June 13, 2024
Identity, Grace and Authority in Christ
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Identity is under attack, and the stakes have never been higher. Ever felt like you weren’t enough or feared your past defines you? Here’s hope! Join me today on Brave Men as we confront the crucial themes shaping the lives of Christian men today. From the relentless attack on the family to the disruption of the family unit by fatherlessness to the devil's strategic distortion of our sense of self, we at war, and identity is one of our greatest weapons.
When a demon possessed man was healed by Jesus it reminds us that no one is too far gone for Jesus' love and redemption – that not one man is beyond the reach of grace. I encourage you to reflect on your own personal testimony as a powerful story for spreading hope and transformation, highlighting the transformative power of Jesus' grace for all, regardless of their past.
By understanding that we carry the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, we can find enduring hope and strength in our faith. Join us as we discuss practical insights to empower Christian men to stand firm in their purpose and lead their families and communities with unwavering faith and love.
Packed with strong, practical tools for daily living this episode will lift your spirit. Brave Men is a production of the Christian Men’s Network, a global movement of men following Jesus. Find tools for discipling men and sons at CMN.men
(00:12) Identity and Purpose for Christian Men
(07:58) The Power of Jesus' Grace
(22:41) The Power of Prayer and Authority
(34:59) The Transformative Power of Jesus
https://cmn.men
12:00 - Identity and Purpose for Christian Men
07:58:00 - The Power of Jesus' Grace
22:41:00 - The Power of Prayer and Authority
34:59:00 - The Transformative Power of Jesus
00:12 - Speaker 1
Hi, this is Paul Louis Cole. You're listening to the Brave Men podcast Fired up today. Brave Men is a voice of character and courage in an age of compromise and chaos and man I hope just opening up my news aggregator this morning, looking at the chaos. And we are here in order to build strong men, so that we have strong fathers, build strong families, strong churches. That's what Christian Men's Network is about and https://cmn.men is the website for that.
00:55
https://cmn.men this is the second part of a special two-part series on identity. New book just came out and it's on https://cmn.men. I assume it's on Amazon at some point, probably when the hardback comes out. We've got an author's edition right now. It's available for you and so that's cmnman.
01:17
Identity is finding the real you and why it matters Identity. I talked about it last week, first part. If you haven't heard that, it's okay. This is a standalone. Go back and listen to it, but you can listen to this one because this will stand on its own.
01:33
Identity is the story you tell yourself about yourself, and most of us, as men, have been telling ourselves a story that somebody else wrote the lyrics to, a story that somebody else wrote the lyrics to Ephesians. Chapter 6 says this verse 10, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Now I'll get through the rest of that in a moment. But one of the strategies of the devil is to attack your identity. It was the key thing that he went after Jesus on. He said if you are the Christ, from your identity, your definition, comes your decisions and your destiny. The attack on the family is an attack on the image of God and the reason the attack on the family is so powerful so strong is because we've lost what the identity of family actually is. Family means father's house. So the attack on the family has actually gone after men. We look at the issue and the immaturity of men in our culture today and you go oh yeah, that's a problem. 20 years ago we were talking about it fatherlessness, the leading indicator of poverty in every culture of the world. Fatherlessness, the core issue in culture today. And now, 20 years later, I was talking to a friend of mine who was at a conference yesterday and he said it was a conference on politics and government and future of a nation and so forth he said. Almost every speaker came back to the issue of fatherlessness. Fatherlessness is an issue of immaturity. Put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. And the strategy we're dealing with today is identity, because the enemy is trying to take you out. If you don't know who you are, you don't know what your vision is, you don't know what your purpose is. A man without a vision for his future will always return to his past.
03:42
Hey, I hope you got a cup of coffee. You may be working out. Maybe you're driving to work wherever it may be Glad to have you along. Brave Men really is about and we have some of the greatest guests. I mean I was listening to one recently with Ben Watson and we just on and on. We have great guests Also.
04:04
Occasionally, like this I get a moment to just have a cup of coffee with you, and I do have a cup of coffee, and this particular one is a community blend, breakfast blend. Also got a Gatorade chaser I don't know what that means, but anyway, that's what it is and fired up about what's happening with Christian Men's Network around the world. We were just back in Egypt just a few weeks ago, and then before that was Indonesia, before that Colombia, peru, mexico. Things happening around the world in a very powerful way. Men are rising up. Man, don't feel like you're all alone. Don't do that Elijah thing sitting under a tree going God, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one making stuff happen. I'm the only one standing. No, there's thousands of us. Make sure you're in community. Make sure you get with some men. You know the enemy wants to destroy your identity, because the enemy wants to destroy justice. If you're not a follower of Christ, if you don't have your identity based in Jesus, then justice means all sorts of moving targets.
05:19
Justice in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, jesus boiled it down. He said it's taking care of the widows and orphans. That's justice. Justice is righteousness in action. Justice is based on love, not law. The reason we have so many laws is because we can't mandate love, and so if men's lives were transformed, if their hearts were changed, it would change the fact you wouldn't have to have as many laws, because everybody would do the right thing. So we live in that world.
05:57
But I want to be identified. Don't you want to be identified more with what you're for than what you're against. I mean I'm against a lot of stuff. I mean, make no mistake, I'm standing for righteousness, standing against policies that tear people down, that are not people-centered, that are not love-centered. But I want people to know what I'm for. I'm for the unborn. I'm for the widows and orphans, the homeless and the poor. I'm for the fatherless. I'm for the gender confused that they would see Jesus. I'm for the sick. I'm for the hungry. I'm for righteous living. I'm for church. I'm for family. I'm for children having loving dads. I believe every child deserves a loving dad. That's basically a core identity and core value of Christian Men's Network, and the attack on the family starts with an attack on the father, because an attack on the family by the enemy is an attack on the image of God. So we rescue men in order to rescue the family.
07:12
Identity is the book that came out just recently, and chapter 5 is where I'll center on today. And chapter 5 comes out of Mark 5, a picture of Jesus restoring a man's life. Guy's messed up. He's walking back and forth through the cemetery. I'll get through it, get to it in just a moment.
07:35
But I want to say thank you to everybody who's been a part of making the international ministry happen. The missions ministry of Christian Men's Network happened. The missions ministry of Christian Men's Network. We are US-based but we're a global ministry. So when we go into Mexico, when we go into Uganda, when we're in Indonesia, it's an Indonesian ministry. When we're in Vietnam, it's Vietnamese.
07:58
And the reason is is because the Bible is for every single man. The Bible wasn't written to a Western culture, wasn't written to an Eastern culture, it was written to culture. Every single man on the face of the earth is within the reach of grace. There's not one man outside the reach of God's grace met one man outside the reach of God's grace. Jesus came for that. In fact, romans 5 says when we were far off, we were far away. How many of us know that guy? How many of us know that guy? They are far off. He sent his son for that person. Why? Because that was us. That was us. I mean, every time we look around we see this guy jacked up, this guy doing that. That was us, and that's Mark five. That's a story of us. It's a great story, man, it's, it's uh, it's one of those ones that, as I got into it and researched it and then put it in the book Identity.
