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Book Review – The Man He Never Was by James L. Rubart

The Man He Never Was by James L. RubartHave you ever read a book that resonated so closely to your own life that you wondered if the author was watching your life? That’s kind of how I felt while reading James Rubart’s book, The Man He Never Was. This book hit pretty close to home, and brought some truths to light that I need to stop and think about in a little more depth.

The book is about a former NFL star, Toren Daniels, who suddenly reappears after being missing for eight months. Where he has been and what has happened to him is a mystery, but one thing is clear. His deepest struggle, his ability to control his anger, is gone. He is a new man, it seems.

But the search to find just how this has happened is what this book is all about. And it is a fascinating story. Even though it is fiction, it grabbed me and pulled me into the light of some truths that I haven’t quite grasped in such a way before. One of those truths is this: No matter what my sin may be, anger and rage in Toren Daniel’s case, there is no way any of my own efforts are going to be able to fix it. Sin can only be eradicated by the sacrifice that was made for that purpose; it can only be conquered by Jesus.

The second truth I need to dig into a bit deeper is the idea of my dual nature. Jesus died for my sin, and my sinful nature has been put to death. But the good side of me? That’s been put to death as well. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Both side of my nature, the good and the bad, have to die so that Christ can live in and through me. Because even my best efforts at good aren’t good enough.

Your Prayers Are Needed

Our family has experienced several large obstacles over the past few months. Some of these you know about, such as the death of my grandmother and the struggle to find what is causing one of my daughters to feel sick all the time. Other obstacles we have not shared very publicly, and it is sufficient to say that there are some issues that have brought a load of stress upon our family. I cannot say more about these at the moment, other than to ask you to pray.

Even when things seem bleak and difficult, we can know that God is right there with us, and he has things in his control, whether we can see it or not. To that end, I would ask you to pray for us as we walk these paths. Here are a few thoughts on how you can join us in prayer:

Pray for strength.
Pray that we can trust God through it all.
Pray for his guidance to be evident.
Pray that our stress and worry can be lessened.

Thanks for lifting my family up.

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The Epitome Of Love

The Message Of 1 John 3:16

Since January, I have been preaching from various 3:16 passages throughout the Bible. It seems there are several significant passages that fall on this marker, and it has been an interesting series of sermons as we have looked at several of them so far. On Easter Sunday, we looked at 1 John 3:16, and saw the epitome of love explained.

The Epitome Of Love

John writes this in the first of three short epistles that bear his name:

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. This passage teaches us about the love of Jesus, about his sacrifice, and what our response should be.

There are a few different things that we can see in this brief description of love. The first thing John shows us is an explanation of what love is. He defines it as an action. Throughout the New Testament, there are four words used that are translated into English as the word “love”: storge, affectionate love, or family love; phileo, which is brotherly love; eros, romantic or passionate love; and agape, unconditional, selfless love. And what John does here is show us that the selfless love of God is seen as an action. Jesus willingly laid down his life for us, showing us the fullest explanation of just what it means to love.

In this explanation, we also see an example to follow. Jesus leads us to display love in the same way. He doesn’t expect us to follow just something he has told us to do, without doing it himself. No, he exemplifies love by taking the initiative and leading the way for us to follow. Jesus displayed love in action: he served others, he showed compassion and mercy, he offered forgiveness and grace, he loved.

How Successful People Lead

How Successful People Lead by John C. Maxwell (Nashville, TN: Center Street, 2013)

Leadership can be difficult for some. Over the years, I have experienced ups and downs when it comes to my own leadership abilities. A lot of it has do to with where I am personally, I think, and how I am either growing or not growing. When I do have seasons of better leadership success, I too often don’t stop to examine why this might be the case. But fortunately, someone has.

John Maxwell has written a small book detailing the leadership skills of successful people. He looks at the “5 Levels of Leadership,” a topic that he has taught more than any other, and shows how the successful leader has an intimate knowledge of this hierarchy of leadership ability. And I can recognize my own leadership growth in the structure he lays out in this brief book.

It’s a short and easy book to read, giving the basic overview of the 5 Levels, and whetting your appetite for more. From here, the supply of information Maxwell has written on leadership is nearly inexhaustible, and you can learn a lot just by reading his books. And if that isn’t enough, you can pick up even more knowledge from partnering with the John Maxwell Company for a deeper leadership training experience.

But How Successful People Lead is an excellent place to begin. I highly recommend you pick up a copy and read it. You can get it from Amazon for next to nothing, so go grab a copy now.

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The P’s of Dadhood – Presence

Godly Men: Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

There are several essential qualities that dads must develop to become the best dads they can be. These qualities include practice and patience, persistence and perspective, passion, and… presence.

The P's of Dadhood - Presence

Presence.

That’s a great word, but what does it mean exactly? It sounds rather vague.

But it is one of the most essential qualities that a dad needs to develop.

Too many dads simply pass through the lives of their kids, never really engaging with them in any significant way. They aren’t really present. Oh, they may be there, home every night after work with the TV on or the newspaper in hand. But they aren’t engaged in the lives of their kids.

Why is this?

I believe it’s because they don’t know how to be engaged with their kids. Doing so is tough, and it requires effort. And most men struggle with this because their own fathers struggled with it.

My dad was a pretty good dad, but he struggled to be engaged in the lives of his kids. For example, he tried a few times to teach me how to drive a stick shift. He had an old ’64 Chevy pickup, with a three on the tree transmission. I don’t know how many times he wanted to teach me how to drive this, but after about three minutes of killing the engine by letting the clutch out too fast, he would give up in frustration and tell me I’d never learn how to drive a standard.