Brothers, what a wonderful morning we had today at Man-to-Man bible study! Elder Larry took us through a survey of the biblical truth that we are all created in God's image. The implication of this truth is that:
God watches over His Word to perform it
If I am in the image of God, I have the same authority in the Earth as He has in the heavens
Therefore, because God said it, there is no way I can fail (if I am walking in His Word)
The teaching flowed like this:
Genesis 1v26: God created MAN (not specifically Adam) but MAN in his image and likeness and gave him dominion, authority and the ability to rule all created things -> this applies to us too
Genesis 3:1-6 : Adam succumbed to the serpant (who was a created thing) and fell out of relationship with God
Mark 1v9-13: The second Adam (Jesus) reversed what happened in Gen 3v1 -> He gave us back the dominion, authority and ability to rule all created things; we too are God's sons and he is greatly pleased with us
Why then do we focus so much on the fall in Gen 3v1 instead of the great endowment of power that God gave us in Gen 1v26?
We must walk in an understanding that "God watches over His Word to perform it." All He is waiting for is for us to use the power that is in His word. Therefore, when we are faced with a challenge, our weapon of battle should be The Word of God . . . it has power . . . but only if we use it.
In my previous post, I used the Bud Light "Wassup" commercial to illustrate a point about how men are generally depicted as anti-intellectual and lazy. We all found this commercial funny, but the subtle stereotypes it underscored should not be ignored.
During the election season, I was quite heartened to find that the same group of actors that did the original commercial had taken the same concept, using the same wit and humor, and used it to make some serious commentary on the current state of our country.
The name of this blog combines two ideas - Enlightened and Iron - as a metaphor for the types of issues that we will attempt to write about and comment on. To break it down a little further, here is the reasoning behind the two parts:
ENLIGHTENED
dictionary.com will give you the following definitions of Enlightened
1. having knowledge and spiritual insight [ant: unenlightened]
2. characterized by full comprehension of the problem involved; "an educated guess"; "an enlightened electorate" [syn: educated]
IRON
"Iron" is the metaphor used by the author of Proverbs as he describes the important relationship between men. The idea that each man makes each other sharper by their interaction with each other.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
This blog's lofty goal is to elevate the discussion among all Godly men to deal with contemporary topics where our voices need to be heard. There are no easy answers, but we should at least be part of the conversation. If you watch most commercials closely in which men are involved, the men are depicted as either libido-driven adolescents, or dim-witted imbeciles or both.
Think about the famous "WASSSUP" commercial for Bud Light.
Yes, it resonated with that primal nature that exists in all of us, and the humor was not lost on a single man watching the Superbowl that year. But if that is the only view the common man has of himself, we are lost.
Being enlightened simply means: "knowing what's going on around you". There is nothing fancy about the definition we use in this blog. We just want you to open your eyes, think about what we are saying, and share your thoughts.
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What Is This Blog About?
Welcome to the Enlightened Iron blog where we discuss all things manly and Godly. What does it mean to be a man? Is it bravery? Is it strength? Is it ego? Is it compassion? Is it all or none of these things? And how does all this fit into what the Bible says? How does it all fit into the world we live in right now? These are some, but not all, of the issues we attempt to address here. Feel free to join the discussion regardless of your creed. Comments are moderated not for opinion but to keep things family-friendly!
***The views expressed on this site are the authors' and the authors' alone. They do not reflect the views of his employer, or any religious, professional or legal organization with which he is affiliated.***