09:05
It continually comes back. In fact, I'll be with some friends this week ministering and I already know I'm going to share this message from Identity, chapter 5, mark 5. Jesus cared about messed up people, and he still does so. Okay, let's get right into it. This is awesome. Remember, let me mention this Subscribe to this. Whatever you're listening to, whatever platform you're on, subscribe to it. Hit the button subscribe. The algorithm puts us in front of more people, helps us minister to more men, and then it also gives you a notification when we've got new podcasts out, which come out just about every week. Every Thursday, essentially, is when we try to get something dropped. It's a lot of hard work. Bryce Cole works on it, along with Chris Rainey and Joanne Webster and our team, and Susan Stevens, who's working on getting guests and so forth and so on. We have some of the greatest guests. They're awesome.
10:07
Mark 5, demon-possessed guy a demon guy. Okay, here we go. Mark 5, verse 1. So they arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. Now I think what I'll do, man, I think I'll read this whole thing, come back and make comments on it. Is that good with you?
10:35
This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. He's the original man that got canceled by culture. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night, he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. Man, this is a messed up, messed up thing going on.
11:07
Verse 6, chapter 5 of St Mark. When Jesus was still some distance away, in other words, he had already landed the man saw him, ran to meet him and bowed low before him With a shriek. He screamed why are you interfering with me, jesus, son of the Most High God, in the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me, for Jesus had already said to the spirit Come out of the man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded what is your name? And he replied my name is Legion. So these are demons speaking out of the man, because there are many of us inside this man.
11:43
Verse 10, then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. Now they know they're getting kicked out, but they're negotiating with Jesus. I mean, this one blows me away. These demons are negotiating with the Messiah. Hey, hey, hey. They say where are you going to send us? Verse 11,.
12:06
There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby Verse 12,. Send us into those pigs. The spirits begged Let us enter them. So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man, entered the pigs and the entire herd of 2,000 pigs. I can't remember the number. Somebody gave me a number one time. It's like 28,000 pounds of bacon. 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
12:36
The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. I think he was perfectly sane, that he was fully clothed. Jesus healed him and then the disciples put clothes on him. 16.
13:09
Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs, and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. Now, this is interesting because I think this is where most people see somebody in power and they immediately think okay, this guy's going to use this power for his own gain. And so they see Jesus casting the demons out and they go oh yeah, this guy's going to manipulate this thing into ruling us, taking our money, something. They're going. Hey, just go. As Jesus was getting into the boat. So in other words, he's getting back in a boat to go back across the lake.
13:50
In chapter four we see that he was in front of thousands of people, got in the boat and said hey, we're leaving, we're going across the lake. So the man, so, as he's getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed, begged to go with him. But Jesus said now go home to your family, tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been Verse 20,. So the man started off to visit the ten towns where the Decapolis began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed at what he told them. Dude, this is an amazing story because remember this Jesus only did what the Father showed him to do. So when we see the life of Christ, we see who God is. In other words, if you say I wonder who God is or how he acts or what he's like, look at the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus said I only do what the Father shows me to do. So, at any point in time, everything he does is on assignment. So when he goes across a lake in chapter four, he's in front of a bunch of people he's preaching. When he gets in a boat and goes across the lake, it's because the father said you need to go.
15:08
And he meets this man, this guy, think about this. This guy we don't know how long maybe months, maybe years he's been wandering this cemetery, scrounging food, jacked up. The people occasionally put chains on him. Occasionally they wrap him just to get him out of the city. So he's in the margins somewhere out there near a cemetery, messed up. He's a man with no future. He's a man with absolutely no hope. He doesn't have a family. He's in agony, he's in desperate need.
15:42
And then Jesus arrived. When Jesus shows up, everything changes. When Jesus arrived, think about this. When Jesus arrived, hope arrived. When Jesus arrived, the man's future arrived, his destiny changed. When Jesus arrived, freedom arrived. When Jesus arrived, a new family arrived. When Jesus arrived, everything changed man.
16:12
I met a man who was a terrorist in a foreign country and he told me. He looked at me and he told me this he goes man, he said, and it broke in English. He said I kill pastor, I destroy church, I hurt Christians. And he looks at me and his eyes change and his hands go up and he says then Jesus, I, I got radically saved man. Then Jesus, and now he's taking Maximize Manhood and our tools, resources for discipling men, and he's heading up a men's group. Dude, I'm telling you, man, this is the power of God in a man's life. So this is this guy and, frankly, let's look at it this way this is our story. This is our story, apart from Christ. This is our story. This is our story apart from Christ. This is our story. We're somewhere else and Jesus shows up and everything changes. We don't have any hope, we don't have any future, we don't have anything ahead of us.
17:14
Now, this is chapter five of the book Identity. Chapter five is the first time we've put this in print. I've probably been ministering this in events, church services, whatever, for 10, 15 years. We'd never put it in print until now. So it's in print. Page 57 of the book Identity.
17:35
The awesome thing about this book—now there's five great chapters but to me the really cool thing about it is 40 days of affirmations. The whole second half of the book is 40 days of affirmations. Day 15, let me just randomly open up. What is it? Page 97?. Do not be afraid. So it's read.
17:59
Think and speak. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31. Eight New Living Translation.
18:12
All right, so now here's the meditation part. How often have we felt abandoned, as if no one knows what's happening in our lives? But there's a huge promise he will never leave us alone. We all experience fear or discouragement or disappointment, but God has given you a promise for those times. Do not be afraid, I am with you.
18:34
When Joshua was told to step into the shoes of Moses, one of the greatest leaders of all time, god promised to pave the way for him. God promised not to fail him. God promised to stick with him. Joshua became one of the greatest leaders in history because he trusted God's promise. That is the same promise God makes to you right now. And then here's the affirmation that we speak out each day. This is day 15, page 97. Speak. I am not afraid because God is with me. I'm not afraid because God is with me. That's what I love about this book man, this thing, the daily walk. I love it.
19:21
Chapter five Okay, this guy, we just read the biblical account. We know chapter 4. Jesus is in front of a bunch of people. Then he goes across the lake. Here's the takeaways. These are in the book. And I'm going to stick with this, because sometimes I'll talk about a book and then I'll get off into some sidebar or talk about something, right, and somebody will go, hey, that wasn't in the book. Well then, it was free, it was applied to something, something much shared, because you know I mean, you know how it is you could talk about something. Then you tell somebody something else that happened around that, and they'll go, oh, that happened then. Oh, no, I just, it was something I thought of that came out of that. Oh, okay, time for a cup of coffee. There we go. Okay, here's the takeaways. These are awesome and they're in the book Number one.
