This has been such a season of anguish in so many of our lives. I've watched my dreams die, my business die, my dream home soon to die, and creditors call on Sunday at 8:05 AM with no respect for anything but a return on their usury…Threatening litigation for an account not yet 30 days late!  

I have been subject to condemnation from those who haven't suffered in this economy looking down smugly as if they had some great wisdom I do not. I’ve watched cheap and incompetent labor replace the highly skilled with smug arrogance.  I've suffered as my wife's emotions have escalated to despair and discouragement. I suffered sharp criticism to my faith and been ridiculed for my optimism…slapped instead in the face over/over again with a worst-case scenario.

I've suffered as old demons of hurt, disappointment, sin, and anger try to rise back to the surface of my life when I'm at my weakest.

I've watched close families lose their jobs/businesses, lose their’ hope/faith, lose their homes, lose heart, and some have lost their spouses. I've watched control-freaks unable to control anything. I've seen the unjust prosper off the backs of the disadvantaged. I’ve watched the rich protect their financial empires and take the homes of those they betrayed.

But this I declare to you my friend:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.  Isaiah 61:1-3

As I ponder another long day, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by everything that's on my plate, my bible reading is in Luke where Jesus is asked this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"   Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say?  How do you read it?"   The man answered, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind.  And love your neighbor as yourself."  "Right!" Jesus told him.  "Do this and you will live. "

So is it really that simple?   Do we really believe this stuff?   How can we focus on "eternal life" when we are so weighed down dealing with this life?  What comes to my mind is getting back to the basics.  These guys had nothing…just their sandals, some basic stuff.  Obviously, how they lived is nothing like today's society, but they still walked through the reality of their times.  They had challenges too.  Perhaps the answer is as simple as loving God and loving others.  

Today, before I start my work projects, I'm going to thank Him, praise Him and send a positive word to another brother.  It's simple…but I'm believing and trusting God for an awesome day.  Love God.   Love others.   I think I can understand that. 

Some guys are going deep sea fishing. Why not join them?

Paul Hemmingway is putting together a trip out of Channel Islands Harbor that no doubt will be a ton of fun and a great time. If it’s like other tips he’s put together, a lot of fish will be caught.

The date is Friday, March 12.

The cost is $60 per person.

This is not a Sanctuary event, so call Paul for details: 661-212-1627.

We live in a day where the opportunity to sin is incredibly easy largely due to the Internet. In the privacy of our bedroom, home, office, or even on a cell phone, we can access images and information that use to require a concerted effort. All it takes now is a click of a button. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to get there, but all too often, it takes everything we have to get away from it!

With so many inappropriate websites and Internet temptations, what we do online can have a big impact on our lives offline. Removing the secrecy changes how a person surfs the web. Online accountability provides new strength.

Covenant Eyes can help us be the men we so desperately desire to be. The Covenant Eyes browser is not an Internet filter. Instead, the Internet monitoring service scores websites visited for mature content and sends a report to a person you choose. This friend, spouse, parent or other person you select is your Accountability Partner and receives your reports by email or views them online.

Accountability is a good thing. It is a must for us to live free and strong as were intended to.

To find out more about Covenant Eyes, visit  www.CovenantEyes.com.

Parenting an older teenager is like sitting in the passenger seat as your licensed son or daughter is driving. They can drive on their own without you so it doesn’t do them any good to nit-pick their driving. That training should have happened when they only had their learner’s permit. No doubt they are going to drive differently than you; they’re not you. But if they are driving safely, keep your mouth closed to criticism and open for praise. They will navigate life more effectively knowing they have your confidence rather than criticism.

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His dad takes him into the forest blindfolded and leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the ray of sun shines through it.

He is all by himself.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood.

The boy in our story was, naturally, terrified. Her could hear all kinds of noise. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even a human would hurt him.

The wind blew the grass and earth and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold.

It would be the only way he could be a man.

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he saw his father sitting on the stump next to him - at watch the entire night.

