Christian Vitality - Free Chapter
Good morning brothers in Christ, today I wanted to share with you a free chapter of my newest book, Christian Vitality, which launched earlier this month and is available worldwide on Amazon.
Enjoy!
Introduction
One of the biggest problems of modern Christianity is that you go to church and other congregations and you don’t see many admirable men. You tend to see passive, soft, often spineless men. Maybe they’re men of good hearts, but they’re usually weak and powerless. Is it any wonder other men observe from the outside and want nothing to do with it? Young men are full of fire, they are full of life! It’s a great shame that every time they give Christianity a chance, every time they try to come closer to it, they encounter male role models that have no fire, and too often, no life. They go to church only to find, more often than not, soft-spoken priests preaching twisted messages of a hippie kind of “peace and love” Christianity, and soft, pudgy, middle aged men who clearly live under the leadership of their wives.
Even if they are lucky enough to find a good priest who can preach with authority the truths of The Gospel, they look around at the congregation and find no admirable men. They encounter men who have too often used their faith as an excuse not to strive for more spiritually, mentally and physically. Before these young men can even meet God, they are already walking the other way, because they see followers who don’t measure up to what they want to be—and they conclude that it is Christianity itself that is flawed. Young men are desperate for masculine mentors. They are in dire need of following older men who can guide them through the trials and tribulations of this world. God is, of course, the ultimate ideal, but it’s us, the men here on earth who share His message of faith who have to help these men take the first step and open their hearts to the truth. So these young men see the overarching weakness of most Christian men, and they naturally conclude that’s where the Christian doctrine leads a man. Is it their fault, or is it ours for failing to show that Christianity is a religion not only fit for the feminine but also masculine to its very core?
How different it would be if young men went to church and felt inspired. How different it would be if we gave as much weight to the Christian qualities of strength and bravery as we do to the messages of love and acceptance. I don’t know who’s at fault for this, and my intent is not to point fingers and assign blame, but rather to understand why so many men choose to follow false idols and false doctrines instead of following The One Truth that is Jesus. I am of the opinion that this is mostly because these men have fire in their spirits, and while the true Christian message should fuel that fire, the message they encounter in this modern, washed down version of Christianity speaks out against that fire. So they look for something else, and find other religions or ideologies that appeal to them because they allow them, and even push them to be manly men, however ill-conceived that manliness might be in some versions. They can easily turn a blind eye to the obvious falsehoods of Nordic, Greek, and other pagan religions or to the obvious flaws of modern ideologies because at the very least the gods in these religions, these idols, are constructed in a way that allows their followers to be men, and to strive to be great. What’s sad about all of this is that Jesus Christ is the most masculine man ever to have lived. He is the ultimate ideal, the perfect balance of strength, power, courage, love and forgiveness. However, somehow the modern view of Christianity has focused exclusively on the “love and forgiveness” part, ostracizing men in the process and drawing into its congregations almost exclusively women and men of a more feminine nature. How do we expect to win the spiritual war if there are no soldiers among our ranks? And how do we expect to draw more fighting men into this side of the war if all we offer them is mediocrity, shame, and the destruction of their masculine spirit? What we need is to become beacons of hope and inspiration for those men who are lost, so when their heart knows not which path to follow, and they are desperately looking for a message of strength and courage to hold on to, they find Christ through us, instead of the false prophets of the world. Nevertheless, for that to happen the church needs to be home to many admirable and successful men. And surely there are some now, but they are the exception, not the rule. And until we make sure that those looking from the outside instantly correlate Christianity with vitality and strength instead of unrestricted tolerance and weakness, we won’t win over the hearts of men. Christ came to bring us life, and do so abundantly. All we have to do is believe that and live accordingly, live with courage, and show a different kind of vitality, one that others can be inspired by, and one that elicits such respect that it will be only natural for them to listen to the message of Our Savior. It is up to us to become those admirable men and to draw the young, lost, hungry men into the light of Jesus Christ.
I hope this book is what you need to reclaim that fire within you, and reconcile your drive and desire for achievement with the tenets of Christianity, so we can begin to bring about a new era of Christianity, one that is actually ready to fight, conquer, and rise in the name of The Lord. It is my intention to delve into the myths that try to make Christianity to be something it is not, and to show that it’s not only possible and desirable, but also morally right for Christian men to strive to be better and reach new heights physically, spiritually, mentally, financially, and socially. I want to help young men who feel conflicted because they think their innate drive will lead them away from Christ, and instead show that this burning desire for personal growth is in fact perfectly compatible with Christianity, and not something to be rejected.
If that introduction resonates with you, and if you are one of the many Christian men that want to reconcile their faith with the burning desire for greatness they have in their souls, this book is what you’re looking for. You can read more about the book and hear from all the readers in the button below.
God bless you and see you soon,
Simple Man