20:20
God heard his prayer and you go? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought it said the guy was walking around the cemetery shrieking and crying and tearing his clothes. Yeah, he was praying. Now, he didn't have the right words, he didn't have the right intonation, he wasn't in the right posture, nothing was right because nothing was right, but he was crying out for help. Now check this out. This man's crying for help. He has none of the right words. And across a lake think about this. Across a lake, god, the Father, says to Jesus hey, get in the boat. The father says to Jesus hey, get in the boat. There's a guy in trouble and I heard his prayer. Oh man, isaiah 38, hezekiah is in trouble, king of Israel. And he just starts, just says he saw me. The Lord says to Isaiah go tell Hezekiah, I've heard your prayer.
21:25
Proverbs 15, 29 says God hears the prayers of the righteous. Psalm 34, 17 says God hears and delivers you. Revelation 5, verse 8 says the prayers of the righteous are in a golden bowl of incense and the prayers are the incense before the Father. In other words, not one prayer slips away, not one. So, bro, god has heard your prayer.
21:57
Young lady, if you're listening, if you're a wife, mom, woman listening right now mostly we got dudes listening If you're listening right now, I want you to know God heard your prayer. There's not one prayer that you've prayed, not one prayer over your son, not one prayer over your family, not one prayer over your business brother. There's not one prayer that you have prayed that God did not hear. And here's the other thing about that this prayer, this guy didn't have it all together, he didn't have all the right words. And so, when it comes to praying with our family or praying with our wife, you don't have to have all the right words, you don't have to say all the right things.
22:41
In fact, one of the things that I believe has helped a lot of men get set free is we've talked about it a lot and that is your wife's getting ready to go to work, or you're headed out to work. Just grab her hand. You know she's going through something, whatever that thing is, she might be dealing with somebody at her office and he's grab her hand. You see. God, help my wife. Have wisdom, favor in this situation at her office. Amen, that's all it takes, man, 15, 20 seconds. Right, god, here's your prayer number one. Number two it connects you with your wife at a different level. Go very, very close friends who every single night they have communion together. They've been doing that since she had a near-death experience because of a lung issue, put her in a desperate place. They begin doing communion and they haven't stopped. Every night they have communion together. You know what it's changed everything for them, relational, the blessing of God, depth peace, not being in fear.
23:56
Prayer, you know it's simple obedience, it's in the book. Simple obedience solves the complex issues of life. God heard his prayer. My wife Judy and I. We pray Psalm 46. We've prayed that over the years during difficult times. It says God's our refuge, god's there, he's not silent. It says, even though the earth shakes and the oceans roar and foam, be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted, I will be the overcomer in your life. Man, god hears your prayer, okay, secondly, look at this. This is awesome.
24:37
So Jesus comes away from this other crowd goes across this lake, sea of Galilee. We know that he's going into an area where there's sudden storms and a storm comes up. So he goes through a storm lands. Check this out. This is awesome. I've always loved this, because you think about if you're going to. First of all, there's a curvature of the earth so as you're going across, you don't quite see the shore on the other side. You just know you're headed in a certain direction because of the heights. There's some mountains behind that. They go across. They don't land at the city, they don't land in the marina. They don't land where the good people are. They don't land in the marina. They don't land where the good people are. They land exactly where this guy is. Here's the promise. Here's the promise. Dude, this is awesome. Here's the promise.
25:34
God has never lost track of you. God has never lost track of you. He knows right where you are, because of your good works, because you did so many good things, because you're right. No, he knows where you are, even when you're messed up, even when you're messing up, even when things aren't exactly right, he knows where you are, knows where you're situated. See, when he walked in the garden and Adam and Eve had messed up and he's looking for Adam, he goes hey, adam, where are you? He wasn't like Adam was able to hide. It wasn't like God's like. I don't know where the guy went. He was actually asking Adam to find the center of his life. Hey, adam, where are you, man? Where are you at right now? What's going on? Because you seem distant. Something's not right.
26:32
You know how we've noticed that in a spouse or a good friend or a colleague, teammate. It's like hey, dude, what's up? Because they're somewhere, but they're not there. But God knows right where you are every time and he shows up there. He's there right now. He's the God who's never lost track of you. Romans 5 says we can rejoice when we run into problems. We know they build endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. Remember, disappointment is not based on where you are, but where you're expected to be, for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. Man, just the right time. Okay, so God knows where you are. He's never lost track of you. He knows everything about you, he knows what's going on in your life. It's not like you know. I mean, we do try to hide stuff, but the real thing is he's there. He knows right where you are. Now watch this. This is really cool because I love this part when Jesus walked up.
28:05
Okay, when Jesus walked up, the first thing he did was took authority over the enemy. Remember that it's like the man comes out and Jesus comes up and takes authority. Boom over the enemy. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And you, my bro, brother, you have the same thing in your life, whether it's at your work, in your office, on the job site, in your home. You have the authority to speak life, to set the atmosphere. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. Got a couple scriptures I'm going to read over you in just a moment, but that's the key right there. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And then John 14, 12 says and the things I have done, my disciples will also do. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And we have that same authority. Same authority, same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.
29:12
Philippians 4 says I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. All right, so now here's this guy. Jesus goes across. Think about this. Jesus is in front of thousands of people, all these things going on. God hears a man's prayer, jesus lands right where he's at, takes authority over the enemy. But here's that whole, if you will, an overarching piece of this is the value of that man's life.
29:41
We so often establish value based on a man's identity, based on how good he is, based on things he's done, based on how good he is based on things he's done. I've worked with a number of well-known people and famous people music, media, whatever it may be and I've heard it sometimes said oh, you worked with that guy, yeah, we did a thing. And they'll say, wow, if that guy was a Christian man, wouldn't that really solve a lot? Well, I would pray that he becomes a follower of Christ. For him, not just his platform, but for him and his family and his children and his grandchildren, that'd be my prayer. But we often assign a value when we say, hey, yeah, if that guy you know. Well, what about the guy next door who becomes a follower of Christ? And then, you know, goes to Belize and starts a church and then starts another one and then impacts a whole group of people and then starts a soccer club, and the soccer club has dozens of young men who come to Christ.
30:58
And I'm telling you a story that I know about somebody who did that. No book written about him, nobody's going to do a movie on his life, but, dude, I'm telling you he is changing a culture from the ground up, the inside out. All right, so the value of one person's life, okay, not only did Jesus go across the lake and show the value of one man's life because it was all time of Messiah, it takes a day, two days, whatever this thing took but he killed 2,000 pigs for the guy. So not only did he do that for that one man, but he killed 2,000 pigs. Hey, a little sidebar in that culture, because the first thing I always thought of was great, I'm glad the guy got set free.
31:49
People went into pigs, and I always think about the pig guy, because I own some businesses and I always think what about those guys? What about the pig guys? What happened to their business? Let me handle that. Two things. One in that culture the Romans owned all the businesses. It was very socialized. So if there were 2,000 pigs, those guys were on the clock. They didn't own them. Now, they had been out of work for a couple days. But the fact is God didn't destroy somebody's business. In fact there was a Jewish guy, right Jesus, who kills a bunch of Roman pigs. That's kind of funny.
