24 Feb Remnant Young Men's Group
2-mile Trail run / hill repeats / pushups / flutter kicks, fire, devotional, food and fellowship.
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed." Genesis 2
Did God put in the heart of every man a longing for adventure? Maybe God created Adam out of the dust in an untamed part of His creation; in the wild. Maybe this explains why going into the wilderness feels like going home.
John Muir is known to have memorized the entire New Testament and part of the Old Testament before he reached the age of 12. Whether this is true or not, it can't be denied that he was deeply influenced by his faith and moved by God's creation. (In 1861-62, while at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, he often visited and preached to Union soldiers at the state fairgrounds, urging them to avoid temptation and live the Christian life. He was known around campus too as one eager to share his faith.)
"The glory of the Lord is upon all God's works." Muir
"Every particle of rock or water or air has God by its side leading it the way it should go; The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness; In God's wildness is the hope of the world." Muir
"Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." Muir
"And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." Gen 2:9
God hard-wired into man something wild, that doesn't quite fit in an office, behind a desk, with florescent lights overhead and a screen in front. Boys struggle to sit quietly in classrooms because God created them to be outside doing, working, building, fighting, creating, etc.
We've discarded God's pattern and replaced it with man's.
We are driven by money, materialism, status, comfort and acceptance. And it's all vanity.
"I am losing precious days.
I am degenerating into a machine for making money.
I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men.
I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn."
                                                                            - John Muir
The fundamental questions every young man needs to answer:
   - Who am I?
   - What am I made of?
   - What am I destined for?
Can't be answered in a classroom, or in an office, and probably not inside a church. In the Bible, men were tested, shaped and defined by wilderness trials. Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Paul, and Jesus Christ were all tested in the wilderness. Why should it be any different for men today?
"Life needs a man to be fierce - and fiercely devoted." (John Eldridge, Wild at Heart)
Incepto ne desistam!
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