S
ince his ‘Lion of War’ book series released, Cliff Graham has become even more passionate about creating “good battle” for men, and inviting them to join him on the adventure of true masculinity. He is involved with the non-profit ‘Know the Covering’, appears for speaking engagements geared towards men, and has continued in writing novels about men that God has risen up to be great warriors!
Palestine, Asia
Continued on page 4
Join us as we embark on 30 Days to becoming a better man.
Start the year off strong with men thriving to be better! Carve out your core values and discover your calling!
Be the husband your wife always dreamed of having!
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Continued from page 1
H
e’s in Palestine while making the
as he faces the Philistine giant
motion picture, ‘Day of War’
in the valleys of battle” Graham
based on his book series about
enjoys visiting the stomping
King David, but really Cliff
grounds of David, as it gives him
Graham views it as spending
inspiration for his ongoing book
time with God! “The city of
saga based on the warriors life.
Jerusalem is so important in the
“I realized that young men at my
story of David. Here you can
church didn’t have anything to
almost hear the armies shouting
get into”
I saw that this was a need and that there wasn’t anything out there like it!” he continued “There wasn’t anything much on David, and if it was, it was based on the little boy David, not the warrior king and soldiers perspective that surrounded him” According to Graham, ‘Nesheq’, a masculine noun, is
the Hebrew word used in Scripture to describe weapons of war and battle. Men are made for war. However, Christian fiction is often viewed by guys as soft and romantic. I wanted to show them what real war was like in the bible!”
Graham has a military background and frequently visits Israel to view firsthand what those battles were like. “I start
from a mental perspective. Trying to crawl into David’s head as a warrior, visit the actual location of battle, observe the terrain and begin” He often stands in the valley of Ellah, venturing upon the battle grounds and thinking as the soldiers did who marched with David. “He’s such an intriguing
character” Graham urges
“David sings gods praises with
one hand, while slashing the head of enemy soldiers with another! As a solider, generals we followed in combat tend to keep us on the edge of our seats in that very way. Not knowing what they were going to do or say next added to the adrenaline.”neGraham ” believes David strayed from God when he strayed from his men, and that sleeping with Uriah’s, his youngest soldiers’ wife, was but a part of the downward spiral.
Cliff Graham performing his documentary on King David called, ‘The Lion of War’.
“Soldiers tend to use jargon to describe things way over there head. David, trying to describe how God comes on him during combat said, “Oh LORD God of
my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle”. [Psalm 140:7]. We’re calling the
upcoming film, ‘Day of War’ because this was his story!” Graham says, “I love the idea of men grappling with that! They had no bible to refer to, they just knew it was God! I wanted to give men a glimpse of soldiers empowered to do a certain thing
beyond their natural capabilities, but possible with Gods covering.” Graham closes by saying, “My favorite feedback is when men tell me, ‘I’ve never read the
bible like that before!” Just experiencing the richness, background and context of David’s relationship with God is something to capture!”
Lion of War Series
Battles of the Biblical warrior
Civil war has raged across the
poet King David and his band
kingdom of Israel between those
of brothers, who came to be
loyal to the dead King Saul’s line
known as the Mighty Men.
and the young warlord David.
New
David is established on the throne once and for all. The siege of general Ammon is rumored to take place soon. David’s team of elites prepare for battle.
Combat takes its toll on David. The Mighty Men must summon the courage to withstand assault from their own leader.
Stay tuned to Gmen monthly for the full book review!
How The
Every man was created to be great, but then, something happens.
Mighty
Fall How Great Men are Conquered Every Day
W
eve all heard it before.
The story of a great ministry, big or small, that was doing amazing things for God’s kingdom. People
can be anything.
Misappropriating funds An adulterous affair Child molestation Bad press The list goes on. Or a famous athlete who
were healed. The hungry
claimed to be a Christian, others
were fed. The dead were
admire him, he has good
raised. And then suddenly,
endorsements and then, once
out of the blue, it happens.
again, ‘it’ happens.
Now, don’t pretend you don’t know what ‘it’ is. ‘It’ can be anything.
Unforuntatly, warning signs aren’t always as obvious as a prophet showing up to your office.
He’s caught beating his wife, he’s found in a financial scandal and on and on. It appears in every
Jim Collins, author of, ‘How The
walk of manhood, be it marriage,
Mighty Fall’ believes that failure,
business or ministry, we’re
like cancer, comes in stages. The
haunted by the tales of men we
earlier stages are hard to notice,
admired that failed.
but easy to stop. The latter
But what if I showed you a step by step process, that men who fail wenth through, right before they fell, but didn’t realize?
stages are hard to stop, but easy to notice. Having looked at this pattern amongst great organizations around the world, I want to retrofit it for the modern Christian man.
Step 1
Hubris
Hubris is big headedness, born of success. It’s when we as men, particularly in leadership, allow our accomplishments to create amnesia. Suddenly, we forget the concepts, culture and creed that got us there. Different from forgetting, hubris is arrogant neglect.
Step 2
Overreaching
Seldom does anyone sound the alarm when we overreach. Arrogance causes brash commitments to more and more and more. And then one day, just when we’ve streteched ourselves too thin, we fall. Hard.
Step 3
Denial
Instead of speaking through actions, that clearly show recovery is being made, we “mouth off” more and more. Dummy solutions and placebo answers that do nothing other than make men “feel” like progress is being made are adopted.
