The 318 Project

What is that one thing that you pray for when going through a trial or dealing with a situation or person that just seems to test your limits?

PATIENCE!

It seems like everyone is in a hurry everywhere you look.

If you are like me, you want to have an answer or solution to any problem that may arise. And if you don’t, you want to find it as quickly as possible. How many times have you gone to YouTube to find a video to fix a problem with an appliance, vehicle or electronic device? Maybe you went to Google to search a question of how or why this problem is happening?

We are in a day and time now that everything is at a speed that we expect what we want to come in quick and timely manner. We are living in a fast food, microwave, and amazon time that if we don’t get it our way in 5 minutes, 30 minutes or next day delivery, we get frustrated that it isn’t here fast enough.

You may be going through a trial and you have prayed and it feels like God hasn’t answered your prayer. Maybe His answer was “Not at this Time, WAIT.”

Most of us, including myself  hate to hear that word, “WAIT”

Look at some of the saints in the Bible, like Abraham and Sarah; Joseph, Moses, David and Noah that had to wait years to see the fulfillment of God's promise given to them.

What does “be still” mean?

It means to stand respectfully motionless, halt, quiet, calm, tranquil, devoid of motion.

Waiting means to await, hope, be patient, look forward to and tarry.

God wants that for us in that when we wait in faith we are expressing our confidence in Him, even in those times of trial and uncertainty. Especially if we have a feeling of urgency.

Many times we want to rush and find a solution, which isn’t always a bad thing, but there are times that God wants us to stop and rest and put our faith and dependence on Him and know that He will provide and make a way, when all else seems hopeless.

God is wanting us to “Be Still” and listen to Him. Just as He told Elijah on the mountain. God wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake or fire, but in a still small voice. So many times we get caught up in our daily lives and activities that we don’t take the time to listen to what God has for us each and every day. Whether it is first thing in the morning or at night before you go to bed you need to take that time to stop and listen to what God is saying to You. We get caught up with things that become like static noise and can be so overpowering that we can’t focus or hear what God is wanting to show us. 

So take that time as you thank Him each day for what He has done or is doing in your life, even if is seems like you are going through that valley or wilderness and feels like there is no hope or help in sight; but that in those times God is taking you to a place to stop and rest and put you complete faith and trust in Him.

Scripture references:
Psalms 46:10
Psalms 40:1-3
Psalms 37:7,9,34
Psalms 27;14
Exodus 14:13
Isaiah 8:17
Isaiah 30:18
Isaiah 40:31
Matthew 11:28
James 1:2-4
James 5:7-8

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When we hear the word Crisis it is usually in the form of economic, environmental, the oil crisis, the crisis in the Middle East, a marital crisis or the ever popular Mid-Life Crisis.

Most times when we hear these words it has a negative connotation, but did you know that there are times when a crisis is a good thing in your life?

Wikipedia defines crisis as  "any  event or period that will lead or may lead to an unstable or dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crisis are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially with little or no warning".

Webster's Dictionary defines crisis :
1) A turning point for better or worse in an acute disease
2) A paroxysmal attack of pain, distress or disordered function
3) The decisive moment ( plot of a story)
4) An unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a situation that has reached a critical phase

So what does God want you and me to do when we face those moments in our lives.

1. Crisis is Normal to Life
2. Follow God's Pattern of Forgiveness - John 20:23. Luke 23:34
3. Admit that God is Your Source- Hebrews 13:6,  Psalms 30:6, Psalms 54:4
4. Don't Panic-  Psalms 91;5,10-11
5. Admit God's Sovereignty-  Genesis 50:19-20
6. Don't Limit God- Matthew 13:58
7. Humble Yourself to God- 1 Peter 5:6; Philippians 2:8-11
8. Trust God to Vindicate You- Romans 12:19
9. Communicate- Matthew 5:37; 2 Corinthians 1:20
10. Act On Principle- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Resources:
Winners Never Quit by Dr. Edwin Louis Cole
https://cmn.men/collections/books/products/never-quit

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Jeff Zaugg is the founder and host of the Dad Awesome podcast. Jeff started the podcast three and a half years ago after seeing friends go through great pains with their family and kids from broken marriages. 

Jeff is married to his wife, Michelle, for over 15 years and they have 4 daughters ranging in age from 8 years old to 3 months old.

It was through seeing this pain that sparked a passion to help those hurt by a fatherless issue. He shares that pain is part of our story, but isn't something that we should pass on to our children.

As a result, he wanted to help find ways that we as men can stay intentional in this area of fatherhood.  As a dad, we need to be fully present and taking the time to compound interest in the dad life, much like investing with stocks.

