Are You Transformational or Transactional

Matthew 6:24

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

I hope you’re on your way to having a great weekend. 

I think about this passage a lot. I don’t think it is just about money. I think it can be applied to things like selfishness, bad attitudes, laziness, etc. 

I’m sure that there are plenty of other examples out there, but one specific thing Coach Holland (whom I’ve referenced on here several times as one of our men in the trenches) and I talk about are the two types of coaches. I’ve always believed this way, but he put two good terms to it for me. Either you’re a transformational coach or a transactional coach. 

Transactional coaches worry about themselves. What can they do for me? How will they benefit me? How many wins will I have? How many trophies have I won? How much money do I make?

Transformational coaches focus on making the proper impact on their players. That coach is working to change lives for the better. 

That reaches outside the coaching world. What kind of boss are you? What kind of employee are you? What kind of family member are you? What kind of friend of you? The list is never ending.

Be transformational to someone you come in contact with. Be exceptional at being you. 

Have a great day in the trenches, men. 

YW 

Family Friday 11/18: Those Without a Home

Good morning, men! Short and simple message on this Friday!

Tomorrow morning I am speaking at our local Foster Care Assn. about an outreach we do through youth sports that helps provide funds and gear for children in need to play on local teams.

The stats above paint a pretty appalling picture. Even if you aren’t in a place where you can adopt or take a kid in, I would encourage you to find a way to support your local foster kids through donations of time, money and resources. God calls us to love the less fortunate, and though that can take many forms, these kids are in major need of love and affection!

Matthew 25: 40-43 says:

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

Have a great weekend men and enjoy your time with your families!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Opposition

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I know I am not alone on The Manly Message when I say I truly enjoy a healthy dose of competition.  I would venture to say the majority of us on here are just flat out wired that way, we cannot live without it.  When we have competition there is two sides, and we are both fighting for something different. I understand we face all sorts of opposition throughout every minute of the day. But, this message is more about creating disciples.  I have decided as a Christian, it’s time for me to take more of a stand against that opposition who pushes back toward us, and the beauty of this is going to actually be a capture of their hearts to show those individuals the amazing gifts of God’s love, mercy and grace. We want them on our TEAM.

I want to post a few examples of how this can be executed, but I truly hope today will be an interactive day where you all will share some thoughts.

1. Have prayerful patience for them

2. Ask God for the courage and the strength to be bold

3. Lead by example, imitators of Christ

What are some other ways we can bring God into these people’s lives?

(respond by hitting the two little message signs, and give your thoughts)

M.I.T.T.

Weary Wednesday

Good morning, men!
I apologize for the late message this morning. Honestly, I am running on empty both physically and emotionally. I’m not using that as an excuse, I AM however asking for your prayers.

I have had one of those weeks where everything has seemed to hit all at once. My father had his cancer surgery in Pittsburgh Monday and I had this overwhelming and inexplicable feeling of dread all morning, despite the fact that he made it through fine. Sarah and I are struggling with our youngest son and his discipline, while working through some tough issues in our marriage. Our church is growing and expanding and we are struggling right now with where we fit in that plan. It literally has been a snowball effect, which coupled with the time change (yes I am getting old), has left me feeling exhausted and weary.

I couldn’t sleep last night due to worry and anxiety and finally I found myself around 1:30 praying for God to calm my heart and just give me and Sarah rest. I literally sat there and prayed that I knew that the devil had no foothold in my house because we are free in Christ and asked that God give us peace. I finally fell asleep (and my wife did too). We woke this morning with both boys in our bed and I had just an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. Thankful for my family. Thankful for my wife. Thankful for my job and house. 

Honestly men, I think this was directly from the Lord as a reminder that despite the spiritual warfare in my life, I am loved by Him and blessed beyond measure.

Psalm 61:3 says “For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” 

I believe that in the middle of my sleepless, anxious night, our amazing God was my strong tower and refuge that sheltered me from the storm and delivered me with a thankful heart this morning.

Have a great day men and thank you for your time!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Indescribable Love

Psalm 127:3 “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.”

Good morning men. I have been kind of focusing on this theme because this is the season of my life that I am in right now. I know not all men on are here a fathers but some may be uncles or you a father figure to someone. The point being is the love you feel for that child. There isn’t a way to put it into words. Cliche I know. However it is the truth. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my children. I would lay my life down in an instant. That’s the love that Jesus has for us men, only times one million. He laid down his life for people who hated him. Could you imagine?!  That’s a different level of love but Christ has that for us guys. And for those that accept him, that’s also an indescribable feeling you get. Let’s help others to come to know him. However that avenue is, the Lord will lead you on it. Have a great day men. 

M.I.T.T.

