Archive

Archive for the ‘women’ Category

The 7 Points of Valor: #3 – Chivalry

February 28th, 2010 Comments off
Philippians 2:3-4 “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
Luke 10:29-37 “But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Matthew 20:26-28 “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Team Hoyt: As we watch the video again I remind you of the first 2 Points of Valor. The first was honour, which we identify as integrity. The challenge is to not just know the right stuff, but to apply it. Integrity of words and life are the foundation of our testimony, our witness. If people around us are to see Jesus in us, our word must be true. This is honor. The second is courage. Courage is about working in the present. So often it is the fear of the future or the unknown that holds us back in life; but courage deals with today’s problems. Jesus Himself said to work in today for tomorrow has its own issues. Courage is about doing the right thing, even in the toughest of circumstances.
You will find 2 common denominators in these 7 points of valor. The first is the discipline of self-sacrifice. Jesus asked those who would follow Him to take up their cross and do so. The cross is the ultimate symbol of self-sacrifice, for not only did Jesus give up his mortal life, but in the incarnation He gave up His divine right. For Dick Hoyt , his life and goals were forfeit for what he could do for his disabled son. There was one thing that made his son feel alive – and he has sacrificed so much of his time and energy and resources to give his son that freedom. To be a man of valor, a woman who stands for what God stands for, you have to be willing to pay the price of following Jesus. The sacrifice of discipleship is coupled with the concern for others. We do not follow just words of a book, or ideas of a person long gone, we serve our brothers and sisters, our fellow humans regardless of creed or religion. We sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others. That was Jesus’ life, and so it is ours. One way to say this is Chivalry. Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood. It is usually associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honor and courtly love. The word is derived from the French word chevalerie”, itself derived from “chevalier”, which means knight, derived from “cheval”, horse (indicating one who rides a horse). It has a 3 pronged reference: duties to one’s fellow men, including the weak and the poor; duties to God, emphasizing the dedication to one’s Lord and the championing of good over evil; and the duties to women, to his own lady first and after to all ladies in gentleness and graciousness.
A real man is concerned about those who are weaker or less fortunate than he. He would rather suffer personal loss than allow another to be mistreated. He has trained himself to think of others and to act for their good rather than his own. He is always considerate of girls and women and respects their needs for protection and consideration. We live in a man’s world in many aspects and though chivalry is a dated term, it relates to both honor and courage in our lives.
What is our duty to our fellow man? We are called to love our neighbor as our self, and it is in this context we find the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who is our neighbor? Start with those who are in close proximity, and go as far as what Jesus said – the Samaritans of our lives. They are those who believe differently, those who think their faith is right and ours is wrong, those who are racially and culturally mixed; some might even mention our enemies. Paul said it this way in Romans 13:8 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” What does it look like? Think of the tales of the knights. They would support those who are weak and downtrodden. They did it because they had trained for battle: they knew their weapons and how to use them. Have you ever read that passage about the armor of God in Ephesians 6? There is a sense that all of us who are mature Christians are garbed in armor for warfare. We all, as mature Christians, wander about our days as agents of chivalry who help those who are spiritually weak and oppressed. We look for those whom Satan has beat down, whom the world has shut up behind religious bars and stripped of all spiritual esteem; those whom the Creator made in His image and then died for so that they could be restored to a relationship with Him. We watch for those to whom we can help, and we use the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet and foot ware and belt of Truth. It is all there, so that God can do His amazing work in people’s lives through us.
Whether man or woman you are called to something set apart for the elite. One understanding of the knights of old is that you had to have been born into the right family to attain that position. It wasn’t just any lackey off the street that could become a knight. It had to be in their blood. You had to have wealth behind you for the training and the armor and the horse. And you, who are followers of Jesus, have been adopted into the right family. You have the blood of the Lamb on your life so you are called joint heirs of Christ. What is your duty to your fellow man? Stand up and make a difference for those who are weaker and poor, especially when no one else will.
What is our duty to God? Chivalry means we recognize we have a Master or Lord whom we serve. Do you get that picture of a knight standing at a gate or a bridge forbidding all to pass? The knight stands by command, and obeys until his strength runs out. Sometimes it is to the answer of a riddle or the display of virtue that allows passage, but it is the dedication to the Lord that makes the knight risk his life. There is no other option, it is do or die trying. This aspect of chivalry is not unlike the Olympic athletes we have been watching these past 2 weeks. They don’t come to Vancouver to lose; they come to win. There chances may be slim, but they still put in years of training and countless other resources of muscle, sweat and tears just for the chance to compete. They give up the things in life that will take away from their training, They do their school work if they are students, and work as they are able, but their focus is on the training so they can complete the task they have been given to do to the best of their ability. Our duty to God is to give him our focus, our abilities, and allow Him to use us in His mission. His example and character lead us on as we give our all to the task at hand.
What is our duty to women? Men, we live in a society that favors you. While we like to think we are civilized, we still struggle with equal rights. The vulnerable ones of our society need help – children and widows, whether widowed by death, or widowed by absence or abuse. You have to go out of your way to be chivalrous to women, because they will not get it from anywhere else. While Jesus lifted the stature of women; a movement in society in the last 50 years has tried to make us all equal by tearing down men and the institutions of family and marriage. At the same time there has been recognition that men and women are indeed different. One of the greatest tragedies of porn beyond the individuals involved is how it shapes society’s concept of women. They become objects and chattel, pretty things to look at but of no real value. There is great abuse given to the young women of our society. Listen to these stats:
One-half of all Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of violence since the age of 16
Almost one-half of women reported violence by men known to them and one-quarter reported violence by a stranger
One-quarter of all women have experienced violence at the hands of their current or past marital partner (includes common-law unions)
One-in-six currently married women reported violence by their spouses; one-half of women with previous marriages reported violence by a previous spouse
More than one-in-ten women who reported violence in a current marriage have at some point felt their lives were in danger
Six-in-ten Canadian women who walk alone in their own area after dark feel “very” or “somewhat” worried doing so
Women with violent fathers-in-law are at three times the risk of assault by their partners than are women with non-violent fathers-in-law
Source:  Statistics Canada. The Daily,  Thursday, November 18, 1993.
University of Victoria’s Sexual Assault Centre posts the following childhood sexual abuse statistics:
1 in 3 females and 1 in 6 males in Canada experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18.
80% of all child abusers are the father, foster father, stepfather or another relative or close family friend of the victim.
Incestuous relationships last 7 years on average
75% of mothers are not aware of the incest in their family
60-80% of offenders in a study of imprisoned rapists had been molested as children
80% of prostitutes and juvenile delinquents, in another study, were sexually abused as children.
In this context, ask yourself how do you treat women? Men, to be a real man today means you have to support and encourage the women around you. While we don’t put them on pedestals, we do recognize the great gift they are from God. In the Creation story we see the partnership God desires, but so often today we are grieving Eden. So much was lost, and we recapture some of that when we honor our women. Respect and graciousness should mark our relationships and our service. Who is looking out for these kids? You and I need to not shirk away from difficult circumstances, but find a way to help women find safe places, and to be a champion on their behalf.

