Pause
One of the foundational beliefs of this process is that God is the initiator and we are simply invited to respond and participate. In each session, you’re invited to choose a two-minute pause after the video to let the message soak into your soul, let questions arise, and let God shine his light.
God, I invite you into this space as I sit in stillness with you. Here and now, I choose to recover my breath. I turn my attention and affection to you, God, and what you have prepared for me in this time. I choose to gather my scattered senses and focus my attention on the presence of God. I choose two minutes to breathe and center myself with you.
Read
Think of a moment in your childhood when you were entrusted with power.
While riding bikes with my daughter yesterday, I had a visceral memory of the first time, as a young boy, I was turned loose to head off on my bike to the neighborhood beyond our street. All these years later, I can still remember the power I felt. Moments like this whisper to us a secret waiting to be recovered.
I’ve spent the last two decades excavating this desire in my heart and in the hearts of many men. With intense curiosity I’ve sought to uncover the source of this desire and why it so often leads a man sideways. As I scan the landscape of my own life and the lives of other men, I find far too many stories of men being entrusted with power, only to have that power bring harm to themselves and others.
Is there another way? Is there a path to becoming the kind of wholehearted man who can be entrusted with power and have it turn out for good? As I spent years leaning into the wisdom of contemporary sages as well as sages from millennia past, a path began to take shape. In time, that path revealed a process of transformation to become the kind of man to whom God can entrust his power.
It was John Eldredge who said, “The great problem of the earth and the great aim of the masculine journey boil down to this: When can you trust a man with power?” In Session 1, I invite you to risk recovering your God-given desire to be powerful. How has this desire played out in your masculine heart over the years? Where has it led you to places you never wanted to go? And what might the process look like to experience deep and lasting wholehearted restoration, becoming the kind of man who can wield power well?
Let’s dig in.
Reflect
(Study guide pages 16-17)
- Think back to your childhood. Recall a situation when you were entrusted with power. How did you feel? How did it go?
- Describe a good king. Think of an example of a particular man (past or present) who, in your mind, is a compelling model of a wholehearted man. List specific qualities you admire in him. Ask yourself what qualities he is missing that would make him even more the kind of man who can be entrusted with the care of a kingdom.
- How is your kingdom? Put words to the condition of the people and things that have been entrusted to your care. What does this raise within you?
Scripture
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
Take Action This Week
Read chapter 1 of Becoming a King.
Complete session 1 from the Becoming a King Study Guide.
Further Excavation
- Watch The Mask of Zorro. Consider the story of Alejandro and his relationship with Diego. Reflect on the presence and energy both men exhibit in the master/apprentice relationship.
- What do you relate to in this story?
- What is God saying to you through Alejandro’s story of initiation?
- Who would you risk sharing this part of your story with?
- Listen to the Becoming a King Wives Collection (Part One and Part Two). It’s an exclusive conversation that will strengthen your soul. I invited my wife, Cherie, and the wives of three other men who have consented to the path and process of Becoming a King for more than a decade into the Become Good Soil podcast studio. With raw courage and winsome authenticity, they shared a behind-the-scenes view of what it has been like for them.
- Listen to Become Good Soil podcast episode 040.
- Read Become Good Soil blog post – Fallen Kings, Fallen Kingdoms.