32:27
And then the second thing is in that particular region where he is, the Derecines, that particular region, the pigs were used for worship of pagan deities. So it's kind of like God, you know Jesus, saying, hey, you think your gods are powerful? Watch this, I'm just going to kill all their pigs, all their sacrifices. Here's the other thing that happened. The next thing, it's a headline. That's on page 71.
32:59
Jesus revealed the true intent of evil. The true intent of evil is to take you out, to disqualify you, to sideline you, to disqualify you, to sideline you, to distract you where you have no efficacy in life. And Jesus proved that by having the demons go into pigs and the next thing that happens is the pigs all get killed. The enemy immediately, without the framing of a human frame, immediately took those pigs to death. Think about that. That's what the demons did. That's the true intent. The true intent of evil is always to take you out, steal your life, and then here's the end game. On this whole thing, I've loved this ever since I discovered this, started reading a lot of things.
33:56
You know why he go to the Decapolis, the 10 cities. So the 10 cities are 10 cities at the very top and this is in the Greco-Roman area on the other side of the Golan Heights. So you've got at the very top, damascus. At the very bottom, philadelphia Ten cities, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So these are all cities. In fact, many of them are still going today, some of them just there are the ruins, but we know there were ten major cities.
34:25
This miracle, check this out. This is just awesome. This miracle happened. Check this out. This is just awesome. This miracle happened. Let's just do simple math. This miracle happened, let's say, 30 AD. Miracle happened 30 AD. And he goes to the Decapolis and this is, think about this. This is really wild, because God's a God of strategy, god's a God of wisdom, strategy, victory. So strategy, think about the strategies of God. It's always right, always. You know, two moves ahead Multidimensional chess.
34:59
Jesus heals this man, sets him free. Then the man says I want to follow you. Now, this is wild because think about this. Most often what would happen is people would say, hey, I want to follow you. You say, yeah, follow me. Isn't that what he said with the disciples? Hey, follow me, not this guy. He goes. No, no, no, don't follow me, we're going to get in the boat. I mean, think about the value of this man's life. That Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, with like three years of ministry to do, gets in a boat, goes across the lake, heals a guy, he gets back in the boat and heads back man. I've always thought, wow, what a remarkable day or day and a half or whatever it was for Jesus to take that time and leave those people for that guy.
35:58
So the man goes to the 10 cities, the Decapolis. Don't follow me, go tell everybody. So this guy, what does he have? Man, he doesn't have a seminary training. At this point he has a story. I'll tell you right now. A revelation in a man's heart will beat the't have a seminary training. At this point he has a story. I'll tell you right now, a revelation in a man's heart will beat the information in a man's head every time, if you've got the story of Jesus.
36:19
My professor, leonard Sweet, says the issue with the church today is so often we don't know the story. We know the verses but we don't know the story. We know the verses but we don't know the story and he said the problem is we have versitis, we're so into the verses we forget the overarching story. The whole Bible is the story of Jesus. So watch this. This is awesome. So this man goes to the Decapolis.
36:47
Josephus writes in about 118, josephus, jewish guy hired by the Romans to kind of do an Oliver Stone over there, over there running of this whole area, kind of clean it up a little bit, because they were pretty bad guys. I mean, remember this. Jesus was born in the middle of terrorist occupation. No matter where we are, where you are listening to this, so often we think where we're at is one of the most difficult places. But you were made for this man. You have the Spirit of God in you, you have righteousness on your side, you have the light of life in you. You have hope or maybe nobody around you does. You are the man of hope. All right, so watch this.
37:42
So Josephus writes this and he says in 70 AD. Okay, so if this happened in 30 AD, 70 AD, jerusalem's destroyed. God, this is so good man. Jerusalem is destroyed and the people of God run for their lives. So all the followers of Christ called people of the way, and everybody else too. Jerusalem is destroyed. They can't run to the west. That's the ocean. So they all head east. What's east? The Decapolis. So 40 years later, all these people run for their lives.
38:12
Josephus writes this in 100 AD. He says when the people of the way went to the Decapolis, they found Christians, people of the way. They found Christians. They found refuge. They found churches. They found safety. They found the ability to sustain life. They found places to live. Everything they needed they found in the Decapolis.
38:42
How did that happen? Because God took a loser who didn't know how to pray, who's been kicked out of culture, a man that nobody would vote in as the next youth pastor, a man filled with demons, took that guy, set him free, got his mind straight, gave him a story. The story is hey, I was messed up, now I'm not. And Jesus changed everything and launched that guy. We know Andrew and some other disciples went to the Decapolis during that 40-year period, but this guy was the one who went from place to place to place with a story sort of like Lazarus, when they said they were going to kill. When the chief priests said we're going to kill Jesus, they said we're going to kill Lazarus too, because on account of him.
39:35
Many have become followers of Jesus. This guy had a story. Lazarus had a story. I was dead. Now I'm alive. People by the hundreds came to Lazarus's house to hear that story and I believe people by the hundreds began to listen to the story of this man. They're like, wow, really Wow, what happened? What are you like now? He's like man. I'm a man of hope now, A man who has a vision for his future, a man who has a definition. I have an identity Now. I'm going to speak this over you today. I want you to listen to this. Whether you're working out in the car, whatever it may be, this is who you are. You are alive with Christ.
40:26
Ephesians 2. Romans 8, you are free from the law of sin and death. 1 Corinthians 2, you have the mind of Christ. Philippians 4, you have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. 1 John 4, the Spirit of God that lives in you is greater than the enemy in the world. Mark 16, and these are in the book. These are in the book. Mark 16, you have authority and power over the enemy in this world. Ephesians 6, in every circumstance, brother, you live by faith in God and extinguish all the flaming darts of the enemy. Philippians 4, you can do all things through Christ, who gives you strength. Ephesians 2.10, you are God's workmanship, created in Christ to do good works he has prepared for you to do. Romans 8, you are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you. 2 Timothy 1.7,. You are not a victim of fear because the Holy Spirit lives in you and gives you His power, love and wisdom. Romans 8, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. The enemy's tried to stop you. The enemy's tried to move you, distract you, keep you from your definition.
41:42
So you haven't gone after a better job. You didn't finish school. You didn't write a book or make a movie or start a family. You didn't run for city council. You didn't write a book or make a movie or start a family. You didn't run for city council. You didn't become a real estate professional. You didn't go after that new job. You didn't start a school or disciple your children or serve in church or start a business.
41:59
But I want you to know all those things were lies from the enemy and nothing today holds you back. Nothing today holds you back. That man was messed up, ended up changing the future of the world, speaking life into the people around him, and that is who you are. So all those things that have held you back, all those lies with the enemy, all those things that have told you you don't measure up, I've just read what the Word of God says about you that, my brother, that is your identity and that's who you are, because Jesus Christ is victorious and because he's victorious, the Bible says in Romans 8, you are more than a conqueror, you're an overcomer, you're victorious, you're a champion. I love you. Thank God for you. Thanks for being part of the Brave Men podcast. Remember to subscribe to it. Tell somebody about it, be part of it again next week. Remember this, never forget. Hope is alive. Hope has a name. Hope's name is Jesus.