Make the commitment today to be different, to be chivalrous in your approach to people and situations. Stand up for what is right, and strengthen your arm with the Spirit as you go forth in the power of God to proclaim the freedom Jesus brings to our lives today.

Categories: Chivalry, Team Hoyt, The 7 Points of Valor, women Tags:

The View From Here…

January 10th, 2010 1 comment


Psalm 119:1-11
“1 How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have ordained Your precepts,
That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
10 With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.”

A new year; a new vision. A chance to start over again; to realign our life. God is moving in my thoughts in some very specific ways, and I want to share a bit of that with you. These things are for all of us, even me. These things come as the next step that God has put before us. They come as part of a plan He has for us as a church. I have invited friends here to day so that we can share a bit of who we are and where God is leading us. I have been asking myself a question for several years. “How does discipleship work?” I know there is no one easy answer, in part because we are all unique and need different things in our lives. But I do believe there is a core of knowledge, a core of behaviors that make up a body of discipleship. One of the largest churches in the USA discovered that they had been missing the boat for the last 20 years. Willow Creek has done a phenomenal job of reaching people for Jesus, but they have done a lousy job of seeing people discipled. How do we move pole into a deeper place in their relationship with Jesus. I know it is the work of the Spirit that does that, but God chooses to use us in that process. What can we do with our resources to help you become more Christ-like? I want to leave you with two thoughts. The first is the vision, the picture of what we can be; and the second is some foundational elements that drive our programs to that vision. We don’t do stuff for the sake of doing stuff. We do stuff for a purpose, a reason. First, the vision; one for the men, and one for the women:

Strong Men – it’s a guy thing
When one thinks of men one tends to think of sports. It is the area in our society where men can be men – rough and tumble, mixing it up with roughness. Heroes emerge and we look to the winners or the home team. Where else do we see real men today? Sometimes we find a political figure that takes a strong stand, but often the media represents that man in a negative light as a result. It is hard to be a man in today’s world. What would it look like if we had a church where we understood what it was like to be a man – a godly man?

