Change the World from Dan Stevers on Vimeo.

What do you think about this billboard….about this topic? As a christian would someone consider you a jerk?

There comes a time in every boys life where it is time for him to become a man. Some would say that time use to be much earlier in life than the prolonged adolescence era we currently live in. Some Professors at major universities would say their campuses are littered with boys who have yet to become men. What does being a man mean? Because I believe our culture and Bible would have 2 very different definitions of what it means to be a man. Let me share a story with you I read in my quiet time yesterday in the book of Judges:

“Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”
“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’ ” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.” -Judges 8:18-24

Now I’m not saying being a man requires you to kill someone, but I am saying being a Man requires You to follow through with what is being asked of You by Your Father. Many of us continue to keep our sword in its sheath like Jether, when we should rather be fighting for our manhood. So here are a few qualities I believe seperates the men from the boys.

1. A Man Accepts Responsibility         vs.        A Boy Makes Excuses

2. A Man respects a woman                 vs.        A Boy has no regard for her emotions.

3. A Man Fears God                               vs.        A Boy fears the things of this world.

4. A Man Leads a Relationship            vs.        A Boy can’t even spell “relationship”

5. A Man Leads by example                  vs.        A Boy follows the crowd.

6. A Man is Diligent                                vs.        A Boy is lazy & consumed by games.

7. A Man is disciplined                           vs.        A Boy has to be told what to do.

8. A Man reads His Word                      vs.        A Boy reads text messages all day.

9. A Man gets on his knees                    vs.        A Boy sleeps past noon.

10. A Man desires growth                      vs.        A boy never wants to mature.

    "Recently I've been working through doubts in my faith. I guess I know that most Christians go through this but it's still so tough. For some reason I just keep thinking that God isn't real or that I can't really know Him. Maybe it's just more of doubt in His ability to restore. I know that He's supposed to have power to totally fix our jacked up minds and hearts but I'm just not seeing it happen. I'm not putting much work into my relationship with God either maybe that's why I'm not feeling God as much. I'm not putting my relationship wih Him as my number 1 priority. I've heard that my relationship with Him is just like a relationship with a friend or girl or anyone else. You have to put time and energy into growing that relationship. You have to give up other things that you value to do things for that person. That's something I'm not doing very well. I guess if I spend more time praying and reading my Bible I would feel closer to God and have less doubt but Satan keeps shooting those flaming darts of doubt even when God has probably sent me so many signs and reasons to believe. I know so many examples and so much evidence for God that I know He has to exist but the doubt and lack of faith just makes me depressed sometimes. I wish I would just be totally new and refreshed like when I was a kid and had pure undoubting faith. I guess it's just a process of renewal and I need some more accountability for spending time in the Bible and someone to be honest with about doubts. "

                                                                            -Wrestling, Male-Age 16

Usually on Tuesdays we tune ya'all in to some new music. But today I want to invite Parents to tune in to an alternative solution to post high school education. As some of you may or may not know, my wife and I will be moving from Kansas City to Branson this May for good (Lord willing) to start a new program called the KANAKUK LINK YEAR. For news and updated information on the website launch follow @link_year on twitter. Meanwhile if you are wondering why should your child postpone college any longer I invite you to TUNE IN and watch the following message from Tim Elmore. Thanks Jay! Great stuff

"Could it possible that we dread mondays because it symbolizes the start of a long work week? Is not work a gift from God? Think about it. God gave Adam the job of naming all the animals, spending time with them, and even learning more about them. This seems like a pretty tedious job, yet Adam never complained. This was a serious undertaking and Adam seemed to do it with great joy. Keep in mind this job was given to Adam before the fall. It wasn't a consequence for sin. It was a gift given to Adam in a perfect world. What many of us would feel as an overwhelming and menial task, Adam took as a blessing. Sure God could've named the animals Himself, after all he named Adam, but God saw the job as a blessing and an opportunity for Adam. Could it be that many of us are having to perform tasks that we dread and hate, when perhaps God means for it to be a blessing in our lives? We were created to work, not to be lazy. Work is not a result of the fall, God delegated responsibility before Adam and Eve made their poor decision. I believe that if we flip our mindset on this monday and realize the blessing of a job God has given us rather than the drudgery of the job our attitudes and actions would much more glorifying to God. Oh Lord, thank You for my employment and the opportunities You have entrusted to my care. I am fully aware that so many people have neither jobs nor education opportunities in this world!"

