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Happy Fathers Day with Dad-Friendly Commercial
Cheerios Ad Is Dad-Positive
Most commercials and media-types treat fathers as dofuses or nincompoops; but check out this fun, delightful ad from Cheerios
Here
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This Spoof Is All Too Familiar!
Tripp and Tyler, the marketing comedy team, give us an idea of meeting virtually in Real Life Here
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...And Don't Lie to Her
Jeff Allen is one of our favorite Christian funny guys. In this sketch, Jeff talks about getting a physical and then a FitBit. Funny, funny stuff! Here
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"America's Pastime" is Past Time
I love baseball! I miss baseball! I look forward to our beloved Nats repeating as champs in whatever kind of season they can crop together this year! Ever since seeing my first big league game in 1956 as a 9-yr old at Cincinnati's Crosley Field, I've been hooked on America's pastime.
In this brief video clip, Kevin James gives us a look at our baseball longings and fantasies. Here
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Doing His Civic Duty
Even Bears Like Orderliness
Check out this bear who in the course of his day stops to make things right - Here
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Dealing With
Birdseed Thieves
Don't Trap 'Em; Flip 'Em
Check out this ingenious way to catapult backyard critters that feast on your seed Here
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Quotes for Life
"How do you change the world? We already know. Jesus gathered twelve men--a collection of no-names and knuckleheads--discipled them to obey everything he commanded, filled them with the Spirit, and turned them loose on the world. This plan has not faltered, and it never will."
- Owen Strachan
"A bad way to look at public policy is to attach it to a politician you love or hate. To be against something because someone you loathe is for it or to be for something because someone you love is for it is uncritical thinking. Christians must more wisely discern the times." - Daniel Darling
"The preacher is not called to share, but to declare. He is not anointed to entertain, but to expound. He is not appointed to coddle, but to confront, convict, convert, and comfort." - Steven Lawson
"In this life-long fight, to be waged by every one of us single-handed against a host of foes, the last requisite for a good fight, the last proof and test of our courage and manfulness, must be loyalty to truth-the most rare and difficult of all human qualities. For such loyalty, as it grows in perfection, asks ever more and more of us, and sets before us a standard of manliness always rising higher and higher."
- Thomas Hughes, The Manliness of Christ
"Conservative, Bible-believing Christians must speak out against the sin of racism with the same level of commitment that we have demonstrated against abortion and the sexual revolution. Each of these is sin against the image, design, and purpose of a holy God." - Hershel York
"I grew up in a small country church of 50 people with a faithful pastor who loved the Word. His name will only be known in eternity. Thousands of churches and pastors exist just like this. Brothers, faithfulness is more important than fame. Press on!"
- Dustin Benge
"Men bond by insulting each other, but they don't really mean it. Women bond by complimenting each other, but they don't really mean it, either."
"The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell."
- William Booth
(founder of the Salvation Army 1829-1912)
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When Men Die in a Perfect Storm of Sin
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George Floyd Mentored a Generation of Young Men in Houston's Third Ward |
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
Behind all the problems in the world is sin (Genesis 3:15). Things are not the way they are supposed to be. We sense the world is a good thing gone bad.
Sin curses and corrupts God's natural creation and every human being made in God's image. Viruses turn against us and attack us. Cells turn cancerous and metastasize. The gentle breezes of Eden's garden turn into deadly hurricanes. Arteries clog and become "widow makers." Cain murders his brother Abel and other fallen men likewise slay in thought and deed. Through the ages people denigrate and enslave one another (Romans 1). Racism, nihilism, narcissism, genderism, tribalism and every "ism" mock God and destroy God's image bearers. The Bible says that which is not of faith in Christ is sin; its payoff is death (Rom 6:23).
Sin is at root is a bad news story. BUT ultimately it has One Remedy to the curse, delivered to us by One Man, Jesus Christ, who is the Good News. As we yearn for and seek justice let's remember that no one gets away with injustice or anything else that mocks God. All scores will be settled because there is a Sovereign King who is the
Righteous Judge of the living and dead.
The shadow of death, despair and rebellion has fallen heavily on 2020. Covid-19 has taken hundreds of thousands of lives across the globe and robbed families of grieving their loved one. Racism has slain men in the streets. Cancer wages its deadly peril respects no age, stage or race. Depression drives many to take their own lives. Death comes in many forms. Yet in the end, we all die in one of two ways: in faith or in sin.
Below we highlight four men who've died recently in various circumstances so as to remind us life is hard, fragile and fleeting. They had faces, real lives, unique personal histories and legacies, and have grieving families and friends.
GEORGE FLOYD (photo above) was slain on a street of Minneapolis by a man sworn to uphold the law and do justice but who corrupted that oath. Thousands mourn Floyd's death and protest how and why his life was tragically snuffed out. Seemingly millions know his name but few know anything about George Floyd ("Big Floyd") the man and his community work. Learn something
Here
DAVE PATRICK UNDERWOOD
 , a native of Richmond, took an oath as a federal protective Service Officer to protect people and property. He was an African American man murdered on a street in Oakland CA while defending a federal court house from a rioting mob.