43:13 - Speaker 2
Brave Men is a production of Christian Men's Network, a global movement of men committed to passionately following Jesus on the ground in over 100 nations worldwide. You can receive the Brave Men motivational email, find books and resources for discipleship and parenting at https://cmn.men. That's https://cmn.men. Your host has been Paul Louis Cole, president of Christian Men's Network, and if you haven't yet, please make sure you subscribe to the Brave Men podcast wherever you find podcasts or download it. Thanks for hanging with us today. We'll see you next time on Brave Men.
Hi, this is Paul Louis Cole. You're listening to the Brave Men podcast Fired up today. Brave Men is a voice of character and courage in an age of compromise and chaos and man I hope just opening up my news aggregator this morning, looking at the chaos. And we are here in order to build strong men, so that we have strong fathers, build strong families, strong churches. That's what Christian Men's Network is about and https://cmn.men is the website for that.
00:55
https://cmn.men this is the second part of a special two-part series on identity. New book just came out and it's on https://cmn.men. I assume it's on Amazon at some point, probably when the hardback comes out. We've got an author's edition right now. It's available for you and so that's cmnman.
01:17
Identity is finding the real you and why it matters Identity. I talked about it last week, first part. If you haven't heard that, it's okay. This is a standalone. Go back and listen to it, but you can listen to this one because this will stand on its own.
01:33
Identity is the story you tell yourself about yourself, and most of us, as men, have been telling ourselves a story that somebody else wrote the lyrics to, a story that somebody else wrote the lyrics to Ephesians. Chapter 6 says this verse 10, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Now I'll get through the rest of that in a moment. But one of the strategies of the devil is to attack your identity. It was the key thing that he went after Jesus on. He said if you are the Christ, from your identity, your definition, comes your decisions and your destiny. The attack on the family is an attack on the image of God and the reason the attack on the family is so powerful so strong is because we've lost what the identity of family actually is. Family means father's house. So the attack on the family has actually gone after men. We look at the issue and the immaturity of men in our culture today and you go oh yeah, that's a problem. 20 years ago we were talking about it fatherlessness, the leading indicator of poverty in every culture of the world. Fatherlessness, the core issue in culture today. And now, 20 years later, I was talking to a friend of mine who was at a conference yesterday and he said it was a conference on politics and government and future of a nation and so forth he said. Almost every speaker came back to the issue of fatherlessness. Fatherlessness is an issue of immaturity. Put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. And the strategy we're dealing with today is identity, because the enemy is trying to take you out. If you don't know who you are, you don't know what your vision is, you don't know what your purpose is. A man without a vision for his future will always return to his past.
03:42
Hey, I hope you got a cup of coffee. You may be working out. Maybe you're driving to work wherever it may be Glad to have you along. Brave Men really is about and we have some of the greatest guests. I mean I was listening to one recently with Ben Watson and we just on and on. We have great guests Also.
04:04
Occasionally, like this I get a moment to just have a cup of coffee with you, and I do have a cup of coffee, and this particular one is a community blend, breakfast blend. Also got a Gatorade chaser I don't know what that means, but anyway, that's what it is and fired up about what's happening with Christian Men's Network around the world. We were just back in Egypt just a few weeks ago, and then before that was Indonesia, before that Colombia, peru, mexico. Things happening around the world in a very powerful way. Men are rising up. Man, don't feel like you're all alone. Don't do that Elijah thing sitting under a tree going God, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one making stuff happen. I'm the only one standing. No, there's thousands of us. Make sure you're in community. Make sure you get with some men. You know the enemy wants to destroy your identity, because the enemy wants to destroy justice. If you're not a follower of Christ, if you don't have your identity based in Jesus, then justice means all sorts of moving targets.
05:19
Justice in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, jesus boiled it down. He said it's taking care of the widows and orphans. That's justice. Justice is righteousness in action. Justice is based on love, not law. The reason we have so many laws is because we can't mandate love, and so if men's lives were transformed, if their hearts were changed, it would change the fact you wouldn't have to have as many laws, because everybody would do the right thing. So we live in that world.
05:57
But I want to be identified. Don't you want to be identified more with what you're for than what you're against. I mean I'm against a lot of stuff. I mean, make no mistake, I'm standing for righteousness, standing against policies that tear people down, that are not people-centered, that are not love-centered. But I want people to know what I'm for. I'm for the unborn. I'm for the widows and orphans, the homeless and the poor. I'm for the fatherless. I'm for the gender confused that they would see Jesus. I'm for the sick. I'm for the hungry. I'm for righteous living. I'm for church. I'm for family. I'm for children having loving dads. I believe every child deserves a loving dad. That's basically a core identity and core value of Christian Men's Network, and the attack on the family starts with an attack on the father, because an attack on the family by the enemy is an attack on the image of God. So we rescue men in order to rescue the family.
07:12
Identity is the book that came out just recently, and chapter 5 is where I'll center on today. And chapter 5 comes out of Mark 5, a picture of Jesus restoring a man's life. Guy's messed up. He's walking back and forth through the cemetery. I'll get through it, get to it in just a moment.
07:35
But I want to say thank you to everybody who's been a part of making the international ministry happen. The missions ministry of Christian Men's Network happened. The missions ministry of Christian Men's Network. We are US-based but we're a global ministry. So when we go into Mexico, when we go into Uganda, when we're in Indonesia, it's an Indonesian ministry. When we're in Vietnam, it's Vietnamese.
07:58
And the reason is is because the Bible is for every single man. The Bible wasn't written to a Western culture, wasn't written to an Eastern culture, it was written to culture. Every single man on the face of the earth is within the reach of grace. There's not one man outside the reach of God's grace met one man outside the reach of God's grace. Jesus came for that. In fact, romans 5 says when we were far off, we were far away. How many of us know that guy? How many of us know that guy? They are far off. He sent his son for that person. Why? Because that was us. That was us. I mean, every time we look around we see this guy jacked up, this guy doing that. That was us, and that's Mark five. That's a story of us. It's a great story, man, it's, it's uh, it's one of those ones that, as I got into it and researched it and then put it in the book Identity.
09:05
It continually comes back. In fact, I'll be with some friends this week ministering and I already know I'm going to share this message from Identity, chapter 5, mark 5. Jesus cared about messed up people, and he still does so. Okay, let's get right into it. This is awesome. Remember, let me mention this Subscribe to this. Whatever you're listening to, whatever platform you're on, subscribe to it. Hit the button subscribe. The algorithm puts us in front of more people, helps us minister to more men, and then it also gives you a notification when we've got new podcasts out, which come out just about every week. Every Thursday, essentially, is when we try to get something dropped. It's a lot of hard work. Bryce Cole works on it, along with Chris Rainey and Joanne Webster and our team, and Susan Stevens, who's working on getting guests and so forth and so on. We have some of the greatest guests. They're awesome.