Jeff shares the framework of unpacking the meaning of the tagline -"Adding life to the dad life".
L- Loved (I am Loved - our identity as sons of God)
I- Intentional ( Taking the effort to spend time and interact with our children)
F- Freedom ( Not passing on the hurts and pains) Hebrews 12:1-2
E- Enjoyment of Life ( Feeling follows focus to pass on life, love, callings, identity, affirmation and destiny instead of hurts and pains.)

The Father for the Fatherless is a bike rally that started as a small group to challenge men to do something difficult and allow God to speak to them through it. The secret mission of F4F is to awaken a generation of dads to the fact that we are living as if we are the fatherless and that many are living as if fatherless. The goal it to help encourage  men to make that deposit into others and encourage change in a positive trajectory, while raising money to help local and global organizations such as the Venture Orphanage in SE Asia.

Resources:
https://dadawesome.org/
https://dadawesome.org/groups/
https://f4f.bike/

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Jay Parker shares his testimony from growing up in a rough environment in Yonkers, New York, where he was raised by a abusive and drug addicted father after his alcoholic mother left when he was 8 yrs. old. 

After giving his life to Christ at the age of 8 in a store front ran by a dear lady, Mother Gaskins, Jay was introduced to alcohol by a brother-in-law around the same time. Then began smoking marijuana by age 12, hooked on crack and cocaine by 15 and in and out of jail by age 16.

Jay met his wife, Valeska, in 1992 and married in 1997. By 2000, they were facing divorce because he had gone back to drinking, drunks and partying. 

After calling Valeska on Mother's Day in 2000, she told him that she was going to church. He decided to go also, because he thought there was another man in her life and he was going to beat him up. During the service, a former drug buddy got up to speak and God changed Jay's life forever.

Jay tells of how as a teenager he had a tattoo on his arm that had a vulger saying with the initials "DGF", but after getting saved God showed him the new meaning it has in his life of "Displaying God's Forgiveness".

Jay then had a spiritual father figure, Bishop Clarence Lassister,  that poured into his life and gave him opportunities to serve. After time, Jay was a part of 13 different ministries at the  Gospel Tabernacle Outreach Ministry in Rhode Island. One of those ministries was going into a Maximum Security Prison and ministering to the inmates.

In 2018, after Bishop Lassiter passed away, Jay felt that God was moving him from Rhode Island and ended up in Jacksonville, Florida and finding the Springs Church. 

Jay is now part of the men's ministry team and also speaks each week at the Duval County Juvenile Detention Center to around 60-120 young men.

During the recent pandemic, Jay started a weekly Facebook Live video that is now called the "Porch Chat" that he and Valeska teach and speak what God has shown them, as well as, guest ministers and other guest that share their testimony.

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Dr. Joaquin Molina is the senior pastor of Spring of Life  Fellowship Church in Miami, Florida.  Dr. Molina has been married to his wife, Yvette, for 27 years and has 3 boys, Nick, Josh and Brandon, and 1 daughter, Christina.  Dr. Molina is also a lawyer and author.

In this episode, we discuss about his book, What Is A Man.
Dr. Molina shares how as a young man at the age of 15 he was trying to understand what it meant to be a man and wasn't shown an example from his father. Later his older brother took him to a brothel and that was how to become a man.

Dr. Molina was saved at the age of 16 and searched in the Word of God what is meant to be a man and to find the roadmap to finding that direction to true manhood. It was a 38 year pursuit that led him to write the book to help mentor and disciple men in that same pursuit of identity in Godly Manhood.

Dr. Molina travels around the world teaching the steps of servanthood and submission in obedience to grow in manhood. Through this maturity in manhood, men can learn to identify that they must be fathered  to become a man, that then leads to marriage and their own family.
Quotes:
If you don't know where you are going, you end up at NOWHERE.

The call to champion life is the call to champion Manhood.

Scripture References:
Psalms 127:3-4
Ephesians 3:1-6
Luke 15
James 3:16
Ecclesiastes 10:16
Malachi 4:6
Romans 1
1 Peter 3:5-7
Genesis 45:8
1 Timothy 1:12

Resources:
website: https://whatisaman.com/
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Whatisaman
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/whatisamanbook

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In this episode, I have the privilege of talking with Chris Newton. He is a firefighter/Engineer for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

Chris shares his testimony of growing up and not really experiencing church till around the age of 10. 

He tells how the message was of Heaven or Hell and felt more of a pressure to not choose Hell.  Even with this decision, he still lived a reckless life for the next 28 years.

Finally in September of 2015, Chris hit a low point in his life going through a second divorce.
It was during this time that he found an old Bible someone had given him and fell down on his knees in a spare bedroom and sincerely gave his heart to God.

Chris has a wonderful wife, Arline, of 2 years, and has 2 sons from his previous marriage and 2 step-daughters.

