A Day of Reflections

2 Corinthians 3:18

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Good morning. I’m going to use this verse to bring today’s message and title  full circle in just a bit. 

Today is the last day of 2016. Take a second to reflect; how was the year for you? 

Ok, now stop thinking about what happened to you in 2016 and look at your relationship with God. How did that grow in 2016? What can you do better in your relationship with Him in 2017?

Now that you have reflected on 2016, let’s talk about reflections. We are made is God’s image. What do you see when you look at your reflection in a mirror? Do you see a man who is walking the walk every day?

I’ll tell you what I see. I see a person who has a lot of faults, who has failed in many ways, who is broken, but is redeemed by the blood of Christ. I see a man who is doing better than he deserves thanks to our Savior. I see a man who is thankful to be in the trenches with all of you every day. 

Be exceptional at being you, men. Pastor, one day early, you have the floor on the first day of the new year. Make it great. 

2016 saw the birth of the Manly Message. Be thinking about what you’re going to do to make it even better in 2017. 

YW

Family Friday 12/30: The Discipline of a Father

Good morning, men! Two more days left in 2016! And does anyone else think the guy in the picture looks like Barry Bonds?!

This morning I met with a fellow Manly Message member for breakfast at a local restaurant at 6:30. We sat and talked about the holidays, blessings, and challenges ahead. Before I get into today’s message, I would like to encourage you to occasionally meet and break bread with fellow Christian men. We try to meet once a week, pray for each other, and hold each other accountable in Christ. These breakfasts are truly a blessing to my soul!

As we sat and talked this morning, we began discussing two main topics: my baseball team and his family. In a strange way, the topic of discipline continued to come up. How I wanted graceful discipline to be a part of our team….how people avoid discipline because it is painful….how modern parents shy from discipline in fear of not being their kids friend. 

Let’s look at what Hebrews tells us about discipline. Hebrews 12: 5-6 says:

“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

There are a few things I want to point out:

1. Our Father’s discipline is rooted in love. We are naturally sinful, and by disciplining us….He is growing us closer to His image. When we discipline our children/ players/ students it should be out of love for them and concern for their soul. If the punishment is rooted there, it mirrors the Father….and that is a good thing!

2. Hebrews tells us not to be weary when we are “reproved by him.” What a powerful message that has the potential to change our entire outlook! What if, instead of complaining at every turn when we face trials, we see those situations as loving discipline from our Father….growing us closer to him? 

Head out and face the day today knowing that our amazing God loves you enough to send his Son to die for you. That same love is applied to our trials. I know that seems scandalous, but it’s true! And most of all, when presented with the challenge of enacting discipline on the younger generation….do it with love and with the confidence that your words and actions mirror the passion our God has for us through Jesus.

Have a great weekend, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Not “if when” but “even when”

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am 35 years old and have been married for 8 years, I have 5 children and I work in pharmaceutical sales.  I can tell you, I’m constantly battling myself.  Let me explain.  I feel like I need to be in control of everything, and that its my responsibility to be out in front of things that “might” occur, and that it is my responsibility to nurture my marriage, and my responsibility to make sure the kids are raised right.  Throw on top of that the financial side of things where I’m constantly trying to make ends meet.  I feel like if there’s a few question marks in my profession maybe I should be in front of that, so that I’m not looking around like a fool when the dust settles saying what just happened?

If you are human, I would assume you have experienced some, if not all of these same feelings at one point or another.  I recently read an article on a woman who literally has had every bad thing possible happen to her.  She lost a child, became divorced, illness put her into a wheelchair with paralysis, she had so many major events happen to her.

When you look at me trying to control my issues the root of the problem is fear.  Imagine how much fear this woman came to know, in everything.  But, she said something that stuck with me, and it is that she has learned to trust God in all things, not just “if when” but “even when”.

The point of it all is that he is in control, so if we have fear, you can rest in knowing that as a Christian man of Faith, He is with you through all of it.  You do not have to control on your own the “if this happens” because He is going to help you through it “even when it happens”.

The hardest part of Christianity is giving it all up, dying to yourself and understanding our sovereign God takes care of it.  Does not mean I do not have responsibility, just means I can have confidence in knowing He is with me through it all, and He is only GOOD.

M.I.T.T.

DLP

Do all things…..

Good evening, men! Travel day for the Runyans and admittedly, I wasn’t prepared!

The past few days I have been in Sherwood, AR with my family for Christmas. It started on Christmas morning with 14 people and 8 animals shuffling between two houses to open gifts, unpack, fix food, cleanup and wind down. Hectic to say the least. On Monday, Sarah and I took my oldest son out with my dad to his high school to let Derek try out his new baseball bat and glove.

