I had the honor of speaking to several hundred men representing eight churches at the New England Warrior Conference.

I had my messages all planned out. God changed them last minute. I love it when that happens!

I spoke on the the wisdom of a warrior… Specifically the dark side of a warrior.

Whats the dark side?

Depression!

Depression is the inability to express loss.

Did you know that 80% of all suicides are men? When you turn 35, your chances increase 3 times! When you turn 65, it goes up 7 times!

The dark side will strike all men! No  man is immune. It may strike you in adolescence, or in your 20′s, 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s, 70′s, 80′s, or even your 90′s.

It will strike you. The question is, will you know it when its has? Will you be able to navigate through it with the wisdom of a warrior?

Here is a clip from one of my talks at the Warrior Conference:

Warrior Conference Part 1 from Northway Church on Vimeo.

What does the Great Barrier Reef, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Philly Cheese Steaks, and the Canadian flag all have in common?

They all represent places where our ONE PRAYER message will be shown.

Unbelievable!

I had the honor yesterday of shooting personalized intros for Pastor Garry Mullen from Edmonton First Church of the Nazarene in Canada, Pastor Mike Siliman from Elk Creek Church in West Grove, PA, Pastor Bob Robbins from Lifepoint Church in Glen Carbon, IL, and pastor Michael Thurlow who pastors Mackaey Church of Christ in Australia.

I thought that I would share some of Pastor Michael’s kind words.

Hi Buddy,

I watched your ONE PRAYER message the other night.
We will be using it on June 21st.
Great take on Peter I loved the mix of outside vision and inside preaching.

It would be so cool to have a message from you.
Our church is called Mackay Church of Christ.
My Title – Pastor Michael Thurlow

I look forward to hearing from you.

Mackay is in Queensland 1000k’s North of Brisbane, it’s tropical and humid summers, near the Great Barrier Reef. We are a Bible Believing, Jesus focused church. Involved and passionate about Missions and reaching the lost and serving our community.

Thanks mate!

I shot the intro for Pastor Michael and asked if we could swap pulpits in the winter!

Let us know if you would like a personalized intro for your church!

2,000 years ago, against all odds, a group of men and women risked everything for a cause…

A cause that was bigger than them…

A cause that would outlast them…

A cause that would impact their children for generations…

A cause that would turn the world upside down…

A cause that would echo through eternity…

A cause that would demand… URGENCY… SACRIFICE… PASSION… and HONOR!

Join us this weekend at Northway Church as we begin our new message series… Dangerous Church.

Check out the series trailer…

Dangerous Church Invite TV Clip from Northway Church on Vimeo.

Braveheart, Patriot, and Gladiator are all testosterone driven blockbuster movies! As men, we love stories that inspire us to fight… Stories that get us amped and ramped up for battle, to charge the hill and take the MOUNTAIN!

As Warriors of God, make no mistake we need to be men of passion. We need to be men of enthusiasm. But if that is all that we are, then God says that we are stupid.

Proverbs 19:2 – Ignorant zeal is worthless.

Warrior wisdom is acquiring both wisdom and passion. Warrior wisdom is being informed and empowered on the battles we face as men. Warrior wisdom is listening and learning from those warriors who have battled MORE than us, and are still standing. Warrior wisdom is listening and learning from other warriors’ successes and failures. Warrior wisdom is realizing that you will only survive and thrive in this life with JESUS CHRIST.

Recently, I heard God leading me. Buddy, you don’t need more passion, and you don’t need more enthusiasm. Lean into me for wisdom and become a warrior of wisdom.

Do you need more wisdom, or do you need more passion?

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, and we will begin our summer service schedule at our Clifton Park location.

What does that mean?

ONE SATURDAY SERVCIE AT 6:00pm.

Our Sunday service times will remain the same (10 & 11:30am).

See ya there!

I’m extremely excited about tomorrow! Why? I have the honor of speaking at a New England Men’s Retreat that represents some of the most remarkable Churches in the North East!

I have mad respect for the men that lead these churches… Pastor Anthony Milas, Pastor Steve Jesmer Jr, Pastor Eddie Trinkle and Pastor Rob Willis. Some are great friends of mine and some… I have never met. However, I’m confident that any man that pastors in the North East is a friend in my book!

The theme for the retreat is appropriately called… Warriors.

Sorry ladies… No warrior princesses allowed!

Just Men!

I’m also looking forward to team building with some great Northway Warriors… Brian Howe, Kevin Murrell, David Bookhout, Chad Clem, and Jeremy Erndt. I love these men and their passion for Jesus Christ!

God has put a burden on my heart for all of the men who are attending. I’m praying for them.

Please join me!

Do you ever get tired of it?

I do…

Everywhere you turn these days, someone or something is trying to interrupt your thinking and grab your attention. From audio to visual… You name it! We are bombarded like never before as a society.

Twitter Chirp…

Cell phone ringing…

Text message sounds…

Blogs…

Billboards…

Writing blogs…

Facebook… Someone wrote on your wall

Twitter chirp again…

Text message sounds again…

Your other phone rings… At your office… At your home…

Voice mails… On your cell phone, office and home.

Email inbox is filling up…

TV…

Commercials…

Twitter chirp…

Text message sounds…

All of that happened is the last 30 seconds!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater of technology or our culture! I love it, however, noise can be toxic to our souls.

So here is my question… I would love to hear your take on this… How do you filter the noise??? Is it even possible to balance the noise so you still stay connected to God, your soul and to our culture?

Scripture tells us that there is a purpose for every season under Heaven… A time to laugh… A time to cry… A time to heal… A time to grieve etc… ( Eccl 3)

I used to think that you were either in one season or the other.

Today??? Not so much.

I believe wisdom is understanding… That life is made up of
simultaneous seasons.

Think about it. What season are you in emotionally? What season are you in relationally? What season are you in spiritually? What about professionally or financially? I believe you can be in different seasons in different areas of your life.

You may disagree and diagnose my opinion as schizophrenic seasons… That’s okay! I would argue that wisdom is learning to highlight the areas in your life that you need to celebrate! And understanding that the other areas of your life are processed in a different way.

What Do You think? Do think it’s possible to be in simultaneous seasons?

Several years ago I went to Israel.

One of the highlights was seeing the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized.

I thought that I would dig it out of the archives for baptism weekend.

Enjoy.

Yes… My hair and weight have changed…

20 years ago I said, “I do.”

I was honored to wear my wedding ring… An outward symbol of an inward commitment of my love for my bride.

What if I told you that I didn’t want to wear my wedding ring? What if I told you that I had an arrangement with Debbie where I would just keep my love for her on the D. L. (down low)? In other words, we would know we are married but no one else would need to know. I would never declare my love for her in public.

How do you think Debbie would roll with that? Obviously, she would kick me to the curb!

In the same way Jesus told His followers to go public in their faith. How? Through baptism.

Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward commitment.

So let me ask you… Have you gone public in your faith? This weekend over 50 people are going public in their faith at Northway! There is nothing BIGGER and BETTER than BAPTISM! There is nothing like stepping out and stepping up in your faith and declaring your love for Jesus. If you haven’t gone public in your faith, let me encourage you that you still can…

Why wouldn’t you?

If you haven’t yet registered, please call 518-899-1200, or send an email to the appropriate email address below by 4:00pm this Thursday. No chance to register? Don’t worry, you will still have a chance to get baptized at the end of the service you plan on attending. We will have extra towels, t-shirts, and shorts for anyone who wants to still get baptized.

In Clifton Park - cliftonpark@northwaychurch.tv