Chris has been in the fire service for almost 25 years and shared how a ride along at fire station inspired him to pursue a career in the Fire Service.

He shares about the moment in November of 2015 how he has a "Road To Damascus moment" with God will on a hunting trip with his dad.

He tells about those that have been a mentors and influence in his Christian walk and how his desire is to see the needs of those on the job as well as in the community and be there to help.

Verses Reference:
2 Corinthians 5:17
John 15:5
John 10:10

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Do you feel like what you are doing for God is not having an impact or recognition? 

Maybe, You got to that point where you felt completely empty and dried up. 

Well, you aren't alone. 

I will share how an image from an old movie about the desert revealed to me how God uses men and women throughout the Bible as a vessel for Him. 

In John Ch 4: 7-15, Jesus spoke about the living water that He had to the Samaritan woman, and it is that same water that flows in those that are saved. 

Jesus said we would have rivers of living water flowing from our belly (John 7:37-39). 

This is a representation of the Holy Spirit that is poured out in us and flows through us. 

Jesus said that we as Christians would do greater things than He. Not because of our abilities and power, but from the Holy Spirit working through us. 

We are the vessel. When the Holy Spirit moves through us to speak into someone or over them (prophecy) or a message of tongues and interpretation, We are simply being a willing vessel. Jesus told those that followed Him to go to the upper room .  (Acts 1:8) 

What God showed me was a water canteen? Just as a canteen carries water to refresh and bring life to a thirsty soul, so are we a vessel that brings living water (the Word) to a lost and thirsty world. 

 II Corinthians 4:7‭-‬10 
 II Timothy 2:20‭-‬21 

It is the water that brings life and gets the honor, not the vessel. The same goes with us. It is Jesus who gets the glory and honor by the Holy Spirit working through us as the willing vessel. 

Like in those movies, like the westerns or others where they are stranded on the desert with only that one canteen. It is great for them while there is water in it, but Once the vessel runs dry it is worthless till they find an oasis or water supply to refill it.

The same applies with us. While we have the Spirit living in us to help uplift others, we too need a refilling of the Holy Spirit to continue on and refill our vessel so that we don't run dry and become worthless. 

Jesus talked about that in the parable of the old wineskin in Luke 5:36‭-‬39. This same parable is mentioned in Matthew 9:17 and in Mark 2:22

In Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus even called out the Pharisees  about their outer appearance 

But again it is the Holy Spirit flowing in and through us that the world needs to see. 

 Even in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was placed on men and women at special times to prophesy and speak judgement from God. 

In Ezekiel, God shows the prophet of an example of how the Holy Spirit can bring life to dead souls when in Ch 37 God commands him to speak to the valley of dried bones. 

Then we see when Jesus is with the disciples at the Last Supper and he begins to wash their feet. In John 13:5-9, Peter tells Jesus not only to wash his feet by his hands and head.

Finally the Holy Spirit gives us an unlimited supply source that never runs dry. However, at times we may become tired, discouraged, run down or overwhelmed, but that is when we need to go back to that water source to refill. 

The same thing with those movies when the character finally finds a well or oasis. They drink as much as they can to get refreshed and regain their strength and then they also refill that canteen for the journey. 

That is with us as we are refilled, it allows us to continue the path that God has for us to share His Gospel to others for encouragement also. 

Luke 6:38 NKJV

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In this episode, I talk with Clifford Hare, my dad and President of Faithful Men Ministries; and David Hare, my brother.

We talk about the importance of a father's blessing of affirmation in a child's life. The meaning of affirmation and where we first hear of the father's affirmation, or blessing, in the Bible.

Cliff shares about how he grew up in a non-christian home and had caring parents, but never had that affirmation of you are a good son.

Many people grow up with an image of the only way we get affirmation, or love, is out of fear unless we accomplish goals in life. Other times we may have a fear that we never measure up to receive that love and affection.

As men, we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable in front of our children and those we mentor. This isn't to show weakness, but that we  have difficult time and how we work through them.

The origin of the father's blessing goes back to the book of Numbers 6:23-27 when God speaks to Moses and shares with him the Aaronic Blessing. Later we see when Jesus is being baptized by John that as He comes up from the water that God speaks and tells Him, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I AM well pleased." This comes before Jesus has done the first miracle, sermon or teaching; yet God was affirming him as his son.

Our identity in society come from the father.  This comes with us going back to learn to hear the voice of the Lord.

The way to truly know of that love is not just by having a conversation with God, but having those intimate times with Him; whether in prayer, praise, both or simply just resting in His presence.

Even for Jesus after was affirmed by God, he went into the wilderness that brought a  time of testing a walking by faith that we see that Jesus had confidence in His heavenly Father.

Clifford Hare has been married to Patricia Hare for 48 years. They have 2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law, 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. Cliff took over Faithful Men Ministries for Jack King in 2016. He serves as an elder and pastor at the Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida.