Luke 2:52 says that “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.” So if the men of our church banded together to challenge each other to go further and harder for Jesus Christ, would you be interested in a church like that? If we encouraged our men to grow in each of those areas of life – physical, intellect, spiritual, and social – would you want to see what God would do with those men? And men – what do you want out of life? Many guys like to cruise, to take the back seat and let others drive. Most often it is the women that pick up the slack… and the slacks! Our “get up and go” got up and left. We believed society and culture telling us that we are powerless, that the time for male leadership is past; that we need to let women be the things that used to be us. So men today are in confusion and stand on shaky ground when it comes to trying to define who they are and need to be today. As a church we want to provide the building blocks it takes to reinvent the Godly man of today.

There’s a commercial on today connected to the Olympics that shows athletes working hard at training and saying victory isn’t about destiny, it is about the months and years of discipline that comes before the event. The same thing rings true for men of today. We don’t just grow into men because we get older or because we get married. We don’t become mature Christians by osmosis or wishing. Men become men by working at it and by the encouragement of others. The verse in Proverbs says that as “iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.” Don’t read into this more than I have said. I am not advocating a return to aloof and power hungry leadership. I am talking about living out the calling Jesus has on our lives as men. He said that we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. Does that sound like an easy task? Does that sound like something anyone can do without effort and support? The Romans pulled a guy out of the crowd to help Jesus with His literal cross because He stumbled. What if we stumble? Who do we have to help us? That is what the body of Christ is for. The church, our church, is here to help you be all you can be in Jesus. You have marching orders from Jesus. In Philippians 3:12 we read that Jesus laid hold of us for a purpose. Generally we find that purpose in verse 9 – to be “found in Him” with a “righteousness that comes from God”. And this “laying hold of” isn’t just a tap on the shoulder. It grabs and is forceful – do you want to turn your back on that?

Men, you are called to be strong; to reflect the image of Jesus. Ezekiel was a prophet in exile 2600 years ago. He spoke from the banks of the Euphrates River when Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. Jerusalem and all Israel were under judgment for being a people of apathy and idolatry. The spiritual walls of Israel were being breached by the enemy. God stood and “looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before Him in the gap.” He found none. Today the spiritual walls of our men and youth and society are still being breached. The enemy is still pouring through the holes with lies and deceptions and false promises. God is still looking throughout the land for men who would build up the walls and stand before Him in the gap.

How this applies, men, is really between you and God. I don’t know what God is calling you to. You may already be fulfilling that place and all we can do is come alongside and cheer you on. Regardless, you are not called to be a lone wolf. Each of us is called to function within a local body, using your gifts to build up not just yourself before God, but everyone around you.

Connected – for Women only
Now you ladies have heard the challenge to men. Don’t think we haven’t got a place and a challenge for you as well. We have, as a society, been inundated with strong feminist ideals. How is it then that we have so many women who don’t like themselves? I was trying to think of what the ideal woman would look like in our community. You can’t define ideal by anything external for the simple reason that God doesn’t look at the externals. Anything ideal flows out of what is inside. My thoughts went to “vibrant” or “full of life”. I pictured someone who was involved and happy and energetic, but I was still seeing externals. Proverbs 31 comes to mind as well, and there is a large online community of women called just that – Proverbs 31 Ministries. My desire as pastor is not to create any mould that people must match in order to belong. I desperately want people to be free to be who they are, to help people throw off the expectations and obligations so that they are free to be themselves – to live in the way they were created. So I asked Bonnie the question, “How would you define the Ideal Woman with one word?” Her answer was what I was trying to speak but couldn’t articulate – Connected.

So think about this: what would it look like if the women of our church were Connected in life; connected to their Creator, to themselves, and to those around them. To be connected to your Creator speaks to your spiritual condition. It speaks to holiness and the Spirit working in and through you.

