Message Notes: June 17, 2012 A.M.
On a tour of Panama City Beach, the Pope took a few days off to visit the coast for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the beach in the Pope-mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off the shore.
A helpless man, wearing an Auburn football jersey, was struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25 foot shark.
As the pope watched in horror, a speedboat pulled up with three men wearing Alabama jerseys. One quickly fired a harpoon into the shark's side while the other two reached out and pulled the limp semiconscious Auburn guy from the water. Then using the long clubs, the three finished the shark off and hauled it into the boat.
Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to him "I give you my blessing for your brave actions. I heard that there were some bitter rivalry between Alabama and Auburn, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true."
As the pope drove off, one of the Alabama fans asked his buddies, "Who was That?" "It was the Pope" one replied. "He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God's wisdom."
"Well" the Alabama fan said, "he may have access to God and his wisdom but he doesn't know anything about shark fishing. Is the bait holding up OK or do we need to get another one?"
THE DEFINITION OF BARBECUING
It’s the only type of cooking a "real man" will do. When a man volunteers to do the ’BBQ’ the following chain of events is set into motion:
1) The woman goes to the store.
2) The woman fixes the salad, vegetables, and dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray
along with the necessary cooking utensils, and takes it to the
man, who is lounging beside the grill.
4) The man places the meat on the grill.
5) The woman goes inside to set the table and check the vegetables.
6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.
7) The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
8) The woman prepares the plates and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
10) Everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.
SOURCE: From Shani Monk, whose husband is a great BBQ-er. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021012/windows/net.htm
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“Men Who Matter”
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Introduction:
On this Father’s Day 2012 I think it goes without saying that one of the most maligned groups in our culture is men. Men and boys I might add, have been told by the social re-engineers of our day that they are not necessary, not needed, and just do not matter. Were it not for the “inconvenient truth” about the natural laws concerning human reproductivity, men would be eliminated altogether! There have been many science fiction books and movies produced in the last several years that have an all-female society with men used exclusively for procreation purposes! We have been told over and over again that men just do not matter but I’m here to tell you that men do matter, especially if you are the right kind of man!
FATHERLESS AMERICA
Tonight, 40% of all American children will go to sleep in a house in which their fathers do not live.
Before the age of eighteen, more than 50% of our children will spend a significant portion of their childhood living apart from their fathers.
A generation ago, an American child could reasonably expect to grow up with a dad. Today, an American child can reasonably expect not to. Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend in this generation.
SOURCE: David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem (New York, New York: BasicBooks, 1995) pp.1-2.
A FATHER'S ROLE
“The most urgent domestic challenge facing the United States at the close of the 20th century is the re-creation of fatherhood as a social role for men.”
“A good father does these basic things: provides for his family, protects his family, and gives spiritual and moral guidance.”—
SOURCE: David Blankenhorn, Institute for American Values.
And just in case that isn’t enough information, let me share these facts with you;
Dreary Statistics
• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes --U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census
• 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes --Center for Disease Control
• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes
--Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26
• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes --National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools
• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions come from fatherless homes --U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report Sept., 1988
• 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home --Fulton County Georgia jail populations & Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992
• Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:
• 5 times more likely to commit suicide
• 32 times more likely to run away
• 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
• 14 times more likely to commit rape
• 9 times more likely to drop out of school
• 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances
• 9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution
• 20 times more likely to end up in prison
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I. Men who matter are different
Paul makes it plain that Timothy is to be different from other men. The pronoun “But thou…”is used for emphasis and contrast. There is so much pressure on all of us today to conform to the mold that this world wants to put us in that it takes courage to be different.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
a. His address
Paul addresses his young protégé as a “man of God” in the sense that this is the kind of man he should strive to be, that Paul hopes he will be. This phrase is found throughout both the Old and New Testaments and describes a man who has taken God as his portion, He loves God more than he loves anything else and he lives to do the will of God. But it is one thing to be called a “man of God” and another thing to be that man!
b. His actions
What is the greatest temptation we face as men and fathers? It is to become so entangled with earning a living that we forget how to live! The verb flee is “pheugo” in the present imperative which commands a continuous action. Timothy is to make it the habit of his life to avoid an inordinate attachment to material possessions. For most of us this will be a life long struggle.
c. His affections
Do you know that we will value what we love? That whatever you set your heart on will be what you devote your time, talent and treasure for.
