The Bar is set at PERFECT!

Hello men, the following is a note that I sent to the participants in the IRONMEN ministry. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. God bless, Billy

Hello men. We had quite an evening last night! The gauntlet was thrown down and the true height of the bar was observed. Our Christ set the bar when he said "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" - Matt 5:48. Or, how about, "love your wife as Christ loves the church" - high enough and hard enough for you? A dear friend had earlier challenged me to be sure that we had "Truth in Advertising" for the IRONMEN name of this ministry. In short, this is going to be a challenging ministry - more of a battleship setting than a cruise ship. The quest we are committing to is to go very hard after loving God and serving Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. We will be doing things together to make us healthier and stronger in all of these four dimensions. We will do hard things together that stretch our mind, body and spirit.

This is a challenge for me as it likely is for you. We will go on this quest together and I will desperately need you to step up and help me with your prayers for boldness, wisdom and discernment; but also, for you to engage and bring your best to the rest of us. We need your ideas, your commitment, and your desires to be all God wants you to be.

This may be more than you bargained for when you came to IRONMEN. We understand if you want to be challenged less. We are looking for men who want more of God and expect more of themselves as they strive to "live lives worthy of the calling they have received" - Ephesians 4:1. We want to have life without regrets and that means stepping up and out to living life to the full as Christ offers in John 10:10.

I will be praying and rooting for you to join us and say "I am in!" If that is not where you are now; we will pray for you to get there soon. These are difficult times and the Lord's church is crying out for mighty men of valor to rise up in the vigorous defense of her and the ones we love.

For the King,

Billy