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Unconditional Love

March 24th, 2023

Brandon Foster

How often do we think that we have to please or pacify God before He will love us? “I have to be perfect before He will love me.” I know that that is how I try to live my life most of the time. I know that is not true, but I go back again again. Why do I think that my actions will ever make Him love me more than He already does?

It is comforting to know that I am not alone. Jacob (you know, the Patriarch of Israel. The one that they were named after.) had to have this point driven into his thick skull. Jacob returns to Canaan with confidence and glory in the story that unfolds between Genesis 32 and 33.

He has two wives, eleven sons, and vast flocks. Jacob was the GOAT. But, he was not where God wanted him to be. Yes, Jacob was starting to give glory to God, but he needed one more push.

As Jacob entered Canaan he headed toward his estranged brother to reconcile. The night before Jacob was alone most likely thinking about the day to come. If you remember, Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright and blessing. Esau had sworn to kill him, which is why Jacob ran away in the first place. While he is sitting in the dark alone Jacob is suddenly attacked. The story described by Moses is clear on who the assailant is. God in human form was wrestling Jacob. It is believed that Jesus appeared to change Jacob’s life forever.

Jacob and God wrestled for hours, but before the sun could rise God struck Jacob in the thigh. With Jacob crippled, they have a conversation. In this conversation, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel. This change is more important than most of us think. Before wrestling, Jacob’s name meant deceiver. After the wrestling, his name was changed to wrestles with God (Israel). No longer was Jacob known to God as a deceiver. Now he was renamed, rebranded as it were.

After this encounter, Israel goes out and meets his brother. I have to wonder for a moment if Esau was confused by his brother calling himself by a different name. But the critical part comes during the conversation. Before that night Jacob had still put too much emphasis on his own actions. He had done this or he had done that. Now he puts all the focus on God. What a mighty change!

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This is the story’s moral: God has already changed our names so we don’t have to work for it. We are renamed! No longer are we sinners, enemies, or deceivers. Now we are saved, son, and heir. We did nothing to gain those titles. God did it for us!

Unfortunately, I do not remind myself of this fact enough. But, I am trying. This is something I am going to try to remind myself of as often as I can. God loves me because He does. Like a parent His love is unconditional. AMEN!

Godly Masculinity: Money vs. People

March 23rd, 2023

Brandon Foster

Let me make this very clear, making money is important. It is the duty of godly men to strive to take care of their families. Each family will do this differently though. Some men will be the sole provider, others will work alongside their wives, and still, others will work at home. I know my opinions on this are not popular. It is believed by the conservative side of life that men have to be the sole financial provider or the main provider.

While I do believe that this is the case for the majority of families, there are some that can break away from this. The main point I want to focus on is that this is not a primary theological one. This idea of providing will not condemn someone or save someone. That means that this is a secondary or even a tertiary idea. This means that we can disagree and still live in the body of Christ, the church. With that said, let us break down the difference between focusing on money and focusing on making a difference.

Men are happiest when they are:

• Making money
• Building great things
• Lifting weights consistently
• Focused entirely on themselves
• Surrounded by strong, like-minded men

Focus on the essentials, disregard the rest.
— MP | Masculine Peak 🧠 (@MasculinePeak) March 10, 2023

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The main difference between these two ideas is the focus. Masculine Peak (MP) claims that focusing on making money will make a man happy. I disagree. When we live with our main focus on making money we will never be satisfied. There is always another dollar to be made, a better position to achieve, or a higher position to earn. Focusing on money creates a monster who is never satisfied. Families will be sacrificed, friends will be sacrificed, God will be sacrificed, and in the end, happiness will be sacrificed. 1 Timothy 6:10 talks about the LOVE of money as the root of all evil. Earning money is not bad, lusting after money is.

We should focus on people. Instead of focusing on money, we should focus on how we can love people with that money. We should focus on our family, our friends, our community, God, and our neighbors. This actually produces fulfillment. Remember, the two greatest commandments are to love GOD, then love our neighbors. We have to know God to fulfill the second part. But we will love our neighbors if we have the first part.

