The future of this ministry is completely left to the guidance of the Lord and ultimately it is His will being accomplished through the young adults who get involved. Some possible future benefits to the expansion of God's Kingdom are providing a ministry that bridges the gap from selfish adolescence to vital member of local church, that supports RUF and perhaps even a conduit for a church plant. Or maybe it is just an opportunity for us at this time to enjoy the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ. It is in His hands.

May we find ourselves devoted to biblical teaching, fellowship, communion, prayer, and the singular body of Christ to which we are all a part (Acts 2: 42-47).

**Working on this is one of those things that kept me from blogging for awhile**

In light of this celebration, where newly elected Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken Jr., was inducted, Cal’s speech echoed the sentiment of many with these words, "Today is about celebrating the best that baseball has been and the best it can be." Ripken’s speech contained many inspirational and heartfelt reflections on his career and his impact on the generations to come. He said, "We are the ambassadors for the future. Just as a baseball player wants to make his mark on the game and leave it a little better than he found it, we should all try to make this world a better place for the next generation."

Cal Ripken Jr. also added this perspective on his streak of 2,632 consecutive games played, “As I look out at this audience I see thousands of people who do the same -- teachers, police officers, mothers, fathers, businesspeople and many others. You all may not receive the accolades I have throughout my career, so I'd like to take the time out to salute all of you for showing up, working hard and making the world a better place. Thank you all.” Rather than talk about how great he was for this accomplishment, he chose to elevate those around him to Iron Man status.

While it was wonderful to see baseball’s Iron Man celebrated and to see him in turn remind everyone that people are more important than a game, I couldn’t help but think about shadows and dust. As Gladiator, Maximus, runs off to fight another epic battle in the Coliseum, his master, mentor and friend reminds him of the eventual outcome of worldly glory. Proximo screams out, "We mortals are but shadows and dust. Shadows and Dust Maximus!"

I cannot help but wonder if Cal’s view of the future is one held with a look towards eternity and if his worldly accolades will be celebrated as God’s glory in a good and faithful servant or if they will fall away and he will be separated from his creator. For all the celebrations and thanks in his speech, I never once heard him give thanks to God. Will Cal be glorified in heaven or will he be forgotten as shadows and dust? Will he be an ambassador for Christ or not (2 Corinthians 5:20)? Will he experience the rich fellowship with Jesus Christ or eternal absence? Will you?

Growing up with a Catholic father and a Methodist mother I can recall at an early age that my parents did not see eye to eye on faith. My father had me baptized Catholic and my mother took me to Methodist Sunday School until I was seven. At that point my father decided that I was going to attend catechism class which I did until the age of fourteen when I was confirmed. Once in High School I did not see a need for church nor did my parents seem especially interested in it.

This continued until I was in college where I was taking theology and philosophy classes. It was at this time that my prideful nature took hold and I concluded that there was no god. I became an atheist and would regularly engage my friends and anyone else in dialog that quickly disintegrated into arguments. My general argument was that I was in control of my life and anyone that needed the crutch of religion was weak willed. Essentially, I deemed myself to be god of my universe and enjoyed debate with anyone who disagreed.

Eventually my atheism succumbed to agnosticism and deism because I began to notice connections in my life and in the world with others that could not be explained by my prideful worldview. I still contended that Christians were weak-minded, relying on a book of children’s stories otherwise known as the Bible. My deistic point of view was basically a comparison to someone blowing their nose in a tissue paper and discarding it. There was an entire world taking place on the microcosmic level of the tissue paper, but the “creator” could care less about that world.

The idea of a connected universe began to infiltrate my thoughts as I could see recurring themes cropping up in my life that had no apparent connections. A conversation, a commercial, a song all pointing to one idea or another, but none of which were apparently related in any way. It was at this point that I met my future wife, who was a devout and steadfast Christian and the daughter of a PCA pastor. She was always willing to discuss my objections to Christianity and never became angry. I was still rather argumentative about the subject and refused to believe the childlike stories of Scripture.

