Men’s Conference Report
I just returned from speaking at a men’s conference in Frankfort, IN. Harmony Baptist Church, pastored by Derin Stidd who is also the Assistant Director of Operation Save America, hosted the Manhood Restored Bootcamp.
The fruit that came from this Kingdom project was phenomenal. At first, we covered the loss of manhood in America and the severe consequences associated with the “toxic masculinity” narrative peddled by the enemies of the cross. We hit this topic from different angles and perspectives. We mentioned the End of Men documentary narrated by Tucker Carlson, where he warns of dangerously low sperm counts in the men of today. A 1992 study looking at over 50 years of semen analysis data — 61 studies of nearly 15,000 men — first introduced the idea of “spermageddon.” The results of the research found that average sperm concentration had declined by over 50%.
This data correlates with the drop of testosterone levels in men. The medical profession has warned that testosterone levels in men have dropped almost 50% in the past two decades. An average 22 year-old male today has roughly the same testosterone levels as a 67 year old had in the year 2000. As testosterone has gone down, estrogen levels in men have gone up. This has led to abdominal weight gain, lethargy, fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, mood swings, irritability, low sex drive, depression and anxiety.
Men are also losing their grip, not just mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but physically as well. In a study of Americans ages 20-34, occupational therapists found that men younger than 30 have significantly weaker hand grips than their counterparts did in 1985. Some of this is due to tampering with our food, environmental factors, Big Pharma, and men’s activities having moved from physical labor to sedentary, deskbound work.
On the entertainment front, women are the new superheroes. They are portrayed as having it altogether, while men are portrayed as buffoons, idiots, disdained by women and children, and superfluous to the future. Hollywood has spent decades beating down Biblical masculinity. Government policies have castrated men. Public schools have stifled boyhood. Feminism is at war with manhood. Abortion has created a culture of death.
Young men are getting the message. They are dropping out of life. They are retreating to the enclaves of drugs, alcohol, video games, pornography, idleness, and suicide. Since manhood is considered the major problem in the world, why should men try to live out their masculinity?
Men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women. Men are 80 to 90 percent, depending on the crime, to be arrested and thrown in jail. Men make up the majority of patients at drug rehab centers and other mental institutions. There are fewer men than women enrolling in college. Men are earning less today than men before them. The majority of professors and public school teachers are women, which feminize the male. Plus, women far surpass men in church participation. On and on it goes and this trend does not bode well for the future.
At the conference, the message shared that this was a part of God’s judgment upon our bloody and perverse land. Isaiah 3:1-12 reveals what happens when a nation’s sayings and doings are against the Lord. God brings judgment. What does the nature of that judgment look like in the real world? Mighty men, judges, respectable elders, and true prophets in the land will be ignored, disrespected, and marginalized. God’s Word warns, “children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.”
Is there any hope? Just as God judges nations based upon leadership, He also restores nations based upon leadership. We see this pattern throughout the book of Judges. Israel would be led astray, go a whoring after other gods, commit idolatry, and come under tyranny and oppression. At those times, the children of Israel would cry out to God and God would answer by raising up judges, champions, and deliverers who would drive out the oppressors, set God’s people free, and restore the land in righteousness.
If this is true, the church needs to consciously and deliberately train our young men with this vision and mission for the future. Jordan Peterson recently did a video addressing the Christian church concerning this need to revive Biblical masculinity. He, in essence, stated that every church should have a bill board stating, “Young men wanted. Come in here. We need you and you need us.”
The truth is whatever kingdom influences men rules the future. If it is the kingdom of darkness continues to dominate men, boys will grow to dropout, become bullies, angry, abusive, violent, or effeminate. Soft boys will become an easy prey to the homosexual and transgendered godless, perverted movements savaging our young today.
One of the main messages at the men's conference was, "Men, we have to repent and quit ceding our duties and responsibilities before God over to the church and state. It is not the church's responsibility to wash your wife with the water of God's Word. It is not the pastor's responsibility to answer your wife’s theological and doctrinal questions. God directs all these duties to men who are husbands. This means all husbands and fathers need to be in-house theologians and historians. Men must be grounded in the Scriptures and have firm grasp of history or His-story.
It is not the state's responsibility to educate our young. Biblically, that is assigned to family government, where the father is primarily responsible before God to raise their children in the fear and admonishment of the Lord. The wife is the helper in that godly endeavor and the church can supplement, but never replace the parents in the education of their young. Moses declared, "This is not a vain thing, this is your life” (Deuteronomy 32:47).
As mentioned prior, tremendous good Kingdom fruit came from this men’s conference. All the messages were powerfully anointed and had effectual impact. There was physical training techniques employed to challenge men physically. The older men expressed repentance for not raising their families in accordance with the Scriptures. Most of the middle-aged men promised to make godly changes in their marriages, family, and children. All the young men were shocked to find how weak and soft they were physically, mentally, and spiritually. They promised they were going to toughen up to handle the rigors, responsibilities and duties as men, without complaint, whining, or pouting.
Prayerfully, these men’s conferences will spread like wildfire across the land. God knows that we need them to reclaim Biblical masculinity and restore manhood to its God ordained position in God’s Kingdom. If you would like to host one in your area, please contact me. Thanks for all your love, prayers, and financial support.
IN KING JESUS’ SER VICE,
Rusty
