Beating Temptation and Sin (Dec. 2011 Men's Retreat)

Will you look at those faces? Wow. Who'd think these men had it in them? 50 + men, growing closer to God, singing opera (yep, video coming soon) and decorating Christmas tree ornaments (before taking them out to shoot them of course) smiling joyfully all along. It was definitely a great retreat. We sure missed the 20 men that didn't make it because of the snow but had an absolute blast anyway. We can't wait to see you all in May!!! The topic of this retreat was beating temptation and sin. Russ started it all off with a talk on the power to beat sin, followed by Kyle's description of sin and its consequences, Gordy discussed inside out transformation, I (Nate) went through the 7 steps to immunity from temptation and Brandon did his first ever men's retreat talk and talked about the results of victory. Get all those MP3's below and expect the video soon. Share this post with anyone you think would benefit. 

Russ' talk:

Kyle's talk:

Gordy's talk:

Nate's notes and talk:

Brandon's talk:

Another relevant MP3:

Bold

Pr.28:1 says, "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." The natural condition for the Christian should be boldness. The Holy Spirit in you and me is not timid or shy and He doesn't struggle with a lack of boldness. I lose His boldness a variety of different ways but ultimately it is stolen by our enemy whose chief objective is to steal, kill and destroy (Jn.10:10). Taking a stand can and will be hard but never impossible. Our goal is to share the Good News boldly (Eph.6:19-20). I wanted to mention one huge obstacle that I believe is destroying men, women and families in the church and completely eliminating the boldness God has created each one of us to walk in. That issue is porn. The stats about porn in the church are unbelievable: 80 - 90% of Christian men struggle with porn (and those stats are on the lower end of reality), more than half of all pastors struggle with porn in some capacity and the result is that Christian men have become effectively emasculated and now walk in cowardice and fear in all areas of life, including evangelism. Their families, churches and communities are all hurting as a result. If we are ever going to win our country for Christ we need to get a handle on this issue. I think it is one of the biggest reasons men don't share their faith. The encouragement for today is to listen to the MP3 below on beating porn and share it with anyone and everyone - you can't guess who is or isn't struggling with this issue. I truly believe that if we'll hit this issue head on, men will get victory and begin living lives of bold evangelism. If you happen to live near Durango, Colorado please join us for our men's retreat Dec.3-5 which will focus on the theme of being Confident, Bold and Strong. Get more info on the men's retreat here and get more accountability resources here. I am confident that as men get victory in this area they will become lions, bold and fearless in sharing their faith. Have a great day sharing your faith and enjoy and share the MP3 below.