"I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."

- God (Hebrews 3:5)

This is a recent article from BreakPoint with Chuck Coleson. I'm posting it because a lot of you love football and admire the great coach Joe Gibbs.

There aren’t many American men who do not know the name Joe Gibbs. He’s a member of the NFL Hall of Fame, and former head coach of the Washington Redskins who led the team to three Super Bowl championships. He’s also a three-time NASCAR champion.

But what many fans may not realize is that my friend Joe’s ultimate goal has never been victories on the football field or the race track. It’s been to be a witness to how Christ was leading his life and career.

In his new book, Game Plan for Life, Gibbs writes that, as a young man, he’d bought “into some of the biggest myths our modern society has to tell” about what is important in life—money, fame, career success. But he had a nagging feeling that “this life is not all there is.” He writes, “I knew there was something deeper, something more important out there than me and my frantic quest to make something of myself.”

Gibbs wants to pass on to other men some of the truths he’s learned and the discoveries he’s made about life—and help them avoid some of the mistakes he made.

“Wherever I go,” Gibbs writes, “on business or for speaking engagements, sporting events, or whatever—I run into guys who all seem to have the same questions and challenges.” These men look at Gibbs, see the success he has achieved, and ask how they can succeed, too. Not just in terms of money or fame, but how to be happy, to be good husbands and fathers and live lives of relevance.

Gibbs wants to teach these men that, whether they are professional athletes or not, all of them are, every day, playing the most important game of all—the game of life. And that the head coach is God Himself.

Gibbs’s experience as a coach and team builder convinced him that to win a game, including the game of life, one needs a game plan. So he decided to put together a book to provide solid answers to the questions men asked him. But while he was great at building teams, Gibbs knew he was no theologian. So he gathered together a team of “assistant coaches”—people who are experts on the spiritual playing field.

John Lennox, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University, wrote a chapter on how life begins. Christian apologist Josh McDowell writes about the truth of the Bible—the ultimate play book. Christian scholar Os Guinness describes how to go about building a successful life and career. Ravi Zacharias, a great Christian thinker, writer, and radio broadcaster, explains how to overcome sin and addiction. Tony Evans, founder of The Urban Alternative, tells men how to get the most out of life.

And I’m honored that Gibbs chose me to write a chapter on salvation—how to get on God’s winning team.

If you know somebody who loves sports, but has never done much thinking about what should be the ultimate goal of life, give him a copy of Game Plan for Life. Visit BreakPoint.org to order it.

This book is co-authored with Jerry Jenkins, one of the best writers in the Christian world. And it’s in an easy-to-understand style for men who have not done much thinking about spiritual issues.

I am so glad the Bible is relevant today. Though it was written 2000 years ago, it is often exactly what I need, when I need it. Let me give you a case in point.

Recently, I’ve been discouraged because of sense impending doom related to political, economic and cultural issues today. The uncertainty of our day can cause me to have a reactionary respond of fear. When I look around at the horizon line of the world, it does not look hopeful.

The vertical look contradicts the horizontal one. When I focus my eyes upward towards heaven, I am filled with hope because God is in charge and He is a good God. The hopeless and uncertainty of this world will always be there like an impending storm, but the sovereignty and faithfulness of God will also always there like a safe haven of protection from the storm.

Today, my gaze is upward because I was reminded of his goodness through scripture. If you are feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, fearful, uncertain due to the storm of life, look upward. Remind yourself of God’s truth found in the Bible. Look to Him for your solutions. He is good. He is faithful. He is present.

For the last few years, I’ve been learning to surf. It’s not been easy or quick. I’ve spent so much energy and time trying to catch waves. If it wasn’t for my 17 year old son sitting in the water next to me encouraging me to keep trying, I would have likely given up long ago. After all I don’t need to learn something new like surfing at 45 years old. I’m content to watch others and just hang out.

