In this twenty-seventh episode, Pastor Luke finishes his mini-series of four shows dedicated to what he learned from attending the retirement ceremony of his dear friend Captain Brad Geary.

This episode is all about legacy, and how we as Christian men should be thinking about how we can leave one, not just for our children, but also our children’s children, and their children’s children.

Your legacy, whether good or bad, will leave a permanent imprint on future generations. If you plant a tree using good seed, it will produce good fruit. If you plant a tree using bad seed, it will produce bad fruit.

Likewise, if you weave faithful thread into the lives of your progeny, they will produce faithful posterity. If you weave faithless thread into the lives of your descendants, they will produce faithless offspring. Weak leaders leave future generations a legacy of blight. Strong leaders leave future generations a legacy of blessing.

Leave a legacy. Yesterday was easy!

In this twenty-sixth episode, Pastor Luke continues his mini-series of four shows dedicated to what he learned from attending the retirement ceremony of his dear friend Captain Brad Geary.

Going back to my experience on The Grinder, there is a blue wooden sign with yellow letters hanging on the wall right next to the bathrooms that reads, you guessed it, “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.” It is hard to miss and serves as a steady reminder to the candidates to keep working. I have also heard numerous SEALs use a shortened version, “No Easy Day,” which is what I named this episode.

Compared to today, yesterday was easy. And even if you failed to crush yesterday, resolve to crush today. Today is a new day. A new fight. A new dragon to slay. A new impurity to burn away.

No easy day. Yesterday was easy!

In this twenty-fifth episode, Pastor Luke continues his mini-series of four shows dedicated to what he learned from attending the retirement ceremony of his dear friend Captain Brad Geary.

On The Grinder at the BUD/S training center, there is a large brass bell hanging under a sign that reads, “Drop Area,” with a two-foot section of rope attached to it. When a candidate can no longer endure the rigors of this program, they are required to ring the bell three times. This signifies that they are quitting, and voluntarily removing themselves from the SEAL pipeline.

When a SEAL candidate rings the bell, he leaves his helmet with his class number on it next to the bell. These helmets remain there lined up throughout the different phases as a constant reminder of the men that quit. Likewise, may the memory of those we have all known, who quit Christ, serve as a warning to bury that bell, far out of the reach of our hearts and minds

For Christian men, fainting in the day of adversity is equivalent to ringing the bell. Demonstrating that your strength is indeed not small, but great, means eliminating thoughts of quitting altogether from your mind.

Don't ring the bell. Yesterday was easy!

In this twenty-fourth episode, Pastor Luke starts a mini-series of four shows dedicated to what he learned from attending the retirement ceremony of his dear friend Captain Brad Geary.

The Grinder is the concrete pad where Navy SEAL candidates are ground up and spit out physically, mentally, and emotionally in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Only the strong will survive. Only those willing to “grind” will be counted worthy to become a SEAL. What lessons can we, as Christian men, learn from the Grinder?

As Christians, God blesses the man who remains steadfast under the trial of sanctification. The man who stands the test of time, demonstrates his justification to be legitimate, proving himself worthy to be called a Christian. After he has completed his lifelong process of sanctification, he will then receive his crown of life.

Respect the Grinder. Yesterday was easy!

In this twenty-third episode, Pastor Luke wraps up his discussion of Voddie Baucham’s Four P’s of Family Shepherding, covering the Protector.

A protector is a man who shields and defends the people God has placed under his care. He puts himself between his people and those who will harm them, whether it be physical, spiritual, or even from the culture and the technology it brings into your home. A protector is wise, not a fool. He is not someone who looks for nor invites trouble, but is also not someone who runs from it.

The role of protector is one of position: you place yourself between the world and your loved ones. You act as a

door, letting them out into the world as ambassadors for Christ to impact the culture for his glory, while at the same time, keeping the culture out, who would love nothing more than to devour your family. You are responsible to God for your loved ones. Guard them with your life.

Be a protector. Yesterday was easy!

In this 22nd episode, Pastor Luke continues his discussion of Voddie Baucham’s Four P’s of Family Shepherding. This time, he covers the Provider.

A provider is a man who humbly stands before God and makes sure his people have what they need. He must be a good steward of the gifts God has given him, and those living in a

man’s household certainly fall into this category. Your wife and children are your most richest blessings and absolutely should be thought of in that way.

A provider does not walk in idleness, but toils and labors

both day and night in order to provide for his family. A provider is not a busybody, but is busy at work, doing his work quietly, earning his own living. He has a good biblical work ethic. He is not a mooch. He does not

meddle in quarrels not his own, but minds his own business.

Be a provider. Yesterday was easy!

In this twenty first episode, Pastor Luke continues his discusses of Voddie Baucham’s Four P’s of Family Shepherding. This time he covers the Prophet.

A prophet is a man who represents God before his people through proclamation of his word. A family shepherd is God’s representative to his household, and there is no neutral shepherding. You are either actively leading your family

towards God through his Word, or actively leading them away from God, either directly toward some other false god, or allowing them to wander aimlessly through pure negligence.

Brothers, if we are to speak for God to our families, we have to first know what God’s Word says. But we mustn’t stop there. We must also love and cherish it to the point it is continually on the tips of or tongues. We must then proclaim this truth to our households, and so with gentleness and respect, not lording it over those whom we love and are called to shepherd.

Be a prophet. Yesterday was easy!

In this twentieth episode, Pastor Luke discusses the first role of Voddie Baucham’s Four P’s of Family Shepherding, the Priest.

A priest is a man who represents his people before God through prayer and worship. Therefore, a faithful family shepherd blesses his wife and children and continually intercedes for them. He rises early in the morning and prays for them. During the day he leads them in family worship and prays with them. Before he closes his eyes for sleep, he prays for them again.

If we are to be honorable priests in our homes, then we must sacrificially lay our lives down for our families, and faithfully lead them in prayer and family worship.

Be a priest. Yesterday was easy!

In this nineteenth episode, Pastor Luke pick up where he left off in the last episode to look at the biblical definition and purpose of the household.

Household, or family government, is God’s second ordained sphere of government, extending larger than the

individual sphere. This is even modeled in God’s created order for his people. You have Christ (the Groom) and the Church (his Bride), and then we, of course, as Christians, are his children and receive his inheritance. This is the whole story of history. HIS story! The Groom is pursuing his Bride until the great wedding day. At that moment, the Bride will become glorified and receive her inheritance, and together they will rule the cosmos, or the created order. When we love our wives like Christ loved the Church, and our wives respect us like the church respects Christ, we illustrate for our children, and for the world, a picture of the end of history.

How you manage your household will have a cosmic affect. Know and understand that. You are never out of this fight whether you like it or not. Be broken over this reality or get broke.

Go to war for the cosmos. Yesterday was easy!

In this eighteenth episode, Pastor Luke discusses traditional fatherhood from a Biblical perspective, which C.R. Wiley defines as, “wisdom handed down to us in a set of customs, a way of doing things…and has been summarized in a set of categories: purpose, provision, and protection.” Fatherhood

is to be considered something created by God himself, not a social construct invented by men.

Being a traditional father is not a title given, but one that is earned, and the way you earn it is by owning it. Like your favorite pair of work jeans or worn-out flannel, you wear it. The rips and tears, the oil stains, the worndown knees and elbows, are the battle scars showing you have the right to wear the t-shirt with bold but simple lettering that reads “Trad Dad.”

Be a Trad Dad. Yesterday was easy!