Slings and Stones
For Men Only

"...David triumped over the Philistine with a sling and a stone..."
(1 Samuel 17:50, NIV)

 

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David didn't slay Goliath while sitting in a church pew

 

One of the neat aspects of David's challenge to the giant is that he said, "I come at you in the name of the Lord." That's a great line if there ever was one with regard to a man's faith. However, let me be quick to point out that David also took action, he picked up five smooth stones in preparation for battle. Then with his sling he planted one of those stones in the forehead of the big Philistine. With four more stones he was ready for four more giants, but none challenged him.

There's a lesson here. Yes, you should challenge the giants in the name of the Lord, but after that mental or verbal commitment, get out of the church pew and take some action out there where the Philistines camp out. Don't sit and wait for them to run you over...you charge them!

This page is especially for Christian men who are looking for action. If your idea of action is shuffling into a church building one, two or three times a week taking your place in the pews and staring at the back of someone's head while the preacher is delivering his sermon, that's fine, but you don't need to read the information on this page.

On the other hand if you are not satisfied with your Christian walk, I suggest you run a while; run the race set before you. Research by The Barna Group has shown that 85% of Christian men are not "spiritually challenged". If men are not spiritually challenged then it should be no surprise as to why they fail to get involved in church leadership. Perhaps the information here may give you an idea as to why men fail to act as leaders in local church congregations.

Are we on to something here? Men are not spiritually challenged and they just happen to do more sitting (in church pews) than running (actively involved) in some ministry work outside the four walls of a church building.

For ladies visiting this site I praise God for the fact that many of you provide much needed leadership in church congregations all over America. Some say women have a greater heart for God. Others lament that women are simply picking up the slack in church leadership because we men fail to fulfill our responsibility. Most would agree the biblical way calls for men to lead the church.

Shown here are four independently written articles by four different men during the past year. They come from varied backgrounds. Paul Proctor is retired from the country music industry. Dave Daubenmire is a former high school football coach. Doug Wiles is a pastor and host of "The Clash" radio show.. I am a farmer/camp director. I don't ask you to agree, but I would ask that you give serious consideration to what each of us have taken time to write.

Dennis Rowan
March 2005

Bedridden Believers Wake Up Pastor

By Paul Proctor
March 26, 2004

Driving across town the other day, I passed by a church that always displays an inspirational message on their sign out front. Such messages are very common these days and often quite thought provoking. The one I saw most recently had me thinking all the way home.
It read: "Churches are hospitals for sinners, not museums for saints."
How sad and true, I thought to myself. They used to be spiritual fortresses built in enemy territory where soldiers for Christ were recruited, trained and equipped for doing battle against sin and evil in society with open bibles, convicted hearts and committed lives.

Read more....

By Coach Dave Daubenmire
May 11, 2004

One particular Tuesday evening I received a bit of advice from a grizzled ole veteran coach that stuck with me throughout my 25-year coaching career. After watching my level of frustration rise, this "old-timer" slid quietly up to my side and softly shared the advice that forever changed my approach to working with young men.
"You can work these boys until their tongues are dragging the ground and they will come back tomorrow." His fierce, kind eyes bored in on mine. "But don't you bore them. If they are bored, they'll never come back."

Pastor, your men are bored.

Read more...

   
The Wild Man Sit, Be Quiet & Grow Up To Be A Girlie-Man

By Doug Giles
May 29, 2004

When God created Adam, he didn't breathe life into this divine concoction of spit and mud in order to develop a race of weak, lazy, irresponsible and chubby quiche-eaters. God made Adam to be a provider, protector, hunter and hero of Jehovah’s created order.

Adam was not carved out of a dirt clod … to be a clod.

Please also note that when Adam was created, God didn’t throw up a Double Tree Inn next to the spot where he was fashioned. There were no 7-Elevens. No Blockbusters. No A/C. Neither Sushi bars nor SuperCuts. And this one’s really going to hurt … no McDonalds. Adam was placed, purposefully, in the wild. The wild brought out something in this leader that your favorite shopping mall simply couldn’t provide. God’s second in command was directly connected with the Spirit of the Wild.

Read more...

By Dennis Rowan
October 4, 2004

Boys will be boys. At least that was a common statement when I was growing up in these West Virginia hills. We did the bold Halloween pranks, hunted ground hogs and squirrels, worked in the hay fields when every bale had to be manhandled about four times to get it stored in the barn. We built tree houses, dammed up the creek to make a swimming hole, hunted bull frogs with a flash light and a quick hand, and then brought 'em home and ate 'em. We went tent camping in a pasture field with the companionship of my Border Collie dog and we explored caves on three farms within walking distance of home. We still had some time to play high school sports and really felt like we had done something when we beat a team from a school with larger enrollment.

Read more...

 

Think About It
 

Coach Dave Daubenmire TALKS & WALKS THE TALK on Katrina Disaster

Read more..

Are church services too much like a spectator sport for men, or is that just an excuse some men use?

Read more...

 

Are most pastors overworked? If so, did God put that on them?

Assuming church is too passive for many men, how can that be changed?

Men who understand authority will not usurp the authority of others? Does this hinder gifted pew sitters from becoming active in the church?

A large number of seminaries have become perverted. Entire denominations have forsaken the Bible. What does this have to do with a lack of men involved in church leadership?

Paid clergy; is this a factor that reduces the number of men who step up to assume leadership?

Some of these questions will be dealt with at a later date. Other questions will follow.

I welcome your comments.

D.R.

Contact Dennis Rowan

psalm23camp.com

Minutemenunited.org

PassTheSaltMinistries

NewsWithViews

ClashRadio

 

 

Today, they're (church buildings) largely filled with bedridden believers who pass the time in and out small group therapy, languishing over their ills and misfortunes - forever discussing their aches and pains with anyone who'll listen


- Paul Proctor

 

Longing to do something great for Christ, we have instead been given effeminate, nursery school duties. How many dishes do we have to wash? How much bread must we hand out to the needy? How many men's breakfasts do we attend before we find that passion…that fire that ignites our heart?

- Dave Daubenmire


The current, hopefully momentary, societal emasculation of the Wild Man spirit has brought about the devolution of God’s original desire: an earth ruled by man and by woman that is righteous, beautiful and secure. And guess what, America?

We can expect hell on earth as long as the original Wild Man spirit is absent from our culture, from our churches and from our families.

- Doug Giles

 

Now days I guess you could say that some boys will be boys and others will be girls if the conditions so often thrust upon them in our current culture win out over the natural God given traits of males.

Here's my point; the "sit down and be quiet" mode amidst a large group doesn't go over any bigger with men in church pews than it does with young boys in the school classroom. I speak from experience when I say that Christianity has to be more than sitting with a large number of people listening to one man talk, and then coming back again next week to hear the same man talk again.


- Dennis Rowan