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Really, men are only emotionally constipated when it comes to things like fear, failure, sorrow, regret, disappoint, and sadness — things we deem make us “less of a man” when expressed. But can men show some excitement and passion over a football or basketball game? You had better believe it! The problem lies in the erroneous belief that men cannot be found to be weak — ever. We assume that a man must always maintain a “manly” stance and stoic outlook on life that says, “no matter what happens, you cannot break me,” when in fact, that same mentality is exactly what does break men in this country.

When I look at the strongest, most Godly role models in my life, they are all very in touch with their emotions and feel liberated in expressing them. Come to think of it, I believe I’ve even seen the majority of them cry. You think crying makes a man weak? You’ve got it twisted — ask any woman and they’ll confirm that a man who knows how to handle his emotions is immeasurably stronger than one who is emotionally constipated.

There’s an incredible book by a pastor from New York, Peter Scazzero <http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/about/bio_pete.asp>, that I recommend everyone, but especially men, read. It’s entitled, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” <http://www.amazon.com/Emotionally-Healthy-Spirituality-Unleash-Christ/dp/1591454522> Now, that’s a mouth full, but the premise is this — you are only as spiritually mature as you are emotionally healthy. In other words: the more emotionally constipated we are, the less we properly understand, process, and express our emotions, the less spiritually mature we are. I won’t go into the entire book, but I do want to give you the top ten symptoms that you might experience in emotionally unhealthy spirituality:

1. Using God to Run from God

2. Ignoring the Ungodly Emotions of Anger, Sadness, and Fear

3. Dying to the Wrong Things

4. Denying the Past’s Impact on the Present

5. Dividing Our Lives into “Secular” and “Sacred” Compartments

6. Doing for God Instead of Being with God

7. Spiritualizing Away Conflict

8. Covering over Brokenness, Weakness, and Failure

9. Living without Limits

10. Judging Other People’s Spiritual Journey

After reading that list I know you have a few areas you need to work on. And that’s good; it means your human. No one has it all worked out. But what it does mean is that we have to get working on ourselves. If we first want to change the world, we have to look at ourselves and make the change first. Don’t you dare make the excuse that “I didn’t see my father (or any other man) do it, how am I supposed to do it?” By the grace of God, that’s how! Men want to lead and guide and pioneer everything else, you we’re too afraid to cry for the first time? Get over yourself, men. Stop acting like a punk and show that you care about something for once in your life.

Fathers, let me tell you something before I finish: your children need to see you cry. They need to see you get excited, to laugh, to be angry. They need to see your emotions. It helps to humanize you and makes you more relatable. Your children, especially your boys, need to know that you go through the same emotions you do, but they need to see you handle them effectively. When you lash out at your kids or your wife, the children view that as acceptable. Why? Because they don’t know any better so they believe that the wrong way is actually right — or at least the acceptable — way to handle things. The good news is, you can also show them the right, and healthy way to handle emotions.

I had a phenomenal advantage in this area because of my father; I saw him deal with all of his emotions. I saw him cry, get mad (sometimes too much, and thus I had anger problems as well), laugh, get excited; you name it, I saw my dad experience. Seeing my father openly express his emotions helped me to feel safe when I had those same emotions. Isn’t that what we all desire our homes to be — A safe place where our children can feel comfortable and open to be themselves?

Let’s make a concerted effort, as men, to encourage one another to learn to understand, process, and express our emotions in a healthy way. Whether it’s love, anger, excitement, sadness, or whatever, God created emotions for a reason — but we were made to rule our emotions, not the other way around. So men, step up and be the emotionally healthy man that God has called you to be!

[For more from Stuart McDonald, check out his personal blog <http://stuartmcdonald.wordpress.com/> and follow him on Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/StuMcDnld>]

[Note: You can read more about the top ten symptoms in this PDF from the Emotionally Healthy Website <http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/about/pdfs/The_Ten_Top_Symptoms_of_Emotionally_Unhealthy_Spirituality.pdf>]

On Monday, March 30th, at 7pm, at Danneman’s Coffee Shop in Old Fourth Ward we need YOU and YOUR spare change in the building for a chance to be a part of CHANGE.

For far too long “the forgotten” have suffered, going unnoticed, stepped over or stepped on, cussed out, viewed as a plague and/or ignored. Sure you stop and offered change, advice, told them to get a job, felt good because you let someone wash your windshield, or took them to get a bite to eat. But have you ever stopped, given up your day or an hour or two just to listen, talk to or share with. When you bought the meal or offered the employment suggestions did you even bother to find out who you were talking to? PROBABLY NOT!

Be honest… how do you really feel about the homeless in your area? how do you feel when you see someone or smell someone before you see them? How do you feel when you are bombarded with request for help, for change, or for any kind of communication from them?

What you do differently if it were you? Seriously, what would you do or how would you “survive”? Ever think about it?

On Monday, March 30th, you will EXPERIENCE first hand stories of the FORGOTTEN! Please COME OUT, BRING YOUR SPARE CHANGE, AND STOP TALKING ABOUT DOING SOMETHING AND LETS DO SOMETHING!

i love you! I know i don’t always act like it, or it appear that I even appreciate your love for me, for that I am very sorry. You have given me life. You have changed the outlook for my future. You have given me the most beautiful family and an opportunity to serve them. You have called me righteous even though I was  grimy, filthy and dirty. You called me your favorite son, even when i was not my own favorite person. You have challenged me to be all that you purposed me to be. You loved me when I didn’t love myself or anyone else for that matter.