Tuesday is where things changed a bit for me. I watched my dad wake up at 6:30, make everyone breakfast, play with the boys and then head out for chemotherapy. He was at the hospital from 9:30 am until 2:00 pm, and came home with his pumped attached for the next 2 days.

For the next 24 hours he played with my sons, watched football with the family, got up at 6:30 and made breakfast AGAIN, shopped the Internet for a new baseball glove (a mouse ate his while he was in Pittsburgh for treatment last month) because he is determined to play again in 2017, cleaned his workshop, set up the batting cage because my son wanted to hit some more, and helped us pack to come back home.

Not once did he say a word about not having enough time or energy to do any of those things. If he had wanted to sleep for the whole day Tuesday and today…..nobody would have blamed him or said a word. Instead he talked about his blessings and how much he loved being around his family. 

Philippians 2: 14-15 says:

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world”

A buddy of mine the other day told me, as a code enforcer in a nearby city, he had 6 consecutive people tell him that they had cancer as excuses for them to not move belongings/ clean properties/ etc. I’m not saying that Pops is perfect, nor am I saying that none of those 6 people had a valid excuse. What I am saying is….as Christians we have an opportunity to stare sickness/ depression/ loss/ poverty in the face and publicly proclaim that Christ is greater and, even though things may be rough, we are blessed beyond measure.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

His Masterpiece

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Really simple this morning men. Take time to appreciate some of the wonder God has created here on this earth. Remember, he is perfect. So everything he made is perfect. From the mountains of the Rockies to the number of legs a ladybug has. Everything has a purpose and is made by his design. Perfect. Even you. 

Have a blessed day men. 

M.I.T.T.

Twas the day after Christmas…

This came from a former pastor of mine, which I feel is perfect for today.

Twas the DAY AFTER Christmas when all through the house, nothing was moving, not even a blouse.

Sleepy heads slowly rose out of bed,
The sun rose, the birds sang but the little ones, even the big ones, seemed mostly dead.

The story of Christmas has now only just begun,
It is time to enter the course God has set for you to run.

With our new ‘jamas on and a mug full of hot coffee,
It is good to spend alone time with Jesus, the Word and Thee.

To have received God’s greatest gift — His Son,
No greater gift has been ever given — no not even, one.

Now is the moment to make a heart commitment
to God and His Word, this is not time to be flippant.

His Word is light to our eyes and life to our bones,
And he who neglects it is left only to moan.

Today is the day to begin a new,
For Christ Jesus come and He is God with you!

The Greatest Gift

John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Let me first tell you that it is humbling to be the one who gets to write the Manly Message for Christmas Day. When I started writing on the weekends, I had no idea Christmas is on a Sunday this year. 

Men, I don’t feel that this verse needs a lot of elaboration. I do believe it needs more verbalization and we can help with that. 

Men, I’m so thankful that God loved us this much. I’m thankful for this group of men. I’m thankful for these opportunities. Pastors, you will likely have an even larger audience today. Make it happen. Be exceptional at being you in your perfect spot in the perfect time. 

Men, Merry Christmas … share the greatest gift of all time today. 

YW

Enjoy Giving

Matthew 6:3-4 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I hope that today is a great day for all of you. While I know we are all busy, remember that today you are still a man in the trenches. Don’t stress about travel or time and be safe. Keep in mind that all of your reactions are a way to show or teach others what a man in the trenches should be.

Men, enjoy giving this Christmas. It is my hope that you truly love the feeling of giving. More specifically, enjoy it whether or not you receive any credit or recognition. I love the passage above and I’d love it if there was nothing in there about receiving an award. 

Again, travel safely, men. Be exceptional at being you. 

YW

Family Friday 12/23: The “Fun Robbers”

Good EVENING, men! I apologize for the late message today! This morning was our present opening day at the Runyan house, as we go to Sarah’s folks tomorrow and mine on Sunday. Got a tad sidetracked!

The other day I shared with a coworker that Sarah and I didn’t encourage believing in Santa with our kids. I told her that we told the boys that Santa was a character….just like Mickey Mouse or the Tooth Fairy. I could tell by her pause and line of questioning that she didn’t agree. Eventually she said something along the lines of “Aren’t you worried about taking the fun out of it for them?” We have a friend of ours whose mom says that not believing in Santa is robbing them of a part of their childhood.

One of my pastors posted this from John Piper this week:

“If being Jesus focused (rather than Santa focused) is a killjoy for your Christmas….the you don’t know Him well.”

And as additional proof…..see exhibit A above! Pretty sure those two handsome studs didn’t leave the room crying this morning when we explained to them that all of our blessings come from the Father, and not some mythical man who says “be good for goodness sake.”

Have a blessed weekend and enjoy your time with family this weekend!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan