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 10 Passions of a Man's Soul
(Moody Publishers)
Why do men do what they do? Because they are wired that way. The tamed man has been taught to suppress the very gifts that – properly channeled – would make all the difference in the world. Author Mark Elfstrand uses interviews with ten dynamic, powerfully gifted leaders to explore the driving passions that motivate authentic men of God and helps you discover your hidden leader waiting to emerge.
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PASSION
Men: Wired for Adventure
By John Eldredge and Mark Elfstrand
CBN.com – I believe the desire for adventure is wired into the heart of every man. Now, not every man wants to go jump off cliffs or hang glide or hunt alligators in the Amazon. That’s not what I mean by adventure. But every man needs a sense of risk in his life. Guys who e-trade stocks? That’s adventure. Guys who are on the cutting edge of research science? That’s adventure. These men are looking for discovery; they’re looking for breakthrough.
That longing for adventure goes back to the time when guys were little boys. What do little boys love to do? They love to explore, they love to overcome challenges, and they want to simply go! Boys don’t just want to ride their bikes. They want to ride their bikes with no hands! They want to jump them off the curb. They want to see who can go fastest down the hill. There really is something in every man that was wired for adventure from boyhood.
I think that sense of adventure gets tamed out of us. We also get frightened. Somewhere along the way, a man loses that confidence, that recklessness or fearlessness he had as a boy. Somewhere along the story of his life, doubt comes in. And a doubt goes like this: “No you don’t. You don’t have what it takes. You can’t come through. You can’t pull this off. So just put your nose to the horse in front of you and get in line and just become a gelding. Tie your reins up there at the corporate corral and give up any sense of risk.”
I remember waking up one morning to realize that I hated my life. I’m wearing a suit and tie and I’m working in politics. And I don’t like suits and ties and I don’t like politics. I realized that somewhere along the way I had abandoned my dreams and my desires as a man.
To be a true man doesn’t mean you have to go jump out of an airplane. To be a true man, you must live with courage and you must accept the risks that God is asking you to walk into.
Such risks may express themselves in lots of different ways, depending on the way a particular man is wired. For one man, the biggest risk in his life is writing that book he always wanted to write. For another man, it is taking a promotion which will put him into a leadership position that he doesn’t know he can fulfill. For another man, the biggest risk of his life is actually selling his business and spending more time with his kids. The point is … courage.
For those who seek courage, God is here. He takes a man and tells him who he is. He gives him his genuine identity. When Jesus comes out of the Jordan River as He is baptized, the Father speaks and says, “I am so proud of You. I couldn’t be more pleased wit You.” That’s what every man longs to hear from his father. We may not be able to get that from our fathers now, and so we must turn to God.
When Jesus announced His ministry in Luke 4, He offers to heal the brokenhearted and set the captive free (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus says, “I really have come not just to forgive you, I want to give you back your heart. I want to heal you.” It’s a message of God wanting to restore us as men. Really restore us.
But that can only take place if you will take that fear, that uncertainty – and especially that woundedness – to Him and let God father you.
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Excerpted from 10 Passions for a Man's Soul, by Mark Elfstrand, © 2007. Published by Moody Publishers. Used with permission.
John Eldredge is the author of several best-selling books, including "The Sacred Romance" and "Wild at Heart". He loves to do rock climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking.
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