10:07
Mark 5, demon-possessed guy a demon guy. Okay, here we go. Mark 5, verse 1. So they arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. Now I think what I'll do, man, I think I'll read this whole thing, come back and make comments on it. Is that good with you?
10:35
This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. He's the original man that got canceled by culture. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night, he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. Man, this is a messed up, messed up thing going on.
11:07
Verse 6, chapter 5 of St Mark. When Jesus was still some distance away, in other words, he had already landed the man saw him, ran to meet him and bowed low before him With a shriek. He screamed why are you interfering with me, jesus, son of the Most High God, in the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me, for Jesus had already said to the spirit Come out of the man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded what is your name? And he replied my name is Legion. So these are demons speaking out of the man, because there are many of us inside this man.
11:43
Verse 10, then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. Now they know they're getting kicked out, but they're negotiating with Jesus. I mean, this one blows me away. These demons are negotiating with the Messiah. Hey, hey, hey. They say where are you going to send us? Verse 11,.
12:06
There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby Verse 12,. Send us into those pigs. The spirits begged Let us enter them. So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man, entered the pigs and the entire herd of 2,000 pigs. I can't remember the number. Somebody gave me a number one time. It's like 28,000 pounds of bacon. 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
12:36
The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. I think he was perfectly sane, that he was fully clothed. Jesus healed him and then the disciples put clothes on him. 16.
13:09
Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs, and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. Now, this is interesting because I think this is where most people see somebody in power and they immediately think okay, this guy's going to use this power for his own gain. And so they see Jesus casting the demons out and they go oh yeah, this guy's going to manipulate this thing into ruling us, taking our money, something. They're going. Hey, just go. As Jesus was getting into the boat. So in other words, he's getting back in a boat to go back across the lake.
13:50
In chapter four we see that he was in front of thousands of people, got in the boat and said hey, we're leaving, we're going across the lake. So the man, so, as he's getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed, begged to go with him. But Jesus said now go home to your family, tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been Verse 20,. So the man started off to visit the ten towns where the Decapolis began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed at what he told them. Dude, this is an amazing story because remember this Jesus only did what the Father showed him to do. So when we see the life of Christ, we see who God is. In other words, if you say I wonder who God is or how he acts or what he's like, look at the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus said I only do what the Father shows me to do. So, at any point in time, everything he does is on assignment. So when he goes across a lake in chapter four, he's in front of a bunch of people he's preaching. When he gets in a boat and goes across the lake, it's because the father said you need to go.
15:08
And he meets this man, this guy, think about this. This guy we don't know how long maybe months, maybe years he's been wandering this cemetery, scrounging food, jacked up. The people occasionally put chains on him. Occasionally they wrap him just to get him out of the city. So he's in the margins somewhere out there near a cemetery, messed up. He's a man with no future. He's a man with absolutely no hope. He doesn't have a family. He's in agony, he's in desperate need.
15:42
And then Jesus arrived. When Jesus shows up, everything changes. When Jesus arrived, think about this. When Jesus arrived, hope arrived. When Jesus arrived, the man's future arrived, his destiny changed. When Jesus arrived, freedom arrived. When Jesus arrived, a new family arrived. When Jesus arrived, everything changed man.
16:12
I met a man who was a terrorist in a foreign country and he told me. He looked at me and he told me this he goes man, he said, and it broke in English. He said I kill pastor, I destroy church, I hurt Christians. And he looks at me and his eyes change and his hands go up and he says then Jesus, I, I got radically saved man. Then Jesus, and now he's taking Maximize Manhood and our tools, resources for discipling men, and he's heading up a men's group. Dude, I'm telling you, man, this is the power of God in a man's life. So this is this guy and, frankly, let's look at it this way this is our story. This is our story, apart from Christ. This is our story. This is our story apart from Christ. This is our story. We're somewhere else and Jesus shows up and everything changes. We don't have any hope, we don't have any future, we don't have anything ahead of us.
17:14
Now, this is chapter five of the book Identity. Chapter five is the first time we've put this in print. I've probably been ministering this in events, church services, whatever, for 10, 15 years. We'd never put it in print until now. So it's in print. Page 57 of the book Identity.
17:35
The awesome thing about this book—now there's five great chapters but to me the really cool thing about it is 40 days of affirmations. The whole second half of the book is 40 days of affirmations. Day 15, let me just randomly open up. What is it? Page 97?. Do not be afraid. So it's read.
17:59
Think and speak. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31. Eight New Living Translation.
18:12
All right, so now here's the meditation part. How often have we felt abandoned, as if no one knows what's happening in our lives? But there's a huge promise he will never leave us alone. We all experience fear or discouragement or disappointment, but God has given you a promise for those times. Do not be afraid, I am with you.
18:34
When Joshua was told to step into the shoes of Moses, one of the greatest leaders of all time, god promised to pave the way for him. God promised not to fail him. God promised to stick with him. Joshua became one of the greatest leaders in history because he trusted God's promise. That is the same promise God makes to you right now. And then here's the affirmation that we speak out each day. This is day 15, page 97. Speak. I am not afraid because God is with me. I'm not afraid because God is with me. That's what I love about this book man, this thing, the daily walk. I love it.
19:21
Chapter five Okay, this guy, we just read the biblical account. We know chapter 4. Jesus is in front of a bunch of people. Then he goes across the lake. Here's the takeaways. These are in the book. And I'm going to stick with this, because sometimes I'll talk about a book and then I'll get off into some sidebar or talk about something, right, and somebody will go, hey, that wasn't in the book. Well then, it was free, it was applied to something, something much shared, because you know I mean, you know how it is you could talk about something. Then you tell somebody something else that happened around that, and they'll go, oh, that happened then. Oh, no, I just, it was something I thought of that came out of that. Oh, okay, time for a cup of coffee. There we go. Okay, here's the takeaways. These are awesome and they're in the book Number one.
20:20
God heard his prayer and you go? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought it said the guy was walking around the cemetery shrieking and crying and tearing his clothes. Yeah, he was praying. Now, he didn't have the right words, he didn't have the right intonation, he wasn't in the right posture, nothing was right because nothing was right, but he was crying out for help. Now check this out. This man's crying for help. He has none of the right words. And across a lake think about this. Across a lake, god, the Father, says to Jesus hey, get in the boat. The father says to Jesus hey, get in the boat. There's a guy in trouble and I heard his prayer. Oh man, isaiah 38, hezekiah is in trouble, king of Israel. And he just starts, just says he saw me. The Lord says to Isaiah go tell Hezekiah, I've heard your prayer.
21:25
Proverbs 15, 29 says God hears the prayers of the righteous. Psalm 34, 17 says God hears and delivers you. Revelation 5, verse 8 says the prayers of the righteous are in a golden bowl of incense and the prayers are the incense before the Father. In other words, not one prayer slips away, not one. So, bro, god has heard your prayer.