She challenged to me to go back to Scripture and re-read it. Since I was still rather prideful and had a nominally Christian upbringing I brushed this idea off because I felt like I had already been there and done that. Eventually I yielded to her suggestion and began with the book of Genesis. As I read and outlined the chapters I did not get anything more from the pages than that this was someone’s version of history. She suggested I move to something in the New Testament, something that would show the work of Christ more clearly.

And so I began reading the book of Romans. One night in my room, as I got to the 8th chapter, I read these words, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8: 31-32) In that moment, I felt a real and distinct presence with me and felt as though I was floating. I’m not bold enough to say that I was levitating, but it certainly seemed like it at the time. Just then a fear came over me, not of the presence, but from knowing that my life was going to be forever changed.

During college I lived a very selfish and hedonistic lifestyle constantly putting my needs above others in the pursuit of pleasure. My conversion took place in March of 2001 when I was 23 years old and still living that same life. While I did not immediately stop living that lifestyle after the Holy Spirit gripped my heart it was not terribly long afterwards that I began to surrender more of myself over to Christ as I became further sanctified and conformed in to His image.

This is a challenge to my heart, but not one in which I find despairing. It is one where I feel the Lord preparing me to stretch and grow, one in which I am excited about. I am ready to walk by faith and as John Calvin said, “to live the life of God”.

Men are often times struggling to take leadership roles in the church, in relationships and in the world. Is this because of fear? cultural pressures? something else? We fear taking leadership roles because that means responsibility and with responsibility comes the desire to succeed and if we fail to live up to our responsibility than we can't succeed. But, if we don't take the responsibility in the first place then we don't need to worry about success or failure. Our culture puts a lot of pressure on men to not only be successful, but to do so in a way that shows our inferiority to women. As men then, we begin to take on that lazy persona immobilized by our fears and living up to a perceived cultural norm.

Ultimately, we have forgotten how to be Gentle Men. I separate these two words because I think they show the balance of what God intended for his creature - man. Scripture teaches us that we are to be humble, loving and kind or to be gentle. But it also teaches us that we are to be wise, bold and leaders or to be men. So to be gentlemen we must embody the work of Christ as he was both sacrificially loving and the king of kings.

Good Charlotte's new album has a song called Break Her Heart. Part of the chorus says, "Don't tell her she is the reason that you live/Don't give her everything that you got to give/If you want to keep a girl for as long as you live/Just break apart her heart." With the pervasiveness of culture we can be easily confused and distracted from our calling to be Gentle Men.

But searching for happiness and hanging our hopes on answers that distract us from our relationship with Christ are not gender specific issues. Man’s hot pursuit of woman with a biblical focus is simply the fruit of men hotly pursuing Christ. How hotly are you (man or woman) pursuing your relationship with your Lord and Savior?

He kept his arm bent outside to catch the breeze so he wouldn't have to turn on the AC. Gas isn't cheap and especially driving such a long journey he was trying to stay on budget. The rental truck was packed so tightly that he knew nothing would be rolling around in the back as the stop and go traffic shook everything. In fact, he was more worried what was going to happen when he opened the door and all the things he stuffed in there came tumbling out. Fortunately, he was towing his black Corolla and was able to use that space as well.

The car still had Connecticut plates on it reminding George of where he was coming from and the map on the dash showed the path laid out before him. All the time he spent in prayer before the journey began, the discontent he had been feeling with his job and the assurances he was receiving from answered prayers had all put him on that road. He didn't have all the answers, but he did know he needed to obey the call of Jesus Christ and go down the road...

Colossians 1:19-20
For it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

We are assured our eternal peace through the first steps of Christ taken on Christmas day to the cross. May the Holy Spirit illuminate our hearts more and more each day to find the offense of Christmas, the offense of the Gospel, the offense to our flesh less and less, and the beautiful message of forgiveness and redemption more real, more enticing to our humanity.

Take em’ to the chorus...YEAH!