Why a faith based movement? The reason this is a faith based movement is that power, confidence and spiritual authority come from deeply held convictions. Think about it. Many of us “believe’ certain things and act accordingly. Then, if we find out what we believed in was not true it shakes our confidence. For instance, you tell me how much confidence you have in our current political system. Politicians flip-flop and lie so often, almost no one in our country has any confidence in them.

A deeply held faith is a source of confidence and power.

If your confidence, your conviction and faith come from Almighty God, who does not change…WOW! There is a real source of power and righteousness. Not self-righteousness as some may accuse, but a righteousness and power that are based in a belief in the God who created the universe.

Faith begins when we understand that we DO NOT have everything in us to be a success in life. It means coming to this reality: There is a God and we’re not him. Perhaps the best line in Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life,” is the opening line. “It’s not about you.”

GOD EXISTS
Unless you realize that there is a God that has designed this world with rules, principles and laws, you may just be ignorant enough to think you can make up your own rules and try to live by them. Our homeless shelters and our courts and prisons are filled with people who think like that.

You were not put on this earth to make up your own rules and satisfy all of your appetites. In fact, you need to learn to get them under control and submit them to the one who gave them to you. That’s right…that’s God. You need to abandon a self-centered approach to living and engage in a God-centered approach. The person who best exemplified this powerful, God-centered approach was Jesus. If you don’t understand this “God” stuff then get to a Bible teaching church and find out. Here’s how God put it to his people several thousand years ago in 2 Kings 17:37-39: "You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."

If you don’t start looking outside yourself, you may just think you have all you need to “make it happen!” In other words, you are your own god and you are worshiping him (yourself!!). God will not tolerate that!

God demands that we…Trust Him

If your trust is in your self, you need to be transformed. If you don’t change what you believe and what you think, you will continue to live life thinking you are the god of your life. If you don’t change your belief system, why in the world do you think you’re ever going to change the way you act.

I am not talking about “self-control” or “self-help” or any other self-centered solution. I am talking about nothing less than submitting your life to God through Jesus Christ. I am talking about a new way of thinking. I am talking about paradoxical thinking. For you to be great; you must be humble. For you to really live; you must be willing to die to your self. That, my friend, is some radical, transformed thinking. That is exactly what Jesus modeled and that is exactly what this world needs.

If you think about some of the best football teams, you think in terms of the players, not the coaches. The great coaches leave the glory to the players. The greatest coaches live relatively humble lives while their players are put on pedestals. They are willing to die to their ego so that others can succeed.

This “radical” thinking by the way is presented in what some have called the “owners” manual. It’s called the Bible; God’s word. If you have not chosen to look beyond yourself and follow Jesus and his standard for living, more than likely you are probably:
1) making some bad choices;
2) living a self-centered life;
3) passively watching as your culture is feminized and morally weakened.

TAKE YOUR STONES BACK. Men, God exists. Look toward Him! And stand up for His principles. Diversity/sensitivity training!! I don’t think so!!! How about spiritual training! Your life will change…for the better once you decide to trust him and…

Follow Him
To a significant degree, your power is directly related to your trust, your faith. Little faith…little power. Much faith…much power. It is also critical to note that this power is not contained within you apart from faith. It is the Spirit of God at work in you who enables you to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all you could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." It is not something you “work up” on your own. The power comes to us from the one we follow.

Men, we were created with more physical strength than women. We were created to provide for and protect our families, our communities and our countries. We are the guardians of our culture…and we have been asleep at the switch. We have abandoned God and He has taken a step back. As a result we have a culture that has become emasculated. It is has been feminized. You might say that the curse God put on Eve where her desire would be for the man’s position is playing out.

Men, it’s time to TAKE YOUR STONES BACK!! This movement is about men behaving in ways God designed us to behave. In a sense, it is about making a choice to…Obey Him

Masculinity has been under assault for decades. Many years ago, in a movie called “Network” a reporter gets so frustrated, so angry with the system that he leans out the window of his apartment one evening and shouts at the top of his lungs, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it any more!”

