Introduction

“The Lord is with you you Mighty Men of Valor!” Judges 6:12

This journey of re-commitment is a journey designed to help men rebuild spiritual muscles. The Mighty Men we see in scripture and walking among us today have three distinct characteristics:  They are men of strength, courage, and passion.

As the angel of the Lord greeted Gideon in Old Testament times so we welcome you to an adventure and becoming one of God's choice Warriors.

Why Warriors?Because since the Garden of Eden we have three enemies seeking to usurp God's rule over his creation: the world (the temptations around us), the flesh (are own evil desires), and the devil (yes, the Bible says he's real and deadly).   Thus, we have an enemy within and enemies without, all waging constant battle against us.

To fight these enemies, we need strength, the kind that comes from God alone! Time and again in scripture, God calls his men to be strong. Gideon and others who serve God at a time when everyone was doing what seems right in their own eyes, David and his armies that follow him, and Christian men in New Testament times are charged with standing strong. Men of valor need great strength.

So does this mean that we need to join a gym, buy a weight set, or get into bodybuilding? No, God has a different strength in mind. When faced with the defeat and the loss of his family and friends David found strength in the Lord his God 1 Samuel 30:6. Paul urged the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power Ephesians 6:10.

You see, God is not necessarily calling men to lift weights but Broken Spirits before Him, not so much to build bulging biceps but to love and build up one another in Christ. Our concern should be less with winning strongman competitions then it is with winning others to the kingdom of God.

STRENGTH

Priority One: New Life - Turning Toward God

“Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.” - Billy Graham
Read and reflect on Matthew 9:9-13. How good do you have to be for God to look upon you with favor - for Jesus to ask you to follow Him?

Priority Two: God's Word - Hearing From God

“The Bible is the inevitable outcome of God's continuous speech. It is the infallible declaration of His mind.” - A. W. Tozer
Read and reflect on 2 Timothy 3:1-17. How can I stay anchored in growing my faith amid the pressures and temptations of our world?

Priority Three: Prayer - Talking With God

“Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens on prisons, and whines all straights by which God Saints have been held.” - E. M. Bounds

Read and reflect on Daniel 6:1-28. How does prayer affect my walk with God?

Priority Four: Warfare - Engaging The Battle

“There is no neutral ground in the universe every square inch, every split-second is claimed by God and counterclaim by Satan.” - C. S. Lewis
Read and reflect on Luke 4:1-13. How can I successfully battle the temptations of the enemy?

Priority Five: Purity Pursuing Righteousness

“Resolved, never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.” - Jonathan Edwards
Read and reflect on Genesis 39:6-20. What does a man gain by resisting sexual temptation?

Priority Six: Grace - Embracing God's Favor

“Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favored, shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite.” - Harry Ironside

Read and reflect on 1 Timothy 1:12-17. How can you make a total U-turn in life, from Sin City to the Heavenly Heights.

Priority Seven: Forgiveness - Dealing With The Past

“If you don't release those who have hurt you, you will begin to resemble them.” - Rick Warren
Read and reflect on Matthew 18:21-35. What does authentic forgiveness look like?

Priority Eight: Servanthood - Ready, Willing, Able

“It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich and great, and honored in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despised.” - George Mueller

Read and reflect on Mark 10:35-45. What should be a man's attitude toward other people and their needs as he seeks to follow Jesus?

Priority 9: Witness - Proclaiming The Good News

“Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel and understandable terms, considering the language and thought - forms of that setting.” - Francis Schaeffer
Read and reflect on John 1:35-51. Who in my world needs to know about Jesus, and am I ready, willing, and able to be his ambassador?

Priority 10: Endurance - Running All Out

“No one can sum up all the God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, holy yielded, adjusted, and obedient to him.” - Henry Blackaby
Read and reflect on Hebrews 11:1-12:3. In light of all the forces against Christians in our world, how can I finish well as I follow Jesus?

COURAGE

Priority One: Worship - Exalting God Alone

“When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeem fall on their faces Before the Throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” - John Piper.

Read and reflect 2 Chronicles 35:1-19. How should a man respond to the greatness of God?

Priority 2: Honour - Fully Following God

“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.” - Abraham Lincoln.
Read and reflect on Ezekiel 24:15-27. How far are you willing to obey and in so doing, honor - the Lord?

Priority 3: Holiness - Set Apart For God

“To seek God's glory is to pray, ‘Thicken the air with Your presence, make it misty with Your majesty. Part heaven's drapes, and let your nature spill forth. God show us God.’” - Max Lucado.

Read and reflect on Revelations 1:10-18. Why would a man who walked with Jesus for three years Sunday fall on his face upon meeting him on his home turf?

Priority 4: Confession - Renewing The Heart

“To confess your sins to God is not to tell God anything God doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.” - Frederick Buechner.
Read and reflect on Nehemiah 1:5-11. How does a sinful man respond to a holy God?

