My Declaration of Allegiance

Today I am stepping across the line. I’m tired of waffling, and I’m finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable.

I’m going God’s way. There is no turning back. I will live the rest of my life serving God’s purposes with God’s people on God’s planet for God’s glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home waiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me”, character over comfort, service over status and people over possessions, position and pleasure. I know what matters most and I will give it all

I’ve got. I will do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today. I won’t be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I’ll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won’t back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I’ll just keep moving forward by God’s grace. I’m spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused, so I can’t be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I’m a trophy of God’s amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day and generous with everything that God entrusts to me. I am a radical in the original sense of the word: rooted in Christ, rooted in love, and rooted in his Word.

I hereby declare my supreme allegiance to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I say however, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer is yes! I’m ready. Anytime. Anyway. Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I’ll hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful one. Come on in and let the eternal party begin!

Adopted from purpose driven devotional by Rick Warren

Masculine Success

Life was a little simpler for men a few years ago. At home, he was a family patriarch and a breadwinner. His word around the home was law.

However, in the modern society, men face a world in which macho is no longer enough. The new and improved model of male is expected to share in breadwinning and child-rearing and be both tender and tough. Where once independence and aloofness were desirable, now openness, sensitivity and intimacy are prized. With the changing times, most men, especially the fathers are confused. This confusion has resulted in two types of men, the emasculated male and the macho male.

Emasculated males are weak, indecisive men, lacking confidence and drive. They are lovely people and are not interested in harming the earth or starting wars or working for co operations. Many are not happy; there is not much energy in them. They are life preserving but not exactly life giving. The women in their lives keep on complaining of being the only ones in the relationship with direction and purpose.

These are men whose fathers failed to define maleness and model its appropriate expression. They are men who are incapable of breathing life and energy into those around them. Men who lack the mysterious ingredient that would free them to fully engage in the challenges of marriage building, child rearing and career advancement.

However, this doesn’t mean that men need not express their feelings. In many cases the sensitive man who reacts deeply to stimuli and exhibits emotional sensitivity is perfectly normal. However, there's something wrong with a society that shames males who do not act in a tough, aggressive, and emotionally repressed manner--especially when such a significant portion of the population simply isn't cut out for or comfortable with these behaviours. When sensitive males do not conform to stereotypical male behaviour and instead express compassion, gentleness, and vulnerability, they may be shamed, or when they express normal levels of fear, anxiety, and sadness others may treat them as abnormal. The behaviours that are associated with females (actions that demonstrate empathy, sensitivity, compassion, and so on) are also natural male traits--they are simply not recognized as such in many societies.

The macho men are every bit as confused as their softer counterparts, but they choose the opposite response. These frightened and insecure men try to convince the world that they’re flesh and blood examples of raw manhood. Terrified little boys in grown-up bodies, they seek to erase all doubt about their maleness. So they dress and drive, walk and talk, curse and chew, fight and fornicate – like “real men”.

These contemporary conquistadores flaunt their achievement, power, property, muscles and sexual prowess while doing their level best to conceal every trace of self doubt, fear or vulnerability. Their goal is to wipe out any vestige of suspicion regarding their identity as “real men”. Some men do bold, rash, even frightening things to flaunt their masculinity. Some take dangerous financial risks and get involved in investment schemes to prove their manhood. Others dominate and intimidate employees, co-workers, wives and children to prove that they are strong and in control.

The solution to true male identity is found in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. Men are exhorted to do everything in Love. As a man, don’t try to prove yourself by being macho. In all your relationships, learn to mix strength with sensitivity, toughness with tenderness, leadership with submission.

Genuine masculinity requires that individual men be man enough to admit their need for a vital relationship the true God. Males need to be contrite enough to admit their need for God (macho men), yet courageous enough to step out in faith (emasculated men). Admitting personal sin and seeking a saviour is a big step that goes against the grain of contemporary thought.

Secure, free authentic men leave a mark – on their colleagues, friends, wives and especially their children. Authentic masculinity is intensity, drive, determination and desire. Its tears, laughter, love and spirituality; it’s balance and completeness.

And that my friends is what it means to be successful as a man!

Towards Success and Happiness

One of the reasons why people never live happy and successful lives is that they have failed to define what success is. The first step to success is to know your purpose in life. You don’t become successful if you don’t know your purpose in life. In order to know when you have reached your destination, you need to understand what that destination is. Success for somebody set to go to Nairobi, Kenya is taking the right flight or road towards there and successfully reaching the place. Thus you haven’t succeeded if you haven’t defined what you want to achieve and have successfully used your resources to achieve this goal.

This requires one to take responsibility for all the events in their lives. There is a great relationship between the amount of responsibility you take for the events in your life and the amount of control you feel you have about the events in your life. This will in effect affect the level of happiness and satisfaction in your life. It will motivate you to commit all your energies to achieving that which you have set your heart to achieve.

Having taken responsibility of your life, you need to create a vision of what you want to achieve. In setting a vision for your life, it is important to understand that you vision and mission must be written in such a way that it shows how your life will benefit other people. It is very important to understand that man’s success is a journey, not a destination. You can feel successful all the way along the journey not just after the destination. Success is living your life for others. Consider the fact that no tree “eats” its own fruits. It produces fruits for the benefit of others. It therefore follows that your God given gift is for the benefit of other people around you.

Can it be said of you, “after he/she had served his/her purposes in his/her generation, he/she rested”?