Reblogged from International Pundit:

Post-war Japanese society was an incredibly masculine, business-oriented place. Men were expected to work hard in high-profile business careers, drink heavily, drive fast cars, have (a somewhat estranged) wife and kids, and be eager consumers all the newest products.  In many respects it was quite similar to the 50s in America and Europe. Since then, however, all this has changed. 3/4 of men now call themselves “grass eaters” or “herbivore men.” Via Slate, there is a description of the new men, and …

Interesting blog about the condition of Japanese Males losing their masculinity

We’re in the thick of the NFL playoff season. If you’re planning to watch a game or two this weekend, do me a favor: pay close attention to the commercials. You’ll learn a lot about men.

Advertisers have learned there are certain words and images that motivate guys to commit. Here’s an ad from Toyota, promoting the Tundra Pickup Truck:

Let’s break it down: A rough, gravel-voiced announcer. A dangerous situation. Huge metal beams swinging through space. Dirt. The sound of a motor roaring, tires squealing, metal grinding and cables snapping. Crowds of men cheering the truck’s narrow victory. A final angular logo that slams into place.

Now let’s look at a commercial you’ll never see on an NFL broadcast. It’s from the same advertiser, Toyota. See if you can figure out which gender this ad is targeting:

Flowers. Children. Butterflies. A female singer. A message of harmony. A logo that gently folds out onto the screen.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the Prius is targeted at wealthy urban women who think of themselves as eco-friendly. The Tundra Pickup is targeted at men who think of themselves as rugged and hard-working.

Here’s the point: men and women respond to different imagery. Sure, there are always exceptions, but the genders as a whole are quite predictable. Advertisers know this. So they customize their sales pitches. Toyota would never use flowers and dancing children to sell a pickup truck because men would hate it. It goes against everything men believe about themselves.

Which leads us to the church. Without realizing it, many churches have created a Prius-like culture. We focus heavily on relationships. Healing. Nurturing. Harmony. We decorate with flowers, quilts, ribbons and lace. Our ministries revolve around domestic tasks such as cooking, childcare, and education.

And we’ve softened our message. We’ve cleaned up the grit, grime and danger. The gospel is no longer a hazardous mission – it’s a personal relationship. It’s about family harmony. Getting along with others. Being nice.

No wonder we’re having trouble motivating men to commit.

Fortunately, there’s a book that can help any church recapture the adventure of following Jesus. It’s called THE BIBLE. It’s pages are stained with blood. It’s very message is danger.  As one of my favorite pastors often said, “The Gospel, properly followed, will kill you.”

So as you watch football commercials this weekend, ask yourself: is my church putting a Prius spin on the gospel? Are we unwittingly targeting women with our message and ministries? If so, how can we recapture the dangerous message Christ proclaimed?

However, my youngest was going through the channels and we saw that the show was being held on a U.S. aircraft carrier. They said it was in the name of patriotism.  Whoa! Now wait a minute here! It’s not OK to mix Church and State, but it’s OK to mix Hollywood and State? What the heck? Our government is going to embrace Hollywood, but throw the church out! We spend a lot of tax payer money fighting the existence of the church within the halls of government.  Before the money is even counted we then spend more on inviting Hollywood into the same halls.

What type of money was spent on security for the aircraft carrier? Isn’t there procedures for allowing people on any military base or craft? What if there were terrorist trying to sneak onto the ship via the “American Idol” conduit. Has our government lost it’s mind? Yes I believe they have. Hold on people were in for some rougher times.

But my bigger frustration is the fact that the church does nothing about it. Now if the church was supposed be a place where people were supposed to grow and mature, how come they are not addressing this? I think the church is afraid of pushing too hard. Maybe they feel it’s better to be somewhat politically correct and be gentle on these young men as to not drive them away. Maybe the church feels it’s better to cater to these young men and provide all sorts of fun programs to keep them entertained instead of pushing them out of their comfort zone and teach responsibility and commitment. After all the more people you have attending churches is the benchmark of success isn’t it? So we as the church have joined the world in making things easier for young men. We can make all sorts of excuses as to why this is happening in our culture today. However, this is destroying young men, and it’s destroying relationships between husbands and wives, and is destroying our country.

Men need to experience adversity, especially young men. A man’s character is forged in the heat of adversity and confrontation. So in saying all this I would like to ask my readers to respond to a few questions or circumstances. How should a man handle the following situations. These are scenarios of difficulties that arise in a mans life. Some may seem funny, but the do cause discomfort.

