Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Braveheart - a 3 part sermon series shared at Men's Camp Northwest Division September 2021

 A Brave Heart… to over come fear

Scripture reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-8

 We are leaving in a time of great uncertainty. Never before in my life time have I sense such angst and anger, distrust, unkindness and disturbing behavior from people both in and outside of the church. We have lived with a sense of fear since February of 2020 when the COVID virus starting to spread like wild fire.

Then along came a vaccine that got many of us out of our covid caves and started to trust others again. But that seem short lived.  We are now more divided than ever. My guess is that in a room full of people like this we could argue all night about this one topic alone.  But I won’t suffice to say I have lost too many friends to this dreaded virus.  My heart is so full of sorrow these days its dripping.

So where do we go from here?  Should we continue to stay mad and fear the whole world, or should we play it smart and move along the road with a sense of courage. I contend that we must be people who are willing to have brave hearts that are filled once again with courage, joy and love. Living a life that is connected to God and that connection flows into others.  God needs men with Brave Hearts – full of His holy power to make a difference in the lives of those we come into contact with each day.

In my time to share with you this weekend off this theme of having a  Braveheart I want to explore three area in God’s word, in context, with this theme in mind.

The first is over coming fear. God does not want us to be crippled any longer with unmanageable fears and unrealistic expectations on ourselves or others. So how do lower our anxiety levels to move on in courage and confidence?

Second, we go at this Braveheart thing together. Us guys tend to be lone rangers. We are wired to survive really by ourselves. This works for me because I am an introvert.  But that isn’t how God wants us to do community. He created us for each other.   We will look at a passage in the old testament that speaks to the unique courage and duty that the guard of the thirty, the temple guards of King David

And lastly on Sunday morning we will explore that theme passage in Joshua 1.  That is to be a Braveheart that follows on no matter what.

Paul reminded Timothy that nothing He does or will do or has done is in his own strength.  When we commit ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives nothing happens by happenstance or luck. Paul encouraged his young mentee to keep four things in mind that matter in life

 

1.     Courage – courage is what it takes to bring service to the world.  Courage to be a follower of Christ, a Christian – that courage comes from the continual presences of Christ in our lives.  That calls for the discipline of practicing the presence of God in our lives

2.     Power – power to cope, to overcome, to take a stand, to keep the faith. We pass the breaking point in our lives but do not break.  Being bamboo for others – we bend but we do not break. Remaining firm and strong.

3.     Love – for others, for those in the household of faith (and outside of it!) Loving others so much that we never find any toil too great to undertake for others. Love must abide in us to be a Braveheart.

4.     Self-discipline – the sanity of saintliness is to control oneself in the fire of panic or passion. Christ can give us that sense of self mastery that prevents us from giving up or running away from difficult situations or circumstances.

Application

To be a man of a brave heart doesn’t me we load up our weapons, beat our chests and run across fields. It simply means we submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives and began living a life that serves God and other.  We overcome our fears only by putting ourselves in a place where God by the power of His Holy Spirit can be unleashed in our lives. Learn to become a servant of Christ. Allow God to help you overcome your fears and learn the art of mastery over your selfish pursuits.


 

Saturday pm

A brave heart to go at this together   2 Samuel 23:8-39  (passage to be read is 2 Sam 23:8-17)

 

I never considered myself to be a “manly man.”  And this goes way back. I was always the smallest and scrawniest kid in the school yard growing up. I was always behind in the percentiles of height, weight and overall size through my child hold and even as a young adult. One of my last meetings with a staff member at the training college I was told I was too skinny to be an officer.  “You need to gain weight” I was told by the college nurse.  I think I have complied pretty well with that request.

My best friend in middle school and high school was Chach. Chach was Japanese American and came from a highly dysfunctional family. He used to live in the house behind us.  We met when I caught him throwing rocks at my dog and told him to knock it off. Chach eventually became an unofficial adopted son of my parents. We hung out and did everything together.  Except one thing.  Chach was into martial arts.  Big time.  So much in fact that he eventually went on to winning all types of awards and eventually opened and ran his own martial arts studio successfully.  I didn’t. Obviously.