21:57
Young lady, if you're listening, if you're a wife, mom, woman listening right now mostly we got dudes listening If you're listening right now, I want you to know God heard your prayer. There's not one prayer that you've prayed, not one prayer over your son, not one prayer over your family, not one prayer over your business brother. There's not one prayer that you have prayed that God did not hear. And here's the other thing about that this prayer, this guy didn't have it all together, he didn't have all the right words. And so, when it comes to praying with our family or praying with our wife, you don't have to have all the right words, you don't have to say all the right things.
22:41
In fact, one of the things that I believe has helped a lot of men get set free is we've talked about it a lot and that is your wife's getting ready to go to work, or you're headed out to work. Just grab her hand. You know she's going through something, whatever that thing is, she might be dealing with somebody at her office and he's grab her hand. You see. God, help my wife. Have wisdom, favor in this situation at her office. Amen, that's all it takes, man, 15, 20 seconds. Right, god, here's your prayer number one. Number two it connects you with your wife at a different level. Go very, very close friends who every single night they have communion together. They've been doing that since she had a near-death experience because of a lung issue, put her in a desperate place. They begin doing communion and they haven't stopped. Every night they have communion together. You know what it's changed everything for them, relational, the blessing of God, depth peace, not being in fear.
23:56
Prayer, you know it's simple obedience, it's in the book. Simple obedience solves the complex issues of life. God heard his prayer. My wife Judy and I. We pray Psalm 46. We've prayed that over the years during difficult times. It says God's our refuge, god's there, he's not silent. It says, even though the earth shakes and the oceans roar and foam, be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted, I will be the overcomer in your life. Man, god hears your prayer, okay, secondly, look at this. This is awesome.
24:37
So Jesus comes away from this other crowd goes across this lake, sea of Galilee. We know that he's going into an area where there's sudden storms and a storm comes up. So he goes through a storm lands. Check this out. This is awesome. I've always loved this, because you think about if you're going to. First of all, there's a curvature of the earth so as you're going across, you don't quite see the shore on the other side. You just know you're headed in a certain direction because of the heights. There's some mountains behind that. They go across. They don't land at the city, they don't land in the marina. They don't land where the good people are. They don't land in the marina. They don't land where the good people are. They land exactly where this guy is. Here's the promise. Here's the promise. Dude, this is awesome. Here's the promise.
25:34
God has never lost track of you. God has never lost track of you. He knows right where you are, because of your good works, because you did so many good things, because you're right. No, he knows where you are, even when you're messed up, even when you're messing up, even when things aren't exactly right, he knows where you are, knows where you're situated. See, when he walked in the garden and Adam and Eve had messed up and he's looking for Adam, he goes hey, adam, where are you? He wasn't like Adam was able to hide. It wasn't like God's like. I don't know where the guy went. He was actually asking Adam to find the center of his life. Hey, adam, where are you, man? Where are you at right now? What's going on? Because you seem distant. Something's not right.
26:32
You know how we've noticed that in a spouse or a good friend or a colleague, teammate. It's like hey, dude, what's up? Because they're somewhere, but they're not there. But God knows right where you are every time and he shows up there. He's there right now. He's the God who's never lost track of you. Romans 5 says we can rejoice when we run into problems. We know they build endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. Remember, disappointment is not based on where you are, but where you're expected to be, for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. Man, just the right time. Okay, so God knows where you are. He's never lost track of you. He knows everything about you, he knows what's going on in your life. It's not like you know. I mean, we do try to hide stuff, but the real thing is he's there. He knows right where you are. Now watch this. This is really cool because I love this part when Jesus walked up.
28:05
Okay, when Jesus walked up, the first thing he did was took authority over the enemy. Remember that it's like the man comes out and Jesus comes up and takes authority. Boom over the enemy. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And you, my bro, brother, you have the same thing in your life, whether it's at your work, in your office, on the job site, in your home. You have the authority to speak life, to set the atmosphere. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. Got a couple scriptures I'm going to read over you in just a moment, but that's the key right there. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And then John 14, 12 says and the things I have done, my disciples will also do. Jesus always took authority over the enemy. And we have that same authority. Same authority, same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.
29:12
Philippians 4 says I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. All right, so now here's this guy. Jesus goes across. Think about this. Jesus is in front of thousands of people, all these things going on. God hears a man's prayer, jesus lands right where he's at, takes authority over the enemy. But here's that whole, if you will, an overarching piece of this is the value of that man's life.
29:41
We so often establish value based on a man's identity, based on how good he is, based on things he's done, based on how good he is based on things he's done. I've worked with a number of well-known people and famous people music, media, whatever it may be and I've heard it sometimes said oh, you worked with that guy, yeah, we did a thing. And they'll say, wow, if that guy was a Christian man, wouldn't that really solve a lot? Well, I would pray that he becomes a follower of Christ. For him, not just his platform, but for him and his family and his children and his grandchildren, that'd be my prayer. But we often assign a value when we say, hey, yeah, if that guy you know. Well, what about the guy next door who becomes a follower of Christ? And then, you know, goes to Belize and starts a church and then starts another one and then impacts a whole group of people and then starts a soccer club, and the soccer club has dozens of young men who come to Christ.
30:58
And I'm telling you a story that I know about somebody who did that. No book written about him, nobody's going to do a movie on his life, but, dude, I'm telling you he is changing a culture from the ground up, the inside out. All right, so the value of one person's life, okay, not only did Jesus go across the lake and show the value of one man's life because it was all time of Messiah, it takes a day, two days, whatever this thing took but he killed 2,000 pigs for the guy. So not only did he do that for that one man, but he killed 2,000 pigs. Hey, a little sidebar in that culture, because the first thing I always thought of was great, I'm glad the guy got set free.
31:49
People went into pigs, and I always think about the pig guy, because I own some businesses and I always think what about those guys? What about the pig guys? What happened to their business? Let me handle that. Two things. One in that culture the Romans owned all the businesses. It was very socialized. So if there were 2,000 pigs, those guys were on the clock. They didn't own them. Now, they had been out of work for a couple days. But the fact is God didn't destroy somebody's business. In fact there was a Jewish guy, right Jesus, who kills a bunch of Roman pigs. That's kind of funny.
32:27
And then the second thing is in that particular region where he is, the Derecines, that particular region, the pigs were used for worship of pagan deities. So it's kind of like God, you know Jesus, saying, hey, you think your gods are powerful? Watch this, I'm just going to kill all their pigs, all their sacrifices. Here's the other thing that happened. The next thing, it's a headline. That's on page 71.
32:59
Jesus revealed the true intent of evil. The true intent of evil is to take you out, to disqualify you, to sideline you, to disqualify you, to sideline you, to distract you where you have no efficacy in life. And Jesus proved that by having the demons go into pigs and the next thing that happens is the pigs all get killed. The enemy immediately, without the framing of a human frame, immediately took those pigs to death. Think about that. That's what the demons did. That's the true intent. The true intent of evil is always to take you out, steal your life, and then here's the end game. On this whole thing, I've loved this ever since I discovered this, started reading a lot of things.
