As I spent time reading God’s Word this week, I found myself resting on two powerful verses in Matthew 10. Matthew 10:32-33 reads “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Even as I write this, I can’t seem to shake this warning and command.
How many times over the years have I met men and never mentioned anything about my relationship with Jesus or what He has done for me? Why am I passive or silent? Why do I often lack boldness?
Men, as I ask these hard questions, it’s apparent that fear plays a factor. My fear of what others think may be greater than my fear of God. If you’re honest with yourself, you probably struggle with this same thing. How do we overcome this fear and develop an unshakeable boldness. It won’t be easy, but good news – you don’t have to do it alone! Red Truck Men is built to help us heed this warning together; to come alongside each other and share the load.
If we have friends that are going through a hard time, struggling in their walk with the Lord, or maybe don’t even have a relationship with God, our first step towards greater boldness is simply extending an invitation to breakfast. RTM will open doors for guys like you and me to connect with other men, share Jesus, and learn from God’s Word together. At RTM, you will find men in fellowship, growing together to be men of valor!
Matthew 12:43-45 is a tough passage but powerful and in many ways a continuation of Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 10. In this passage, the evil spirit left the man and he cleaned up his life, swept the metaphorical house but he left the rooms empty. He didn’t fill the rooms with God’s Word, genuine accountability, or the Spirit of God and because of this the evil spirit came back. This time with seven of his evil friends. Growing up with a alcoholic parent, I saw this happen over and over. My dad would try to clean up, get back on track but he missed the mark over and over because he didn’t fill his house with Jesus and truth anchored in God’s Word. Red Truck Men helps us to fill our empty rooms. It helps us create meaningful friendships that point us to Jesus and fills our hearts and minds with God’s life-changing Word. Being filled up with the Spirit of God will protect us from attacks of the enemy.
As mentioned above, RTM give us opportunity to NOT deny Jesus but proclaim him to the men in our lives. The second passage reiterates the importance that ROOMS CAN’T BE LEFT EMPTY. Let’s lean into meaningful friendships and God’s Word and get these rooms filled up! Getting our priorities right and encouraging other men to do the same is how we finish the race well. On my own, I am not very good at this, but RTM helps to fill the gap by giving me opportunity to fellowship with other men and be filled up.
Stephen L. Thomas
Red Truck Men