 Jason Cruise Founder Outdoor Ministry Network The Man Minute- Sixty second investments in Christ-like manhood
A phrase that's built in to every man's vocabulary, "return on investment" is what drives most every decision we make both personally and professionally. We want to know that our work, our decisions, our efforts, all of it, will pay off for us in the end. Therefore, we measure our successes by a return on investment. Measuring success is, though, a moving target, because every company, every business, every industry, measures growth in various ways that differ from industry to industry. Success is important, but the real question is, "Who gets to define success?" The Scriptures tell us that if we sow in the flesh, the carnal nature, we'll reap the best the flesh can offer. If we sow in all things eternal, we will reap a harvest straight from the heart of God. We all have employers, but we must work for the Lord, both in and beyond the marketplace. God does measure success, but His measurements may not ever pay out a tangible dividend here on earth. If you choose to plant your life into eternal fields, you can, however, know that you are guaranteed a return that is beyond anything in the here and now. Every man must choose who's definition of success he wants measuring his life. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:7-9 www.jasoncruisespeaks.com and www.outdoorministrynetwork.com
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 Jason Cruise Founder Outdoor Ministry Network The Man Minute- Second second investments in Christ-like manhood. Recently my five year old son, Cole, went with me to worship. Mama stayed at home as she was just days away from giving birth to our son, Tucker. The band started cranking the music and Cole, on his own, starts clapping. For the most part, he was clapping in time with the beat, which surprised me even more! The thing was, nobody else was clapping. It wasn't really a clapping-type song. Didn't stop my boy, though. He was clapping because the mood just hit him. Out of my periphory I see two small hands stretch toward the heavens. First he was clapping, now he's a hand-raising five year old. Just singing away. My heart was full. Mainly because, to be really candid with you, I know that in my attempts to worship the Lord there are times when I am repressed. I am far too concerned about what someone else may think of me. Which is stupid, I know, but it's the truth. My heart was full because my son has yet to learn what it means to have other people tell you how to worship. He was happy, and he wanted to show God that he was happy, in a way that made sense to his five year old mind. So he clapped, and raised his hands, because it felt right.  Cole Cruise Here's what I've learned about reverence. Reverence is a state of the heart. An attitude. Church culture has always taught me that reverence is about trying not to offend God by the way you dress, or by making too much noise when you sing, or by making sure you don't move around too much, because God might see you moving and grooving and then He's gonna hammer you for it.
The facts are that a man can come to church in an Armani suit, wearing a Rolex, and stroke a large check for the offering plate, and yet the entire time be a fowl smell in the nostrils of God because that man's heart is a stiff as the starch in his shirt. Reverence might have a bit to do with dress codes, but it has far more to do with a heart set free than a heart bound to traditions that God never created. The worst thing I could have done with Cole would have been to shut him down in a moment that would have forever taught him that God was not a fan of his happy self. Whether he fully understood what he was doing didn't matter to me. What matters most is that as a dad I allow him to do worship in a way that makes sense to him. That day, sitting beside my son, I saw first hand what liberated worshiped looked like. And it was beautiful. "I never saw the members of my father's church enjoying themselves."- Friedrich Nietzsche, when asked why he rejected Christianity. He's the father of modern atheism who is considered by many to be the greatest philosopher of all time. He is the man who coined the concept of "nihilism" ... the idea that life has no real purpose, therefore, live however you want to live. Never think that your ability to live in the joy of Jesus has no profound affect on those around you.  Jason Cruise Founder Outdoor Ministry Network The Man Minute: Sixty second investments in Christ-Like manhood.
Sometimes I go through seasons where my prayer life is just off. Plain and simple, I neglect spending time with God. I pull out of it, but then it happens again. You know the story. It's natural to have ups and downs in all matters of the Spirit. I think that's why Jesus didn't let Peter, James, and John stay on the mountain where He was transfigured. Where can a man go from there? Once you've seen that, my man, you've pretty much seen all you need to see. You either go on to glory, or you go back down the mountain! Life was intended to live on the peaks, in the valleys, and all in between. You cannot live on the mountain every single day. I get that. However, I think I'm too quick to chalk up my lack of God-conversations to the natural world of ebb and flow. I think my neglect to pray is, in its truest sense, rebellion. It's me wanting to live life on my terms. In the end it's not only immature, it's dangerous. www.jasoncruisespeaks.com and www.outdoorministrynetwork.com  Jason Cruise Founder Outdoor Ministry Network Fear. It's at the root of more of your decisions than you might think. If you examine your life closely, you just might find that fear, not faith, can be the fuel that drives your direction. Fear is easily disguised in statements that float through you mind like, "Well, the logical thing to do would be ..." Sometimes you see it manifested in such lies floating to the surface of your Spirit when you hear "God would never cause you to put at risk ..."