David has works for the Florida State Corrections 6 years and has also is an ordained minister for almost 10 years.

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What is the first thing you do when you get home with your new phone, car or any electronic device?
Do you stop to read the instructions from the owner's manual, or just start messing with it to figure out all the options that it has on your own?

I remember as a kid, that as soon as I got home with a new video game that I would plug it into the game console and start playing it without reading the book to know the purpose for each level and what some of the options available to help defeat the game. Even when I got Legos, I would open the box and dump all the pieces out and start building what I saw on the box. But, about half way through it looked nothing like what was on the box cover. 

That was when I went and got the instruction book or owner's manual out of the box to see what I need to defeat the game or the step-by-step instructions to build the Lego ship.

Even as we get older, we buy a new cellphone or car and immediately start trying to look at what all we can go with it to make us feel comfortable.

Later on when we have an issue arise or help on how to fix it, where do we go?
THE OWNERS MANUAL!

It is the same thing with our lives and our spiritual walk with Christ. We give our hearts to Him and ask for forgiveness of our sins and start growing. But, over time we get into a routine and then all of a sudden we face a crisis or an issue arises that we don't know how to handle or fix.

Much like when we see a indicator light come on the dash of the car, we can go to the owner's manual to see what the problem may be and what we need to do to fix it.

That  owner's manual is the BIBLE!

God's word has so much for us to help guide and lead us in our daily walk. Yes, many of us may read the word in a daily devotion plan. You and I may take the time to pray everyday; even listen to praise and worship music while doing activities. But do we know all the options that are available to us from GOD?

Even for many seasoned Christians that have been saved and serving God for many years will tell you that God is still revealing new things to them when they read His Word. That is the beauty of the Bible is that it is God's breath and is alive for us and in us. 

As we read and grow from reading the Bible, God reveals all the options and daily instructions that are available to use that will help us each and every day as we face life. 

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In this episode, I talk with Tony Rorie, founder and President of the Men and Ladies of Honor. 
Tony talks about the program and how he saw a need in the public school system to help mentor and train young people to understand that they are CHAMPIONS.

Tony is married to his wife Melissa and they have 4 children and one grandson. They live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Tony was involved with youth ministry at the church they were attending over 30 years ago when the youth leader transitioned to the family life pastor and the senior pastor asked him to take over. 

During that time, Tony was a public school principle for a Title One (at risk) in the Dallas area, when he began to see the need to help troubled young men in his school because many didn't have dads in the home. He began being a surrogate dad to many of the students. Then he took 4 of the worst boys in the school and began to start teaching them the basics of manhood, etiquette and chivalry.

From those four young men the group then grew to around 50 boys and at the end of the school year, the county school leaders asked him what he was  doing to see such a dramatic change in these boys grades, attendance and behavior.  He shared the program, since most school boards know that the more kids that attend brings more money to the county, and they began to implement his program in several pilot schools, which ended up having better results that what he had done.

The Men and Ladies of Honor goal is to teach young people to honor God, honor themselves, honor parents and then when honor comes it changes everything. Tony tells that the definition of ministry is seeing a need and meeting it.  The kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. This comes through with affirmation.

Dr. Cole said "When you accept another man's philosophy, you also accept his consequences." And that is what many young people settle for in today's society. 
Jack King told Tony "that the #1 job of a father is to affirm our children to greatness."

 As the young men and women go through the program, they learn and implement to honor themselves and show respect. 
Most young men are looking for affirmation through a parent(mainly their father), a teacher or coach and if you don't get it they will go somewhere that they can find it, which usually is in the gangs. They also want to be recognized for doing the right thing. 

From that original pilot program in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area the program has been used in school districts in East Texas area, Oklahoma, Michigan, South Africa, Swaziland, Honduras and Belize. 

With the program, it starts with them going through three magazines that help them learn to read the Bible, memorize verses and develop a daily reading and prayer time. Once they finish that segment, the young men earn a dagger as a symbol of honor and then advance to the next level, which is to complete six books from the Dr. Edwin Cole Majoring in Men's Curriculum and then earn a full sword for the boys and a shield for the young ladies.

At the beginning of the program, they take they young men and women, separately, to a weekend camp. On Friday night they talk about salvation and pray with those that haven't received Christ, since many that come have never been raised in a Christian environment.  Saturday during the day they teach about leadership and have time for games and adventure; and then that evening they talk about the Father's Bless and pray with those that have never received the affirmation of a father. Finally on Sunday, they talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and pray with those that want to receive it. 

Through all this, they teach these young men and women to not be a sponge and absorb their environment, but be a catalyst and change it.

Resources:
https://www.honorchangeseverything.com/

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