Starting with step 1, Hubris, it’s clear that we as men can easily
overreaching. Simply put, since
fall into it. The thing is however,
we’re so good at being a father,
hubris, isn’t exactly arrogance.
businessman, or husband, we
It’s a unique type of arrogance
start to get overly busy at other
that’s based on real success.
things, not realizing that brash
Believing your own press is
commitments to more and more
something we’re often guilty of.
leads to a crash.
The word says, “Pride comes
before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” [Prv 16:18]. Hubris then gives birth to
The final stage is denial. And herein lays the chance to retire or recover. The scripture says, “He
who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Mercy� [Prv 28:13]. A man in denial, talks less and less about real problems and solutions, and reaches for placebos. He drinks more, has sex more or even attends church more, all the while thinking that this will fix it, when it but gets his mind off of it for a moment. I don’t know what happened to your father, pastor or man you admired, but let me say this, you don’t have to fall!
Like cancer, failure tends to come in stages that can be stopped if noticed soon enough. Be an exceptional man this year. Do all within your power to reverse the before process, and watch your personal life, career and ministry experience new growth!
We’ve searched far and wide and have spoken with seasoned brothers from Gmen and abroad desiring
We’ve outlined three spiritual weapons and tactics men need going into the New Year.
to empower you with what enabled them to succeed as men! So join us on the war path as we select targets, take aim and usher into Gods best in the New Year!
Join us in tacking back our stuff from the enemy’s camp.
1 God T
Him as commander and chief, will lead you to victories that the enemy’s unable to resist. [Jam 4:7]! It may often feel like you’re
his year, the LORD is your
getting punked or emasculated
Shepherd. His sword is your
when doing as God commands
weapon! Jesus said it this way,
,but continue to lean on His
“Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” [Matt 16:18].
instructions and don’t rely on your own understanding. See God for the weapon He really is
Knowing that Jesus is the Christ,
this year! He will never lead you
son of the Living God, is the
astray.
offensive weapon that Satan cannot withstand! Following Jesus
The LORD is your weapon. Are you handling His Word, name and presence with confidence and authority?
2 Brotherhood He’ll pick someone you have no The scriptures says, “A brother
was born for adversity” [Prov 17:17]. With the gigantic burdens society places on the roles of manhood, having a unit with whom to lock arms is both a spiritual and social asset. But
respect for, to speak into your life.” This happened to King Uziah in 2 Chronicles 26, his inability to hear from the priests about his disobedience, caused him to have leprosy. The process of iron
don’t get too pretty. According to
sharpening iron causes sparks
Resurgence leader Matt
to fly. This year, you must
Chandler, “God won’t always
endure the discomfort of being
allow you to cherry pick who
around men who challenge you
you’ll listen to. Often,
in faith!
3 Know
Your Enemy
The scripture warns us to, “be
vigilant” or watchful of the enemy [1 Pet 5:8]. However, too many Christian men are caught unaware. They aren’t acquainted with the devices Satan is using to tackle men in this day and age. As a result, many of them are slaughtered.
Follow strong Christian men online, by email and abroad, and stay updated on both what the enemy is doing and how you can counteract it!
A Lesson In Manhood he hated passivity and had a strong bias towards action. Unfortunately, the complaints about millennial men is that
T
oday’s young men could learn a lot from former President Theodore Roosevelt. Known for his cowboy persona and masculine edge,
they don’t want to leave home, marry, go to college or adopt any of the outward markings of manhood and responsibility. A famous quote from Roosevelt was:
“
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a
“
worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Robert Lewis, founder of Men’s Fraternity, defines manhood this way:
Let’s thrive to not sit by idly as kingdom Real men (1) reject passivity, (2) accept
responsibility, (3) lead courageously, and (4) expect God’s greater reward.
men this year.
The Real Man’s Guide to Fitness
S
You have a wife and kids, responsibilities other than o you call yourself a man huh? Well tell me this, why is it that every fitness magazine treats you like a pretty boy? Let me explain. You probably don’t eat powder shake meals, drink smoothies for breakfast and own an indoor gym.
looking good and like to have a steak from time to time for dinner [and hey, one at breakfast wouldn’t hurt either]. So we did it. What follows are three things any real man can do to get the body he wants!
Have Faith
Synergize
The studies are finally
Most guys do more of one type
beginning to show that things
of exercise, while multiple
like restlessness, worry and an
studies from multiple institutes
overall poor mindset is the
show us that workouts that
groundwork for poor health
synergize the three exercise
and fitness. By developing a
types do far better. Be sure
faith outlook on life in every
your regular workout include
area, you will begin to
resistance, callisthenic and
gradually see your health and
aerobic training.
fitness excel!
Reduce sit time Sedentarism, or, sitting for more than 3 hours daily, actually reverses the effects of exercise. The problem gets worse when the hours go above 3. A study done by Health and Fitness mag showed that reduced sitting time alone puts you ahead of many exercisers.
Wherever you are, we’re there too!
G Men
/4gmen
@Gmen_Ministry
Bulletins If you are training to be commissioned, contact Jamiel Cotman at 804-833-7628 for this month’s task. Commissioned men desiring to partake of this year’s commissioning ceremony email Gmen@mobcc.org.
Events Our next Gmen’s meeting [18+] will be January 30th @7 P.M. Our next Giant Killaz meeting [10-17] will be January 30th @6 P.M.
Scripture
O GOD the LORD, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Psalm 140:7
NAS
Thought
When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man! - Ben Franklin