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“Wild At Heart” by

Book Report on “Wild At Heart” by Kevin Jesmer 9-1-10

The Book that I read last month was entitled, “Wild At Heart”. Julie wanted me to read this book for some time. There was a time when I was despaired and depressed. Julie felt that I need to capture the essence of what it meant to be a Christian man…to find that I didn’t have to sit down and be emasculated and just live as a nice guy who only sets up chairs before meetings. There is more to being a man of God.

The book says that all of the great men of God, at one time went to the “wilderness”, John the Baptist, King David, Abraham, even Jesus went into the desert to be tempted by the devil for forty days. He struggled against the devil’s temptations and overcame victoriously. John the Baptist went into the desert and ate locusts and wild honey and wore a short of camel hair. It was his struggling time in the desert that brought him fresh revelations from God where he found his true identity and calling. It is where he could hear the voice of God and get the strength to begin his mission as a voice of calling in the desert. King David did not become a king right after her was anointed king. He spent 13 plus years in the desert, hunted by Saul. It was in the desert that he gained strength and experience and at the right time, he could step into the kingship and become one of the greatest kings in history. Abraham was called to go to a land that he didn’t know. He was to leave all that he was familiar and safe and live dangerously following the calling of God. He lived in tents and lived among powerful kings. He suffered a lot and overcame a lot. He grew until he could gain the respect of kings and become a powerful force in the region. It was through his 25 years desert training that he could gain enough faith to be the father of Isaac. Even the great apostle Paul, after his conversion, spent 14 years in the desert, growing in his faith and preaching, until he even showed himself to the Apostles.

I need to spend time, growing and being honed in my desert. Indeed my desert has been manifold. It was the five years of persecution from my family. It has been the pioneering time in DeKalb with my family here at NIU. Here we had to spend a lot of time away from extended family, friends and co-workers. It is here that I had to develop Bible material and messages and teach the Bible and try to raise disciples. It has been tough and in many ways are still in the desert. But we could not have grown as we have done without this time in the desert. My kids are in the desert. They are in the house church. They are all by themselves in their schools, trying to make something happen for the glory of God. This wilderness is good for them. It makes them alive and it makes them strong. They are following the path of all great servants of God. It is par for the course.

The author also tells us that as Christian men, we are warriors. We are meant to fight and win many battles of faith. It is in the fighting and the struggle to overcome that we taste victory and are true to ourselves. David was a warrior. Abraham was a warrior. The Bible is full of warriors. The author tells us to open our eyes to see the kind of battle we are in. We are in a spiritual battle and the stakes are high. It is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. I like the example the author uses when image of the nativity. When we think of the nativity we think of happy and peaceful angels, Mary and Joseph and the cooing baby Jesus. It is very peaceful and serene. But what is the spiritual reality? Revelation 12:1-6 reveals the spiritual reality. “ 1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” The author was implying that if we had eyes to see the spiritual reality, along with the peaceful child and his parents and angels and shepherds and magi. We would also see Satan waiting in the shadows waiting to kill the child, Jesus.

We are in spiritual warfare and the Christian man is one who recaptured his true identity and knows that he is wild at heart, will also know that he is a warrior. The author brings up images of William Wallace from Brave heart and Gladiator. He says that all men want to be like Brave Heart and fight a good fight. But too often we don’t see the spiritual reality and we don’t fight for anything. We are just making sure that we are comfortable and secure and safe. But as Christian men we need to fight and overcome. We need to fight to stand on the side of truth and lead our families in the way of truth. We need to fight to expand the territory of the kingdom of God. We need to fight against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 3:10) We also need to be warriors, capturing the hearts of the beauty, capturing her love and fighting for her. This is the part that Julie wanted me to absorb.

I learn here that in Jesus I can be a warrior. In the world I am an ultra ordinary person, simply surviving and existing, waiting to die and eventually to be judged by God. But in Jesus I am a spiritual warrior, fighting the spiritual battle and fighting for the Beauty in my life, Julie. I can fight by teaching the kids the Bible and raising them as disciples of Jesus. I can fight by praying and reaching out to the students of NIU and raising them as disciples of Jesus. I can fight the battle in my own heart against the temptations and the evils of this world and staying true to Jesus and my calling in life. I can be a warrior with a sense of victory because Jesus has already won the battle. I have the most powerful general on my side. I can be like a spiritual Brave Heart in Jesus. William Wallace’s last word was “Freedom”. My mantra can be “freedom from sin, self and the devil in Jesus. “ A life of faith is exciting and a great adventure. Julie also likes it when I stand and fight for my Beauty in my life.

It like one verse that the author states. “Let people feel the full weight of who you are and let them deal with it.” It is time to stop apologizing for the way that God made you. Especially for men, we need stand up for who we are and have some confidence in who we are as Christians. Why do we need to spend our entire lives apologizing for who we are? Of course if we are sinful and doing sinful things that hurt God and others and hinder the advancement of the kingdom of God, then we need to apologize. But if we are simply being who God made us to be, then don’t apologize. Just stand up for Jesus and let people deal with it. Good advice I think.




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