2010 Men’s Retreat – 2

Thoughts from the 2010 BV men’s retreat. Saturday morning – Chuck Fallon talking.

Born to be Wild

What makes us roar? Prodigal child, freedom, pain, joy?

What is the righteous form of wildness?

Galatians 5:1 says it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Verse 13 says that we shouldn’t use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but to serve one another in love. Could it be in that passionate freedom that we find what we were really meant to be?

Am I the same man internally as externally? Is my life consistent? Am I the same at church, at home and at work?

How is pain used in my life? I have found that many times I don’t make lasting changes apart from some kind of pain. Back pain has taught me to be very careful of what I do. The pain of broken relationships and marital strife causes me to want to change so I can avoid that same pain in the future.

Sometimes instead of going to the source of pain, we seek to numb it through various forms of “medication.” Alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, adrenalin, and escape are some of the ways.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand the pain. It seems too severe or unnecessary. Do we trust God that He does all things for our good? And of course there is some pain that is the result of our own doing but that too can be used for good.

When God raises the temperature in our life it’s always exactly right. It will not be so high that it destroys us but high enough to burn away or cleanse us from the thing that left alone will harm us.

The following quote from Sir Winston Churchill came to mind:

When you feel you cannot continue in your position for another minute, and all that is in human power has been done, that is the moment when the enemy is most exhausted, and when one step forward will give you the fruits of the struggle you have borne.

Take one step more and hang on a little longer. There are things going on in the background and the hope in a good God gives us endurance.

Philip