The Heart of a Man is
Wild
99% of what I have written comes straight out of Wild at Heart.
There is too much information that simply
can’t be left out.
The path of manhood is a voyage every man must explore.
John Eldredge (author of waking
the dead and coauthoring of captivating)
explains that most messages for men fail. The reason is simple: They ignore
what is deep and true to a man’s heart,
his real passions, and simply try to shape him up through various forms of
pressure.
No, men
need something else. They need a deeper understanding of why they long for
adventures and battles-and why God made them
just like that.
The heart of a man is like deep water…
__Proverbs 20:5 NKJV
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always
frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains
untamed.
__Howard Macey
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in.
__Cole Porter
“Don’t fence me in”
John goes on in his book to explain that Eve was created
within the lush beauty of Eden’s garden. But Adam was created outside the garden, in the wilderness. We
were born in the untamed part of creation. This explains why boys have never
been at home indoors, and why men have an insatiable longing to explore. We
long to return; it’s when most men come alive.
The tragedy of life
is what dies inside a man while he lives.
__Albert Schweitzer
I have come to realize what I have been searching for on
this voyage into the unknown. I have been looking for my heart. The race has
released me from the restrictions of our society, even from the church which so
many times teaches us men how to be really
nice guys; while missing the mark of the untamed heart within us. I am not
saying those teachings are a bad thing, but I have found that there is more to
be learned than being a “nice guy” and merely minding my manners. Men, we need to fight for our masculinity!
When I examine who I was before I came on the race I often
don’t like who I see. I see a man who lost his heart, living without passion or
adventure; I was bogged down by society and the daily rituals in which I was
enslaved by. I had done everything to reduce
the element of risk in my life. I was playing it safe and I was slowly allowing
my surroundings to tone down the masculinity, fierce and wildness of my heart. I was just another “nice guy” doing nice
things, and killing time.
It is all so clear to me now that God prefers adventure,
danger, risk, the element of surprise. Take a look at creation-God created the
world a wild place. He created men
with a wild heart. So coming on the
race has given me a perspective of what I don’t want to become-and who I will
never go back too. I was not created to be boxed in, tamed, fearful of risk.
The old Philip was existing, following a routine while drowning in a pool of
boredom. Can you really call that living at all?
God has called me to thrive-He has called me to adventure
and battle. God has called us as men to take the Kingdom by force. You can’t
politely ask the enemy to stop fighting for our souls. No we must release the
untamed heart within, get a little messy, pick up our weapons and fight the
enemy letting him know-as William Wallace quotes in the movie Braveheart “they may take our lives, but
they will never take our freedom!” the
freedom that we have in Christ. Even if I die during the fight I will have died
fighting as a free man. I will never allow the enemy to steal my freedom again.
Living in the freedom of God is the purpose of our identity; it’s what defines
us.
Being away from home for over 9 months now has taught me a
lot about myself. God has shown me what adventure looks like and how he takes
delight in us when we are thriving in it. The race has awakened my heart, and
allowed me to rediscover the passions burning inside.
Going on the race for me was for this purpose-to answer
these questions:
“Why does God create Adam? What is a man for? If you know
what something is designed to do, then you know its purpose in life. A
retriever loves the water; a lion loves the hunt; a hawk loves to soar. It’s
what they are made for. Desire reveals design, and design reveals destiny.
Explore, build, conquer-this is what we were created for:
Explore the unknown.
Build our dynasties.
Conquer our fears.
What are your desires? What are your Kingdom Dreams?
Build a boat and sail it, write a symphony and play it,
plant a field and care for it-those are the things you were made to do. That’s
what we are here for.
Living this lifestyle means taking risks and facing danger.
Men rediscover the untamed heart within yourselves, get a
feel of what you used to be and ask yourselves:
Are you willing to live with the level of risk God invites
us to?”