1. He gets a flat tire.
2. He takes a girl on a date, and she lets him know in no uncertain terms, that he is to never open the car door for her.
3. He sees two guys picking on and tormenting another man.
4. His best friend is being a jerk to his wife. (the jerks wife)
5. A young boy is being picked on by a bully at school.
6. In a church youth group, you see everybody jumping up and down, boys and girls alike are acting very emotional, but it makes you feel uncomfortable.
7. In church, you are being told to hold the hand of the man next to you. Seriously, this makes men feel uncomfortable, yet they still do it. Why?

Well, I’m sure I could think of more but I tried to think of things that are common and address different areas of a man’s life. Some are just related to difficult situations, others to male-female relationships. Others are related to fear of getting hurt and lastly, one is related to, or two actually are related to doing something different just than the mainstream.

So I’m curious as to how you think men should respond to these situations.

God gave me dreams and visions almost daily, along with the gift of prophecy. I understood every word in the bible and on a very deep level. And I read the KJV!

I became so focused on the word that I worshiped it and it’s amazing power. I was amazed one day when God told me to stop reading. You see I read for 10-12 hours a day for over a year and a half. This was before I ever stepped foot in a church. After some time I slowed down to maybe just a couple hours. Just enough time to read 10 or 20 chapters. This is when God told me to stop reading.

Why did He tell me that? Well knowing His word isn’t enough! He wanted me to know people. My soul yearned to know people and help people. Many times it was just a hug or a short conversation. You see the whole bible is about restoration, its that simple. God sent His son to restore us to Him, and we complicate matters with theology and 10 step lessons to become closer to God. If you want to get closer to Him then embrace and love others. Start with your family, take time to listen just a Christ said “forbid not the children from coming to Him.” Allow everyone a voice and respect their opinions. It’s not important to be right. It’s important to love and support others.

I see people so busy that they don’t have time for each other. What good does being busy do? Activity does not equal achievement, but achievement is attained through peace and contentment that comes from doing His will. And His will is restoration! It’s that simple. Please don’t fall for the chatter you hear in church about doing something big for God. He has already done the big part. We need to just love each other by taking the time to hug, listen, and point. One person at a time…

Has anyone but me noticed the commercials on TV that have a husband acting like a child and the wife acting like a mother towards her husband/child? There’s the one where a group of guys are over watching football and the wife comes home and there are dirty footprints on the carpet. The husband makes a lame excuse and later it shows the husband and a friend cleaning the carpet. Like two pouty kids. Or the one where a child of a couple is dropping hints about what it wants and the mom gives the kid everything he wants. So the husband employs the same tactic because he wants to go play golf. His wife flat out tells him no.

First, if a husband or wife has to ask either one to do something the relationship is seriously in trouble. Checking with each other out of respect is one thing but asking for permission is wrong. No one gender should have that much authority over the other. These commercials are just another way of attempting to strip away the masculinity of the men. My wife and I both find these repulsive. Why would a wife want to be a mother to her husband. Contrarily speaking a husband should be a preserver of his wife. That means he should consider her in all things he does and thinks.

There is a current theme on commercials that have a man acting like a child in relationship to their wife

Here one I know you’ve seen.

The Dodge Charger ad about women sucking the life out of their men! Literally titled “A Man’s Last Stand,” it features men with dead eyes and sallow complexions reciting in monotone all the things they are forced to do in their lives. Here is some of the list

Walk the dog at 6:30 am

Shave and clean out the sink after they shave

Be at work at 8

Sit though two-hour meetings

I will say yes when you want me to say yes

I will talk your call (Gee thanks!)

Listen to YOUR (the mean wife’s) opinions about my friends

Listen to YOUR friends’ opinions about my friends

I will be civil to your mother

I will put the seat down

Carry your lip balm (I totally ask Michael to do this)

Watch your vampire TV shows

Put my underwear in the basket (PLEASE! Really is it that hard!!)

“And because I do this I will drive the car I want to drive! Charger: Man’s Last Stand!”

Sickening

No, what happened? I asked her.

Well apparently as she got out of the car a man sitting on the sidewalk said “change, bitch.” Obviously a great tactic to get money from people.

As soon as I heard this I had wished it was the 7/11 close to my house, so I could go there and look for this guy. I would have went there every day and cased the store waiting for him. But, of course it had to be a 7/11 more than 500 miles away.

Then I thought what about my 19 year old step son? Why didn’t he do something? He is a very soft spoken young man and I know that confrontation is hard for him. However, I told him the next time something like this happens to go and kick the guy right in the teeth, and make him apologize.