It’s time for the men of America to do the same thing. It’s time to stop accepting what some call “politically correct” to be correct at all. It’s time for men to stand up and say, “I am proud to be a man. I know God has made me strong and powerful and I was designed to be a warrior. I will be passive no longer! I will take my stones back!”

There are many other movements and belief systems that most men in America do not agree with. The problem is most men in America are busy…too busy…taking care of themselves.

From the ACLU to feminism to homosexuality to the “green” movement or whatever other movement is out there; It is time for men to resist those things that are contrary to faith, in conflict with family, and caustic to our freedom.

It’s time for men to stop abandoning their families and assume the responsibility they were given to provide for and protect them. It’s time to “obey” our God-given design and mandate. It’s time for men to work hard without becoming workaholics. It’s time to stop buying the feminist nonsense that men and women are the same. You know you don’t believe it! But we can’t sit passively by while our culture begins to assimilate the lie as truth and act in accordance with the lie.

This movement makes no apology for taking a decidedly “Christian” perspective. As you read this, you may think, “This doesn’t sound like the Jesus I heard about.” Maybe not. But you may well have heard the feminized, Sunday school marm version of Jesus. You need to realize that the Jesus of the Bible was a table tippin’, whip wielding, “my way or the highway” kind of guy. He was a man’s man.  He came with a mission; knew what it was, and got it done.

Taking your stones back starts with FAITH! In a God that exists and in a God that not only values you, but gives you value.

GOD VALUES YOU
Again, this has at its core a deep faith in God. Too many guys have bought into the notion that their value is based on how much money they have, how much power they have, how much education they have, how strong they are, how many toys they have or how many women they can have sex with. Now, it’s pretty easy to see how they fall into that trap. Every aspect of our culture feeds those lies; from movies to music to commercials.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying there is anything inherently wrong with having “stuff.” UNLESS you think you are less valuable without it…that’s the problem!

Remember Jesus, the man’s man? One time some religious leaders were trying to trap him into settling a dispute about the division of some inheritance. He said in Luke 12:15: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Your value, your life is not measured by how much you have. And if you’re hanging out with people who do measure life that way…it’s time to get some new friends. Or at least help change their “stinkin thinkin.”

When you take a close look at yourself, you may find a lot of “stuff” that is not very attractive; that is not worth much. Again, that is the trap of the world—defining your worth by what you have or haven’t done or by what you do or don’t have. That is mans way of valuing people. Man looks at the outside-accomplishments, net worth, appearance, etc. God looks at the heart; at the deepest recesses of a person to see what’s there. Do you know what he is looking to do? He is looking to strengthen the heart of people who are committed to Him. (2 Chron. 16:9) "Your value does not come from the world…unless you are satisfied with that. And that “value” will be worthless the day you stand before a holy God. Your source of value is God." When you come to the realization that there is a God, that he has given you authority and power (to be used the right way) and someday you will stand before him to be judged, that can change your perspective on your worth. God thinks you are worth a lot! Act like it!

And once your confidence comes from God not self, you will become more humble without feeling you’re weak. Jesus actually washed the feet of his followers. What was that all about? Why was he able to humble himself to do such a menial task without looking like or feeling sissified? We are told in John 13:3 that: "Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God." Because he took his worth from God, Jesus was a very humble man. However, don’t mistake humble for weak. Like a trained stallion is power under control, so is a truly humble man.

Remember when Jesus tipped over the tables in the temple and took a whip to the money changers? He was just plain ticked off and demonstrated it. Where did that come from? An identity strongly rooted in God. He was angry on God’s behalf. These people were insulting God, taking advantage of the underprivileged, and going unchallenged in the culture. No longer!

One faith-filled, righteous man, Jesus, literally turned the tables upside down. One man standing up for God can make a difference. What about you?

Once your sense of self and your confidence is centered in God, you can stand up to the many idiotic values our culture is trying to impose on you. It’s time we came together as a band of brothers…created by God, empowered by God to stand against the forces that are destroying our culture.

Quit looking for the world to tell you you’re worth something. Forget the world! Its values are totally screwed up. Men, TAKE YOUR STONES BACK! God gave them to you…not the world.