To be connected to your Creator gives you the foundation to self. It gives you purpose, it gives you direction and focus. Your connection to your Creator gives you what you need to connect to yourself. God loves you.  He died for you, and He lives within you to give you confidence. Your self-esteem should be through the roof because the Eternal God, the Creator of the ends of the earth loves you, relates to you, has gifted you, guides you, and so much more. If God has your back, you can go out into the world and do wondrous things in His power. There is nothing to fear. God calls you to places where your love makes all the difference in the world. He calls you to places that men would be stupid and inept at. He made you for a purpose to, and is calling you to join Him in this wonderful adventure of life.  If I could do one thing for the women of Canada, the women of the world, it would be to let them know that they are accepted just the way they are. The god of this world beats you down in so many ways; but in Jesus you can find strength, acceptance, purpose, and so much more. As a pastor my desire is to make this place a sanctuary where we can all come and feel accepted, and in accepted understand the confidence that comes with God’s Spirit working in and through us.

Having this confidence in yourself gives you the strength to connect to others around you in deep and meaningful ways. Women often do so much for so many already, but much of it is done in isolation, even in the midst of a crowd. My desire is that your connections to other ladies becomes a catalyst for a larger work of God than is possible with everyone doing their own thing. I was so proud of the ladies involved in the Girls’ Night Out event a year and a half ago. We had numerous obstacles, and frankly, some of them were quite large. But the ladies involved and persevered and prayed, and God used us to reach over 200 ladies with the truths of Jesus. We did that. Us! We have also had some 70 women of Saskatoon go through 2 Your Best You conferences here in Saskatoon; another 40 in Olds, and an expected 40 the end of this month at the Bridge on 20th. No one person could do this alone. You have prayed and pulled together when needed, and given of your time and allowed others the freedom to do what is needed. God has much more in store for you ladies and for us as a church in the months and years to come. Isn’t it exciting?

So, here is the challenge for men and for women. How are we going to do it? It is one thing to get a vision and get all excited, but another to plot the way to reach that lofty goal. The Biggest Loser TV show takes obese men and women and through a combination of diet and exercise gets them to lose weight. How does one lose 213 pounds? The answer is one pound at a time. Every journey starts with a single step. The road to the grey cup starts at the first training camp with a sit down like this. The coach looks at his players and asks, “Why are we here?” Are we here to get some fresh air and exercise? Are we here to settle for 4th place? Are we here to get a big pay cheque? No! We are here to win; to win the Grey Cup. It starts today with this list of drills and skills development activities. And tomorrow we will do these ones… and so it starts.

And so we start here at Louise Street Community Church of the Nazarene. All that has gone on before has brought us to this point.  I don’t know all your commitments, but plug in when you can. Make following Jesus your top priority. This church is only one of many ways you can do that. I am not offended by people who go outside of what we have to offer so they can get what they need. We are all on the same team. My responsibility is this group, and so I teach and organize and equip with the resources at hand. Here are three things that are part of our game plan:

1. Identity in Jesus. At this church we focus on who you are in Christ. You will hear it from the pulpit, you will hear it in Sunday School, and if you phone me and ask, you will hear it on your cell. Don’t compare yourself with people around you – look to God instead. He is the one that loves you with an undying love that caused His Son to give up His life for you. He has promised to provide all that you need for today, both physically and spiritually. His Holy Spirit is at work in your life, quickening you with His eternal purposes. This is fundamental to our church.

2. A Focus on the Word. You will not get far in any argument with me if you do not bring Scripture to the table. My ministry and the ministry of this church is founded on the Word of God. I preach it on Sundays; it is taught in Sunday School, and if you phone me up… well, you get it. This book really is our playbook. The stories and truths it contains provide guidance and principles for us to live by. I will always challenge you to get into it. I was encouraged this week by one of our members who mentioned he was working on reading it through this year, as he has the last couple of years. Wow! One of Bonnie’s blog friends talked about how she tries to do that every year. She mentioned how she always fails, but that she knows the book of Genesis really well.

3. A Foundation of Prayer. This is another key element, without which we will not survive. You are a praying people. And we will continue to provide opportunities to do that, both individually and as a group. We will be starting a men’s weekly prayer group with a study. On top of that the men will be challenged to work through a booklet called Herald of Christ for Men. Who knows what God will bring out of that? Your Best You conferences will continue to be held, but we will also be starting a women’s prayer group. There is more that we will be doing in time to come, but know that God is leading and guiding us into some exciting times. Consider how you can be apart of what is happening here at church.

Categories: men, the Church, Vision, women Tags: