifteen to twenty minutes. To verify these claims, the investigators attached microphones to the shirts of small children for the purpose of recording actual parental verbalization. The results of this study are shocking: The average amount of time was thirty-seven seconds per day! Their direct interaction was limited to 2.7 encounters daily, lasting ten to fifteen seconds each!
Fathers of 2-12 year old boys spent an average of 12 minutes per day with their sons.
Famous Words:
In a survey of hundreds of children, the Holbrooks came up with the three things fathers say most in responding to their kids:
"I'm too tired," takes first place.
"We don't have enough money," is second. And "Keep quiet" is third.
TV ADDICT?
A fascinating experiment on addiction was reported in Good Housekeeping magazine. A Detroit newspaper made an offer to 120 families in the city. The families were promised $500 each if they would agree not to watch TV for one month. Guess how many turned down the offer: 93!
Of the 27 families that said yes, 5 were studied and reported on in the magazine article. Right away you realize it was quite an adjustment for them. Each family had been watching television from 40 to 70 hours a week -- that's between 5.7 and 10 hours a DAY. Think of it! Every day the monotonous sounds and electronic pictures were a continual part of those households -- year in and year out.
Serious pains accompanied the sudden, cold-turkey withdrawal from the plug-in drug. But some good things also occurred. Books were pulled off the shelf, dusty from neglect, and read. Families played games, listened to the radio, and enjoyed playing records together. In one family two young kids spent some time practicing how to spell their names and addresses!
Miracle of miracles, several actually reported that the younger kids took their baths at night without throwing a fit. And some (better sit down) willingly practiced their lessons.
The result? Well, the "no TV month" families finally had to admit four facts:
1. Their family members became closer.
2. More eyeball-to-eyeball time between parents and children took place.
3. There was a marked increase in patience between family members.
4. Creativity was enhanced.
I would love to report otherwise, but I must be honest rather than wishful and add that television eventually won out once more. All five families returned to their addiction for nearly the same number of hours as before. Some MORE.
.
THE “STRANGE STRANGER” IN OUR HOUSE
Shortly before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love
the Word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole
family. He took Dad, my brother, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up - while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places-go to
her room, read her Bible, and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house – not from us, from our friends, or from adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes
distinguished. He talked freely about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of
God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time, he opposed the values of parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with us, but if I were to walk into my parent's home today, I would still see him
sitting there waiting for someone to listen to his stories and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?.................. We always just called him..................TV.
Several years ago the Christian Life and Faith magazine presented some unusual facts about two families. Does it really matter that much: good Christian parents, good Christian homes? I turn to the most revealing proof of which I know -- Jonathan Edwards and Max Jukes. Jonathan Edwards was an outstanding Christian. A researcher followed up his descendants. He learned that out of his 1,394 descendants came 13 college presidents, 65 professors, 60 prominent lawyers, 32 noted authors, 90 physicians, 200 ministers of the Gospel, and 300 good farmers.
Max Jukes was the very antithesis of Mr. Edwards, for he was very notorious as a crook without principle or character. The life histories of 903 of his offspring showed he spawned 300 delinquents, 145 confirmed drunkards, 90 prostitutes, 285 had "evil disease", and over 100 spent an average of 13 years in prison. It was estimated that the crimes and care of that one family cost the state of New York over one million dollars -- while Jonathan Edwards never cost the government a single penny -- instead making contributions of incalculable worth.