This summer my learning curve took a dramatic change. I actually started getting up. The first time a caught a wave and rode it for more than 2 seconds made all the batched attempts worth while. The first time my son and I caught a wave together was a landmark memory I’ll cherish forever.

It is OK to hang out and watch others, but I’ve decided it is so much more fun to get into the water occasionally even catching a few waves.  

For many of us joining the men of The Sanctuary in camping at Lake Isabella is somewhat like me learning to surf: a bit intimidating and overwhelming, feeling like everyone knows each other and understands how this thing works, and why bother trying something new because I’m content the way things are.

If you feel like that, you are not alone. It’s daunting to do something new with people we don’t know well. Regardless, get in the water and try. You won’t be sorry. It will be tough at times, but oh so rewarding. Join the men at Lake Isabella where great memories and friendships begin!

TRANSFORMability at Lake Isabella

September 25-27

Register and pay at church by Sunday, September 20.

Cost: $40

Email ADVANCE@TheSanctuaryChurch.com for details.

At The Sanctuary we use a Bible reading tool called the GROWth Journal. It is a daily reading schedule that helps those who use it to consistently read the Bible and process its principles. It you want to grow you must be in the Word (Bible). GROWth is an acronym:

• God’s Word: writing it down
• Reflect: taking it in
• Offer: Giving it up through personal prayer
• Walk: living it out

As we write down God’s Word, reflect on what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through it, offer it up to the Lord in the form of a written prayer, and think through how to walk out the principles discovered, life transformation happens.

Below is a recent GROWth Journal entry for me.

God’s Word: Luke 4:42-44 - Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

Reflect: Jesus began his public day in private. Before all the needs and activity of the crowds, he spent time in silence with His Father. In Genesis the creative word that spoke the universe into existence came out of silence. “Silence remains as indispensable today as it was in the past. The Word of God is born out of the eternal silence of God, and it is to this Word out of silence that we want to be witnesses.” (The Way of the Heart, H. Nouwen, p.40).

Offer: Father I want to sustain my public ministry. I want to go the distance finishing the task you have put before me. Thus I must give regular occurrence to silence. Transform and teach me through your Word and your presence in silence.

Walk: Consistently get up by 6:00 a.m. which requires me to get to bed at a decent hour.

If you would like to pick up a GROWth Journal, stop by our Resource Center: Grow on the Go on a Sunday morning while at the campus. The cost is $10.

A couple of weeks ago, I hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park with all four of my sons. This trip is 9.5 miles each way and is a strenuous trail which encompasses a deep gorge with three waterfalls, hundreds of steps cut in to granite, steep climbs through the forest, and an elevation gain from 4000 to 8800 feet. When that part is behind you, the last several hundred feet of ascent up the back of Half Dome is done by clinging onto ½ inch steel cables attached to fence poles sunk in to the slick rock at a 60 degree pitch. (Picture walking up the back of a bowling ball!)

            I have done this hike twice before in 1995 and 1996 and wanted to do it again with all four of my boys together. The day before the hike, I had the bright idea to do the hike at night so we could watch the sun rise from the top. All the guys agreed it would be an adventure and we would avoid the 100 degree temps we were expecting the next day. Little did we realize how the Holy Spirit was preparing us for more than we could know.

            I honestly did not remember how difficult or how long the trail actually was from 13 years earlier and it was a good thing. There was no moon at all that night and climbing through the falls gorge and the deep forest was eerie. We used headlamps but without them it was pitch dark and we could not see even a hand in front of us. The sound of the river and waterfalls echoed across the canyon walls, but we could see nothing. All we had was a four foot circle of light from the headlamp to illuminate our next two or three steps. None of the trail ahead was discernible at all and we had no sense of distance traveled other than the occasional trail sign. To make it even more interesting, we knew that bears and mountain lions were quite active in this area at night! Well, we made the top and watched the sun rise over the Clark Range from behind a peak called Cloud’s Rest in a glorious display of God’s majesty I will never forget. After an extended rest on top we began our retreat to the valley floor as we passed hundreds of hikers on their way up in the increasing July heat.

