Week 33 GraceMen Weekly Update

This Week:
1. Prayer
2. Meditation
3. Quote
4. Events
5. Book Recommendation

6: New Blog Articles

Grace and Peace to you {first}

Men, as we enter Week 33 of our spiritual journey, we stand at a critical juncture where the battle for our souls is fought in the intimate chambers of our minds. The prayer "God, grant me the strength to resist worldly influences" echoes Romans 12:2's urgent call for transformation; not minor behavioral adjustments, but radical, Spirit-empowered change that transforms us from the inside out. We live in an age where worldly influences constantly assault our thinking through social media, entertainment, and cultural voices that whisper lies about masculinity and identity. This week's meditation challenges us to honestly examine areas needing mind renewal, while John D. Street's "Passions of the Heart" reminds us that lasting change begins with identifying the heart idolatries driving our destructive patterns. Your mind is not neutral territory, it's either being conformed to this world's destructive patterns or transformed by God's renewing power. Don't settle for surface-level spirituality when Christ offers complete inner renovation; step into this week with courage, knowing that God's strength is available to every man willing to surrender his thinking to the lordship of Christ.

Prayer: 

God, grant me the strength to resist worldly influences. (Romans 12:2)

Meditation: 

Consider areas where you need to be more transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Quote:

Let our hearts admit, “I am poor and weak. Satan is too subtle, too cunning, too powerful; he watches constantly for advantages over my soul. The world presses in upon me with all sorts of pressures, pleas, and pretences. My own corruption is violent, tumultuous, enticing, and entangling. As it conceives sin, it wars within me and against me. Occasions and opportunities for temptation are innumerable. No wonder I do not know how deeply involved I have been with sin. Therefore, on God alone will I rely for my keeping. I will continually look to Him. – John Owen

Events:

Tuesday - August 12, 2025

Morning Bible Study - 6am - 7:15am

• At the Church in the Tower Room 
• Topic: Don’t be a “mouse-jiggler” - Ephesians 6:6
• Facilitator: Steve Lipinski

Thursday - August 14, 2025

Evening Bible Study - 8pm

• At the Church in the Tower Room
• Topic: Don’t be a “mouse-jiggler” - Ephesians 6:6
• Facilitator: Steve Lipinski

Saturday - August 16, 2025

Morning Bible Study - 7am

• At the Church in the Prayer Room
• Topic: Colossians 4
• Facilitator: Eugene Allen

Book Recommendation:

Passions of the Heart by John D. Street

Men, if you've ever felt trapped by sexual sin and tired of surface-level solutions that fail to address the real battle, "Passions of the Heart" by John D. Street offers the biblical warfare strategy you've been searching for. With 97% of Christian men admitting to viewing pornography and 99% of men struggling with sexual sin being caught rather than seeking help voluntarily, this isn't just another book about behavior modification - it's a direct assault on the heart idolatries that fuel your deepest struggles. Dr. Street, drawing from decades of counseling experience, doesn't offer easy answers or shame-based approaches, but instead equips you with powerful diagnostic questions that expose whether you're driven by a "hurting heart" seeking comfort from anger and fear, or a "hungering heart" craving power, control, and self-reward. This book acknowledges the brutal reality that sexual sin is like having "cocaine at your fingertips", yet provides hope that lasting freedom is possible when you understand that the battle isn't primarily about willpower but about exposing and destroying the heart idols that enslave you. Whether you're a pastor hiding in shame, a husband caught in secret sin, or a single man feeling hopeless about ever experiencing true purity, Street's unflinching biblical approach offers the kind of hope that transforms rather than merely manages—because "any sin can be forgiven, and Christ gives men and women the grace to mortify fleshly desires and to humbly live for him".

New Blog Articles:

Standing Firm Together: Brotherhood and Accountability

In His Service,
GraceMen