Reprint of Email from Joe White

During a very difficult week recently, God encouraged me with some refreshing thoughts that I couldn't wait to share with you!

The tsunami destroys the coastland of Thailand; an 8.6 earthquake ravages the heart of Japan; the Mississippi river swarms out of its banks; a tornado demolishes three small towns in northeastern Oklahoma; a forest fire takes out seventy thousand acres in southwestern Colorado.....your mom finds a lump in her breast; your dad hears the doctor proclaim that he indeed has prostate cancer; your wife's first baby is a miscarriage.

Your heart cries out, "God? Where are you God? Is anyone listening? Are you there? Are you out there somewhere?"

Perhaps you wonder as I have wondered, "Is this a test of my faith or an act of Satan to attempt to destroy my faith?"

"Is this going to make me bitter or better?"
"Is this going to defeat me or make me stronger?"
"Is this going to cause me to retreat or fill my heart with ever deepening resolve to serve God more diligently?"

One of my true heroes is Dr. Howard Hendricks, longtime Dallas Cowboys chaplain and one of the finest seminary professors, speakers, writers and exhorters who ever lived. When his wife Jeanne was just about to go under anesthesia for invasive skull surgery he took her by the hand and proclaimed, "either God is sovereign or He is not. And, if He's not, we're in deep trouble. But I'm coming down on the side that He is."

Either God created the cosmos or it was a blind chance accident.
Either God formed you in your mother's womb or you are just one random step up the evolutionary ladder from the ape family.
Either God has a plan for your life or He is an absentee dad.
Either Mary was a virgin or she wasn't.
Either Jesus died on the cross to save us from all our sins or He didn't.
Either believing Christ by faith and surrendering our lives to follow in His steps leads us on an absolutely certain road to Heaven or it doesn't.

As a battled and bruised old granddad, having been on the battlefield for 62 years myself, I stand on the side of my mentor Howard Hendricks. In the middle of the toughest, most grueling season of my life recently, when it felt like the 8.6 earthquake had hit my house, a dear friend took me on a refreshing scriptural journey to Genesis 50:20 where a victorious and empowered Joseph responded to his brothers who had beaten him and left to die in a pit. Now they crawled in fear to kneel at his feet to beg him for mercy and crumbs off his table. Joseph proclaimed with humble charity, "what they intended for evil, God meant for good that many lives would be saved."

Three days after I was reminded of that reflection of God's sovereignty. 3400 men showed up for an event where I in my brokenness was blessed to be able to build and proclaim the cross of Jesus. Somewhere between 2000 and 2500 men and many of their sons rushed to the cross to surrender their lives to follow Jesus as "the Genesis 50:20 principle" echoed in my ears, "....that many lives would be saved."

A dear kamp family friend of mine lost two of their three precious daughters in a tragic Am Track derailment....
A close family friend discovered a lump in her breast this week....
Another dear saint sits by her husband's bedside day and night comforting him throughout his final stages of cancer....
A father of three small children just lost his wife to an untimely encounter with cancer....

I stand in awe of the faith and the humble response of these dear people! They, like Dr. Hendricks, all "came down on the side that GOD IS." For me, I have been greatly comforted and lifted up by Hezekiah's word to his fearful army as they faced total annihilation by King Sennacherib and his massive Assyrian army in II Chronicles 32:7 & 8, "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah." David was well acquainted with pressure, personal failure, tragedy, and deep resolve. Psalm 103:19 speaks peaceful resolution to my heart today, "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." Isaiah echoes with stereophonic comfort, "He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 25:8.

If you or I embrace the premise that indeed God is sovereign, several other very comforting and emotionally stabilizing factors follow like a string of loaded box cars connected securely to a powerful train engine pulling them faithfully and resolutely down the steel tracks of eternity through our tearful days and long sleepless nights.

I Corinthians 10:13 is boxcar #1 . Even though God does not author or desire "bad things to happen to good people", He acts as a filter and will not allow the "world, the flesh and the devil" to give us more challenges than we can take. "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Boxcar #2 is often overlooked and trivialized because of our calloused familiarity with it. For your own peace and security never unhitch this boxcar of assurance from the train. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

I've seen the truth of boxcar #3 played out in magnificent ways in my life and those that I have counseled over the decades. "Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." (II Corinthians 1:4.) The beauty of God's creative hand in this securing principle is that God not only will comfort ("speak bravery") into my life in our hardships but in doing so He'll also use that hardship to equip you and me so that we can give empathy, warmth and wisdom to others who experience similar hardships in our future relationships. It takes a mom who has lost a child to understand another mom who has lost a child. It takes a cancer survivor to be able to come alongside a friend who's just been diagnosed with the same life threatening disease.

My many tragedies have become my trophies.
My many catastrophes have become my care packages to others.
My many afflictions have become my affirmation to those to whom I am blessed to comfort in theirs.

The boxcars are countless that follow the magnificent lead engine of God's sovereignty and the great train of promises and truths that follow.

Alas, the caboose at the end of the train fills your heart with hope in sufficient amounts to empower the believer to stand firm through any trial that awaits you at a future station down the railway. "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Romans 8:38 & 39.)

A welcoming echo from Heaven's hall of fame sings to my heart today. After losing his family, his possessions, his friends and his health, the old warrior Job proclaims, "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!"

Again, the "old master from Dallas" has given wisdom in abundance to my beleaguered and weary soul.

"I choose to come down on the side that GOD IS. "




P.S. See how through this one man's testimony God used to bring him closer and reveal His true identity!
"I know that I haven't responded to the mass emails but I have received them and applied the necessary principles to me and my family's lives. So much positive has happened to us since the Men At The Cross meeting and just as many obstacles have tried weaken our faith. You guys gave my life hope to see all those men and young boys cry out to GOD. It showed me that anything that I thought was too much to bare I should not only put it in the Lord's hands but think about all the other less fortunate people in the world and not be so selfish. My wife was car jacked one week after the conference with our three daughters in the vehicle. No one was hurt but that showed me that GOD has tremendous mercy and grace over our lives. The car was found the next day and all 4 teenage suspects apprehended. I was furious! At that moment the Lord reassured me that prayers do get answered. So instead of seeking revenge, I received an opportunity to coach and mentor a inner city youth basketball team and teach them positive reinforcement and hopefully prevent this type of thing from happening again. Wow GOD has a way of bringing us closer and revealing his true identity! You are a true man of GOD. Don't ever change and keep on encouraging people all over the world. Hope to see you again!"

P.P.S. Hollis Jones & his new book "The Entrusted Leader" are superb! I've gone through his syllabus and it is a great, great resource for ALL men's leaders! Check it out at: www.entrustedleader.com

A Great Friend - Great Speaker/Writer named Mike Silva just came out with a new book! Anything Mike does is sincere, wise, and straight to the heart! I highly recommend "#1 Man" Check it out at https://mikesilva.org/donor.php!

P.P.P.S.
Here are the confirmed 2011 conferences:

July 16: St. Louis MO
September 10: Lincoln, NE
September 17: Alexandria, LA
September 23: Rochester, MN
September 24: Aurora/Chicago, IL
October 7: Cape Girardeau, MO
October 8: Tampa, FL
October 15: Branson, MO
October 22: Kansas City, MO
October 29: Central, PA
January 28: Alton, IL

If you know a man in any of these cities who'll be great to join the team, email me at Joe@kanakuk.com 


More events are coming soon! Check our website for more updates (www.menatthecross.org). If your city isn't listed and you want to put together a conference there, contact Marc Harris at marc@menatthecross.org