In Pastor Mike Erre's book Why Guys Need God he talks about the fact that, in American churches, women far outnumber men in attendance and in involvement in the church. Why is this? Mike analyzes why this may be and I will as well.
A commentary on Pastor Mike's book, "Is the Christian community doing a good job of presenting the message of Jesus in a compelling way to men? Women greatly outnumber men in attendance and active participation in American churches.
Pastor Mike Erre offers a solution for this imbalance: a thoroughly biblical and engaging theology of manhood that is missing in many churches today. This call to move past cultural definitions of masculinity goes straight to the heart of the issue: Creation-men and women bear the image of God in unique and surprising ways.
The fall-men cannot experience significance on their own, so their lives often feel meaningless and empty. Redemption-God redeems a man's work, his sexuality, and his relationships. Unmasking unhelpful stereotypes of masculinity, this presentation of godly manhood inspires men to more effectively grow in Christ's image and empowers women to understand and encourage the men in their lives."
http://books.google.com/books/about/Why_Guys_Need_God.html?id=gm_AIrqWSMUC
I highly recommend this book to any guy. Another great one is Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. I read it. He says that inside every man God has placed a warrior waiting to be unleashed. That man's greatest dream is to rescue a beauty and go on an adventure with her. Of course, that is all our greatest dream isn't it? To find some grand story that we can be a part of together, to know that our lives have meaning and significance, and that we matter to someone else.
A good book on the topic of society's pressure on men is Real Boys. This books talks a lot about the "man code" which entails that men feel it would not be manly of them to cry etc. It says how, from the time boys are little, they are told how they "should" act as men. They are teased and bullied if they do not fit this "man code." Eventually they fall in line or......become gay unfortunately.
Society is very harsh on men and telling them how they ought to perform in sports, with women, in work etc. There is a lot of pressure on men these days and many cannot withstand the pressure.
This is partly why men run to alcohol, drugs or pornography; to relieve the stress of living in a society that puts huge burdens on men. Alcohol helps men forget about all these pressures. Drugs obviously do the same. And pornography helps men to finally win that beauty they may have felt like they couldn't win on their own.
Men do want to be part of a huge adventure, but they feel that they fall short, so they turn to substances and pornography to forget that they feel like failures.
They get lost in video games or TV.
They don't want to think about all the ways that they feel they don't measure up.
Life is very hard for guys.
Women have it hard once a month with our PMS, but the feeling of inadequacy in a man's head are there all month.
There are some who "pretend" that they are all that, but those are the ones who, inside, feel the most lost, and the most like losers, if they were honest with themselves.
They are posers, putting on an act of being macho when really they feel very small inside.
That's how the phrase came out "real men wear pink," because if a man was really ok with his masculinity he might be ok with wearing pink lol if that makes any sense.
The point being every man is facing a huge battle in his mind that most women are clueless of.
Women simply see that the man is distant or seems to be insensitive. If he is, it is because that is the way society told him to be.
Men have feelings just as much as women. They just feel that they can't, or aren't allowed to, express themselves.
May God be with our men in society and show them that it is ok to feel etc. It is ok to experience pain and cry or be hurt instead of resorting to anger to express their feelings.
May God help men come out of hiding and be their true selves. Then God can really use them. Then they will come out of the darkness into the light; when they can be completely and totally honest with themselves, God, and others.
Only then will they find freedom from addictions, pornography, drinking and drugs etc. Amen. :)
I believe Satan attacks men more in our society for the very reason that they are supposed to be the spiritual leaders in the home and in the church.
I do believe Paul commands that only men be pastors.
Therefore, men in general have a much bigger target on their backs than women. Satan is trying to take our men out, and women, we can't let him. Please pray for the men in your lives. Encourage them, instead of letting Satan use you even, to tear your man down even more so that he will not reach his full potential. :(
"Our battle is not against flesh and blood." Remember that. Your husband/boyfriend is NOT your enemy, Satan is. OK? Our battle is against Satan and his demons. As far fetched as that sounds, it's true. Satan pits man against woman all the time. Be alert. Stay awake. See through his schemes.
Mike Erre, a pastor is Southern California, has some crazy stories about the time when he was trying to become a pastor; stories about demonic attack. One night, when he was trying to sleep, his answering machine came on and a demonic voice was talking to him through it. True story. Another time, he was trying to pray with a young man after church about pornography, and the guy's face contorted and he started to speak with a voice that was not his. Mike went to get other pastors and they literally did a modern day exorcism with this young man. Weeks later the guy e-mailed Mike and said he felt 100% better since that day.
These things don't just happen in the movies. People still get possessed. And Satan is real. And he is very active in our world. He is not an entity that we can ignore. So please take him seriously. Don't live in total fear, but recognize that he is very much ALL around us. He is in our TV, in our radios, in people around us. He is there. Please don't close your eyes to this reality. Because once you're blind to him; he's got you.
Like an enemy army sneaking into your camp at night, so Satan sneaks in most when we pretend he is not there. So be alert, and be very much on your guard against him.
And memorize verses, because that is your best counter attack against him. As Jesus used Scripture to defeat Satan's temptations in the wilderness.
Satan has many ways that he tries to tempt men to fall, much more than women, and I believe it is because he is trying to take our our leaders.
I would like to share a very profound comment from a friend of mine, "Satan attacks on both fronts. He makes men incapable of leading well and women unwilling to follow less than the perfect leader. He encourages men to avoid the hard work of leadership and women to jump in and take over the hard work for the sake of "equality." He encourages men to seek the sexual pleasure that should be the fruit of faithful commitment in marriage from other places instead and makes women willing to offer that pleasure to men who have not earned it. With stratagems like these, Satan rips apart many marriages and prevents many people from getting married who otherwise could and should."
I could not agree more! :)
May God give us eyes to see more and more and become "as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves." Amen? Amen. :)
God bless!
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