Seemingly very few know his name; even fewer know anything about David Patrick Underwood ("Pat") the man. Learn something Here
DARRIN PATRICK
 was a St. Louis megachurch pastor and evangelical "celebrity", who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last month. He had been dismissed from the St. Louis church he founded and went through a multi-year restoration process. I had worked with Darrin; he spoke at a 2014 WACMM conference. Many knew him and benefited from his ministry yet few knew of his inner battle. Learn something about him
Here
RAVI ZACHARIAS, one of the world's foremost Christian apologists, died last month after being ravaged by a rare form of cancer. Having worked with Ravi several times, I found him to be in all his brilliance one of the most humble and kindest men I've ever known. Millions around the world knew of Ravi and were impacted by his gospel ministry. Learn
Here
Here
LET US REMEMBER:
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
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>Do justice & righteousness (Jer 22:3)
>Comfort the oppressed (Eccles. 4:1)
>Groan with grief (Rom. 8:22)
>Lament before God (Ps. 13, 77)
>Pray desperately (2 Chron. 20:12)
>Be angry without sinning (Eph. 4:26)
>Weep with the hurting (Rom. 12:15)
>Rescue the oppressed (Prov. 31:9)
>Pray for oppressors (Mt. 5:44)
>Rebuke oppressors (Is. 1:17)
>Speak against injustice (Eph. 5:11)
>Repent your own injustices (Rm 2:1-4)
>Do justice (Mic. 6:8)
>Trust vengeance to God (Rm. 12:17-21)
>Hope in Jesus' return and the Day when evil and tears shall be no more (Rev. 21:4).
LAMENT AND PRAY WITH US:
Join WACMM in prayer with our friends United We Pray Here
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Will the Center Hold?
I recently came across this poem by Irish poet W.B. Yeats titled "The Second Coming." He wrote it in 1919 in the aftermath of WWI, at the onset of the Irish Civil War, and during the Spanish flu pandemic which infected his pregnant wife. It gives us the original context for the oft-quoted phrase "will the center hold?" It also speaks to the sense of fear and hopelessness abounding today:
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
The center - a nation's moral and cultural core - cannot hold apart from God's sovereign grace and the people's submission to His authority over all things. At the center of civilized society are the quieter, more resolute voices that can not be drowned out by an angry cacophony of fear and hate. These voices carry forward the banner of a living hope that cuts across every kind of division this fallen world festers...something that's much older, far deeper and also more radical - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our friend Denny Burk (CBMW)
has commented on the true story of the world is better than how the injustices and anarchy of the moment make us feel. "The only people prepared to bear witness to this truth in a week like this one are those who know the one who will come to make all things new."
In Christ, the center holds!
Heavenly Father, during this strange time enable us to be loyal and faithful to You in our thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes and motivations.
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"Fathers are to sons what blacksmiths are to swords. It is the job of the blacksmith not only to make a sword but also to maintain its edge of sharpness. It is the job of the father to keep his son sharp and save him from the dullness of foolishness. He gives his son that sharp edge through discipline."
ARTICLE - "Thinking About My Dad" Here
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LORD WILLING, WE'LL COME TOGETHER...
WACMM Men's Conference
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24
8:30am - 3:00pm
Annandale VA
KEYNOTERS
Garrett Kell,
Lead Pastor, Del Ray Baptist Church, Alexandria VA and member of the Gospel Coalition Council
Tom Joyce,
Pastor, Immanuel Bible Church, Springfield VA and retired Top Gun Aviator
More Information and Registration - Here
Download Hard Copy Registration Form - Here
Download Conference Flyer - Here
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Live As Battling Victors in Christ Jesus! 
Brothers,
Thanks for continuing to read this newsletter and to give us helpful feedback and encouragement. Please pray that we steward this means the Lord has given us to placard the gospel to thousands of men across the country and around the world each month.
Just a closing reminder:
The Christian life is a battle. We're in a daily struggle against the world, the flesh, and Satan. But God didn't leave us alone to fend for ourselves. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work inside those of us who love and delight in Him.
In Ephesians 6 God commands us to put on his armor each day, all while resting in the finished victory of Christ and the assurance that our strength for this daily battle comes from him alone. He gave us his own armor (Ephesians 6:10-20) -- this whole armor that Jesus has already worn on our behalf all the way to the cross. In the 33 years he walked this earth, Jesus faced the same enemies and field tested this armor for us. Jesus is our armor and we can win the battle through the victory he's already won for us. We are to live as battling victors!
Locking Arms Together for the Sake of the Gospel,
Dave
Dave Brown
Director and Pastor
10309 Freeman Place
Kensington MD 20895
240.447.1363
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me.
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