When we are discussing happiness and fulfillment we need to be very clear. Money can make me happy…temporarily. Making connections and loving people has always left me satisfied. Serving those around me has always been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I don’t know about you, but I usually leave a job tired and just wanting to sit down. The only exception is after a good day of teaching, but those days are rarer. When I receive my paycheck I have never felt overwhelming excitement. Usually, I open it up and think to myself, “wow, that’s it?” This is why when “men” encourage other men to only focus on jobs and earning money it feels so shallow. Because it is. Money is only an object or a tool to be used.

That best thing a person can do in this life is love a person. Growing a friendship is beautiful. Serving a brother or sister is amazing. Nothing in life will ever beat that. Serving God will always be the highest goal of mankind. Hopefully we are serving the right god. I will end with the lyrics of a song that my wife introduced me to.

Never made time for the family
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
Only made time for the company
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
He is the richest man in the cemetery
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
coin

Godly Masculinity: Moths and Rust

March 19th, 2023

Brandon Foster

Time for another round of macho masculinity! For today’s topic, I am introducing this Twitter post. I was going to write about each point in one blog, but that started turning into a very long post. I am really trying to work on my wordiness so I will be breaking this down into smaller chunks. So, for the rest of this blog, I want to say what I think of this tweet generally.

Men are happiest when they are:

• Making money
• Building great things
• Lifting weights consistently
• Focused entirely on themselves
• Surrounded by strong, like-minded men

Focus on the essentials, disregard the rest.
— MP | Masculine Peak 🧠 (@MasculinePeak) March 10, 2023

With that, let us begin. The man who runs Masculine Peak (MP) has a list of things that he believes are the top five ways to make a man happy. As I am sure you can tell by now if you have read any of my blogs, I think that these are five of the worst ideas. These ultra-macho masculine men seem to focus on easily achievable goals that can make them feel good. They never push hard goals for men. They only want showy things that make them look good, feel good, and allow them to push people around.

Another point that I hate about these types of guys, is that they focus solely on themselves. They are some of the most selfish individuals that you will ever meet. They only help themselves, and they treat everyone else, especially women, like their personal objects to be used and then thrown away. They desire stuff, not people. They want power and control, and they will do anything to achieve it. They will also do anything to keep their power. they will hurt people, lie, cheat, and destroy.

To sum up my point quickly, they are children. I have very little, if any, respect for these types of men. In fact, they are not men. They are little boys. This is a point I am trying to make in my upcoming book, Warrior, Poet, Priest. Just because someone has reached the age of adulthood, 18 in America, that does not make them a man. These men are actually just adult children whining, crying, and throwing tantrums when they do not get their way.

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When it comes to work and women, they achieve lots of temporary success. They keep women for short periods until she either get tired of the crap or the abuse. As for work, these types of “men” can find lots of success, but that success is only financial. Financial success fades away quickly and leaves the owner feeling empty. That is why it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when “men” focus on fleeting earthly things as their main goals. Real men, godly men, focus on things that will last beyond them. Again, they focus on family, God, community, and a good reputation that will transcend their bodies.

I want to ensure with the words of Jesus. For some reason He can put thoughts into words much better than I can. Here is a statement that He said during His sermon on the mount.

¹⁹“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)

Questionnaire

March 15th, 2023

Armor of God: Belt of truth

March 15th, 2023

Brandon Foster

“¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth.”

— Paul the Apostle (Ephesians 6:14a NASB)

First, we have the belt of truth. This is first because without truth everything else falls down. Just like civilian clothing, armor requires something to wrap it together. A belt is that something. Before we can put on something like righteousness, we have to have the truth. If we are deceived by life, Satan, or ourselves we are useless. A soldier who cannot keep his pants on or his breastplate fastened cannot fight.

As we enter the battlefield raging in our world we must first focus on truth. Truth is our foundation. It keeps us grounded on what is right or wrong. If we cannot decipher what is real or fake, true or false, we cannot protect those who are in need. Warriors are meant to be the shield for the defenseless. But if our eyes are blinded by deception than we will fall for any lie presented to us.

