Now that you have started down the path as a Live Man Walking, you need to do some quality control. This is where we start looking for cracked stones along the path.

Putt off your old self

• The garment of lying
  
  • Definition: the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
• The garment of anger
  
  • Definition: A negative emotional reaction associated with other bad feelings such as fear, disgust, shame, irritability, outrage, hostility and possibly even violence.
• The garment of stealing
  
  • Definition: larceny: the act of taking something from someone unlawfully;
• The garment of worthless talk
• The garment of disobedience
• The garment of unkindness

Recommit your spirit and mind to God

Putt on your new self.

Do you have any of these old garments on?

This comes from Ephesians:

Ephesians 2: 1-3 reads:

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

This passage tells me that as long as I am following the ways of the World, I am still DEAD in my sins. I am still a Dead Man Walking.

Are you still gratifying the cravings of your sinful nature?

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?”

2 Corinthians 13:5

The book is NOT just for men. I took the title from the saying and movie “Dead Man Walking”. In the Bible in Ephesians it says that we were all once dead in our transgressions when we followed the ways of the world. But once we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are ALIVE in Christ and that’s where I got “Live Man Walking”. The book is for Men, Women and Teens from all walks of life. It is an easy read with a huge impact on your life.

Thanks for your question Debbie.

Keep them coming.

H.C. DeBoard III

Luke 9:57-62

[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

[58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

[59] He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

[60] Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

[61] Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

[62] Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

In this passage, Jesus seems to be qualifying men who are actually willing to follow him. He is looking for men who truly understand the passage, DO NOT BE CONFORMED OF THIS WORLD.

My wife and I have been talking about the idea that today’s church is actually perpetuating the concept of being conformed to the world. I am not saying church is a bad thing, because one of the reasons Jesus came was to build His church. But what I am saying is that many churches today have adopted values that teach their congregation to be conformed to the World. Examples of this would be when your church grows so large that it is impossible to shepherd the entire flock. And therefore, people file in each week, give some money and then go about their week clueless as to what it actually means to follow Jesus Christ.

People have been deluded by the World to think that “Providing for your family” by going on lavish vacations, owning or going in debt for multiple homes, having new cars, new clothes, cell phones, etc is a Biblical concept. I agree that family is very important, but to what extent does PROVIDING become CONFORMING?

This happens when you stop having time to do God’s work.

• When was the last time (if ever) that you personally went to a homeless shelter to feed the poor?
• When was the last time you visited an orphanage?
• When was the last time you visited a children’s hospital?
• When was the last time you visited a prison?
• When was the last time you visited a battered women’s shelter?

If your life including providing for your family takes up so much time that you have lost sight of Jesus message and what it really means to be a Christian, then you should stop and take a closer look at what you are doing and why. Eternity just might depend on it.

Until next time.

H.C. DeBoard III