                                                    -the Monday Mindset

    In the last two weeks I've had several High School students ask me what book of the Bible they should study, and my response is always the same, I ask them "Have you ever read the whole Bible?" And every student so far have responded, "No." So from there I tell them they should start at Genesis. And guess what? Some of them have started the journey! The journey of being in a minority group of Christians who have actualy read the entire Bible. Depending on what source google takes you to you will see statisctics stating that only 5% of self proclaiming Christians have ever read the entire Bible up to 20%, nonetheless the percentage is low, and it seems as if it would be safe to say that those that have actually read the entire Bible would be considered the minority. One student even asked me if he could skip over Numbers when he got to it….ha! Isn't this what we often want to do with the Bible? Skip over the difficult topics or hard to understand. So what are you waiting for? Become a minority.

    "PEOPLE are always asking, how shall I study the Bible? What is the best method? There is no short cut, no royal road, no magic method. Say to such an inquirer, “Read the Bible over and over again—not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many, many times.” And that is all any one can do. Read it until you become familiar, cognizant of its contents, until you are so familiar with your Bible, be it Bagster or Oxford, that you can close your eyes and visualize the passage by locating it upon a particular page just where it belongs."

    -Frederick Farr

As you know the co-authors of this blog try to keep you up to date of great music, movies, books and anything else that might come our way. At times we will just tell you what we find, but from time to time we will be putting our reviews of different material we think you should check out. This movie below "The Least Among You" is one of those reviews:

 "The Least Among You" was inspired by a true story of a life changed through the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, California. Richard Kelly is a young african american man who has a promising career in the corporate world to look forward to. That is until he is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. In order to get his life back on the track, he accepts probation at an all-white seminary where the president of the school, Alan Beckett, is looking to break the color barrier and looks to Richard to fill that spot quietly. 
  Richard is met with numerous trials as he progresses through his probation at the school. He embattles persecution for his color, getting through his mother's illness and the affects of an abusive father. This along with the continued battle of letting his past fears and friendships go, for they were the very reason he was at the school in the first place. Though at times it seems as if everyone is against Richard, I see it as a watershed moment in his Leadership. At a time where most are against him, he has a few key friends that help him breakthrough that which was holding him back. A white roommate from Texas, who continually supports him, even when Richard has a hard time trusting him. A mentor in the Seminary's groundkeeper, Samuel Benton, who walks alongside him and mentors him through the good and the bad. All play a huge part in Richard breaking from his past that include the dreams that HE has, and following his destiny. 
    The film features a great cast headlined with the likes of Louis Gossett, Jr. and William Devane. It also shares a great story of a young man trying to figure out who he is, the trials he must overcome, and the people that walk alongside of him. Though I don't see this as a MUST SEE film, I think it's a great story that many can find inspiring.   – (BW)

 "Least Among You was a great story inspired by true events. Not a great movie. I believe it could've been a great movie with better character development, and less randomness from cutting from one scene to another. The metanarrative to this movie was great. I just wish this film would have been less scattered and more consistent in the plot. I was disappointed that the DVD provided no interviews with the real life characters that are still alive and participating in ministry. So if you're looking for a great story, this is it, but I warned you, it's a great story, not a great movie! (AD)

 Well we all know that a lid is something you use to prevent something from spilling, or use to keep things sealed. But on this blog we hope to crack open the lid, to allow things to spill out as we wrestle with our faith, things we can do to impact change, and to never stop dreaming. The L.I.D. actually stands for Leadership, Innovation, and Dreaming. Three things the two authors of this blog are extremely passionate about.

    We believe that everyone has the potential to be a great leader within the context of their own community. Leadership does not require being loud, popular, genius, or powerful, as a matter of fact a closer look into the Gospel and we will see leadership was the exact opposite of these attributes. We also believe that if we stop innovating or stop thinking of ways we can reach a dying culture we will lose our saltiness and became stale to a world that is constantly innovating. And last but not least we believe in the power of Dreams, God-shaped dreams. Dreams that are guaranteed to fail unless GOd decideds to act on behalf of them. If our dreams aren’t that big than we don’t think they are worth chasing. Well now that you have been refreshed on what this site is all about enjoy this awesome video on innovation:

"Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  -Lamentations 3:22-23

    Cling to that. Hold it close. For many of us yesterday was a rough day. Fights with our parents, friends who back-stab us. Bombed a test. Got pulled over. Lost a job. Got sick. And the list of things only piles up in this fallen world, but today is a new day. A day to pick oursleves up by our bootstraps and move forward, advance, and not consume ourselves with our shortcomings, but rather cling to His compassions that never fail. Oh, Lord thank You for Your faithfulness this morning. Life is not easy for some right now, but Lord I pray for You to encourage them and strengthen to to cling to You and Your promises this morning.