via TJC
Philippians 3:13–14
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Thanks for preparing for the battles ahead, as TJC dives deep into 7 key cultural mine-fields. Then we studied Mighty Men of God in our “30-on-30” series. We extended that into preparing for Gettysburg and stories of might men impacted by that stage of the civil war.
We are now going to dive into how those issues directly impact us, and how we step up as mighty men.
This week is focused on the mighty men who lead, shape and labor along side you within The Joshua Commission.
Today we press into the next step with TJC - EMAW
A few years ago after a “mountain top” experience, training at Gettysburg; we wanted to formalize a next step for newly commissioned men to press into. The board undertook a challenge and started a 9 month journey studying through “Every Man a Warrior”.
Before we asked anyone else to do EMAW - we would commit together to the time, studying, quiet times, challenges and patient listening required to complete EMAW.
Every Man a Warrior is a three book curriculum that frames the fundamentals of discipleship. Created by Lonnie Berger, it captures great building blocks from the Bible, the Navigators and many life lessons.
The second lesson recounts a Billy Crystal comedy “City Slickers” where “Mitch” wants more than the seemingly dead end job lifestyle. Friends gift Mitch with a cattle drive adventure where they journey with Jack Parlance known as Curly.
Curly terrorizes Mitch, but eventually Curly tells Mitch you have to discover the “one thing”. Without “it”your life is messed up. Curly dies that night and Mitch is left seeking that one thing on his own.
Mitch did not know to:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. Matthew 22: 34
Truth is most Christian men do not know that either, or they complicate it with every possible addition you can think of.
And most men have no clue what it means to love God.
So the TJC board and a few eager brothers started through the EMAW curriculum under the tutelage of Chris Ackerson. Chris was the perfect lead for an on-line weekly meeting of several type-A men trying to the chase. See loving God isn’t a cut to the chase, skip that topic, speed read process. We had to listen to one another; it was painful at times as we all wanted to speak, or other times skip forward. But Chris guided the EMAW disciple process and kept us disciplined. We lost some people along the way; each group does. But in the end, we didn’t get a diploma- what you received was an invitation to go share the word, recruit another group and teach it yourself. Isn’t that the second half of the great commission? Oh and the 9 month journey made good relationships even stronger as we wrestled with our past, our hopes and love. Our inner circle was forged in a shared journey of prayer and love.
But why am I sharing EMAW this week ? Because in this- Mighty Men are revealed.
You and I are not different than the men in 30-on-30 or at Gettysburg. We just need to embrace that one thing, surround ourselves with passionate men and get real. And then your commissioned by Jesus himself to disciple others and keep repeating.
Daily Battle Order - what is your one thing ? Who do you share it with? Don’t be wondering, like Mitch missing out. And worse don’t be Curly - dying with the secret. We have a group for you and who knows you might find yourself on a cattle drive
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SIGN UP FOR GETTYSBURG: Calling all Kingdom Men! The Joshua Commission will hold its annual Gettysburg Battlefield training 15-16 October or meet us on the battlefield on 16 October at 0830
Click the link above to sign up. Please join us in Gettysburg, experience genuine fellowship with Christian men, and equip yourself for Victory as a prince and warrior in God’s kingdom!
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