“Boys are being told they are worth nothing because they are male. Girls are being told they are nothing because womanhood is not really a thing.”
Warrior, Poet, Priest

Our modern world is presenting so many cruel lies that are hurting so many people. Boys are being told they are worth nothing because they are male. Girls are being told they are nothing because womanhood is not really a thing. Children are being told that they can twist their bodies into a number of things based on how they “feel.”

Teenagers are being pumped with medication because they are depressed, anxious, angry, frustrated, alone, bullied, and scared. They are surrounded by voices, external and internal, that tell them that their life is doomed and that they really aren’t worth much.

Young adults compound their teenage issues with adult issues. They have to get a job, go to school, fall in love, and find a place to live while still dealing with all of the issues they had before. Many young adults don’t even see the point in most of it because they think the world is burning or that the game is rigged against them. In some cases, they are right. This world is against them. Satan, the prince of this world, has done his best to make sure their lives are as hard as possible.

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On top of all these issues our world has to deal with racism, sexism, misogyny, misandry, political hatred, religious hate, and church hurt to name a few. If men of God turn from the truth, if we drop the belt, we let all of the pain mentioned above continue.

Daily Prompt #2

March 14th, 2023

Brandon Foster

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

I was going to say that this is an easy one for me, but I guess anyone who has watched something more than five times can quickly identify that movie/series. Now, I can take this question one of two ways. Either I can mention things that I have just accidentally seen numerous times throughout my life, or I can mention things that I purposefully watch on a constant rotation. I think I will go with the second.

So, here are my top five shows that I have, and always will, return to again and again.

The Office
Gilmore Girls
Parks and Rec.
New Girl
Any Lord of the Rings movie

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The Office will always be my wife’s and my show. We watched it together while dating, and we have binged that bad boy too many times to count. Some people have a song that sums up their relationship and that they heard during a key moment. We do not have a song, (we did joke for a moment that Jeffrey Bezos by Bo Burnham was our song, but while a fantastic song, it was just a joke) instead we have The Office. That is our show. It has been there for key moments of our relationship. It was there when we dated, it was there when we traveled across the country for two(ish) weeks, and it will be there for many more.

The rest of the shows/movies are just entertainment that we highly enjoy. Lord of the Rings will always be my favorite story (Except Ring of Power, that sucked). If I include how many times I have listened, read, and watched it I would probably be around two dozen times. Stories have always been an important part of mankind’s journey. We are story people, and I am glad that we still have good stories to share.

Morning Devotion

March 13th, 2023

Good morning!

It is so reassuring knowing that I am secure in God’s hand. Nothing I can do will pry His hands open. Nothing I fail to do will cause Him to drop me. Such great news!

God does not need me, nor can I mess up His plans. God wants me even though I am broken and messed up. That is one of the most reassuring things I can ever hear. So often we think that we just messed up God’s plan. We think, “Oh man, I just messed up that interaction.” or we say, “What if I don’t say the right thing? What if that was their one chance at salvation?” I have great news for you. It is not up to us! God uses us in our blunders, our crappy moments, and our mistakes.

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Moses, David, Abraham, Jacob, Peter, and Paul were all pretty messed up. They all made mistakes that probably made them think that God no longer wanted them. Moses, David, and Paul all killed people; Abraham and Jacob manipulated people to get their way; and Peter betrayed Jesus. God forgave them all and did amazing things through them.

Next time you are feeling like you are not worthy, or that you are too messed up, just remember that God likes to use the outcasts.

Macho masculinity

March 11th, 2023

Brandon Foster

As a guy, I hear a lot of guy talk. I have listened to it my whole life. Some guy talk is childish but not damaging. Some guy talk, on the other hand, is disgusting. I won’t make the generalization and say that men have suddenly started acting misogynistic and that men did not behave this way before. It would be stupid of me to say that. As a historian, I have read enough history to know that men have always acted in “macho” ways since the fall.

What real men need to do is go to the Bible. Men bow before God. boys play with toys, women, and their egos.
Brandon foster

I am also not going to talk about “toxic” masculinity. This term has lost all meaning. It is now a general term inserted into any conversation to mean some ambiguous characteristic of men that the individual does not like. Instead, I want to discuss what I will call “machoism.” Machoism summarizes the traits that men exhibit that are crappy. They include, but are not limited to, extreme individualism, misogyny, laziness, looking down on “weak” men, etc.

