A Weak Man’s Prayer

Lord, you asked me to journal more today so this is my attempt at doing so.

My faith in You, Lord feels weak. My fear constantly overrides my trust and belief in your promises.

Even my sacrificial ‘offering’ of giving up coffee and alcohol for the days leading up to Rosh Shoshana and Yom Kippur, is a feeble attempt to honor You by honoring Israel, Your chosen people.

It feels like such a insignificant offering as people, Christians and others, are losing their lives for You.

We’re surrounded by signs of the collapse of civilization as we have known it. Yet so many of us are going about our daily lives as if it’s “business as usual” and things are just FINE.

Thank you for waking me up many years ago out of a cultural, societal induced slumber and for growing me ever so slowly, against my need for ‘instant gratification,’ over the years.

If I hadn’t seen the proof of Your Existence through the miracles you have worked in my life, I would probably have a harder time believing You have our best interest at heart.

But the biggest miracle you saw fit to bless me with – and one for which I had not consciously prayed – was the deliverance of the gift of my most beautiful, godly wife.

Except there’s not a day goes by that I don’t wish I had prepared myself better for her.

I pray for all of my friends and neighbors around the world that they allow You into their hearts so they will have Hope and Belief in You because that is the only thing that makes sense in a world that disintegrates around us.

Thank You for listening Lord. And Thank You for giving me the ears and the heart to listen to you.

Because when I don’t listen to You and I think that I know what is best for me my life is living proof that definitely isn’t true.

Your son, Bert

Why “Self Help for Men” Without Jesus Christ is a Bad Idea!

If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything!”

Matthew 10:32:So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven…”

What guy doesn’t love an adventure!?

• I was an Airline Pilot • Flew jets • Raced motorcycles in the Baja 1000 • Ran the Dipsea race on Mt. Tam • Got a few black t-shirts • Did a round the world spiritual adventure • Sitting at the foot of gurus in the Himalayas • That kind of stuff.

Not as exciting as some guys, but not bad.

Problem was, it was all about me.

What’s wrong with that; that’s what we do, right?

I used self-help for most of my life, thinking I knew the answers

I even taught it to my clients when I was a psychotherapist

“Self-help” put me in and out of a few marriages

It helped me lose a ton of money through bad investments

I didn’t need help because self-help made me smart enough

Bad thinking…

If you met me, I didn’t look like a “loser.”

But I worked hard perfecting the “look.”

Self-confident, successful, “in control.”

Underneath the “look” was fear, insecurity, pain.

You’ve heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

In my case “It took God’s Son, Jesus Christ, to take an immature, arrogant guy and turn him into a real man!”

And find me a beautiful wife without even trying!

10 Things to Do to Turn Your Life Into a Full-Time Adventure!

  1. Scrap the idea of self-help.
  2. Seek out a man who you respect.
  3. A good-hearted, emotionally strong, peaceful man
  4. Preferably older and wiser
  5. Make sure he’s a believer in Jesus Christ
  6. Park your ego and ask him for help
  7. Ask him how Christ impacted his life
  8. With those answers, ask him how to change your life
  9. Have him mentor you
  10. Be ready to have your life turned upside down!