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“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” --Judges 6:12 I want to challenge each of you today to be a full-out, full-throttle believer and follower of Christ Jesus! But let me say something especially to the men who are reading today. And women, please share this with your brothers, husbands, sons, and male friends. You see, many men think that Christianity is something just for women and children. This is proven by the fact that only 40 percent of people attending church in America are men. And it’s often because men think Jesus was soft and weak. But Jesus was not some pale, emaciated guru. He was a man’s man. His strength and command captivated the hearts of grown men who followed him. On one occasion in Scripture, when Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the religious worship of his day, he took a whip and drove out the money changers. And he did it in the presence of a Roman guard. That’s no weakling! If Christianity isn’t muscular enough for you, then you haven’t met Jesus as he really is. He doesn’t want to weaken you, he wants to strengthen and refine you. Listen! It doesn’t take much of a man to follow Jesus… but it will take all the man that you are. Give Jesus your life today and live full-out, full-throttle for him.   IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH OF A MAN TO FOLLOW JESUS, BUT IT WILL TAKE ALL THE MAN THAT YOUR ARE. God’s Approval Matters Most by Dr. Paul Chappell “Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.” Acts 7:33–35 When T. DeWitt Talmage took the pastorate at Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, there were just seventeen members. His fervent preaching and emphasis on evangelism sparked massive growth. Just a few years later the church built an auditorium seating six thousand, but it frequently held as many as seven thousand with people sitting in aisles and even on the platform. Talmage kept his focus on God’s approval rather than man’s, often preaching against the powerful forces behind the drinking, gambling, and prostitution that flourished in the city. At one point after a series of sermons on evil amusements, Talmage’s life was so severely threatened that the Brooklyn police chief stationed twenty-four officers in shifts around the clock at the church to protect the pointed preacher’s life. Talmage later said that the threats, “Frightened everyone but me.” If our focus is on what God thinks of us and what we are doing, we will not be deterred from doing right by either flattery or criticism from others. Jesus was able to say, “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). Nothing that we do is hidden from the eyes of God, and it is His approval that should motivate us rather than the fleeting opinions of men.   Today’s Growth Principle:  Since we must answer to God, we must keep His pleasure foremost in our minds and hearts.