It's almost a new year. A lot of people are thinking about New Year's resolutions, and maybe they're recognizing some bad habits that have crept in, whether that's related to entertainment or something else. What do you think about New Year's resolutions when it comes to spiritual disciplines? Is that a good idea, or do you feel like that's maybe setting yourself up for failure in some way?

I invite you into God’s Gym in the following chapters — to some sanctifying sweat — to some pain and great gain. Suffering: "When Christ 'gave himself up' for us, he not only died, he suffered. And his suffering was not only the cross, but it was and is suffering that comes from identification with his bride, the church." Discipline—Religious aspects—Christianity.2. Spiritual life—Christianity.3. Men—Religious life.I. Title. I think there's a couple of things. One, it is straightforward. In that sense, it's manly and direct. In other words, the chapters are pretty hard-hitting. Whether you like them or not, they're in your face and they come at you. The other thing is that almost every chapter begins anecdotally or with a story that then feeds into what the biblical text is, then applies the text, and then has practical applications at the end. Each of the chapters are written to really engage you right from the beginning, so those are some of the reasons. 06:45 - The Necessity of Spiritual DisciplineDisciplines of a Godly man reaches out and grabs you by the shirt collar, looks directly in your eyes and tells you the Godly truth all men need to hear. My guess is that for some people listening right now, that might sound a little bit surprising to talk about the Christian life in that way, to talk about spiritual disciplines in that way. One question that might be in someone's mind is, Are you essentially saying that we can practice our way into godliness if we just have enough discipline? It is also true that far more women are concerned about the spiritual welfare of their mates than vice versa. The magazine Today’s Christian Woman has found that articles focusing on the spiritual development of husbands have garnered the highest readership. ¹¹ All this is sustained by hard statistics. A Gallup Poll conducted in June 1990 revealed that 71 percent of the women surveyed believed religion can answer today’s problems, while only 55 percent of the men agreed.¹² The typical church service has 59 percent females versus 41 percent male attenders.¹³ Furthermore, married women who attend church without their husbands outnumber by four to one the men attending without their wives.¹⁴

Strive to know him as thoroughly and deeply as you can — to meditate on his law day and night (Psalm 1:1–2) — and to bear a faithful witness to others of who he really is. Day after day, arm yourself with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Prepare yourself to “make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). And then boldly tell others what God has revealed to you. 2. Tell the truth about everything. R. Kent Hughes (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is senior pastor emeritus of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and visiting professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hughes is also a founder of the Charles Simeon Trust, which conducts expository preaching conferences throughout North America and worldwide. He serves as the series editor for the Preaching the Word commentary series and is the author or coauthor of many books. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, and have four children and an ever-increasing number of grandchildren. Wanting to set an example with our speech, what kind of example should we set? What does a man of God sound like in the wild? Discipline is a subject about which the Scriptures say much—but contemporary authors have been peculiarly silent. Kent Hughes fills a gaping void with this superb volume. You’ll be challenged and encouraged as you read. And if there is a spark of spiritual desire in your soul, this book will surely kindle it into a blazing passion for godly discipline. Discipline for godliness -- Discipline of purity -- Discipline of marriage -- Discipline of fatherhood -- Discipline of friendship -- Discipline of mind -- Discipline of devotion -- Discipline of prayer -- Discipline of worship -- Discipline of integrity -- Discipline of tongue -- Discipline of work -- Discipline of church -- Discipline of leadership -- Discipline of giving -- Discipline of witness -- Discipline of ministry -- Grace of discipline

Among my favorite chapters in the book in clue the chapter on fatherhood, work, church and witness. I felt the author’s most passionate chapter was the chapter on witnessing and I was quite encouraged by the author’s own example of making the most out of evangelistic opportunities. While I enjoyed the chapter on fatherhood is because today we have a crisis in society of fathers not being the fathers God has called them to be. Thee chapter on prayer was also personally convicting and edifying as that’s something I can work on more to improve.

The discipline of marriage fall can be classified according to sacrificial love, sanctifying love, and self-love.Every Christian man, whether a new believer or a mature Christian, will be challenged again and again by this remarkably wise and fascinating book. Kent Hughes skillfully weaves together the teachings of Scripture with real-life examples as he powerfully teaches us what true Christian manhood looks like in the ordinary details of our lives. I highly recommend this update of a book that is becoming a Christian classic.”

This is a book for men who are eager to learn how to be more effective. It comes from the pen of one who has learned to serve as he has led and who is able to provide the reader with many practical applications of eternal truths. God chose what is low and despised in the world . . . so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:28–29). Men of God are known for building others up, and for being surprisingly quiet about their own abilities, achievements, and ministry. Good men don’t go around reminding people of how good they are. They live by the proverb, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth” (Proverbs 27:2). urn:oclc:24106853 Republisher_date 20120405213316 Republisher_operator [email protected] Scandate 20120405051000 Scanner scribe20.shenzhen.archive.org Scanningcenter shenzhen Worldcat (source edition) That just feels like one of the ironies of our age is, as you said, it's easier than ever to hear the word of God in all different ways, and yet it's also easier than ever to be distracted by movies and shows and podcasts—even like this one—and not take advantage of God's word. Words really do matter. Jesus himself says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37). Every careless word. Men of God learn to trade careless words for thoughtful ones. While many today speak, text, and tweet whatever they think or feel without a second thought, these men weigh the serious weight of what they say. They speak as if God is listening, because he is.There are some books, though very few, that remain ‘evergreen’—that through the years remain as useful and challenging as the day they were written. There’s little doubt that Disciplines of a Godly Man is one of these. For that reason, I’m delighted to see it just so slightly refreshed as it’s prepared to challenge a whole new generation of men with its biblical principles and timeless wisdom. I trust it will prove itself as edifying to them as it has to me and so many others.” - Tim Challies, blogger, Challies.com And they know that what they say reveals who they are (Luke 6:45). They tremble over the consequences of sentences. They work to make their words a deeper and fuller well of grace. Seven Lessons for What We Say A face lit by a luminous screen is a study in passivity. Fleeting images, intermingled with the thousand commercials and banner ads of an average week’s viewing, instill passiveness. . . . The viewer becomes a passive, munching, sipping drone. . . . There are guys, voyeurs, who have substituted viewing for doing and imagine that they have scored a touchdown or taken a hill by virtue of having watched it—passive living legends in their own inert minds. And if your eyes causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell. (Mark 9:47) Generally, I think a resolution is setting yourself up for failure, but it doesn't mean you ought not to make a resolution. There are people that make a resolution after the holidays to lose fifty pounds, and they do. A lot of them fail. But without the resolution, they wouldn't lose it, right? One of the things that I would say is that we tend to make extreme resolutions. For instance, I would rather have someone say to me, I'm going to read the Bible all the way through next year. I would say, No, why don't you read the Gospels all the way through next year and think about it as you read it. There's nothing in the Bible that says you have to read the Scriptures through once a year. I think it's a great habit, a lot of people do it, but I would say do something that's manageable that you won't fail at. Does that make sense?