Priority 5: Humility - Putting Others First

“Humility has to do with submitted willingness. It involves healthy self-forgetfulness. We will know we have begun to make progress and humility when we find that we get so enabled by the Holy Spirit to live in the moment that we cease to be preoccupied with ourselves, one way or the other.” - John Ortberg.
Read and reflect on Numbers 12:1-15. What happened when his own brother and sister challenge the leadership of the most humble man on the face of the Earth?

Priority 6: Honesty - Keeping It Real

“I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles common the character of an honest man.” - George Washington.
Read and reflect on 1 Kings 22:7-28. Where does a man go for truth in a world of lies?

Priority 7: Self-control - Remaining Level-headed

“Self-control is the exercise of inner strength under the direction of sound judgment that enables us to do, think, and say the things that are pleasing to God.” - Jeff Bridges.
Read and reflect on Acts 7:51-60. How can a man keep his cool when being attacked by idiots?

Priority 8: Surrender - Denying Oneself

“The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today.” - Richard Foster.
Read and reflect on Daniel 3:1-30. How does a man respond when the going gets tough?

Priority 9: Love - Caring Like Jesus

“If the first Mark of a true and Living Church is love, the second is suffering. The one is naturally consequence of the other. The willingness to suffer proves the genuineness of Love.” - John R. W. Stott
Read and reflect on 1 Samuel 18:1-4. What does male bonding look like?

Priority 10: Victory - Living Triumphantly

“The reason why many fell in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their Victory on their knees long before the battle came. Anticipate your battles semicolon fight them on your knees before Temptations comes, and you will always have Victory.” - R. A. Torrey.
Read and reflect on Jeremiah 35:1-11. When it comes to victorious living, what would people expect the life of a Mighty Man of Valor to look like?

PASSION

Priority 1: Bravery - Fighting The Good Fight

“Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of Courage are much quieter. They are the inner test, like remaining faithful when nobody's looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you're misunderstood,” - Charles Swindoll.

Read and reflect on Daniel 6:12-24. Why would a man stand steadfast with no fear in the face of sure death?

Priority 2: Integrity - Keep The Faith

I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man I ever met. - D. L. Moody.

Read and reflect on 2 Samuel 24:18-25. Why would a man choose “right” over “quick and easy”?

Priority 3: Contentment - Satisfied Before God

“You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.‘ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read and reflect on Acts 16:22-31. What should be the response of a godly man who is unjustly treated?

Priority 4: Generosity - Open-handed In Everything

“You may think, ‘no problem there. I'm putting my church and Ministry in my will. By all means, do your estate planning and give Heaven Heavenly to God's kingdom. But what kind of faith does it take to part with your money once you die? You don't have any choice! That isn't your best opportunity to give semicolon it's the end of your opportunity to give. God rewards acts of faith done while you're still living.” - Randy Alcorn

Read and reflect on Acts 4:32-37. Can you imagine a church where there is no person in need because God's family is coming through?

Priority 5: Service - Here To Serve

“The only really happy people are those who have learned how to serve.” - Albert Schweitzer.
Read and reflect on Acts 6:1-7. What happens in a church when men serve?

Priority 6: Family - Engaged At Home

“The measure of a man is the spiritual and emotional health of his family. A real provider has a vision for a marriage that bonds deeply, four Sons with character as strong as trees, and four daughters with confidence and deep in her beauty. Without that vision and Leadership, a family struggles, grapes, and they lose its way.” - T. O. Weber.

Read and reflect on Job 1:1-5. What does a Godly father look like?

Priority 7: The Church - Building Up Others

“The Church of Christ is not supposed to be a group of harmless, irrelevant, mind-your-own-business worshippers who gather once a week, tucked away from anything public, just to practice their form of religion... Nothing could be more non biblical. The purpose behind this satanically inspired Dogma is to keep the church from being the church, the ekklesia - Dutch Sheets.
Read and reflect on Acts 2:42-47. What does authentic friendship among fellow Christians look like?

Priority 8: The World - Reaching The Loss

“If you're in a job with a bunch of bad people who curse and swear and tell course jokes, I don't feel a bit sorry for you. They're probably why you're there. - Jerry Cook.

Read and reflect on Matthew 9:9-13. What does authentic friendship with non-believers look like?

Priority 9: Purpose - Living With Intention

“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it.“ - A. W. Tozer.
Read and reflect on 1 Corinthians 9:1-27. How can a man live a Purpose Driven Life?

Priority 10: Legacy Dash Passing On A Godly Heritage

“Our children will define the future, which makes them our most significant and enduring legacy. After all, God never told his followers to take over the world through force or intelligence. He simply told us to have children and then raise them to honor God in all they do.”- George Barna.
Read and reflect on Joshua 24:14-27. What's the greatest gift a man can leave behind?