Houseboats 2011: Act Like Men

One of the things I love about my job is the amazing staff team that I get to work with.  Most of them are young 20-year-olds who are either seminary grads or are currently in seminary.   I have the luxury of always having a lot of candidates for open positions and God has brought some pretty amazing people to the team. I want to highlight two of them really quick and show you the curriculum they’ve developed for this weeks Houseboat trip.  Charlie Dunn and Kevin Klay are our High School Team Male leaders.  Officially Kevin’s title is Director of High School Male Discipleship and Charlie is the Associate Director.  They might be two of the smarter people I’ve ever worked with and also have huge hearts for discipleship.  Charlie somehow managed to graduate from Dartmouth in 3 years and Kevin has a grasp of the Bible like no one I’ve ever met.  Charlie is currently a M.Div student at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas and Kevin Klay is a Dallas Theological Seminary Grad who’s heading to Ethiopia next year working with SIM as a missionary.  I love working with them and was blown away by the outline they gave me last week.  I thought I’d post it here just to show you what we are trying to do with a bunch of guys on a lake this week and encourage you to steal it and use it for your own guys trip.  This is the first guys only trip like this we’ve done and we are so stoked and scared for this next 5 days.

Acting Like Men

Theme Verse: 1 Cor. 16:13-14

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

1) Relating to the Opposite Sex

1. a. Be Watchful Against (Lust, Chauvinism, Not Listening)
   1. i.     Demeaning women – Wanting women to be dumb, pretty, and submissive
   2. ii.     Lust – Ogling women and treating them as sex objects
   3. iii.     Not Listening/Noticing – unwilling to listen to what they have to say or notice things they are doing
2. b. Stand Firm in treating Women as God’s Image Bearers

2) Relating to Self

1. a. Be Watchful Against Self-Promotion (Egoism, Machoism, Reputation, etc.)
   1. i.     Competitive – wanting to be the best and triumph over others.
   2. ii.     Power hungry – wanting to be in control and unwilling to serve.
   3. iii.     Identity – defining yourself by what you want to be good at
   4. iv.     Defensive – protecting honor and pride. Inclination to revenge.
2. b. Stand Firm by Putting Your confidence in God

3) Relating to Emotions

1. a. Be Watchful Against Emotional Absence  (Indifference, Stoicism, etc.)
   1. i.     Emotionally guarded – unwilling to talk about feelings or admit problems.
   2. ii.     Unsympathetic – not concerned for the needs/hurts of others. Indifferent.
2. b. Stand Firm by Emotionally Engaging and Caring for Others

4) Relating to Work and the World

1. a. Be Watchful Against Immaturity  (Laziness, Conformity)
   1. i.     Lazy – Expect others to do things for them. Unwilling to be disciplined about studying the Bible, prayer, etc.
   2. ii.     Unprincipled – Unwilling to take a stand for what’s right
2. b. Stand Firm by Working for Christ and Contending for Truth