MEN.SUCK.

I remember when my dad left a couple of years ago, I was really messed up by it, and my roommate John and I were sitting on the grass in Wallace Park just talking about all that was going on and he said to me, "It really is crazy how much power we as men have to totally screw stuff up."

That has really stuck with me. While women can really screw things up too, it seems that because men have so much more of a dominating social and political presence, we can really screw stuff up on a bigger level.

This last Sunday, our young adult group was thin because most were off being counselors at our Jr. High Camp in Washington. So I decided to take a lil' field trip to Medical Teams International's exhibit called REAL.LIFE. As I was reading about a dictator who charged every woman in his country to have 5 babies in order to feed his army, or the countless men who ditch their large families in poor countries, or the men who force children to fight in their armies and kill their families as initiation, that concept came back to me.

I was reading one particular story from Africa when John leaned in and said, "This exhibit could easily be called Men, period, Suck, period." I told him I was thinking the same thing.

I can't tell you how many stories I hear about men ditching their kids, wives, families, just in order to feel a little bit more powerful. It's pathetic. And mostly these men operate this way because they didn't get enough attention from their father.

Fatherlessness is a crisis in America for sure. But it has been a crisis for a long time all over the world. This is why I appreciate The Mentoring Project, which you should find out more about. These guys are working to change things.

Anyways.

Go to REAL.LIFE. Find out about it, donate to Medical Teams, sell something you don't need and give your money to the poor.

And men?

Be a man. No, that doesn't mean getting the most girls, or making the most money, or having a ton of power just so you can stroke your insignificant, tiny ego.

Being a man means taking responsibility for what you've been given. You have a mind, a heart, a soul, and you have a lot of strength that you may not even think you have.

You have deeper things, more to give than you could possibly imagine. It is better to give than receive. So instead of receiving a bunch of pleasure from sex and money and power that will eventually wreck your heart, soul, mind and strength, do what was meant to be done.

Surrender.

Give all that you have. Of course, I need to tell you to give it first all to God. But for His sake give to your family, your wife, your friends, and your community and neighborhood. If you don't give and just receive, you may get the entire world. Seriously, you can spend your whole life and work in order to recieve the whole world. Everything can be yours here, it really can. But I gurentee your soul will be lost in the process. You'll be embarrased.

This is the way the Bible charts it out. Give to God and you won't regret it. Don't think I'm not aware of all the Christian men that have screwed things up in the name of God. Believe me, I'm more aware of that than what pagans have done. To me, it's even worse to claim to be of God and act like a boy.

It takes much more of a man to give his life to something than to treat his life like a sponge that absorbs anything he sees as "good."

I'll encourage you, that if you're a Christian guy, seriously think about your future. You have a lot on your sholders and I think we've all figured out that your tiny little life is no game. Stop praying that God will change your circumstances (your relationships, your finances, your career, your school, etc) and start praying and begging him to change YOU.

If you don't know God, get to know him. I've never met a perfect dad. I don't think I'll ever find one here. But when I read the Bible I'm so confused at His perfection.

All you can do at that point is give Him what you know and have and pray to be more and more like Him.