             In the light of day the difficulty of the trail became obvious to all of us and we were each amazed at what we had accomplished with nothing more than our four foot circle of light to guide us. The amazing scope of the climb, the number of stairs, and the sheer drop-offs and wet river mist on the trail is much more intimidating in the light of day. As we hiked down, we all admitted that had we seen what lay ahead it surely would have discouraged us and made the climb more difficult. Two of the boys said they may have given up completely if they had been able to see what was ahead.

            God clearly revealed that this is His way with us in life. If we all could look ahead at the path He is leading us in we would likely become weary and discouraged or even give up. Where He wants to take is higher and farther than we would choose to go in our own strength. He always gives us enough “light” for the next step or two and asks us to trust Him for what lays ahead in the dark. In the end it is His strength that will get us to the top of the mountain, not our own. We must learn to accept that we cannot know every twist or turn of the trail and that He will protect us from the dangers of the journey. But I know that all I need for today is my “four feet of light”. For the rest, He can be trusted to guide my steps and what awaits me at the end is worth the trip.

            “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

Social networking websites are huge today in our society. My kids are much more savvy using them than me. My son regularly talks with friends on Facebook from different parts of the country and the world. He uses it to stay connected but also to problem solve school, friendship, and ministry items.

What has been a challenge in our family is determining safe usage and an appropriate amount of time spent “chatting.” In most areas of involvement with my children, my wife and I have much more life experience than our kids. This allows us to stay one step ahead of them. With social networking websites, it’s just the opposite. The kids are way ahead of us. We’ve found ourselves needing to become familiar with the technology and search out guidelines to help insure healthy use.

Go to All Pro Dad’s website, page http://www.allprodad.com/pod/viewplayoftheday.php?date_pod=2009-07-16 to read a useful, but simple list of guidelines for social networking.

Pastor Zack

Impossible situations happen. Events align to cause the perfect storm in our lives. Conditions develop that cause us to question our value as a man, husband, father and provider, God’s love and goodness, and even our commitment to those dear to us. These can be very dark periods in our life with no sense of hope or change. They happen to all of us at one time or another. The question isn’t “If they will happen,” but “When will they happen?”

FORTITUDEability is being able to make it through impossible conditions. It is coming through life’s dark seasons and becoming more like Christ. There are no easy answers. No quick fixes. No inoculations protecting us from these perilous times. But we can learn from and be encouraged by Christ’s example of living through unimaginable darkness and lonliness.

Join the men of The Sanctuary THIS Saturday, July 18, for FORTITUDEability as Pastor Zack brings biblical hope and practical steps to make it through these rare but intense seasons. The two hour event begins at 8:30 a.m. at the church campus (26444 Friendly Valley Parkway, Santa Clarita) with a feast of a breakfast for free.

God bless you on your journey,

Pastor Zack

The sense of storm is not determined by the environment around, but the environement within.

Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

Serenity has to do with being calm, serene, tranquil.

(Edited from a recent Christian Men's Network article)

1. Consistency

Being ‘Christ like’ means focused on raising up strong men who live, talk, act like Jesus. And….the other areas of marriage, family, relationships, and business/job will come to wholeness as we stay focused on that.

2. Decisiveness

This is an area where most men fail to fulfill their dreams, destiny and gifting in life. We must, as men, remain resolute in our determination to be a real man - and, to recognize that it isn't always pretty - stuff happens, but it is the endurance of the decisive man that carries him through the fire of adversity.

3. Strength

This is a moral strength - that we follow through with the intent of our hearts, no matter what anyone says, what it looks like at the moment, what it takes to get it done...Victory is always on the other side of a fight! This is courage, prayer, maturity, moral excellence, tenacity and the all the fruit of the Spirit exhibited in a man’s life - that when pressure comes, the man of strength pushes back on the pressure.