Manspeak

By: Travis Evans

They say that a cluttered desk is a sign of genius. Well, I say that a cluttered desk is a sign of laziness and a sign of an ineffective man. Organization promotes faithfulness to completing tasks that need accomplishing. Organization takes work and discipline.

Get a planner. Organization starts with your own life. PLAN! Whether it’s paper or electronic, pre-made or self-made, use a planner. Keep track of events and tasks. Stay on top of important dates and times. Find a planner that suites your needs best. I recommend Palm because they range in price to fit your budget, are very portable, and are multi-functional.

Straighten that desk! As the workplace of the modern-day warrior, the desk has become a catch-all in our offices and homes. Papers, CD’s, pens and pencils, food, and the “I don’t know what that is” are scattered, along with so many other things, all over. I dare say that the average desk has 10% of usable work space.

How can you straighten your desk? For the papers, invest in folders (and a filing cabinet or bookshelf if need be). Also, properly label your folders. For the CD’s, buy a CD rack or tower. I have several CD’s that I use often, so I have a small CD rack on my desk (this does take up space but is justified by the ease of getting the CD’s I use most often). For the pens and pencils (and paper clips, scissors, etc.), buy or use a container to keep them in. If any items are not a part of getting work done, throw them away or get them off of the desk.

Clean your ride. The car or truck is our 3rd home. We drive it; we eat in it; we take stuff in and out of it; and we sometimes work out of it. Things that remain in a car too long seem to disappear. If it is supposed to be in a car, have a way of storing it. Keep things in the glove-box to a minimal. If it is not supposed to be in a car, get it out.

Put things where they belong. No matter where you are or what you are doing, things should have a place where they belong and should remain there unless in use, especially at home. Use bins, shelves, boxes, racks, or whatever it takes to create places for items to “live.”

Posted by: Doc Moles

Is our Christian culture a biblical culture?

I found some interviews from Mark Driscoll. I like what he has to say, though he can be rough around the edges. In this interview he addresses the question above well, but not in its entirety. That’s what our comment section is for, and I hope this clip gets the conversation started.

Christian Culture vs. Biblical Culture

Also, Mark is it manly to where a choker with a sea shell?

By: Travis Evans

Fellas, we all have favorites. Favorite food. Favorite weapon. Favorite cologne. Personally, I try not to wander too far from “faithful fragrances.” I think it is wise to keep colognes simple and consistent. Also, people need to smell nice. Yet, you might ask: What brand do I buy? What smell do I go for? What strength do I need? How much do I put on?

Since there is so much confusion, some guidelines are necessary.

Always lay down a base. Guys, one (and only one) smell will do. Never mix and match. Be consistent in the cologne that you use. If you do ever change colognes, make sure that your clothes were washed since your last brand.

Less is more. You want to hint to people that you smell good…don’t beat them to death with it.

Smell like a man. Not like a boy or a grandpa. No fruity or musty smells, and if Jeremy Bryant (Boomer) recommends it, RUN!

Judge a book by its cover. If the package and the bottle look good, chances are great that it will smell good.

Not a substitution. Cologne NEVER counts as a shower. It is not deodorant either.

Now, I am well aware that several different types of cologne applications exist. Some come in sprays, some spritz on, and some pour out of bottles.

For sprays, always spray a mist away from your body and walk through the mist. This method allows for an even coating and minimizes “over-smell.” Unless your cologne is very faint in strength, do not spray directly on your body.

For colognes that merely spritz, feel free to apply directly to neck and/or upper body, and rub in.

For colognes that pour, two methods exist. If your cologne is strong, place your finger or hand, which will make it stronger, over the bottle and turn the bottle upside down. Once it is on your finger, wipe your finger from your waist up to your neck, causing the strength to lessen where people will smell it the most. If your cologne is faint, place your finger or hand over the bottle and turn the bottle upside down. Once it is on your finger, wipe your finger from your neck down to your waist, causing the strength to stay where people will smell it the most.

As for how much to put on, this question cannot be answered. A man should know how much is too much. If not, it is always better to play it safe and not use any than to have on too much cologne.

Posted by Todd Moles

Guys need…meat, potatoes, water, good boots, sleep, air, sense of direction (mine happens to be counter-directive–meaning I must do the opposite of what I feel to get where I need to go), dirty hands, a sore back, a war, a leader, family, church, leadership, brothers, humility, love, a wife (unless you have…the “gift”), understanding, the Bible, God, a savior. Guys need a lot of things, and this list is as small as a hair on a frog’s back.

The G.U.N. Award is to highlight Guys Understanding Need. Our single greatest need as men is to understand our need for Jesus. He drank the foaming, well-stirred, boiling cup of Gods wrath for the church, and we receive his perfect obedience as a resume for receiving heaven’s joys. If you understand this you have need for little else, and care for little else. Our generation (meaning anyone still breathing) needs these men. Our culture is full of wimpy men looking for their studliness in the beauty of the woman next to them. They cherish the status of possessions, the power that controls. They regress into the lazy, loveless, self-centered fathering that dominates our children’s hope to be a G.U.N. God, you are our only hope.

There are only two qualifications for this award:

1. This guy needs to have an understanding of his need for God and His redemption provided from God in The Christ.

2. This guy needs to see the needs of others and seek to serve them in meeting those needs (A.K.A. love)

For the Month of November I want to give the G.U.N. to my Daddy-o. I have seen my Dad be weak with me about the sin in his character and in marriage. He also tells me how he has come up short in raising me and my brother, but his joy is in grateful credit to God’s grace for saving his children. I personally experience great love from my dad on a daily basis. He calls me on the phone just to say “Son, I’m just calling to tell ya I love ya, and see what I can do for ya.” He leads me to do the right thing and be a man. I think my Dad is pretty amazing, and that is mainly in his sense of weakness for which I am grateful. “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9. Thanks Daddy-o I love ya very much.

John Calvin said, “Genuine humility and self-abasement should be empty of all opinion of our own virtue and shorn of all assurance of our own righteousness, in fact, broken and crushed by the awareness of our own utter poverty.”

Also, The Man Jerry Bridges says “Nothing produces humility in a Christian as much as an abiding sense of our own sinfulness.”

-DocMoles