For that father, I say thank you! I say thank you!

Renew in me a clean heart, that I might serve you. Renew my mind to no longer think like me, but to think like you! You alone are God, my Shepard, my Lord, my King, my Friend, my Father, my Direction, my Light, my Desire, my Hope, my Provision, my Safety, my Shelter, my Protection, my Banner, my Guide, my Comfort, my Love, my Strength, my Passion, my Courage, my Wisdom, my Strategy, my Accountability, my Lover, my Answer, my fear Fighter, my EVERYTHING!!

body bent and head bowed (for you old schoolers)

lloyd

and you wonder why im numb…

You have to understand that this process has gone from one idea to the next, at least four or five different ideas, templates and design flavors, so to finally be at a place where i am actually excited about something is a GOOD thing.

And to top it all off, Zion is still awake!! I thank God he is not fussing or struggling with gas pains, he is just up. Chilling, like its the middle of the day. Now, Esther is not as excited about this, but Iknow it could be a lot worse!

So very soon, we will have yet another website…lol, online giving will be made available for ALL of you generous FOLK who have been waiting to GIVE, partner and support our efforts to turn Downtown Atlanta and Old Fourth Ward on its head for the Kingdom of God!!!

Stay tuned!!!

Today we will look at the “Book of Promises”. This I very well cannot argue with. From Genesis to Revelation, the bible is laiden with promise after promise. Some good Deut. 28:1-14 for example has promises that are VERY GOOD, while 15-68 of the same chapter of Deut. has promises that I would not wish on my worst enemy.

So to refer to the bible as a book of promises is a good thing. Or is it?

How many of you have been promised things in your lifetime, by parents, friends, teachers, bosses or jobs, only to walk away with a sad face and nothing to show for it. So how easy is it to believe God whom you cannot see, when the very father or teacher or friend whom you can see could not keep a promise to save their life? Is this why it is so hard to believe David when he says, “THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.”, a verse whose meaning and translation is so powerful. The Lord is MY Shepherd, He is my caretaker, and I dont lack, I dont have a want or need that goes unfulfilled; yet, daily we seem to go with those things that we want and need.

Are you receiving the promises? Do you believe that you will have ALL that you are promised?

So how will you refer to the bible?

There is the ever popular, ever religious, and cliche “How-To Guide”, then there is “The Book of Promises, then something i never thought about until today “The Wish Book” and lastly there is my absolute favorite “The Lifestyle Guide”. Lets take them in this very order, we will start with “The How-To Book”.

When you think of How-To, you think of Home Depot, the bike you got your daughter for Christmas with the instructions in Chinese and German, but now English. You think about how you hate to read directions to put anything together. “Just give me the picture, and I will go from there”, we have all said it. (I’m speaking to the men here) Granted the Bible could be considered a How-To manual, I guess rather than plumbing you might look up healing, or rather then which way do the handle bars go and what size bolt and nut do I use, you might look for instructions on how to pray.

Think about this one thing for a moment, how many men do you know who read the instructions? For anything? If we change our perception of the bible, which would probably be easier than getting any man to read the directions “before” he starts the project, would men be more prone to read the bible?

If it was the TV Guide would they pick it up? If we called it something other than an “The Basic Instructions for Basic Living E_____” (not sure what the “e” stands for) that men would take notice of it, open and find truth in it.

The next time your husband, father, brother, son, nephew or male friend decides to put something together or fix something, watch how long it takes before he grabs the instructions, that is if he ever grabs for them. Then ask yourself, this very same question, When have you known any man to “read the instructions” of anything?

Next will be “The Book of Promises”

And can I just say that the enemy is not excited at all about my commitment to this fast, to my desire for a renewed and deeper intimacy with my God, and the result of this 40 day period. He has reared his ugly head on day two and I laughed!!!

Not one of hose shallow, well that was kind of funny laughs, but a deep gut laugh, the one where you almost use it on your self.

Let me get to today!!! Or well Sunday.

We had our first Sunday service. Since the inception of the ministry we had been having service on Saturday, so today was special. Mind you none of us really knew what to do with ourselves on Saturday, it seemed as if we had an extra day in the week.

Not only was it our first Sunday Service but we had our first baptism and it was GRAND!!!

I will have pictures this week! We did it old school style, in the lake, Lake Lanier to be exact!

I am learning a few things about my body as well. Fasting can bring up some issues you didn’t know you had, but I am always glad to learn anything about the one and only body I will have on this side of Glory!

Until tomorrow, I hope everyone has an awesomely blessed week, and remember God said He will never leave you nor forsake you, so no matter what it looks like, feels like, or what you are doing, He is right there with you!!!

After an interesting day like yesterday, there was a moment during my quite time where God called on me to fast, to wake up at 6am and spend at least the first hour of my day with Him, if not more.

My goals:

1) total surrender of my will for His Perfect Will (Mat 26:39)

2) clarity, direction and strategy for the building of His ministry (Psa 37:23)

3) instruction for personal finance growth (Isa 48:17) and debt cancellation (Romans 13:8)

4) to better understand who God has called me to be and what He has called me to do (Joshua 1:1)

I hope to be able to give insight to the growth, and most importantly to the brokenness felt during this time of fasting. To be naked before God, and transparent before man is my desire, as i increase daily in favor with both!!!

AMEN!