33:56
You know why he go to the Decapolis, the 10 cities. So the 10 cities are 10 cities at the very top and this is in the Greco-Roman area on the other side of the Golan Heights. So you've got at the very top, damascus. At the very bottom, philadelphia Ten cities, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So these are all cities. In fact, many of them are still going today, some of them just there are the ruins, but we know there were ten major cities.
34:25
This miracle, check this out. This is just awesome. This miracle happened. Check this out. This is just awesome. This miracle happened. Let's just do simple math. This miracle happened, let's say, 30 AD. Miracle happened 30 AD. And he goes to the Decapolis and this is, think about this. This is really wild, because God's a God of strategy, god's a God of wisdom, strategy, victory. So strategy, think about the strategies of God. It's always right, always. You know, two moves ahead Multidimensional chess.
34:59
Jesus heals this man, sets him free. Then the man says I want to follow you. Now, this is wild because think about this. Most often what would happen is people would say, hey, I want to follow you. You say, yeah, follow me. Isn't that what he said with the disciples? Hey, follow me, not this guy. He goes. No, no, no, don't follow me, we're going to get in the boat. I mean, think about the value of this man's life. That Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, with like three years of ministry to do, gets in a boat, goes across the lake, heals a guy, he gets back in the boat and heads back man. I've always thought, wow, what a remarkable day or day and a half or whatever it was for Jesus to take that time and leave those people for that guy.
35:58
So the man goes to the 10 cities, the Decapolis. Don't follow me, go tell everybody. So this guy, what does he have? Man, he doesn't have a seminary training. At this point he has a story. I'll tell you right now. A revelation in a man's heart will beat the't have a seminary training. At this point he has a story. I'll tell you right now, a revelation in a man's heart will beat the information in a man's head every time, if you've got the story of Jesus.
36:19
My professor, leonard Sweet, says the issue with the church today is so often we don't know the story. We know the verses but we don't know the story. We know the verses but we don't know the story and he said the problem is we have versitis, we're so into the verses we forget the overarching story. The whole Bible is the story of Jesus. So watch this. This is awesome. So this man goes to the Decapolis.
36:47
Josephus writes in about 118, josephus, jewish guy hired by the Romans to kind of do an Oliver Stone over there, over there running of this whole area, kind of clean it up a little bit, because they were pretty bad guys. I mean, remember this. Jesus was born in the middle of terrorist occupation. No matter where we are, where you are listening to this, so often we think where we're at is one of the most difficult places. But you were made for this man. You have the Spirit of God in you, you have righteousness on your side, you have the light of life in you. You have hope or maybe nobody around you does. You are the man of hope. All right, so watch this.
37:42
So Josephus writes this and he says in 70 AD. Okay, so if this happened in 30 AD, 70 AD, jerusalem's destroyed. God, this is so good man. Jerusalem is destroyed and the people of God run for their lives. So all the followers of Christ called people of the way, and everybody else too. Jerusalem is destroyed. They can't run to the west. That's the ocean. So they all head east. What's east? The Decapolis. So 40 years later, all these people run for their lives.
38:12
Josephus writes this in 100 AD. He says when the people of the way went to the Decapolis, they found Christians, people of the way. They found Christians. They found refuge. They found churches. They found safety. They found the ability to sustain life. They found places to live. Everything they needed they found in the Decapolis.
38:42
How did that happen? Because God took a loser who didn't know how to pray, who's been kicked out of culture, a man that nobody would vote in as the next youth pastor, a man filled with demons, took that guy, set him free, got his mind straight, gave him a story. The story is hey, I was messed up, now I'm not. And Jesus changed everything and launched that guy. We know Andrew and some other disciples went to the Decapolis during that 40-year period, but this guy was the one who went from place to place to place with a story sort of like Lazarus, when they said they were going to kill. When the chief priests said we're going to kill Jesus, they said we're going to kill Lazarus too, because on account of him.
39:35
Many have become followers of Jesus. This guy had a story. Lazarus had a story. I was dead. Now I'm alive. People by the hundreds came to Lazarus's house to hear that story and I believe people by the hundreds began to listen to the story of this man. They're like, wow, really Wow, what happened? What are you like now? He's like man. I'm a man of hope now, A man who has a vision for his future, a man who has a definition. I have an identity Now. I'm going to speak this over you today. I want you to listen to this. Whether you're working out in the car, whatever it may be, this is who you are. You are alive with Christ.
40:26
Ephesians 2. Romans 8, you are free from the law of sin and death. 1 Corinthians 2, you have the mind of Christ. Philippians 4, you have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. 1 John 4, the Spirit of God that lives in you is greater than the enemy in the world. Mark 16, and these are in the book. These are in the book. Mark 16, you have authority and power over the enemy in this world. Ephesians 6, in every circumstance, brother, you live by faith in God and extinguish all the flaming darts of the enemy. Philippians 4, you can do all things through Christ, who gives you strength. Ephesians 2.10, you are God's workmanship, created in Christ to do good works he has prepared for you to do. Romans 8, you are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you. 2 Timothy 1.7,. You are not a victim of fear because the Holy Spirit lives in you and gives you His power, love and wisdom. Romans 8, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. The enemy's tried to stop you. The enemy's tried to move you, distract you, keep you from your definition.
41:42
So you haven't gone after a better job. You didn't finish school. You didn't write a book or make a movie or start a family. You didn't run for city council. You didn't write a book or make a movie or start a family. You didn't run for city council. You didn't become a real estate professional. You didn't go after that new job. You didn't start a school or disciple your children or serve in church or start a business.
41:59
But I want you to know all those things were lies from the enemy and nothing today holds you back. Nothing today holds you back. That man was messed up, ended up changing the future of the world, speaking life into the people around him, and that is who you are. So all those things that have held you back, all those lies with the enemy, all those things that have told you you don't measure up, I've just read what the Word of God says about you that, my brother, that is your identity and that's who you are, because Jesus Christ is victorious and because he's victorious, the Bible says in Romans 8, you are more than a conqueror, you're an overcomer, you're victorious, you're a champion. I love you. Thank God for you. Thanks for being part of the Brave Men podcast. Remember to subscribe to it. Tell somebody about it, be part of it again next week. Remember this, never forget. Hope is alive. Hope has a name. Hope's name is Jesus.
43:13 - Speaker 2
Brave Men is a production of Christian Men's Network, a global movement of men committed to passionately following Jesus on the ground in over 100 nations worldwide. You can receive the Brave Men motivational email, find books and resources for discipleship and parenting at https://cmn.men. That's https://cmn.men. Your host has been Paul Louis Cole, president of Christian Men's Network, and if you haven't yet, please make sure you subscribe to the Brave Men podcast wherever you find podcasts or download it. Thanks for hanging with us today. We'll see you next time on Brave Men.