Chach and his brother Jim were Bruce Lee fanatics.  In fact, they both cut their hair like Bruce Lee and kept swinging num-chuks around all the time.  Chach would try over and over to get me to go to the gym with him to put on a little “meat on those skinny bones” of mine. I always refused. I never felt strong enough or manly enough.

I lost my best friend in December of 2019 to brain cancer. He considered me one of his brave heart men because of my lifetime commitment to serving God and suffering humanity. That comment floored me. Chach came to know Jesus as savior a few years after I did. Our last long conversation happened in my office in San Francisco where he was seeking my advice on how to help the homeless in the city he was living.

 He left me too soon. He was a good, adopted son to my aging parents and took care of so many people.  He was physically much stronger than me and faced his battle with cancer with unmeasurable courage and strength. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by without me reflecting on him and our friendship. 

When you have someone bravehearted like that in your life and then they are gone, you are lost. Rudderless, like a ship sailing lost at sea. Its very hard for me to make deep close friends. I live a nomadic, sheltered life. People only see me as Tim, the boss man, the leader, the colonel, the doctor, the upper crest.  Chach just saw me as the scrawny kid who told him to stop attacking the dog which grew into a life long friendship.  That ended with his premature death at age 60.

I stumbled across an obscure passage hidden near the end of 2 Samuel 23:8-17 that reminded me of my friend Chach.  When I think of being brave hearted, I think of the warrior type men in my life.  Chach was one of them.  King David had 37.

Three in particular stood out:

Josheb-Basshebeth – who was called the chief of the three.  He was credited to killing 800 men at one time.

Eleazar – was known to stand his ground in intense battles alongside David against their enemies, the Philistines.

Shammah son of Agee – another soldier who stood the fields and defeated their enemies.

David surrounded himself with men he could count on, not only to defend him and his family but to the cause they were fighting for and the God they served. They didn’t always agree. They fought and debated with each other. They pushed back. But in the end they stuck together.

The context of these passage comes in light of the surrounding chapters that highlight some of these intense battles. In the midst of the battle, the scripture tells us  v. 15 that David longed for some water  from the well that was near the gate of the city of Bethlehem.

v. 16 tells us that these three warriors broke thru their enemies camp to get this water for David. They eventually drew the water and brought it back to David.  David in turn tossed the water on the ground, knowing that these men literally put their lives on the line to bring it to him.

v. 17: Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this! He said. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?”  And David would not drink it.

David’s sincere heart is exposed here. And his conviction as well. The pouring of the water was a type of ritual sacrifice that emphasized the specialness of their gift to David.  Instead of taking it himself the outpouring symbolized the offering to God.  David was not worthy, in his eyes to receive from these brave hearted men. He didn’t measure up in his manliness to this sort of bravery. 

Application

These three men showed to their leader and friend three traits: courage, loyalty and respect. Though on the historical record these men didn’t always agree with their boss. There were times when they were not on the same page with each other but when push came to shove it was obvious they had each others back.

Who has your back these days?  And whose back to you have?  Or are you a victim of being stabbed in the back?  Or do you have the reputation of being a back stabber? Who are you showing courage, loyalty and respect to? Or are you just trotting thru life now lonely, bitter, angry and harboring resentment letting no one near you. You would rather go it alone.

Now more then ever we each need our brave band of brothers who will see us through thick and thin. I am at deep personal loss since Chach left me and went to be with Jesus.  But since then, God has sent other men into my life. Guys I work with. Some guys living far away. Men who I am not worthy to take a cup of water for due to their devotion and dedication to the cause of Christ.  Let us consider ways in our own lives to support others.  If not a part of a small group of men who will keep you accountable, begin seeking that out and praying about it.  Then commit to being brave hearted with your sense of loyal, love and courage for those who are joining with you on the journey. 

 

Sunday AM

A brave heart…to follow on no matter what.  Joshua 1:1-9

I grew up in a family where quitting wasn’t allowed. A blue collar, Irish Roman Catholic military family, quitting wasn’t in our vocabulary. I am grateful to my parents he instilled that in me that no matter what, never give in and never give up. We may call that being Irish and stubborn. The scriptures consider that sticking too it as known as perseverance.

I can’t say adapting the attitude of not quitting has ever been easy. Whether its on my lousy attitude or my murmuring and complaining and muttering, either to my wife or the sky. There was only one time I quit something that I always regretted – that was studying biblical Greek. Granted it was Christmas time, I was a corps officer, and I had the worst teacher in the world – three great reasons to quit and so I did. But to this day I regret it. Deeply.