Counting it all joy when you face trials

This past week for me was a trying roller coaster. You had the craziness around the election, then I was looking forward to my birthday, only to have half of my family get hit by illness and finding out our pet has fleas. Obviously there are others in much worse situations, but dang it it’s my birthday and I deserve to celebrate! These trials are annoying and ruining my fun. Let’s just say I have been in the wrong frame of mind. Then the Lord reminded me of this.

James 1:2-7 (NIV): 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

I need to consider it pure joy when I face trials because the testing of my faith produces perseverance so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. It doesn’t mean I throw a party because I am facing trials, but I need to see beyond them to my good and perfect heavenly Father who is using them to complete me, molding me into the best man he wants me to be.

And he gives us some key tips on how we can persevere through trials:

1) Ask for wisdom from God in faith, believing he will provide it. James 1:5-6: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
2) Regardless of our station in life, we need to be humble, thankful, and mindful that life on this earth is temporary. As believers in Christ, we have a much greater citizenship for all eternity. We need to live in this world in light of eternity.  (James 1:9-11, Ephesians 2:18-20, Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 4)
3) And last but not least, we have a Good Father, from whom every good and perfect gift is from. He does not change. He knows what we need and provides us everything we need to persevere and live for him (James 1:17, 2 Corin. 9:8-9, 2 Peter 1:3-4). SEEK HIM, TRUST HIM & ENJOY HIM!

James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Listen to this song and remember whose you are!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqybaIesbuA

M.I.T.T.

I Can’t Say It Better

Good Morning Men,

Pastors, make it great today! 

I saw this video of Ernie Johnson and it was perfect. He says everything better than I can, so I’m using him. 

Maybe some of us feel the same way he does about the election, maybe we feel great, maybe we feel bad. That part doesn’t matter. What matters is what he says about holding ourselves accountable. What matters is his (and our) professed faith in Jesus. 

There are also people to pray for in this video. At the bottom, it shows the number of people who gave this video a thumbs up and those who gave it a thumbs down. The number I saw for the thumbs down was 62. I’m going to pray for those 62 today. I encourage you to do the same. Maybe our prayers will help change their perspectives. 

Have a great week in the trenches, men. Enjoy this video. 

You’re Made for This

Esther 4:14 

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Good morning men. Good morning pastors, professionals, coaches, former coaches, athletes, former athletes, account representatives, everyone. If you don’t fit into one of those categories, you need to let me know so I can include you. 

Today is a big day at my school because today is the day we face the five time defending champions in football. 

On big competition days, it seems like everyone talks about David and Goliath, which makes sense and is good. I was sent the verse above from Esther when we were playing to go to the NJCAA National Tournament by a very dear friend of mine and I have used it since. 

In the passage, the odds aren’t good for Esther, but she is the only one who can do it. She is in her royal position (more specifically, she is in the PERFECT place at the PERFECT time) for such a time as this. 

Men, we are all in that position. What do you have coming up or what do you have right now that’s a tall order? Why do you think you are there? We are all in our positions for such a time as this. 

Be exceptional at being you, men. Have a great day in the trenches. 

YW

Family Friday 11/11: Milkshakes and Mommy

Good morning, men!

As the week comes to a close and we head into family time, I would like to share with you a story that happened to our family recently at the local Dairy Queen. Before you judge, when you live in a place like Paragould, AR….places like the Dairy Queen are happening spots!!

Earlier in the day my son asked for a wristwatch. My wife explained to him that Christmas and birthday are coming up and he needed to be patient. He responded with something along the lines of “I want it now, and besides mom, they aren’t expensive.” We are really struggling right now with our boys getting old enough to recognize the ways the Lord has blessed us, and in their mind, turn that in to venues to buy/ get whatever they want.

Later that day, as we ate our dinner, D asked for a milkshake. Sarah asked me, I said it was ok and I started to finish my food so I could go buy it. Then, my wife told Derek that he could share it with her and he replied with, “Well….you can just have 2 drinks.” Gah….the joys of parenting! Before I tell you where we went from there, let me share with you the verse I was immediately reminded of.

Proverbs 22:6 says:

“Raise up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Honestly, I wanted to let his comment slide. I was tired, he is a very good kid, and we were having a pretty nice night. But then I thought of what he was really saying and not only was it selfish, it was disrespectful….two attributes I don’t want my kids to carry into adulthood.

So, we packed up the car sans the milkshake and headed home. On the way I talked to the boys about patience, respecting adults and, mainly, the importance of how they talk to women, particularly their mother. They weren’t spanked in public (though I do spank my kids when they need it), they weren’t sent to bed immediately…they were told they were loved and cherished, but it was made clear that the behavior displayed was not acceptable and would in no way be rewarded.

Parenting is hard stuff, men. I’m not even going to tell you what I did was right. What I do believe, is that if we discipline our kids based on biblical principle, and do it in a loving way, our children will see a picture of how Jesus loves us despite our constant rebellion against him.

Have a blessed day and enjoy your weekend!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan