My Journal and Diary
2025
July
Sunday, July 6th, 2025
Men
I just returned from a fantastic men's retreat in the country. The fellow who hosted it owns over 150 acres of wilderness, including a private lake. I took my Boler camper and canoe, and joined fifty or so other men to learn about what it really means to be a man in this crazy culture we live in. It was awesome to have the opportunity to paddle around a lake, to camp, and to enjoy the company of other Christian men—and this all in one event!
The speaker used various scriptures to underscore his points. A very cursory overview: as men, we should be concerned not with meeting our own needs, but generously working to meet the needs of those in our circle of influence or responsibility. We should be strong and courageous, and we should protect.
One thing that sticks out to me in the series of talks I heard, was concerning the Garden of Eden. We typically blame Eve (or at least I did), for being the first to sin. But a more careful reading reveals that Adam was there listening to the Serpent tempt Eve, and did nothing to interfere nor protect her. The speaker suggested that men need to be less passive and more active in standing guard. It's our job to make sure the metaphorical snakes don't even get into the figurative gardens, and if they do, to stop their attacks.
I find it fascinating that this experience would come right after I finished the book "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. God has been speaking to me lately, and I'm feeling led to move in a slightly new direction in life.
Please pray that I will follow His leading carefully, and not merely pursue my own agenda.
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