I know if I was there I would have grabbed that guy by the throat and slammed him against the wall before making him apologize. Actually if I was there it would have never happened. Cowards never do things if they feel threatened.

I know that if your a Christian you would probably chastise me for saying this, I’m used to that type of mentality from Christians. “All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to sit by and do nothing.”

So whats the worse that would have happened?

Well the cops would have been called and my shy step son would maybe have spent the night in jail. My wife and he would have been traumatized.

Fast forward a couple days -

My wife feels honored, vindicated, and proud of her son.

My stepson tells the story to his friends and is proud of himself for protecting his moms honor. His confidence is bolstered and he is on his way to becoming a protector of others.

See a man must enter this part of masculinity and conquer it or he will be afraid to tackle difficult stuff when he gets older. If he doesn’t learn to physically fight his identity is stripped away and he will never reach his potential.

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our sasety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;– to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

For those that know me, you know that I have for a long time been strongly opposed to any form of legalism or playing church.  The above verse says “don’t just pretend to love others” which means to truly love others. So this begs a question. How do we truly love others? Or is it possible to truly love others? I know I truly love my wife and kids. I also know that I truly love some Christians.

Why do I love my wife and kids? Because they are my flesh and blood and because we have developed a relationship. How can we truly love other Christians when we don’t really know them? Can a person love God without knowing Him? He might respect God for who He is but can he truly love Him without knowing Him? I don’t think so.  Anyone who loves another does so because of the relationship they have developed.

I say all this because I feel so sorry for so many people I see in church who are to busy doing church that they aren’t really loving each other. Sure they mouth the words “I love you” but their hearts aren’t really in it.  Over time they repeat this over and over and forget what really is important. I miss the days of meeting with a few close brothers from the motorcycle club and loving on each other and sharing with each other all our fears and concerns. Churches today seem to busy making things perfect that everything is superficial at best.

I have tried to interject myself into other men at church and keep hitting a wall. But I will keep trying if it kills me. People! We need to slow down and walk with each other. Have you ever seen runners at a track meet? Do you think they can carry on a conversation when they are running at full speed. If they would only walk they might just be able to breath enough to get a few words out. When words come out relationships begin.

Whenever I do this I discover that most people don’t know how to respond to me.  It is because they are used to people saying I’m blessed and anything different, makes them uncomfortable because we’re all supposed to be blessed all the time, because we’re Christians. But if we’re honest with ourselves.  We know that that is not reality. So whenever somebody asks me how I’m doing, I really don’t believe that they’re be genuine in wanting to know about me.  I think that they have fallen into the trap of  ”that’s what a Christian does” is to care about people. But that’s as far as it really goes with most people. so the reality is they really don’t care about people, they care about how they look instead. Because a good Christian shows that they care.

Now someone like me can just shake it off.  However, let me explain to you an example of how this can really damage someone.  Say, for example a young child, 10 or 11 is very shy.  He or she is going to church with her mom and dad, and another child from the youth group is asked by the youth leader to invite the shy child to youth group. In this case the child is too shy to go by themselves.  So now she was asked and feels like “somebody likes me.” She goes to the youth group and for a few times believes that “this person wants to be my friend.” However, she soon discovers that she is being ignored and wonders whats wrong? She soon feels that she was just invited by the church to get me here. Now the younger person has been damaged by a form of legalism.  The young child doesn’t have a friend but has been manipulated into coming to youth, and either she stops going because he’s afraid of getting her feelings hurt or she falls into the trap of legalism herself.  She soon learns to never really have a deep relationship with another Christian in church.

Both reactions are equally damaging. If she withdraws from church she will miss out on maybe discovering real fellowship and friendship with someone else. If she falls into the trap of legalism she never discovers the real Jesus.

Here is another trap that Christians fall into, they always say yes. Don’t do this! It’s sets you up for failure. If you are asked to do something at church and can do it, than fine. But if you can’t then say no.

If you say yes and are already overwhelmed with tasks and are unable to fulfill the request, the person who asked you feels slighted, you look irresponsible and your sending a message to the other person that they don’t matter. Learn healthy boundaries and in doing so you also teach them to others.

I’m sure I could go on with other examples, but if this is too long then you wont read it.

Now I know that people are people, and I don’t expect the church to be perfect until that great glorious day of Christs return. But if people would just be genuine and stop portraying that they have it all together then maybe others would see that we are just like them. A messed up person living by grace and loved by Jesus in-spite of ourselves.

Prophetshrek