Tues.2.17.15...Being a Godly MENTOR...Noble in Battle part 2

A Man who does not Fight can Never be MANLY. 

Men, the war of all wars is going on and we were made to fight in it. A man who does not fight can never be MANLY. That’s a bold statement. Let’s see if it’s true. God is the divine warrior who has made us in his image to also be warriors. Satan is our great enemy. We have been commissioned us to “fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Tim.1:18; 6:12), not simply to sit in seats on Sundays. For a man not to engage in this epic battle may indicate he is deceived, apathetic, or worse yet, a coward. Ouch!

So I’ll say it again, A man who does not fight can never be MANLY. The N of MANLY stands for Noble in Battle. And it is this concept of being Noble in battle that is also within our "Being a Godly MENTOR" series. To be Noble in battle, we need to W.A.R.-  
W-Walk in a Worthy manner. This is what we focused on yesterday. So pray and pursue living a Worthy or pleasing life.

A-Activate the sidelined saints. This is what we will focus on today.

R-Release the locked up lost. We will look at this tomorrow.

Now let's zero in on this second letter of WAR: A= Activate the sidelined saints.

Recently, I talked with a Marine who had a safe recruiter’s position, but when 9/11 occurred, he felt compelled to go overseas and fight. A fellow Marine even tried to talk him out of going overseas, but he knew it was what he was wired to do. 

He was Noble in battle and now has a chest full of medals to prove it. Sadly, there are many believers, men who should be in the fight, who would rather play and play it safe then enter into battle. They would rather talk you out of serving then serve themselves. Others are sidelined by the enemy’s propaganda campaign. They look at their past and believe they are disqualified for active duty. Thus, they may be HARD to enlist, being STUCK in a un-MANLY condition.

Let’s review these HARD STUCK deceptive tactics of the enemy. He gets men to believe lies about their past and thus they feel Hopeless, Abandoned, Rejected, Defective. Or they feel Shameful, Trash, Unwanted, Condemned or Kinky.

But we know that our past does not define us. God defines us. Christ makes all the difference. Notice how Paul puts this -"Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor.6:9-11. Sidelined men need to focus on this wonderful new identity they have. They need to renew their minds with the truth. God has a great MANLY plan yet for their lives and wants to Activate them for the battle.

The sidelined need to also focus on God, not their past. They are God’s adopted ones. The Lord even gives them a new identity and renames them. God gave deceiving Jacob (His name basically meant “deceiver”) a new name. He had deceived his brother out his blessing, for which Esau wanted to kill him. Now years later, Jacob was returning home only to hear that Esau was coming towards him with a small army. Jacob was frightened, not ready to fight. Speaking of being made in God’s image to fight and struggle, read what happened next in Gen.32:22-30.

What does it take to activate a stuck saint to fight? For Jacob it was the fear that Esau was coming to kill him. God often answers our prayers that Christian men would become Activated fighters by allowing big problems to drive them to a God encounter.

Surprisingly, God changes deceiving Jacob’s name to an amazing name-“Israel”- meaning, “he struggles with God.” The Christian sidelined men we are praying for to be Activated must come to the point where they struggle with God. They must end up wanting His divine blessing more than their self-will. “Lord, I’m tired of the self-willed, sidelined life I’ve been living. I Hunger for you. I want to Obey your call to battle. I want to be Unstoppable. I want to become Strong in you. I want to fight and Encourage others on as well.” When God works such a heart change, then our prayers for such power HOUSE men will be answered. Then they will be open to our invitations. So keep attacking in prayer!

But we still need to invite these believers to join us in the fight. This is what leaders do. Jesus was constantly inviting people, saying to them, “Follow me.” Also remember what even Andrew did after encountering Jesus? “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” John 1:41-42. Simon Peter was not a lost man, but he wasn’t an Activated man. Thankfully, his brother did his part to help him. And Peter went on to become an incredibly great warrior, advancing God’s kingdom. So you never know how God might work in a man until you bring him to Jesus, and offer him the opportunity to become a MANLY warrior with us. Remember the power of asking. Ask people to join you. Then keep sowing and watering that seed. Keep telling them about what you’ve been learning. Pass on testimonies of others who are also enjoying M3. Recruit! That’s what leaders do and that’s what you are. Intentionally influence others. Invite them to the fight. Men are made to fight.