While it's true that God has most certainly given us a brain with which to grow in Christ-like wisdom, I think our enemy, Satan, often counter-acts righteous adventures through the guise of logic. It wasn't logical for God literally to tell Abraham to put his son on an altar. It made no common sense for Noah to build a boat when he'd never before seen rain. Over and over again, God defies common sense rationale. Read the Scriptures with as much objectivity as you can, and what you'll find is that over and over and over again God challenges the establishment with virtually every character scene we see in His real life drama found from Genesis to Revelation. What I'm learning is that in life I must make a choice about the love of God. I can trust His love, or I can choose to make a counter-offer to that love which, if I were honest with myself, is always an attempt to control the outcome. If God is love, and if He loves me, then I have no reason to fear my future. There's a verse below that speaks to this. You might want to read it several times this week ... slowly. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. - 1 John 4:17-18 www.jasoncruisespeaks.com and www.outdoorministrynetwork.com  Jason Cruise Founder Outdoor Ministry Network The Man Minute......Sixty Second Investments in Christ Like Manhood.
Many of you who read the Man Minute report back that you forward it to your men's group, friends list, etc. If you'd like, you have my full permission to add The Man Minute to your Facebook, Twitter, or any social media you use by using the icons now included on this email. This week's Man Minute . . . Last week I wrote about the need for every man to stay faithful to his vow to love his wife until death parts the marriage. I promised to give you some insights into my marriage that have, over the years, kept Michelle and I climbing toward our future. After thinking about that for a bit, I realized that there is no possible way to share what we've learned about God, our selves, or one another, inside of the sixty second window that the Man Minute promises! So ... I'll choose one area, one place, that is forever at the top of our list. I'll write on many more in the Minutes to come, yet for now, I'd be quick to say that the present reality of "grace" has been the Duck Tape bonding our hearts in this ever growing journey. I think most every believer is quick to grasp the idea of God's grace to us as individuals. While we may not ever fully understand it, we at least understand that there is no possible reason for God to love us other than the fact that He just wants to - so we get the idea of grace from above. Grace to one another ... easy to talk about, but very hard to live out. I am quite sure that most every believer struggles to let grace marinate our relationships. So very often we say we have grace, yet in reality what we really mean is that life works best (for me) if you will like what I like, think the way I think, see pretty much everything from my perspective, and basically operate in this world in ways that make sense to ... me! Have you ever noticed that you are the only one in your world who is truly normal? I'm serious. My definition of "normal" is what I think normal should be, and every person who deviates from my definition of normal is, well, just off. Not right. Weird. Do you realize how toxic this can be in any relationship, especially in a marriage? When you cannot let a person be who God created them to be, frustration and failure are soon to be the winners in any relationship. It was about year three in our marriage when Michelle and I finally stopped trying to change one another. Michelle believes the glory of God is found in structure and predictability. I believe the glory of God is found in adventure and absolute non-predictability. The truth is, the glory of God is found in both. He wired us up to be the way we are, and when we discovered that simple truth, the pressure was off. Slowly we began to let each one be ourselves ... without penalty. It was grace reborn in the both of us. I'd say the greatest proof of grace that we now extend to one another is found in the fact that we have stopped looking to one another to fulfill our every desire. I discovered that Michelle cannot, ultimately, make me happy. She discovered that truth about me long before I came to that same realization. The truth is, God never, ever intended my ultimate fulfillment to come from Michelle, nor did He intend for her to look to me to complete all of her dreams. The reason is simple: why would God ever want any of us to look to another person to bring us ultimate happiness? It cannot be done. God doesn't want any of us to look to another sinner, a person far less than perfect, to be the source from which we get our joy and identity. Only God can make me truly happy. Only God can fulfill all of Michelle's dreams and desires. So when we stopped expecting the impossible from one another, we began to see grace flow into places we'd never before seen it. I found myself starting to think about how my decisions would affect her, yet all the while looking at my decisions through her lenses instead of mine. She began to see that she could let me be my erratic self, and in doing so, her whole entire world would not, in fact, explode. Grace abounded. Grace. It's at the top of our list for the reasons we've continued to stay faithful to one another in our promise to stay married. Thank God for grace that is only found in a relationship with the Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. - 1 Corinthians 16:23 www.jasoncruisespeaks.com |
Jason CruiseJason Cruise is the founder of Mission. Mission was created to "vindicate the fatherless" in a country known as Moldova. To learn more go to www.themissionvision.net Jason is a well known speaker traveling across the country sharing his love for Christ at wildgame dinners and conferences. Jason has created many valuable resources for the outdoorsmen to take them deeper into their walk with their Creator. These items include DVD's, Bibles, and Bible studies. Archives
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