We are a bunch of manly men we're not a bunch of sissies!

I just "discovered" a blog called Cerulean Sanctum by Dan Edelen. I really like it. He really seems to try and make people think about things from a real Biblical perspective and get them out of the "we have always done it that way" mode.

Dan has a great post on men and the church that goes along with some things I have been thinking about lately.

Here is a snippet from Dan's post Another Look at the Church's Missing Men :

"I alluded to this earlier in my post "Advertising Ashes." The main reason that men are not in church is that they simply are not seeing the Holy Spirit move in power. At the risk of alienating the many women who read Cerulean Sanctum, I want to make a bold point: even if the Holy Spirit were not present in a supernatural way in our churches, I still believe women would still show up on Sundays. The Church has no problem attracting women because women are naturally drawn to the community and relationships that a church provides. However, this attractor does not work for many men. Men need a profound experience of God in order to get them to sit up and take notice. If the Holy Spirit doesn't fall on them in power, then the positives a church can provide outside of the supernatural make little difference. A church can hypermasculinize itself to death and still not break that three women to every two men ratio if the Spirit is barely discernible on Sundays. Men have a better built-in B.S. detector than women do and function more out of the rationale of "prove it to me." Without the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in our gatherings, we have little to combat a set of crossed arms and a raised eyebrow."

He is right, there is no power of the Holy Spirit in a lot of our churches. I also think the reason men aren't t excited about church is that they see it is not changing the world. Churches are all about being comfortable and safe. We can't take any risks because we have to pay the mortgage and pay the staff and we certainly wouldn't want to lose our tax exempt status.

God created us men to "fight the good fight" as Paul put it. Give us a challenge that is bigger than ourselves, a battle to fight if you will, and we will be there. I think the issue of the Holy Spirits presence and changing the world go hand in hand. Could it be that we don't see the Holy Spirits presence in our Churches and our preaching is that we are just preaching and doing Church for preaching and Churches sake?

As Dan put forth in his post The Gospel's Only Choice: For Him or Against Him? if we preach a message of power then maybe we will get the Holy Spirits power behind it. Of course, like the Apostles before us, we might get a few riots also! :-)

I like his blog. He has some great pictures to go with his posts, not to mention some great things to say. I am going to add him to the blogroll. Check him out.

The Christian carnival is up

The Christian Carnival is up at Kentucky Packrat. I haven't gotten through a lot of them yet but there seems to be quite a few thought provoking ones. Quite a few good discussions on some "controversial" subjects sportsfans! Check it out.

Brain Damaged Firefighter Makes Recovery

"I want to talk to my wife," Donald Herbert said out of the blue Saturday. Staff members of the nursing home where he has lived for more than seven years raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.
It was the first of many conversations the 44-year-old patient had with his wife, four sons and other family and friends during a 14-hour stretch, Herbert's uncle Simon Manka said.
"How long have I been away?" Herbert asked.
"We told him almost 10 years," the uncle said. "He thought it was only three months."
Herbert was fighting a house fire Dec. 29, 1995, when the roof collapsed, burying him under debris. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was comatose for 2 1/2 months and has undergone therapy ever since.
News accounts in the days and years after his injury describe Herbert as blind and with little, if any, memory. Video shows him receiving physical therapy but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings.

Read the entire article...