To kick things off I found the tweet below which I think starts this conversation well.

https://twitter.com/MasculinePeak/status/1634510542042742787?s=20

This statement is false, misogynistic, and just stupid. These men make me so frustrated. They are so insecure about their masculinity that they have to crush everyone around them. They cannot stand on their own accomplishments, so they push down everyone else until they are standing tall. They are childish, weak, and mean.

Men do inherently care for those around them. Males do not. This is the second point that annoys me. To many males think that once they start growing hair they are “men.” To quote Dwight from the Office , that is “false.” Becoming a man is a process, and an achievement. Not all males are men. In fact, I would argue that most aren’t. They are boys in grown up bodies parading around deceiving as many people as possible into thinking that they are men.

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The man writing this tweet is obviously a boy. He thinks that men are superior to women. This is why he think that males, when they become rich, will automatically take care of their woman. I can’t count how many rich men treat the people around them like trash. The amount of movies depicting this very thing is staggering.

Not all women support their families when they become rich, but not all rich women think that they no longer need a man either. Both statements in this tweet are wrong. The fact that there are dozens, even hundreds of these accounts, makes me very frustrated. How much vile is being spewed by these boys?

What real men need to do is go to the Bible. Men bow before God. boys play with toys, women, and their egos.

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Jacob and Esau

March 9th, 2023

Brandon Foster

The story of Jacob and Esau can be told in multiple different ways. Some might try to make the story about Esau by saying that he was a simple country boy who was manipulated by his mean brother and conniving mother.

Another group of people will focus on Jacob. This group will say that Jacob was only following what God has already decreed to his parents. God had said that Jacob would rule his brother, so wasn’t Jacob just following this by taking the birthright and blessing?

No. Jacob was following his own selfish desires, Rebekah, was following her own desires, and Esau was following his own desires. There are no good characters in this story. But there are two takeaways that we can leave with from this story.

The Jacob

A Jacob is someone who believes in God, but tries to follow God’s commands their way. While the desire might be on the right path, the way of doing it is wrong. God had told Isaac and Rebekah that Jacob would be the ruler of Esau. He did not tell them how He was going to do it. That was not necessary information for them. When we are told by God that He is going to do something, He is not telling us so that we can complete it on our own. He is telling us so that we know when it happens it was done by God. He is essentially calling His shot before He shoots. Jacob and his mother believed what God said, but they thought that they had to fulfill the prophesy on their own.

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This is the takeaway from Jacob: believe in God, and let God work. God does not need our help. When He says something will happen He does not need us to push it along. Every time we try to interpret how God is going to do something we get it wrong. Abraham had Ishmael, Jacob temporarily broke his family, and Israel selected Saul. Each time we force a prophesy we make things worse.

The Esau

Now we turn to the Esaus in life. While Jacob may have tried to push God’s plan along, he still believed and trusted in God. Esau, on the other hand, had little to no respect for God. He spat on his birthright showing that he had no desire to live his life for God. He wanted to live his life his way.

Esau shows us what life is like when we rebel against God. Though Jacob tried to force the blessing and Esau hated it, God was going to do what He wanted to do. He was going to bless Jacob when and how He wanted. Esau would become a nation of his own (the Edomites). But his nation would become lower than his brothers (the Israelites). Esau tried to kill Jacob, and Jacob stole the birthright. But neither action pushed, pulled, or changed God’s plan.

Conclusion

We are all either a Jacob or an Esau. We either believe and love God, but try to anticipate what God’s plans are, or we despise God and anything that He plans. Either way, God’s plans will always happen. We cannot change or stop anything that God says will happen.

For me, this is a reassuring concept. There are so many aspects of my life that I have no control over. Though I am a Jacob myself, God still loves me. I try to push things along because I am impatient and sinful, but Jesus has paid my debt. I am forgiven and loved no matter what. It is calming to know that God has control of those things. I can love, worship, and serve knowing that my savior is in my corner.