Gmen Jan 2015

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!

Click the link below and press the ‘Share’ button beneath the booklet.

Afterwards, select ‘Download’ for the PDF.

Click below for Better Manhood

Download

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