G.a- Name the men you are focused on recruiting. On a scale of 1-10, rate how interested you think they are to signing up soon. Put your estimated number next to each one's name.

G.b- As we know, prayer is critical to Activate men. That’s why Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Mt.9:37-38. Please write that bolded part on your MP3 card. (That verse in battle language could read- The war is great, but our earthly forces are few. So pray that the Lord of the armies would Activate more men to join us in the battle.)

G.c? How many individuals or groups did you get to share and enrich from your MP3 card?

R-?

E?

A? 
Attack in prayer against any old identity lies the enemy may use against you. The Lord has given you a new name. Your sins no longer define you, God does. And He calls you His dearly loved son, and a mighty warrior. Fight the good fight and you will prevail. We need to pass on that kind of encouragement to our proteges as well. 

T- Tomorrow, we unveil the letter T to complete our GREAT scoreboard. Eddie's guess was the closest. (I actually had revealed it back on the Dec.18th blog.) 

Words Worth Repeating 
In light of the picture of the soldier on the walkie talkie, here's a great quote by John Piper. "Years ago, when I wrote Let the Nations Be Glad, I argued that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. God is more like a general in Command Central than a butler waiting to bring you another pillow in the den. Of course, he is also Father, Lover, Friend, Physician, Shepherd, Helper, King, Savior, Lord, Counselor. But in this fallen “world with devils filled,” prayer will function best when we keep the frequency tuned to Command Central in the fight of faith."

"What amazes me, is that we all fall short of the glory of God. We are all sinners. Paul considered himself the chief sinner yet he wrote quite a bit of the Bible. We are all saved by God's amazing grace.How truly sweet it is." George Rabiela

Announcements

Wow! Sunday I talked to 3 more guys about M3 who are very interested. I hope you're finding interest as well as you share with men. Let me know if you need any help. Time is passing quickly and I want  to help you graduate from Coaches Training. So make phone calls, send testimonies via email, text our M3 link. O Lord, help us to Activate men!

Wow! Good competition on Friday! Looks like enriching others with the gold from your MP3 cards made the big difference for Alpha Force. Robert actually could have put up 22 points that way. He has been sending out 220 encouraging text messages for years! The max he is able to send out at one time is 10, so technically, that's 22 points. But he's a good sport. He's fine with the fine tuning of the rules- Men, give yourselves 1 point for group texts like that. Again, it's 1 point for group emails or group conversations, such as sharing at a home group. Eddie was Delta's MVP with all the Encouragement he gave out. Way to go! I know of no more encouraging group of men. Your potential proteges need to know that!

	1 Tim.4:15	G=God's Word	Right Wrongs	Encouragement	A= Attack Prayers	T	(Men Recruited)
		For Fri.2.13.15
	Alpha Force
	Fire Team 1
1	Jack Rogers U.2	Y 4		4	A		Daniel & Roger
2	Roger Vinlasaca U.2	Y 1		1	A
	Fire Team 2
	Mike Pagan U.2	Y 2		1	A		George
	George Rabiela	Y 3	R (Our Respect)	3	A
	Fire Team 3
	Sam Vargas U.2	Y 4		3	A		Robert
	Gary Remson U.2	Y 1	R (Our Respect)	1	A
	Fire Team 4
	Robert Roman U.1	Y 1		5	A
	Vince Diaz U.1	Y 1		1	A	T=Totals :)
		8 + 17= 25	2	19	8	54
	Delta Force
	Fire Team 1
	Alvin James U.2	Y	R R(Our Respect)	2	A
	Kentrayle Adams U.1	Y		2	A
	Fire Team 2
	Dave Heidekruger U.2	Y 1		2	A
	Israel Fuentes U.2	Y		2	A
	Fire Team 3
	Daniel Contreras U.1	Y 2	R (Our Respect)	2	A		Vince & Antonio
	Antonio Palomar	Y 2			A
	Fire Team 4
	Eddie Morales U.2	Y 1		11	A		Gary, Ismael, Kentrayle
	Ismael Andrade U.2	Y1		1	A	Total
		8+7= 15	3	22	8	48