In my world view putting my hand to the plow and pressing on is the only option. But that’s not the world I live in. During this time that is becoming known as “the Great Resignation” many people for a myriad of reasons, are quitting their jobs and walking into a future of great uncertainty. Loyalty to a company or even a brand name is a thing of the past. Doing things the way we want, when we want and how we want to pushing the systems to a new edge and almost to collapse. Companies that refuse to pivot and make adaptations soon have to shutter their business or be bought out by more industrious and creative businesses.

If there ever was a group of people who had all the reasons in the world to quit what they were doing, it was the Israelites. Just recently having lost their inspired leader, Moses, who did all he could to keep them steady and together on their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites were literally on the banks of a new day and direction.  Do they cross the Jordan as Moses had encouraged them or did they cash it all in and go back to their wandering and eventually back to the familiar places in Egypt.

Thus we come to our verse for the weekend:

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

I am hard pressed to think of a greater verse we can find for the times we are living in right now.

There is so much to unpack in this portion of scripture that we would be here until 9 pm tonight – which the very thought of makes me want to quit! I would encourage you perhaps to take some time to study this on your own or even better, in a men’s bible study, to get the full impact of the meaning of the passage here.

v. 6  Be strong and courageous…for you will lead.  There is a task ahead Joshua reminds everyone.

There was a task for the people of Israel and there is a purpose of each of us in these days. The world is ripe for a life that has been transformed by God’s spirit. Where people are on edge we can be a reminder of peace, kindness, warmth and caring. Where people are angry, hostile and full of hate, we can be the example of love.  We must not just speak all of the god languages we know but we must show the love language that God wants us to be. All brave hearted men must set the example and lead with wisdom, courage and grace. The time is now for this.

v. 7 Be strong and “very” courageous… and obey God’s word. “Do not turn from it, to the left or to the right.”

The foundation of our journey with God rests on the surety of God’s word. If you haven’t by now developed a daily habit of reading and studying scripture, then make it a priority as something going forward from this time together.

v.9 Be strong and courageous…for God will be with you wherever you go.

We are never alone on this journey. “I will never leave you nor forsake you” is a familiar passage throughout all of scripture. There is nothing worse than the feeling of being abandoned. That kills off self esteem and confidence.  The God we follow isn’t a God who plays games with our emotions and our assurance. He never abandons us.  Duet. 31:6; Heb. 13:6; Matt 28:20

Do we turn our back on Him?  Absolutely. But He never turns from us. He will continue to be with us as our lives go on facing all sorts of challenges, obstacles and opportunities.  

Application

Courage means the ability to do something that frightens one. Hopefully this weekend you have been giving some thought to your own courage. What is it you are frightened about? What closed doors exist in your life that you need to open and walk through? God is calling many of you here to get ready to stand up and move forward. Its time to take on some leadership in your family, in your work and in your Corps.

Some of you God is calling you to give up your petty addictions to whatever it is from overeating to constant complaining.

The time now to is to act on the courage and not just squander the opportunities in front of you.

Be assured that God is with you. God will lead you.  God will never depart from you, but he isn’t going to force you to move. You need to take the first steps. The brave hearted individual can go about these tasks in the world today with assurance and courage, when learning to complete rely on and lean into God.

 

 Tim Foley

Seattle Washington

Fall 2021 copyright.  

Note to readers: Write me at tim_foley06@yahoo.com to obtain permission to use in any speaking, writing or other use.  

 

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Dusting this off

 So this blog has been in active for the past three years as my focus has been on my role as editor in chief for National Publications of the Salvation Army.  That role is coming to an end with the duties split between two people and the department reorganized.  My wife and I are under farewell orders back to the western territory.  

This blog will become more active as I tend to write more and do more self publishing. Because of my role I have had to tred lightly in areas that could be considered opinions of the organization rather than mine. 

This is my space and reflects my opinions as I journey on.  There is more coming to this space soon. 

I also plan to keep my web page open. You can see that at www.timfoleyonline.com

Thanks for joining me with my thoughts and reflections.  I hope it proves helpful to you. I know this blog is holistic to me. 


T

April 13 2021. Alexandria VA