1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
WHO ARE YOU?
When Don called home from the road one evening, he spoke briefly to his nine-year-old daughter: "Honey, could you get your mommy on the phone?" He then heard Tasha blurt out, as she set the receiver down on the counter: "Hey Mom, the invisible man is on the phone!"
In that moment, even before his wife got on the phone, Don went through a transformation. He couldn’t laugh it off. He had to face the fact: "There’s something more important than achieving success at work. It’s being a dad."
SOURCE: Ken Canfield, PH. D. The Heart of a Father. Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 1996.
II. Men who matter are diligent
This second verb is “dioko” which means to run swiftly in order to catch some person or thing, to run after, to pursue, to seek eagerly and earnestly endeavor to acquire. What are we to pursue? Paul names 6 character traits that should be sought after which are fruits produced by the Holy Spirit. I’m going to use a “be” series to illustrate what Paul is saying.
2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
a. He is to be righteous
Righteousness here is moral integrity. It is behavior towards our fellowman that is based on integrity and moral and ethical behavior.
b. He is to be godly
This is his vertical relationship with God. If this is not right then nothing else will be right.
c. He is to be faithful
Faith here is not faith in the general sense but faithfulness.
d. He is to be loving
This is “agape” love, the love that only comes from God and is which Paul writes about in Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
e. He is to be patient
Patience is Greek “hupomone” and is steadfastness, constancy and endurance. Paul uses this word to describe the man who remains loyal and pure even in the midst of trials and sufferings in a God honoring manner.
f. He is to be meek
This is a temperament that accepts God’s will with a mild disposition and gentleness of spirit without disputing or resisting.
III. Men who matter are devoted
Paul closes this admonition with the use of an athletic metaphor which was a reference to the Greek athletic games, something he has done on many other occasions. All the churches that Paul founded were composed of Greeks and the spirit of these games was the atmosphere that the Romans breathed. When we find that the Greek boxer wore fur lined gloves with leather studded with lead and iron sewed into it and that the loser in a wrestling match had his eyes gouged out, we can appreciate just what a Greek contest was like.
a. The test
The verb here is for fight “agonizomai” from which we get our English word agonize was rich with meaning for Timothy. Again it is in the present tense imperative mode, commanding continuous action. The man who matters will strive continuously to give his best effort in living a life that is well pleasing to God.
b. The testimony
It must be a “good” fight! This is not referring to his intrinsic goodness but this “goodness” is the judgment of his fight by the spectators. For instance if you and I watched a football game and saw a great performance we would say that he was a good player.
c. The truth
Finally, the man who matters will “lay hold of” which is the same act as the “good fight of faith” Faith is not faith in general as exercised by the Christian but faith as in the Christian life. It is also aorist imperative referring to the habitual act of “fighting and laying hold of…” with the end result being eternal life.
ILL - From Davon Huss: Research shows that 68 million of our nation’s 94 million men don’t attend any church, despite the fact that 86% of them grew up with some sort of church background. Also, if a child comes to know Christ first in a family, there is a 3.5% chance of the rest of the family turning to Christ, 17 % if the mother is the first, and a 93% chance of the family turning to Christ if the father is the first to accept Christ.
In one of Dr. James Dobson’s 2008 newsletters, he writes:
"Some years ago, executives of a greeting-card company decided to do something special for Mother’s Day. They set up a table in a federal prison, inviting inmates to send a free card to their Mom. The lines were so long they had to make another trip to get more cards.
"Due to the success of that event, they decided to do the same thing on Father’s Day, but this time, not one prisoner felt the need to send a card to his Dad. In fact, when asked about it, many had no idea who their fathers were. I find that a sobering illustration of the importance of a dad and his blessing to his children."
(From a sermon by Gene Edwards, "In Search of the Blessing")
